Things I have done since November:
1. Got soaked at Mt Manganui, first climbing 'the Mount' then hanging out in its hot pools. It was a fun weekend away with Mark, Andrea, Jessica and Kelsey.
2. Spent three days in a van travelling through beautiful Northland with Colleen and Olga. We played a lot of cards and listened to the only two CDs we had over and over again. One day we went kayaking. It was more fun than I care to admit. Russell was really beautiful too, although the half hour I spent driving on a very windy gravel road in the dark was disorientating.
3. Classes ended, which was weird because it was Kiwi end-of-year. We had a fun last PCL class. Even lecturer Ross Clark was convinced to wear a party hat. Then I did some exams, yawn. They went fairly well.
4. I got some new glasses, had an eat-a-thon with friend Jessica in various nice Auckland eateries and hung out and laughed a lot with Colleen, before she left, which was sad.
5. All my other friends left. Well, almost all. The best ones did ;)
6. I went to Samoa with Stephan and Mark. We explored bush-covered mountains in search of ruined pyramids, sat in little-fronted open beach huts, swam in crystal-clear blue water, went to a Mormon church in local attire, made new friends on a bike ride, saw churches destroyed by lava, helped the Red Cross with their tsunami-relief efforts and drank more beer than you can imagine.
7. I lived in a van in the South Island with Jamie, Amanda, Mark, Stephan and a nice chap called David Graham who was good at packing. We carried with us a type-writer, a machete, 17 pairs of Amanda's shoes, all our sleeping and living gear and some rapidly-rotting food. We also slept in some cool places, like on beaches and in burnt forests, swam in freezing but incredible lakes, battled strong winds to admire mountains covered in mist, visited beer factories and ate a lot of food with grit in it. Crunch. I've never seen so many cool sunsets either.
8. My parents came over and we travelled in the North Island, as well as spending Christmas Day in the sun with Jamie, Amanda and Cat. Mum liked seeing geysers and multi-coloured geological oddities, and Dad liked the strange birds and plants. I liked the Tongariro Crossing, tho it made my legs hurt.
9. After the 'rents left I travelled more with J, A and C. We went to Amanda's farm where Jamie shot a turkey with a crossbow and Cat got thrown off Amanda's nutter of a horse, Gypsy. Blimey.
The future... Well, we'll see. Off down south to explore by myself. Make some new friends. I need to find somewhere to live for next semester and I might look at getting a job or work experience, to pass the time. You should also all know that I'm tanned. But I'm still kinda jealous of your snow.
Hugs xxx
Friday 13 November 2009
Monday 2 November 2009
Uniquely Kiwi
Top 10 things that are peculiarly unique to this these twin isles:
1. Being so far away from literally everything, even the next town, let alone the majority of the world's population. As a result, you get things like Afghan biscuits, a sort of chocolate cookie that has a walnut on top, thus making it look like an Afghan (in one of those hats). The Kiwis get away with this because as far as I can see, there are no Afghan people here. It's too far to come.
2. Self-deprecating humour. 'Moro: probably about the 4th best chocolate bar in NZ.' L&P (fizzy drink): 'World famous in NZ since ages ago.'
3. L&P, Pineapple Lumps, kumara chips: food stuffs the rest of the world just don't give a shit about, because they already have something better (Coke, normal chocolate, potato chips).
4. EFTPOS. Stands for something like 'electronic f-something terminal point of sale'. Means a cash card, but that's what everyone uses instead of cash or a card. It's not like a debit card tho, cos you can't buy things online. The Kiwi banks have only just introduced those.
5. A strange array of place names. From Coromandel to Mangonui and Whenuakite ("fen-oo-ah-kee-tay").
6. A misplaced sense of irony: 'we're going tramping in the bush this weekend.'
7. False pride: 'NZ's premier theme park!' No, NZ's *only* theme park. 'The only ... in the southern hemisphere!' That's because there's fuck all in the bottom half of the globe.
8. A curious love of reggae, despite no Jamaican heritage and no easily discerned punk movement.
9. The worst TV and radio ads in the world, particularly the healhy eating, DIY and sheep dip info-mercials.
10. Single lane motorways. Want to get somewhere fast? Nope, sorry, State Highway 1 isn't even a dual carriageway most of the way.
Hmmm... A x
1. Being so far away from literally everything, even the next town, let alone the majority of the world's population. As a result, you get things like Afghan biscuits, a sort of chocolate cookie that has a walnut on top, thus making it look like an Afghan (in one of those hats). The Kiwis get away with this because as far as I can see, there are no Afghan people here. It's too far to come.
