Thurs 24th September!!
Well, it’s been a while eh! I’m still alive, very much alive and still as happy as ever. I didn’t really see the point in keeping my blog updated recently as I had pretty much settled and wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. Partying as usual, snowboarding and chilling by the lake!
It really started to hot up over the last few weeks and I’ve had a couple of days sitting out in the sunshine. I also decided to leave Wanaka, things were a bit too comfortable there and I was desperate for another new adventure and I’m currently on it!
I spent the last two months living with a Canadian girl, Laurens the Belgium drove me round the bend so I got shot of him and Jess from the hostel moved in and took his place, it was an enjoyable experience and nice to get rid of him!!
Well four weeks ago I decided I had had enough of gorgeous Wanaka, I was going to move to Te Anau then as usual changed my mind and decided on heading to Nelson for a couple or two months.
Nelson is the sunniest city in NZ so I spent the last four weeks in Wanaka on a detox, diet and fitness regime. I did 3 classes 3 times a week at the gym and on the non gym days I swam for an hour. No alcohol, ate salads and grilled meat. No chocolate either. I managed to shed over 2kg in three weeks. I loved being back at the gym and realised how much I’d missed it. I’ve already organised gym membership for up in Nelson!! I need a beach body haha!!
I checked the price of the busses to get me up the West Coast and got a pleasant surprise. It must be like megabus, I managed to get $1 fares!! I thought it was worth booking as even if my travel plans changed I wasn’t loosing much!
To mark the end of my stay in Wanaka, I decided to do a skydive and waited for a bluebird sunny day to do it. That day came last Thursday, Jess had decided to do it with me so off we went in the courtesy bus to Wanaka airport!! When we arrived there were people floating down on their parachutes and we were wandering what we were doing haha!!
They suited us up in some sexy jump suits and put the harness on and the guy with the camcorder interviewed me, I met the man that was going to be strapped to me and hauling me out the airplane then argh...it was time to get on the plane. We were last on, so of course last in, first out!! The instructor was lovely and kept me chilled out. It was amazing how calm I felt, not at any point did I feel terrified and want to change my mind. We were all having a good giggle and then we arrive at our destination, 12,000ft!! Time to get off!! The instructor strapped me in tight to him, told me what to do, then we shuffled to the door, legs dangling over the edge. It was cold up there!! I remember looking down thinking oooo this is quite high and then the lovely man pulled back my head and off we went!! We were tumbling round and round, no words can describe the feeling!! The safety chute came up which keeps you in a free fall but balances you so your facing the ground! We were doing fast spins round and round and having lots of fun falling at 200kph! I was sooo cold but laughing away!!
Then the chute opened up, that was actually quite a nice feeling knowing that I wasn’t going to end up flat on the ground like the possums on the main road!! He still made it exciting and made us spin round fast, he knew I was enjoying it so much that he kept trying to scare me!! I was trying to shout over to Jess who was also falling through the sky!
We got close to the ground and I lifted up my knees so he took the fall. I couldn’t stop giggling!! He unhooked me (with just two clips!!!!) and I went running over to see Jess, I was so dizzy it was amusing!!
We hung about and picked up my personal DVD which was a great watch!!
I’m addicted, I loved every moment and if it wasn’t so expensive I’d do it every day. I had looked into the course to be able to jump myself and become an instructor but I don’t think I’d have the upper body strength for it! I’ll certainly be jumping again when I get to Nelson though. It’s such a rush!!
Well, I packed up my bags on Monday ready for the off, I had a lovely couple of evenings with my Wanaka friends before leaving. Tuesday morning came and I went to have my last coffee at Kai, a couple of my friends waved me off and that was it. Wanaka life was over!
The bus took 7 hours to go from Wanaka to Hokitika, where I am now. We passed through Haast, Hari Hari, Franz Josef and Fox. Stopped a few times for coffee’s and lunch etc. The driver was great and told lots of stories, I was at the front so had an excellent view! The driver was kind enough to drop me right at the door of the hostel and I convinced him to pick me up from there on Thursday (today)!
I’m staying at Birdsong Hostel, I’m sitting in the communal area looking out the huge panoramic windows at Tasman Sea. The West Coast is a hostile environment, the weather here hasn’t been great but that’s the west coast for you!! It’s a lovely small hostel and no TV which was great as usually it’s a conversation stopper! There were three couples staying, a guy on his own and the lassie that’s running it and the woofer (work for accommodation girl). We all got on really well and everyone was booked in for the two nights so last night we all got some beer and wine and told stories and enjoyed each others company!
Yesterday the host, the owners brother in law and the woofer and myself all went away to the Gorge and it was gorgeous, the colour of the water was unreal and it was amongst rainforest. She then drove up into town and the Japanese girl, Hatsuka, and I had a look round the jade carving places and had a general wonder! I also went for a walk along the beach and breathed in the sea air!!
In the evening, Chris and Hatsuka took me to the glow work dell just down the road. Strange little creatures, it wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be, I’ve been told that seeing them in caves is the way to do it!!
Well this morning I packed up my humungous backpack again and I’m sitting waiting to be taken to Greymouth where I’m staying for the night before my travels to Nelson. Suzanne the host is going to whip up a batch of whitebait for me to try. Must be some kind of deep sea FASH!!
I’ll be keeping my blog going until I settle again. I can’t upload pics at the moment as I’m paying per MB rather than time. I’ll pop some on when I get to Nelson!!
Take care folks xx
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Mountain is OPEN!!! FRIDAY 27th JUNE
Hello Again!! Finally, Cardrona has opened!! (Friday 27th June)
Alisha and I pose at the sign!!
I’ve been looking forward to this for ages, since December to be precise haha!! Had another fab couple of days!! It was Christmas yesterday 25th June!! We had a fun evening opening up secret santa presents! Best ever Christmas, no build up, no commercialised crap and it never cost me a penny!! Wine, group hugs and a sing song!! I never made it a late night as I had some snowboarding to look forward to the next day.
I got out my bed at 7.30am ahhh!! I opened up the motel, made up my lunch, packed my bags and got ready and when Richard came in to take over at 9am off I went!! Was quite a hike to get to the place where I hitch from but the excitement helped me along the way, I was almost skipping haha! Since it was day one of Wanaka’s ski fields opening I was expecting to see lots of hitchers but no, just me!! Didn’t have to walk for long until my friend from town Jodie passed, her boyfriend was driving the camper, I also knew him from the supermarket, Wanaka really is a small place, everyone knows everyone!! They stopped and I hopped in, Wanaka was like Aberdeen in summer, blanket of fog!! The cloud is just sitting in the basin above the lake but half way to Cardrona (Cardrona is a small village) it disappeared and there was blue skies and we had a great view of the mountains, SNOW capped mountains!!
We turned off at Cardrona to head up the mountain, argh what a scary road!! Steep road, constant hairpins, the road was covered in gravel and sheer drops with no barriers!! At least the road wasn’t covered in snow but when it is snow chains have to be fitted. We made it though and the view was spectacular!! We were more than double the height above the clouds!! Beautiful blue sky and sunshine!! We headed straight for the chairlift and of course I fell off up the top. Without thinking I strapped the wrong foot in so ended up coming off Goofy at the top!! It has been around 4 years I think since I’ve been away boarding properly, apart from that it was the odd day up Glenshee. I’ve fairly lost my confidence, the place was really quiet though, no queuing and wide empty pistes!!
On the way up we watched some dude on ski’s jumping off a kicker, land backwards, took the next kicker backwards and did an upside down flip thing!! FANTASTIC!! Brendan had only had a couple of hours at a snow dome before and Jodie was pretty good so she was sorting us out and giving us tips!! More like constantly on at us but it was needed!! I need to push myself, I’m just scared of hurting myself!
We stopped for a quick coffee and I met my crazy friend Melissa (busted fingers Melissa!) who is working in rentals and Victoria who was up for the day, she will be snowboarding at Treble Cone for the season but since it doesn’t open until tomorrow she couldn’t wait to get up any mountain!! Headed back up after that and my riding started improving wooo, it’s great up at ‘Cardies’ I know alot of the staff, the lifties etc so it’s a very friendly environment! By around 3pm I was done, just as well Jodie needed to leave then to get to work on time. I was starting to ache!!
