Lynne is back on the road!!

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

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!!

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

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!!

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!

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!!

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!!

Sunday 17th May

It’s 5.30pm and I’ve just given up watching a really crap film in the movie room. I managed 15 mins into Disco Pigs, what a load of rubbish!! I think I’m just going to be chilling out for the rest of the night, I have fillet steak and a freshly made up salad to have for dinner but I’ll wait until the ‘children’ from the Kiwi Experience have been and cooked their burnt rice and pasta as they otherwise just irritate me!!
It’s been another horrible day, it’s blowing a hoolie and been raining for the last 3 days, there was a break for an hour or two today so Bavarian Laura and I headed off to the lake to read our books. It was a bit too chilly though so we only managed a chapter!

I think I last signed off on Friday evening, well what a night and what a hangover!! I headed up to Vic’s house with a couple of bottles of Sauv. Her house mates DJ and Paddy were there along with the lassie Mellissa who lives two doors down. Vic was working in the morning so I disappeared after the wine was done. My room mates were all down at the Mint bar (joined on and owned by the hostel I work for) I was kicking ass at pool most the night and the men didn’t take to kindly to having a woman kick ass. It was good as every person from the room was there which is unusual. Eventually made it back to the room at 3am, I’m presuming that anyway as I think that’s when Mint closes!! I forgot to set my alarm and was woken up 20 mins before my shift, I felt like death warmed up haha. None of us looked too clever!! Cindy went easy on us though, I think we all took 4 times as long as normal to do stuff. Once the shift was over I went and had a shower then went back to bed!! Laurens went to get me a choc chip cookie from the supermarket which helped. I headed back down to Mint in the evening for dinner as I didn’t have any energy to cook, I stuck to iced water this time though!! I headed back to bed after that although Vic kept trying her hardest to get me over to hers for a party. I’d have loved to go but I just can’t do two nights in a row now. It must be an age thing as some of the roomies went out again!! Today I felt a lot better!! There is the ‘Sunday Session’ to be heading out for, but I think I’ll chill out and stay in. It’s really cold and windy tonight.

Finally used Skype to talk to my dad last night which was cool, if any of you use Skye then feel free to add me on. I think 5 of us are clubbing together tonight to buy another weeks inclusive internet time so once everyone has paid up I’ll be able to post this!!

I’ve just completed doing my evenings exercises with Hanna and Laura!! We are trying to do lots of sit ups and press ups!! The rest of the guys and girls just came through from watching that crap film, I can’t believe they persevered with it!!
I’m expecting a call from my brother soon, I’m sure he’ll be happy since his team won last night. He might actually get a chance to stop being so busy and email me his news now and again. I love logging on to see lots of big emails so get your asses into gear and send me one!!

Everyone is sitting round the room wanting to go out and trying to decide what to do!! I wont be persuaded though!! I had a text from another lassie inviting me to turn up to hers with BBQ food and an animal print bean bag...random!! I really couldn’t though, once a week really is enough!! If I can find a decent DVD out of all the crap that was rented out!!

Monday 18th

Hellooo!! I’ve just been scared witless haha, the crew were all through in the cinema room watching The Descent!! Haha I feel like such a girl, there were scary creatures in the cave that attacked the cavers, Hanna screamed so that made me scream it was just hilarious, anyone walking past the movie room must have heard us!! What a giggle though, I’m through in my bed now and I think we’ll need to sleep with the light on! Nothing like a good horror film to get us off to sleep! Well they managed to drag me out last night, quick shower then off out to Mint to meet up with everyone then we headed off to Shooters for Happy Hour and pool, Fiona (Irish) and I teamed up and kicked ass on the pool table, we were unbeaten. I was doing quite well at pool, must have had the right amount of Vodka!! Once the bar shut we headed back to Mint for more drinkies, pool and a boogie!! Then it was off to Barluga for a night cap and we made it home at 3am!! I was compesmentus though, I’m blaming my mother as I skyp’d her from the room and told her I wasn’t going out and she told me not to be so boring!! It was actually a fantastic night out!