2. Self-deprecating humour. 'Moro: probably about the 4th best chocolate bar in NZ.' L&P (fizzy drink): 'World famous in NZ since ages ago.'
3. L&P, Pineapple Lumps, kumara chips: food stuffs the rest of the world just don't give a shit about, because they already have something better (Coke, normal chocolate, potato chips).
4. EFTPOS. Stands for something like 'electronic f-something terminal point of sale'. Means a cash card, but that's what everyone uses instead of cash or a card. It's not like a debit card tho, cos you can't buy things online. The Kiwi banks have only just introduced those.
5. A strange array of place names. From Coromandel to Mangonui and Whenuakite ("fen-oo-ah-kee-tay").
6. A misplaced sense of irony: 'we're going tramping in the bush this weekend.'
7. False pride: 'NZ's premier theme park!' No, NZ's *only* theme park. 'The only ... in the southern hemisphere!' That's because there's fuck all in the bottom half of the globe.
8. A curious love of reggae, despite no Jamaican heritage and no easily discerned punk movement.
9. The worst TV and radio ads in the world, particularly the healhy eating, DIY and sheep dip info-mercials.
10. Single lane motorways. Want to get somewhere fast? Nope, sorry, State Highway 1 isn't even a dual carriageway most of the way.
Hmmm... A x
Saturday 31 October 2009
Wanted.
So I've just been to see that film 'Julie and Julia' with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep (LOVE) about a woman who cooks all of Julia Child's recipes in a year and writes a blog about it.
The film is a bit too long and the blog lady Julie is a whiny, self-absorbed bitch, but Meryl is of course splendid and all the food (and Paris) looks absolutely delicious.
Now I am sitting at home in my beige, IKEA-furnished, studenty apartment on an unassuming street in Auckland's CBD, listening to drunk Asians yelling and wishing the following:
1. I was in Paris, or at least Europe. Anywhere with cafes tucked along cobbled streets, or a place with more "cul-cha" than some over-blown reggae and a love of biodiversity (except for you, possums. Fuck you).
2. I was the kind of person who felt inclined to cook tasty dishes rather than having an essentially raw diet of vegetables, gratefully complemented by the heat from my liquid-staples of tea, coffee and beer (tragically room temperature).
3. I had a (preferably attractive, single, male) friend who was doing an apprenticeship in cooking ("Chefery"? "Cheffing"?) and needed someone to taste all his work and whom he would still find curiously alluring despite their consequently ballooning waistline.
Know someone like that? Give them my number. Now.
This is Amy Brewer. Bon appetit! x
The film is a bit too long and the blog lady Julie is a whiny, self-absorbed bitch, but Meryl is of course splendid and all the food (and Paris) looks absolutely delicious.
Now I am sitting at home in my beige, IKEA-furnished, studenty apartment on an unassuming street in Auckland's CBD, listening to drunk Asians yelling and wishing the following:
1. I was in Paris, or at least Europe. Anywhere with cafes tucked along cobbled streets, or a place with more "cul-cha" than some over-blown reggae and a love of biodiversity (except for you, possums. Fuck you).
2. I was the kind of person who felt inclined to cook tasty dishes rather than having an essentially raw diet of vegetables, gratefully complemented by the heat from my liquid-staples of tea, coffee and beer (tragically room temperature).
3. I had a (preferably attractive, single, male) friend who was doing an apprenticeship in cooking ("Chefery"? "Cheffing"?) and needed someone to taste all his work and whom he would still find curiously alluring despite their consequently ballooning waistline.
Know someone like that? Give them my number. Now.
This is Amy Brewer. Bon appetit! x
Thursday 15 October 2009
Work hard, play harder.
So the last month has been spent principally in Auckland, mostly because the weather's pretty crap and rainy (REALLY rainy) but also because there's loads more work here than in Edinburgh (I've probably written more essays in the last four weeks than I have since I've been studying at the 'burgh). But they're mostly on interesting topics, and not too long, and of course the more work you do the less you have to worry about final marks, because there's more opportunities to learn from mistakes etc. S'all good bro.
