Ryan Goes Abroad

The End of the Line.

2009-05-01T02:50:00.000+12:00

I currently sit at Domestic Ticketing & Check-in lounge at the Vancouver International Airport. I can't believe it's over. I can't believe I have been gone for just over seven months. The last seven months have been an amazing experience.

Boarding the boat to leave Beach Comber Island and watching the island get smaller and smaller was absolutely heart breaking. It was that moment that really signaled the finality of my adventure. It marked the very beginning of the voyage back to Victoria.

In the last seven months I have changed drastically. I now have a much different outlook on the world as a whole even though I only visited two countries on my trip. Constantly being surrounded by people of all different backgrounds allows you to gain a unique perspective of how diverse the world really is yet at the same time how many similarities we all share. The social aspect of traveling has been the greatest facet of the trip for me. I have met an amazing collection of people on this trip from all over the world. Some people I spoke to for hours and never even exchanged names. Others I talk to every few days on Facebook and I will likely go visit in the future. Initially meeting all these awesome people took it's toll on me. The constant cycle of becoming really good friends with people and then having to say good-bye knowing there was a very high chance I would never see them again was very difficult to adjust to. However it eventually became just a necessary evil. You never really fully overcome it but you learn to accept it. I will definitely miss being surrounded by people from all over the world everyday of the week.

Looking back on the last seven months it all seems so surreal. I did so many things I could not even have imagined doing just a year or two ago. I have really broken out of my shell and become a more confident person as a result of my experiences on this trip. I did a lot of things I had wanted to do in Victoria for the longest time but kept making excuses not to do. Sky diving, Bungy Jumping and SCUBA Diving are prime examples of this.

As a result of this trip I am definitely recommending anyone who is even remotely interested in traveling after high school do so. You learn skills and concepts traveling that you will never find in a book or in a classroom. You will meet the most interesting people in the world. You will also likely form some of the best memories of your life.

As I sit here writing this I am already plotting out when and where my next trip will be. I understand now how important seeing other parts of the world are. I also understand the importance or languages. My goal when I am back is to start working on languages with the hope of going to Europe in the next year or two and working on building confidence in other languages. I am now of the belief that multilingualism is one of the most important skills one can attain.

I look forward to taking the next week or so to reflect on my trip and pick out some highlights to compile into a "Trip Highlights" post so be sure to stay tuned for that.

Last night out in Paihia

2009-04-19T11:44:00.003+12:00

Yesterday I made a handful of new friends. I met two Americans and a Norwegian and an Irish girl. We hung around the hostel and played drinking games and then went out on the town and had a grand old time (and an expensive one =( ). I also ran into my good friend Josh whom I met in Wellington when he was too drunk to differentiate between the sink and the urinal. Good times. It was a good way to spend my last night in Paihia.

Thirsty Thursday

2009-04-17T00:25:00.002+12:00

Tonight was $4 drink night at the base bar in Paihia. Before I went out tonight I had a few beers and then a few shots of rum with some Koreans that I met. They were fun. Unfortunately we went to the bar together and one of them bought the first round of drinks and then when I bought the second they all buggered off. So I had to drink all the drinks myself.

I ran into my Albertan friend Jody again that I met eons ago when I was up here the first time. She is up here working at Dive HQ. I also ran into a Belgian girl who I bet would forget my name. She forgot my name but I remembered hers. It was Kim. I am pretty toasted now though so I am going to bed. Goodnight!

Angry Fruit

2009-04-16T17:40:00.000+12:00

Today I was at the supermarket and saw an odd looking orange fruit covered in spikes. Naturally I wanted to try it so I bought one. On the way back I managed to cut myself with the fruit. It was in the bag and it scrapped on my leg and actually drew blood. I have never injured myself with a fruit up until today. Not sure how I feel about it.

