Month: September 2017

Well technically I’ve been north of Seattle on Camano Island, but I’m still signing off.
It’s weird to think that what started months ago is about to draw to a close. Shame really, as it’s been quite possibly, the best 6 months of my life. The jaunt has certainly been jolly.

I went for a nice run in a beautiful state park on the island last night, and I couldn’t help but reminisce as I ran. Thinking back to my first run, in Kyoto, back in March. There has been plenty more of them, and the strangest thing was, I was able to recall each and every run. Seriously, everyone.
This does not surprise me as I have endeavoured to try and commit my trip to memory. Where it became a great way to put myself to sleep at night, recalling a daily snippet from each day of my trip, and then flowing through my journey day by day. I guess I did this as a way of insuring I don’t forget. So perhaps I don’t fail to remember to be thankful for everything I have experienced, not to forget how blessed I have been with this trip.

So yes, to catch my flight tonight I’m driving up to Vancouver with my friend Judith, whom I providentially met at the Sydney airport,  returning from the last time I was over these parts back in 2011. I’ve spent the last week enjoying her wonderful hospitality, traveling around areas of interest, meeting her friends and being fussed over at every cafe we visited, insuring we get the best flat whites. It’s been really nice. Though the sun has only made itself known these last couple of days. It hasn’t been raining, far from it. There has been a huge draught as of late, and massive Forrest fires that have caused very poor visibility due to the smoke. So yeah, I only recently got to see that they do in fact have very large and impressive mountains in Washington State.

Before I came west, and after I left my northern adventure, I got to do one more lunch with my good friend Miss Black, though I’m sure the next time I see her she’ll be a Mrs. I made pancakes for another buddy, in thanks for sleeping on his couch. Good ol Fabio. I gave him his camp name 9 years ago on account of his long flowing locks. It’s good to see he’s traded some of his hair for a briefcase. I got to have one more beer with another exceptional fella, who I wish lived closer. But that’s the things about good friends, time and distance can be quickly resolved. From there I jumped on a train I was very familiar with to see some other good folks I also wish lived closer. The last time I saw them back in 2011, there was just the 3 of them, Steve, Kariss and a 12 month old Henry. I met Steve and Kariss on my first trip to Canada, so a good 10 years ago. I think we bonded over chicken wings and nachos at 4 in the morning watching the All Blacks destroy the Canadian side. Kariss, is a kiwi, so I knew I we’d get along fine, and it was good to hear that she has maintained her strong kiwi accent. It’s been good to keep in touch as the family grew, and pretty darn cool to meet a now 6, Henry, a 4 year old Lydia and Theodore who is almost 2. Steve has always been one of my favourites chefs, and his cooking did not disappoint! I got his very best Perogies and eggs Bene. I’ll store those recipes away.
I left them earlier than epected as I had plans to catch up with some other buddies I’d been hanging out to hang out with since I got to Canada. Firstly, a big northern Irishman whom I spent a good amount of time with both in Canada and Belfast. I do love the Northern Irish accent, as I often find myself adapting my speech to suit. The next was my old housemate from my time living in Waterloo Kitchener, back in 2009-10, Jil. The last time we caught up I realised I trusted her impeccably, as she took me for a ride on her motorcycle at a asquilion miles an hour. This time, it was just nice to hang out on her porch chatting over pizza, watching a storm go by. Plus she was kind enough to let me stay at her place which is near the main train line to the airport. Which meant my early morning departure wasn’t as early.

This league of my trip has certainly been enjoyable. If you remember, the first part I knew know one, but the last part, I went only to where I knew people, well except for Magnetawan. It’s interesting as I, along with everyone else I suspect, would hold that life over the past 6 years has definitely changed us. I’ve grown is some areas and shrunk in others, not all for the good of course. So it’s been enjoyable reestablishing friendships, whilst also forming many others.

It’s all very interesting heading home, I suppose I can’t put the inevitable on hold forever. And to be fair, it’s all on once I get back. I have a medical assessment on the 18th, a pre-interview for Ordination on the 20th and to top it off, a sermon to prepare for on the 24th. I’ve got to find a job, a car and a place in Auckland to call home. I’m ending one adventure only to start another. Sure, I’d like to suggest that I won’t wait as long until my next big trip. I’ve got a few ideas; I like the sound of Central America, almost as much as I’d like to head back to Greece and head East instead of north west. But I also like the idea of using the full 90 days on offer on the tourist visa to road trip around the U.S of A, that would be fun. As Americans are mighty friendly folk.
To be fair, everywhere I have gone, people have been friendly. I really can’t think of any place where people were intentionally mean or unhelpful. A lot of it comes down to my attitude. How you project will shape the way people respond.

Anyways, to conclude.
It’s been an absolutely golden last 6 months and so the awards go to…
Country visited I would most love to return to: Greece, followed by Japan and then Croatia.
Country least likely to return: Slovakia, Bratislava.
Favourite city visited: Vienna, Austria.
Most liveable city: Edinburgh, Scotland.
Most impressive attraction: The Upper Corinth, that place was incredible!

Honourable mentions: Bosnia and Serbia were surprisingly fantastic, as was the Czech Republic. I do love Germany, and I’d like to try travelling extensively around the U.S someday, that would be fun.

So yeah, that’s about it I guess. It’s been fun, I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed getting the material. By last count I have about 1500 photo’s and around 100 videos. Each one tells a story or has a story to tell. It’s been a story I’ve really enjoyed sharing. But my story, God willing, will go on, I just wont be writing about it. Well, perhaps, I’m sure this next 6 months will be just as jolly, if not adventurous.