Anyway, in between all that work malarky, here's what I've been up to:
I've been exploring the city more, checking out K Road, which is like the Camden/Carnaby St (of the old days) equivalent, with some art-school/indie cool coffee shops and vintage stores, and I also went down to the viaduct last weekend, which has some nice Southbank-like attempts at bars and restaurants. The last time it was sunny Mark and I went to the island of Rangitoto (half an hour away on a ferry) which is basically solidified volcanic vomit, if you will. There's no shops or anything but you can easily clamber up to the summit over a load of black volcanic rocks and get an awesome view out towards downtown Auckland and other suburb-y bits. We got sunburnt doing so, and enjoyed Tim Tam-wiches at the top.
So I've spent a fair bit of time with Mark, and also a gang of Europeans who live in his building, as well as with Colleen (we just seem to get on really well, despite being fairly opposite kinds of people: Colleen has this charming, magnetic personality, is super skinny, likes writing children's literature and stops to smell road-side flowers, whilst I look on with one eyebrow skeptically raised). We've been to art galleries (Colleen and I disagreed with NZ on what it had voted its favourite painting), formal dinners (I'm still unclear on why we were subjected to a recorder recital), done a lot of drinking (wine in a box = inevitable disaster), done kareoke (Colleen and I were marvellous as Oliva Newton John and John Travolta respectively) and won pub quizzes (Mark's obsession; last week the team came 2nd and 3rd...).
Lovely friend Carlton has also been in town for the last month with Mamma Mia!, and it's be awesome to see so much of him and to meet and hang out with his friends in the cast and crew of the show. Carlton, his marvellous friend Mick, Mark and I have had several heavy Sunday nights (Monday being Carlie's day off) that have been a lot of fun, and Carlie has also been regularly feeding us poor studends on Monday nights (cue large amounts of beef and potatoes, oh yes). I went to Kelly Tarltons, a sort of underground, faux-Antarctica with penguins, with Carlie and his equally lovely friend Darren a few weeks back, and last night was 'band night' where the cast of Mamma Mia! did some non-Abba numbers in the pub opposite the theatre, which was great. Carlie is a lot of fun, plus it's nice to have a familiar face in town, tho at times it's made me a bit homesick.
I've also been hanging out in the flat with my flatmates too, the American girls mostly, despite their high-pitched giggling and squealing, which is kinda fun. They decided they liked me because I'm British and therefore funny...
I went to little JJ's second birthday party, which was cowboy themed, and helped Rachel ice cactus-shaped biscuits and a boot-shaped cake. They had a real pony which was awesome too, tho JJ seemed most excited about the helium filled cow-print balloons...
My band has got itself back together after our singer was in hospital for a while, and it's fun to hang out with the guys and jam again...
I've done yoga at this Hare Krishna (!) place a couple of times with friends Olga and Jessica, the latter of whom is unfairly flexible (like most of the other people who like to balance and bend on coloured mats in a hot dark room of a Thursday night). Let's not pretend, my favourite part is lying in the dark at the end and the free meal afterwards...
I went to an 'alumni host family dinner' the other weekend, where a woman who used to go to Auckland Uni fed three of us international students, which was jolly, a bit like dinner with yer grandparents but never say no to a free roast, eh?
So there we go. But y'know, although all these things have been fun, I won't lie, I'm pretty damned bored of Auckland and wonder what I'll do next semester. I'm sad that most of my friends will be leaving in the next couple of months and just feel like NZ is a pretty average place. I know there's lots of beautiful scenery, and I shouldn't judge until I get to the South Island, but the things I really like - good food, art galleries, museums, movies - are kinda lacking. Everything's very spread out here so you can't bar-hop, for instance, or there's only one good thing of its kind. I'm a city girl, I don't care about scenery!
I also think I'm struggling a bit because I haven't really got my teeth in to anything - no Bedlam, no Fresh Air, for example. I find it hard not having a centre of focus like that. But that's probably my own fault. Here's hoping there are some bloody exciting people arriving next semester, or I'll need a really engrossing job or something. I wonder also what summer will bring... (more on that next time.)
Anyway, enough whining. I hope you're all well. A x
Anyway, in between all that work malarky, here's what I've been up to:
I've been exploring the city more, checking out K Road, which is like the Camden/Carnaby St (of the old days) equivalent, with some art-school/indie cool coffee shops and vintage stores, and I also went down to the viaduct last weekend, which has some nice Southbank-like attempts at bars and restaurants. The last time it was sunny Mark and I went to the island of Rangitoto (half an hour away on a ferry) which is basically solidified volcanic vomit, if you will. There's no shops or anything but you can easily clamber up to the summit over a load of black volcanic rocks and get an awesome view out towards downtown Auckland and other suburb-y bits. We got sunburnt doing so, and enjoyed Tim Tam-wiches at the top.
