Sally and Kt's NZ Experience

A few pics from the Coromandel - more to come at some point!!

2006-10-03T22:55:00.000Z

The Last Post

2006-08-10T05:40:00.000Z

I can't believe I'm writing this. I can't believe it's been 7 months since we arrived in the beautiful country of New Zealand and our adventures began. It's making it really hit home thinking of all the things that have happened to us on our way to this moment, and all the people we've met. It's a bittersweet moment indeed. It has been, and will always be, one of the most amazing experiences we could ever have, we have been so blessed. I know how much it has changed both of us for the better, and helped us to move forwards in ways we never thought possible. There's so many moments that have been really special to us that we haven't been able to share with you, and we wish we could, but we just wouldn't have the time. We hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as we have enjoyed writing it; it's been like taking all of our family and friends along with us for this awesome journey. Of course, the journey will continue, with both of us beginning new adventures, but for now, the time of us being dearest companions has come to an end. And so it seems only right to end this blog, as we began it, together. What can we end by saying? We've had the most breathtaking, heartwrenching, sidesplitting time in this incredible place. The only thing I can say that seems to do it justice is that we've lived fully in every moment, whether laughing, crying, or dancing. Farewell to you all. Drink up me hearties, yo ho! Kt and Sally xxx

P.S. For the next part of Kt's adventure go to www.ktnz.blogspot.com. For the next part of Sally's adventure, ring her up (don't text her it's pointless). ha ha!!

A Rushed Ending

2006-08-10T05:27:00.000Z

Oooh, we've been having all sorts of blog dramas over the last week or two (you might have noticed the dramatic decrease of postage) Lack of internet access and spending hours trying to unsuccessfully upload pictures means that I only have 40 minutes to try and get you up to speed with all our adventures... and this may well be my last blog, as Katie and I are parting in a days time!
Hopefully pics will appear soon to illustrate our high jinx on the Great Ocean Road outside Melbourne and Waheike Island. We headed straight to Waheike on our return to blessed New Zealand soil, and had three great days enjoying beautiful landscapes and an entire hostel to ourselves (apart from a lovely Scotsman called Craig and a lovely dog called Jess). Then we headed to Kate and Pheebs for a weekend of fun (see below).
Now we are in the absolutely stunning Coromandel Peninsula, which is one of the most breath-taking places in this most beautiful of countries! We are staying in a tiny seaside town and have hired a car (the very sexy and hip-hop Carnye), and have spent the last few days bezzing about the countryside. On Tuesday we drove to Coromandel town down the 309, a slightly terrifying track complete with blind hairpin bends and landslides over the road; however, we arrived safely at Coromadel, after stopping in at an ace water park, which had the most amazing playground for adults- flying foxes, a huge hamster wheel, and a flying bicycles ride (wait for the pics, they are awesome!) At Coromandel we went to the Driving Creek Railway, which is a tiny railway built by a sculptor to bring wood and clay down to his pottery. It runs through gorgeous woods and hills, with lots of sculptures nestled in to the bush as you pass- an absolutely amazing place! To top off a simply ripping day, we grabbed fish and chips and ate them by the seaside as the sun went down.
Yesterday we awoke to rain that would not stop for the entire day. We decided that the only thing to do in such weather was eat A LOT of food. So we hot-footed it down to New World supermarket and had a roast chicken dinner for lunch (and scones with jam and cream for afternoon tea). OH MY GOD! The biggest news that I can't believe I haven't mentioned earlier- I have started drinking tea! (Okay, so maybe only Newsomes will understand the hugeness of this event, but believe me, after 24 years of never touching the stuff, this is a big change!) Hello, kt here. Sal didn't know how to continue this post because she didn't know how best to mention the latter part of yesterdays events (hee hee). After our chicken lunch some new folks arrived at the hostel, one of whom was a gorgeous young man by the name of Scott. We had a jovial game of NZ Genius Edition trivial pursuits with said hottie, and his dad Steve, and later that evening we accompanied them to the local karaoke, along with their travelling companion Helen. To cut a long story short, myself, Helen, and Steve went home to bed about 12, but Sally and Scott stayed out and took the long way home, not returning until 3.30ish. I'll leave her to tell you what happened when she sees you. Oy oy!!
Today the sun came out and we had a gorgeous day. We drove to Hot Water Beach and dug a little pool to soak our feet in, very enjoyable. We then drove to hahei (great name) with the hope of having a chocolate fudge brownie at luna caf, but it was closed. Nevertheless we had a scrumptious meal at another caf. We then walked to Cathedral Cove, and then winded our way home for our penultimate night togther before the parting of the ways. More about that above. Adieu. xxx

Spa (ghetti) and the luge

2006-08-05T11:05:00.000Z

Wow, it feels like ages since we told you anything of our travels. We've been back in NZ for almost a week now, but didn't really have internet access for most of it, hence no updates. It's probably easiest if we start with the present and work our way backwards. We are now at Saturday night, and are in Cambridge once again with the fab Kate, Pheebs (and of course Jason - the sexy beast). We arrived here yesterday afternoon, whiling away the time before Kate and Pheebs finished work with a bit of pool and juke box action (plus a bit of tequila for Sally). We then had an evening of comfort eating, preparing ourselves for a day of both relaxation and fun fun fun on this day of Saturday. This morning we were awoken to Eggs Benedict (cooked by Pheebs - very yummy), then after a bit of trimming the verge we made our way to egg town (aka rotorua) and went for a dip in the termal pools at the polynesian spa. Toasty. (This is us 'beyonceying' in the water). After a spot of lunch we headed up the skylift for lugeing it large, and how we loved it. There is talk of Kate and Pheebs getting a season pass. Anyone who passes through rotorua should give it a whirl it's ace. We finished our day with another round of spag bol and chocolate rum cake, this time with the added delight of pate to start. A good day was had by all.

Wahey NZ, we're home!!

2006-07-31T07:45:00.000Z

Yo! Just a quick post to say we are back in this beautiful country of New Zealand, and what better way to return than to a gorgeous immigration inspector - phwoar!! NZ men, we love em!! xx

Stingray Swings!

2006-07-28T06:58:00.000Z

Mine and Katie's mission to meet all of the cast of Neighbours came a step closer to completion last night... we met Stingray! We went to see his band play, unsure what to expect, and stunned by what we found. He was playing in a lovely little bohemian bar, that served raspberry gin fizzes (yum) and had huge sofas to lounge about on. I think we were the only backpackers in there- it was filled with people that all appeared to be friends of the band, including one crazy cat who was doing the splits and wearing a bicycle helmet as a fashion accessory. The band itself was ace! They played jazz and swing standards (certainly not what we expected), and Stingray crooned such classics as 'Straighten Up and Fly Right', 'Mr Bojangles' and 'Feelin' Good'. We were having a fab time already, but then the evening got even better. During his break, the man himself came and sat down next to Katie and started chatting to us! He told us that he was tired as he'd been working all day, but we were both far too cool to shriek "We know! You're in Neighbours!!" In fact, we were a bit too cool- we didn't ask him for a photo with us. But here you see me with a box of matches he picked up off the floor- yes, Stingray's hand has touched them. It was a great night and Stingray was lovely; perhaps I might have got a little merry as the evening progressed, but under the circumstances, I feel it is entirely justified!

Sally is it you?!!

2006-07-27T08:14:00.000Z

Yes, my friends, since you last saw Sally in the last post that you saw, she has undergone a hairy transformation!! Ha ha you fools, no she has not suddenly got loads of body hair transplanted on to herself , who would do such a thing?! No, she has had the snip and is now the gorgeous lady that you see below (yes I know she was already totally gorgeous - and a lady, but she's now got an extra smattering). Ta da....

And not only that but we went for a little shop after our reuniting, and she found this beautiful dress in Portmans. Your votes are needed as to whether she should buy it or not (results will be posted here shortly). Regarding the post below, instead of EVERYONE saying hi, perhaps YOU ALL could vote, and thus make us aware of your existence. A simple yay or nay will suffice.

P.S. Sally can't stop touching her hair, i keep catching her out of the corner of my eye. hee hee, she knows she looks ace!! (And no Anna, I don't mean like Ace Parker, though I'm sure he looks ace too!)

Phillip Island

2006-07-27T02:28:00.000Z

Wow, what a lot of response to the last post - and from people we haven't heard from in a while - we're lovin it!! Now I don't know if we should tell you all this, but you don't really get much chance to speak to the guys at the neighbours night, and especially not Toadie. Ned and Libby chatted a bit while we were sorting ourselves out for the photos, but there's quite a few people there, and they have to get round every table so everyone gets a photo. Toadie was like "do you want a photo? ok" then posed and away he went. He's pretty vocal on the old mic but that's about it. It is a good night overall though, with a nice atmosphere, so if you're ever here then go (not that you'll need much persuading I'm sure). I think the tour of Ramsay Street may be a better way to meet some of the cast for more of a chat. Anyhoo. Yesterday (being Wednesday) saw us move from Urban Central (a backpackers that had been recommended to us, but was not up to our standards at all - the kitchen was tiny with no washing up liquid, no tea towels, my food got stolen, and we were put in a mixed dorm which we were not expecting, and i know they can't help it, but boys smell). Yes, anyway, we moved from there to YHA Metro, a much better establishment for the likes of us. We were then whisked away on a tour (oh how we love going on tours) to Phillip Island with stops at a winery...

..for a wine tasting sesh, where we both discovered that we liked port, when we both had previously thought we disliked it. Then onto a wildlife sanctuary where we got to meet a koala, stroke a wombat, and feed some cheeky Wallabies and Kangaroos

The Koala below was carrying a little baby (koala obviously) in her pouch, which you can just make out if you look closely enough. oh and we also saw some Tazmanian Devils "arrashplggha" - that was an attempt at writing Taz's noise. Not very successful I feel.

We had a bite to eat at the caf, and then those who wished to could go on a helicopter flight over the surrounding coast, but seeing as we'd already been on probably one of the best helicopter rides in the world, we opted for time at the beach instead. And what a gorgeous beach it was (there would be a picture here, but blummin blogger won't do it for some reason argh). Then it was on to see some non-existent seals and far too existent seagulls, and finally to the penguin parade to see the little penguins make their journey from the sea up to their homes. They're quite noisy wee things, but sooooo adorable the way they waddle, especially when they try to go fast. But there can be no pictures of that as flash blinds them, and so they wouldn't be able to fish and would die. Not something we want to happen. Today is mooching around Melbourne, but another tour is planned out to the Great Ocean Road in the next couple of days, and maybe a trip to the Gaol and Fitzroy Gardens. Pitcures will surely be taken.

Last but not least my good fellows, we have a request to make of you ALL. We have come to understand that many people view our delightful little blog, but for one reason or another do not make us aware of their presence. We would love it if everybody who payed us a visit (even those who have previously commented - yes we mean ALL) could just leave their name - no need to write a comment, just your name, and maybe a hello - so that we know you are there. That would make us unbelievably happy. Kt and Sal. xx

Everbody Needs Good Neighbours

2006-07-25T05:29:00.000Z

Here they are guys, the pics you've all been waiting for ever since yesterday!! Are you all jealous, i think you are?! Hee hee, we love this one, us and Toadie!!
Ourselves and Ned..

Us with Libby..

And one from the dancefloor where we were rocking out to Dr K and 'Waiting Room'!!

Pics from the Blue Mountains

2006-07-25T05:00:00.000Z

Ok, we know they're late, and the neighbours photos are much more exciting, but just so you didn't miss out on a week of our Australian travels, here are the first few of some photos from our week of travelling that saw us in the Blue Mountains, Central Mangrove, and back to Syd. We had two days of rain as seen below, but soon the sun came out and revealed stunning landscape:

Here's Katie with the three sisters behind her (those big rocks):

And me descending the giant's starway (900 steps in all, note I said descending, not ascending):

...Australian bush...

