Many Meetings

Hello again. Sorry for the week long absence, we've had a lot going on which you shall read about presently. We had Lorna and Wendy with us until Tuesday morning when they headed back up north. We four spent our Monday evening watching 'Secret Window' and apart from a few freaky occurences during viewing, we were not that impressed. On Tuesday evening we went to see the Da Vinci Code and were more impressed than on the previous evening (and I think we are both glad we hadn't read the book before seeing the film as our friends who had, did not seem to find it satisfying). On Wednesday I had a very exciting and surprising day - after work I had a trip out of the city to my workmate's house to collect her keyboard, which I am borrowing for the near future, and Wednesday also saw the return of Donkey Woman (Helen)!!! Yes!! We did know the little minx was to be returning to us for two precious days, but she did a Sally and sneaked back a day earlier than expected, so we headed to the hostel as soon as we realised. Thursday saw the longest day for Sally as she worked from 9.30am until 10.30pm for the hostel was having a "staff" party, which was in fact a business event to show off the place to all sorts of folk. Hello, Sally here, I'm taking over this post! So yes, I got to clean the hostel all day on thursday and then serve food and wash up for the evening, so you can imagine I was absolutely knackered. I had a lovely day planned for friday, hoping to spend some quality time with Helen, but 9.30am I got a call from the hostel asking me to come in, which sent me into a foul mood. Work wasn't too bad though, and I did get to have a lovely meal with Helen in the evening. I had a malysian curry, the first curry I've had since leaving Britain! It was fabulous, and certainly made me look forward to my impending visit to Kuala Lumpur on my way home. Saturday I did get a day off, and we had more visitors! Analisa (who we met wayyyy back in Auckland), and her brother Ryan. It was just a flying visit on their way down to the South Island, but we did get to go out and watch the rugby together, and soak up some live jazz at a hip joint on Cuba Street (bohemian central in Wellington). I think that is all of our interesting exploits summerised succinctly. Katie is at an all-day all-night conference for work today, so I have the flat to myself... I'm planning a long bath with a good book. Bliss.

The Weekend in Pictures

Friday

The warm up

The victory lap

Caitlin, Sally, and Myself

Saturday

A Picture of our House (As requested by Fiona)

Wendy, Sally and Lorna by Welli Harbour

The Tattoo Museum

Sunday

Myself and Laura sat in Orlando's and Viggo's seats respectively, at the Embassy after watching Return of the King (hence why I'm slightly red around the eyes - I was crying my eyes out!!)

Strange and Unexpected Phenomonna: Sally Finds Job!

Yes my friends, you read the title right, unbelievably, I have actually found a job! But for those of you panicking that I have abandoned my true bohemian self and sold my soul to capitalist dogs, please don't worry. I'm working as a cleaner, a la George Orwell in 'Down and Out in London and Paris': my wage won't even cover my living expenses! So hurrah, I can continue being a broke writer whilst also working. My job is at the YHA, where me and Katie spent so many happy weeks living, and so far so good. I actually quite enjoy it, and a bit of scrubbing in the dirt never hurt anyone. Ask Cinderella. At the moment I'm cleaning the hostel from top to bottom for a big party on thursday night, so keep your fingers crossed there are some kiwi princes lurking about...
Other big news: The Wellington Hurricanes are in the final of the Super 14 rugby league! Katie and I and all our posse saw the semi-final on friday night, when we resoundingly beat those pesky Australians. It was fabulous! The atmosphere in the stadium was incredible and the whole city went party-mad after we'd won. Katie was feeling tired, so went home to bed for a lovely long sleep after the match, but I boogied on into the small hours with Lorna and Wendy, who'd just arrived in Wellington that day. It was a splendid evening, though I did perhaps feel a little under the weather when I woke up on saturday morning...
Yesterday Katie, Lorna, Wendy and I visited the National Tattoo museum, the only tattoo museum in the southern hemisphere! The lady who showed us round was pleasingly eccentric, and the whole experience increased my desire to get a skull and crossbones tattoo on my hip. But don't worry mum, I'm too much of a wuss to ever get it done!
PS Katie bought me an ace present this week. Pirate Beer! They sell it in the supermarket here, and it's 8.5%. After you take a swig you just can't help but give a hearty 'aaaarrrrr!'

Just Can't Shake 'em!!