So I've spent a fair bit of time with Mark, and also a gang of Europeans who live in his building, as well as with Colleen (we just seem to get on really well, despite being fairly opposite kinds of people: Colleen has this charming, magnetic personality, is super skinny, likes writing children's literature and stops to smell road-side flowers, whilst I look on with one eyebrow skeptically raised). We've been to art galleries (Colleen and I disagreed with NZ on what it had voted its favourite painting), formal dinners (I'm still unclear on why we were subjected to a recorder recital), done a lot of drinking (wine in a box = inevitable disaster), done kareoke (Colleen and I were marvellous as Oliva Newton John and John Travolta respectively) and won pub quizzes (Mark's obsession; last week the team came 2nd and 3rd...).
Lovely friend Carlton has also been in town for the last month with Mamma Mia!, and it's be awesome to see so much of him and to meet and hang out with his friends in the cast and crew of the show. Carlton, his marvellous friend Mick, Mark and I have had several heavy Sunday nights (Monday being Carlie's day off) that have been a lot of fun, and Carlie has also been regularly feeding us poor studends on Monday nights (cue large amounts of beef and potatoes, oh yes). I went to Kelly Tarltons, a sort of underground, faux-Antarctica with penguins, with Carlie and his equally lovely friend Darren a few weeks back, and last night was 'band night' where the cast of Mamma Mia! did some non-Abba numbers in the pub opposite the theatre, which was great. Carlie is a lot of fun, plus it's nice to have a familiar face in town, tho at times it's made me a bit homesick.
I've also been hanging out in the flat with my flatmates too, the American girls mostly, despite their high-pitched giggling and squealing, which is kinda fun. They decided they liked me because I'm British and therefore funny...
I went to little JJ's second birthday party, which was cowboy themed, and helped Rachel ice cactus-shaped biscuits and a boot-shaped cake. They had a real pony which was awesome too, tho JJ seemed most excited about the helium filled cow-print balloons...
My band has got itself back together after our singer was in hospital for a while, and it's fun to hang out with the guys and jam again...
I've done yoga at this Hare Krishna (!) place a couple of times with friends Olga and Jessica, the latter of whom is unfairly flexible (like most of the other people who like to balance and bend on coloured mats in a hot dark room of a Thursday night). Let's not pretend, my favourite part is lying in the dark at the end and the free meal afterwards...
I went to an 'alumni host family dinner' the other weekend, where a woman who used to go to Auckland Uni fed three of us international students, which was jolly, a bit like dinner with yer grandparents but never say no to a free roast, eh?
So there we go. But y'know, although all these things have been fun, I won't lie, I'm pretty damned bored of Auckland and wonder what I'll do next semester. I'm sad that most of my friends will be leaving in the next couple of months and just feel like NZ is a pretty average place. I know there's lots of beautiful scenery, and I shouldn't judge until I get to the South Island, but the things I really like - good food, art galleries, museums, movies - are kinda lacking. Everything's very spread out here so you can't bar-hop, for instance, or there's only one good thing of its kind. I'm a city girl, I don't care about scenery!
I also think I'm struggling a bit because I haven't really got my teeth in to anything - no Bedlam, no Fresh Air, for example. I find it hard not having a centre of focus like that. But that's probably my own fault. Here's hoping there are some bloody exciting people arriving next semester, or I'll need a really engrossing job or something. I wonder also what summer will bring... (more on that next time.)
Anyway, enough whining. I hope you're all well. A x
Friday 11 September 2009
A hard, hard rain's a-gonna fall...
Hi friends.
Since we last spoke I've been to Tonga, Fiji and, erm, Hamilton, to see the final of the Tri-Nations rugby.
So here's a few words on all that then, in case you're interested... (And because I should be editing an essay on Tahitian negation.)
Tonga.
Tonga was pretty cool, overall. I stayed mostly on the main island of Tongatapu, at first with friends Ben and Kelly, at a place called Tony's Guesthouse. It was run, as you can imagine, by a man called Tony. Tony was in his 60s, and was from Lancashire. Despite living in Tonga for 20+ years, he had managed to retain both his accent and a typical Northern attitude. He took us on a tour of the island and the coolest thing we saw were some blowholes, which ran along the coast and every minute or so would blast huge spurts of water in to the air, a bit like geysers, but by the sea. I also went to a (touristy) Tongan feast in a cave and hung out a lot in a cafe (the only decent one in Tonga) called Friends, drinking wine and coffee and playing cards with Ben and a kiwi girl that we'd met, Katie.