It was so nice to get my boots off and back in the camper until we tried to drive off haha, lights left on, dead battery!! A couple of people tried to help out with no avail, we got a tow to the start of the road which was all downhill so Brenden tried to coast it but we were sliding out at every corner, with sheer drops Jodie and I made him pull in and we got help from the dude on the mountain!! Got home, got my feet up and then had a lovely hot shower!! I only have one bruise up so far but I’m sure over the next couple of days more will appear!! I twisted my knee twice, hurt my already bruised ribs and that’s about it. It’s never a good day boarding unless something hurts!!!
I never took many pics, only when we were waiting to get the camper going!! I was having too much fun and didn’t stop much to get a chance to!! I’m up there for the next 3 months so I’ll get some to you soon!!
I’m looking after the motel tomorrow while my house mate Laurens heads off to Treble Cone, I somehow think It’s going to hurt when I get out my bed so maybe having tomorrow off is a good thing!!
WoooHoooo Snow!!!
It’s been a week since I wrote all that and I still haven’t posted it up!! Well since then I’ve been up to Cardrona another three times!! The school kids have two weeks holiday now so I wanted to make the most of it!!
Last Monday I decided to go for a walk around by the lake, I was out for a couple of hours, it was totally breath taking and very peaceful. I found a really nice spot just to sit and chill out, the only noise was the birds singing. It was lovely and sunny with clear skies.
I really should have been up the mountain but I was still aching from Friday!! When I got back a parcel had arrived for me, I already knew what it was as I was expecting it!! Dairy Milk and Wispa!! My friend Anita posted me out some ‘proper’ chocolate since the chocolate here is gross!! They don’t make it the same!! Anita is the girl I met when I arrived in Christchurch. I munched into a Wispa immediately and it was amazing!!
On Tuesday I was terribly lazy, I didn’t do anything until my yoga class in the evening. I really enjoyed it, I’ve got 3 weeks of yoga booked, it’s a 6 class winter sport warm up. I got another parcel on Tuesday...guess what....Wispa’s!! Oh happy days haha!! Katy sent some of my post out to me and popped some Wispa’s in the envelope too. Chocolate overload, I love it!!
I headed up the hill on Wednesday, I hitched up and a couple of Germans and a Czech girl in a camper came to my aid!! After chatting to Hannah from Czech it worked out she works with my mad friend Melissa! Small world! I had a great day, the conditions were great and blue skies, my riding improved a little so with big smiles I hitched back to town. Some lady picked me and another two hitchers up, it works out the guy who I was in the back with (Ricky) is a friend of Essex Hanna-Jade who I worked at the hostel with!! Everyone knows everyone in Wanaka!!
On Thursday the weather up the hill was dreadful, another two successful hitches, some dude with his kids on the way up and a French/English couple who now live in Noosa in OZ, I really enjoyed yapping to her, she gave me some decent tips on my OZ experience which is yet to come!! More Yoga that night and again it was excellent, it’s tough as she really concentrates on the core and I’m unfit haha, I followed it up by having some wine at ‘party central’ after!!
On Friday I headed up the mountain again!! I had planned to meet Hanna-Jade and Alisha in town and on our way passing the hitching spot we spotted Melissa and Mark so much to the annoyance of the front of hitching queue we told them to hop in!!
There was a dump of snow on the Thursday evening and the road to the bottom of the mountain was a bit dodge but we made it. We had to split up and hitch from the bottom of the hill though as Alisha’s tyre wouldn’t have made the journey. You really need to see this road to believe it haha it’s bloody scary!! Sheer drops with no barriers, one wrong move and you’re toast! Hitched no probs and met the girls up the mountain. It was a great giggle, Hanna-Jade took her first ever chairlift on her board, she was in the middle, I was to the right and Alisha to her left, Alisha and I both came off quite easily but Hanna clipped my, sent me tumbling into Alisha who in turn landed on top of me haha. Huge pile up!! I met up with Victoria, who greeted me by pushing me over!! Melissa who was a boarding virgin who looked like she’d done it a million times before and Kate who also came piling off the chairlift!! Again my riding improved woo. We headed back early as I needed to be in for cover in the Motel at 5.
Well I had already written all that last week but just never got round to uploading it onto my blog page!! I’m being harassed by a few people to pull the finger out and get up to date so here goes!!
Thursday 15th JULY!
EARTHQUAKE HIT'S WANAKA!!!
Well, as most of you will have heard on the news we had an earthquake last night!! It was around 9.20pm and I was cleaning up after dinner so standing, Laurens was on his computer and just shouted over earthquake!! I wandered what he was blithering on about but then I felt it!! It was the strangest feeling, I thought earthquakes would kinda shake you like up and downy ways. It pushes you side to side, I felt as if I was swaying on a boat in rough seas! The pictures on the wall started to slide and it was all so surreal! A few of the motel guests came outside, it lasted for around 30-40 seconds and seemed really quite strong.
Instantly started texting all my friends!! The gang at Hedditch were all in bed (recovering from pub Olympics) and they ‘gathered’ at the top of the stairs. The hostel where I used to work was evacuated, it’s -2 out there so not pleasant if you’re not all wrapped up! I texted my friend in Queenstown which is around 50 miles from here and they felt it too, people were running out of restaurants!! I called the owner of the motel, she was really pleased I’d experienced something like that and that her kids were all awake to feel it too!! The last big one like that was in 2003! Instantly on the news it was a breaking story and lots of different reports about sizes and tsunami risk to Oz and the Pacific islands.
We’re all really excited about it over here, it was pretty awesome!! There were a couple of after shocks and the Motel owner felt another this morning but I must have been asleep!
It apparently reached 7.8 on the Ricta scale (or however it’s spelt!) the only thing that saved a catastrophe was the fact it was a few miles down, if it was shallow an Earthquake of that magnitude would have been pretty destructive!! It’s probably all we’re going to talk about for the next week here!
The planet isn’t as stable as I thought it was!! You need to experience something like that!!
The only other thing of interest I have been up to was competing in the Wanaka Olympics!! The Pub Olypics!! My god what a crazy night, thank goodness it wasn’t last night we had the EQ!! We were in teams of 10, it was the usual party crowd for our team and we were called the Far Q’s!! Lots of silly things like speed darts, speed pool. Run round the block all taped together, the Wanaka people just going about their normal lives in cars and walking past must have thought what the hell is going on!! 150 odd people all running around the place in T shirts with jugs of water!! No one managed to keep the group together and no one seemed to know where to run too, the aim was for the team with the most water in the jugs won that round. Of course we sabotaged other teams and knocked the jugs out their hands, ripped up the tape that was holding them together haha!!
Another one was a dance off, our team just ended up having a massive pile up on the dance floor! Walk the plank where we had to have feet taped to huge wooden planks and walk about the bar! Bowling, huge big tyre we could fit into and be rolled down into things. It was a crazy night, We won a few rounds but people were bribing the judges with money so they ‘bought’ more points. I don’t quite remember the end of the night, it was an absolute riot though haha!!
That’s all I really have to report on, been keeping away from the ski field these last two weeks as the kids are on holiday and hogging the place. Should all be back to normal from Monday though!!
Catch up with you all soon, hope you enjoyed the read!! Here are some more scenic pictures I took the other day. I sat out on a wooden jetty on Lake Wanaka, it was completely silent with only the noise of the birds!! I could have easily sat there all day!!
Alisha and I pose at the sign!!
I’ve been looking forward to this for ages, since December to be precise haha!! Had another fab couple of days!! It was Christmas yesterday 25th June!! We had a fun evening opening up secret santa presents! Best ever Christmas, no build up, no commercialised crap and it never cost me a penny!! Wine, group hugs and a sing song!! I never made it a late night as I had some snowboarding to look forward to the next day.
