Being "Outside"

The world isn't such a bad place... being in motion has been good for my soul. It's been 2 months now since I left the island and have traveled many miles. Here I am, my last night in Sydney, Australia; the place I have called home for the past 7 weeks. Saying goodbye will not be easy. I'm going to keep this post short and bittersweet. It has been a wonderful summer so far, what more can I say?

Pictures (from top to bottom) are from Royal National Park, Palm Beach (Northern Beaches), Blue Mountains (me, Dad and Jordan at Minnie Ha-Ha Falls, the Three Sisters), and Fraser Island in Queensland (Karina wading in Lake MacKenzie; Jordan, Dad and Karina; Lake Wobby, a wild dingo on the road, and camping in the rainforest)

Living in Oz

I arrived in Sydney on June 2nd (June 1st, 2008, did not exist in my world), and here I am two weeks later feeling very much at home. I've always known that I was a very adaptable person, but sometimes it amazes me how quickly it happens. My life in Metlakatla now seems like a distant memory, far, far away. In the present time I am very happy with my surroundings, and am trying not to look into (or worry) about the future. It doesn't exist anyway, so what's the point?

Living with my dad in a tiny apartment isn't that bad. He's so busy we hardly see each other except for the weekends and an occasional evening meal. I'm quite content lounging around all day, although I have recently joined a yoga studio and am taking full advantage of their "Power Yoga" classes every day. There are also tons of places to walk, even some bush walks! One can pretty much walk all along the Inner Harbour on tracks (trails) through the bush. I plan to walk to Manly Beach as soon as we get a good sunny day. The sun comes in and out, but there has been quite a bit of drizzle too, fast moving clouds, but warm temps (20 C, 68 F). Yes, I'm still a bit weather obsessed, nice to know some things don't change.

Here are some pictures of where I am living: the view from my dad's place looking out at the Sydney Harbour (the top of the Opera House is visible, along with the Harbour Bridge), and some shots taken during the 21 gun salute for the Queen's Birthday.

Also, took a week long trip down to Kiama to spend time with my Grandmum and her husband Jim.

Larger Than Life

I kicked off the summer with a 1600+ mile roadtrip that started in Prince Rupert, B.C., on May 24th and ended in Anchorage on May 28th. The scenery was breathtaking, so only these pictures can truly describe the experience.

Saw an abundance of wildlife along the remote highways of British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska: caribou, fox, black bear, moose, trumpeter swans, and the occasional human. The rivers and lakes were breaking up under the warm sun, just in time for me to take a quick bath in Watson Lake, Yukon. I definitely fell in love with this area of the world, hoping to someday make my home near the majestic Wrangell-St.Elias mountain range (that's me pointing at them).

Climbing on the Matanuska Glacier where I couldn't resist rubbing mud on my face.

Two More Days on the Island

Last weekend I procrastinated. It was my last weekend before summer break and I had a lot of packing to do, BUT the weather was just too perfect to spend indoors. Nevada took her sea kayak out for its maiden voyage and I got to try it out. We were wearing shorts and sandals on this warm day, laughing at how our definition of "warm" has changed by about 10-15 degrees.

Here I am with 24 hours left before I have to vacate my classroom. My desk is still cluttered and there's a lot of work yet to be done, but I have no doubt it will all be done in time (with the help of my darling student helpers). As part of my procrastination activities, I collected a bunch of sea greens and have been drying them to make into seasoning blends for next year. This is what my living room has looked like for the past 2-3 weeks:

I will be kicking off the summer with a road trip. My friend Katie is moving to Anchorage and I'm helping her drive. So on Friday we leave on the ferry and arrive in Prince Rupert, B.C., Saturday morning. Then we will start driving up the Cassiar Highway across the Coastal mountains, into the Yukon, crossing into Alaska and finally arriving in Anchorage on the 28th. I'm most excited about passing through the Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and going on a good, long hike outside of Nabesna.

After the road trip I will be flying to Sydney, Australia, where I will spend most of my summer break. I'm excited to spend time with my family and hopefully make some money working as a sub at my dad's Montessori school. Then in late July I will return to the states for some "summer" fun in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington. The rest of my plans are yet to be determined.

I'm so glad summer is finally here. I'm ready for an adventure, to travel and be free to roam as I please. Stay tuned!

Ketchikan Getaway

Last weekend I took a little "vacation" over to Ketchikan. I needed to get away (and put gas in my car, at least that was my excuse). The weather had been beautiful all week and Friday evening was perfect for camping-- clear, warm (50 degrees), and no wind. That all changed by Saturday afternoon, and that night can only be described as WET.

What I really needed was to explore, to move, to hike. So Saturday morning I took the Tongass highway North to the end of the road (about 18 miles from Ketchikan) and went on a nice, long hike-- Lunch Creek Trail. I started out at 8 AM and had the trail to myself for the whole 8 mile round trip. It was overcast, no rain, and the creek was raging from the melting snow up in the mountains. I got as far as I could go until I hit deep snow and found myself post-holing up a steep mountainside, not very pleasant. So I sat and breathed in the oxygen next to these beautiful falls before heading back down the trail, feeling refreshed and relaxed. I spent the rainy afternoon at one of my favorite "hangouts" in Ketchikan-- Parnassus Books.

The Days are Getting Longer...

And when the sun is shining, that means there is a LOT to do around here and plenty of time to do it in (as long as you don't mind sacrificing a bit of sleep). It seems like just days ago I was walking to school at 8 a.m. in pitch black night, gazing at the stars, the same stars that would shine above me when I walked home at 4 in the afternoon. Now I wake up at 6:30 and think I've overslept-- the sun is already high in the sky!

Speaking of sun, we have had 4 straight days of sunshine!!! The weather is even "warm"... might get into the 50s today! I'll be rid of this pale Alaskan skin in no time. Last weekend, friends Shannon and Randy took me, Kelly and Todd out on their new boat. It was chilly, but the sun made up for it. We couldn't go too far out due to the winds and high seas, but Randy took us to the ship graveyard on Hemlock Island and we toured around Chester Bay enjoying the ocean with friends.

Kids...

As much as I would love to post pictures of all my lovely kids, I can't. But I can post their artwork! This mobile was made by a second grader. The lesson was around the concept of balance and they were free to decorate their mobiles anyway they wanted. Most kids chose to decorate them with cute little stars, hearts and rainbows, colorful, pretty things. This kid had something else in mind. I didn't notice it until after they had left and I was hanging them up from the ceiling... and it made me laugh so hard I just had to hang this one right over my desk. Quite a sense of humor and an imagination... and you don't even want to know what he drew on the backside!

Only 27 more school days... I am so ready for summer.