Not long now....

So 3 weeks to go... only 21 sleeps and I will be winging my way to Honololu.  Actually in 3 weeks right now I will have already begun my journey and will be in Sydney on the first leg of my awesome trip.  I have been counting for what seems like forever so to have it within grasp makes it pretty darn exciting...

So the itinerary is:

Brisbane - Sydney for 1 night
Sydney - Honolulu for 7 nights
Honoulu - NYC for 6 nights
NYC - D.C for 3 nights
D.C - Philadelphia for 1 night
Philly - NYC for 2 nights
Then back to Brisbane and work :(

I am so excited and just can't wait.  Pretty much most things planned.  In Hawaii we haven't actually booked anything except the accommodation. We have basically just said that we will get there, figure out what we want to do once everyone is there and then go with it.  Some things on the list include Pearl Harbour, shopping, a luau, maybe hire a car to go up to North Shore & the Polynesian Cultural Center, walking around Waikiki, the Sea Life Park, maybe a ghost tour - the girls want to do that, I am honestly not sure so will decide when we get there.  I am excited for the waves at North Shore - I am so not a surfer but apparently it is surfing season and the waves are amazing!  I don't even really like the beach but I love waves - I think they are incredible and I am looking forward to seeing some big ones.  Hopefully at the Sea Life Park we get to see turtles.. I want to see sea turtles and Adele wants to swim with dolphins... hopefully we will both get this.  I also want to go to the Bishop Museum - apparently it's really good.  I am looking forward to a really relaxing, cruisy time to be honest. I think it will be much like the cruise - only on land.. haha.

NYC is a different story - I think this will be go, go, go.... we are staying right in the heart of Midtown so will have access to a lot of things - only two blocks from the ESB, which I am reading a lot of reports saying not to do it... you know - for me it's not about going to the top of the Empire State Building, its the fact that I will be in one of the most iconic buildings in the world.  To say you have been to NYC means nothing if you haven't been to the ESB - that's what I think anyway.  I just want to see the building and the foyer and then to say I have been up is just the icing on the cake.  I know the view from the Top of the Rock is better because it has the ESB in the view and I will be doing that as well but I just really want to be able to say I have been to the top of the world :)  Other than that I want to go to The Met, The Cloisters, Central Park, walk the Brooklyn Bridge, Staten Island Ferry, The High Line.  Stacy will be with me for the first visit and then I will be on my own when I come back from DC & Philly... that will be Thanksgiving and I intend to go to the American Museum of Natural History the day before and see the balloons being blown up, then the parade itself.  I am still trying to figure out what to do after the parade.  Although, unless Stacy really wants to do the ESB before she leaves, I can leave it till Thanksgiving because it is open 365 days... I might do it that night even.  hmmmmm.... so many things to do!!!!  I really, really, really want pumpkin pie at some point too!!!

D.C has chopped and changed a couple of times.. just trying to work out logistics of when I am doing things.  I think I have it pretty sorted tho - get Amtrak train to DC on the 17th for 3 nights... staying just down the road from Union Station so have picked a couple of tours that leave from there so there isn't too much walking involved - especially because one of the tours is a night tour and I don't really want to be walking the streets of a strange city by myself at night.  So the night I arrive I am going on a night tour of DC... I reckon that will be pretty special.  The next day, which is a Sunday, I am going to do a day tour to Mount Vernon, Alexandria and Arlington Cemetery.. that is about 8 hours and leaves at 8am.. on the Monday and my last day, I plan to get up to the National Cathedral and then I plan to get back to the National Mall and walk from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol Building.  If I have time I would like to go the the National Archives and see a couple of famous documents - not being American, they don't mean the same thing to me as they would Americans, but still they are important documents.  Then on the Tuesday I will be up at sparrows fart to get the 6.30am train to Philly...

I am really looking forward to Philly... one of my friends for a birthday present, has organised a private day tour for me which includes - a 2 hour walking tour of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and Betty Ross' house to name a few... then it will be lunch - which could either be a Philly Cheese Steak or Colonial Food.. after lunch is a 5 hour driving tour taking in the Rodin Museum (I need to see The Thinker), the Art Gallery (think the Rocky Steps!), Eastern State Penitentiary, City Hall, etc, etc, etc... then a nice relaxing evening at the Best Western Independence Hall..  The next day my train back to NYC isn't until 12pmish so I am going to go to Christ Church (but of course) and the Christ Church Burial ground... then it will be time to check out of the hotel and head to 30th Street Station for my trip back to NYC.

As mentioned before I am still working out the final plan for Thanksgiving, but I am really excited to go and see the balloon inflation - apparently that is quite the crowd puller as well.. it goes from 3pm to 10pm so plenty of time to see some action.  I get back to NYC about 2pmish so will chuck my luggage at my friends place and then head down to the AMNH to see a bit of that and then see the balloons... I have a few hours on my last day before I have to head to JFK for my very long flight home so I might just find a nice spot somewhere, just chill and take in the atmosphere that is NYC.

I know I keep saying this but I just can't wait!!!!  I guess I shouldn't be wishing it to come too quickly because once it comes, then it is over too quickly.... but that's ok - I am already planning my next trip in Aug/Sep next year back to London :)

I'm From Christchurch, The Place Of My Birth.....

After having lived in Brisbane, Australia for nearly 10 years there is one thing I have learnt... I am and will always be a Kiwi.

I actually think I am more proud to come from NZ than I was when I first moved to Australia.  I know there are Kiwis that come to Australia and, whilst not denounce NZ, but don't have any plans to go back.  I for one, staying planning going back to NZ I think the minute I arrived.  It became clear to me in so many ways that I would not live in Australia forever and there would come a day where I would move back to my beloved Christchurch.

Being from NZ is one thing, but being from Christchurch is a whole other thing.  I have said many times that I am a Cantabrian first and a Kiwi second.  I am so fiercely proud of Canterbury and Christchurch that I was very surprised recently when I had a blood test and the blood wasn't Red & Black!

I do actually plan to move back to Chch within the next 3 years.  I have already decided that 5th September 2014 will be my last day of work.  Then I plan to do some travelling before heading back to Chch about January 2015.  A lot of people say to me "What's the point of going back to Chch?".  I know that the city is in the process of rebuilding and I think that in two years time it will be in a much better place job wise it is now.  I am realistic about it too.  I know there might not be my perfect job there, but I am happy temping until something comes up.  The one thing that does scare me is that by then I will be 42 years old - I know it's not 'old' in the general sense, but when looking for a job, it's not the best age.  Like I said tho, I am happy temping for a while until something better comes up.  Two out of my 3 jobs came temping so I am not too worried at this stage.

Now, I'm not saying that Australia is ALL bad!!  I have made friends here that will last a life time and made memories that I wouldn't have gotten anywhere else.  I have had the opportunity to work with a decent bunch of people, and in a very cruisy job considering.  I have been able to do some travelling around the country and the world and been able to afford to live on my own.  But another thing I have come to realise is that money isn't everything and doesn't guarantee you happiness.  That's not saying I make lots of money - just more than I know I would make in NZ.

I have realised that no matter where I am, I have to be happy and I don't think I will ever truly be happy in Australia.  I am content but that is not the same as being happy.  Every time I visit home I find it so hard to leave again and there is a massive part of me that wants to say "No, that's it.. I am not going back to Brisbane".

At this present time, the thing that is keeping me going is knowing that I have made the decision to leave and that I have put the plan into motion.  The two years are going to be a massive upheaval for me as I make my dream a reality but you know what, I am looking forward to it so much.  I really can't wait to get back to my home.