I got out my bed at 7.30am ahhh!! I opened up the motel, made up my lunch, packed my bags and got ready and when Richard came in to take over at 9am off I went!! Was quite a hike to get to the place where I hitch from but the excitement helped me along the way, I was almost skipping haha! Since it was day one of Wanaka’s ski fields opening I was expecting to see lots of hitchers but no, just me!! Didn’t have to walk for long until my friend from town Jodie passed, her boyfriend was driving the camper, I also knew him from the supermarket, Wanaka really is a small place, everyone knows everyone!! They stopped and I hopped in, Wanaka was like Aberdeen in summer, blanket of fog!! The cloud is just sitting in the basin above the lake but half way to Cardrona (Cardrona is a small village) it disappeared and there was blue skies and we had a great view of the mountains, SNOW capped mountains!!
We turned off at Cardrona to head up the mountain, argh what a scary road!! Steep road, constant hairpins, the road was covered in gravel and sheer drops with no barriers!! At least the road wasn’t covered in snow but when it is snow chains have to be fitted. We made it though and the view was spectacular!! We were more than double the height above the clouds!! Beautiful blue sky and sunshine!! We headed straight for the chairlift and of course I fell off up the top. Without thinking I strapped the wrong foot in so ended up coming off Goofy at the top!! It has been around 4 years I think since I’ve been away boarding properly, apart from that it was the odd day up Glenshee. I’ve fairly lost my confidence, the place was really quiet though, no queuing and wide empty pistes!!
On the way up we watched some dude on ski’s jumping off a kicker, land backwards, took the next kicker backwards and did an upside down flip thing!! FANTASTIC!! Brendan had only had a couple of hours at a snow dome before and Jodie was pretty good so she was sorting us out and giving us tips!! More like constantly on at us but it was needed!! I need to push myself, I’m just scared of hurting myself!
We stopped for a quick coffee and I met my crazy friend Melissa (busted fingers Melissa!) who is working in rentals and Victoria who was up for the day, she will be snowboarding at Treble Cone for the season but since it doesn’t open until tomorrow she couldn’t wait to get up any mountain!! Headed back up after that and my riding started improving wooo, it’s great up at ‘Cardies’ I know alot of the staff, the lifties etc so it’s a very friendly environment! By around 3pm I was done, just as well Jodie needed to leave then to get to work on time. I was starting to ache!!
It was so nice to get my boots off and back in the camper until we tried to drive off haha, lights left on, dead battery!! A couple of people tried to help out with no avail, we got a tow to the start of the road which was all downhill so Brenden tried to coast it but we were sliding out at every corner, with sheer drops Jodie and I made him pull in and we got help from the dude on the mountain!! Got home, got my feet up and then had a lovely hot shower!! I only have one bruise up so far but I’m sure over the next couple of days more will appear!! I twisted my knee twice, hurt my already bruised ribs and that’s about it. It’s never a good day boarding unless something hurts!!!
I never took many pics, only when we were waiting to get the camper going!! I was having too much fun and didn’t stop much to get a chance to!! I’m up there for the next 3 months so I’ll get some to you soon!!
I’m looking after the motel tomorrow while my house mate Laurens heads off to Treble Cone, I somehow think It’s going to hurt when I get out my bed so maybe having tomorrow off is a good thing!!
WoooHoooo Snow!!!
It’s been a week since I wrote all that and I still haven’t posted it up!! Well since then I’ve been up to Cardrona another three times!! The school kids have two weeks holiday now so I wanted to make the most of it!!
Last Monday I decided to go for a walk around by the lake, I was out for a couple of hours, it was totally breath taking and very peaceful. I found a really nice spot just to sit and chill out, the only noise was the birds singing. It was lovely and sunny with clear skies.
I really should have been up the mountain but I was still aching from Friday!! When I got back a parcel had arrived for me, I already knew what it was as I was expecting it!! Dairy Milk and Wispa!! My friend Anita posted me out some ‘proper’ chocolate since the chocolate here is gross!! They don’t make it the same!! Anita is the girl I met when I arrived in Christchurch. I munched into a Wispa immediately and it was amazing!!
On Tuesday I was terribly lazy, I didn’t do anything until my yoga class in the evening. I really enjoyed it, I’ve got 3 weeks of yoga booked, it’s a 6 class winter sport warm up. I got another parcel on Tuesday...guess what....Wispa’s!! Oh happy days haha!! Katy sent some of my post out to me and popped some Wispa’s in the envelope too. Chocolate overload, I love it!!
I headed up the hill on Wednesday, I hitched up and a couple of Germans and a Czech girl in a camper came to my aid!! After chatting to Hannah from Czech it worked out she works with my mad friend Melissa! Small world! I had a great day, the conditions were great and blue skies, my riding improved a little so with big smiles I hitched back to town. Some lady picked me and another two hitchers up, it works out the guy who I was in the back with (Ricky) is a friend of Essex Hanna-Jade who I worked at the hostel with!! Everyone knows everyone in Wanaka!!
On Thursday the weather up the hill was dreadful, another two successful hitches, some dude with his kids on the way up and a French/English couple who now live in Noosa in OZ, I really enjoyed yapping to her, she gave me some decent tips on my OZ experience which is yet to come!! More Yoga that night and again it was excellent, it’s tough as she really concentrates on the core and I’m unfit haha, I followed it up by having some wine at ‘party central’ after!!
On Friday I headed up the mountain again!! I had planned to meet Hanna-Jade and Alisha in town and on our way passing the hitching spot we spotted Melissa and Mark so much to the annoyance of the front of hitching queue we told them to hop in!!
There was a dump of snow on the Thursday evening and the road to the bottom of the mountain was a bit dodge but we made it. We had to split up and hitch from the bottom of the hill though as Alisha’s tyre wouldn’t have made the journey. You really need to see this road to believe it haha it’s bloody scary!! Sheer drops with no barriers, one wrong move and you’re toast! Hitched no probs and met the girls up the mountain. It was a great giggle, Hanna-Jade took her first ever chairlift on her board, she was in the middle, I was to the right and Alisha to her left, Alisha and I both came off quite easily but Hanna clipped my, sent me tumbling into Alisha who in turn landed on top of me haha. Huge pile up!! I met up with Victoria, who greeted me by pushing me over!! Melissa who was a boarding virgin who looked like she’d done it a million times before and Kate who also came piling off the chairlift!! Again my riding improved woo. We headed back early as I needed to be in for cover in the Motel at 5.
Well I had already written all that last week but just never got round to uploading it onto my blog page!! I’m being harassed by a few people to pull the finger out and get up to date so here goes!!
Thursday 15th JULY!
EARTHQUAKE HIT'S WANAKA!!!
Well, as most of you will have heard on the news we had an earthquake last night!! It was around 9.20pm and I was cleaning up after dinner so standing, Laurens was on his computer and just shouted over earthquake!! I wandered what he was blithering on about but then I felt it!! It was the strangest feeling, I thought earthquakes would kinda shake you like up and downy ways. It pushes you side to side, I felt as if I was swaying on a boat in rough seas! The pictures on the wall started to slide and it was all so surreal! A few of the motel guests came outside, it lasted for around 30-40 seconds and seemed really quite strong.
Instantly started texting all my friends!! The gang at Hedditch were all in bed (recovering from pub Olympics) and they ‘gathered’ at the top of the stairs. The hostel where I used to work was evacuated, it’s -2 out there so not pleasant if you’re not all wrapped up! I texted my friend in Queenstown which is around 50 miles from here and they felt it too, people were running out of restaurants!! I called the owner of the motel, she was really pleased I’d experienced something like that and that her kids were all awake to feel it too!! The last big one like that was in 2003! Instantly on the news it was a breaking story and lots of different reports about sizes and tsunami risk to Oz and the Pacific islands.
We’re all really excited about it over here, it was pretty awesome!! There were a couple of after shocks and the Motel owner felt another this morning but I must have been asleep!
It apparently reached 7.8 on the Ricta scale (or however it’s spelt!) the only thing that saved a catastrophe was the fact it was a few miles down, if it was shallow an Earthquake of that magnitude would have been pretty destructive!! It’s probably all we’re going to talk about for the next week here!
The planet isn’t as stable as I thought it was!! You need to experience something like that!!
