All That's New and Exciting

Okay. So first things, first. I have to apologize and state that my last blog listed a few mistakes regarding the details surrounding the Te Araroa trek. I have been in communication with a representative of the Te Araroa Trust who has informed me that I needed to make the following corrections:

• It is NOT the Department of Conservation that is creating the Te Araroa Trek. It is, in fact, the Te Araroa Trust who has been developing New Zealand's newest long distance trail.
• The Te Araroa Trail's official opening has been adjusted to the beginning of February 2011, NOT the late part of 2010 as I originally stated.

As such, I aplogize for any confusion surrounding this.

Outside of this, I have officially uploaded my website and it can be viewed at: http://www.onelifeadventures.com/ - This blog has also been linked to the main website and, as such, you can reach the site through clicking the "Home" link on my blogsite. On my website you will find information regarding my plans for trekking the Te Araroa Trail, how you can help out, pictures of former adventures and so much more! Please feel free to pass on my website link to whomever you like as I need to gather as much interest in this project as possible!

So now that all the "boring" stuff is out of the way, I suppose I should get on writing about life again. Life in Broome. Life with 2 jobs. Life in a tent.... Just life.

The past few weeks have been flying by. Each day blends into the next as I have had my bike stolen from the McDonald's parking lot during one afternoon of attempting to contect to their free wireless network. Yes, I had it locked up - but apparently bike theft is the biggest issue in Broome to date and as I had only spent a whopping $20 (plus $6 for the lock) on it, I wasn't completely heartbroken... only a little disappointed that I had to walk an hour to get back to the caravan park.

After that minor mishap I decided to invest in an USB internet stick. I needed it bad as it allowed me the opportunity to now be able to access the interenet whenever I need and not have to cycle (on the bike I no longer have) into town and hope that Mackers (McDonald's) has a good internet connection that day. Since I got the USB stick I have been hibernating in my tent during all my spare time to try and bring things together for my website and such so that everything is in working order. Doesn't sound like much work - but considering I have had no formal training on website creation, it takes a while to sort through every little situation so that the website is created the way I envisioned it.

Through my internet progress, I have been able to get in contact with the Te Araroa Trust in order to get questions answered regarding the trail being made as with it not being officially done, things such as detailed maps, conditions of the trail and what to expect and prepare for are limited. They have also graciously offered their support towards my project and I hope that in the coming months we will be able to collaberate with some creative ideas on how we can promote New Zealand's newest long distance trail.

I have also made contact with the Indigo Foundation of which we are now discussing options on how to best go about raising the $5000 I intend to pull in for this project. It's exciting to know that other people are excited about what I am doing, but it also makes things interesting as it's no longer just me that I am thinking of. It's no longer just about what I want, how I want it and when I want it - there are so many more factors involved than when I did the BC trek that it is almost overwhelming at times. And I have just begun. I can hardly wait to see what is around the next corner.

As such, while chatting it up with some people around the caravan park, I connected with one of our newer tenters, Alex (UK), who upon hearing my plans for New Zealand, though that she might like to be a part of the journey. And so today I come at a cross-roads. There is a possibility of doing this trek as a team of 2 females, rather than just a solo journey. There are many things to consider with this - good and bad - and so Alex and I have decided to take our time in making a decision as to what the best one would be. 5 months is a long time to be travelling with someone in any situation. Let alone if you have just recently met and the travelling happens to be in the more remote regions of a country. So we will see what happens.

All the New Zealand preparation aside, I have been working a lot of hours at both my jobs. Housekeeping takes up most of my time as I am there 6 days a week and because it is starting to be the busy season, our shifts are going longer into the afternoons. And then there is Zanders Restaurant. At this point I have mostly been a "Runner" (serving water, drinks, food and clearing tables) and that's pretty much all I do. Run. By the end of the shift I am in a full sweat and regularly down a litre of water when I head home as though I haven't tasted water in months. But I love it.