A few days after arriving in Tonga I went with Katie to a nearby island called 'Eua, in the hope of seeing whales (they come to have babies this time of year). Sadly, the whales didn't want to see me, but our little trip was still the best part of my time in Tonga, offering the most authentic experiences. It involved a brief visit to a school and a family home, dance lessons with our hostel owner's daughter, the whale outing lead by the local fisherman (who was also the plumber and the electrician), puppies, an evening at the local high school's prom, some gorgeous weather (and some very heavy rain), exploring the island on bikes, many fresh coconuts, and a couple of near-death experiences, first on the ferry over to the island and then with a machete-wielding, free-roaming prisoner. (We were on a cliff top. He just wanted to talk. Great.)
Fiji.
I won't lie, Fiji wasn't what I expected. I suppose, like many people, I'd envisaged a few days of sun, sea and sand, during which I would magically transform in to a sarong-wearing, skinny, bronzed woman with a care-free passion for over-priced cocktails. What Ben and I got instead was four days of failed objectives, but quite a lot of laughs as a result.
Firstly, our hostel was like Fawlty Towers, and then our attempts to get to a tropical island to realise the ideals outlined above were meanly foiled by the most torrential rain you can imagine. Who the hell sits on a Fijian beach drinking tequilla sunrises wishing above all else they were by a radiator wearing their jeans and a hoodie? Anyway, as a result the rest of trip was characterised by us trying to find indoor activities, or another beach with less rain. We found both, in the end - a beach yes, although one with large, gravelly sand and sea so shallow you could walk out a good 500m and not get your waist wet. Needless to say my new bikini did not see action. Our indoor activity (yes, just the one possible) was Fiji's only museum (who goes to Fiji for museums anyway??), and we went there the only day it happened to be sunny from morning til evening. Good. (Actually, it was quite interesting...)
But still, I was glad to have been to Fiji, and it was interesting to see: I didn't know, for example, they had such a large Indian population.
All Blacks v. Springboks.
This weekend, to conclude the mid-semester break, ever-chirpy Mark and I went to Hamilton to stay with Rachel, Nick and JJ (now capable of whole sentences) and to see the Tri-Nations match. Naturally, the Springboks completely trounced us (by which I mean New Zealand) but the pre-match entertainment of strange dances, fireworks, the haka and enormous fireballs was neat. Plus the weather pretty much held out (phew). Afterwards we met up with some other Auckland chums for drinks, and ripped it up Hamilton-stylee.
On Sunday we also enjoyed Hamilton's themed gardens (India was our favourite, with China a close second and England seeming eerily familiar) and hearing Rachel's exciting plans for JJ's cowboy birthday party, admiring cactus cookie cutters, sampling gold-bar lemon cakes and photographing young JJ in cowboy regalia for the invitations.
Anyways, that'll do you. Consider yourselves in the loop. I hope you're all enjoying the end of your summers, as we begin to enjoy the start of ours.....
Speak soon, Brewstar x
Since we last spoke I've been to Tonga, Fiji and, erm, Hamilton, to see the final of the Tri-Nations rugby.
So here's a few words on all that then, in case you're interested... (And because I should be editing an essay on Tahitian negation.)
Tonga.
Tonga was pretty cool, overall. I stayed mostly on the main island of Tongatapu, at first with friends Ben and Kelly, at a place called Tony's Guesthouse. It was run, as you can imagine, by a man called Tony. Tony was in his 60s, and was from Lancashire. Despite living in Tonga for 20+ years, he had managed to retain both his accent and a typical Northern attitude. He took us on a tour of the island and the coolest thing we saw were some blowholes, which ran along the coast and every minute or so would blast huge spurts of water in to the air, a bit like geysers, but by the sea. I also went to a (touristy) Tongan feast in a cave and hung out a lot in a cafe (the only decent one in Tonga) called Friends, drinking wine and coffee and playing cards with Ben and a kiwi girl that we'd met, Katie.