The only other thing of interest I have been up to was competing in the Wanaka Olympics!! The Pub Olypics!! My god what a crazy night, thank goodness it wasn’t last night we had the EQ!! We were in teams of 10, it was the usual party crowd for our team and we were called the Far Q’s!! Lots of silly things like speed darts, speed pool. Run round the block all taped together, the Wanaka people just going about their normal lives in cars and walking past must have thought what the hell is going on!! 150 odd people all running around the place in T shirts with jugs of water!! No one managed to keep the group together and no one seemed to know where to run too, the aim was for the team with the most water in the jugs won that round. Of course we sabotaged other teams and knocked the jugs out their hands, ripped up the tape that was holding them together haha!!
Another one was a dance off, our team just ended up having a massive pile up on the dance floor! Walk the plank where we had to have feet taped to huge wooden planks and walk about the bar! Bowling, huge big tyre we could fit into and be rolled down into things. It was a crazy night, We won a few rounds but people were bribing the judges with money so they ‘bought’ more points. I don’t quite remember the end of the night, it was an absolute riot though haha!!
That’s all I really have to report on, been keeping away from the ski field these last two weeks as the kids are on holiday and hogging the place. Should all be back to normal from Monday though!!
Catch up with you all soon, hope you enjoyed the read!! Here are some more scenic pictures I took the other day. I sat out on a wooden jetty on Lake Wanaka, it was completely silent with only the noise of the birds!! I could have easily sat there all day!!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Happy Winter Solstice!!
Hello, well we’re well and truly into winter here in Wanaka!! It’s been hitting -7 and we’ve even had a sprinkling of the white stuff in the town, which doesn’t normally happen. Luckily enough it tends to just stick up the mountain! I’ve still been having lots of fun. Today is Sunday 21st June so officially the shortest day for us lot in the Southern Hemisphere.
Feels like it’s been ages since my last update! I’ll have to try and remember what I’ve been up to. I’m getting settled and knowing what I’m doing here in the motel, I bum about the town most days with my mad crazy friends. We’ve had more parties, the latest one last Saturday night was ‘Anything but Clothes’
I dressed myself up in black bin bags with yellow tape and looked like a bumble bee!! Melissa made her costume out of ‘adult’ magazines!! We had two dressed up in backpacks, nappies, shower curtains. It was great fun! Melissa had a bit of a mishap and had her fingers slammed in the door...twice. She’s been back and forth to the medical centre to have it re bandaged. I think she had damaged the nerve endings and the tip of one was split right open. We did our own first aid by sticking a pin in it to remove the blood but it got infected so she ended up going to get proper treatment!! OW!! As you can see we looked really concerned about her while attempting to give drunken first aid!!
On Wednesday last week Melissa, Victoria and I hitch hiked to Queenstown, I woke up fairly early so we could get a few hours there. We met at Kai, we HAD to have a coffee as it was -5...yes minus ahh!! It was white outside too, I was getting a few texts walking down the road and had to stop as I felt like my fingers were going to fall off!! The fastest way to get to QT is over the Cardrona pass, so we did. Didn’t take long before we got a lift, the guy was only going as far as Cardrona so we had to thumbs up there, We played about in the snow there for a while as there wasn’t many cars coming through. Hitching on that road when it was in poor condition wasn’t the best idea!! We managed though, a car was coming through and said we were handy as they wanted weight in the back to save sliding too much!! Couple of hairy moments and slidey slides, but we made it....phew!! Headed off to White Tiger (Tattoo Shop). I have been wanting a Phoenix tattooed on me to mark the beginning of a new life and to show that I had risen from my crap life back home and rose from the ashes!! It’s gorgeous but still healing so no pics yet! I can’t wait until summer so I can show it off in my bikini!!
We bummed about for a bit with our friend Denis who is staying in Queenstown for the season and then hitched back, It didn’t take too long, Vic had made up a sign and we started walking. A yute passed with Wanaka Golf Club written on the side, PERFECT!! We got a ride all the way back, this time we took the longer main road as it was likely the Cardrona pass was now impassable! We had such a laugh that day and it’s nice to get out of Wanaka for a few hours. QT is nice enough but not really my cup of tea! Nice to head through for the day.
The next day we decided it would be a good idea to make a beanie so Melissa has been teaching us how to crochet, I keep getting it wrong and have to unravel it and start again!! I might change my mind and make leg warmers instead!! We were all laughing as one day we’re having a crazy mad party, then hitch hiking and getting tattoo’s then we are doing crochet haha!!
I’ve been getting itchy feet again and panning in my head what to do once the season is over, I have decided in April to head to The Cook Islands and stay on a paradise island in the deep pacific for a week or two before heading over to Oz. I just need to try and sus out where to go from October to April in NZ first!! My plans may change totally before then but I always like to have something to look forward to!
I only have 5 more sleeps now until the mountain opens for crazy boarders. I’m getting rather excited!! Wanaka’s population is likely to double in the next couple of weeks!!
It’s really funny as they have a mock Christmas here!! My friends in the party house have their Christmas tree up, well it’s more like a branch from a tree that Melissa and Victoria found in the Forest! There’s a couple of cafe’s have Happy Christmas signs up and advertising Christmas dinners!! We’re having a Christmas Party this weekend and have organised secret santa’s!! The rule is it has to be found or made!!
I can’t remember if I’ve already mentioned previously just how dark it is here at night, I really need a head torch to be able to get home, I try to follow the line in the middle of the road but the amount of times I’ve walked into traffic cones or ditches is hilarious! It’s not too bad if the moons out but if it’s not and it’s cloudy you might as well walk with your eyes closed!! It’s also difficult if the stars are out as it’s so utterly stunning you walk looking up the way so you end up falling over or walking into things again haha!! I still love stepping out of the motel and walking into town, I’ll never ever get over the view!! When it’s a clear day words just can’t describe how stunning it is, you really have to see it to believe it!
Last night (Saturday) I headed to the party house, which were recovering from Friday and being boring, I drank my wine before heading down to party at Red Rock, my friend Alisha came and picked me up and I met up with some friends who I stayed in the hostel with. I also bumped into a few people I know, had a few games of pool and it was great to catch up with everyone. I had an absolute hoot, apparently you burn up calories by laughing, in that case I really should be a size 0 haha!! It really only is in New Zealand you can get away with wearing your sheepskin slippers out to a club!! No one cares, it’s just fantastic, no one judges anyone for any reason. Everyone smiles and is genuinely happy. It’s a tonic!! My friend dropped me off once we had had enough, I got in and SKYPED my parents.....ooops. Don’t do that when yer pished!! I also tried to get the fire going, burnt my hand from that. Tried to cook food and just made a mess and burnt everything haha!! Some things never change!
That’s about it for now, don’t really have any plans for the coming week, I may try and walk up Mt Iron every day to get my fitness up for Friday!! There’s no way I will last a whole day boarding!!
The next time I update my blog I should be bursting with excitement about boarding up at Cardrona!!
Catch ya’s soon!!
Lynners x
Feels like it’s been ages since my last update! I’ll have to try and remember what I’ve been up to. I’m getting settled and knowing what I’m doing here in the motel, I bum about the town most days with my mad crazy friends. We’ve had more parties, the latest one last Saturday night was ‘Anything but Clothes’
I dressed myself up in black bin bags with yellow tape and looked like a bumble bee!! Melissa made her costume out of ‘adult’ magazines!! We had two dressed up in backpacks, nappies, shower curtains. It was great fun! Melissa had a bit of a mishap and had her fingers slammed in the door...twice. She’s been back and forth to the medical centre to have it re bandaged. I think she had damaged the nerve endings and the tip of one was split right open. We did our own first aid by sticking a pin in it to remove the blood but it got infected so she ended up going to get proper treatment!! OW!! As you can see we looked really concerned about her while attempting to give drunken first aid!!
