the possums are mating down under

I'm currently in a rush to download music and make lots of snack size banana-chocolate chip pancakes for a road trip from Lubbock, TX to Galveston, where the barque Elissa sits waiting for me. I've written little blurbs about all the stuff I want to write about- stuff that's happened over the last few weeks, with transit and all that. Until I get around to really writing about that, I thought I'd post some more emails from friends that are traveling right now.

This first one is from Jen Reiner- a friend I met through the East Coast Girls in Hawaii, when we all lived in an apartment in Waikiki together. Jen is a special education teacher. She's been backpacking in Australia for 3 months now:

"Its been really interesting getting to know the culture here. I really thought it would be like california with accents, and in some ways sydney is,but in other ways it is really english. They act all put out and insulted when you say something "wrong" (which is very english). For example instead of saying "clean up" to children you say "pack up". Pretty similar right? I said clean up one day and they are were like WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? speak slooooowwwwy to the dumb american- and that was the three year olds! Working with children has given me the biggest laugh and they have also given me the most grief over being american. A few weeks ago a little boy asked me what language I was talking, and another told me I sounded like someone on "the biggest loser" (he might have said I LOOKED like someone on the biggest loser and I have choosen to block that out!) for some reason all 3-5 year olds know EVERY word to green day's american idiot in EVERY day care I have worked at and they all LOVE to sing it to me. In fact I think they learn it now instead of old mac donald. They are absolutely militant about sun block and all children wear huge hats and sunscreen 24/7. Also, for a country that has more bugs, spiders, snakes, roaches, etc that no one blinks an eye at ;they are really into color coding garbage, wipe cloths for counters and even cutting boards in even the dirtiest hostel or snack shop. because god forbid you cross contaminate dairy with veg or arts and craft table with kitchen table- meanwhile a whole army of ants just walked over the damn thing with a roach leading the parade- excuse me what wash cloth do we use for THAT?????? Also, men really like to wear speedos here- a lot, even the young guys. Though I must say the male lifeguards do it justice :) You can also sun bathe nude but since the popularity of camera phones its losing mass apeal. Darn, and I was just about to do it. "

This next one is part of an email from Shawn Strange, the cook off the Hawaiian Chieftain last winter season. She got off Soren Larson and is trekking around New Zealand right now:

"To say the hike was beautiful or stunning or magical only belittles the green mossy-covered trees knobbed with age and drooping with time, the tiny trickling waterfalls that trickled down rocks the size of a small car with a sound as delicate as diamonds, rockslides that revealed the strata beneath and reality that all is not permanent, (as well as massive gratitude to having missed the slide), swirling sun-bleached stumps that popped up like frozen gophers from the low-lying bush at the top of the mountain, and knowledge that for that one night sitting by firelight of a ironcast stove eating my dinner that was heating on it reading a week-old paper that I was the only human being on that mountain, (a thought that was not very comforting at 3am when I was awoken by hellishly startling sounds, (which I finally figured out was possoms fighting or mating- who knows). "

I gotta admit, I love that both these women are close to my age. We're all throwing what many feel are "normal" lives aside, along with materialism, and going out there to make the most of being alive. It's awesome! We should all have laptops and be writing books.

Eastport meets Westport

Miah & Gunny Vlad after a few

Eastport, Maine born and raised citizen Captain James Pearson meets Westport, WA. And now he's going back. JP will be missed. Thanks for keeping us alive!

Ode to our departing Chief Mate

Been Thinking

Doing a lot of that, and wanting to do a lot of writing, especially now that I'm off the boat for a few weeks. Check back in a few days for new stuff, unless you hear from me via email first!

Love,
Kim

day off

My best girlfriend Polly drove up from LA to hang out with the crew and I here in Sausalito last weekend. I had Sunday off, so we drove to the Muir Woods nearby. Here's a few pics...

goofy look

ok, this "british virgin islands" tee from old navy was better than ANY tee i actually found down there...