Apologies for the Randomness

Sorry all.... internet is expensive and hard to come by over here. I'm posting stories in bits and pieces as i go so that explains the delay in my travels and blog posts. May just have to hook up with all of you when i get back and share stories :)

Glacier hiking tomorrow!

Sydney

Now I had gotten word from my parents that Steven had been delayed in travel and that he would be arriving after me in Sydney, luggage-less and without a shower for 9 days. They had sent me an old address for the friends we were to be visiting and i was crossing my fingers that it was correct. I had managed to plan out my entire bus route, but much to my surprise, our friend Dave was waiting for me at the airport. We make it to home base and i am greeted with shots of Akavate, home-brewed beer and good food. My kind of place! One hot shower later and i am feeling like a million bucks. Dave tops off a stellar lunch with an even better dinner and him, his Aussie lads and I head downtown for a Saturday night in Sydney.
Steven arrives early in the am. Dave and I are waiting anxiously at the airport - I have promised mom and dad that i will give extra hugs for all the time that has passed since any of us have seen him. After 2 hours of delayed flights, i see his blonde head appear through the crowd and i attack him. Big smiles for both of us :)
It's shit weather in Sydney but screw all that. We visit all the hot spots - Bonji beach, Coogee, Circular Quay, Sydney Harbor, the Opera House, ANZAC bridge, etc, etc. Time to get Steven good and drunk. It's the only right thing to do to someone that's been trapped on a base for months and months without any alcohol or women. A local pub and an OZ-NZ football game start the night off well, especially since we are in good company after and Aussie win. A couple hours after our pub crawl, we have a group of 10 in a basement pounding wine, jamming out with an array of musical instruments and some very not in unison signing. After much complaining, we've been told to take our drunken shenanigans elsewhere. And what better location than the ferry stop down on the harbor that's just had its last ferry run through.
Unfortunately, i can't put into words the ridiculous free-style lyrics or musical masterpieces that we were able to create - there's a video on my facebook for that - but i can tell you that the night ended with a good ol' Cummings foot-race challenge, Steven good and liquored up, passed out in a taxi cab, 2 boys throwing up their beer, wine, and kangaroo lasagna and an attempt to hop the fence and break into the house as result of keys that had gone missing.

Day 2 in Fiji....

