Brutal Beauty Boot Camp Tour

Perth

2012-02-20T17:22:00.000-08:00

We were greeted by 2 lovely women when we arrived at the airport Steely Neil and Karmen Adairya of Western Australia Roller Derby. They both had the most lovely smiles but Karmen had the biggest smile either of us had ever seen. We quickly gathered our bags and headed for the car. Karmen briskly drove us from the airport to the house we were to stay at. Along the way we all laughed and noticed a distinct smell of something green. Karmen swears her car farted the unnameable scent. Apparently it not the first time her car has unexpectedly passed gas for guests.

We arrived at Mother Thumper and Todd's house. Mother Thumper is from the states, the Denver Colorado area. To Mel's surprise she had already met Mother Thumper from the Castle Rock n' Rollers Derby League where she had previously coached a boot camp in 2010. Thumper had moved to Perth with her husband, Todd, who got a job in the mining industry in Perth. Apparently the mining industry is booming with tons of people being imported in to work. A whole new generation of immigrants are arriving to work in this industry. Mother Thumper and Todd were incredibly welcoming to us and luckily they gave us our own air conditioned room where we could escape the scorching heat of Perth.

The very next day we had an interview and photo shoot with the local paper The West Australian. This defiantly made us feel like rock stars. The photo shoot its self was humorous because there we were skating down a bridge towards the photographer when he asked us to "stand up and spoon". We skated to the top of the bridge discussing under our breath the possibility that "spooning" must have meant something totally different in Australia. (We have asked several people since the remark was made and the consensus is that spooning = cuddling) Obviously unable to meet his demand, we came up with our own pose. The Movie showing was at an old hall in Fremantel. It was a lovely building and a full audience.

The days of the boot camp were the hottest days ever skated. 40 C or 104 F. The venue had no air conditioning and very little breeze. The venue was packed with excited skaters already dripping in sweat. We had to make sure that everyone was drinking lots of water and taking lots of breaks. These girls pushed hard even through the tough heat. It was impressive. Two days of gruelling heat with Scratcher and Mel yelling at you sounds pretty fun doesn't it?

At the boot camp were skaters from 3 different leagues: the hosting league WARD hosting league, Perth though only one of there members attended, and Bunbury. The Bunbury girls are from a small mining town 6hrs out side of Perth. They drove in just for the camp and there picture of us with them made it to the front page of their local paper.

The Monday following the clinics we were taken around town touring with Juicy and Tae. The first stop was getting hair cuts. Then the took us out for coffee and churros in a cute area of Perth before heading to the beach. Here we played the rest of the day in bath water warm waves at Scarborough Beach. The undertow was strong enough to warrant several lifeguards, the sharks enough of a threat to warrant a helicopter and plane lookout, but so much fun. We spent the rest of the evening drinking beers with the crew at Carmen and Steeley's. We enjoyed our selves so much we refused to leave and slept on the couch.

When we woke the next morning Karmen took us on an adventure. We went to pick up her mom for the day and on the way we saw our first Kangaroo's. They were on the side of the road next to the local TV station, quickly followed by delicious Dim Sum. Then for the best part of Perth: Shaun Tan. Shaun Tan is an artist from Perth . The local puppetry theater Spare Parts http://www.sppt.asn.au/ did a show based on his book "The Arrival." There were no words and only beautiful puppetry and projections to show the immigrant experience in Australia. To our shock, a theater filled with kids it was completely silent. The show it brought tears to our eyes.

We followed up the show with a beer from a local pub. This pub and multiple Rogue and Lauganitis posters adorning its walls and reminding us of home. The brewery had 'The Judge" also known as a hopinator. It's a large cylindrical installation near the taps that allowed a selected brew to run through fresh chilies as it's poured into your pint glass!! We passed on the chilies but loved the idea.

The following day we decided our mission was to conquer the public transit system. We rose the bus from the Perth Zoo that was across the street from us to the train station down town. We then rode into Freemantle and hit up a few 'Op Shops' (the aussie word for a thrift store) where Mel found a dress suitable for the evening to follow out on the town. We then ate at the Monk Brewery enjoying tapas and finely crafted beer. We realised a few minutes too late that our train was departing within minutes and we were still about 10 blocks away from the station. We tossed money down on the table and ran, and ran, and ran...it was 104 degrees and we were several beers in, running through the streets. Long story short: we caught that damn train!