And the route of the scenic railway, the steepest railway in the world- it was more like a fairground ride than a method of transportation, and they played the Indianna Jones music too! We started at the white blob in the valley, and ended at the white blob on the top of the cliff, the whole journey taking about 30 seconds with us clinging on for dear life:

The beautiful blue mountains in the late afternoon light...

...And me in my ace hat!

Yes they are very blue indeedy...

And here are some caves. Not containing Ted, Dougal, or Richard Wilson, damn it! They were very spectacular nonetheless and very big.

A Happy Birthday

2006-07-25T04:47:00.000Z

Thanks for all the birthday wishes guys! I did indeed have a most glorious day. It started off in the best way it could, with chocolate cake for breakfast at the Lindt cafe:
Then Katie and I took a stroll down the botanical gardens where we enjoyed more food (a salad this time!) before heading to the opera house to see Lakme. This is us, excited on the opera house steps, though whether we were more excited about seeing the opera or eating more Lindt chocolate was hard to say.

The opera was ace, exquisitely staged and beautifully sung. And who should we find waiting for us as we came out but Sarah (the lady whose magical fairytale house we stayed at last week). We headed for the gardens again, as Katie was determined to get a picture of me with a cockatoo on my shoulder wearing my birthday pressie. That didn't happen, but nevertheless, I present a photo of me for your viewing pleasure:

That's right! Katie got me a Jack Sparrow hat for my birthday (also thanks to Rhys for the 'tache and eyepatch). Wow! It's the coolest hat in the world. Costumes for halloween are now sorted for the rest of my life. She also got me a big book about pirates, that I intend to read on the plane on my way home. Here's a picture of the cut-throat herself, and Sarah, with a beautiful Sydney sunset:

We then went to Darling Harbour for a meal and drinks to round off a lovely day. Chocolate and dressing up on my birthday- surely this means it will be the greatest year ever!

We Need Your Help Now!!

2006-07-23T11:54:00.000Z

Ok guys the situation is that we may well be going to neighbours night tomorrow (Monday 24th) and it being a trivia night it would help if we actually knew anything that was going on. Like who are the Kinskis for example? And who is Ned - for he will be there, but how are we supposed to know who he is if we have never seen him? And countless other people who have suddenly appeared. What is paul robinson doing back? Who is gail? I've tried the website but it is far from helpful. We are desperate, please help us.

Chelloooo... we're back!

2006-07-21T06:23:00.000Z

You may have noticed I haven't posted as promptly as Katie promised below, but I always like to keep my audience waiting before stepping forward into the spotlight. I'm feeling very zen at the moment, having just spent three glorious days in a countryside retreat. Katie and I have just been to stay with our lovely friend Sarah (who you may remember from such posts as 'Feasting, Spontaneous Horse Adventures and Sore Bottoms'- check the archives for Febuary, it's there!) As Sarah was housesitting, we got to stay in the most amazing place ever- a house stuffed with beautiful furniture, musical instruments and books, in 40 acres of land, complete with a wolf-whistling budgie and an ex-race horse! I think we were in heaven, and we certainly had three days of bliss. Sarah was working when we first arrived in Gosford so we whiled away the hours playing pool in the coolest pub ever- we were the only females in there apart from two comely serving-wenches, and it had the most amazing jukebox in the world- Lionel RichTea, Alice Cooper's 'Poison' (for you Fred!), Blue, and best of all, 'Born to Run' by Brucie! Our happiness only increased after being fed with pizza. The next day Sarah was working again, so we spent a few creative hours writing, and then cooking. Katie made her legendary spag bol, and I had a second stab at the chocolate and rum cake, which I think was even better the second time round. Yesterday, we drove out to the Hunter Valley, in search of vinyards, hoping to come back with some fine bottles of grog too drink round the fire... at least that was the plan, until we ate lunch. We had the most delicious meal of salmon, antipasto, and incredible desserts, and afterwards we were all so stuffed that the thought of anything passing our lips, even wine, was unthinkable. So we'll just have to save wine tasting for Melbourne. By the evening we had somehow found room enough to eat lots of cheese and toasted marshmallows by the fire. And now we're back in Sydney. And I must go, because Katie is waiting for me and I need a boost fruit smoothy!

The Misty Mountains

2006-07-17T07:47:00.000Z

Hello people. Sorry for the wee absence, but we haven't really been up to much activity worth reporting until the last two days, and then we've been so busy with our activity we haven't had time to tell you about it. So I am here to tell you about the beginning of our time in the Blue Mountains, and Sally will add a post about the rest a little later. Unfortunately there can be no pitctures until I find somewhere where I am able to upload them. Apologies.
We travelled up here on Friday, and the view from the train would have been fab I'm sure if it hadn't been covered in mist. The same goes for Katoomba, a lovely town, but our first (and second) viewing was slightly marred by the weather. We alighted the bizarre three story Oz train and headed down the hill to the YHA, which turned out to be a very nice place complete with roaring (albeit gas) fire. Here by the fire we stayed - ignoring the guy's advice that it was still good enough weather to walk - and read until hunger struck. Then t'was that we went to the supermarket, had some tea, read some more, and then went to bed. We have our own little alcove in the room which is ace.
On Sat the weather was much the same, and after waiting for it to improve enough to venture out, we had to settle for a little less rain, and went on a wet walk along the cliffs, past Echo Point (from where you are supposed to be able to see the Three Sisters) and back to the hostel. It was rather drab, but it was nice to feel some fresh mountain air on our lungs. Luckily it all cleared up for yesterday and today, but I shall leave Sally to tell you about that. bye. xx

Chocolates and Mexican Bandits

2006-07-13T02:56:00.000Z

I think I should start this post by saying a huge 'horrah!' to all you lot for your prolific commentating in the last few days... it's great to hear so much from our lovely friends and family, it means a lot to both me and Katie, so keep it coming guys! Well, we had a highly cultured day yesterday. I started off in the art gallery of New South Wales, happily goggling at pictures by Picasso and Rossetti, while Katie worked on music theory stuff in the botanic gardens. And then we met up for a most important date; our first visit to the Lindt chocolat cafe. My god, I think it was a life changing event for both of us. Laura, my dearest, you simply have to come over here and sample the chocolates; they are truly the food of the Gods. I have very firmly schelduled another visit for my birthday, when we are going to make a move into cake territory. We ate our chocolate in the afternoon sunshine on the steps of the opera house, and then I went to see a documentary called 'Ballet Russes' which was all about an avante-guarde ballet company (see, I told you I was cultured, even though I can't spell). Then I met up with Katie again in the hostel and we visited that great centre of American culture, the Hard Rock Cafe. It was ace, but I think we were both disappointed that they played neither Meatloaf or Bruce Spingsteen while we were there. I haven't heard 'Born to Run' for four months and it's driving me crazy! We strolled down by the waterside after eating and managed to gain passage on a Mexican Navy ship that is moored in the harbour at the moment. We both enjoyed gazing on the swarthy sailors, but my cunning plan to commendeer the vessel was foiled when we were shouted at for legging it up a ladder into a part of the ship that was off-limits. Damn these wiley Mexicans! And thus endeth the post. Adios, amigos! Sal xx

Overseas from coast to coast..

2006-07-11T13:02:00.000Z

... to find the place I love the most, where the fields are green... For those of you Westlife fans out there, of which I suspect there are few, you will recognise those lyrics from their number one hit 'My Love', released around 2000 i believe. What does this have to do with anything you may well ask. Well, we answer, it has everything to do with our afternoon luncheon and our joy at hearing such a sweet sound in unexpected circumstances. Look how happy we were...
... but my friends, we get ahead of ourselves, for you do not know how we came to be here, or where in fact we are. So let us tell you. We decided that today we would go to the beach as the temperature was forecast to be 23 degrees (in the middle of winter - can you believe it?!!). Anyhoo, it was indeed warm, and we hopped on the 374 bus to Coogee Beach (shout out goes to Katie N. for the recommendation). We had a very pleasant time chillin' on the sand, and after a couple of hours lazing, we went in search of a toilet and food (in that order if you must know). We patroned a wee place called Cafe Bohemia, and 'twas here we were blessed with the dulcet Irish voices of those (then) five lovely lads (and a Devonshire tea - bonus!!). You will then understand how even more exciting and amazing it was to find a spot similar to that in the video for said Westlife song (for those people who have actually seen the video we realise the resemblance is only slight, hence the use of the word 'similar', and not the phrase 'exactly the same as').

We found ourselves on the edge of the cliffs, and this brought to mind other locations that had been used on film. We hope we don't upset two very special people by saying that we did a few more little scenes ourselves, for example below we see a shot taken between filming of a scene from Ithilien - where Samwise spots his first Oliphaunt. May we add, it wasn't the same without you guys.

And briefly to finish, we watched the beautiful sunset and moonrise, and headed back to the hostel. Right. Time to go. Au revoir. xx

Sunday in Sunny Sydney

2006-07-11T12:49:00.000Z

On Sunday, alas, it was another sunny day, as they all have been up to now, and as it is late and my memory is already asleep for the night, I can only deduce what we did from the three pictures I have of the day. Therefore it would seem that we walked into town and ended up once more in the Botanical Gardens. I do now recall we purchased some delicious food from the Cafe and had a little picnic on the grassy banks, and then we relaxed some more, and then.... this is where it escapes me....... ah.. fear not, it's coming back to me now, well the evening at least, i'm pretty sure we took a long walk to a non-existent supermarket, watched a brilliant film called 'Everything is Illuminated', and tried to find a place to watch the Wimbledon Mens final, only to discover they were showing it a day later. Yes. That is indeed how it was. Fabbo. Toodlepips for this post. xx

Sunny Sydney on a Saturday

2006-07-11T12:30:00.000Z

Our first full day in Sydney, and Australia for that matter. It was a warm sunny day, and I will describe our activities very succintly. We got up, walked down to the Circular Quay, got the ferry

to Darling Harbour, had a drink in the Festival Cafe (well done on remembering the name mum - they don't do omlettes anymore, very sad), looked into getting the monorail (but discovered it went nowhere near where we wanted to go), sat in the sun waiting for the next ferry, got the ferry back to Circular Quay, took a walk into the Botanical Gardens, sat on the grass for a while till it got nippy, walked back. Sally did a rocky up the Opera House steps,

we tried to take a photo of ourselves, but on the first one Sally looked grumpy so she was told to cheer up, then we went to watch the rugby in a very homely pub (come on the all blacks - especially rodders and danny), before proceeding to Darling Harbour once more to see the end of the free winter concert, a fireworks show, and finally a fire juggling man with long beard to match. Bed. Night Night. xx

Can you tell where we are yet?!!

2006-07-08T12:15:00.000Z

And last, but not least, we come to Friday (and a small glimpse of Saturday). This will be a short post, as i am now tired. Friday involved a flying, landing, and arrival in Sydney. Beneath this text you will see some pictures of this progression, and the last pic is for the immediate members of the Haworth family for 'trip down memory lane' purposes. Enjoy.

Kate, Pheebs, and Jason

2006-07-08T12:00:00.000Z

And so onto Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday saw us reunite with the gorgeous Kate and Pheebs in Cambridge, and also saw the addition of two new members to our Cambridge crew - Jason (the beast of a car in the pic just below), and Elouise. We headed out for lunch as soon as we got there, enjoying good food and conversation by the fire in the Albert (i think that's what it was called). We then went to the supermarket to stock up on food for our babysitting job that evening. The baby (Sascha) was fantastic in that she slept virtually the whole time we were there, but it was sad because both me and Sal would have liked some baby cuddles. We settled for dog cuddles instead (which is a darn good substitute), and watching North Country, Prison Break (yes that was my request Willy - damn fine show), and In Her Shoes.
On the Thursday we took a drive in Jason (with Pheebs at the helm) to Raglan beach.

It wasn't the nicest of days, but it was still good to get into the fresh air, and there was some pleasant views.