It's been hard to find internet - much more so than i thought. As a result, my posts have been pretty delayed. Nevertheless, the stories are still logged to memory.
Day 2 in Fiji proved to be quite interesting. I woke up early as i had hired a driver to take me around to see a couple of the sites and local villages. I popped into the main hut for a quick bite and said a few hello's to the local couples i had danced with the night prior. It was raining, so most everyone had cancelled their plans for the day and seemed to just be hanging around. I decided to head out regardless in hopes that the rain hadn't extended to the adjacent villages. Also because the idea of spending another day alone at the resort did not sound entirely enticing.
My driver's name was Johnny. A simple name compared to Towhite or Sateesh who were the other drivers i had met briefly. He was friendly enough and really liked coffee - that seemed a good combo for me for the time being. We started the day off at a local Bavarian store to do some shopping. Not even 10 minutes into my day and i'm already spending more than i had budgeted - that's a New Yorker for you. And clever little sales people they were, convinced me to purchase a drift wood piece and rather than shipping it (being that i couldn't really fit it in my pack), they promised (yes, promised) to deliver it to the airport upon my travels back through on my return. We'll see if it shows up.... perhaps i was duped.
Then we were off to visit a local pottery village. These locals - mostly woman - spend their day carving and firing pots and trinket things for sale to tourists and fund much of the village life from it. Everything is molded by hand from red clay. Although some things were kind of neat, and certainly nothing i could make myself, it was nothing more than a tourist trap. But I did get to try Kava and they gave me something to the extent of a legit Kava ceremony. They made me take my shoes off, sit in the middle of the room and everyone sat around while this lady pulled out a big bowl for me to drink from. Now i had been told Kava was brown and similar to the taste of mud, so when she started scrubbing the bowl with a rag and ringing it out into the bowl, i really thought i was going to have to force down some nasty mud water containing whatever remnants the rag and bowl held. Not quite that bad, but also not too far off. After what turned out to be her cleaning the bowl, she opened a bag with brown powder, dumped it into the cleaned bowl and poured some more water in. Result -- brown watery substance much to the taste of mud. Bonus – a slight taste of cinnamon. I was passed my kava drinking bowl, told to hold it in the air as in "thank you", say Bula, down all liquid at once and then clap 3 times. Repeat. Repeat. Not sure what the effect was that i was supposed to feel, but i see why they do the kava ceremony prior to trying to sell you things. Get the American good and drunk and maybe she'll spend more...
It's not too much of a crazy feeling but the numbness to the tongue hangs around for quite a bit. It was a little altering too since Johnny then took me and dropped me off in the middle of Sigatoka town to wander around by myself and find some lunch. The locals there FLOCK to tourists, and being blonde and obvious in the non-Fijian department i was certainly an immediate prey. I ended up with some shitty pearl earrings after exhaustion with a relentless woman. That and not much time for food. However, a yam cake, spinach cake and some dried peas cost me less than a dollar and were delicious!
Moving on - - we travel to see the sand dunes. I am given the option of a 2 hour walk or a 1 hour walk. Being that i haven't gotten a good run in since the race, i decide to shoot for the longer one, but then realize that my driver will have to wait for those 2 hours. So what do i decide...? I'll just invite the guy along. Good going Alice, smart one you are. I find myself a half hour later very alone and far away from any civilization with a man who throughout my conversations has seemed nice but is starting to walk very close to me. I pick up the pace and look for any sign of the shorter path back out. Not really sure that Johnny got the message, but he certainly brought to my attention many times that i was a fast walker.
Last stop we have scheduled is the local waterfall – the one i had so courageously tried to go after on my own the day before. I never found the place because i was COMPLETELY off target. We turned off the main road and drove about 5 miles (or however many kilometers) on a dirt road and up to this site that was pretty well signed with waterfall pictures, ad's for horse riding, cliff jumping, yada, yada. Kids are all around, 2 couples are leaving and i pay the guy $10 to walk myself down the trail. Another guy comes up and asks if i want to ride a horse in. I tell him no, but he insists that i shouldn't go alone and that it's pretty muddy and a difficult walk. Scoffing at him and slightly irritated that he thinks i can't manage my way through some mud, i press forward. Galloping up behind me comes Johnny and he tells me that the guy trying to sell me the horse ride is not a good guy and that he doesn't want me going to the waterfall alone. Oh boy.... here we go. Assuming that other people would be on the journey and at the gorge swimming, i let him join me on the 2 mike hike to the falls. We make it to the falls which is pretty but absolutely desert of any other sightseers. NO PEOPLE. Johnny is climbing a cliff and thinking i should continue following him, I climb on. Well i'll be damned if the man wasn't trying to get out of sight and take a piss, but not even thinking of that, i run smack into the guy in mid pee!!! Go figure. That was a cake topper for him. The whole way back on the trail he kept trying to hold my hand and help me across the rocky parts of the trail. I had to stop and tell him that i did not need any assistance and that he was making me uncomfortable. That made for a fun drive back.
I made it back to the resort and in hunt of a well needed beer, i ran into my local Pittsburg couple. They had apparently been awaiting my arrival and god bless them because the wife had made them sit there until she saw that i had made it back safe since she had been concerned that i was 2 hours later than expected.
I ate and shared a couple beers with some travels from New Zealand. Early to rise the next morning - my flight was at 9 am, but the airport mind you is 2 hours away. And who's there to pick me up at 4:30 am? Oh yes... my dear friend Johnny.
The 2 hour commute started with "good morning" and then Johnny telling me that he couldn't sleep because he had been thinking about me all night. Again, note to self that single travel in 3rd world countries is not the way to go. I made it through several grueling conversations and to the airport where i met a couple from Chicago who topped that thought off with a horrid story about thier female neighbor at their resort being robbed and a local kidnapping. Get me on a plane and out of this country! Sydney and my brother were soon to be a blessing...

Note to Self....

Never travel alone through third world countries. Single travel to private-island resorts on Fiji - possible; single travel to resorts set back 8 kilometers from only local road on Fijian mainland - not so much.

Honestly, it could have gone very bad, but obviously i escaped alive and am perfectly fine. There really weren't any horribly concerning moments, but I definitely got myself into some interesting situations. But then again we all know i do this on a regular basis regardless of location. Hence the blog and nickname.

