As you may or may not know, my trip was going to be big in Japan come April 19th. In true me fashion though, disaster struck as a huge earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant related issues all befell northern Japan in recent days.
Why is that in true me fashion? Well, I have recently described myself as the Harbinger of Doom (fittingly given the fact my friend Brandon compared my one comic appearance to one by Terrax, one of Galactus' harbingers), as my trips are always timed around natural disasters that directly affect my trip and precede my arrival by a few weeks.
That list includes:
- Italy 2009: huge earthquake in the south of Italy
- Coachella 2010: Icelandic volcano strands many bands from appearing at festival
- Christchurch 2011: weeks before my arrival, it is flattened by an earthquake
And now this.
Maybe there is something to this idea.
The last three days have been a sandwich composed of unremarkable bread and delicious dolphin meat (not a perfect visualization, but work with me). Two travel days sticking me in okay places for a time (namely the wholly okay Paihia, a beachfront town that acts like an expansive Kiwi frat) just so I can go visit the Bay of Islands, swim with dolphins and get my hobbit on in Hobbiton.
That last item is what I am doing tomorrow and the previous ones are what I did on Saturday and HOLY crap was that amazing. Swimming with dolphins was easily one of the most memorable things I have ever done, and I immediately want to get to snorkeling more often. The Bay of Islands themselves was some of the most breathtaking visuals I have ever experienced.
It has been an amazing time so far but I have quickly made some realizations about this trip. Let us look at some random notes so far:
- I should have spent more time in less places (I need a lot more time on the North Island of New Zealand)
- Free WiFi is a myth in New Zealand
- I may actually be able to pull off a beard (yes I am growing one, but mostly out of laziness and not out of desire of hipster appeal)
- "What's New Pussycat?" is somehow the theme of the trip, thanks to Brianna and Ivan in Seattle, an odd Spanish cover on a bus to Paihia, and 20 acapella singing German girls who did not know anything besides the chorus but decided they wanted to sing it over and over for 10 minutes at 2 am Friday night at my hostel in Paihia
- Older people love me, as every older person I meet invites me for rides, meals or staying the night in their home
- Traveling is a small world - I stayed the night with the same girl two times in three nights in two cities, and a second I stayed with is going to be in Thailand at the same time as me
- Visualizing Godzilla coming out of the water while on the open sea is one of the quickest ways to freak me out
- I am AWFUL at snorkeling
- My interviews from Emerald City ComiCon are up
That is it for now. My temporarily free WiFi from the coffee shop I am in near the bus depot nears its conclusion, so conclude I must. The trip continues on, and the next week should be an exciting one on a brand new island (that seems to be very Alaskan in many ways). Here is hoping it goes as well as the first island.
Music of the day: The Postal Service - Give Up
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