On Wednesday last week Melissa, Victoria and I hitch hiked to Queenstown, I woke up fairly early so we could get a few hours there. We met at Kai, we HAD to have a coffee as it was -5...yes minus ahh!! It was white outside too, I was getting a few texts walking down the road and had to stop as I felt like my fingers were going to fall off!! The fastest way to get to QT is over the Cardrona pass, so we did. Didn’t take long before we got a lift, the guy was only going as far as Cardrona so we had to thumbs up there, We played about in the snow there for a while as there wasn’t many cars coming through. Hitching on that road when it was in poor condition wasn’t the best idea!! We managed though, a car was coming through and said we were handy as they wanted weight in the back to save sliding too much!! Couple of hairy moments and slidey slides, but we made it....phew!! Headed off to White Tiger (Tattoo Shop). I have been wanting a Phoenix tattooed on me to mark the beginning of a new life and to show that I had risen from my crap life back home and rose from the ashes!! It’s gorgeous but still healing so no pics yet! I can’t wait until summer so I can show it off in my bikini!!
We bummed about for a bit with our friend Denis who is staying in Queenstown for the season and then hitched back, It didn’t take too long, Vic had made up a sign and we started walking. A yute passed with Wanaka Golf Club written on the side, PERFECT!! We got a ride all the way back, this time we took the longer main road as it was likely the Cardrona pass was now impassable! We had such a laugh that day and it’s nice to get out of Wanaka for a few hours. QT is nice enough but not really my cup of tea! Nice to head through for the day.
The next day we decided it would be a good idea to make a beanie so Melissa has been teaching us how to crochet, I keep getting it wrong and have to unravel it and start again!! I might change my mind and make leg warmers instead!! We were all laughing as one day we’re having a crazy mad party, then hitch hiking and getting tattoo’s then we are doing crochet haha!!
I’ve been getting itchy feet again and panning in my head what to do once the season is over, I have decided in April to head to The Cook Islands and stay on a paradise island in the deep pacific for a week or two before heading over to Oz. I just need to try and sus out where to go from October to April in NZ first!! My plans may change totally before then but I always like to have something to look forward to!
I only have 5 more sleeps now until the mountain opens for crazy boarders. I’m getting rather excited!! Wanaka’s population is likely to double in the next couple of weeks!!
It’s really funny as they have a mock Christmas here!! My friends in the party house have their Christmas tree up, well it’s more like a branch from a tree that Melissa and Victoria found in the Forest! There’s a couple of cafe’s have Happy Christmas signs up and advertising Christmas dinners!! We’re having a Christmas Party this weekend and have organised secret santa’s!! The rule is it has to be found or made!!
I can’t remember if I’ve already mentioned previously just how dark it is here at night, I really need a head torch to be able to get home, I try to follow the line in the middle of the road but the amount of times I’ve walked into traffic cones or ditches is hilarious! It’s not too bad if the moons out but if it’s not and it’s cloudy you might as well walk with your eyes closed!! It’s also difficult if the stars are out as it’s so utterly stunning you walk looking up the way so you end up falling over or walking into things again haha!! I still love stepping out of the motel and walking into town, I’ll never ever get over the view!! When it’s a clear day words just can’t describe how stunning it is, you really have to see it to believe it!
Last night (Saturday) I headed to the party house, which were recovering from Friday and being boring, I drank my wine before heading down to party at Red Rock, my friend Alisha came and picked me up and I met up with some friends who I stayed in the hostel with. I also bumped into a few people I know, had a few games of pool and it was great to catch up with everyone. I had an absolute hoot, apparently you burn up calories by laughing, in that case I really should be a size 0 haha!! It really only is in New Zealand you can get away with wearing your sheepskin slippers out to a club!! No one cares, it’s just fantastic, no one judges anyone for any reason. Everyone smiles and is genuinely happy. It’s a tonic!! My friend dropped me off once we had had enough, I got in and SKYPED my parents.....ooops. Don’t do that when yer pished!! I also tried to get the fire going, burnt my hand from that. Tried to cook food and just made a mess and burnt everything haha!! Some things never change!
That’s about it for now, don’t really have any plans for the coming week, I may try and walk up Mt Iron every day to get my fitness up for Friday!! There’s no way I will last a whole day boarding!!
The next time I update my blog I should be bursting with excitement about boarding up at Cardrona!!
Catch ya’s soon!!
Lynners x
Friday, June 5, 2009
June in Wanaka!!!
Well it’s been a while so about time I updated you!! I’ve been living in my new pad since Tuesday and it’s been fantastic!!
I moved out of the Hostel on Friday and it was fantastic!! I didn’t have to work on my last day so I had a lie in and chilled out, I was going to stay on Victoria’s sofa but ended up hooking up with Melissa and stayed at hers as her flatmates were away for the weekend. I’m sure we went out and had lots of drinkies on the Friday but it seems like so long ago now I can’t remember, I’m sure we had lots of giggles!! We headed out for a walk to the recycling centre on the Saturday, it was a lovely day. We were looking for outfits to make our clothes for Sunday’s Queens party!! Our friend Patrick had been out shooting pigs so Melissa went to help skin them up, we were still finishing off the venison stew from the kill he made earlier that week. Melissa cooked it up and it was delicious!! Back to the olden days here!!
Sunday arrived and it was all very exciting, we spent the day finishing off or costumes for the party and getting the wines and spirits in!!
Melissa and I got ready over at her house,
Rachel came over to help us and have a drink and DJ came over too so he could just scoff our drink!! We finally headed over and it started off quite tame but once the drinks flowed it was a riot all the way!! Lots of sore heads and piecing together the night the next morning!! I think we just chilled out that day watching movies and crashing out of the sofa. I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 nights between moving out the hostel and into my new place. I hadn’t laughed so much in a long time!! My stomach was aching with the giggles!! I need to sus out how to sort out the pictures on the blog and I’ll set some up for you to see!!
Well Tuesday came and Laurens came round to pick me up from Victoria’s, we got up to the Motel and unpacked our stuff, it was great to hang up clothes and put them in drawers and not have to deal with trying to find them in a cage under the bed!! Richard showed us around and gave us some of the ropes. He left at 5 so all we had to do was take the phone into the living room and listen out for the bell incase anyone wanted a room. Locked the place up at 9pm and ended up having an early night. I have a king size bed with an electric blanket, which is needed as it’s 0 degrees at night and there is no heating in the back rooms!! There is a wicked log fire in the living room so it’s pretty sweet!
We both got up early in the morning and Andrea gave us a low down on the job too.
After that I headed off to Kai for a catch up with my friends and a coffee. I’ve pretty much done that every day, Kai is fantastic, there’s always someone you know there. It’s the hub of Wanaka!! It’s a 10-15 minute walk from where I live to downtown Wanaka and the scenery is stunning all the way. I was walking home listening to my music and just burst into tears at how beautiful the place was. The lake was still, sun was shining down although it was around 5 deg and the mountains that rose up from the lake are huge and snow capped. It’s such a wonderful place and I can’t believe how lucky I am. I must have done something good in my life and I’m being repaid for it!!
Today I got up for 8.30am to unlock reception and switch everything on and once the owners came in I left them to it and went for a shower, I left Laurens lying in his bed. We can just take it in turns to open up and get every other day as a lie in. I headed out at 11 to meet Rachel and Melissa for a coffee at Kai, shock, I’m just about moving in there haha.
Just as we got our coffee Patrick texted to ask if we fancied heading out with him and Alex on his boat out on Lake Wanaka, did I need to think twice, the word wake boarding was also mentioned so I got really excited!! We went to Melissa’s to wait to be picked up, I wanted to sit in the boat that was on tow but they wouldn’t let me haha!!
We got to an empty park of the lake and they got the boat in, Melissa and I changed into our wetsuits and I began to think, what the hell am I doing, never wake boarded before and it was around 8 degrees and snowy mountains all around us. The four of us had an absolute hoot! Patrick dislocated his shoulder a couple of weeks ago from wake boarding so he stuck to riding the boat! Alex went first, he knows his stuff and was enjoying it. Melissa went in next, she had done it a couple of times before but years ago!! She was fantastic though! My turn next, I had to get them to push me in as I didn’t fancy flinging myself in the cold water!! This was my first time, Alex was a great coach and explained everything well, Patrick was shit hot at being the captain and Melissa was screaming plenty of encouragement and waving the camera at me!! Oh dear!!