After a pub lunch by the fire, we hot footed it back to Cambridge where me and Sal grabbed our bags and caught the coach to Auckland. Here we had a ride from a very arsey taxi driver (not a good start to being back in a city we aren't that keen on anyway), and dumped our stuff in our very nicely discounted twin room. We then met Analisa and went out for a drink and a natter. And that ends our Wednesday and Thursday post. xx

Tuesday Afternoon in Taupo

2006-07-08T11:40:00.000Z

Hello once more. Today will see a wealth of blogging (which you will already have gathered from the two posts already added) as there is a lot to catch you up on. Firstly Tuesday saw us depart Wellington for the start of our travels to Auckland. The first leg saw us get the coach up to Taupo. We arrived in the early afternoon, and after dropping our bags off at the trusty Rainbow Lodge (where we first met Annie, sniff), we headed out to stretch our legs along the shore of lake Taupo.

It was a very pleasant climate, much removed from the wind of Welli, and many photos were taken of the surrounding landscape in the late afternoon sunshine. (Black and white was used once more to add to the atmosphere what what!!).
Here you see Sally doing an explorer pose, very dashing lass, very dashing.And me doing a smiling pose.
And the two of us giving each other a comforting hug as we were melancholy to be parted from Alby and Willy :(
In the evening we went for a meal and the Waterside restaurant, watched Charlies Angels, and headed to bed for another day of travel and adventure. More on that above. xx

Je Suis Une Bandite De La Mer!

2006-07-08T11:26:00.000Z

On our last night in Wellington, the moment came which you all know I have been waiting for... yes! The premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It might not have been attended by glitzy Hollywood actors, or even a cast member from Shortland Street, but a group of eager pirates from the YHA were there, excited and dressed up to the nines (or, in my case, dressing like a french pirate, hense the title of this post):

We were greeted by a bunch of scurvy dogs, who were frankly a little too aggressive to be true pirates. They showed us to our seats, and out excitement only increased when we realised we had free chocolate booty. After a hearty 'huzza!' the film began. And what an experience!

We were glued to the screen, full of joy and despair, amazement and disbelief. For those of you who haven't seen it, I won't spoil any of it, but it is ace, as Laura, Fred and Katie show below. My bizarre, slightly stunned expression comes from how little I fancied Captain Jack Sparrow in it- a fact I'm still trying to come to terms with. But drink up me hearties, yo ho!

Day Two of Filming (With added morning jaunt)

2006-07-06T23:45:00.000Z

It is true, we had lurtz for another day, so we thought we would take advantage and head once more out of the city. Sadly Willy could not join us as she was being all responsible and working, but the three of us were not lonely for we had the lovely Elaine to keep us company (who you may remember from such previous posts as Concert of Mount Cook). We decided, seeing as it was a beautiful day, to head over the bay to Eastbourne and take a walk along the coast. Below you see the stunning view of the snow covered mountains on south island. It looked so close, and somewhat unreal.
We parked up good old lurtz and headed off round the bay. There was some crazy sheep on the sides of the steep gorse strewn hills, and on the way home we had a close encounter (being in that we were close to it proximity wise) with a ram whom i think we named geoffrey - can you remember Alby? Below you see a pic of me, Sal, and Elaine a little way into the walk.
When we'd walked for about an hour we had a little play on the beach, skimming stones (as demonstrated by Fred) and taking photos of the fab scenery and gorgeous people (as demonstrated by the photos). Black and white mode was discovered on my camera once more, hence the lack of colour you may have notice for the next few photos.
Last, but not least, as it was day two of filming, here is one sneaky snapshot of a location used in our spectacular. Points for guessing what scene we filmed here?

Day One of Filming (Especially for Willy and Alby)

2006-07-04T07:01:00.000Z

Yes, at last the long anticipated re-imagining of LOTR (selected scenes) began. Locations had already been scouted and so no time was wasted in getting the desired shots (although we did make a quick call to the Chocolate Fish for a wee nibble much to the satisfaction of all involved).

We acquired our vehicle "lurtz" from an obliging rental company and he drove us far and wide (with the aid of fred) throughout the Wellington Region, even past Peter Jackson's house (where the windows were wound down and we saluted the master himself as the Top Gun Anthem blared out - don't worry we have that on film too!!).

Our first location of the day was Kaitoke National Park - the site of Rivendell, and due to our natural acting ability, all scenes were done in one take. We are ace!!

Look! Isn't that Frodo, and Gimli, son of Gloin?!

And here we have Samwise Gamgee and the very glamorous Legolas! Or is Elrond and Boromir?

After completing the council of Elrond sequence, the four actors were mentally and physicially exhausted. But undaunted, they set off for their next location, the river Anduin, where they filmed the very emotional breaking of the fellowship. Sally/Samwise was so involved in her role she almost fell into the river whilst chasing Laura/Frodo. However, all emerged unscathed, and triumphant in the work of cinematic genius they had produced...

Saturday Night's ALLRIGGGHT!! (and chooks away)

2006-07-04T06:36:00.000Z

Hello, what what!! So you thought that was our last Welli post eh Alby and Willy?! Well my good chaps, what a treat for you, as there are at least three more to come, and hopefully by the time you read this they will all be here. We start with Saturday night, which found us dancing in places we never expected - namely welli waterfront as myself (Nige - aka Kt), Alby and Willy went to watch some fireworks across the harbour. Below you see a smashing shot of Wills and Alby boogeying to a bit of Reggae provided by a Maori new year concert.

Then it was ALLLL OOUTTTTT after we polished a few drinkies, played a little yee ha, and tossed that bale (barn doors closed)!!
We started quite late so we headed straight to the clubs (or Maya more precisely) and got our dancing shoes on. Sal had a few tequilas to kick start her night, and by the end it's safe to say she was fairly pished (which she informed us of a few times throughout the evening). So yes, we danced, and we sat, and we danced, and we drank, and then we left and went in search of somewhere else to do the same. Our search ended with the Establishment, and once entered, the boogie commenced once more.Below you see Alby busting some moves (I have the full action on a little video snippet - fantastic!!), followed by Wills and Caroline shaking it. The evening ended pretty much when the England v Portugal match began, and the girls went home to bed.
And that's Saturday. ROGAAAAR, over and out. Hugs from Nige and Eddie.

Photo Montage (Like Rocky Training Montage but Different)

2006-07-02T22:01:00.000Z

We started off sedately, playing pool...

But then came tequilla (mockingbird)...

....throwing shapes out on the dancefloor...

And finally that warm, fuzzy, 'I love everyone' feeling at the end of the night.

Our midwinter feast

And my chocolate and rum cake!

Huzza! Horray!

2006-06-28T04:36:00.000Z

I am so happy this afternoon. I finish work on saturday which means I only have two days of cleaning left- oh joy of joys! And Katie only has two days left at the commerce commission too which I think will mean much celebration and throwing ourselves around the dance floor this weekend (which also happens to be our last weekend in Wellington). Although frankly the whole of the last couple of weeks seems to have been a whirling dervish of social engagements which have left me a little exhausted. Our little pirate fellowship here has begun to break up- last weekend the Marks left Wellington (see pics of them on the post below) so we had a couple of nights filled with pool, tequilla and dancin' to bid them aideu. Then after waving them goodbye on Sunday we celebrated mid-winter with a feast in the hostel. Food, drink and good spirit was aplenty- everyone made a dish and it was all amazing! I made a chocolate and rum cake which was heaven on earth (though perhaps it might have only tasted so good because I quaffed all the rum I didn't use). We talked the hostel staff into playing Christmas tunes for us and then took a midnight stroll to ease our stuffed bellies. All in all it was a wonderful night. In true Christmas style we spent Monday doing nothing, and yesterday evening doing a pub quiz. Hmmmm... not our most successful attempt at fame and glory. We didn't quite come last, but were almost there. Unfortunately we couldn't even blame it on the quiz master this week- all down to our lack of knowledge. Though I have to say Katie was having flashes of brilliance in the country and western round.
I think that is all for now. I'm away now to enjoy the rest of the sunshine. Au revoir, mes amis xx

Bowl Me Over

2006-06-22T21:21:00.000Z

Howdi. Here are the pics from Saturday nights bowling experience. The pictures represent the two teams who fought in an epic (say it the style of Richard Taylor - go on!!) battle. The Team in the top picture came out victorious, but it was a close thing. Most importantly of course, fun was had by all!!

Crazy opera

2006-06-21T05:09:00.000Z

I'd also like to add that while Katie and Co. were at the pub quiz yesterday, I was experiencing my first opera, Mozart's 'The Magic Flute'. It was a bit mad, but good (giant serpents, a penguin with the head of a crocodile, and three little Mozarts in pink breeches all running around the stage). The music was beautiful, and one of the principles came from 'appy 'appy Halifax! I would feel cultured, if the whole thing hadn't been so silly!

Back in the YHA!! (And it's the shortest day)

2006-06-20T21:04:00.000Z

Hey everybody. How are you all? Our news this week:
The end of our time at Island Bay has come, and on Monday, but two days ago, we said farewell to Knoll Street, and hello once again to YHA Welli, where we are to reside until a week on Tuesday. Then we shall head northwards, ever making for Auckland (but taking as much time as possible!), though our route has not yet been decided. (It is very handy for Sal to be back in the hostel, as she now only has to roll out of bed to get to work. Nice!)
Our weekend saw us bowling once more (this time in the moonlight - 'twas not outside though - don't be fooled, it was just special lighting). Fun was had by all, and pictures will be here soon (once i get to borrow fred's camera). It also saw double spaghetti consumption, as I cooked for Kerry and Al on Saturday before bowling, and then for Fred and Laura on Sunday, before the Lion King and Life of Brian (as we had some mince left over). Weather was also a feature, for another southerly payed a visit, and sleep was lacking on Sunday night with windows rattling and wind abounding. Central heating and double glazing seem like dreams to us now.
Our night of last saw a group of us quizzing at the sports bar, and where we had done well the week before, we did not do well last night. It was again girls v boys, and they beat us by one point. I don't think anyone felt they had done that well though (it was a rubbish quiz - the category tv and cinema had 2 film questions, and the rest on NZ TV programmes, the sport on NZ sport, and they also had the wrong answer for a question in another round).
Today sees both of us at work.
What has been happening with you guys?

Pictionary II

2006-06-15T04:52:00.000Z

These may be a little easier to guess as the categories (of sorts) are underneath each picture. The best one is yet to come.

Person, place or object

Erm, not sure on this category, so i'll say 'ALL PLAY'

I'll say item?!?

An announcement

2006-06-15T04:40:00.000Z

Hello. Yes this is the third post of the day, and there's likely to be one more to come ( it's more pictionary you lucky devils you), but you will forgive the sudden splurge of blogging as there is news to tell. I must now announce that on the 14th of August Hoochie and Smoochy will be parting. Yes, on that date Sally will begin her journey home, as planned, whereas I will stay on and continue my journey in New Zealand. It is not yet confirmed when I will be returning to UK shores, but it looks like it will be November at the earliest. Kt. xx

Concert Of Mount Cook

2006-06-15T04:28:00.000Z

I'm not entirely sure what's happened with the picture layout here, but it's kind of funky, so let's just go with it ok? Good. These are pics from last night when we went to see Elaine play, and had a roast and chocolate cake to boot.

On the left you see Elaine performing.

Above you see Elaine relaxing after the gig with a hot chocolate i believe.

On the left you see the cake, and empty plates from the roast. mmmm

Ok, for some reason the pics come out differently on the blog, so the cake is not on the left, but above. I am sure you figured that out, but I just wanted you to know it's not that i typed it wrong, it is in fact that it all went wrong, somehwere. oh well. makes life a little more exciting (for me anyway).

PIRATES PREMIERE!!!!!