We disembarked in Cotteslough and walked another half-mile to the most well deserved, and refreshing swim ever experienced. The water was perfect, the waves were perfect, and we were running late already so we had to huff it back to the train. The trip back into the city was intense, we now found ourselves in the peak of commuting rushing to get home in time to put our gear on and attend WARD's practice....ironically in Freemantle. Karmen had arrived at Thumper's just as we walked up the street, no rest for the weary! Time to get our stuff together and skate, not coach but just skate! The Ward practice was warm, inviting, and challenging.

What follows practice better than a night out on the town dancing? Nothing. We went to Perth's premeir gay night club 'The Court' and danced the night away. Well at least part of it. We were home by 1 and very tired...and we still had to look forward to the next day: Australia Day.

USA has the 4th of July, Australians have January 26th and it is called Australia day. Its bogan as fuck. We met at the park for a sausage sizzle. Tae had brought sombreros from the costume shop she worked at so everyone could look Australian.

After the park we headed to a house with a pool where we swam and drank beer for the rest of the day. At sunset the fireworks began and we left the pool for the top deck to watch. It was the largest fireworks display either of us had ever seen. The best part about the fireworks was the lightening storm that seemed to be in unison with the display. Large bolts of lightening intermixed with brilliant colour explosions. Gorgeous.

The very next morning we left for Adelaide.

Getting to OZ

2012-02-14T04:45:00.000-08:00

It is so fun to be a traveller in a foreign land....less fun to blog about it. We got learn so much about baggage rules with airlines. When we booked our flight from Auckland to Perth on Jet Star using a fabulous website named Cheap-o-Air. (NEVER use Cheap-o-Air) There was much hassle in the booking process, many phone calls back and forth, with an increase in price with every call. No where in the booking processes did they ask about baggage allowance. It wasn't until we got to Auckland that we learned we needed to order an extra baggage allowance. In the states passengers are allowed one checked bag, one carry on and one personal item. The only thing that is weighed is our checked in luggage with a general allowance of 60lbs. This is not the same with Jet Star.

After learning this we decided to shift the weight of our luggage all in to one bag and have a carry on each with a personal item. We were told by friends that one of our bags wasn't carry on size though from my many flights we 'knew' it would fit in the over head compartment and if not they would check it at the gate.

When we went to check in we left one bag dangling in line so they wouldn't judge the size of it. We attempted to check one bag filled with all our heavy gear. We were then informed that our bag would be $160 and this would only cover our flight from Auckland to Sydney and not our connecting flight to Perth. Mel continued to apply pressure to have the cost cover the bag all the way to Perth but to no avail. All the time we were waiting for the airport police to surround our abandoned bag and confiscate it.

After checking in we went to go through security. Scratcher had to sneak back through the line to collect our hidden bag so we could attempt to board the plane. This of course did not go according to plan. At security check in we met 3 women that were weighing all carry on luggage to make sure that no one exceeded the 10kg limit (22lbs). For some reason laptops were removed. Maybe its because they are a magic item that doesn't weigh anything. Regardless to say the weight of our carry on was way over the limit and we had to return to check into check one more bag. We shifted our weight around and managed to put everything extra in our leopard print suit case.

Scratcher returned with the bag to the check in counter prepared to beg to not pay another $160. Luckily the man who had checked us in had left the area. Scratcher approached the women and explained the story. The women at the counter paused and then asked "where is the person that checked you in?" "I don't know but he told us it would cost us another (sobbing dramatically) $160 to get one piece of luggage to Sydney. (sob) and then to Melbourne (sob) and on all our flights (sob) I don't know how we can afford this. (Sob)" scratcher sobbingly spoke. The women paused and then in a hurried manner took our luggage and said its ok and she checked it for us. YEAH! Drama class win!

We then flew 4 hrs to Sydney once we landed we found out we had to pay $5 Australian to take the bus from international to national airport. Of course we had no Australian so we had to hustle to get our fair. Once we got to the next terminal we prepared to beg for our luggage to get to Perth. Luckily there was a charming women who wanted to do everything she could to help us and she checked our luggage for no charge. Phew

Then we headed to the bar to drink away our stress

2012-01-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

So much has happened since we left our train in Picton, New Zealand.