A few days after arriving in Tonga I went with Katie to a nearby island called 'Eua, in the hope of seeing whales (they come to have babies this time of year). Sadly, the whales didn't want to see me, but our little trip was still the best part of my time in Tonga, offering the most authentic experiences. It involved a brief visit to a school and a family home, dance lessons with our hostel owner's daughter, the whale outing lead by the local fisherman (who was also the plumber and the electrician), puppies, an evening at the local high school's prom, some gorgeous weather (and some very heavy rain), exploring the island on bikes, many fresh coconuts, and a couple of near-death experiences, first on the ferry over to the island and then with a machete-wielding, free-roaming prisoner. (We were on a cliff top. He just wanted to talk. Great.)
Fiji.
I won't lie, Fiji wasn't what I expected. I suppose, like many people, I'd envisaged a few days of sun, sea and sand, during which I would magically transform in to a sarong-wearing, skinny, bronzed woman with a care-free passion for over-priced cocktails. What Ben and I got instead was four days of failed objectives, but quite a lot of laughs as a result.
Firstly, our hostel was like Fawlty Towers, and then our attempts to get to a tropical island to realise the ideals outlined above were meanly foiled by the most torrential rain you can imagine. Who the hell sits on a Fijian beach drinking tequilla sunrises wishing above all else they were by a radiator wearing their jeans and a hoodie? Anyway, as a result the rest of trip was characterised by us trying to find indoor activities, or another beach with less rain. We found both, in the end - a beach yes, although one with large, gravelly sand and sea so shallow you could walk out a good 500m and not get your waist wet. Needless to say my new bikini did not see action. Our indoor activity (yes, just the one possible) was Fiji's only museum (who goes to Fiji for museums anyway??), and we went there the only day it happened to be sunny from morning til evening. Good. (Actually, it was quite interesting...)
But still, I was glad to have been to Fiji, and it was interesting to see: I didn't know, for example, they had such a large Indian population.
All Blacks v. Springboks.
This weekend, to conclude the mid-semester break, ever-chirpy Mark and I went to Hamilton to stay with Rachel, Nick and JJ (now capable of whole sentences) and to see the Tri-Nations match. Naturally, the Springboks completely trounced us (by which I mean New Zealand) but the pre-match entertainment of strange dances, fireworks, the haka and enormous fireballs was neat. Plus the weather pretty much held out (phew). Afterwards we met up with some other Auckland chums for drinks, and ripped it up Hamilton-stylee.
On Sunday we also enjoyed Hamilton's themed gardens (India was our favourite, with China a close second and England seeming eerily familiar) and hearing Rachel's exciting plans for JJ's cowboy birthday party, admiring cactus cookie cutters, sampling gold-bar lemon cakes and photographing young JJ in cowboy regalia for the invitations.
Anyways, that'll do you. Consider yourselves in the loop. I hope you're all enjoying the end of your summers, as we begin to enjoy the start of ours.....
Speak soon, Brewstar x
Sunday 9 August 2009
Casinos, Canterbury Cream, Cupcakes and Colossal Squid
Hi friends! It's now six weeks since I left for good ol' Auckers - which means it's only another 10 and a half months to go 'til I'm back in Blighty. Wow, how time flies...
Anysnooch, since I'm off to Tonga at the end of the week, I thought I better update y'all, and I concluded that rather than boring you with the ins-and-outs of everyday life I'd entertain you with tales of my weekend adventures.
(Still, you should know that things are chugging along satisfactorily: classes are interesting, essays are getting done, band is fun, the weather is getting better, friends are being hung out with and Tim Tams are being all too regularly consumed. The only bad thing I suppose is that one of my good friends, Jessie, went back to America this weekend, which was sad.)
***
Right. Well, a few weekends ago now I decided to stay in Auckers and actually check out the city. This took me to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning - they're really big on FMs here, but none that I've seen so far have anything on Edinburgh's. Although, they are good at honey out here, and I found the blackcurrant honey particularly tasty. Asides that, friends Manuel, Jessie and I stocked up on picnic stuff and then hopped a ferry for half an hour to Devonport, a suburb in Auckland.
I can't say that I thought Devonport was up to much, but a little hill amongst the beautiful wooden beam, pastel-coloured million-dollar houses did offer a good view of Auckland, its sails and beaches, and it was a lovely sunny day, perfect for wandering. After lunch in Devonport we returned to mainland Auckland, as it were, and went to the most amazing chocolate cafe in the nice-shops-and-restaurants area, Parnell (another suburb), where we ate chocolate fondue (see left) until we felt sick. Excellent.