Today (Monday) was a fine day, after work I went window shopping with some of the girls, there are two new board shops open so we went a look round there and off to the DVD rental to get some decent films!!

Early night tonight, It’s 11.30 and I’m going to get my head down to sleep!! Get all refreshed and ready for my day trip on Wednesday!!

Oh yeah, Can’t remember if I ever mentioned, the water goes down the plug hole the opposite way from back home and the star constellations are upside down!!

Night Night!!

Friday 15th May

Kia Ora!!
How are you all, thanks for logging in to check out my blog and see what I’ve been up to! Apologies for not being that good at keeping it up to date in the last week. I just need to try and remember what I’ve been up to now!

Last Sunday my friend Victoria called to ask if I fancied heading to Christchurch for a Ferg Burger with her housemates. I had 5 minutes notice but luckily enough I was just finished getting ready, I was all dressed up with nowhere to go!! Christchurch is an hour south from here in good weather. What stunning scenery en route. We took the Cardrona pass road which is a bit like the Glenshee - Spital road but on a much more spectacular scale!! Biking heaven, I thought about Joan and Matt when I seen it and could imagine them tanking it through all the twisties !! Half way through it was a bit dodgy as there had been snowfall. Martin (Swiss) DJ (Arizona) and the other Kiwi dude were with Vic and moi. Can’t believe we went all that way just for a burger......until we got the burger haha. If any of you have ever been there then you’ll remember. It was the best burger I had ever had. We headed across to t a bar after that but I stuck to Lemonade and so did Kiwi who was driving. The other three were ordering T Pots of shots!! I’m quite pleased I wasn’t allowed to drink as I know I’d have had a sore head the next day!!

While we were sitting there having a laugh these three girls started yapping away and asked if they could join us, couldn’t say bugger off so they pulled up a seat. As usual the first question is ‘Where are you from?’ cutting a long story short, one of the girls was from the street round from where I used to live in Aberdeen before moving here!! I couldn’t believe it!! It really is a small world, I wouldn’t have though much of a coincidence if she was just from Aberdeen but the street round from me!! WEIRD!!

The guys were getting merry and decided to stay in Queenstown overnight so Kiwi drove Victoria and I home, we took the main road this time as the Cardrona pass would be dangerous due to the ice. Took alot longer getting back, he was driving very sensibly!! Thought I’d add that one in incase my parents are reading!! It was really strange, 10.30pm and driving over an hour, I could count the amount of cars that passed on one hand!! We got back and Laurens, Jessica and Kayla dragged me out for drinks and pool, only we couldn’t find anywhere open!! When we did I just had a lemonade and left them to it! Kayla and jess arrived home at 8.30am!! I felt like a right lightweight!!

We’ve since had Grace leave the staff crew and some German weirdo took her place, he lasted a day though, he wouldn’t even share the room with us. He was very rude and smelly and me being me who doesn’t mince her words kind of told him straight!! He’s since been replaced with an English lass called Verity who seems nice. It’s really strange when people come and go, you just get used to things and there’s change!!
I’ve been to two Yoga classes this week with the girls from the room, We thoroughly enjoyed it, the only problem is..on the way back we pass the cinema who sell fresh warm cookies to order!!

The Crew (as we’re called) headed out to Mike’s BBQ house together, it was happy hour for beer and wings. Couple of games of pool and still being good, I stuck to soft drinks then headed to yoga with Kayla.

De La Soul were playing in Wanaka on Wednesday night so the hostel was full, Laurens and I were asked to do a double shift and get the following Wednesday off together. No probs, although the hostel looked like a bomb had hit it!! I took sleeping tablets that night and wore ear plugs, the after party went on at our club and it was a bit crazy, don’t think the locals here get many nights like that haha. It was hard graft yesterday but looking forward to our day off as we’re heading off in the campervan for a daytrip to Queenstown!!