We are now 2 more boot camps later and in a completely different country. We left the Pacific Coast Railway to catch the Intercoastal Ferry through the Cook Strait and into Wellington Harbor arriving at the capital of New Zealand. We caught a taxi to Tuff Bikkies house where we were entertained by her and her girlfriend Wendy. Bikkies set us up in the most adorable little guest house in the backyard. They took us out to a local pub where we laughed and shared stories and maybe drank a bit too much. One of our favorites was the tale of Bikkies and Wendy’s first date at a very unique sounding performance art “a man and his digger”. Apparently this man loved his tractor so much that he needed to share his love with the world by dancing intimately with his farming equipment. check it out here

The next day we went off to get our rental car in a country where they drive on the left side of the road. With fear in our hearts we laughed our way through the rental process while signing up for the maximum amount of insurance available. Finally we were sent on our way in our Hyundai Getz (getz it!) equipped with a Tom-Tom GPS Navigator. We managed to pull out of the drive way and land on the left side of the road. In fact, we have yet to make an error in turning here. This may be because we orate all of our turns and have developed a complicated copilot system that seems to be increasing our already amazing teamwork. We drove the car into town to see Te Papa the national museum. This maybe one of the best museums either of us had ever experienced and it was FREE. The first thing we saw was there below ground display of the buildings earthquake absorbtion engineering. We were both pleased to see that the building was fitted with cushions like the trucks on our skates and that the image of a person roller skating demonstrated the effectiveness of their oversized cushings. Inside the museum we first looked at the local wild life. Everything was so new and wonderful, birds we had never seen or heard. We saw the main attraction that seduced us to come here, the colossal squid. Apparently they have been found around Antarctica and the most recent one weighed around 1000lbs. Though it wasn't in the best of health it was still amazing to see. The other captivating exhibit was of the Maori. The Maori are the indigenous people to New Zealand. In a similar way to many other indigenous peoples, they have been exploited and their land taken from them by colonization. We stood in awe of the structures in the museum. The Maori are so expressive about their culture in the artful way that they value everyday necessities. The stones used to make a hand axe were considered sacred, and the handles were all decorated with intricate care. We were taken aback by the exhibits explanation of the Maori’s ability to navigate water in boats that were designed not to fill with water, but built so that water flowed thru them. The culture of the Maori is beautiful and captivating. We finished up our tour of downtown Wellington with sushi and an unproductive search for 8mm bearings. That evening Scratcher headed out to a beach party and met some other people from Portland.

The next day bid farewell to Wellington to head north on a driving adventure. We did not know where we were going but we were excited to see the countryside. Not far out of Wellington, the scenery became exquisite. We headed North on highway 2 to highway 5 ‘The Thermal Explorer Highway” to Hastings. Tom-Tom must have wanted us to take a more scenic route because on the way GPS took us down some unexpected mountain roads with beautiful views resulting in being slightly lost. We asked for directions from a milk truck driver and after a U-turn we were again headed in the proper direction. When we arrived in Hastings we realized quickly that it was a tourist trap. We both agreed that we were more interested in seeing a more natural side of the country and inquired at the info center about camping. We soon learned the difference between a ‘holiday park’ and ‘Freedom Camping’. As it turns out ‘freedom camping’ is not only free (as the name implies) but is the best way to see NZ. Freedom campsites are managed by the Department of Conservation on wild lands, whereas the Holiday Parks are more like an RV park. In the lists of freedom campgrounds we found Mangatutu Hot Springs in the Kawewka Forest Park. Full of excitement we went to the store and grabbed two bottles of wine and some food for the night and headed into the wilderness fully lacking confidence in our GPS. Thanks to some vague instructions on a DoC map we found our route. To say the landscape was beautiful understates it dramatically. Not knowing where we were going we drove down winding mountain roads with rolling hills of wild life and farm life. Sheep were everywhere. We drove down Puketitiri road to Pakatutu before we ran into a river ford at the junction to Makahu Rd. We checked the water level to see if our pint sized car could ford the river but the water came up to our knees and the door of our car started at our ankles. We made a quick decision to hike the remaining eight kilometers to the campsite. About an hour into the hike we passed the owner of the farm we were walking through and pet his horses. The further we walked the more beautiful the scenery got. Shortly after passing the farmer a car approached. This was a Subaru that had braved the ford. Scratcher stuck out her thumb, and they paused briefly to explain that their car was already full with 2 other travelers they had picked up. So we walked the rest of the way slightly disgruntled at first but then realizing how grateful we were for the chance to experience the wilderness up close and get some needed exercise.

