Its me..again

Hello there.
Contrary to popular belief, due to the fact that I have not blogged for the amount of time that it takes a baby to develop in the womb.... I am still alive and have not been:

a) Been attacked by pirates whilst at sea

b) Gotten lost somewhere between SA and NZ on my numerous treks between the two.

c) Joined some obscure religious sect and given away all I own to the poor.

These reasons are only partly because:

a) I was in Italy and Greece...where there are a shocking lack of bearded men, flying flags of skulls and crossbones, shouting “Aye Matey!”

b) The airlines I fly seem to employ pilots that know the route pretty well.

c) I love my black stilettos and D&G bag a little too much.

Right. Now that we have cleared up the fact that I am still breathing in and out on a daily basis, let move on to what I have been doing (inbetween the breathing that is)

TheShortVersion

4 June: Joined the Seabourn Odyssey on her maiden voyage from Italy to Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey till flying back to SA on 17th September. Lost 11kgs and fitted into clothes found at the back of my cupboard – in the draw labelled “Loose weight dammit!!!”

September - December : Did nothing but shop, eat out with Ryan and generally be as absolutely lazy as possible after working everyday, 2 shifts a day for almost 4 months straight. Managed to find the 11kgs that I lost somewhere between here and Italy. Unfortunately. Seems as though weight has its own GPS system and can find you again. With alot more ease than you managed to lose it in the first place.

****6 November**** Got proposed to by the man of my dreams whilst on holiday in the mountains. Made me the happiest girl alive and gave me a ring that almost made my eyes fall out...seems as though November was a good month for the whole “dreams do come true” speech.
6 December : Got on a plane with many tears to spend Christmas with my family in New Zealand. Ryan will be joining me next month and I have never wished the time away so much in my life.

So, now that everyone knows what my 2009 was like, I will leave you to look forward to the next instalment, which Im hoping to entitle : “Things I will never understand about New Zealand”

Chell

Its me again..

Heavens, its been ages since I last posted! So sorry about that..but please try and understand that between recovering, flying across the world (again) and settling in SA (again), its been a little crazy to say the least!

Yip, Im back in SA and have been here for the last week. I spent 2 weeks in New Zealand recovering at my parents place and now I will stay here and get to spend time with Ryan before I rejoin the ship at the end of May (hopefully)....and yes, you read right..Ryan and I are back together and blissfully happy. It was a tough few months, but in them we both realised how much we care about each other and how miserable we were without each other. We are starting again, and I couldnt be happier. Sometimes all you need is the time apart to realise these things.

At the moment Im staying with friends, and divide my time between reading, sleeping and watching tv.

Im.bored.out.of.my.mind.

To say the least.

To go from being so busy that I could barely remember my own name, to having nothing to do is driving me insane.

Tomorrow Im going to drop Ryan at work so that I can have the car for the day. I need to get out. Im beginning to show early signs of cabin fever. In Laurens word.. Srsly..

I must apologise for how terrible I have been with reading/commenting on blogs...the friends Im staying with have dial up and so I dont want to run their account sky-high...

Thats about all for now..just to let my friends who live in my computer know that I am still alive and kicking!

Much love!!!

Update...