That evening I met up with friend Ben and we (finally) went up Skytower. A little lesson about towers with views people. If you live in a fairly low-lying city where the only interesting thing is a large pointy tower offering views of the otherwise dull city landscape, don't go up that tower expecting interesting views of the aforementioned city. Particularly if it's night, and a lot of that city is hills and park areas without lights. Hmm.
Still, I was glad to have been in Skytower, and perhaps more excitingly Ben and I discovered we were old enough to go in to the casino on the way down. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing, but nonetheless managed to win $12 (£4.50) on the slot machines. Awesome! That's like a free beer each!
Lastly, super early on Sunday I got up and went with Jamie and Amanda up Mt Eden (Auckland's Arthur's Seat, but with a crater and a car park at the top) in time for sunrise. Except we missed sunrise because we decided to get pie and coffee instead. But it was cool anyway, and Amanda had made a super tasty crumble, which we ate sitting in Jamie's super cool van on top of the hill, admiring the view (better with Skytower in it, obv).
***
The weekend after that I ditched the tramping club in favour or friends Mark, Lindsey, Jessie and new acquaintance Andrea to go to Coromandel (awkwardly where the tramping club were going...) We had a totally brilliant time, laughing and eating our way up the coast and back again from Friday to Sunday evening.
The weekend was characterised by a constant search for casette tapes in the partially-post-apocalyptic, mostly closed, small town convenience stores we passed through, as Mark had hired a car (dubbed Penny and far too small for her 5 passengers) with a tape player, but we had nothing to play (and the radio in NZ, when you can receive any signal, is godawful). So instead we sung all the way to Coromandel (3 hours). Oh joy. Thank god Jessie knew all 9 verses to American Pie...
En route we stopped for 'legendary' mussel fritters - not a foodstuff that should be frittered, friends - and arrived to find a lovely log cabin-style hostel completely empty except for our party. Hurrah! So we had tea, Tim Tams and became obsessed with completing a 500-piece puzzle of Bond Street at Christmas, well in to the wee hours.
The following morning we ate an enormous full English breakfast (masterminded by yours truly, of course) before going out to explore the nearby beach and coastline. The weather was chilly, grey and windy but it didn't rain during the day and the view - when it wasn't hidden behind fog - looked dramatic and thus awesome, particularly Cathedral Cove (no Jesus statues or stained glass, but we did see a dead blue penguin).
But the real reason we'd come to Coromandel was for Hot Water Beach, where you dig a hole in the sand and it fills with hot water. This only happens at low tide, however, so we decided first to go at 8pm - how amazing would it be to sit in a pool of hot water in the pitch black? Amazing, yes, if in the pitch black (no one had remember to bring a torch, and the car headlights merely created eerie silhouettes) you can find the right (part of the) beach without being slammed against rocks by the incoming tide. After two attempts of digging in cold sand to find cold water, we gave up, and semi-naked in swimming costumes damp from the pelting rain, we returned home for reliably hot showers and a tasty chicken curry made by Jessie. Oh, and more Tim Tams, slammed not in tea this time but in NZ's cheap version of Bailey's, Canterbury Cream. Oh yes.
The following morning, aided by daylight and past experience, we were more successful in finding the hot water part of the beach, and despite the incoming tide doing its best to fill all holes hastily dug by the more enthusiastic members of the party (i.e. everyone but me), we did indeed enjoy some hot water (in fact, at times it's so hot it burns your feet). It was undeniably 
awesome.
Some home-made lemon scones later and we were back on the road heading home to Auckland via the 'legendary' (don't trust Lonely Planet's use of this word) 309 route. It involved a lot of windy, gravelly roads which upset both Mark and Penny, but did include some wonderfully terrible, rarely-visited 'points of interest' (easily recognised not by their attractions but by their big signs declaring them to be points of interest. Those signs lied). However, the route along the coast was very pretty, so that was more rewarding, and we made it back to Auckland in good time.
***
The next day - I'll just add - was my birthday. I woke up in Hamilton, having made my way there after we got back from Coromandel, and spent a most enjoyable morning making chocolate cupcakes with pink icing and edible glitter with Rachel, and opening presents with JJ (still the most beautiful child in the world). Then it was back to Auckland, armed with the cupcakes, for Proto-Polynesian Linguistics. We ate the cakes and I was presented with a card, home-made by Mark, in which the greeting 'happy birthday' had been somewhat dubiously reconstructed. Aw, guys...