Bryan's Birthday BBQ Extravaganza

2009-04-15T11:59:00.001+12:00

Last night was pretty awesome. It was my dutch friend Bryan's Birthday and we wanted to have a good time. We started the day off renting a boat and heading out into the islands. We had a tube as well and I managed to hang on for a heart pounding ten minutes before Bryan put me in the drink. Following this Ilana gave it a shot. She went for about five minutes before throwing in the towel. Bryan went last and Ilana killed him right of the bat. He was not facing the boat when she got going and when the rope went taught he just got chucked out so he gave it another go.

We brought to cases of Corona out with us but unfortunately we neglected to bring a bottle opener with us. We tried using various implements available to no avail. I finally had the clever idea to pull up alongside a sailboat and ask if we could borrow a bottle opener. The first boat we came across had a friendly older Kiwi couple on it and they ended up giving us a bottle opener. I swam over to their boat to get it.

Once we got the opener we started enjoying our Corona's and taking turns driving the boat around the islands. Good times were had.

As our trip wound down we made a pit stop at the Black Rocks and I picked some mussels to have as a snack when we got back. I managed to grab a solid two dozen mussels in less than 5 minutes. That was without a mask or snorkel. I cant imagine the damage I could have done in five minutes with a mask. After my mussel picking expedition we headed back to land and settled our debt.

We went back to the hostel and I steamed the mussels and we consumed them in short order. Bryan has the pictures of this event and hopefully I can add them in here when he puts them on Facebook. After Mussels Ilana had to head back to Auckland so we said farewell and then Bryan and I hung out in the hot tub for awhile were we met an American girl from Texas. We had decided on doing a BBQ for dinner and invited her to join us. We packed the hot tub in and cleaned up and then the three of us headed to Woolworths to get venison sausages, burgers and of course some more Corona because it was quite cheap $26.99NZD ($18.60CAD) for a case of 12.

I was appointed Lord of the Grill and commenced the cooking upon our return to the hostel. I think I did a fine job of cooking everything to perfection. Our meal was delicious as was the Corona. After dinner and our beers were wrapped up we broke into the Mount Gay Eclipse and had some very stiff Rum & Cokes and chatted with a Northern Englishman (a rarity - most folk are southern) before heading to the Base Bar for some more Rum & Coke. Jessica packed it in around mid night and Bryan and I decided to head into town with two random Kiwi blokes we met. Unfortunately Bonfire was closed so at that point it was pretty much just head to bed. All in all yesterday was a fun day. Not feeling super hot today but often that is the cost of a starting to drink at lunch time and stopping at around 1AM the next morning.

I have no idea but I seem to take one of these pictures every single night. I am pretty sure I took this one while I was at the urinal as well.

Beer Pancakes

2009-04-13T21:32:00.000+12:00

Tonight I decided to make beer pancakes using Steinlager in the place of milk in a standard pancake recipe. It turned out quite well. It was pancakes with a hint of Steinlager taste. I quite enjoyed them and garnered a lot of looks whilst I was making them.

For anyone that wants to know the recipe was...

1 cup self rising flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg (beaten)
2 tbsp butter... Unroll Parchment
1 cup beer

If you want them fluffier add some baking powder. I am taking it easy tonight in preparation for Bryan's Birthday tomorrow.

Easter Sunday = Kill Joy

2009-04-12T11:38:00.001+12:00

Easter Sunday prooved to be another kill joy ending all the festivities at midnight once more. I made friends with a whole bunch of new people regardless and we had lots of fun doing random stuff until midnight. I also met up with one of my Israeli friends from Taupo.

Around midnight when things were shutting down a Belgian girl in our group had the brilliant idea to go swimming in the ocean. Past history has shown Ryan has ZERO problem swimming in the ocean in the wee hours of the morning. Unfortunately when we got to the water everyone wimped out and I ended up swimming in the water - naked. All the while I was heckling the lame folk on the shore. After about half an hour I decided I'd had enough punishment and got out.