Well..by looking at the last post I would say that its about time for an update hey?
I did make it to the Seabourn Spirit and the last 3 weeks have been the best and worst of my life. I travelled with the ship from Singapore right through Thailand, to big ports and private beaches..then through to Vietnam..then now, in China, where I took a turn for the worst and for the time being, my adventure on Seabourn has had to hit the breaks in a big way.
We had just come out of the daily evening meeting at 6pm..just before we go on evening shift till about 10pm. It was Embarkation day on that Sunday, so I had tons of preperation that needed to be done before then. I was running around looking for the right things and earlier that day my best ship buddy, Jenny and I had been laughing hysterically as we hid around corners while pretending to shoot each other with the spray bottles. Now, while still looking for the right things, Jenny jumped out from behind a wall and sprayed the guest infront of me!!! It was probably the funniest thing I have EVER seen. These guests are paying in excess of $US10 000 for a week cruise and are treated like royallty aboard, so you must understand how much funnier this made this incident!
I am happy to report though that she was a lovely lady who only enquired as to whether or not it would stain her blouse! Jenny went and found her again later to say sorry again..and all was right in the world..
But, after that bit of laughter and not being able to control ourselves as we hid in a nearby room to recover before anything else happened..I left and went to carry on the the Embarkation business that I was so busy doing before this game of cops and robbers went sour.
I began to feel a bad pain in my tummy..lower abdomen to be exact. My first thought was “Maybe you gotta poop” J Im laughing as I think of dear Lauren and her poop stories...
Anyways, no luck in that department..so I thought I would just carry on and see if it goes away. Eventually it got so bad that I needed help to get down to Deck 3 where the doctors offices are. He too asked me the poop question..but I assured him that the pain was a little more serious than that.
He took blood tests and gave me 2 injections in my bum. I have to say that if I am never injected again..that would be too soon. Along with being poked, prodded, and have things stuck into me that I would rather not mention on this wholesome family blog. J
After that he sent me to bed with what he called an elephants dose of painkiller.
To say the next day was worse would be the understatement of the century..prehaps the millenia.
Unbeknowns to me (or the doctor who thought I had a case of appendicitus) The infection from the burst cyst in right Fallopian Tube had spread. Now I couldnt breathe as the muscles in my chest were too painful for me to even draw breath. The pain was everywhere and I thought Of my word..whats happening to me?
We had reached port that morning soon after I was taken back to Deck 3 for more shots of the elephant painkillers, just to let me breathe.
We had to get me dressed and ready to get to the hospital in Nanjing, China. I was so scared and confused and kept thinking, I dont wanna go home, I love the ship, I have only been here for 3 weeks..I still have so much to see and do!
I wont linger too long on the details of the hospital in Nanjing. It was filthy. The doctors spoke no English. I have never been more afraid in my entire life as when they lifted me on that table to have a look. My doctor from the ship (who is the most amazing man I have ever met and never left my side or let them do anything without showing him first) just stood at my side and stroked my cheeks while tears streamed silently down the side of my face.
He refused to leave me there and so, it was back in the car and back to the ship. We were scheduled to arrive in Shanghai the next day and he know of a very good International Hospital there that would be able to look after me. I was out on a drip every few hours as I hadnt eaten anything in the last 3 days. But, he couldnt give me anymore elephant doses unfortunately. So, I had to make due with some tablets J
I think that almost every person that I had made friends with on that ship in those 3 weeks passed through my door that night. They brought me flowers, wrote me notes. The friendships I made in these 3 weeks are going to be lifelong..I just know that.
The next day, after Jenny had packed me an overnight bag and was going to pack all the rest of my things for me later, I was once again put in a wheelchair and taken off the ship.
I cried so much.
I cried for the dream that was now lost, I cried for the people I was saying goodbye to..people who, when you are on a small ship, become like your family in such a short space of time. I have no idea who is still going to be on when I get back on. That hurts so much.
I just cried.
We got to the hospital and they did all the tests, scans, x rays..all the usual boring stuff. I was admitted that morning. My ship sailed away the next. I have never had such a sense of being so alone in my life as when I looked at the clock on the wall and it said 11.59am...
It then hit me. I was completely alone.
Things took a turn for the worst 2 days ago. They realised that the antibiotics werent going to be able to clear the infection and that it was worse than they thought. So, I was prepped for surgery and wheeled away. Just like that. No goodbyes to anyone, nobody to hold my hand and tell me it was going to be ok and that they would be there when I came round. Nothing.
When I did eventually wake up a few hours later, I had no clue where I was or what had just happened. They tried to explain it to me as best they could. Bless them. They really are such wonderful people who I am so blessed to have been put with.
The healing has been coming along slowly. Its been a routine for me..read, eat some semi-liquid food, read, try and get online for a few mins before the connection goes again..sleep.
They say that I can maybe be discharged on Sunday. Today is Thursday. It feels as though its an eternity to wait. But, I know that I need to be completely better before I can make the long flight back to my family in New Zealand. I can only imagine what worry this has put them through.
Since I am under all sorts of medical insurance, being on the ship, all costs are covered by them, as well as my flight home, as well as any medical costs incurred there where I need to undergo furthur recovery. Also, they pay me for the time I am on sick leave. AMAZING people. Honestly. I cannot begin to explain how blessed I feel by all this. Its just overwhelming.
Thats about all I have for now and Im going to try and post this...
Thank you so much Lauren for letting everyone know that there was something wrong and asking for their prayers for me. I have never met you..but you are amazing. Thank you so much dear friend.
Thank you also to all those who have emailed and sent me messages on Facebook. You are all awesome and I feel so loved.
Thank you again x

Guess where I am..again :)

Yes..for those of you...*Aubrey*... who may have guessed correctly :) I am sitting in the First Class Lounge at Hong Kong International airport..again :)

This time though I was a little bit more sneaky..*insert little snicker here similar to Dr Evil in Austin Powers*

I still had my boarding pass from when I flew to NZ in December, that was stamped with a re-entry stamp for the lounge..so, all I did was waltz past the front desk and wave my stamped ticket.....lucky for me the lady there was busy with someone else, so she didnt check the ticket too closely.....mwahahahahaha.... :)

So, i just had a shower and since I only have 2hrs till I take off for Johannesburg, I had better be heading off soon!