After shift today I headed to the coffee shop for a take away, my friend DJ from Arizona works there, took my ipod and sat by the lake. There was heavy rain here last night so it’s fallen as snow up the mountains, it’s stunning. Lake Wanaka is also an amazing colour of bluey green!! I asked DJ if Vic was working later, doesn’t sound like she is so I think I’m going to head round there with a bottle of wine later!!

I’ve been sitting chilling in the room for the last hour or so along with a few others, I’ve been catching up with emails so I’ll get them fired away once I connect to the internet.

That’s about it for now, I’m still job hunting so I can move out of the hostel into a shared house. I am one of the lucky ones though as there are alot of people stuck with no work and having to pay for their accommodation. I just need to be patient!! I might try and bung some CV’s into places in Queenstown and keep my options open.

Catch up with you soon for the next instalment!!

Lynners Latest

Saturday 9th May

It’s been some time since I’ve updated my blog, nothing of major excitement happening. I’m getting really settled in here now. Made some friends out with the hostel I work in and I’m still sharing the staff dorm with the hostel crew, been the same people in here now since I last updated my page and we’re all getting on really well, it’s such a nice mixed group. Chilean guy (he’s helping with my Spanish skills), Taiwanese lassie, 2 Canadian lassies, Irish lass, a crazy Brighton couple, German lass (helping me with my German skills!) and a mad Belgian. I’ve done the rounds at the local bars and restaurants with my CV in the hope I can get work. I’m still pinning my hopes on a job up the mountain though. We’ll see. Until then I’ll carry on like Annie and keep scrubbing. The work is good fun and we’re left to get on with it so I listen to my I-pod and dance about while making up the beds. We’re all in the same boat awaiting jobs and wanting to save our money so it’s still movie nights and board games in the room with a cheap (but still nice) bottle of plonk!!
I’m not allowed to drink for a week as I’m medication after having a couple of asthma attacks, I was carted off to the medical centre in an ambulance in the middle of the night and injected in the butt with some steroids. I’m fine now and have to say I know I have some fantastic friends here as they were brilliant, they did everything they could to help bless them!

I’ve just returned from having dinner, a fantastic meal of salad, Hoki (similar to haddock) onion rings and tattles. Most people just have beans on toast so I’m def a flashpacker. I just wait until the Kiwi Experience lot have cleared off so it’s not too busy in the kitchen. They are mostly English teenagers who are on gap years and need their mothers to clean their dishes, they are a pain in the ass. Probably the first time they’ve been away from home!! No respect!! They usually stay the one night then they’re off somewhere else. I have a lockable cool bag since its just big fridges for all to use as they normally steal everyone’s food too!
A few of us went wandering today and found a gym that we can join and for the month of May all the yoga classes are free. Bonus!! Even wandering about to different areas was enjoyable. I still can’t get over how stunning this place is. The woman that works in the supermarket is originally from Kilmarnock and has been here since the 60’s, still has a full Scottish accent!! I was gassing away to her and she told me Ewan McGregor stayed here for a week last year and since he is another fellow scot yapped to her most nights. She hadn’t realised who he was and just thought it was another randomer!! Shania Twain owns a mountain here too. The Kiw’s call it paradise, don’t know if I’ve already told you that but it def is. I don’t ever want to move from here!!

Tonight we’re going to take over the Movie Room and watch a DVD.
That’s pretty much it for me just now. Hope you’re enjoying keeping up with my blog.

