Swimmers Digest

The week so far has gone super fast, and it's been just absolutely great! What can I say? I guess McDonalds got it right: "I'm loving it!"

Two days after diving I had some problems with my ears when I was coming back to the surface, it was as if I couldn't equalize up on the surface. Extreme pressure was on my right ear especially, which was super painful, and discomforting. And after a brief visit to the doctor, she told me that it was some water that was trapped behind my ear drum that was causing the problems. I've been given some medication that should take care of the problem, hopefully it will. But we'll see about that. So yesterday I was on board one of the boats helping out instead, and that was a lot of fun. Just helping a bunch of new kids with their gear, and then helping out on board the ship like changing the gas cans and what not. Did some sea kayaking too which was a, as everything else here, really chill. And after doing that for maybe 20 minutes, I was sweating through my t-shirt and thought it would feel great if I got in the water to cool down (it's about 17 degrees Celcius). I jump in without getting my head wet, and while I was in the water, Michelle, my DM instructor thought it would be a good chance for me to do one of the tests, and me being the dumb ass I am, I said, sure, why not!

The test was to thread water for 15mins, no problem I thought. I start, and then I realize I'm treading in salt water! Haha! Super easy man, no problem! That meant I could easily switch between my arms and legs and not get tired for a really long time! However, the only problem was that the water was only 17 degrees. Why is that bad? Because water is 21x as conductive as air (translates to you'll get colder in water 21x as fast than if you were in the open air), my plan was then to thread with both arms and legs to get my heat up, but at a very calm pace. After 12 minutes, Michelle decides to spice it up a bit by giving me two 1KG lead weights for me to hold on to. Yay. To spice it up even more, she tells me that I had to hold the lead weights above me head with my elbows not allowed to go underwater. That was tough. The first minutes felt like it had been 5 minutes, and then I ask how much time is left, while my head was bobbing up and down, gasping for air (trying to time my exhales and inhales) I hear the worst answer ever: "Uh...about 1 or 2 minutes?" I replied: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 1 OR 2 MINUTES?! MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!" She decides to give me 1 more minute, and I saw Ben another instructor close by and ask him to come by my side to grab me because I was about to collapse. Michelle begins to count down 15 seconds....10 seconds....5 seconds....3 and half seconds....DONE! I turn to Ben and drop my hands under the water, tread towards him and give him my weights, swim to boat, jump up onto the back and look like a dying seal on the back deck. But I did it, which was really good. And it felt good having done it on the spot. That was my near drowning experience for the week.

Oh, and I almost crashed into another car while driving over here! That was the 2nd most terrifying close encounter I've had while in a car. So I come around a corner, and then I see two cars in both lanes - both coming towards me! This winding road is a 100km/hr road (in Sweden it would of been a 50 road) so every car is going fast. Anyway, I come around the corner, see the cars, sh*t a brick, and slam on the brakes. I don't lock the brakes, but I gave it a nice hard push, start honking, and mentally start preparing my self for the impact and everything that would eventually follow. The car that was in the proper lane, slowed down too, and allowed the car doing the over taking to squeeze in a bit faster so disaster was avoided. And man, I was panting for dear life after that one. I was really pissed at the driver wondering what the hell she was thinking (yes it was a woman...no comment) and started to think that she was just a complete nutter. And while I was driving down a road, I almost put myself into a similar situation. It was a straight road, the car infront of me was doing 75 on a 100 road, so that was a bit annoying. I pop TM into 3rd gear, and start to accellerate, and then I start to over take the car. I know that there was turn up a head, which I had planned for, and I was expecting a car to come out of it how I would react to it. Bam! A car comes out, but I had planned it all pretty well, so there was nothing to worry about but I was thinking what would of have happened if I waited only 1 more second, then there would of have been a serious accident. Point of this story: If you're driving a '92 Toyota Corrolla with a butt load of miles on it, don't expect to be able to do any good over takings on a two laned road. I've learnt my lesson, I'm not going to do unless I can see for a very a long way a head.