2006-06-14T23:33:00.000Z

ARRRGGGH me lovlies, I just can't contain me excitement!!! For what you cry? For this i reply - we are going to the NZ Premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on Monday July 3rd!!! All in the space of a morning did we find of its occurrence, and thence the lovely Caitlin (to whom I must apologise once more for waking her up in my excitement) went down to the cinema and got us our tickets (i tried to think of a piratical way to describe the tickets, but i'm so darn excited, i can't think of anything but my excitement). As one Scottish person said of the event - AAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGGGGGAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Play with us!!!!

2006-06-12T01:28:00.000Z

Hello gentle viewers. Today we ask you to partake in a game of Pictionary with us. As you will read in a soon to be posted post, Pictionary was a particular feature of the weekend beginning Friday 9th June. As we do so love to interact with our public we intvite you to make a guess at what the following pictures are trying their hardest to depict. More little treasures will be posted in the near future, as there are some crackers i can tell you. So don't be shy, start guessing today!!

Some of our pals for your perusal

2006-06-06T05:11:00.000Z

Hullo. This is just some pics of our friends from the hostel that we thought we'd share with you. There are more of them, and I will get pics of said rest of bunch shortly. We shall write another post at some point in the future telling you something about them so you can get to know them a bit better, but for now this will have to do. xx

Richard

Caitlin
Rhys

Myself and Laura's day out to Eastbourne (it's a lot closer than you'd think)

2006-06-06T05:04:00.000Z

Twas a week ago today (Saturday the 3rd of June 2006 to be exact) and me and Laura decided to do something touristy and head out on the Dominion Post Ferry to Eastbourne 'cross t'other side of the bay. Below Laura points from the balcony of the Loaded Hog to our destination.

It was a sunny day, as you can see from the sunlight and blue skies, ooh i think i'm going to change the colour of the text (and who knows maybe the font too) just a second.. Ok.done. I don't know how this will look on the pink background, but i'll soon find out.sorry about this, i was just thinking about how the writing looked different once you'd posted it on the blog, and that made me then look at the textual options and i thought i'd throw a bit of spice into the mixture (i don't think that explains my thought process very well, but it will have to do, and if any of you require further explanation you'll just have to enquire to me personally. Ok?). Back to the post now. So myself and Laura took the 2.15pm ferry across the windy harbour. The picture below demonstrates how windy it was, and as Fred rightly pointed out, it shows me bearing a striking resemblance to those twin guys from the matrix.

Once we alighted at Eastbourne the wind calmed somewhat and we took a stroll along the beach and a little further around the coast. Oh the text has gone ordinary again, please bear with me.. We then wandered back and had a cup o' tea sat outside facing the lovely view. It was then that the below photo was taken. Both myself and Laura had separately thought how the man placed as so on the bench would make a cool picture, and once we had both voiced our opinions and chuckled at our similar ponderings, i proceeded with the action that produced the outcome below. We hope you like it as much as we do.

Above you see the two of us in a similar pose, and although the outcome is not as good, it's still quite nice isn't it? The Ferry back was at 4.15pm and whence it came, aboard we did go and return to Wellington by the light of the setting sun. And thus came the end of our lovely afternoon, and the end of this post. xx

The Commission Conference (It's actually more about the slide)

2006-06-05T23:47:00.000Z

Yes, as Sally said below, I will now be telling you of my two funfilled days at the New Zealand Commerce Commission Conference 2006 (slogan - joining the dots to connect people - or something like that - oh I've just looked at my name badge and the actual slogan is 'Joining the dots, connecting people to achieve our common goals'). Lovely. Anyhoo our first morning consisted of a lecture and a workshop on positive thinking, or rather changing negative thinking patterns, from Dr. Tom. It was actually very good, and the morning tea inbetwixt was especially good (i think i had 3 helpings, or perhaps 4). At lunchtime we decided getting out was the best option, and so I steered the ladies (Kerry, Karen and Mel - from left to right below) to the playground in Frank Kitz Park on Wellington waterfront.

Above they all decided walking with their backs to me would be funny as then i couldn't take a picture. ha ha!! (although kerry maybe should have stuck with that idea - see last picture).

Needless to say, in the end fun was had by all, even if only myself and kerry got to experience the delights of the slide. Mel managed to capture the mood on film rather well i think - if anyone can come up with a caption for the picture of Kerry below please send them in!! i absolutely love it, and it would appear she does too as she has it stuck up on her desk now!!

Ahh it's brilliant. But back to the conference (both for us and the story). The afternoon involved two work shops, one of which was bad, one of which was good (mainly coz it started with everybody dancing to the time warp). The second day wasn't as good in terms of the morning presentations, but the afternoon was ace - we went on a scavenger hunt around wellington, and each team had its own mini van and driver. It felt rather 'challenge anneka'. We ended up coming last, but i didn't care, it was a gorgeous afternoon and we had a very scenic drive around the coast (which wouldn't have happened if we'd figured out the clues correctly, so i'm actually grateful we were dumb). And that's that. ta ta. xx

Postscript... plane tickets!

2006-06-02T07:21:00.000Z

Also, we both forgot to add on the post below, that we have bought our plane tickets for Australia! We fly to Sydney on 7th July, then return from Melbourne on the 31st. How exciting! I shall be having my birthday in the bustling capital... many plans are in progression, definitely including a trip to the Lindt swiss chocolate shop.
Katie has much news to tell about exciting exploits at work, but I shall let her tell all on her own post. I have little news, other than to tell you all that whoever invented hot water bottles was a god amongst men (or women) xx
P.S. Can you have a postscript on a blog?

Many Meetings

2006-05-27T22:12:00.000Z

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

2006-05-22T01:46:00.000Z

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!

2006-05-21T04:49:00.000Z

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!!

2006-05-17T10:39:00.000Z

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!!

2006-05-15T04:40:00.000Z

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!!

2006-05-15T02:02:00.000Z

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)

2006-05-14T22:15:00.000Z

Use Your Noggin!!

2006-05-12T03:00:00.000Z

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!!)

2006-05-10T04:49:00.000Z

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!

2006-05-09T23:11:00.000Z

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

2006-05-02T04:40:00.000Z

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!!

2006-05-02T04:00:00.000Z

Kt and Sal's News Bulletin: we saw Michael Barrymore!!

2006-04-22T01:52:00.000Z

I know that we've been neglecting you all lately, and not posting with our usual wit or frequency. Don't think that we've forgotten about you all or don't appreciate all your thoughts and comments. This will all change by Wednesday- as part of the telephone package for our temporary home we get unlimited broadband. So expect immense posts not only about our life in Wellington, but about life, love and the universe in general. I've been suffering from insomnia lately so may be burning the midnight oil in your company... of course it's the midday sun for you guys, and it's still the Queen's birthday as I write this.
In the meantime (inspired by the crazy New Zealand non-news they have over here, and also Mhairi's email) I present you with a news bulletin that will hopefully get you up to speed with all the important events in our lives lately:
- Katie and Sally have spotted their first celebrity!! It was two weeks ago, late on a Friday night in New World supermarket- Michael Barrymore browsing the English magazines (including Hello which had a Celebrity Big Brother story). "He looked tall and tired." the girls said.
- Katie and Sally are going to see Dylan Moran tonight! Nuff said.
- Sally has vowed to give up chocolate for forty days and nights, and is five days in to the regime which she has christened 'Tnel'. "So far so good", she commented. "It's actually been pretty easy, but I'm a bit fearful for the coming weekend."
- Katie's work at the commerce commission continues. She is alleged to particularly enjoy the more unusual aspects of the job, such as dancing like the wolf in Shrek, and consuming free wine and cake.
- Shocking images have been released of Sally in Wellington's library. "I couldn't help it!" she said in a sensational statement. "I vowed to stay out of the library for a whole year, but it's impossible". In the absence of any employment she is believed to be spending her days writing very bad fiction.
- Rumours continue to circulate the city about Katie's lavish birthday celebrations, planned for next weekend. Both girls declined to comment, but it is widely believed to involve boats, scones and Orlando Bloom.
Good night, and God Bless xxx

David Gray!!!

2006-04-21T00:33:00.000Z

Hello. The above good fellow has just come on to my customized radio station, and it reminded me I have not yet said how absolutely FANTASTIC his gig was. His support act Pete Murray was a wonderful beginning to an immensely enjoyable night. I wasn't sure how I was going to like it, as I only went on a whim, but I enjoyed every single song, and they were all done so well. It was brilliant. My best gig in NZ, and one of my top 5 gigs ever. I'd recommend anyone to go. Next time he's in the same country as I am I shall be going to see him. Yes. Ok. That's all for now. bye. Kt.xx

Easter Days full of Jeloys

2006-04-18T04:37:00.000Z

This city has gone Stones mad! They have rolled into town and are playing the Westpac stadium tonight, and I haven't been able to walk past a music shop or bar today without hearing 'Satisfaction' or 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' blaring out. It's marvellous. Unfortunately Katie and I won't be seeing them as the only tickets avaliable cost $600, but Katie is going to see David Grey instead which I'm sure she'll enjoy muchly.
What an exciting easter weekend we've had! We spent good friday having a very lord of the ringsy day with Fred and Laura, soaking up a bit of culture at the exhibition at Te Papa, then soaking up a bit of chocolate cake at the chocolate fish cafe. We would have both been horribly depressed at Fred and Laura's departure, if we hadn't had Helen (aka Donkey Woman) back to cheer us up. And she's decided to stay in Wellington until Katie's birthday weekend, horray, which means we can start planning all sorts of exciting celebrations. Saturday was a lovely sunny day so we took a cable car up to the botanical gardens and then went to see A History of Violence at our local cinema. Sunday Helen and I went to church and then all three of us gorged ourselves on chocolate eggs while we successfully took over the YHA's video lounge (a first) for a film-fest. I was pronounced 'bizarre, bizarre, bizarre', by the gorgeous french guy who works at the YHA when I went to get a video in Helen's bunny ears and so I no longer look on him with a favourable eye. Whoops my time has run out which means I must finish this later!

Our Day With Laura and Fred (in Pictures)

2006-04-18T02:42:00.000Z

A LOTR Pirate Ship at Te Papa

Sal, me, and Laura with the ball

Family Fortunes Wave at the Chocolate Fish Cafe

The Last Table

Sunset on the road back from the Chocolate Fish

Look who's here too!! (well you can see them when I have some photos - so just imagine for now ok?)

2006-04-12T02:06:00.000Z

What a lovely surprise we had on Monday night when we welcomed the arrival of Frau Laura and UnaFred!! As you can imagine it was fab to see some faces from back home (and of course what lovely faces they are!!). We didn't get up to much that particular evening as they didn't get in till half 8, just a quick tea/coffee/iced choc at Starbucks (a ritual new to Fred, certain aspects of which seemed to perplex him bless). We did manage to get in a recital of One of Us by Joan ? (I'll remember her name later, but it escapes me at this moment), the singing often taking on the tones of dr evil (yes, he wrote it!!), before we parted ways. So even though the time was short, many great things were done.
The day of yester (after I had my flu jab - well it was free!! and it wasn't filing, or photocopying..) we all met up for lunch, taking our refreshment at the dog and bone, a fab pub at the top end of Lambton quay. The food is ace, and they give decidedly ample portions. Ways were then parted once more as I had to hop it back to work (though I did walk some of the way), and Sal had an interview with an agency. Well at least she was supposed to, but the computers had broken, so she couldn't do any of the tests. Very naughty of them not to tell her beforehand and save her the bother of turning up for ten minutes.
Last night we all took a trip to the cinema to see Inside Man (very enjoyable, not what we expected, quite stupid - but in a good way). We had a little nibble beforehand at the Hogs Breath pub (members of the Haworth family may remember the establishment of the same name we went to at Bondai Beach when in Aus?) and just when F & L were moaning about the music they'd so far been exposed to in NZ, what came on but Summer of 69 and Sultans of Swing (the excitement of which made me elbow Laura - she's ok, don't worry). Needless to say, they were soothed that at least in Wellington good music was to be heard!!
And that's us pretty much up to date. I finish for the Easter weekend at 2ish tomorrow aft, and we plan to go see the Lord of the Rings exhibition at Te Papa on Friday, before taking the newbies to the Chocolate Fish Cafe and another stroll past PJ's house.
We hope you all have a wonderful Easter. Bye till next time. xx

Return of the King

2006-04-09T07:51:00.000Z

Today we went here..