Sunday 3rd May

I’m already pretty much settled into Wanaka, it’s half 9 and I’m already in bed, drinking wine from a mug as usual and munching into a bar of Lindt chocolate!! Not too much to report, I think each day now for the next few weeks is going to be the same. Everyone that has come through to Wanaka seem to be sitting waiting for work and to get an apartment, there wont be any jobs until the end of May so we just have to be patient. I’m quite lucky that I can work for my accommodation but I will need to find a job soon. Most days now are spent getting up not long after 9, heading through to make brekkie then working from 10-1. I strip down and make up the rooms, clean stuff and that’s about it. The others that are here are a good laugh, we all share the same dorm so it can be a bit crazy with 10 of us in here but it seems to work! Feels a bit like big brother as people come and go. It’s always sad to say cheerio but then someone else walks in.
I’ve got a couple of friends already aside from the people I have met in the hostel, Victoria, who was on my bus from Chch and Alisha from Oz. I hooked up with them last night and dragged Lawrence along too, he’s a Flemish dude that is also working for accommodation here. We went to the Red Rock, it’s a bar that Kate runs, she’s the lassie I met the other day. We had lots of giggles, a few games of pool and a couple of drinks. Can you believe it was a pirate themed night?!?!
I spend the rest of my time either watching movies in our mini cinema, or going on walks. Victoria, Lawrence and I headed off round part of Lake Wanaka today, it was gorgeous blue skies with a lovely sun, still a bit chilly but there’s no wind so it is nice, we sat by the side of the lake, it was so tranquil. The huge mountains all around us peaked with a dusting of snow and looking back over to Wanaka. It really is very beautiful. We sat and chilled out for a couple of hours then headed back. There are lots of good walks round here so I think I will try and find some more tomorrow, I really feel like I need some ‘me time’ so I’m going to chill out with my ipod.
Some of the guys were talking about heading up to TC ski area, it’s not open yet but there is snow if you hike a bit. I’m too lazy for that and will just wait until the lifts are open haha.
There’s four of us ‘home’ just now, the two new lassies, who are from Canada, are lying on their bed watching a portable dvd thing, Grace who is from Japan Felipe from Chile. The rest of them are either in the downstairs bar or in the Cinema room.
I shall update you soon, keep your fingers crossed I will hear about a job soon.
Monday 3rd
I had to double check the day and date, it really is quite sweet not having the Mundane Monday feeling anymore!! Had a great sleep last night and as usual my shift went past real quick. Once I was done I took a book and my I Pod and headed up a wee hill in the town to chill out. I took some pics to show you my view from the bench I was sitting at! I uploaded them, had a look and seriously, the pics don’t do the view justice. Where I was sitting was just a 5 min walk from where I stay, It’s also the view I get when I step out on to the balcony every morning!! Don’t think I’ll ever get sick fed up of it!! As I was sat up the hill I was convinced I seen Victoria walking up the street so called her. It was so she came up for a goss, it’s just ace being on the other side of the world and recognising friends and randomly hooking up! Anyway, the rest of my day is going to consist of eating spaghetti on toast and having a marathon Lord of the rings sesh with Laurens of Belgium!!

Thursday 30th April

I met Rosie last night, she’s from Byron Bay in Oz and was just staying for the one night here, we both came down on the bus from Chch. This hostel is really plush, we went to the TV lounge which is more like a mini cinema, Lord of The Rings was on, very apt!! There are rows of comfy leather sofa’s and the screen and sound system are awesome, it’s fantastic!! Once that was finished we headed through to our dorm, there was only us two in it. Had a great night sleep and said cheerio to Rosie when I woke up, I’ve taken her details as she has said she’ll show me round Byron Bay when I make it there.
I was showered and dressed early this morning and got out and about, it’s cold here so jumper and jeans weather!! That’s what I want though!! I went into the snow resort office and found out that today was the last day of cheap snow passes, not resisting an opportunity to save money I bought mine. I also took on a job at the backpackers hostel I’m staying at. I just clean for 3 hours a day and make up beds and in return my accommodation is free. Another excellent way to meet people as I’ll be staying in the staff quarters. It’s only until I get a job that pays which I can’t see me getting for another month as the season doesn’t kick off for a while. Great to be in early though to get contacts and get myself known.
Was wondering about earlier and started chatting to a lassie (Kate) that looks like a boarder, she said to join her for a coffee down at the lake so I met her friend Luke too. She gave me the lowdown on the place and even better, she is a bar manager!! We exchanged numbers so I may head up there for a drink later. I also bumped into one of the girls who I recognised from yesterday’s bus, she also had a snowboard in tow so I got yapping to her too. She is also on her own and looking for work as a chef for the season. She is a Kiwi and is called Victoria, we exchanged numbers too and no doubt we’ll hook up later for a drink too, this place is like Aviemore but a teeny bit bigger so no doubt I’ll see the same people going about all the time. I Came back to check my emails and sort out my C.V. I’ve also had a message from Alisha, a lassie from Oz who I was in contact with before heading out here, we were going to try and find an apartment to rent together. I'm meeting her for a coffee after my shift tomorrow.