When we were ready we had to shout ‘HIT IT’ off we went and off I went haha, didn’t even manage to stand up. Back for round two, I managed to get up but didn’t have the force to straighten up so I was butt surfing haha then fell in!! Next time I got up and stayed on for a good wee while and then again woowoo. Every time I got bits of extra advice and it slotted into place!! By this time though my hands were frozen and I could barely hold onto the rope!! I hopped back in the boat and let Alex go play again, he made it look far too easy!! The lake was perfect for it, totally still and the back drop was just snow capped mountains all round. What a bloody fantastic if not my best day on my travels yet! I love trying out new stuff and to do it with such fab people made it even better!! Once we had thawed out we headed back to Alex’s pad and we all jumped in the hot tub, it was a cloudless night and it got dark, all the stars came out and it was just stunning!! Eventually made it home, threw a pizza in the oven as i couldn’t be arsed cooking!! I’ve been chilling out watching TV and DVD’s ever since and that’s my blog up to date!!
So far so good, it just keeps getting better and better here!! I’ve met some fantastic friends and we’re just having a scream!!
Until the next update....Have fun!! Hopefully if I've managed to work things right you should see a slide show below!! Just some latest random pics from Wanaka!!
I moved out of the Hostel on Friday and it was fantastic!! I didn’t have to work on my last day so I had a lie in and chilled out, I was going to stay on Victoria’s sofa but ended up hooking up with Melissa and stayed at hers as her flatmates were away for the weekend. I’m sure we went out and had lots of drinkies on the Friday but it seems like so long ago now I can’t remember, I’m sure we had lots of giggles!! We headed out for a walk to the recycling centre on the Saturday, it was a lovely day. We were looking for outfits to make our clothes for Sunday’s Queens party!! Our friend Patrick had been out shooting pigs so Melissa went to help skin them up, we were still finishing off the venison stew from the kill he made earlier that week. Melissa cooked it up and it was delicious!! Back to the olden days here!!
Sunday arrived and it was all very exciting, we spent the day finishing off or costumes for the party and getting the wines and spirits in!!
Melissa and I got ready over at her house,
Rachel came over to help us and have a drink and DJ came over too so he could just scoff our drink!! We finally headed over and it started off quite tame but once the drinks flowed it was a riot all the way!! Lots of sore heads and piecing together the night the next morning!! I think we just chilled out that day watching movies and crashing out of the sofa. I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 nights between moving out the hostel and into my new place. I hadn’t laughed so much in a long time!! My stomach was aching with the giggles!! I need to sus out how to sort out the pictures on the blog and I’ll set some up for you to see!!Well Tuesday came and Laurens came round to pick me up from Victoria’s, we got up to the Motel and unpacked our stuff, it was great to hang up clothes and put them in drawers and not have to deal with trying to find them in a cage under the bed!! Richard showed us around and gave us some of the ropes. He left at 5 so all we had to do was take the phone into the living room and listen out for the bell incase anyone wanted a room. Locked the place up at 9pm and ended up having an early night. I have a king size bed with an electric blanket, which is needed as it’s 0 degrees at night and there is no heating in the back rooms!! There is a wicked log fire in the living room so it’s pretty sweet!
We both got up early in the morning and Andrea gave us a low down on the job too.
After that I headed off to Kai for a catch up with my friends and a coffee. I’ve pretty much done that every day, Kai is fantastic, there’s always someone you know there. It’s the hub of Wanaka!! It’s a 10-15 minute walk from where I live to downtown Wanaka and the scenery is stunning all the way. I was walking home listening to my music and just burst into tears at how beautiful the place was. The lake was still, sun was shining down although it was around 5 deg and the mountains that rose up from the lake are huge and snow capped. It’s such a wonderful place and I can’t believe how lucky I am. I must have done something good in my life and I’m being repaid for it!!
Today I got up for 8.30am to unlock reception and switch everything on and once the owners came in I left them to it and went for a shower, I left Laurens lying in his bed. We can just take it in turns to open up and get every other day as a lie in. I headed out at 11 to meet Rachel and Melissa for a coffee at Kai, shock, I’m just about moving in there haha.
Just as we got our coffee Patrick texted to ask if we fancied heading out with him and Alex on his boat out on Lake Wanaka, did I need to think twice, the word wake boarding was also mentioned so I got really excited!! We went to Melissa’s to wait to be picked up, I wanted to sit in the boat that was on tow but they wouldn’t let me haha!!
We got to an empty park of the lake and they got the boat in, Melissa and I changed into our wetsuits and I began to think, what the hell am I doing, never wake boarded before and it was around 8 degrees and snowy mountains all around us. The four of us had an absolute hoot! Patrick dislocated his shoulder a couple of weeks ago from wake boarding so he stuck to riding the boat! Alex went first, he knows his stuff and was enjoying it. Melissa went in next, she had done it a couple of times before but years ago!! She was fantastic though! My turn next, I had to get them to push me in as I didn’t fancy flinging myself in the cold water!! This was my first time, Alex was a great coach and explained everything well, Patrick was shit hot at being the captain and Melissa was screaming plenty of encouragement and waving the camera at me!! Oh dear!!
When we were ready we had to shout ‘HIT IT’ off we went and off I went haha, didn’t even manage to stand up. Back for round two, I managed to get up but didn’t have the force to straighten up so I was butt surfing haha then fell in!! Next time I got up and stayed on for a good wee while and then again woowoo. Every time I got bits of extra advice and it slotted into place!! By this time though my hands were frozen and I could barely hold onto the rope!! I hopped back in the boat and let Alex go play again, he made it look far too easy!! The lake was perfect for it, totally still and the back drop was just snow capped mountains all round. What a bloody fantastic if not my best day on my travels yet! I love trying out new stuff and to do it with such fab people made it even better!! Once we had thawed out we headed back to Alex’s pad and we all jumped in the hot tub, it was a cloudless night and it got dark, all the stars came out and it was just stunning!! Eventually made it home, threw a pizza in the oven as i couldn’t be arsed cooking!! I’ve been chilling out watching TV and DVD’s ever since and that’s my blog up to date!!
So far so good, it just keeps getting better and better here!! I’ve met some fantastic friends and we’re just having a scream!!
Until the next update....Have fun!! Hopefully if I've managed to work things right you should see a slide show below!! Just some latest random pics from Wanaka!!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Eviction Day!
Lynne, You have been evicted, please leave the big brother house!! Words I have been looking forward to! My bags are packed and I have worked my last shift here. I start my new job on Tuesday and thoroughly looking forward to it!! My friend has offered me a sofa if needed and It really is! I can’t handle five more nights here, the Kiwi lot and being in a shared dorm of 10 people has finally taken its toll!! It’s Thursday today and I’m heading off to stay with Victoria, DJ, Patrick and Rachel tomorrow.
It’s been a fine few days, I went off to chill out down by the lake on Tuesday and while waiting for my take away Americano a lassie that I knew (Kate) came in and asked me to join her. I also met my friend crazy Melissa there too, I joined Mel and her friends after catching up with Kate, then I changed from Coffee to Wine!! That was it!! Had more wine, then went to Mint and then off to the supermarket for more wine, pizza take away, hot choc chip cookie take away then onto Vic’s house, she wasn’t in but we harassed DJ and Patrick with our craziness instead! Vic came home after her shift in the hotel. I ended up KO’d on her sofa. I had to do the walk of shame as I started work at 10am the next morning haha!! I had such an excellent random night out, ended up going out for coffee and made it home 16 hours later!!
That’s all the goss from my side of the world just now. Next time I update I’ll be out of the Big Brother house!! One more sleep to go!
It’s been a fine few days, I went off to chill out down by the lake on Tuesday and while waiting for my take away Americano a lassie that I knew (Kate) came in and asked me to join her. I also met my friend crazy Melissa there too, I joined Mel and her friends after catching up with Kate, then I changed from Coffee to Wine!! That was it!! Had more wine, then went to Mint and then off to the supermarket for more wine, pizza take away, hot choc chip cookie take away then onto Vic’s house, she wasn’t in but we harassed DJ and Patrick with our craziness instead! Vic came home after her shift in the hotel. I ended up KO’d on her sofa. I had to do the walk of shame as I started work at 10am the next morning haha!! I had such an excellent random night out, ended up going out for coffee and made it home 16 hours later!!