Upon arrival we set up our mesh tent ate dinner and drank wine before soaking in the tubs. The tubs were clean and had constant fresh water filling them from the natural hot springs. Below was a river and the view was of a picturesque gorge. We sat quietly and enjoyed the beauty. That night we slept wonderfully and were woken by beautiful bird songs that we had never heard before. It was a perfect night. We then packed up and headed to the hot springs for one more soak before hiking out.

One mile into our hike and the same car that passed on our way in approached us on our way out. This time the back seat was open and we got a ride back to the car. We were so relieved.

Since we enjoyed our night in the bush we decided to head North to Rotorua in search for more hot springs. We headed on a wild goose chase after Hot Water Beach in the Waimangu Conservation Area. This hot springs was located in Te Rata Bay on the southern shore of Lake Tarawera near the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. The campground is only accessible via water taxi. Upon reaching the water taxi we found out that it would cost $120 for us to get to the camp ground but the trail to the hot springs was closed and the taxi driver couldn't guarantee he could get us back. Disappointed we left looking for another camp ground. We found the last spot at the Lake Okareka Scenic Reserve. We set up our tent and our neighbor cooked up our lamb sausages for us. We then tucked in for some book reading when we realized our mesh tent was filling up with misquotes. Our mesh tent does not have a bottom on it and apparently the mosquitos were living in the ground and were coming up to eat us. We attempted to go on a killing spree but for every mosqy killed another 50 rose like blood thirsty savages from the ground. Scratcher left quickly to sleep in the car but Mel decided to cinch up her sleeping bag and tough it out. About an hour later Mel awoke to find her sleeping bag filled with mosquitos. In a frenzied panic she unwrapped herself and ran down the beach half naked shaking out her sleeping bag. Trying not to scream to wake up the other campers her voice sounded like tiny squeaks and squeals. She reached the car for safety climbed in and shuddered in horror for a while. We both managed to sleep till dawn, curled into uncomfortable and unnatural positions, and even thru a torrential downpour.

The next morning we were ready for the city and all the amenities therein so we drove with a lead foot to Auckland to find a warm bed and a shower. We arrived at Ruby Disasters’ of Pirate City Rollers. Pirate City Rollers is the oldest roller derby league in New Zealand and a WFTDA apprentice league. We managed to find her house by 1pm drove up and promptly caught up on missed sleep from the previous night before returning the rental car. Ruby and her husband Gavin have the most adorable baby Jacob. He is so chubby cheeked, smiley, and had thick little baby thighs that were a pinching dream. We spent the evening cooing after him.

The next day was Saturday and the first day of the Pirate City Rollers’ boot camp. These boot camps were 8 hrs long. The first two hours were with the fresh meat and beginner skaters, the remaining eight (minus a one hour lunch break) were spent with the intermediate and more advanced skaters. We were both impressed with the level of natural talent that exists in Pirate City. There were two sisters, Satana Terror and Skate the Muss who obviously had years of experience but their derby play is still in the process of refinement. They will be names that are important in New Zealand’s future of WFTDA play. They are standouts and eager to learn. There was also newer skater that we agreed had amazing potential, her name was Daphne, lets hope that she is on a team soon with an awesome derby name very soon.

On Sunday night the New Zealand premier of Brutal Beauty was hosted by Auckland Roller Derby League. We arrived at the Thirsty Dog on K road and were warmly greeted by very stylish, well-coiffed, and unavoidably attractive ladies at every turn. These ARDL ladies went all out. They had handmade cake pops, home baked shortbread cookies, and fresh popcorn. One of the girls even baked a cake in the shape of a skate to express her gratitude towards a fellow skater who had coached her on fresh meat despite having gone thru a very serious injury. It was like falling in love, we were instantly stunned, then as getting to know these ladies they all were as kind and friendly as they were gorgeous. We remarked to each other on their sense of style, although each invidivual, they seemed to all work together in a ‘greaser 50s meets bohemian 80s’kind of way. Sleek 50s inspired hair and awesome vintage 80s women’s wear ruled the scene.

We snuck away to an indian restaurant down the way during the second half of the movie to stave off our hunger. This was Mel’s first time experiencing indian food, and like most foods, she enjoyed it all. We returned to the venue a bit tardy and missed our opportunity for a Q and A but nobody seemed to mind and considering that it was a Sunday night, most were ready to head home anyway.