Sweet as guys!

What else is new? Oh yeah, met a really cool girl from Kuwait who is doing a fellowship where she's given a bunch of money to travel the world for a year while doing some research. So she's bene traveling for quite a bit, swimming with sharks all over the world (her research was how different cultures view sharks, or something like that). I taught her some good card games that would help her along her travels (breaking the ice and what not), hopefully they'll be as useful for her as they have been for me.

Aight guys, that's it for now, and yeah, don't use the following ingrediants at the same time: garlic, onions, red bell pepper, carrot, beans in tomato sauce, and fresh tortillini. Most revolting things I've ever concocked. Ewwwwww!!!

Here are some pics your way!

Report from Whangarei

Hey guys! So much has happened since I last posted. I've met a bunch of people, and I'm now a qualified PADI Rescue Diver! Sweet!

I don't even know where to begin! Okay, how about my drive up here to start with.

Before I left Auckland, I got my backpack returned to me, fully repaired (excellent!) along with a nice 40L duffle bag as compensation for my troubles. When I left the drive way of my host there was a slight drizzle going on, and it just kept raining on and off for the next couple of hours, and got heavier too. But when I started getting closer to Tutukaka, and driving through the most winding roads ever (I felt like a rally driver in TM). And before I was at the apex of the hill over looking Tutukaka, it stops raining, and my eyes are met with one of the greatest views ever man! Seriously, you see a bit of the bay and all the surroundings, and wow, it was just heart warming guys, seriously. You have to come and check this place out!

The second I got down the harbour, I started to look for the dive shop and found it in a jiffy. Went in, introduced myself, and got everything sorted. Next stop: to find where I was going to crash. Found it without any bigger problems, and I was greeted by another diver who I was going to share the dorm with. He's a Kiwi who's pretty laid back (like all the other Kiwi's down here). After having settled in and took a small hike around the area, I thought it was time for some food. I ended up going to the most expensive place here! So for a 100 SEK, I got a steak burger (like a normal burger, but a real steak instead) and a beer. Not worth it in the long run to tell you the truth.

The next day I got to go and do some diving to get my dives up, which was a lot of fun. The visibility wasn't the greatest, but it was nice either which way. We entered Rico cave aswell, which is the world's largest bubble cave (with amazing acoustics, apparently there have been concerts in there!)

Anyway, there was a woman there who was also in my dorm whom I had been sharing the dorm with, and she had a small panic attack, and I talked to her later on the boat to see what happened. Anyway, she thought that I was so nice, and that I reminded her of her son, so she gave me 20 NZD (about 100 SEK). Weirdest thing!

The next couple of days I got started my Rescue Diver course, which I finished today. The course was pretty tough I must admit, but a lot of fun! Like how to handle people who are panicing under water, above water, how to retrieve unconscious divers underwater, and a bunch of other skills.

Also during those couple of days I got to meet a really nice couple who treated me to dinner! It was awesome! I got to taste some NZ crayfish (looks like a lobster just minus the pinchers). It`s an aquired taste, but I`m sure I can get used to it :D They gave me their phone number and told me to call them when I was done with my Dive Master course. I`m pretty sure I will, they were really cool, and really nice.

Today is my day off, and tomorrow I`m going to start with my Dive Master course. Really excited!

I don`t really know what to write guys, there`s a lot happening, but things that you have to be here to fully understand and appreciate.

Oh yeah, and Tutukaka in itself is a bloody ghost town at night. There`s nothing here but tourists. All the locals live in surrounds bays, so the only people I get to hang out with are people at the camp or at the local pub (too expensive). And most people are only here for a day or two only, so it kind of feels like my life at high speed. What I mean by that is that I meet all these great people, and then they have to leave! I expected that, but still, a bit tough (don`t worry dad, I`ll manage!)

But here are some more photos and words/phrases that I`ve learned down here:

Words & Phrases
dear - to be expsenive (Fruits and veggies are pretty dear)
sweet as - cool (you caught that, sweet as!)
dairy - convience store (you can buy some milk at the dairy, but it`s a bit dear)
done as a dogs dinner - all sorted or all done

Photos

Beautiful Days...