Anyway, there's lots going on. Lots of everything. Lots of nothing. Delphine is going back to France for a month. Kirstin is moving out of the tent sites to room it up in the caravan. Gerwin has found a sharehouse. Marissa (USA) and I have chatted it up about the reasons many people resent the States. Hannah and I see each other at odd hours in passing and are contemplating going halves on a hammock to hang between our sites. Yuri and Andrew are practicing poi and fire twirling by night. Dean and I are going to try the bootcamp at Cable Beach. I am trying to learn some Mandrin from my Taiwanese co-workers at the resort. And inbetween all of this I am trying to keep up on sleep.

So - I guess through all of this, I can say check out the new website and pass it on to whomever you think might be interested. Thanks to everyone who is supporting me in this journey and is as excited as me to see what happens next.

Behind These Four Walls

I constantly find it amazing how life works. There is never a moment where you can entirely predict what is around the next corner. It just happens.

And so I am here – in my tent – writing. These last few days have been a blur of activity. Everything and nothing has occurred. I am not just talking about how having 2 jobs and living on “Broome time” has created a lifestyle of which each day blends into the next. There is oh-so-much more.

I have recently begun my preparation for New Zealand. Now, before I get into that, I suppose I should actually (and finally) officially explain what I am planning on doing in New Zealand. Currently New Zealand’s Department of Conservation is creating the final aspects of its first and only cross-country hiking trail. Named the Te Araroa Trail, it will stretch approximately 3000km from Cape Reinga in the North to Bluff in the South and provide hikers with the opportunity to see and experience New Zealand in its natural state. The Te Araroa Trail is set to be completed in the later part of 2010 and I intend to be one of the first people to trek the entire distance of it.

Being a long distance trail, I am estimating the trek to take me approximately 5 months and that I will start the middle of October 2010. That being said, this trek will be slightly different than the approximate 1000km I did across British Columbia, Canada – and not just because of the length.

In trekking the Te Araroa Trail, I hope to use the experience to help promote women’s adventure travel, environmental sustainability and raise money for the Indigo Foundation (IF). IF provides assistance to improve the lives of people in marginalized communities in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, working in the areas of health, education, environment and advocacy. They work hard to fix issues each community in need faces through sustainability without throwing money and technology at the problems such as many organizations do. Through my journey along the Te Araroa Trail I plan to raise a total of $5000 for IF and their current projects. Finally, at the end of my journey, I hope to be able to write and publish a book about the entire adventure, including some aspects of my travel to date (British Columbia & Australia).

Okay – so that all said; now it’s down to the nitty-gritty. In the past few days I have been sending out letters to outdoor gear companies, requesting their support through sponsorship for my journey. I have also contacted the Indigo Foundation to inform them of my intentions and see if they want to be more of an active part of my journey. They do. IF replied to my email with about as much excitement for my plans as I have which is, well, really exciting. However, I now have to get my butt in gear to ensure that everything is in place for when the time comes to actually go to New Zealand.

As such, my spare time here in Broome (what’s left of it now that I am working 2 jobs) is consumed with plans of preparation. I have a website to create. I have to apply for a VISA for New Zealand. There’s the flight to New Zealand. I need my gear from home sent over. Figuring out what to do with the gear I have here is yet another dilemma. And then there’s funding and the raising of $5000 for IF. On top of that, there are all the other things to consider when communicating back and forth between both IF and any outdoor gear companies that wish to sponsor me. All of a sudden it is not just my ideas that need to be heard.

Even still, I am incredibly excited for this new adventure. Yes, it is almost 5 months away, but time will fly. Yes, I am intending to make it another solo adventure, but I am fully confident it is something I can do.

So – as I continue to prepare for this, I will be soon uploading a website with more information about the journey I intend to do, including how someone can get involved in supporting me. Until that happens though, I best be off to work. To clean rooms. What a joy.