To see Return of the King...

And this is what we thought...

Bye. xx

The Weekend Cometh!!

2006-04-07T08:43:00.000Z

As you might have guessed from the title, it's me (kt) writing again, and yes it's Friday night, the end of my first full week of work!! I have just got back from a few after work drinks, a ritual that happens every second Friday (except for at the moment when it happened last friday, last night, tonight, and on wednesday - i came at the right time!!). This seems to happen in every office throughout NZ. Good idea I think. I managed to win a beach ball in the raffle of confiscated goods that had been sent to people at the commission, but which they obviously were not allowed to accept, as it may be seen as accepting a bribe. Due to the fact it got inflated, I have left it at work as I didn't fancy walking home with it, as proud of it as I am!! Sally has had a lovely day by the sounds of it, peaking this afternoon with a phwoar meeting with ferrero rocher and amaretto ice cream (though not in the same ice cream obviously - or maybe not that obvious, who knows). I think we are going there tomorrow as it's supposed to be a nice day ( I might also go on the playground as a special treat for myself!!). Anyhoo, that's all for now. Toodles. xx

deja vu...

2006-04-06T09:31:00.000Z

Sorry for the double posting but my silly YHA computer was playing silly beggers yesterday... I actually wrote it last night but only managed to post it today... weird... What news do I have to tell you? Very little. Other than swimming pool temperatures here are very cold. And that my spelling is appalling, after re-reading the post below!

Happily soon to be marooned in Island Bay

2006-04-05T09:15:00.001Z

After letting Katie write the last dozen posts it is definitely time you heard from me, and so I get the lovely job of filling you all in with our news. Our accomadation is at last sorted! Katie got an email a few days ago from a lovely Irish bloke she works with saying that he was going back home for a couple of months, and would we like to house sit while he and his partner were away? So on monday night he gave us a lift out to Island Bay, where the house is, and it's absolutely lovely. Me and Katie are taking over the rent while they are away so we get to live in a fully furnished house for not many bucks. They don't leave until the 26th so in the meantime we're staying put at the lovely YHA. Island Bay takes about twenty minutes on the bus from Wellington centre, and is a gorgeous little seaside town with some cafes, a few shops and an arthouse cinema. Pretty perfect really and I think we're both excited and happy about it.
I had an epic interview with a temping agency yesterday, which took three hours in total (in consequence of which I completely missed an interview I'd scheduled for later, foolishly thinking two and a half hours would be plenty of time to leave). They seemed pleased with all my test results- apparently I'm a whizz at typing, Word and Excel, but bloody awful at data entry. So hopefully they might find me work soon- my temping 'consultant' seemed really positive. And I got a phone message from another agency wanting to see me next week so I'm feeling far happier about the job-less situation I have found myself in.
Last night we went to see an ace film that you must all see as soon as possible... V for Vendetta, which is surprisingly full of British actors such as John Hurt, Stephen Fry, Sinead Cusack, etc. It was lovely to see all the old faces from Blighty. And the film itself was brilliant. We thought it couldn't get any better, and then we heard the closing track... 'Street Fighting Man' by the Stones, yes!!

Happily soon to be marooned in Island Bay

2006-04-05T09:15:00.000Z

very small EARTHQUAKE!!!

2006-04-02T20:46:00.000Z

Hello!! The time was 8.42, and the building shook. Only slightly, but shake it did. My very first Earthquake. Don't know if Sal felt it, she may still be in bed. I was excited!!

Relax, it's only some Pics

2006-04-02T01:11:00.000Z

Wellington from above during our flat hunt yday

Arrr it's Ian the Pirate

Puss and Donkey Yarrr!!

2006-04-01T05:09:00.000Z

Well, as predicted we have spent most of today looking round possible abodes. Some have been ok, some have been abismal. Some have been easy to find, some sent us round the bend in totally the wrong direction. We did benefit from this though as we got muchos exercise and a lovely view of the city (pics soon). Luckily we were aided by the return of donkey woman, and so it was not as haphazard as it could have been. Three superheroes are better than two (especially when it comes to spontaneous matchstick art attacks - more about that later!!). We are off to view more tomorrow, but the best place we have found at the moment is a bit like university halls. It is reasonable rent and includes everything though, and we could move in almost straight away. Plus they let you stay for only three months, which is turning out to be the crux of our problem in finding a flat of our own.
So yes, last night saw the reuniting of The Cunning Linguist, Donkey Woman, and Susan. There was much frivolity and a pleasant evening was had by all. The plan had been to have another game of poker so Susan and DW popped over to the supermarche to pick up some matches and choc to aid the entertainments. An unforseen problem occurred however when it was found Susan had lost the cards, and as noones special powers could conquer this situation, we ended up using the matchsticks to create an art attack on one of the dining room tables. And what a masterpiece it was. The fruit of our labours was Ian the Pirate, a sight to behold. His message was simple "IAN SAYS RELAX". A very positive message that I hope you all take home with you (or if you are at home, keep it there, and take it out with you too). I will put pics on soon, as they are well worth seeing, but being the crazy fool I am, I picked a computer with no USB connector (or certainly not one that works). There is also a pic to add that explains the title, so quite a lot to look forward to really. We do spoil you sometimes. Anyhoo, I'd better be off, time for tea I think. Au revoir mon petit pois. J'taime. (et J'aime petit pois - is that already inferred in the previous sentences? Je nais sa pas. Apologies if my French spelling is appauling, I should have left that to the Cunning Linguist). Susan. xx

No time!!!

2006-03-31T09:00:00.000Z

hello. this is to be a very short post. it's now friday night. We couldn't post last night as it was jam packed. I went to a guitar lesson straight after work, then came back to the hostel to meet sal, and off out again straight away to go and view a flat. We didn't get back till ten, and then i had to pack my stuff as we had to move rooms this am before heading to work. Still no luck with flats. We'll do a longer blog over the weekend, but tomorrow is also to be dedicated to flat hunting, so it may be sunday before you see anything. Hope you are all ok. :) xx

Not much to say. Yet I've said a lot!!

2006-03-29T09:00:00.000Z

Hullo. The only news we really have today is that Sally has an interview tomorrow morning, wahoo!! Though whether it's a job that's worth doing remains to be seen. Yes. My news could be that I had my photo taken for the commerce commissions website today, and apart from reading your replies (which was obviously a thoroughly joyous experience), that was the highlight of my day (and when i say it could be my news, i don't mean it could be in that if it had happened it could be, coz it did happen - i mean why would i make that up - just that it's one of the things that happened that was of any significance) . Ooh although i did get my own stationery today which may not excite you, but it means i get to name things, and i do love naming things. Plus i get to decorate my desk space with pretty pictures (some of you guys are up there already -well anabee so far, don't know who else of the lytham guys actually read this, so i suppose it could just be one of you -you being the viewers- although if anyone wants to send a pic for me to put up, that'd be cool, in fact it'd be more than cool!!). Sorry about that. i also love decorating stuff, so i got a bit carried away with possibilities. Anyhoo, bye bye for now. Kt. xx
I've just read over this and realised i've babbled a heck of a lot. Apologies. I've been on my own a lot today, so all my chatter that i would usually spread out over the day has been condensed into this. Aaaaah. i'm going. Keep your superhero answers coming.

Next question...

2006-03-28T07:50:00.000Z

Here's the next thing for you to ponder my friends. Continuing on the superhero theme (as you all seemed to like it so), who would your nemesis/arch enemy be? What is their evil plan, and how do you intend to stop them? We haven't thought of answers ourselves yet, but we'll let you know when we do (perhaps mine would be birdseye, i'll think on that).
Also, can anyone think of any questions that would help us all to get to know each other better, and that are just a bit of fun? We are liking this interaction!! Kt. xx
P.S We are very interested to know what Elsie's superpowers etc would be.

Yo!!

2006-03-27T07:50:00.000Z

Wow!! what a lot of response to that question. you're all superheroes in our eyes, but there are many more of your alter egos still to appear. Tongue boys message to those who haven't yet responded - "don't hold your tongue"!! Does someone perhaps have 5 alter egos? Could you combine them? Think about it. Anyhoo, this is just a quick update. I (being Kt) now have a job!! It's as a project support officer in the commerce commission. And that's really all there is to tell. Sally says life is good. She has just finished a book and is happy. Just off to see the pink panther movie. tarra. xx

Helen's superhero post

2006-03-26T06:11:00.000Z

Inspired by our conversations with Helen at Wellington YHA, we have some questions to ask which we think will help us all get to know one another a little better. They are:
1) If you were a superhero what would your name be?
2) What would be your superpower/s?
3) What would your costume look like?
4) Who would your sidekick be?
5) And most importantly, what would your catchphrase be?

Katie's answers:
1) Susan
2) Shelling any given quantity of peas in under 5 seconds.
3) Purple spandex with a silver miniskirt, pea-green elbow and knee pads and pea-green roller skates.
4) The Bean (silent but stringy)
5) "I love peas!"

Sally's anwers:
1) The Cunning Linguist
2) Speaking any language that's ever existed fluently.
3) Map of the world romper suit.
4) Tongue-boy
5) "Oui si jah da baby!"

Tongue-boy says "Cat got your tongue?"- let us know your thoughts! S and CL xx (We love peas in any language)

A Normal Title

2006-03-26T05:54:00.000Z

Hello! We have now been in not-so-sunny Wellington for a week and the whole week's excitement happened last night. We had an absolutely lovely evening which was a much needed and welcome break from flat hunting, job hunting and spending as little money as possible. At this point thanks must go out to our food sponsers Fi and Dunc. Thanks guys, we love you! Our evening started with drinks at a fab little caf' around the corner from the YHA, the Hummingbird. Frankly we were looking fab, the first night we've got properly dressed up since we arrived in NZ. It's been hard (for Katie!). I'd wanted to go to the Hummingbird ever since I found out it served a cocktail with Appletizer in. I had it yesterday- the Strappleberry- and it was the nicest drink I've ever tasted! Katie described it as "All of the Opal Fruit flavours in one!" Then we went for tea at a restaurant by the waterfront. And what a meal it was! We both ordered lamb shanks with mashed potato and a tomato, basil and garlic sauce. It was heaven. We didn't speak, for we couldn't. We savoured every mouthful. Mmmmmmmmm. Then we went to see Bic Runga (a Kiwi singer-songwriter). She was ace, but the support act, the flight of the conchords, was mega! All the more so for being so unexpected. They were comedy-musicians. No one can describe the aceness of them. Bic's band (including Neil Finn of Crowded House!) spoke more than she did, she seemed a little shy of the limelight, but that didn't make her performance any less wonderful. She almost did an impromptu performance of 'Sound of Silence', but didn't. Jah. Today, after finding we could do little flat-wise or job-wise, we caught the bus to Seatoun and walked along to the Chocolate Fish Cafe, which used to be frequented by the LOTR's cast. We saw Peter's oscar again, as we passed his house twice. It's really not what you'd expect. Small, a little shabby, and right next to the road where anyone can peer in. We played it cool though and donned our shades to walk past. So that's all for the present. Back to the fray tomorrow xxx

Who Knows

2006-03-22T00:11:00.000Z

Well viewers, I thought things were going ok, but it's all gone a bit backwards. The job that I was sure I had has now gone, and it would seem there are no flats to be had, so it's back to the drawing board. We found a few apartments yesterday that had been advertised in Saturdays paper, but they had already gone when we phoned, and there were none to be seen in todays paper. We are now looking into hostels where you can stay on a more permanent basis, as if we continue to stay at the YHA we will have to change rooms at least every 6 nights (though it's likely to be more frequent), and that idea bums me out. Sally's feeling ok, she's a lot more positive than I am (I think the job thing's just thrown me as i only found out on my way here) . Just polishing off her CV as we speak. Anyhoo, we've bought a lottery ticket for tonight, so if we win - problem solved!! That's what I'm going for - as Sky Masterson sings "Luck be a lady tonight". Kt.xx
P.S. Thanks for the answers guys, we feel very informed now.