The past two days have been absolutely amazing to say the least. Nothing spectacular has happened, it's just that they've been so chill.

Yesterday, we went to a beach pretty far off called Muriwai Bay which was just amazing. The beach is probably the longest one I've ever been on, and it was really wide too. Black sand, making it nice and toasty to walk on, and then a nice wind to keep you a bit cool, and the water was ice cold. Sure there were people bathing, but the viking inside me was on holiday (lying on the beach) and couldn't be bothered to take a dip.

It had a cliff which had excellent vistas, where you could see the local bird life and they would just soar right in front of you, giving you some excellent photo oppurtunities.

This is one of the views availalbe...horrible, I know.

On our way home we stopped for some fresh fruit ice cream. All it is is some vanilla ice cream with fresh berries mixed into it, super delicious!

Towards the evening, I was invited to a BBQ by a fellow CouchSurfer that I've gotten to know, Greg, which was on the other side of town. Three of us jumped into The Miracle (I think I'll call it TM from now on) and we hauled ass to a new adventure. Upon arrival we were greeted by a bunch of friendly Kiwi's heating up the BBQ, getting ready for some serious grilling, which got my heart racing! As some of you may remember, I've gotten a large appreciatation for food recently. There was a sallad, grilled sweet potatoe, and a bunch of meat! It was great night, took some amazing photos using Gregs D40, involving me and him along with assistance from my Nokia Flashlight. Going to try to post those later on, need to get a hold of them first. During the night, I collapsed on the couch (read: power nap) while Greg was playing a guitar, that he had gotten a hold of, the entire night. It was perfect. Ends up with us leaving at around 03.00 in the morning and going to bed at around 04.30

Following day (we woke up between 11 and 12), we, the same people that went to the party the other night, got to a beach close by to enjoy the sun a bit more and have a small picnick at the same time. After doing so old skool cruising in TM, we found a parking space, and bought ourselves some burgers from a big burger chain here in NZ that would put McDonalds, BK, and even MAX to shame: Burger Fuel!


Visa större karta

Their burgers were just amazing, what can I say, a bit dear (Kiwi English for expensive) I must admit, but well worth it!
Here's Jen and Greg, my current partners in crime.

And here's Greg after our burgers from Burger Fuel

To the right of Greg's knee, you can see an active volcanoe (Rangitito) in the middle of Auckland's harbour that can be reached by a ferry.

On our way back, I took a wrong turn and ended up driving down town, and coincidently ended up where I bought my car, where coincidently my favourite bakery was located: Dunkin' Donuts! Oh, yeah...sweet memories of that :)

Ok guys, it's pretty late for me now, I'm going to crash, talk to you later! Have good one, and don't forget to write!

Update...from Auckland this time!

Hi all, as some of you know, I'm finally in Auckland, and everything hasn't exactly being going as smoothly as I thought it would of. Let me start from the beginning.

Auckland International Airport
I land 30 minutes ealier than expected due to tail winds, which was pretty sweet, give me 30 more minutes to enjoy NZ. But as usual, every country has borders that need to be crossed, so that was the first obstacle. No sweat, I've done it all before. I get to where the ques start, and I almost faint. Usually there's only 1 plane worth of people standing in line. This was about 3 fully packed, jumbo jets worth of people. And I was in the back. Yay. So after about 20 minutes of standing in line, walking past the same people God knows how many times, it was like deja vu to the extreme (esp. when you're tired and horribly jet lagged). And the moment of truth, I get to talk to the Customs Officer. As I said before, I've done all this before, so I'm just polite, and straight forward with answering his questions, and when I mentioned that I was going to be here with a Working Holiday Visa, he starts looking around, asking his collegues what protocols to bipass and follow in order to let me in. He finally calls after another officer to come and pick me up from his station, something that got my heart racing straight away (I know I have nothing to hide, but I was still worried). After having walked about 5 m, the officer tells me to go and pick up my luggage, and meet him in one of the corners. Follow his instructions by going to the conveyer belt where my bag should arrive, and I wait for about 10-15min. No bag. I crap my pants. I then inform the officer about my problem, and just tell me to wait.