We Are Family

Okay. So life has settled into its pace of ups and downs and such. Each day has come to blend into the next one to the point that I can hardly believe that I have been in Broome for a month already. It’s hard to even say what has happened in that time as life is all but a constant lull of going-ons. Nothing really happening, yet nothing really NOT happening either.
I have managed to get a hold of a cheap laptop with my last pay so that I can not only keep in contact with the non-Broome world, but that I can also begin to prepare for my next adventure. New Zealand. Yes, that’s right. The journey does not stop here in the far north-westernly point of Australia. I plan on continuing on to the beautiful country of New Zealand. But before I do that, I must take the time to prepare for it. I guess what I am trying to say is that you should read on as the adventure is far from over.

Back to Broome, everyday is almost exactly like the one before. The only markings of difference is what we might happen to bring back from our jobs, whether we went into town for the afternoon or if someone new has pitched a tent next to ours. What started out as just Hannah (Australia), myself and Gerwin (Belgium) has now grown into a “family” of tents that have overtaken the sites like a garden of weeds. We are almost full to capacity and I can only wonder how it is that we are all so fortunate enough to all get along. Though nearly all of us are working fulltime and staying in Broome for the season, there are still the odd "goodbye" we have to say to each other - even if it is just so someone can switch tent sites.

Since the beginning Gerwin has moved to the back corner of the caravan park to enjoy some shaded grass, peace and quiet. Kirsten (England) has eagerly set up her tent in his spot and we have traded Gerwin's "love rug" (a $10 picnic rug he bought and we all sat on frequently) for Kirsten's "zen mat" (her's is made of bamboo) to continue our daily pow-wow get togethers of making jewellery, star-gazing and practicing poi in the dark. Okay - so it's more or less just Kirsten and Yuri (Japan) that are doing the poi, but it sure is fun to watch! We have also had to say "goodbye" to Dalphine (France) and Andrew (New Zealand) who have upgraded to rent out a caravan and now the rest of us have to gaze with envy at their upperclass housing as they have a real stove to cook with and no longer have to wait endlessly for a free burner in the backpackers kitchen. Fortunately Dalphine says they'll visit.

Back in the "real world" life's problems consist of when they'll finally fix the hot water heater and toaster in the kitchen, whether the ants have found a new way into my tent and if I can make it another day in my uniform without my boss noticing that I haven't washed it. Work is much of the same as the biggest issue I have to deal with is whether we can flip the doona (that's a duvet for all you North Americans) over to hide the stain that the laundrymat failed to get out during the last washing. We'll spend endless amounts of time inspecting how dirty things are and discussing the best methods on how to make it clean again - but not before we jump at the chance to see if anyone had left us some food in the fridge upon their departure. At this I must note - should anyone reading this stay at a hotel, motel, resort or anything of the kind and have extra food left over upon check-out time - DO NOT THROW THE FOOD OUT. Us housekeeping staff deeply appreciate anything left behind. Even if it is chili pickled onions.

That being said, I suppose one of the more recent changes in my life is that I have gotten a second job at Zanders as a waitress. Housekeeper by day, waitress by night - I only wonder when I will find time to be a ninja. It works though - and because I got this second job I have been able to purchase a laptop. Yes, yes - I know - the last blog said I was so broke I couldn't even buy milk (I still don't have real milk - I use the powdered kind)... and here I am up and buying a laptop. Don't worry. I'm still broke. And I still need the money. This was more of an investment so that I can start preparing for New Zealand.

As such, as I start preparing for New Zealand, there will be some changes being made to things such as my blogs and such. I have already updated my photo album list so that it is more condensed and organized according to dates. Each dated section you click on will open up to a blog entry of which the photo album links are listed. This is only with regards to the older photo albums as the newer ones (such as "Just Broome") will be listed by title untill I create enough to categorize by date. Feel free to comment on this change with regards to its ease of use.

I have also begun to create an official website to which this blog will be attached to. Again, this is not currently in place and I will update my blog as I go on its progress. Other than that I apologize that there is not something fabulous to write about here. Nothing has really happened. Just life.