Howdi partners!! Yes it's true, we had another quake last night, and quite a long one too compared to the others - a whole thirty seconds of vibration. Apparently it was 7.6 on the richter scale (yes i know factor was the wrong word to use in the previous post thanks dad) but the epicentre was miles away, so we only got a wee taste (but thankfully no taste of wee - sorry to be crude). Other news: we managed to secure ourselves some rugby tickets this mornin so 8 of us are off to see the 'canes on Friday (some rugby action at last!!). I was supposed to be jetting off to Christchurch today on a business trip, but it's been postponed till next week, so I have unexpected time (well one day) in Wellington - I just don't know what to do with myself. Sally started her job today, she said it was fine. She's had to head to bed though coz it's the same again tomorrow (work sure takes some getting used to!!). Anyhoo, I think that's all for now. Catch ya later. xx
p.s. Glad to see we haven't totally scared you away dodfather!!

All Shook Up!!

It was a fiersome night in Island Bay last night. The wind was howling, the rain was pouring, it was pretty darn cold. Luckily we had a very nice spaghetti and a James Bond film (The Living Daylights if you want to know) to warm us up. The storm was not the end of the affair though - at 5.35 am Wellington time, we were shaken awake quite aggressively by an earthquake (factor 5 on the Richter Scale). A very strange experience, and a little unnerving I have to say. I have since been assured, however, that the more smallish earthquakes we have, the less likely a massive one will be, so I'm much happier now. That's all really, so adios amigos. Hope you slept well. xx

Camera Crazy!!

Hola everybody!! Here are some pics from our jaunts on Saturday (and yes even more of the sunset, but surely you can see why). We rolled out of bed sometime between ten and eleven I think, and I decided I wasn't doing enough touristy stuff what with working all week, so we headed into town for a walk along the front and a trip to see the Parliament buildings. It was a lovely sunny day, if a bit nippy, and there were plenty of opportunities for photos (and i took all of them). You see Sally below stood in front of the Beehive, and myself with a statue of John Seddon - an NZ Prime Minister originally from Lancashire. We walked back down Lambton Quay, taking a slight detour to inspect some filming that was going on (no idea what it was - there was no one famous anywhere that we saw), and procured a Starbucks before going to sit on the harbour wall in the sunshine and admire the view (also below).

We then headed back to Island Bay and went for a wander along the coast to watch the sunset (and to take more pictures). Sally continued while I stayed to take photo after photo, and after some very bad sign language we understood we'd meet back at the house. I turned round to go back as it was very cold, but I got to the last bend where you could see the sunset (and the South Island) and I couldn't leave. I'm so glad I didn't, for it was then the Moon came up from behind the hills. I didn't know what it was at first. It was enormous, and so white. I stood staring at it, trying to figure out if it was a balloon, or something else, but luckily a nice man named Mark (who was also watching and could obviously tell I was befuddled) informed me it was in fact the Moon. So more pictures were took, but they by no means do it justice. It's one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.


(FYI - Sally is pointing at the balcony on yonder house in the shape of a boat)

(For those of you who know NZ the Mountains you can see above are those situated behind Kaikoura, namely the Kaikoura Range, and the white thing coming from behind the hills below - that's the moon!!)

Anyhoo. We eventually met back at the flat and had some fish for tea before heading back into town to watch the Hurricanes (the local rugby team) beat the Warratahs 19-14, meaning the semi final of the super 14s will be played in Welli, meaning we will hopefully be going to see that match on Saturday if we can get tickets. It was a pleasant evening, and when we returned home, the moon was still unbelievably bright. Fantastic sight to see. So yup, that was Saturday. xx

The Moon casts its reflection on the water as we head out on Saturday Night

Sunset and Moonrise over Island Bay (I think the pictures speak for themselves)

Use Your Noggin!!

Hello everybody. Kt here. I've just been reading a psychology paper on the relation between brain activity during memory tasks and years of education in young and older adults, and I have a message of some import to give to you, namely - use your noggin (I actually reckon someone should write a paper with that as the title - any takers, anna, laura?!!). Anyhoo. It's a very simple idea, and common sense really, that the more you use your brain, the less quickly it deteriorates in later life. So please use it. It's a bit of a random message I grant you, but it's because I care about you, and the brain is a wonderful thing, which people take for granted, a lot more than their bodies (and we know how obsessed people can be with those). Wow, I didn't mean to sound so preachey, I was merely sharing with you what I have learned for something to think about. Erm. Any other news? We're having people over again tonight for more dvd escapades. It's peeing down at the moment. i'm bored - my choice of work is photocopying or more photocopying. Sally is going to wander down to the video shop to get pirates of the caribbean if the weather clears up. There's an ace picture of my dad on his blog. We're going to see the Two Towers on Sunday. We are creating a picture wall in the house, so if anyone has any nice photos please send them to us so we can stick em up. And after all that enthralling news, I'll sign off, and get back to photocopying - whilst trying to keep my brain stimulated (though I think you can tell by the way this post went downhill after the third sentence, my brain activity is deteriorating fast!!). ta ta. xx

More pics of Island Bay (69 DUDE!!)