Cooked up a storm in the kitchen tonight, spag bol yumyum. Better than the crap I've been living off. It'll be good to get my own pad soon so I can get back to proper eating. I have 3 new lassies in my dorm tonight, all seem really nice but I'm knuckling down and not going out until I get a job. It's waaay to tempting, I classed Chch as my wee holiday.

Going to head up to the cinema room in a bit. First day of work tomorrow, work ahhhh I don't want to work ever again. I just want to bum around!!!

Wanaka!!

I have arrived in Wanaka and I'm completely blown away by how beautiful it is. It was just breathtaking arriving here and it's all on my doorstep. Take the west coast of Scotland, which is beautiful and stunning and times the intensity by 10!!

Well what another great couple of days, I've had no regrets since I landed here. Not one moment have I sat unhappy and that's great as I think I was unhappy lots before I got here!

I'm just trying to remember where I got to on my blog so I can let you know what I've been up to.

Tuesday 28th

Sarah, Anita and I got up early as we planned on a full on day since it was our last in Chch. We found a free bus so hopped on just for the sake of it, we decided to hop on a bus and head to a suburb called Littleton, it was another toasting hot day so we bought some stuff for a picnic and headed off. We asked the driver where was best to get off to eat our food and have a nice view, everyone on the bus got involed, I'm still not believing just how friendly everyone is!! We had a coffee after lunch and sat in the sun, I had to cover myself in tanning stuff. Think I'll stick to fake tan though rather than sunbathing!! The girls headed off up the Gondola on the way back, since I had already done it I stayed on the bus and headed back. Chilled out reading then they came back so we got ourselves packed up and showered and changed for another night out!!

The three of us went for an Indian first to the Raj Mahal, it was the finest Indian I have ever tasted and it came to $30 each, around 12 quid. This was a main course with a side and the wine!! My old best mate from school has a cousin from Chch so I contacted her and arranged to meet up, I also called Jodie, the lassie from Melbourne that we met the other night. We all met up in Dux de Lux, a fantastic beer garden then headed off to a pool hall. Kelly (my friends cous) had a friend join us too, it was a great laugh and I also met another lassie from Hamilton. She's invited me up and offered me a bed in her house. Kelly's friend runs a bar in Chch and said no probs to a job if I go back there...SWEET!!! We ended up in the internet cafe after that then fell into the hostel at 1am.

Sarah left to catch her bus on her NZ tour at 7.30am, we just gave her a wave, that was just toooo early!!

This morning I got a bit of a shock at reading the newspaper, everyone from last weekends NZ1 flight is being tested for this flu thing, I don't know if you've heard about it back home. I've not heard from anyone but the NZ1 is the flight I took. I've not started coughing or sweating yet though!!

I jumped on the naked bus at 10am to go to Wanaka, Anita bless her helped me to the bus stop and we said cheerio. I'll really miss her, she's also a biker so we got on like a house on fire. Both as mad as a box of frogs!!

The bus journey here was just amazing, The views were stunning!!! Lake Tekapo is just a stunning colour, it's something to do with the glacier dust and the light refracting? The driver was great and gave us some running commentry.