One English guy from Leeds was bold enough to join me for awhile and we took a team photo after. After my swim I went over to the bonfire that had since been erected and worked on warming up while chatting with old friends and meeting new ones. Being Easter Weekend a lot of Kiwis were out and about which put an interesting spin on the night. I hung around until the police shut the fire down and then lay in the wet grass for awhile watching the full moon.

Around 2:30 I packed it in and made my way back to bed. I woke up this morning in a bed full of sand.

Not so Good Friday =(

2009-04-10T10:32:00.000+12:00

Last night was a massive dissapointment. I had mussels for dinner and while I was outside eating them I made friends with an English guy named Alan. We ended up going out for drinks after and having a grand old time at the base bar and then Salty's and took advantage of $4 drink night. However at midnight we found out everything was closing. Just like that the night came crashing to a halt. Good times over.

In other better news I had an entire eight bed dorm to myself last night. This allowed me to put my laptop out and run tunes on it all night instead of using my iPod.

Back in the U.S.S.R err Bay of Islands

2009-04-07T16:26:00.000+12:00

That's right everyone. I am back in my favorite place in New Zealand. I am back up in Paihia for an indefinite ammount of time. I got checked into the hostel and the weather was rubbish but I went swimming anyways. I rocked down the road to the beach and swam in the ocean for a solid 45 minutes despite the rain and the wind. I am happy to be back up here. Mussels in White Wine Garlic Butter Cream Sauce for dinner. Happy times!

The Final Goodbye

2009-04-06T21:13:00.000+12:00

Today Lisa, Mike and myself said goodbye to Grace and made our way back up to Auckland on the Kiwi Experience Bus. We made a stop in Hobbiton on the way up and Mike and I had Lamb Subs at Subway. Delicious.

When we got to Auckland we went our separate ways to check into our hostels before reuniting on Queen St. to grab some food. On the way down Queen St. I stopped at the pharmacy and got another nasal spray - just saline this time. After that I found Sophie at EB Games and said hi to her. We decided on Sushi for dinner and Mike and I enjoyed Milk Shakes for dessert. We wandered around central Auckland for a spell before returning to the YHA for a few drinks and some random nonsense.

Our random nonsense consisted of a game based around naming first countries starting with every letter of the alphabet and then cities. When we did cities the catch was you couldn't name a city from your own country or New Zealand or Australia. After a few rounds of this we said our final goodbyes and then I headed off to bed as I am making my way up to Paihia again bright and early tomorrow morning.

Meatball Sunday

2009-04-05T14:20:00.001+12:00

I made it safely to Rotorua stopping at some nifty thermal mud pools along the way. Today is also Sunday so after pissing away a few hours on my laptop I went and got myself a meatball sub and a bottle of coke. I also got two M&M Cookies to go with it. I went to Subway at the wrong time though as the line up was out the door. I am off to meet up with Mike and Lisa and perhaps Grace as well now. Enjoy pictures of mud.

Another messy night.

2009-04-05T07:46:00.001+12:00

Last night was even messier than the night before. We organized a drinking game called Ring of Fire or Kings Cup. We were playing with three Norwegians, one Swede, three Englishfolk, one Dutchman and one Canadian (not including myself). The game went quite well and provided much entertainment. It ended when Jamie (the Canadian girl) had to drink the "Kings Cup" which contained several types of beer, some white wine and some vodka and apple juice. She drank most of it without vomiting but she folded before she finished. I got a video of the whole ordeal.

Following this game we played a small game of "I have never" between myself, the Dutch guy, one of the Norwegian girls and the Canadian girl. I learned a lot of interesting stuff about the lot of them.

I am up early today as I am heading to Rotorua for a night. Hopefully meeting up with Mike, Lisa and Grace as well.

Around midnight we headed into town to element bar. I popped by Simon's usual hangout and dragged him over to Element. We had a grand old time at element bar with our group and were joined by my two Israeli roommates. We all danced the night away. One of the Israeli guys got kicked out at one point because he was too drunk. Otherwise the night was mostly uneventful.