 

Over the past 2 weeks I’ve been slogging away digging trenches, shifting and raking out gravel, I aided in the building of a tent platform and an indoor couch. I supervised archery, canoeing and paddle boarding and at all times I’ve fought a loosing battle against mosquitoes. It’s been absolutely great!
I managed to find this place last minute through a website called ‘workaway.org’. It’s a site I’ve used throughout my trip to find places where I could stay whilst balancing a work/play lifestyle. I did a Workaway in Crete, Serbia, Bosnia and the Czech Republic. I hadn’t anticipated that I’d do one in Canada, but I’m very thankful I did.

The place is called Lighthouse Landing, it’s on Lake Cecebe, near a lighthouse, hence the name… The nearest town to Lighthouse Landing is a place called Magnetawan, it’s a 3 min drive, a 3 km jog or a 45 min canoe ride from camp. It’s small, but pretty, and has an ice cream trailer, a general store, a hardware store, a bakery and a grill and 5 churches on the same street. Lighthouse landing is a small camp on a big property that runs autistic camps during July and they rent out their beautiful rustic cabins during the inhabitable times of the year. I managed to check out their website before I came and it looked very scenic, I even read some reviews which all spoke of the genuine friendliness of the staff, so it was reassuring knowing people had good things to say about where I was headed.

I chose it because it’s kinda in the area where I spent a lot of time from 2007-09, that being the beautiful wooded and lake areas surrounding Algonquin park, 4 hours north of Toronto. So it was nice to watch out for familiar scenery as I sat on the bus.

When I checked the weather forecast on the bus coming up it didn’t look good, rain and thunderstorms guaranteed. And rain it did. It’s been a wet summer in Ontario all round, people haven’t been too stoked with it but what can you do. I remember a quote of Robert Laidlaw’s, “The man who smiles when the sun shines and frowns when storms gather is but a creature of circumstance, whereas the joy of life ought to come from the joy of living, not from the surrounding conditions.” The folk I joined up here certainly take the joy of living seriously. Jim and his wife Alyssa with their wee boy Asher, volunteer up here over the summer months, helping his mum, Fran, who acquired this place off her dad. It’s been in their family for 50 odd years. It was really easy to settle into life amidst this small community, I was instantly made to feel welcomed and comfortable. Everyone was just so friendly and genuinely stoked at my willingness to come and help them out.

I’ve always found Canadians to be exceptionally friendly people, and that is always multiplied when they find out you are from New Zealand, which doesn’t take long, and usually only after a couple wrong guesses. One little fella who I was helping on a paddle board said my voice sounded like a Movie… that was funny, though he couldn’t recall which one. Others have been genuinely surprised to meet someone from NZ all the way up in Magnatawan, one lady when she was told I was a kiwi, got out of her car and walked over to tell me how much she enjoyed visiting there earlier this year. Others asked me to help them find the right t-shirts for their friend, just to hear me talk, another lady, when i was grabbing a coffee from bakery couldn’t get over the accent, kept chuckling to herself as I ordered. She told me I made her day, so thats nice.

So here I am sitting on a comfy couch in the office, the day before I catch my early morning bus that will take me back down the line, trying to sum up the past 2 weeks. We’re about to head out on a field trip, to celebrate my time here. I can see how some would find this sought of experience a little daunting, staying with strangers, in a fairly remote place in the northern wilderness, surrounded by trees and on the banks of a deep and dark lake. And yet, with Fran, who would be deaf except for an amazing gizmo that attaches to her ear has provided endless laughter as she has called me at least 8 alternative names, I’ve been called Jo-no, Jonah, Jocko, and Joso, Rono, Rona Rocko and Rosco. It became such a common occurrence that soon Asher the 2 and a bit year old started calling me all of them as well, so yes, happy days.

I started my stay in an old powerless campervan parked in a clearing in the woods and true to prediction it rained. I quickly saw the areas of concern and set pick axe to the path to set about figuring out a proper drainage system. Tis some good honest work that. But I was happy to do it. There’s something about the clean fresh air of northern Ontario, surrounded by trees, pested by mosquitoes but encouraged and thanked all the way by my hosts. It’s easy to work when you like the people you work for and with. Plus, I was moved into my own spacious cabin, flush with the marvels of a fridge, lights and electricity, so I was much comfier.
I’ve had some significant down time as well, which has been nice. I kayaked up the airily calm waters of the Distressed river, where later we went out for a successful beaver spotting as the sun was setting, that was cool. I canoed over to Magnetawan numerous times for ice cream and beer. I swam in the lake and in some rapids, got on the paddle board a bundle of times, read, watched movies, visited the world famous screaming heads, chilled out with great people and chatted the night away on numerous occasions. One of the big highlights was my late night walks back to my cabin, as I’d have enough repellant on to be able to stand in the darkness and just look up. One forgets the beauty that is above us, when living in brightly lit cities.

It’s going to be sad to say goodbye to this place and more significantly to it’s people tomorrow. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here, getting to know them all and become part of the family. I’ve learnt a lot, laughed a lot more, tasted some really fantastic Vegan food and have much to consider as I move into my future. I’m sure it wont be the last time, as we share the love of travel, so we’ll meet again somewhere soon.

I was told the other day that I’ve have 2 weeks till I’m back in New Zealand. I’m beginning to get a little nervous about that, as there’s a lot of things that will need to happen once I’m back. I do however, still have plenty to see and do until then. I’ve still got friends to catch up with, and a new part of the world to explore, Seattle. A lot can happen in 2 weeks, something I’ve become very familiar with.