The finale.

Once again, I started writing my blog and got side tracked. What follows is an account of my final half month in America.

 We left Alabama heading south to New Orleans. The first stop in the city was at a local restaurant which I was assured possessed some of the best food in the states. The gator sandwich certainly didn’t disappoint. With a full belly of alligator we headed to the superdome to watch the New Orleans Saints take on the Lions in an NFC (NFL) game. The crowd/atmosphere was like nothing I have ever seen before at a New Zealand sporting match. I’m sure even the rugby world cup final wouldn’t have come close to the 70,000 screaming fans in a covered stadium (for approximately 4 hours). Two wild night outs ensued.

Monday brought with it the feature event; the College Football national championship game. People in the US are just completely nuts about “football” and college “football” is no exception. This year it was Alabama playing Louisiana, two neighbouring states (unheard of). This meant about 200,000 fans were in town for the game, it also meant A LOT of pre-game antics between the two rivalling support crews. I myself had been treated to a wonderful week in Alabama so I thought it only fair that I jump on the crimson band wagon.

Alabama won! It was the strangest experience being in a foreign state where only foreign staters could show their face without being ridiculed. Bourbon street (the main partying street) turned into a hyde street keg race esq scene, only about 5 times larger. Madness.

The morning after being crowned champions, (a very hungover) Davis, myself and his friend took to the inter-state and began our road trip west. After 9 hours driving we hit our first checkpoint, Austin, Texas. Unfortunately because we were so wrecked from the previous 3 days we decided against checking out what is supposed to be an epic party town.

Davis and I continued on the next morning through northern Texas where we passed by some billion year old rocks, some spectacular wind farms and countless oil derricks slaving away tirelessly. I decided to give Davis a break from the wheel and finally man up and took on the right side of the road, certainly an experience, especially after an amazing sunset followed by a blizzard on our way through New Mexico.

Our arrival into Boulder, Colorado was a welcome one. In total we covered 2900km in three days driving (suddenly the trip to Dunedin doesn’t seem quite so far).

Boulder brought with it many good nights drinking with Davis and his flat mates; Josh, Krammer and Jack. Over the course of the week I caught the Denver Nuggets play Lebron James in the NBA in Denver, I had a days skiing at Keystone,  I went on a short trip up into the hills to get a spectacular view of the Rocky’s, I saw Fitz And The Tantrums play and I saw Josh get his eye-brows shaved when Saints lost to the 49ers in the NFC. Great week all-round

My trip from Boulder to the airport was a shambles. Firstly the bus turned up 20 minutes late, it then proceded to break down on the interstate, after 20 minutes we were informed a new bus was coming, after half an hours wait I managed to hitch a ride with another man from the bus (who was also running late for his plane) that had called his wife to come and get him. After cruising the freeway at 140kmph I ran to the service desk only to be told they couldn’t get my bag on the plane because I was too late. Fortunately with some more New Zealand charm, the woman behind the counter let me on the next flight for no extra charge. Legend.

I arrived off the plane to be greeted by my good friends from Dunedin in2010; Danny, Jordan, her bf (Everest) and my best friend Five Litre Wine Goon Bag. We spent the night outdoor ice skating in the middle of Salt Lake City, seeing the morman sights (oh joy) and reminiscing over old times with another friend tequila.

The next day I headed up to the mountain Jordan and Everest work at. A free half days skiing followed before we packed up and headed to Vegas. There’s not really much to talk about here, but after re-uniting with Maximus Carnes-Mason, we hit the pokies, roulette wheels and black jack tables until we could hit them no more (physically,mentally and monetally). The next day was much of the same, but was capped off by a VIP stretch hummer trip to the most famous strip club, where we saw Tori Black and Alexis Texas.

The morning after, Max and I crawled into an airport shuttle and once there we caught our flights separate ways. His to San Diego, mine to Los Angeles, my final American destination!

My monetary situation wasn’t looking overly flash upon my arrival in LA, but after two hours of travel including a failed taxi, two public buses and half an hour of walking with all my bags I finally arrived at the hostel I was to stay the next three days at. Had I had a little more money/energy I could have caught LMFAO and a Black Eyed Peas dj, but I basically spent two days in bed recovering from my Vegas experience.