After a couple of minutes waiting for the customs to clear my papers, I start trudging towards the baggage service station, where I make a report and ask them to search for my bag, to see if they could find it somewhere. The system turns out blank, no results. I begin to weep inside, seriously. So, I do what every sensible person does, sucks it up and keeps on moving. I then clear all the other security check points and start looking for my ride. I can't find her. I thought that maybe she had waited a really long time and just left. I start thinking about Plan B, which is getting into Auckland and finding my hostesses. Instead I turn around and scan the room, looking for my ride. After 1 minutes searching I find her and we start our socialising process. It all went really smoothly! She was really cool! Really helpful and starts rambling on all these facts about NZ which really caught me off guard. Like what exactly? Well, in her opinion, she sees NZ being about 20years behind England in certain areas (mainly IT) which is something that I have to agree with. Maybe 10 years behind at least. Anyway, we have lunch, and she's a dear and hooked me up with a SIM card for my phone (which was loaded with cash too). Great gal through and through!

After all that was sorted, she took me to where I was going to crash for the remainder of me time in Auckland before I head up north. And when we pulled into the drive way, I check out to make sure that someone is in to recieve me, and when Tamz opens the door, the first things, quite literally, asks if I want a glass of wine. First reaction: cool chick! I say good-bye to Trudy, my ride (don't know if I mentioned her name before) and then go inside to mingle with one of my two hostesses. Without a lot of hesitation, I take a glass of wine with her, which is quite a big mistake. Why? Because I almost collapsed on her keyboard to her computer. End result: me being woken up by the my other hostess and then being put to bed with some nice home made garlic bread.

The next couple of days were pretty much one way. Getting a car. But along the way I walked past an attraction that Jimmay's boss recommended to me, indirectly. What am I referring to? The White House. Apparently one of the best strip clubs on the southern hemisphere (don't worry dad, I haven't verified it...yet :P)

After a bunch of thinking and consulting, I decided to buy a white '92 Toyota Corolla. It's pretty decent, it didn't have a lot of problems with it, but it's going to take me from point A to point B...and hopefully C, D, and E. But we'll see about that in a while. Sadly I had to buy new tires for the car, however it has it's perks. I won't have to worry about them poppping in the middle of no where and also I didn't get a locking nut for the rims, so they got rid of them and fixed the wheels for a pretty decent price.

To add some more good news to this, i) It was sunny today, and ii) I found Dunkin' Doughnuts today. My day was completed. AND, drum roll please - my luggage has been found! Schweet! So I should be getting it in about two days, so I'm pretty stoked now. The pieces are falling into place. However, pieces can look like they're in place, yet they're a bit off center.

Also, the passenger buckle doesn't really work, so another couch surfer that's here has sacrificed one of his caribeaners for it, so now it's a seriously hardcore improvisation for keeping the passenger from flying out the front window. I have faith in it. Photo's of it will come up.

Aight guys, I'm pretty tired now, but here are some photos for you guys to enjoy. Cheers!

Hong Kong Airport
The White House

The Miracle

The Previous Mileage

Hong Kong Boredom...

Yup, only I could get bored in Hong Kong, right? Wrong. I'm at the airport, and I've been here for...hold on...approximately 5 hours so far, and well, damn, my ass hurts. I've been sitting in the same spot for quite some time trying to recharge my iPod. I finally got it charged, and what not, but i fell asleep a couple of times while doing it. Not very good, I know, but what can you do, right?