We need answers

2006-03-21T01:22:00.000Z

We have had a few questions that have come up over the past few weeks, and we would greatly appreciate your help in answering them. They are as follows:

1, What does Grand Marnier (or Grand Mariner as Sally likes to call it) taste like?

2, Do you win Solitaire, or just complete it?

3, What is French Toast?

If any of you have any questions that have been puzzling you recently, please write in with them, as either me and Sal, or the other viewers, may be able to help and put your mind at rest. I'm sure we will have more questions in the not too distant future. Bye for now. xx

What job would you do?

2006-03-21T01:09:00.000Z

It is now Tuesday afternoon with us and we have just been in the Wellington central library (a very nice library it is too) looking for flats to rent. We have found a few that are in the centre and sound quite appealing, so we're going to chase those up promptly. We spent yesterday morning wandering around the town looking for any jobs that were being advertised in shops, but we were disappointed that there didn't seem to be many positions available. I then had an interview (plus the usual tests) with Hudson employment agency, and was offered a job doing data entry in a bank for 2 months. It could be monotonous, but it's pretty good money, and money's what we need right now!! Sal's currently sorting her CV out and will be distributing it to some worthy establishments tomorrow (she's just waiting on a mobile number).
The most entertaining thing we have to tell you is about some of the jobs we found whilst looking through the ads in the paper yesterday. Which job would you do from this list:

1, Head Shepherd
2, Porto-loo driver
3, Share milker
4, Brothel worker (with good personality) *

*This is only open to slim, energetic 18+ year old girls, so keep that in mind!!

We'll leave you on that note. Kt xx

The Long Road to Wellington

2006-03-19T08:38:00.000Z

We're back in Welli!!! After two days of nothing but travel, we have arrived safe and sound back in Wellington where, as you may or may not know, we plan to get jobs and find a dominion of our very own (the quest for all begins tomorrow). The journey went pretty much without a hitch, we had plenty of breaks on the way up from fox to nelson yesterday, and our journey was nicely split up between coach and ferry today. The only major occurrence in the whole thing was me picking up somebody elses bag at the conveyer belt thing when we arrived in Welli, but it all got sorted - the shuttle driver kindly phoned the terminal and took me back to get it. Luckily it had been put behind the desk, and so it was all done with very little trouble to me.
We had a cool coach driver by the name of Neville for yesterdays journey, and drove through some lovely scenery. We began in rain, but the weather got brighter as we went further north. We spent last night in a nice hostel in Nelson (the Paradiso - good recommendation Analisa) with ladder access to the internet room - very kooky!! The only downside was that we were sharing a room with some very smelly boys who came in at alate hour, and i didn't end up getting much sleep (Sally, however, slept like a log, and had a rather fabulous dream about Captain Jack Sparrow - the lucky thing!!). We are now happily installed in YHA Welli.
FYI, daylight saving ended here last night, so we're now only twelve hours in front, soon to be 11 in a week.
Bye for now. Kt and Sally Sparrow.xx

Crampons and Ice

2006-03-18T08:57:00.000Z

I actually had a dream about writing this blog last night- it was full of witty comments that left you all amazed and delighted- but it all seems to have disappeared from my head now I sit down to write. By the way, you really have to smack the o key down on this keyboard, so there may be some o's missing later...
Katie and I left Queenstown quite thankfully and arrived at Fox Glacier thursday afternoon. We were staying in a hostel that had a sort of mini cinema- three rows of cinema seats in a normal sized room- so we stayed in and had a ghostbusters fest, hurrah! Fox Glacier town was tiny and had no scones for sale (Katie and I now seem to judge a town on whether we can get scones or not). But we did go to rather a classy pub, and bought fortune chocolates for a dollar. My fortune read 'you will win a prize'. I'm taking this at its word and we've decided to invest in lottery tickets. Friday I went for a day-long hike on the glacier which was absolutely fabulous. The weather was pretty clear and sunny so I didn't get too cold, except when I had to stand still for an hour while our buff guides carved out steps in the ice with axes. (They were very buff, but unfortunately, a little young). I did fall over on the ice and cut my hand (which is unsuprising, if I can injure myself I will) but the walk was amazing- we crawled through ice caves and walked through big cravasses. Now I must go as I've run out of time. Bye bye!!
I (Kt) would like to add, I went for a walk round a small lake while Sally was off being adventurous. Yes. Not very exciting, but I didn't want you to be sat thinking - i wonder what katie was doing. Now you know. And you probably wish you didn't. Bye!!!

Lesson Two

2006-03-15T00:22:00.000Z

This lesson has been a hard and annoying lesson to learn, and the lesson is - when travelling through Queenstown make sure you book everything well in advance, and have lots of extra money in case you forget to book something and have to pay extra just to be able to get somewhere (like out of this place). We learned this first with accommodation, and now with buses. In all other places we have had no problem booking our bus the day before we wished to travel, but today we tried this, only to find the bus for tomorrow (and there is but one bus a day) was fully booked. We have therefore had to pay to go with another bus company, otherwise we would have lost money elsewhere. We are not happy. We have learned the lesson.
Anyhoo, I will now fill you in on our plans for the next five days. We leave Queenstown tomorrow morning at 7.30 am (can't wait!) and travel to Fox Glacier on the west coast where we arrive about 3 pm. We are spending two nights there, for on Friday Sally is doing the glacier walk. On Saturday we have an 11 hour journey to Nelson, where we shall spend the night, before a further 2 hour journey to Picton on Sunday morning. We take the 12.45 ferry to Wellington and there we are to stay for the next few months. Thus our travelling will come to an end, and i'm afraid the blog will become rather mundane from then on. We will try to have adventures of some sort so as not to leave you all with no excitement, but it could never last forever could it?!! And that's all there is to say for now. Oh except that we get really sad when we come on and see no comments from anyone. Please just say hello so we know you're there. We miss you all.xx

P. S. some other blogs have sprouted from our blogging, so if we're not enough blog for you please try www.newstosallyandkt.blogspot.com, and www.harthside.blogspot.com. These will perhaps only be of interest to a select few, but we find them very entertaining and comforting. Thanks go out to our parents.xx

Todays Lesson

2006-03-13T06:31:00.000Z

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen, or perhaps good evening. Whoever you are and whatever time it be that you are with us, we welcome you, and invite you to share with us todays valuable lesson. For today we went in search of Paradise. A quest attempted by many, but a quest rarely (if ever) fulfilled. It began with a journey of some length back to the familiar (Queenstown), and then on once again into the unknown. We passed high over the lake, far under the shadow of the mountains, forded the streams, on a road that became a track, and a track that went ever on, all the while searching for Paradise. But what was Paradise? Would it be obvious that we had found it? Would there be a clear sign - this is Paradise? All that had surrounded us for miles had looked liked Paradise. How would we know we were there? The answer is, we did not, and do not know. We may have been to Paradise, but we will never know. You may think we are disappointed that we did not find that which we had searched for (or did not realise that we had found it), but we are not my friends, for this is the lesson which we learned - make sure you enjoy the journey, for the destination may never be reached.
In the end we found our own Paradise. And it was good. And we were pleased.

Enjoy your journey.

Kay-Tee da Freestyler in da raptor-copter!

2006-03-13T06:27:00.001Z

Well my dearest friends and relations, when I wrote last Kay-Tee and I were about to begin our journey to Te Anau and Milford Sound, and what a journey it was! We picked up our hire car friday morning, and were delighted to find a rather old red Ford Lazer with go-faster stripes and a plastic spoiler; all in all, a complete chav car that we named Vicky (Pollard). The drive to Te Anau was marvellous, but we couldn't pick up any radio reception, and thus Katie as we all know and love her metamorphosized into Kay-Tee, MC. She was happily rapping away (Example: "There is a moon, there is a river, it is wider than a kilometre!") Meanwhile I was crying, "Right, right, right!" Kay-Tee thought that as a member of her crew I was joining in with the rap, but in fact I was trying to indicate that we needed to turn right, and speedy James Bond-style driving was needed by Kay-Tee to prevent us missing the turn off. Despite these escapades and Vicky's habit of moving when she hadn't been told to, we made it to Te Anau unscathed. However, the James Bond-type experiences weren't to end there. In Milford Sound, Katie and I went on the most exciting of our adventures together: we flew on a helicopter!! It was entirely unplanned; on our day trip to Milford Sound, our guide mentioned that it was possible to do a half-hour helicopter ride. Sunday, the day of our trip, was just glorious weather. We had bright clear blue skies and the mountains were covered with fresh snowfall. It was the most perfect of days, and so we decided we had to do it. And it was absolutely awesome! We flew above the Sound, amongst the mountain tops in the most wondeful sunshine, and landed on the top of a mountain that Edmund Hilary wasn't even able to climb, with only mountains and snow and glaciers as far as you could see. Watch the opening shot of The Two Towers and you might be able to imagine how fantastic it was... I have never experienced anything like it before. And I have never seen anything like the landscape we saw on Sunday. The drive between Te Anau and Milford Sound was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The photos below will not do it justice. In fact I will give up trying to describe it all, because sometimes words just aren't bloody good enough, and instead give you all mine and Katie's love x
(sorry that the photo's on its side, couldn't manage it any other way at the mo)

Wilkommen Frau Laura and Unafred!!

2006-03-13T06:27:00.000Z

We would just like to give a warm (if a little belated) welcome to our two chums Laura and Fred who arrived in NZ last week. Ja!!! We have been meaning to write this for a few days, so it's not that we forgot you were coming, we just forgot to write it. Have fun my little munchkins. Look forward to seeing you both soon. xxxx

IMPORTANT NEWS

2006-03-09T09:41:00.000Z

No no no no no!! Katie has just been online and got us tickets to see Dylan Moran in Wellington in April!!!!!!!!! For those who don't know he is an Irish comic who stars in Black Books and me and Katie love him!!! yeah!!!!!!!