We stayed that night at Elicia and Sheisse Minelli’s house. We had a few drinks and stayed up late gossiping about derby and telling tall tales of bouts and shenanigans. The next day Referection aka Brendon aka the best tour guide in NZ, took us out to the beach. Mic Riot joined us for the day, and we all headed out to Piha beach on the west coast of NZ. The beaches on the west coast of NZ are made up of black sands. The sand was hot, the water was cool, and the sun ferocious. Mic, Scratcher, and Brendon took a swim in a designated zone marked by buoys that was about 100 feet wide with attentive lifeguards minding the boundaries, and more than an handful ready in the background for the opportunity to rescue. The undertow is extreme to say the least. We heard that many drownings were not uncommon. Swimmers find themselves in trouble at Piha so often that there is a TV show camera crew filming almost non-stop ready to collect action for editing to use on a lifeguard based TV show. The swim left its mark by removing all the sunblock from the three, and allowing the fierce NZ sun scorch scratchers back!

Mangles opted for a stroll down the beach, wading in tidepools and beachcombing.

The following day, Tuesday we all headed out to Mt Maungaui (more easily referred to as the mount) for the bootcamps hosted by ARDL. We stopped along the way at the giant L&P bottle commemorating NZ's favorite drink. We were put up in a charming guesthouse by Ronnie aka Crusher, and Ray aka Stray Dog. They were so hospitable, and very charming. Ray is a referee with an interest in mens derby. Many of the ladies have learned from his unpolished street skating style. It was great to see how much of his skate knowledge he had invested in his league. The bootcamps started at 5:30pm and ended at 11. We covered so many things, the time flew by even at such a late hour and we were thankful for the energy in the room to keep us motivated. The ARDL are so keen on strategy that the second day of bootcamp they were coming up scenarios and asking questions about strategy that made us scratch our head and wonder. Critical thinking is always good, we chatted our way thru possibilities and ended the night soaking in Ronnie’s tub and doing what we do best: talking derby.

The next day we flew out of Auckland on the worst airline known to man...Jetstar. Destination: Perth Australia!

2012-01-09T12:58:00.000-08:00

Beach in FiJi

Boot Camp in Christchurch

Sailing in Littleton

Kiwi Rail

The last 5 days in reveiw

2012-01-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

What a trip it’s been so far!

Today as we write we have our first official workshops behind us.

Let us fill in some gaps in time….

After a delayed departure from LAX we boarded a double decker bound for Nadi, Fiji.

Upon our arrival in Fiji we were told our connecting flight was delayed but that was the limit of the information we could seem to get. We were told we needed to go thru customs to get a hotel voucher. Going thru customs was funny- Scratcher brought a bag of food that was supposed to feed us healthy snacks but here at the Fiji Airport we found ourselves scarfing down all our fruit, veggie, and meat products so they wouldn’t get quarantined. Once we were full we made our way past one very long line and into the next to get our hotel voucher. We realized after having numerous conversations with official looking airport employees that no single airline worker in Fiji has the same answer to our questions about when our flight was departing. Nonetheless we were happy to be stuck in Fiji for an undetermined length of time. We caught a shuttle to the hotel Trans International (this was Mangles’ first experience with left-lane roads) , where we were greeted warmly and offered free breakfast while our room was being prepared. We gladly accepted the beautiful spread of coffee and fresh fruits and Mel’s new favorite breakfast cereal Weetabix. We met a nice couple at the hotel who were interested in sharing a taxi with us to the nearest beach. So we went, our taxi driver telling us that if we wished to stay longer he would take us out on his boat to a remote island for surfing. Due to time restrictions we were unable to accept his offer. We had heard varying rumors and stories about our flight times being between 4-5pm. We enjoyed beachcombing for seashells and trash, got our feet wet in the warm water, and took off for a stroll down the beach just as a rainstorm was approaching. We had a few beers at a local beach hut and by the time we met back up with our taxi driver we were soaking wet. He returned us safely to our hotel in time for a fabulous fish lunch. We then followed the recommendations of the hotel staff on when to return to the airport. Stood in two lines for a few more hours and then without prompting a line formed and the plane was boarded right on “island time”.