That’s all the goss from my side of the world just now. Next time I update I’ll be out of the Big Brother house!! One more sleep to go!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Monday 25th
’m chilling on my bed in the dorm, had a chill out day today.
I had so much fun yesterday, we got ready to head out for the Sunday sesh, Laurens, Jess and I met up with Alisha, Vic and DJ at Mike’s BBQ house at 5pm for the wings and Margarita specials. Once we were done there we headed over to Bar Uno then onto Mint where I kicked ass at pool and won 7 bottles of wine!! I did have to drink a few Jaeger bomb’s to get me into the right frame of mind for pool haha. After being there a while be ended up in Barluga and Woody’s. Wanaka is such a small place there’s a group of people that you end up knowing in every bar so it’s a great atmosphere.
Got back to the room at around 2am along with a fit of the giggles!! Sometimes I really do feel like a 12 year old on her first school trip! I certainly don’t feel 30 ever!! When my alarm went off this morning I felt awful!! Got up for my shift though and as usual it flew by.
Laurens and I were due to meet with the owners of the motel where we are going to work so I got showered and ready, then they texted to ask us to come tomorrow instead! At least it made me get up, otherwise I’d have vegged around all day! A few of us headed out to Kai’s coffee house, it was a gorgeous sunny day, still probably around 7 degrees though! Nice with the sun shining and there’s nothing like the icy Aberdeen chill I used to have to put up with!!
We all split up after that, I went for a wonder about on my own and came back to the hostel and bliss, I had the room to myself. Didn’t last too long unfortunately, I really am desperate to move out of here now, hostel living isn’t my thing. Every so often I need my own comforts and since I’m so crazy about things being clean and tidy I am finding it difficult!!
After a nice hours kip I headed down to the Mint bar (in my slippers!) at this hostel you don’t need to go outside to the bar, we have our own entrance and at 7 it’s not normally busy. Went in for supper, there are so many on the Kiwi bus and they’re arrogant pricks tonight so I’m staying clear of the kitchen! Met up with Chris (German) and Caroline (Amsterdam), two lassies we met last night. I might be going on a hike with Caroline on Wednesday as I’m not working until 9.30pm. hopefully it’ll be a nice day.
We’re sitting in the room bitching about the Kiwi Experience retards!! Hannah is on the night shift tonight and they have left a proper mess in the kitchen. When they’re done eating they just leave their dishes on the table they were sitting at!! We’re going to help her out tonight otherwise it would be a really shit shift for her!!
I think I’m going to chill out tonight and sort out some photo’s on my computer, we’re all just chilling. My brother just called me to say hi!! Well done to him and his team for winning the league this year. I think he contacts me more now than what I heard from him before!! I made a bit of an error the other day and tried to call my parents yesterday but I totally never thought about the time difference, I tried them about 3 times before realising it was 3am with them!! OOOOPS!!! Sorry!!
I had so much fun yesterday, we got ready to head out for the Sunday sesh, Laurens, Jess and I met up with Alisha, Vic and DJ at Mike’s BBQ house at 5pm for the wings and Margarita specials. Once we were done there we headed over to Bar Uno then onto Mint where I kicked ass at pool and won 7 bottles of wine!! I did have to drink a few Jaeger bomb’s to get me into the right frame of mind for pool haha. After being there a while be ended up in Barluga and Woody’s. Wanaka is such a small place there’s a group of people that you end up knowing in every bar so it’s a great atmosphere.
Got back to the room at around 2am along with a fit of the giggles!! Sometimes I really do feel like a 12 year old on her first school trip! I certainly don’t feel 30 ever!! When my alarm went off this morning I felt awful!! Got up for my shift though and as usual it flew by.
Laurens and I were due to meet with the owners of the motel where we are going to work so I got showered and ready, then they texted to ask us to come tomorrow instead! At least it made me get up, otherwise I’d have vegged around all day! A few of us headed out to Kai’s coffee house, it was a gorgeous sunny day, still probably around 7 degrees though! Nice with the sun shining and there’s nothing like the icy Aberdeen chill I used to have to put up with!!
We all split up after that, I went for a wonder about on my own and came back to the hostel and bliss, I had the room to myself. Didn’t last too long unfortunately, I really am desperate to move out of here now, hostel living isn’t my thing. Every so often I need my own comforts and since I’m so crazy about things being clean and tidy I am finding it difficult!!
After a nice hours kip I headed down to the Mint bar (in my slippers!) at this hostel you don’t need to go outside to the bar, we have our own entrance and at 7 it’s not normally busy. Went in for supper, there are so many on the Kiwi bus and they’re arrogant pricks tonight so I’m staying clear of the kitchen! Met up with Chris (German) and Caroline (Amsterdam), two lassies we met last night. I might be going on a hike with Caroline on Wednesday as I’m not working until 9.30pm. hopefully it’ll be a nice day.
We’re sitting in the room bitching about the Kiwi Experience retards!! Hannah is on the night shift tonight and they have left a proper mess in the kitchen. When they’re done eating they just leave their dishes on the table they were sitting at!! We’re going to help her out tonight otherwise it would be a really shit shift for her!!
I think I’m going to chill out tonight and sort out some photo’s on my computer, we’re all just chilling. My brother just called me to say hi!! Well done to him and his team for winning the league this year. I think he contacts me more now than what I heard from him before!! I made a bit of an error the other day and tried to call my parents yesterday but I totally never thought about the time difference, I tried them about 3 times before realising it was 3am with them!! OOOOPS!!! Sorry!!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Saturday 23rd May
Hello!! Well got a few bits and pieces to report on so about time I updated my blog again!! I had a fantastic day trip to Queenstown. It took longer than normal to get there as we took the long route. The Cardrona pass that we went on last time was only passable with snow chains!! The road up to Christchurch was closed at one point and also the Dunedin road, NZ is looking like it’s going to have a cracking winter season woowoo!!! We stopped at a farm stall on the way down and saved money on lots of veg, passed lots and lots of vineyards, most of them I recognised from already drinking the bottles!! Stopped a couple of times to take in the scenery, it was totally gorgeous, some of the mountains are just caked in snow!! I was in my mint as there were shops yeehaw!! Been wearing the same things so it was nice to get some new clothes, also got myself a helmet for snowboarding as I don’t want to land on my head when I crash and burn on the half pipe!! Bumped into a couple of people we had met in Wanaka a couple of nights before hand which was random!
We headed back up the road just as it was getting dark, it was gorgeous as the stars were all out and since we were in the middle of no where there was no light pollution. Again it was early evening and I couldn’t have counted more than 15 or so cars passing us!!
I’ve been going crazy job hunting recently and been up to various restaurants, bars and hotels. The hostel really is driving me crazy, all the people I work with are fantastic but living in a room with 9 other people really does take its toll when I love my chill time and peace!
Found a good job in the local advertiser, it was advertising for a single couple to work at a motel and in return get a 2 bedroom bungalow and expenses included. I gave them a call and arranged to find out more about it the next day, I also had an interview with a guy about promotions work but he seemed a little strange, for a start he called himself ‘Cosmo’ and tried to seem cool when you could tell he really wasn’t haha!! I got a free cuppa coffee out of the meeting anyway. When I was done I received a text from my friend Victoria asking if I wanted to pop up for dinner, very good timing as I was passing the supermarket so I grabbed some wine!! Lovely dinner and there was a few folk round at the house so it was a good craic. When I came back I decided to head out to the club with some of the gang from the room. My friends Oirish and Felipe have now moved on, they’re away fruit picking up in Blenheim. They’re missed already, one bed has been filled by a Californian lassie already and the other is still empty.
On Friday it was my Mum’s 60th birthday (Happy Birthday!) so I skyped her, can’t believe the card I sent still hasn’t made it, that’s been over 3 weeks now!! I did try!!
