New Years Eve resolution number 1

To update my blog more!!
I'm sorry for not doing it more - after promising when leaving NZ!

So for a 2008 round up:

• I went home to Oz in March for my sisters birthday and to spend time with my family before the big move
• In April we moved to the USA - Alaska! The day we arrived it was some freak snow dumping lol, so welcome to the US Mel.!
• I got to meet all of Adam's family which has been a fun adventure!
  
• In August I finally started my job and gained some sanity back.
• I have experienced THE coldest weather of my entire life - the record so far is -21C lol.
• I have learnt to drive in snow, sleet and ice AND on the other side of the road and other side of the car!
  
• My sister had a gorgeous little boy in September (can't wait to meet him for Xmas 09)

Apart from that just normal life stuff, it's amazing how you can live on the other side of the world and life is pretty much the same.....

Anyway more on life in AK to come I promise - this time with photos!
Happy New Year everyone - may 2009 fulfill all your hopes and dreams.

xxx

it's starting to get cold.....

So today was a little um......fresh. 34F - which is 1C.
Tonight it's supposed to get down to 20F which is -6C. For me that's my limit....I think it's the coldest I have ever been - AND IT"S NOT EVEN WINTER YET.
There is supposed to be snow tonight or Saturday....Snow in October WTF lol.

Anyway so over the next two weeks I am going to traveling for work through out the Southeast of Alaska.
We are traveling by float plan into some VERY remote communities (there are no roads). I am a little nervous about these places.....no running water, all powered by generators, no phones.
But the scenery is supposed to be stunning, and I will get a good chance to get up close and personal with the wildlife.

So when I get back I will post some pics, and tell what ever travel tale I have :)

Fair Visit

So I went to my first Alaska State Fair last month....mostly just to take a picture of the giant vegetables.
Take the pumpkin - 900+pounds of pumpkin flesh (over 400kgs)...how does someone wake up and decide to grow a oversized pumpkin....

THEN there was the auction....the family bought this years turkey for thanksgiving.....I don't feel like turkey so much now :(

In the next few weeks I am going to be travelling through South East Alaska for work - to some pretty remote places so I look forward to post some pics of these places - they are only accessible by sea plane and don't have land lines - should be interesting!!

Bear in the Yard

Well I can now say I have seen nearly all Alaska wildlife up close - tonight there was a bear in the yard!
It spent most of it's time across the road at the neighbours eating their trash (people mostly have "bear proof" trash cans) - but these people didn't - just had bags sitting on their deck. It was up on their deck right in front of the door!
They then discovered it was on their deck and scared it off and it headed straight for our yard!!
It was actually quite small (well smaller than I imagined bears to be) - the size of a really really big dog - but cute none the less.
We only managed to get one decent pic - it was 10:30 at night after all.

Slacking Off

Well I have been super slack with the postings of late....mostly because nothing too exciting has been happening.
I am waiting to start work (it's been moved to the 15th July) and hubby is just working.
We went on a road trip down to Seward last week. Just decided at 1am that it would be a good idea lol.
The bonus of living in AK is that there is no darkness at this time of year - so it was light as day at like 3am...it's still hard to get used to and plays with your mind if you are out at 3am.
This weekend we went to the Elmendorf Air Show - luckily hubby's dad is military so we got to go on Friday and not on the Sat/Sun when it was open to the general public as it was packed on those days. We got to see all the planes, plus lots of airshows.
The weather has been nice - mid to high teens most days with a couple of days slipping into the 20's! I don't think I have taken a jumper off yet!

Moose on the street!

There was a moose on the street and in our yard this morning! It was cool to get so close.
Note to self though, when their ears go back you are too close and need to MOVE!
This one was only a small one - but still as tall as me!

Snow on my first day!

Driving on the right side of the road.

A new subdivision - every house looks the same!

Moose!

The beautiful mountains.

1 Week down

Well we have now been in Alaska for a week and a day, and what a busy week its been!
Our very first day here it snowed! Which was a little surreal for me as I hadn't seen snow.
We have been busy seeing the sights and applying for jobs.

There are no huge differences here in Anchorage, except for the driving on the other side of the road thing.
But its the little differences that make it that much harder. There are very few brand names I recognize, none of the food tastes the same and some people have a hard time understanding my accent - so yeah it's been a week full of learning curves :)

So far I have seen moose - they are HUGE! The one I got a picture of would have come up to my shoulders, but they do get much bigger - like well over my head plus the antlers. I have also seen plenty of different types of birds.