Angry...like vegemite.

2009-04-03T11:07:00.001+13:00

Last night proved to be quite entertaining. We hung around Mike, Lisa and Simon's hostel playing cards and eating cookies before Simon, Mike and I headed into town to check out what was going down

We went straight to Element bar and Mike and I got on the rum and coke. We hung around and chatted. I met a girl from Toronto that was dressed a Rugby Coach because her tour group decided they had to dress up as something starting with the letter "C".

Around midnight a big fight broke out between some of the local inbreeds and the bouncers at Element Bar. I was quick thinking enough to get it on video with my camera. I will have to see if I can upload the video somewhere. Shortly after the fight finally broke up the local 5-0 came about but we'd lost interest in the whole project by that point and had gone back to the rum.

Swedish Lisa from Te Kaha found us around 1AM and we had a reunion and got caught up on recent happenings in each others lives. I bought a few rounds of drinks in lieu of all the Heneiken Mike and I got off her and Maria back on the East Cape. I lost her or she lost me at some point and shortly after I decided to just pack it in for the night. I found my way back to the hostel drunk and in the dark on the first try which was nothing short of a miracle given my history with navigation.

Mike and Lisa are off to Rotorua today where I will beating them them soon.

Reuinion with Mike & Lisa!

2009-04-02T17:12:00.000+13:00

Today I met back up with Mike and Lisa in Taupo. We all went to the lake where Simon, Mike and myself played games in the lake using golf balls we found from the nearby hole-in-one challenge.

Our first game involved a really broken hot potato/volleyball game involving a golf ball. We eventually switched to a game wherein the ball was thrown and whoever retrieved it first won. Unfortunately after a few rounds we managed to lose the ball. During our methodical search for the ball we found a cache of about 50 balls and each took one and resumed our search and recovery game using three balls. This was great fun and good exercise and lasted for a while. After we got fed up chasing the golf balls down we got up on one of the docks and began attempting to bounce the ball off the first dock and onto the second dock. We played at this until we decided it was time to head back for dinner.

We're going to meet up tonight and more than likely Simon, Mike and myself will head out for a night on the town. I am looking forward to it.

Back to Taupo

2009-03-31T15:51:00.000+13:00

I headed back up to Taupo today alongside Simon. We are doing yet another pub quiz tonight. Should be a good time. Mike and Lisa get here on the second. Should also be a good time. I am still not suffering from sinus congestion and am trying more medicine. I am pretty sick of wasting money on medicine.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-03-29T15:53:00.000+13:00

Simon and I decided today was a good day to go see a movie. Neither of us had seen Slumdog Millionaire so we thought we'd give it a shot. I quite enjoyed the movie and the style in which they told the story. I recommend everyone check it out if by some chance you haven't seen it yet. I am pretty sure it's already out on DVD back home but it's still in theaters here.

Strange Club

2009-03-28T01:12:00.000+13:00

Tonight we went to a strange bar with live music and people whose dancing led me to believe more than alcohol was being consumed. The band was very good though playing a mix of classics and newer tunes. We hung out there with Simon and his friends for a bit before they left for bed and Simon and I made our way to a sports bar. I really wish I had of had my camera on me because there was a gentleman (I say gentleman because he was dressed in a suit and tie with jacket and clearly had come to the bar from work) who was dancing around on the dance floor all by himself playing air guitar. It was quite the spectacle to watch a man likely in his late thirties to early fourties play air instruments on an empty floor by himself. After a while the bouncer ruined our fun and cooked him out around 12:30AM. After that we lost interest and decided to head to bed.

Sick again.

2009-03-27T13:27:00.000+13:00

In typical fashion I have contracted some kind of sinus affliction. I am stuck with major sinus congestion and my left eye is sore. Good times. To the pharmacy for me.

Game Over.