One goes mad on Stewart Island, two go adventuring in car

2006-03-09T08:54:00.000Z

Hurray! Katie and I have been reunited. It may have been a short seperation, but it was tough. So much so that we're both suffering from upset tummies (though mine might have to do with some dodgy mussels I got at the Stewart Island fisherman's co-op). My last couple of days on the Island were very eventful. After not speaking to anyone for days, I was befriended by a huge group of fifty-something Kiwi fishermen that were taking their holidays on Stewart. There were about twenty of them, all hulking, friendly, southern comfort drinking men. First they tried to insist that I was from Scunthorpe, then Birmingham?! When I told them I came from Halifax, they all nodded their heads vigourously. "Good League country! Good League country!" they said. I can only assume they were speaking about something to do with rugby, and thus I was accepted and they immediately gave me whiskey to drink and cod to eat. The cod, freshly caught, was absolutely amazing, unlike any fish I've ever tasted. It was like Plato's ideal cod, with all other cod I've ever eaten a poor imitation. The whiskey wasn't so good, but there was no way I was drinking southern comfort. It appears they took me to their hearts, as every time someone new came into the living room they shouted, 'Have you met Sally from Halifax!", and they kept asking me if I was travelling with my mum... I don't think their intentions would have been entirely honorable towards you Granny Fi! I slept late the next day and took a boat to Ulva Island which is a bird sanctury, completely predator free, so the birds were wonderfully friendly, and the forest absolutely beautiful. On the way back I went on a little cruise around Stewart Island, so was able to see the old whaling stations, and the wreak of the Othello, a pleasingly Shakespearean whaling ship. Then this morning I was up at the crack of dawn to get my ferry back to the South Island, and back to my gorgeous Katie. And what plans we have! Queenstown is absolutely chokablock over the weekend so we've rented a car for the weekend and are going to drive down to Lake Te Anau, and hopefully see Milford Sound. Wayhey, road trip!!!!! L'vie est belle! xx

Prosporo's Island of mists and rain

2006-03-07T03:40:00.000Z

I wanted to begin this post with a quote from The Tempest so you would all be amazed at my intelligence and well-readness. But unfortunatly the Islands library is only open for three hours a week, and hasn't been open yet while I've been here, so there's been no Shakespeare for me. Perhaps I should say 'O rainy new world!' Yes here I am on Stewart Island, the third largest island in New Zealand, and it's raining. It has been raining since I arrived, and will continue to rain until I leave. But nonetheless, I love it here.
When me and Katie seperated I headed south to Invercagill, which is right on the south coast of New Zealand, and there it rained. Rain might be a continuing theme of this post, in fact it feels like it's been a continuing theme of this whole country for the last two weeks. Invercagill is tiny and there really isn't an awful lot to do but it does have a certain charm, and a marvellous cinema. I went to see Casanova and it wasn't marvellous, it was rather bizarre in fact. I spent a happy day reading and trying to dodge the rain, and yesterday morning caught the ferry to Stewart Island. The crossing is, to quote the Lonely Planet, famed for turning the stomachs of even the hardiest of sailors, but I was not afraid, and a combination of All Bran and a ginger capsule kept my tummy as strong as iron. Good, character-building stuff, All Bran. As it was raining heavily (of course) as we crossed, the Island came towards us out of the mist like it was out of the Tempest. My hostel is in Halfmoon Bay, which is the largest settlement on the island, and it has one general store, one pub, and nowhere to get scones as I found out to my dismay yesterday. I'm staying in my own private room, for the price of ten pounds a night, and it has a raidiator!! So I slept like a baby and this morning woke determined to see more of the island, despite the rain. I walked up to Horseshoe Point, a spot on the top of some cliffs, and just as I got to the top the sun came out so I was able to see wonderful views of the bays and the surrounding islands, and very distantly, the South Island. By the way Mum, one of the bays here is called Frenchman's cove, how exciting is that? I had one hour of beautiful sunshine before the rain forced me back to the hostel, where I found that some rogue had stolen my pasta sauce from the fridge! Bastards! However I am not downhearted as I have the Three Musketeers to console me. Not all chivalry is dead when I can read about their exploits. Aideu!
(By the way Dodfather, all of the place names here are ace- there's Adventure Cove, Dundee Street, and last but not least, Elgin Terrace, can you believe it??!!! Tell Ali I haven't found a Lossiemouth Place yet!)

Queenstown. Yeah. It's beautiful. Really beautiful.

2006-03-05T08:54:00.000Z

Hello everybody. We two have broken our bond and are now living our different adventures, so this is just me Kt. I arrived here in Queenstown yesterday evening and for the first time as we were driving in, the scenery brought tears to my eyes. It's so beautiful (at one point it almost looked like the scene when Sam and Frodo are leaving the Shire - you know Sal, my favourite scene, so no wonder i was emotional). The pictures I have taken in no way convey how amazing it is (as you few will know who have been here). Anyhoo, after alighting from the coach i made my way to the black sheep hostel, where I knew our previous acquaintance Emma to be residing, and after dropping my stuff we headed into town (only 2 mins away) for a brief wander around before grabbing something to eat (lamb again for me!!). We had an early night as we were up earlyish this morning to have another walk this am before Emma had to make her way to work. Over breakfast (kindly provided by the hostel) we met a Canadian girl called Theadra (everytime i come to spell it i forget how to, so apologies, i'll have to correct myself later probably) who joined us on our walk, and after I acquired more winter clothing (it's rather cold here) we made our way to the top of the hill overlooking Queenstown and the Lake (photo above). It was a tad breezy but well worth the hike. We looked around a bit, and then wandered down again, for what else could we do? (suggestions on a postcard). And that's pretty much me up to date. Myself, Emma, Theadra, and two other guys from our room (Jim and Kevin) have just popped into town for a drink so i'm off presently to rejoin them (it's happy hour soon!!). I shall therefore bid thee all a fond farewell. Kt. xx
P.S. I would like to apologise for all the brackets.
P.P.S. To Elsies Mum, you could perhaps send a package Poste Restante here to the Queenstown Post Office and Sal can pick it up when she gets here (I would think we'll be here long enough to get it). I think you just label it Poste Restante, Main Post Office, Queenstown, South Island, NZ. Hope that may be of some use. xx
P.P.P.S Barnacle looks ace in the shades - happy birthday!! (he also looks a lot thinner - has he been working out?!!) xx

Penguins (and the parting of the ways)

2006-03-03T22:24:00.000Z

Well my friends you have come to a bittersweet moment in our New Zealand Experience. Our little fellowship is breaking, but only for a very brief while. Katie heads East to Queenstown, and I head South to the inhospitable landscape of Invercagill, and Stewart Island. So for a week or two you will have seperate posts from us adventurers. But don't worry, we shall soon be reunited and back together once again, like Bill and Ted, Wayne and Garth, Butch and Sundance, Shrek and Donkey...
Yesterday was a fitting end to our time in Dunedin. As Katie was very keen to see Penguins, we went on a wildlife tour of the Otago penninsula, which is about thirty minutes drive from the city. For the last two days we have had rain and wind almost nonstop, and so yesterday we found ourselves on the cliff side with the wind roaring around us and the sea boiling below us- it was absolutely spectacular. The waves were smashing against the rocks at the water's edge, and so we got to see a huge collony of fur seals at close range. The pups were only a few weeks old and not strong enough to swim in the sea, so they had climbed up the cliff very near to where we could watch them. On our walk across the beach to the penguins we passed a harem of five huge sealions, all male, as females are very scarce on the penninsula. They were absolutely massive and extremely playful with each other in the cold weather, and we were able to stand only metres away from them, an experience that was both exciting and frightening! We got onto the beach at about 8 'o' clock, the time when the penguins are returning from the sea after a days fishing, and so we got to see them waddle out of the surf (and fall over a couple of times) before walking up the hill back to bed. They were yellow-eyed penguins who are very shy of humans and so it was a brilliant experience just to see them. Bye xx

FAO Monseigneur X

2006-03-02T10:30:00.000Z

Pardon Monseigneur, we were ignorant of your presence until the sweet moment but trois minutes ago, when we happened upon your petit pois. Ah oui!! Ca va? Please, come again. Au revoir ma cherie. x x

You have appeased us (we will not say ni!)

2006-03-02T05:32:00.000Z

Aah friends you are back with us. We are smiling once again. So yes, what were we saying about the weather the other day - warm, sunny, no rain? How things can change!! It's like being back in Aberdeen. We are wrapped up to the hilt and have just been out to purchase fleeces. This is Dunedin!! On the night of the last (ie. last night), we met up with an old friend from Auckland by the Robbie Burns statue in the Octagon (which is pretty much the centre of the City). Her name is Analisa (you may remember her from other blogs such as the ones at the start involving Auckland) . It was only eleven o clock when we came together and yet there was no life to be seen anywhere. We wandered about for a bit, had a cocktail in a nice but mostly dead bar and headed back to the hostel. Sally went to the uni this morning and we wandered around town this afternoon. Tomorrow we are going to visit the penguins - yey!! And that's that. bye for now. xx
ps. I'll have you know travelling is work Katie!! We have to get up early almost everyday, facing uncertainty, and try to find our way in this new world. We have to hunt for our food and shelter in a new environment every couple of days, never knowing whether the landscape will be lush or hostile. Yes, it's hard, hard work. And yo Fred! We just noticed your comment back in the archives... looking forward to seeing you two (and too, jah see what we did there we are rakish wits indeed!) Aaahh goodbye to you all.

Where is everybody please?!!!

2006-02-28T23:32:00.000Z

Erm, we have noticed viewers, that you have become very lax in your comments in recent days. This makes us sad :( Do you not love us? Have we done something to offend you? Sad Sally and Crying Kt.

Punting on the Christchurch Express

2006-02-27T06:01:00.000Z

Hello again. We have just arrived in Dunedin after a 6 hour bus journey with a really bad driver (clutch control man!!). The sun is still shining, the only rain we have seen was about half past eleven last night and that only lasted an hour. Yes we have been very fortunate with the weather. (please do not think we mention this to rub it in that most of you are in the freezing cold, grey, rainy and sporadically snowy UK - we would not do this, it's merely so you can further understand our experience). Anyhoo back to Christchurch. On our first full day we set out to explore the city and do a bit of shopping. We did minimal amounts of both. The highlight of our day was definitely our Punt along the river Avon (pictured below). We were lucky to be in a boat with some lovely australians, and fun was had by all, though i think we were a little disappointed not to have been in the earlier punt with the choir of chinese ladies who cruised past on their way out sounding lovely and harmonious, and came back sounding like they'd spent a night at the boozer (we could not find an explanation for this, but it certainly was entertaining). Good to see some other people with a sense of humour.

The next day (being Sunday) we were up early to board the TranzAlpine Express to Greymouth and back ( a return journey of 660 k, which i reckoned to be about 400 miles - though do correct me if i'm way off - i'm sure someone will). This route took us across the Alps and through Arthurs Pass (again see picture below). There was some spectacular scenery, but i think if we were to do it again we would disembark at Arthurs pass and have a walk around there as there wasn't much between the pass and Greymouth.I'm glad we did get to Greymouth though, as we got to walk in the footsteps of Billy Connolly and see the sea defences and fisherman featured in his world tour of NZ (Fisherman below - i know the pics on it side, but put a little effort in people. we can't do it all for you).

Our last day in the city was another wandering day. Sally was up early and visited the art gallery. We then met and went to the Cathedral - nothing to write home about (so i won't). We came back feeling warm and so jumped in the pool (very briefly coz it got cold very quickly) and later in the evening we went to the cinema to see Walk the Line. A good time was had by all. That's all folks (for now). xx

Dinge, Drugs, Dolphins, and Whales

2006-02-24T01:54:00.000Z

Well my friends, what a night we had last night. I tried putting off going back to the hostel for as long as possible, but eventually it had to happen. We should have just stayed out all the good it did us. Neither me or Sal got more that an hours broken sleep, we were both up by five and sat round the heater in the living area. The reason being we were in a pokey little room with an extremely loud snoring person, and the room was freezing (no blankets provided). Then to top it all off after waiting till 7 to shower , only one shower out of four had hot water. I ended up with a cold one. Hideous. It was then firmly decided by Sally that she wasn't go to stay there any longer (I had already decided to move on to Christchurch today). She went off at 8 to try and get in another hostel but there was no room at the inn, and so now she is also heading down to Christchurch with me.
Luckily we had a real treat in store for us with the whales (made a little more interesting at first with the drugs i took for sea sickness- as Sally put it I was still me, just more concentrated. Basically i felt dizzy, laughed a lot at silly things, lost my ability to walk properly, and found it difficult to talk sense. I did recover). We saw three sperm whales in total ( a rare occurence apparently), all within a few minutes of each other. Two of the shots I got are below.

Then we came across a seal beating up it's fish dinner, followed by loads of jumping fish, and last but by no means least a pod of about 100 playful dusky dolphins. They were jumping and swimming really close. Absolutely adorable. Now we're waiting for the bus to take us away. Speak to you from Christchurch. Kt. xx

Picture diary of the last week

2006-02-24T01:25:00.000Z

Wellington from Mt. Victoria

Outside the Chocolate Fish Cafe (Where all the cast of LOTR used to go apparently)

Picton Waterfront

In the Sea in Abel Tasman National Park

"Sally! You Goonie!"