Watched some more horrors, the descent which made me jump and scream lots, it was hilarious!! Also watched Halloween but it was a load of rubbish so I walked out half way through. Tonight (Saturday) we watched the Shining, before that it was a chick flick P.S. I Love You which I actually enjoyed!!
Yesterday was a gorgeous day, Laurens and I had our interview. We arrived at the Motel and thought wow, how peaceful and tranquil the setting was, 15 min walk out of town in a suburb, the couple showed us round the house and explained that they didn’t live onsite so were looking for a mature single couple to look after the place out of hours. That just means watch the TV and go to bed and in return we get a fantastic two bedroom pad. It’s got 2 large king sized bedrooms, log fire, Sky TV with the lot so I can watch moto GP!! Free internet etc. It’s perfect, no loud bars to work in or waitressing to give me sore feet and we can do what we like between 8am and 8pm as they are on site then through the week. At the weekends we can get paid for doing the housekeeping so that covers our groceries. I really feel like I’ve landed on my feet as it’s the perfect job for me. It’s a two minute walk from a very quiet part of the lake so very chilled out. There is also a swimming pool but it’s outdoors and at the moment it’s below 10 degrees most days so think I’ll give that a miss!! Fingers crossed, the meeting seemed to go very well and we got on well with the couple. When we left we strolled along the lake and couldn’t stop laughing and praying we’d get the job!!
Got back to the hostel and straight away I don’t want to be in it, I am just desperate for a bit of peace and quiet but there’s no where to escape to to get it. If it’s a nice day it’s okay as I can sit by the lake.
I did the night shift in the Hostel last night, just a case of cleaning up the kitchen, there was no Kiwi Experience bus in thank god so no wiping their arses for them!! I started at 9.30 and was finished up by 11.30. Had a lie in until 11 this morning and headed through to the kitchen to surf, eat brekkie and wait for the phone to ring! I had a good yap to Julie, a lassie from Glasgow who has been staying in the hostel a while, she’s got herself a job as an Estate Agent and just waiting to move in to a house with others, she’s got a room to herself in the hostel. Bliss but she still has to share the kitchen with the Kiwi Experience!! Sitting in the kitchen with a few others from the room there including Laurens and my phone rang, it was Andrea from the Motel. Oh my god, heart in mouth. I went out to the balcony so I could talk in peace. She wants us!!!!! I’m overjoyed!!!! I was giving Laurens the thumbs up through the patio doors and they were all jumping up and down inside!! Got off the phone and screamed and did a happy dance!! I just can’t believe how well things are going for me! It’s perfect, absolutely perfect!! I am going to be able to spend every week day up the mountain if I want to and my accommodation and grocery bills are all covered!! I was getting really down as I didn’t think I was going to get a job as there are so many people looking. Four weeks until the season starts!! Excellent!
Today most of us chilled out and watched DVD’s. The Kiwi Experience lot seem to be a bit inconspicuous tonight, it seems a bit too quiet in the hostel!! I was on kitchen duties again, easy shift again, the place was really clean. Once I was done I dyed my hair and got my fake tan on for tomorrow’s Sunday Sesh!! My shift tomorrow is 10-1 so after that I’ll get ready for some Sunday afternoon drinking with my friends!! We follow the happy hours round the town!
It’s now 1.30am so I’m off to sleep, already in bed but really had to get my backside into gear and update my blog to give you all something to read about!!
Night Night and talk soon!!
We headed back up the road just as it was getting dark, it was gorgeous as the stars were all out and since we were in the middle of no where there was no light pollution. Again it was early evening and I couldn’t have counted more than 15 or so cars passing us!!
I’ve been going crazy job hunting recently and been up to various restaurants, bars and hotels. The hostel really is driving me crazy, all the people I work with are fantastic but living in a room with 9 other people really does take its toll when I love my chill time and peace!
Found a good job in the local advertiser, it was advertising for a single couple to work at a motel and in return get a 2 bedroom bungalow and expenses included. I gave them a call and arranged to find out more about it the next day, I also had an interview with a guy about promotions work but he seemed a little strange, for a start he called himself ‘Cosmo’ and tried to seem cool when you could tell he really wasn’t haha!! I got a free cuppa coffee out of the meeting anyway. When I was done I received a text from my friend Victoria asking if I wanted to pop up for dinner, very good timing as I was passing the supermarket so I grabbed some wine!! Lovely dinner and there was a few folk round at the house so it was a good craic. When I came back I decided to head out to the club with some of the gang from the room. My friends Oirish and Felipe have now moved on, they’re away fruit picking up in Blenheim. They’re missed already, one bed has been filled by a Californian lassie already and the other is still empty.
On Friday it was my Mum’s 60th birthday (Happy Birthday!) so I skyped her, can’t believe the card I sent still hasn’t made it, that’s been over 3 weeks now!! I did try!!
Watched some more horrors, the descent which made me jump and scream lots, it was hilarious!! Also watched Halloween but it was a load of rubbish so I walked out half way through. Tonight (Saturday) we watched the Shining, before that it was a chick flick P.S. I Love You which I actually enjoyed!!
Yesterday was a gorgeous day, Laurens and I had our interview. We arrived at the Motel and thought wow, how peaceful and tranquil the setting was, 15 min walk out of town in a suburb, the couple showed us round the house and explained that they didn’t live onsite so were looking for a mature single couple to look after the place out of hours. That just means watch the TV and go to bed and in return we get a fantastic two bedroom pad. It’s got 2 large king sized bedrooms, log fire, Sky TV with the lot so I can watch moto GP!! Free internet etc. It’s perfect, no loud bars to work in or waitressing to give me sore feet and we can do what we like between 8am and 8pm as they are on site then through the week. At the weekends we can get paid for doing the housekeeping so that covers our groceries. I really feel like I’ve landed on my feet as it’s the perfect job for me. It’s a two minute walk from a very quiet part of the lake so very chilled out. There is also a swimming pool but it’s outdoors and at the moment it’s below 10 degrees most days so think I’ll give that a miss!! Fingers crossed, the meeting seemed to go very well and we got on well with the couple. When we left we strolled along the lake and couldn’t stop laughing and praying we’d get the job!!
Got back to the hostel and straight away I don’t want to be in it, I am just desperate for a bit of peace and quiet but there’s no where to escape to to get it. If it’s a nice day it’s okay as I can sit by the lake.
I did the night shift in the Hostel last night, just a case of cleaning up the kitchen, there was no Kiwi Experience bus in thank god so no wiping their arses for them!! I started at 9.30 and was finished up by 11.30. Had a lie in until 11 this morning and headed through to the kitchen to surf, eat brekkie and wait for the phone to ring! I had a good yap to Julie, a lassie from Glasgow who has been staying in the hostel a while, she’s got herself a job as an Estate Agent and just waiting to move in to a house with others, she’s got a room to herself in the hostel. Bliss but she still has to share the kitchen with the Kiwi Experience!! Sitting in the kitchen with a few others from the room there including Laurens and my phone rang, it was Andrea from the Motel. Oh my god, heart in mouth. I went out to the balcony so I could talk in peace. She wants us!!!!! I’m overjoyed!!!! I was giving Laurens the thumbs up through the patio doors and they were all jumping up and down inside!! Got off the phone and screamed and did a happy dance!! I just can’t believe how well things are going for me! It’s perfect, absolutely perfect!! I am going to be able to spend every week day up the mountain if I want to and my accommodation and grocery bills are all covered!! I was getting really down as I didn’t think I was going to get a job as there are so many people looking. Four weeks until the season starts!! Excellent!
Today most of us chilled out and watched DVD’s. The Kiwi Experience lot seem to be a bit inconspicuous tonight, it seems a bit too quiet in the hostel!! I was on kitchen duties again, easy shift again, the place was really clean. Once I was done I dyed my hair and got my fake tan on for tomorrow’s Sunday Sesh!! My shift tomorrow is 10-1 so after that I’ll get ready for some Sunday afternoon drinking with my friends!! We follow the happy hours round the town!
It’s now 1.30am so I’m off to sleep, already in bed but really had to get my backside into gear and update my blog to give you all something to read about!!
Night Night and talk soon!!
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