When I did brave it out of the hostel I ventured to Hollywood boulevard, where I saw the Chinese Theatre and the walk of fame. On my last day I caught up with Mel, an old friend I met during high school. We braved the Venice boardwalk and Santa Monica beach before finishing with my first ever hooters experience (and just a fantastic experience it was. The photo doesn’t quite do it justice).

HOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEE!

My five months away from home has absolutely been one I will NEVER forget. I have met so many fantastic people on my journey and I hope we can keep in touch for years to come. I will be back to Europe in the very near future so don’t forget about me. To everyone in America that was nice enough to let me into their homes and make sacrifices for me on my trip, I thank you so much for making it such an unforgettable (from what I can remember) trip. If any of you that I’ve met are ever in/back in New Zealand or Australia, there will always be a bed to stay in!

 

Rednecking The South

My last day in Vermont myself, Tommy and Lauren (a friend that had driven up the night before from Boston) went on a day mission to Montreal, Canada. No sooner had we left, we encountered a full on blizzard which made driving slightly difficult especially with the lack of 4 wheel drive or snow tyres. After crawling our way to the boarder and answering the same old security questions at the checkpoint, we crossed over into Quebec. To my relief we were greeted by a miles sign with a cross through it and the familiar sign of the kilometer. We continued further down the road to where we were then greeted by a not so familiar “Bonjour”. Literally, everything was in French and it made for an amusing ride into the city. Montreal itself is an awesome place. The French culture, combined with the snow and good looking girls made for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon before we headed back to Vermont that evening and parted ways with Lauren.

The next day I hitched a ride back down South to New York City with Mels sister. After walking four blocks with all my bags I again braved the subway (still with limited knowledge) to my friends brothers house (Harris). I was informed on arrival that they had headed into town and I had missed them by about five minutes. Again I headed back to the sub and into the thick of the city. After minutes searching I found the bar I was looking for, sure enough, as soon as I walked through the door I was greeted by the familiar face of Davis, my neighbour from last year. This was the beginning of several laaaaarge nights.

During a particularly large night out in NYC we were informed we had to try Dim sum (a style of Chinese  food) before we left. The next morning we woke up particularly hungover and caught a “cab” to China town. The food we were presented with was easily the weirdest textured food I have ever tried. From the limited amount I could stomach, I would describe it as a sheeps eye (thanks Iceland) wrapped in eel skin. Never again.

I awoke the morning after New Years Eve with no coat, no credit card, no NZ drivers licence, no Icelandic ID. If that’s not an indication of my NYC New Years experience then I don’t know what is. (Fortunately I found them later the next day at one of the bars we had “supposedly” visited the night before; whoops) .

My four days spent in New York this trip was much more party orientated than my previous experience. New Years eve was crazy and It was great catching up with Harris and getting to meet his friends. I was heavily introduced to the college football scene (everyone here is “football” mad) and have just recently been turned into an honorary Alabama supporter.

The night before I was due to leave the city, myself, Harris and Davis walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. This gave us an incredible view of the city in all its lit up glory.

I left the NYC for the second and final time, heading south-west on the crimson tide* to the land of red necks (and what I later discovered truly delightful people) and college football.

My time in Alabama staying with Davis’ family provided me with some much needed rest and relaxation. I’ve been treated to sleep ins, fantastic home cooked meals and some much needed mothering over the last three days (and the addition of football tickets to see the Saints vs Lions NFL match tomorrow night hasn’t hurt the situation).

Because I lost my NZ ID in NYC, I’ve had to use my Icleandic ID when purchasing alcohol. Some reactions so far (note that all of these are spoken in a thick, thick southern accent: “I can’t read that, just take it”| “What language is that even in?” “Icelandic”. “Oh, well ok then”| “What country are you from sir?”. “New Zealand”. “So you know about cricket?”-I literally had a 5 minute conversation with the only Bangladesh/American in the USA. To be honest I actually really enjoyed talking about “the forgotten sport” (self proclaimed).