Freaky - I was just thinking how we hadn't posted for a while, and as I came to put one on, there was one from Sal!! This is what happens when the two bloggers are apart - you get a double whammy!! Sal has pretty much told you all our news though, so I'm just gonna put some pics on for your viewing pleasure - the first two being views from our house, and the third being Island Bay this very morning (it's a lot more beautiful than the photos portray - especially at sunrise, sunset and twilight). It has felt noticably winterish on the odd day, but the fact that somedays you can still walk around in no coat and be warm in the monthly equivalent of November is quite bizarre. Ooh I've just thought, something that Sal didn't mention was that we've pretty much decided on our OZ trip (so Annie get planning!!) - we're heading over about the 7th of July (in hope of being able to watch the wimbledon finals there!!) and doing 2 weeks in Sydney (with a trip to the Blue Mountains hopefully) and then a week elsewhere. Another holiday, I can't wait!! Ktxx
p.s. I'll be putting a lot more photos on now as I've finally got round to charging my camera batteries so watch this space!!
p.p.s I also have to mention that this is the 69th post on our wonderful blog - a moment to cherish. Unfortunately I have no fantastico news to do justice to the occasion, but sometimes that's just how life goes eh? Although maybe the fact that me and sal both posted on the same day from opposite sides of the city, is somehow symbolic (in a very vague sense). Yes I'm talking rubbish, but there's nothing new in that!!

Forward and frolic glee!

Hullo to all our beloved friends and readers! I've just been spending a few happy minutes going through the archives of the blog, and its fabulousness reminded me that I really ought to post with the news de jour. Well, how lovely things are here in Wellington. We have been truly blessed, finding a beautiful place to live and some great friends. I suppose the biggest news I should write about is the decision I came to last week to stop looking for work. After five weeks of jobs searching and stress I realised I was making myself miserable, which is the very last thing I wanted to do on this trip! I decided to give up the job hunt and do what I really wanted to do more than anything, which was spend the rest of my time here in Wellington writing. So I've set myself a financial budget (which so far I'm sticking to) and for the next six or seven weeks will sit in front of the computer bashing out as much as I can (whilst researching short story competitions etc, so I can hopefully start sending off things that I've written when I get back to the UK). If this all seems a little self-indulgent, well, it is. So there. But my goodness, I'm happy doing it!
Other than that, there is not anything major major to report. We just had a glorious weekend, consisting of dinner, rugby and drinks on Friday night with our mates, a lovely walk around the coast on Saturday in search of the elusive red rocks which we're yet to find, and 'The Fellowship of the Ring', at the Embassy cinema on Sunday. We're also yet to find Sean Bean's seat in the cinema, but we have found his favourite pub, though there's been no sightings of the great man himself. Our friend Caitlin did see John Rhys Davies in Auckland, wow! After I was struck with bizzare cravings to see 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' all weekend we got it out of the video shop and watched it on Monday night, our living room heaving with all our friends. Man, it was good. But I was disturbed how young Wolf looked on it... the last time I saw it I fancied him, which means it must have been an awfully long time ago! So that is you up to speed, and I will skidadle with the Sheriff's words: "Cloosse the Postttt!"

Saturday in Island Bay

Hello my friends. Sorry for the complete lack of postage in the last week and a half. Much has been happening. We have finally left the hostel behind (for now at least) and are now ensconced in our new house in Island Bay. These photos you see here are some pictures from last Saturday when Laura and Fred came to stay. We went on a lovely refreshing walk along the front followed by a roast beef dinner (kindly cooked by Laura, with a little help from Fred and Sal). Blissful. Intellectual conversation followed with many new and interesting facts being discussed (mostly thanks to the Bill Bryson book I am currently reading!!). For example did you know that for most of the 1980's and 1990's the furthest planet from the sun was in fact Neptune, and not Pluto? We did not know this. And yes, I am now 24. Thanks for the birthday greetings everyone. How are you all? We have not had contact for so long I feel you must have some news for us? Anyhoo, better be off, dad should be trying to message me at any moment in the hope we can get the web cam working again. Very exciting!! Does anyone else have a webcam? We could have a visual chatty thing then. Groovy!! Kt. xx

Strange sighting off the coast of Scorching Bay!!