The view surrounding town is just gorgeous. I never though I would be a mountain type of person - but they are just stunning. The light hits them at different times of the day and shows a completely different view of them.

One thing that I found surprising was the fact that most people drive these big SUV's, and not just your average sized ones from back home (OZ and NZ) but these great big Dodge trucks that are just enormous. But Alaska roads are built for them - the roads are alot wider than in OZ and NZ, and so are the parking bays. Every time I comment on someones park job (last night I saw this massive truck parked smack in the middle of two bays) I just get told its the norm in Alaska. One more thing to get used to lol.

We went onto the Army base last night to do the grocery shopping. You have to pass through this massive security clearance area where you have to have a pass issued and they check all your id's. I am still getting used to seeing the Army/Police carrying guns. But then you get to this massive grocery store and buy everything cheaper as you get a military discount - it was pretty cool. They also have a really nice gym we went to last week. Its a little odd working out while there is soldiers everywhere though. You see them all over town though in their uniforms, and it's one of those little things that reminds me I am in the US!

Apart from the small things though it's pretty fun so far. Lots of new things to try and see - which is always exciting.

Taken from the train on the way from Anchorage to Seward

Taken on a glacier cruise out of Seward.

South to Hawaii

My wife, AC (aussiechicka is too long to type), has asked me to coauthor this blog she has started, so you will likely see posts from me every once in a while. I am the crazy American she married and is following back to Alaska, USA.

We are down to 13 days remaining until we board the flight to Alaska. We have been quite busy selling everything, seeing friends, and generally preparing for and stressing about the move. I am from Alaska, so this move is only scary for me in the sense that we are doing a big move between countries and neither of us will have jobs when we arrive. AC on the other hand is leaving her home of 7 years, her company of 5 years, and the friends she has come to depend on. She is going to a whole new country, and to a climate she has no experience with. I mean we even drive on the wrong side of the road, just to complicate things some more. She is tougher and more adaptable then she believes, and I will be there to support her and help with the transition, just like she was understanding and helpful when I came to New Zealand. Together we can handle anything!

I am looking forward to introducing AC, to my family and friends, who she has not had an opportunity to meet yet. This might be an interesting clash of cultures and beliefs, as I am kind of the odd man out in my family, and AC deviates even further then I do from their beliefs. I’m sure it will all work out though, and it will be very good to reconnect with everyone and give AC the chance to see where I am from and get to know my family. If she doesn’t end up liking the state, then we can always move again, and re-title this blog “South to Hawaii”.

1 month to go!

Well I can't quite believe it is only 1 month til we are off!! Very hard to believe and just a little scary.
We have started selling some of the bigger things (car, couches etc) which if they sell quickly they will make life interesting lol. We may be sitting in the lounge room on the floor with nothing to watch if the TV sells as well!!

I found a post on a forum today about how you knew you were from Alaska if you did things like:
You only own four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup and Tabasco.
You design your Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit.
The mosquitoes have landing lights.
You have more miles on your snowblower than you car.
You have 10 favorite recipes for moose meat.

LOL! I think I am in for a little culture shock...

I honestly can't wait though - even if it's dawning on my that I acutally have no idea what I am letting myself in for......

Countdown time

Well it's March the 1st and we have 7 weeks and 5 days til we are winging our way Anchorage, Alaksa, USA.
It still doesn't seem quite real that I am moving to the USA. And even though I know it's not far away it seems a little surreal.

This week I am off to Biloela, QLD, Australia to spend a week with my family. I can't wait! My sister and her two girls are picking my up in Rocky and then taking me out to Mum's in Bilo for the 6 days. Will be nice just to hang out and spend time with them as I don't know when I will be back down in Australia as we will be setting up a new life and traveling around the US.

We have started to sell off possessions and wade through everything making the piles to keep and the piles to throw out. I don't quite know how to narrow down my possessions to 2 suitcases full and my keep pile is WAY bigger than my throw out pile and it should be the other way round.
We made the decision not to ship anything - which in hindsight wasn't necessarily the easiest one. Selling everything and timing it all so we aren't living in a empty house isn't the easiest thing to do and we are already living out of suitcases due to things selling quicker than we thought.