Last night we went out deer hunting on a farm in redneck central. Alabaman deer hunting consists of sitting in a stand, drinking beer, with a big wide open field in front of you, with a few trees and a deer feeder luring the deer in. I took my camera and although the deer weren’t out there was a chance to get a few snaps of the amazing sunset (the sunsets out here are truly spectacular).

Tomorrow myself, along with about 200,000 other Alabamites head to New Orleans for the national college football championship game between Louisiana and Alabama. I’ve been told that even the hyde st keg race and other castle st antics, won’t have prepared me for what I’m about to get myself into.

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL TTTTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Super Troopers + Maple Syrup

I arrived in Waterbury, Vermont, half a bottle of Captain Morgan deep to be greeted by Carson, one of my American friends I met last year. We headed straight into Burlington where we caught up with another of my friends; Tommy. From Tommy’s we headed to a party at one of Carson’s mates house. One thing I discovered pretty quickly about Vermont is that there’s not a lot to do except ski. It was late December and there was still no snow on the ground and everyone was freaking out. The guys whose party we were at had built a ramp covered in ice shavings from the local ice skating rink to get them through the hard times. Fortunately I brought the snow gods from Iceland and the snow began soon after my arrival (Essential if I was to get my first white Christmas)! After a while we resided indoors to the safety of the pong table; it felt fantastic to exercise the table tennis ball throwing arm and the shotgunning skills after a four month layoff. Unfortunately Captain Morgan and the high octane beers caught up on me fairly quickly and an early night ensued.

The next day we went for a walk around the town and I was showed some of the sights the city had to offer, before heading back to Carson’s place out of town for the night.

The next day I met his family and was invited along on the annual Christmas tree hunt in the forest near their house; I was the eventual winner of the hunt, picking a spectacular, 7 foot, perfectly symmetrical beauty.

Later that night we attended the “Prickly Pageant”; a gathering of all the families from around the town, to sing Christmas carols and perform skits of current affairs. This was certainly an experience I won’t forget in a hurry and was a great start to the Christmas season.

After the pageant we headed into another party in Burlington. A few beers deep and we came up with the idea to go hiking the next day, up the second highest mountain in Vermont. I had only the casual clothes I was wearing however after they made a couple of quick calls, I was informed they had gear for me if I was keen.

I awoke in their house the next day, changed into the tramping gear that was awaiting and we set off to hike “Camels Hump”. It was an amazing hike to the top; frozen waterfalls and huge icicles made for spectacular viewing. At the top, the sunset pierced through the clouds creating some amazing rays onto the landscape below.

(Unfortunately during the hike my camera copped a bit of water damage so its currently in recovery mode. So unfortunately there arn't too many photos beyond this point of the blog!)

After a couple of days painting, we went out to a comedy show performed by an ex-Vermont girl. It turned out half her show was about her travels in NZ, so I sat there taking cheap shots (many untrue) for much of the show. I’ll cut her some slack though; what are the chances of a Kiwi being in an audience of around 50 people, in the middle of Nowhere, USA.

Later that night; SNOW!

A couple of days later Carson dropped me off in Burlington after a great week spent with his family. I ate like a king and was looked after far too nicely.

After leaving Carson I met up with Mel; my American exchange flatmate from the semester before I left overseas. We headed to her aunt and uncles house for a Christmas eve dinner, where the conversation over dinner was about who was the best catholic in the family; Riveting stuff.

CHRISTMAS! My first white Christmas ever and it snowed like crazy the whole day! I was lucky enough to be given a Christmas stocking by Mel’s family (present highlights included a bottle of genuine Vermont maple syrup (which will be chugged supertroopers style in the near future) and a toy car) and it was a great day all around.

On boxing day I got back on the tourist trail, visiting Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory and the Vermont cider mill. Any sort of jam, mustard or sauce you could think of, was there in cider or maple syrup flavour.

Tonight I’m meeting up with Lauren another exchange friend, and we could potentially be heading to Montreal for the night, before heading back down to NYC for New Years.

P.s: Hope everyone in ChCh is ok.