Arrived here in Wanaka at around 5pm, the hostel was just a 2 minute walk, backpack, frontpack and a huuuuge board bag to lug up! As I was getting closer this old guy, David Hamil offered to help me, He asked where I was from and turns out he has family in Aberdeen, he was sweet and even introduced himself and told me where he lived and told me to come up for a sup of tea and tell him about Aberdeen!! He made a joke that his wife would be wondering why he was away helping this young lassie, they were just in doing their food shop. Nice old couple. It's the way of the Kiwi's, not there two minutes and they're willing to help!!

I'm staying at Base Wanaka, a brand spanking new hostel which really is brilliant. Makes the Chch one look like a right dump, it's so clean and I'm really happy to be staying here for 15 nights. If I work for 3 hours a day I can have my accommodation free so I might just do that.

I can't wait to go check the place out tomorrow, it's stunning. Go look up lake Wanaka on google. WOWOWOWOW. I'll get some photos up soon. There's a cinema room here free so I'm off to see what's on and get an early night.

Once again, I'm over the moon, very happy. I've really landed on my feet.

Catch you's soon x

Monday 27th

I’m lying over my bed, I’m shattered, spent the day shopping with Anita, it’s so hard going into all these shops, there are so many nice pairs of shoes but there’s no way I could fit anything else into my backpack so I had to walk out without anything! I’m absolutely shattered now, I was a lazy cow this morning and never got out my bed until 12. After Anita and I had finished the bottle of wine we decided to head out, chucked on some decent clothes and some slap and off we went. We ended up in the Stock XChange which was such a laugh, we met three lovely wimmen from Oz, NZ and the US, what a giggle, there was a guy from Sheffield and another lassie from S.A. joined in on the banter too, we had sore stomaches from laughing all night. I have no idea what the doorman must have thought but we made him laugh all night too!! Made it back at around 2am and fell into our bunks!! I think we were trying hard not to giggle. The lassie from Japan that is also sharing with us said I had been singing and talking in my sleep, ooooops!!
Today has been fine although I’m really tired now, I’ve just met Sarah, our new roomie that replaced Karla, she is also travelling on her own, she’s done India, China, Singapore and Oz so no doubt we’ll get some great stories out of her, she is also here until Wednesday. She’s really friendly and seems great to hang out with too, I’ve been really lucky with the people I’ve met so far. I hope it’s the same for when I get to Wanaka!

That's me finally posted this blog up and I'm just about to email you all the address. It was a roaster today, must have been around 24 degrees!! Tonight the new lassie, Sarah, Anita and I met up with the Oz lass from last night and we went to Sticky Fingers for a couple of drinks. We're still a bit delicate from last night!! Just away to head to bed once I've finished faffing about on the internet. My wireless connection isn't great in the hostel so It's easier to come into an Internet Cafe.

Tomorrow should be another fun packed day, We've booked massages and I think I'm going to get my Tragus (bit in my ear) pierced tomorrow. That's if I don't chicken out!!

Day 3 (Sun 27th April)