The plan right now is trying to stay awake, and then crash when I get on the plane to Auckland. I think that way I'll be a little bit more adjusted to the time difference (aka. jet lag). However, that's just a theory, and in about...20 hours we'll see if it really holds water or not. OMG, 20 more hours until I'm finally at my destination: Auckland. One thing that I realized I forgot now is that I don't have a bank statement for the customs/border control. I do however have my little dongle to confirm my statements if they really need/want me to. So basically with my luck, they'll be pulling out the rubber gloves (minus the lube) and be more than happy to give me a full cavity search because on this one particular day, with my camo cap, baggy pants, and trimmed goat tee, the guards see me as a fashion threat to the greater good of New Zealand...or something like that. Wow, I am tired. Anyway, here's part of my plan while waiting to get on my NZ flight, and avoiding attracting suspicion to me (too late for that I think, but no Chinese guards have started to harrass me yet [break some wood/wind] so I think I'm in the clear so far). I'm also going to try to eat something. I could be a good idea to make sure I don't go totally insane, because so far I've been munching down the corn nuts that Maggie got me as a going away present. Very much appreciated I must admit!

Aight, I'm going to bounce now, and try to figure out the exchange rate, and then get some grub. L8ers!

The Almost Departed

Wow! All I can say is wow!

I had a going away party last night and it was absolutely fantastic! The amount of people that turned up was just way beyond belief, everybody was having a great time, it was spectacular! All in all we were 33 people! I've never held party that big, and it turned out exactly the way I had hoped. Well, almost to tell you the truth. I did get pretty drunk, but I kept it real cool. However Jimmy, my partner in crime, didn't do all to great. Sadly. He got pretty trashed and started to throw up everywhere. And another girl started to vomit, but ce'la vi, right?

I'm currently hung over a tiny tiny bit, but it's all good! I just need to clean up and pack up where we partied, and eat some breakfast. Pretty vital that I do that before I do anything else, yeah?

Aight, but I need to get started with the packing/cleaning up, so I'll do that now, and try to post up some photos from the party!

*POOF* - slowly trudges away from keyboard

PS - Much love to Jimmy & Ruffus (aka. Sebbe, aka. Darling) for helping me out with setting up the party room and helping me move my computer too!

Where would I be?

I've moved out of my apartment now, finally. It was a lengthy stressful experience. I have to give a lot of thanks to DJ CBC, Pops, and Jimmay for the all the support that they provided. Especially Pops for helping me and putting up with my crap, and allowing me to put my stuff in his storage unit. Thanks again guys!

Feels weird now that I'm homeless. I know that I'm not really homeless. I can always crash at my friends/family until I find something of my own, but still, very weird. And also being unemployed by choice. What do I mean by that you ask? Well, I resigned from my job willingly. I didn't get fired, I resigned. My job there wasn't at all bad, it had it's down sides, but every job does, that's why it's called a job. If there were bad sides to a job, then it would be called super-happy-time-event, or something like that :P But it felt like I had graduated again when I left there. I had the biggest smile on my face when I had walked through the door, I was super all the way home again. My collegues got me some flowers, two cakes, a nice card that they had all signed and laminated (a picture from Google Earth), and some New Zealand Dollars (NZD) for when I arrive. Very nice of them!

I can't believe it, it's only 5 days left until I leave! OMG! And I've also got a place to crash the first couple of nights, which is great. I'm going to be sleeping on someone's couch/bed that they've announced on the internet about (check out the Couch Surfers link for more info), so that's going to be a new experience. I'm sure it'll go smoothly. Usually does.

Oh, and speaking of sleeping! Uh...no wait, I meant, uh...nevermind, just check this out:
Visa större karta

This is a satellite photo of Tutukaka. This is where I'm going to be the first two months, isn't it beautiful?! It's small village, it's perfect! From the birds eye view at least. But it'll be a nice change from the whole big city life style. This place looks like I can really kick my feet up and just relax. The surrounding country side looks very hiker friendly which is even better for me. I'm sure I'll be a bit restless at times, so it'll be good for me to walk around a bit. Awe, I can hardly wait! I think I'll be crying a bit at times becuase everything is so amazing down there. We'll see though, now won't we.

Anyway, I've got to find some breakfast (Jimmay is pretty bad when it comes to having food at home.) So toodles, and until next time!