Our journey from Fiji to Auckland was aboard our new favorite airline Air New Zealand and was different and better in every way from Air Pacific. The in flight safety video featured Richard Simmons, the All Blacks (New Zealand’s national rugby team), a 90 year old woman streaking, and flight attendants in latex body suits. This was all shown on fully functional touch-screen TVs in the head rests. The TVs were full of selections but the favorite was a 2011 Rugby World Cup highlight real during which we agreed that Rugby is freakin awesome. Once we landed in Auckland we had missed our connecting flight to Christchurch and so for a second day in a row we were housed and fed for free. This time we enjoyed a 3 course meal for dinner, and a hot breakfast that included whole poached plums in wine (delicious).

Flying in to Christchurch the next day on time was a special treat, and we were greeted by the Otuathi Roller Derby League’s contact Da-Rollin. She sped us off to the luxurious private resort of Casa de Donna (her mother in law’s house). We drank beers, walked on the beach (looks just like Oregon), met up with some of the skaters for a casual skate on the netball courts, and rested. Our sleep was interrupted that night at 1:30 am by a 5.3 Earthquake. Being waked from a dead sleep by a shake gets your adrenaline going real fast, so falling back to sleep is a challenge. The following day (Saturday to us and Friday in the states) we started our first boot camp. Many leagues in attendance from Richter City in Wellington, Dunedin Roller Derby, and Dead End Derby (another Christchurch league) and even Splatterpuss visiting from Victoria Roller Derby in Melbourne. We experienced a 3.2 earthquake during the camp that shook things up a bit. We covered intermediate skills and introduced some blocking and teamwork concepts. We were amazed at how quickly the ladies absorbed and applied the instruction that they were given. These ladies were hungry for derby and we couldn’t feed them fast enough! We truly enjoyed how coachable they all were and at the end of the day awarded Wahine Disaster with a WOJ t-shirt for her amazing improvements. Strangely enough it was also her birthday. It was decided that there was going to be a barbeque at Donna’s house that evening. That afternoon we shuffled about town piecing together groceries from different shops. We found an organic market whose shelves were all but empty, but we got what we could. Then went off to a produce market and stocked up on avocados, lettuces, and beets to make a salad. We got delicious lamb sausages, free-range chicken, spicy cured meats and cheeses and the best damn crackers we’ve ever eaten. The barbeque was everything we needed and more. Spunky Bruiser showed up with Cassels beer a local craft brewed beer. This was the time during our trip that the ladies began to inquire about the business side of derby and politics therein. We shared with them how our league structure worked and encouraged them to expand their relationships with WFTDA leagues.

The second day of boot camps was the best. We advanced on to more challenging skills, concepts, and strategies. I was no surprise that, just as the day before, the ladies absorbed everything like a sponge. We were truly impressed with the potential that exists here on the south Island. The most improved skater this day was Little Yellow Jacket. LYJ had an interesting short plate mount on her bont boots, making her rear wheels be far in front of her heel. We had never seen such a setup but she made it work well and we were impressed. We ended the day feeling quite sore and wishing to be outdoors. That wish was granted in the most amazing way. Connie Knoxville and her partner Greer invited us to go for a sail on their boat “bluegrass” around Lyttleton harbor. We spotted many seabirds, and just around sunset laid eyes on a rare species of Hector's Dolphin. We ended the day at a fish shop overlooking the harbor eating fresh seafood and enjoying the colorful sunset.

Something of an unfortunate side note to all the previous experiences is that in every town, on every road, and in every way the earthquakes’ damages are obvious and sometimes very sad. For instance the entire downtown portion of Chrischurch is gated off and looks like it was the sight of a bombing. Also in Lyttleton, many of the historic building have fallen. It seems to be the trend that brick building were the least likely to survive the ‘shakes’ as the locals call them. The damage is also evident in the locals’ behavior, fear, and anxiety about when and if another large and devastating quake will come. Everyone lives prepared. check out their newpaper here at the press website.

We are writing this from Kiwi Rail’s costal pacific railway. We have enjoyed stunning vista’s of sheep, seals, the Pacific Ocean, and salt flats. We will transfer to a ferry in Picton bound for Wellington on the north island... and then hopefully be able to provide more fun tales of our travels!

Packing with fearcitement.

2011-12-27T12:36:00.000-08:00

It is one of my favorite things to marry two words together to create a portmanteau this has lead to my one word description of my feelings about leaving for this trip: fearcitement. You won't find this word in any disctionary but it lives inside of me!