I’m getting the hang of this now and really enjoying myself. I slept right through until 9.30 and feel like I’ve sorted my body clock already, I’ve made two excellent friends already, Anita, a fellow Scot from Glasgow and Karla from Dublin. Both were in Oz before coming here. Karla heads off tomorrow for a 5 week tour of NZ and Anita is off to Oz on Wednesday before heading home. I have booked the ‘Naked Bus’ for Wednesday to take me to Wanaka. I just hope I don’t have to get Naked!! I think it may just mean ‘no frills’!!
Yesterday (Sat 25th April) was great, Karla and I got up and spent the day hopping on and off the tram, made friends with Larry the tram driver and we also went up the Gondola and had magnificent views over Christchurch. We also went on a punt along the river Avon, which was great, relaxing and chilled out. We were there early so hung out with the hunky punters before heading off and got them to make us a cup of coffee!! We hooked up with Anita in the evening after she had her new Tat inked on. The three of us went for a Chinese, hmm after spending half an hour trying to place an order and get the right wine our dish came. Erm, not what we were expecting. It was a chopped up chicken complete with bones, feet and beaks and kinda put us off!! We picked through it and made the most of it!!
Today (Sunday) we all got up around 11 and headed out to catch a bus to the Antarctic Centre. What a good laugh we had. It was really interesting and we got to see native little blue penguins. Did you know you get penguins in NZ?!!
Headed back to Cathedral Square and went for a wander and some dinner. We can’t be bothered going out tonight and we’re not allowed alcohol in the hostel but felt like naughty school kids because we sneaked some up anyway. We have no glasses though and using a mug and a cut out plastic bottle to drink from haha. Classy birds!! You can take the girls out of Scotland but you can’t take Scotland out of the girls!!!
It’s still not really hit me that I’m here yet, I really do love the place and can’t get over how relaxed and friendly everyone is. It is like Scotland/Amsterdam and Spain rolled into one!! I was a bit worried that the chocolate wouldn’t be the same but found some Lindt phew!! I need to start eating beans on toast and stop spending money until I actually get a job!! I’m not sure what’s happening tomorrow but Karla leaves so we’re one down!! I will be hooking up with her next week when she passes through Wanaka to do a Canyon Swing and a Sky Dive!! I can’t wait.

The first day of the rest of my life (Friday 24th April 2009)

It’s Friday, it’s 1.30pm and I’m finally lying in a bed! I can’t stand up because I feel like I’m going to fall down, I don’t want to sleep as I need to get adjusted to my new time zone. This is a weird feeling, I feel completely wasted!! I am so confused, my belly wants dinner when it’s breakfast time. I still can’t get my head around the fact the leaves are turning brown and falling off the trees. Two winters in a row, am I mad?!I had 3 dinners in a row because of the time zones. I really need to sleep, I’ve never felt this tired before. I’m tired but I don’t think I could sleep!! I must stay awake.

My flights were great, four separate flights altogether, first one was just over an hour, second one was 11 hours, third was 13 then one more flight of an hour!! I had 5 foot of space in front of me from Heathrow to Auckland with no one at either side of me. Was pleased to get in and out of LA quickly though. Met some cool people on the flight from all walks of life going to all manner of places. I couldn’t get my head round crossing the International Date line westwards, I lost a whole day somewhere!! I left Aberdeen at lunch time 2 days ago, that’s mad. I started to finally brick it two hours before landing in NZ, all that planning and looking forward to leaving my old life!! I got off the flight at Christchurch and thought to myself ‘What now?!!’

I couldn’t get into my bed until 1pm so I’ve been for a wee wander about, put my money into my new bank and got myself a NZ sim card. There’s such an excellent atmosphere about the place and it feels so laid back and chilled out, everyone smiles and says hi. I can’t believe how helpful everyone is, I feel pretty much settled into the NZ way of life and already decided I don’t ever want to leave!!

That’s all I can tell you so far really, I’ll book some wifi and get a new blog organised to post this up on. I am going to shut my eyes for an hour first though!

Just wanted to tell you all I made it alive. I feel so chilled and I’m already pretty sure I’ve done the right thing!!

Update: My new roomie Karla came in and saved me from falling into a deep sleep which was great as that was the last thing I wanted to do!! She seems great and is also on her own, we went for something to eat and wandered about to get our bearings. We came across a fantastic bar called Cartel’s, highly recommended. The NZ wine was going down a treat, we were sat outside a in a lovely lane with blue fairly lights over the top, sofa’s and a log fire outside and big rugs. There was a band playing Country / Folk music and the lassie sounded like Norah Jones. It was just so nice and chilled for our first night in NZ. Headed back a bit tipsy and met our other new roomie Anita. By this time I was shattered as I hadn’t been to bed since Tuesday night in the UK and this was now Friday night!! We all yapped for a bit and I took a couple of sleeping tablets as my mind was alive but my body not!!