2009-03-26T12:12:00.000+13:00

Yesterday we made our way up from Kaikora today towards Picton and the Interislander ferry. The ferry ride across was mostly uneventful, Simon and I played cards for most of it and met a girl from Quebec. At one point a pod of dolphins was swimming beside the boat but I couldn't be bothered to go see them. I was more afraid the boat was going tip over from 1000+ passengers running to one side of the boat. I did get some decent pictures though of the scenery heading out in the Cook Straight from the Marlborough Sounds.

When we got into Wellington I discovered my bus driver failed to book me a room at the YHA. I also learned that the hostel was full otherwise dormwise. However the nice desk clerk was able to put me in a twin room at dorm rates because it had a view looking directly into the building next door. I took it and also got a dorm booked for five days following it (although I will have to move a few times).

The trouble didn't start until Simon and I started playing drinking games after our dinner from Dominoes. We started with Mexen and then shit-head with the loser drinking. Our game went well enough and then we met up with his friends and started another round of drinking games. Thinks start to go down hill as I was playing with rum and coke instead of beer or wine. Following the demise of my bottle of Coke I began playing with just rum. Bad things began to happen after this. I got up at one point to get some water and apparently I was over there for almost ten minutes. On the way back I knocked into a table and spilled someones soup and didn't even notice (Simon gave him some beer). After this I basically just sat at the table struggling to keep my eyes open. I eventually decided I'd lost the game and was going to bed. I had to be reminded in the morning but Simon ended up having to walk me to the elevator to make sure I made it in one piece. I spent probably 15 minutes drinking from the tap following this and then went to bed. Ten-Thirty at night. Game over.

Mussels

2009-03-25T15:19:00.000+13:00

I changed rooms today and have a fabulous dinner of New Zealand Green Lip Mussels steamed in a white wine garlic butter cream sauce with foccacia bread on the side. I am pretty damn exited.

Kaikora and Pommie Mike's Quiz Night!

2009-03-24T23:49:00.000+13:00

Today I rolled to Kaikora with a new bus driver named Rich. The drive to Kaikora wasn't too bad and we got in around lunch time. Along the way we stopped and saw some seals and one of the most spectacular views I have seen in New Zealand. At the view point we managed to leave some people behind which was quite entertaining.

In other going to Kaikora news I met a girl from the Yukon on the bus which was a new location in Canada to meet someone from. In addition to this I had another pie and a bottle of Coke for breakfast. When we finally got into Kaikora and checked into the hostel I decided to head into town to the butcher to get some sausages for lunch. I got some lamb sausages and had them with cheese and sweet thai chili sauce.

When I got back to the hostel I realized Simon who I had met earlier in my trip was in Kaikora as well and in my room. I shared some lamb sausages with him for lunch. I didnt do a lot during the afternoon as there wasnt much to do in Kaikora. I watched Gladiator (a movie I have never seen from start to finish) and went to some burger place with Simon for dinner.

After dinner a group of us rolled into town and shot some pool and participated in a Pub Quiz with the most entertaining looked man I have ever seen. He was an older Maori guy very short with snow white hair and big glasses. The quiz went well and everyone had a good time. My team came in 3rd but there was a four way tie for first. Good times. We are off to Wellington tomorrow on the Interislander Ferry. I am looking forward to getting back to Wellington.

Loooooong Day

2009-03-23T23:33:00.000+13:00

Today I was up with the birds to catch the bus to Christchurch. I had a two hour stop-over in Dunedin and hung around at the train station and got some pictures. The weather in Dunedin was very nice which was a bonus given the length of my stop-over. Between Queenstown and Dunedin I grabbed a Bacon, Egg and Cheese pie and a bottle of Coca-Cola for my breakfast.

I got into Christchurch on schedule. Unfortunately it was after dark so I was quickly able to get lost and spent nearly 45 minutes in the cold carrying all my stuff around walking in circles. I finally found the YHA in Christchurch no thanks to my GPS which didnt get a signal until I found the street I was looking for. It simply served to tell me I had to walk straight for 600m. I was not impressed.