Day 1: I was picked up at the airport in Nadi and driven 2+ hours south down to the coral coast of Fiji, and several kilometers off the only local main road, to a quiet little family run resort housing about 30 private huts and access to a private beach. I was greeted with a smile and a welcome shell lai. Not too shabby... Well, the Internet description had also mentioned a welcome tropical drink but much to my disappointment that seemed no where insight. Seganaleqa, Marau (no worries, be happy).

I eat breakfast, throw a swim suit on an head to the beach. With a warm sun, comfy chair and absolutely no cell service, i passed out without a care in the world. An hour or so later i find myself bored... All the couples around are obvious honeymooners and I figure i'll pass on the chit chat for now. They are in their own worlds anyway. Moving on, I find a kayak, throw it in the water and jump in. An Aussie lad wanders over to me and asks if i know what i'm doing - as if i don't, come on now. He tells me to head up stream against the current. Says it gets a little rough, so stay close and don't go out to where the water is breaking. Right; those 10 inch waves look mighty dangerous. I decide to run back and grab my (new) camera since the water looks calm and the views are breathtaking. Not even 5 minutes later i'm cursing the water and finding it incredibly difficult to paddle through. Ozzy boy was certainly not kidding about the damn current. I reach a cove and turn in to take a break. I look back at a tall rock jetting out of the water that i just passed and i see a face staring back at me from the shapes the cliff edges form - must be some sort of sacred rock. I pick up my camera to snap a picture but i get nothing - camera is dead. Water logged. Are you kidding me? I only made it through 7 pictures and i'm on day 1. Go genius self. I turn back and find myself sitting 2 feet from a Fijian man standing dead in front of my kayak in the sallow water. Holy crap. Where the hell did he come from?? No crazy tattoo's or piercings on this island native, but he is covered with fish bodies hanging from string.

"Bula"

Bula. I know that one. That means hello. One down. I nod, reply back, insert paddle into water and push forward. Stroke, Stroke, Stroke... exhale. Right... Time to head back.

I get to the beach and realize i'm burned to a crisp. I go searching for sun screen in the main hut but only find a small bottle of SPF 15. $27?? Come again?? That's almost 15 American dollars! But also my only option. Mind you, the closest village is, um, no idea, but damn far. I buy the lotion, lather up and throw a shirt on. Scratch the beach... time to explore OUT of the sun.

I wander down a small path that takes me past the last of the private huts and into the surrounding greenery. A couple minutes later i find myself in the middle of about 20 stone beds all facing the same direction. The sun is over head, but looks to set in that same direction. It suddenly dawns on me that i'm on a grave site - yikes. Move forward. Not even a second later, I'm somehow dead in front of 6 cages, all housing giant pigs. 2 seem to be asleep and 3 seem to be too fat to handle movement, but 1 is not too happy that I am his new company. The cage doesn't look all to secure either - or maybe all Fijian animal cages are made of scrap wood nailed together with large gaps and breakage points. All i know is i'm getting FAR away from here ASAP.

I jet toward the water and walk along the beach for a while until i see another trail. My driver had mentioned a waterfall close by so maybe this will lead me to it...? I venture in and i'm soon immersed in rain forest jungle. I keep moving forward hoping to reach some sort of rewarding destination eventually and i walk for about a half hour. It starts to get pretty thick, and i'm definitely climbing upward in elevation but any dangers seemed small since I had read Fiji was home to only non-poisonous insects and reptiles. Another 15 minutes in the trail seems almost invisible, so i back track thinking i missed something. I get back to an open space that could be where i went wrong and i start to realize that i have no idea which direction i came from nor which direction i had just been going. Crap. Hansel and Gretel style, i set up arrows of sticks for trial and error efforts to find my way back the direction i had come from. 4 arrows later i'm pretty confident i'm back-tracking correctly that, but 10 minutes after that I'm back to square one. Another open space without trail markings coming to memory. Everything looks the same. Bugs are biting me, i'm covered in sweat and i am in the beginning of a panic. Now my head is screwing with me and i'm hearing things. Not to mention i have absolutely no idea where i am in retro spec to my resort or the ocean. The sun is setting. No bueno.... I build more arrows. Ok, seemingly ok again - back on trail. I make it through another 20 minutes in reverse of what i am hoping is the direction I came in. I kick it in to a bit of a run and SCORE - water ahead. I'm out of the jungle but not where i entered the trail. I'm on a beach though which is much better than thick tree's and vines. I'm bound to stumble upon the resort soon. I walk a bit and turn back to look at where i came from and see a Fijian woman and 2 children not far behind me. Where did they come from?? Keep walking.... I see a cruise ship way off in the distance and what looks like a small village across this small bay that i am walking the perimeter of. It's getting pretty dark and i've got to cross a bunch of rocks along the shore break. Minutes pass, scenery starts to look familiar and i make it safely back to the resort. Sigh.