I have ANOTHER 10hr + flight ahead of me now..then another 1hr flight to Durban.. Right now its 22.00pm Hong Kong time on the 8th Feb..but my body is still on the Kiwi clock, and right now its wondering why Im still awake (and showering?) in the early hours of the 9th?

Im starting to hold thumbs from now that I get the new plane now as I can here on the old plane and the movie system was like something off the Ark...so...hold thumbs.

I still cannot believe that I will be on the Seabourn Spirit come Saturday..madness...

I think I should mention how CRAZY NERVOUS I am right about now...but also how excited I am!

Well, till I next have time to blog, inbetween cleaning things such as toilets and making things such as beds...Im off to the Boarding Gates!!!

Plans...

Wow.

Ok, this seriously feels as though its happening to someone else and Im just telling you their story.

I get on a plane in New Zealand next Sunday (8th Feb)
I get to South Africa on Monday (9th Feb)
I fly to Singapore on Thursday (12th Feb)
I arrive in Singapore on Friday (13th Feb)
I start working on the Seabourn Spirit on Saturday (14th Feb)

I work for 4 months aboard it, going to Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Turkey, Greek Isles and Venice...just to mention the ones I remember from the itinerary I was sent yesterday.

Wow.

Just to fill you all in... :)

Im back...

Hello!!

Yip, its me.

Yip, Im ok.

Yip, it still hurts, but not like it did in my previous post.

Before I start, I need to say thank you.

The support and love you sent my way was truely something that I didnt expect. I am completely amazed and in awe of the people I have gotten to "know" through this blog.

You have become my friends.

No. Really.

This is not just something Im saying to make you all feel warm and gooey inside.

When I sit down at the computer and log into my page and see the comments there, I cannot help but smile at the wonderful people who "live" in my computer. I go onto each of your pages and carry on smiling as I read of whats happening in your lives..often on the other side of the world.

**I do however have to insert an apology here though. I havent been commenting as regularly as I should be. I am being so darn sneaky. I am reading, and then I am leaving. I am sorry. Buuuut, if you scroll down on your little mouses, you will find a post about the joys of dial-up on a farm in the middle of New Zealand and you will see what I have to go through to open an internet page. Sooo, Im sure that you will forgive me for just reading your stories...as it takes an immense amount of time for me to even open them!**

Now that thats out the way, I will tell you what I have been up to the last few days. Im not however going to be able to post pics. However..they will be on Facebook real soon, so if you would like to add me..go ahead :)

My sister (Colleen) and I decided to do a little road tripping!

So, we set off on Wednesday morning and after a little stop in town to pick up some much needed supplies (snorkel sets, baby fish marshmallow chocs, a pie for breakfast - terrible, I know!) and some other things..we set off!

I had made the road tripping cd, we had the tent and the air mattress in the boot and we were off until Friday night! I must say here that we actually had NO idea where we were going. Just that we were going "Up North"

We drove for a few hours and then got to Goats Island. An AMAZINGLY stunning, beautiful Marine Reserve that we spent the rest of the day at, snorkeling. It was awesome! Its a Bay with an island in the sea thats protected from fishing ect, so there are heaps of fish and they are all really tame! I got seriously sunburnt (as usual) and had an amazing time.

Towards the end of the day, we packed up and headed furthur up north to a place called Russel. It was the first capital of NZ and although it took us 4hrs to get there (through winding dirt roads!) it was worth it. We ate in a gorgeous little restuarant next to the water and headed back to a night in the tent.

We woke the next day to another sunny, sweltering hot day (I could just see the sunburn now..) and we drove down to a place called Matheson Bay. Its beyond stunning and when you see the pics on Facebook, it will take your breath away.

We lay in the sun and read our books and soaked up the rays...not that I needed any more sun!

After that we headed furthur down to Waiwera. We camped there for the night - RIGHT next to the sea! It was amazing...you will just have to go and have a look at the pics!

We spent today at the Waiwera Thermal Pool Resort, in pools of water that were about 40 degrees Celcius. Seriously Flippen Hot!! (Just for the record, my sunburn SCREAMED at me when I climbed in!!)

We spent until about 1pm there, then headed home, back to the farm. We got here a little while ago, dead tired and sunburnt, but really happy with the trip and ourselves for finding our way to almost the top of the North Island of New Zealand with just 2 girls and a map!!

Ps: Pics should be on Facebook in the next few days!

Ryan and I broke up.

I honestly didnt know that a person's heart could hurt so much and still be able to beat as normal.

It hurts to breathe, it hurts to think, it hurts to wake up in the morning and realise you no longer have your best friend.

It just hurts.
Everyday.