I am truly grateful to Scratcher for arranging this trip. She has put in so much hard work emailing leagues, researching routes, and planning our travel. I truly admire her ability to be so damned organized. It wasn't a surprise to me after watching her take the reigns on The Wheels Of Justice for two consecutive seasons as my captain. I trust her to make importnant decisions. I also trust her to have a good time.

The most challenging parts of my preparation have been tri-fold; packing 2.5 months into one backpack (with derby gear), figuring out what to do with my humble little cleaning business while I'm gone, and preparing my home for my abscence. I know that the packing seems like a no brainer but judging on how I have been procrastinating on a 'test pack' it's the part that I least want to confront. I have said it, friends, travellers, have said it "pack layers". The next person that tells me to "pack lots of layers" I may punch in the face. I don't wear layers...well if I do they aare hugely bulky layers. What I really want is all 3 pairs of my favorite jeans and all 75 roller derby tees I own, all my underwear and all my socks, about 5 different pairs of workout pants and shorts, my gold heels, my cowboy boots, my hiking boots, my water shoes, my sundresses, my flipflops, my endless amounts of facial scrubs and body lotions. But the reality is I can probably take only 1/100th of everything I want. I need to face facts: I am packing for necessity and that means nothing I own is practical. I went to REI the other day and almost had a meltdown when I saw a full-body mosquito net suit for $60 and wanted nothing more than to have it to protect against all the crazy bugs I read about. In regards to my business I am forntunate enough to have clients that seem to really value not only my services, but seem to value my life experience as well. It's a hard thing to ask someone to hold your spot for nearly 3 months of travel, but somehow it's working out. I am so fortunate. My home will be here wating for me too, with Danni Precious, Eagle, and Scout all happy for my adventure but eager for my return. I have stocked them with food and hopefully they can live on sanwiches and cereal while the chef is out. I am not ready at all but also so ready to go.
I hope that I get better at blogging.

xoxo - mel

Amazing adventure ahead!

2011-12-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

This my first blog on my first blog. For those of you who don't know me I'm "Scratcher In the Eye" of the Rose City Rollers. I've been playing with the rose city rollers for 6 years now. First with the Heartless Heathers later with our travel team the Wheels of Justice. For the last 2 years I've dedicated my life to the Wheels of Justice as a captain and a player. I have also dedicated myself to obtaining my masters degree in oriental medicine. After 4 years of grad school and 6 years of dedication to derby I'm taking a 4 month break from the Rose City Rollers. Oh but I won't stop skating.

After years of planning I'm going on tour to New Zealand and Australia coaching boot camps and talking at movie showings for Brutal Beauty Tales of the Rose City Rollers. 2 years ago I called Chip Mabry the director and asked what he thought about me taking Brutal Beauty on tour and hosting boot camps along side. He thought is was great idea. All I needed was a buddy to travel and coach with. Having so many amazing people on the Wheels of Justice it was hard to decide who to ask. Knowing that we would be over seas for multiple months I knew most people wouldn't be able to take the time off work. I also knew I had to bring and amazing skater coach and friend. One day I mentioned it to Mel Mangles her eye lit up and we knew we were going to have an amazing adventure.

I leave Portland Or on December 26th in my car on a road trip, with my sweetheart, to LA. We will stop along the way visiting friends. Then on January 3rd Mel Mangles and I fly to New Zealand. If your interested in hearing about our travels keep posted here and on my Brutal Beauty's facebook page.

Here are our tour dates.

New Zealand

Christechurch Jan 7, 8 Boot Camp Only - hosted by Otautahi Rollers

Auckland Jan 14, 15 -boot camp hosted by Pirate Bay Movie showing on the 15th hosted by Auckland Roller Derby League

Mount Mongaui - 17th and 18th - hosted by Auckland Roller Derby League

Australia

Perth Jan. 21, 22 Movie showing and boot camp - Hosted by WARD
Melbourne Feb. 4, 5 Only Boot camp - Hosted by Northside Rollers

Hobart, Tasmania Feb. 11, 12 - Boot camp only - hosted by South Island Sirens

Geelong Feb. 18, 19 Boot camp and movie - hosted by Geelong Roller Girls

Tweed Valley Feb 25, 26 movie and camp - hosted by TVR

Brisbane March 3, 4 Boot Camp - Hosted by BCR