2006-02-23T04:33:00.000Z

Okay, so I was lying about the whole Italian sonnet thing. If I had my Norton anthology of poetry with me I could maybe give it a go, but as I have no idea what the Italian sonnet form is, you'll just have to make to with plain, boring prose for this post. So Katie and I had a lovely few relaxing hours at Manhana Lodge after we had walked the Queen Charlotte; I don't think either of us wanted to leave the next morning but leave we did and got a boat back to Picton, and then a coach from Picton to Abel Tasman National Park which is right in the top left-hand corner of the South Island. Here it gets a little hazy for me for a while as I started feeling really poorly on the windy roads round the mountains, and had a nasty light-headed episode when we changed buses at Nelson. However, as soon as we arrived at Marahau and I was able to get off the coach I started feeling a lot better. We stayed in a lovely little three-bedroomed house (with our own room!) and proceeded to have two days of rest and not much else. Abel Tasman is pretty damn stunning with sandy beaches, blue sea and deep green hills. We spent our first day on the beach (having a pretty exciting time, but personally I think Katie should tell you about that!), the second I caught a boat further up the coast and walked a little into the park to Cleopatra's Pool, where the river skips down lots of big stones, making little mini waterfalls that you could slide down just like the bit in the Goonies before they find One Eyed Willy's ship! Of course I slid- I would have ended by slide by shouting "HEY YOU GUYYYYSSS!" at the top of my lungs like Sloth, but there was no one to shout to. I did hear one murmur that if you bathed in the pool you came out as beautiful as Cleopatra but I'm yet to see any evidence of it myself. I came out with a scraped elbow.
We left lovely little Marahau this morning at caught three buses to get to Kaikoura, where we are just now, about to have a lovely meal out as our hostel is minging and Katie is hungry. Methinks much shall be eaten. Aideu, aideu, to you and you and you!

The Track of Queen Charlotte

2006-02-23T03:40:00.000Z

Hello my friends. Sorry for the rather abismal title, just trying to get the blog up to date, and so haven't got time to be thinking of witty things to amuse and intrigue you all. So, as Sally so wonderfully haikued it, we came over to South Island on Saturday by ferry, and played mini golf. We had fish fingers in baps and broccoli for tea. The next day we were up bright and early to catch our water taxi at 8 to take us to the start of the Queen Charlotte track, which is situated at Ship Cove. From there we had an arduous 45 min walk up hill to the first lookout point (the point at which we looked was lovely). Luckily it was a lot more easy going from then on and we arrived at Furneaux lodge (the halfway point for our intended walk) a lot earlier than predicted meaning time for a swim. The bottom was rather stoney, so it took some manouvering to get to a point where you caould swim (plus there was fish nibbling my toes - seriously!!) but it was done. After a brief splash it was lunch. I had decided (pretty early on) that i was going to catch the water taxi from Furneaux Lodge to our hostel instead of continuing the further 12k, so i got to lie around a bit after lunch, while Sal trooped on. I met her at the homestay a few hours later, and needless to say she was rather tired. We had a lovely tea (with chocolate cake for pudding mmmm) on the terrace overlooking the spectacular bay and gardens. And then it was pretty much straight to bed. Up the next morning and water taxi back. That's that. more soon. xx

The tea time view at Mahana Lodge

Haiku NZ

2006-02-21T07:25:00.000Z

Right my friends, this needs must be very short and brief as the internet is extremely expensive in this one horse town we've found ourselves in and as I am within fifty pages of finishing Bleak House (thank the Lord!) I didn't have time on the beach today to compose this post. So I shall continue in the form of Haiku (if I knew what that meant):
Annie left Wellington.
We were sad, we drank smoothies.
The smoothies were good.

We saw Peter Jackson's house.
We saw his oscar
And we were surprised.

I walked to Katherine Mansfield's house
She had written many stories.
I write Haiku badly.

We sailed across the Ocean
To the beautiful South Island
Well, not really sailed as we were in a ferry.

We played mini golf
And I ate ice cream.
Katie did not eat ice cream- she ate chocolate.

We got a boat.
Where to? Who knows.
For I am bored and don't want to finish this post.

Feel free to comment in Haiku: the next instalment shall be in the Italian sonnet form. S xx

Giving It Welli with Annie!!

2006-02-21T07:13:00.000Z

Sorry for the long absence old chums, but activity has been rife and communication tools scarce. So what have we been doing since we last spoke? Well the day after our intrepid adventure over the Tongariro Crossing we made our way down from Taupo to Wellington (a nice easy 6 hr bus journey) accompanied by our new and wonderful friend Annie (who is off to the Cook Islands today I believe - you lucky thing, enjoy!!). On arrival the bus driver was kind enough to drive us to our hostel where we presented ourselves to the staff of the Welli YHA, a grand establishment on all accounts. And here we were to stay 3 nights. After settling (ie. dumping our stuff) into our room, we got a rather strange concoction of food for our tea, and headed down to the Reading Cinema to see Brokeback Mountain ( a brill film - go see it). The next day (the 15th so you know where we're at) we had decided to 'do' Welli, and so we got up, had a lovely breakfast outside St. James' Theatre on Courtenay Place (thanks Annie) and took a walk around the centre and harbour, before getting the Cable car up to the view point. We then leisurely wandered back through the botanical gardens, through the city, and booked ourselves a table for dinner at a little place called the hummingbird. Very funky music selection, good wine, good conversation, and very nice food. Sally was brave enough to swallow a few oysters, although she didn't seem that enamoured with them. It was a fab evening, definitely one of our best so far (and one of our saddest, as we had to say farewell to Annie). The next morning, she left us, and above Sally will continue our story. xx

Tongariro Pics

2006-02-17T06:24:00.000Z

Me, Sal and Annie The red crater (foreground)

Me and Sal on top

Sal on her way down to the Emerald Lakes

Rocky lives in Mordor, with biscuits

2006-02-13T08:00:00.000Z

Having just viewed Katie's skydiving pictures (see below) I realise I can't possibly compete with their aceness, but will endeavour to make this as entertaining as possible. Rocky lives! Katie, Annie and I completed the Tongariro Crossing today, and no training montage was necessary as we all did spectacularly well. Feeling rather buff and smug at the moment, a la Rocky 4 when he runs up the mountain in Russia before meeting Drago. The walk itself was just amazing, amazing, amazing. When we started at 7am mists surrounded us on all sides and closed in as we made our way up the slopes of Mount Doom on the Devil's Staircase. As we attained the summet, the mists cleared and the sun rose and we were surrounded by the most incredible landscape as far as the eye could see in every direction. Above us was Mount Tongario, beside us was a dormant volcano with a deep red crater, and below us were the emerald and blue lakes. Hopefully some pictures will appear soon to illustrate how magnificant it all was...
Woooo, guns n roses just came on in the internet cafe I'm sitting in and so I'm inspired to write more. (It's Welcome to the Jungle by the way). Yesterday Katie decided to go for a sail in the Barbary, which I had visited the day before (see below). Last night, however, I managed to gain passage on the noble vessel with a packet of biscuits and nothing else. Despite it being cloudy and rather cold we hardy pair decided it was a good idea to go swimming... not a good idea. Song over, so post over. S xx Arggh no way, the opening chords of 'Sweet Child O' Mine' just turned into 'Goodbye My Lover', the bloody James Blunt gods strike again!!!!!!!

Nothing to see here...

2006-02-12T03:10:00.000Z

No skydiving for me. No way. So while Katie was scarting across the sky, I was enjoying life at a more leisurly pace (although it did have its moments of unspeakable fear and adrenalin pumping, for reasons best kept to myself). I took to the seas again (well, Lake Taupo) on a gorgeous boat called the Barbary for a lovely evenings sailing. She once belonged to Errol Flynn who won her in a card game, so I was sitting on the same boat that the libertine had sailed and of course ravished hundreds of hollywood ladies in. Our skipper let me steer for a little while as we sailed across the beautiful clear lake, a moment only enhanced by an american newlywed couples re-enactment of Titanic for us all (did I say enhanced? I might mean something else).
In preperation for the 17k hike we're doing tomorrow, Katie and I have spent an extremely lazy day lying around in hot water. Together with Annie (our room-mate at the Rainbow Lodge) we walked down to the hot springs that run into the river above Lake Taupo. Absolute bloody bliss- Taupo rests above a volcano and so water runs from the springs at bath temperature, aaahhhhh! This is my kind of life. However I am a little worried about the walk up Mount Doom tomorrow... perhaps we should have maybe done a Rocky-type training montage with Katie as Micky and Annie as Apollo, running along the beach... too late now, damnit! Love to you all, especially Elsie, two months old tomorrow, horray!

Kt goes Skydiving, Sally brings biscuits.

2006-02-12T02:51:00.000Z

Yup, I did it, I went skydiving!! After waiting one and a half days for the right weather I went up in the smallest of small planes with three other nutters and jumped on out at 15000 feet!! (the other wusses got out at 12000, but I figured if you're gonna do it, you may as well go all the way). It was an experience and a half I can tell you. The feeling is totally undescribable. There was a freefall of 10000 feet which lasted a minute, and that was pretty intense, and then out came the parachute and a gentle float to the ground whilst admiring the stunning scenery of Lake Taupo and the surrounding hills and mountains. I have a dvd of the whole thing (with soundtrack - Top Gun theme to start of course!!)to remember my experience, and some photos too. (I forgot the cd with the photos - I'll be adding them later). So yeah. That's what I did yesterday, and it was good. Kt.xx

Feasting, Spontaneous Horse Adventures and Sore Bottoms

2006-02-10T23:56:00.000Z

Well hello my friends. I did start to write this entry yesterday but the computer wouldn't let me rotate the picture and i soon ran out of time trying. So I'm back, and I've managed to do it, wahoo! This here picture is of me and my noble steed Eno, who allowed me to escort him on a two hour trek of a forest just outside Taupo. (There would also be a photo of Sally and her horse Tiger, but the camera ran out of batteries at the most inopportune moment, as cameras are wont to do, but fear not we have video footage of said beast).

So yes, we went a riding, but that was not the original plan. Oh no. Alllow me, if you will, to take you through our tale, for it is most uninteresting. It began on Wednesday evening about halfpast 5 when we were waiting in reception to go to a maori experience night which had been recommended to us by a fellow traveller (aka Jo). I had nipped off to the loo, leaving Sally alone (or so I thought), but when I returned who should I spy with the beauteous Sally but Sarah, a lovely lady we had met in Paihia the previous week. Great was my surprise and joy, as she was also to accompany us to the evenings festivities. So Tim the bus driver came and picked us up and transported us to the venue where we were treated to a traditional maori show with dancing and singing and thrusting. Very entertaining. Then came the food, and oh the food that came!! there were potatoes and kumara (sweet potatoes), chicken and lamb (oh the lamb!!) and gravy and mint sauce, and stuffing, and other stuff, lots of other stuff. And for afters chocolate log (there were healthier options, but i took no notice of those!!) As many helpings as you liked. I think the average for backpackers was two trips for each course. We were stuffed to the point of feeling sick. Ooh i'm running out of time so i'd better be brief now. We went on a bush walk - more gloworms (pretty). Next morning we had planned to go lugeing but we started talking horses and decided to do that instead and ended up driving down to Taupo with Sarah and going trekking there (a thing none of us had planned). Sarah wasn't supposed to have travelled past Auckland, and had planned to drive back up on the thursday, but (and this was solely her decision) she ended up staying another night. We went out for a meal that evening and it was so so so so good - all of it. Ah man the noises and faces we were making, we were in heaven!! Aah no time, must go. Sorry for the rushed end. Byeeeee. xx

More photos from the Shire

2006-02-07T23:21:00.000Z

Where Sams house used to be (very sad but very beautiful)

Myself in Bag End

Hobbit and Elf

Sal in Bag End

The Special Brew