I got checked into my room and met the fellow Canadians staying in my room. I actually ended up in the same room I was in last time I was in Christchurch. After getting myself sorted and showered I began trying to hunt down Chris. I found him via Facebook at a web cafe down the road. We chatted about future travel plans and then shared a few beers with a German girl he was going to do a four day road trip with.

It was getting late and I had an early bus so we said our good-byes and I headed to bed.

On the seventh day he rested...and had a meatball sub.

2009-03-22T21:36:00.001+13:00

Today was Sunday and rest day because I have to leave at stupid O'Clock tomorrow morning. I spent most of today baking cookies and resting up from last night. I didn't get out of bed until lunch time. I made another three batches of cookies and then spent the evening with the gang at Aspen Lodge in Queenstown. For dinner I had my usual Sunday Meatball sub from Subway. I opted against cookies today because I had so many of my own.

Tomorrow I am off to Christchurch. Hopefully meeting up with Chris.

"I went to take a piss and everyone pissed off"

2009-03-21T11:34:00.000+13:00

Last night was amusing. After spending the whole day looking for Chris only to find out he was in Christchurch I knew the night was largely doomed to failure. Mike and I decided to go out and grab some drinks at a handful of bars and use all the 2 for 1 and other drink vouchers we'd acquired.

We started at Buffalo Club and shot pool for a bit before wandering into town and hitting Chicos and Winnies. At Winnies we saw this guy wearing jeans, a sports jacket, a fedora and some Chuck Taylors walking down the street kind of dancing. We yelled at him to moon walk and he tried but failed. Then he tried to come in to Winnie's and the bouncer shut him down. After our little outing we went back to Altitude and met up with Emma and then went to World Bar. At world bar I ran into two Canadian girls from Alberta I met on the bottom bus. Our group danced away to the tunes and had a jolly good time.

Problems started when I went to the bathroom. I told Mike I was running to the can and would be right back. Apparently he neglected to relay this information because when I came back everyone from our group was not where I had left them. I ended up finding them outside making there way towards Fergburger. I decided to pack it in and head back. iPod in hand I rolled back to YHA Lakefront.

Dice Shennanigans!

2009-03-20T11:58:00.002+13:00

Last night was a massive improvement over the previous night. The night started off with the dice game which always to good things. We played the game with myself, Kevin, Chris, Brin and two American girls Chris introduced us to named Kirsten and Katelyn. We started off by finishing Chris and Kevin's bottle of Jagermeister. After this we finished off what little was left of the girls bottle of Southern Comfort. Then we proceed to open and finish my bottle of Mount Gay Eclipse Barbados Rum. When we moved to the Rum we moved outside and across the street from the hostel to a park on the water front.

After we finished the game due to emptying all the bottles we played on the swings for a bit and then decided to head into town. I dropped the stuff off at the hostel and joined the group. Part way into town we lost Chris and Katelyn. That's the last I saw of them for the night. Brin, Kirsten, Kevin and myself continued townwards. Brin we decided was way to intoxicated after he tried to run into the lake and we had to assist him back to the sidewalk. We devised a brilliant plan to get him into bar by having him look like he was with Kirsten. Unfortunately Brin lost the plot and just walked past the bouncer when he asked for ID and then said something unintelligible when the bouncer asked him how much he had to drink. I walked Brin partway back to the YHA and then rejoined Kirsten and grabbed drinks before hitting the dance floor.

After sometime tearing up the floor at Altitude we rocked on over to World Bar and rocked on the completely dance floor. Other people saw us dancing and within 10-15 minutes the floor was hopping all thanks to us.

I ended up dancing my way (I had my iPod) back to my hostel around 1AM. It was a solid and highly entertaining night. I was also more than capable of walking myself back.