All Good Things...

Day 312

"Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore"


I did it.

From highest mountains on New Zealand to paradise-like beaches in Whitsunday Islands.

From dense tropical rainforest in northern Queensland to lifeless deserts of Red Center Australia.

From busy modern megacity of Sydney to deserted island in Uoleva, Tonga.

From 15,000ft in the air above Lake Taupo to spearfishing on Muri Lagoon, Cook Islands

...and so much more!

Did it all. :-) Trip couldn't have been more diverse.

If I would have left Oz and ended this trip 1 month ago I wouldn't have been ready at all. Now I have been mentally preparing to go back for a week and suddenly return seems like a possibility(which it really wasn't month ago).

Gosh, what to write? How to summarize past 10 months? When I come back, I guess most common question I will get is "How was it?". I have been trying to come up an answer for that but I realize now there is no answer. No words are enough to translate all the emotions and experiences of the past 10 months. To say this has been the greatest thing I have ever done(and will ever do) is an understatement.

Most satisfying thing for me about this trip was that I did it entirely on my own terms. This was my chance to spend year extremely selfishly and thats what I did. There were many moments when I could have traveled with other people...but I quickly realized that it wasn't what I wanted to do. I didn't want to include other people in my decision-making. All the things I did and places I went to were my own decisions. I gave enough time to each place I visited(some places got maybe too much time hehe). This was my trip, from start to finish.

10 months...I guess I never fully understood how frigging long time that was. First time it really struck me was after New Year when Tuulia and Sami left NZ back to home and I was in Stewart Island watching the endless rain. I realized then that there was still more than 5 months to go! I think that made January the toughest month of this trip.

In february when I got back to Oz things got instantly better. I understood what was wrong with Kiwis and why I prefered Australia so much more. Aussies and Kiwis are very similar in many ways, both are very friendly but Kiwi's lack one thing that Aussies have, self-irony. Aussies are so much more laidback and have the ability to laugh to themselfs. Kiwis are much more serious in that way.

Anyway, for this entry I wanted to put down some statistics I have piled up during past week.

Number of different beds I have slept: 99 (this is also number of times I have packed my bags)
Number of bus trips: 55
Number of flights: 19 - environment sure loves this :-)
Number of days in Oz: 186
Number of days in NZ: 84
Number of days in tropics: 117

What were biggest highlights? That is very difficult question, but if I would have to make trips top 10 experiences then here it goes(without much explanations):

1. Coral Bay Manta Ray dive with sharks, Australia
2. Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand
3. Snorkeling with Humpbacks, Tonga
4. Spearfishing in Muri Lagoon, Cook Islands
5. Whitsunday Sailing, Australia
6. Treehouse, Australia
7. 6m Crocodile in Adelaide River near Darwin, Australia
8. Cape Tribulation, Australia
9. Helicopter ride to Mount Cook, New Zealand
10. Sovereign Hill, Australia

Lastly answer to one question...Would I do it all over again? In a heartbeat!!! :-)