As i climb the steps up the hill, i hear drums and remember the lady who greeted me had told me about the dinner ceremony. They were cooking lovu for dinner - fish and chicken wrapped in leaves and cooked over hot rocks in the ground. If it's anything like Kahlua pork, i'm down. I see some of the couples from earlier heading towards the bar - time for my tropical drink. I stop for a second, realizing i'm covered in dirt and sweat, so i deviate, deciding to make a quick stop off in my room and clean up.

No lights... odd. Ok... water works though. I jump in the shower but am shocked by the cold water. Right... no power means no hot water. Lovely... my burning skin takes to the cool water though and i jump out refreshed and throw some clothes on. Anxious for a deserving cocktail, i find my way down to the bar and introduce myself to a couple i had said a brief hello to before on the beach. They turn out to be from Pittsburgh and have been in Fiji for a couple days on honeymoon. Other couples are from Oz and NZ - i guess Fiji is to them as Bahamas are to the US. We all end up eating together, buffet style, and are entertained by the resort staff who engage in local music and dance for a while. Several cocktails in, they have the majority of us joining in-line, snake style, and weaving our way in and out of the resort property, hands on the hips of each person in front of us. A big native woman leads us around and around until we all decide to adjourn the scene and hit out beds.

Early rising for me as i have hired a driver to take me around the land tomorrow and see what Fiji holds....

NY Ragnar Relay 2010

Click here to view these pictures larger

Go Team Screaming Bohemains!!!

15 people. 27 hours. 186 miles. Damn...

Wake up. Was that sleep...? Load my truck. Drive. Car honking... Bike fell off car rack. Stop to find bike. Get yelled at by black lady in the middle of the street. Try to locate bike tires... no where to be found. Get back in car. Wait - homeless man walking with my bike tires. Attack. Back in car -Drive. Pick up MASSIVE van. Drive. Load Van. Almost get parking ticket from angry ticket lady. Drive. Gas. Decorate van, hand out shirts, explain rules. Back in car.... split. Van 1 makes it to start. Check. Van 2 - makes it to camp. Check. Runner up. Van 2 - pick up runners. Check. Drive to start - um... is that a sign for Yonkers...? Damn. U-turn. Reach start - Run. Back in car. Water. Food. Get out of car. Safety vest... flag... what??! Back in car... drive. Run. Back in car. Crap, we're lost. GPS...? Navigate. Cell phone ringing.... Who's running? Who's running next? Where are we? Need water. Damn, late for volunteer shift. Need food - no more trail mix. Run again. Try to sleep. Bugs bitting me. Shut eyes. Open eyes. How long was i asleep? 1 hour.... Where is the team? Next runner up in 15 minutes.... must move quickly. Baby powder everywhere... Run. Drive. Run again. Lost... where am i? Must have missed turn... cop stopping. Get in cop car - bum a ride. Locate team. Back in car. Repeat, repeat, repeat... sprint to finish. Kick some ass. Drink best beer ever. Free high fives for everyone :)

Going Live

A big "O-Ooooooooo!"

(For those living far far away from the land of humor, that's a shout out to the oh-so-hilarious, Baby Mama)

The bug finally bit me. Right in the grand ol' ass at that. As many good people will remind you, life is just too short so you have to go after what you want and live it. The white rabbit is wondering and i'm chasing after it...

Quitting time is soon approaching and I'm off to find many new adventures after that. Follow my blog to see what crazy situations I run into and how karma really does stick to some more than others. Anyone that knows me will rarely pass up the opportunity to catch a good "Alice Story"

I'm keeping this public, so pitch in and post me some love if you can find the time!