In the evening I had very tasty dinner with Jessie, Amanda and Steifan at a nice Middle Eastern restaurant and then a lovely gang of chums came to my flat for drinks (and Tim Tams). We were going to go out but never made it, and various people came and went and we stayed up drinking 'til 3am. It was a great birthday! (Tho obv strange not to see Mum or Dad.)
***
Last but not least, this weekend I was in NZ's capital, Wellington, with Steifan and Lindsey. On Friday I ditched Film Studies to spend a wonderful 12 hours on the Trans-Scenic Overlander train from AKL to Windy Welly (luckily not too windy whilst I was there). The train was very comfortable and only about half-full, with enormous windows and a viewing lounge in the last carriage (basically the back of the train is glass). We passed a huge range of scenery and saw an amazing sunset, Lord of the Ring's Mt Doom (all snowy), a shitload of sheep, some windfarms and a few viaducts, as well as making friends with a Canadian called Graham.
Just walking through downtown Wellington to the hostel we already felt it had a different vibe to Auckland, and took an instant liking to it. It's smaller, and the architechture is nicer, and the city is laid out better, and everyone is a lot cooler, and the scenery of the harbour is gorgeous. We had dinner in a French restaurant, bid farewell to Graham who had an early start, and went for drinks in a couple of cool bars, including one with a pretty damn good covers band.
Saturday was the most glorious sunny day, and began in a funky little cafe with a big-ass brunch of waffles with bacon, banana and maple syrup, and some strong coffee. Then we wandered through town to the harbour and on up Mt Victoria, a super steep hill (probably a volcano) with incredible views of the city. Back down that, back through the city, pausing for more tasty eats and to check out some vintage shops and buy some beers, then up a hill on the other side of town, courtesy of a short-lived but, I suppose, charming little red cable car. Despite a bit of a chill, we sat in the botanical gardens atop this hill watching another lovely sunset, before retiring to the hostel for a nap, followed by Malaysian grub, watching the end of the All Blacks vs. Wallabies match and drinking drinking drinking in the hostel bar and a club called 'Sandwiches' (worst club name ever?)
Sunday also began with an awesome brunch - long may it live in my memory (rather than on my body). In a cafe reminiscent of Edinburgh's Forest Cafe, I enjoyed a 'bacon hashstack' - two fried eggs on two homemade hash browns on two pieces of fried toast, accompanied by two fried tomatoes and a pig's worth of bacon, with home-made hollandaise sauce and salsa. SO. GOOD.
Over the road was a second-hand record store which we spent a while in, and I was excited to discover a large collection of tapes. Better late than never right? Then we went to NZ's enormous national museum, Te Papa, a beautiful building housing an impressive collection of artefacts concerning NZ's geography, history, art and culture as well as a 'colossal squid'. We only made it through two of five floors, and I hope to return and finish the rest at some point. After four hours of museum-ing tho we needed refuelling with coffee, then checked out the parliament building ('The Beehive') and had a quick dinner, before I had to scarper to the bus station for an all-night bus back to Auckland.
All in all it was a lovely, fun, laid-back weekend with good company and excellent eating (who needs more than that?) and I look forward to going back to Wellington - perhaps for Christmas, or to do an internship if I can wrangle that.
But in the mean time, I better do some work! I hope you're all well - please Facebook or email me with your news. I'd love to hear from you.
Lots of love, A x
Saturday 1 August 2009
Tim Tams, Tramping and Totally Nothing Tuesdays (a.k.a work avoidance)
Hello, hello chums.
I'm back in Hamilton this weekend. JJ is (finally) sleeping soundly and Rachel and Nick are off watching Harry Potter and the Poorly Edited Script. I should do that work I put aside for tonight, because now term is really under way and I actually have stuff to do, with deadlines and everything.
So... I think it's probably best that I write this blog instead. (I've already unloaded the dishwasher, reloaded the dishwasher, washed the pots from Rachel's fantastically delicious lamb and prune tagine [better than Morocco], wiped down various surfaces and tidied JJ's toys away. And people say I'm OCD! Ha!)
Anyway, I think the last time we spoke I was about to go off tramping? As it turned out, the tramping weekend was - brace yourselves - actually a lot of fun. I travelled up on Friday night with Jamie (who provided an excellent soundtrack), Amanda, Jessie, an American girl with whom I do Polynesian Comparative Linguistics, and Steifan, a bearded Dutch medical student. We arrived a little after most of the group due to a few wrong turns and consequently were directed towards a separate series of rooms. This transpired to be massively in our favour, as we got a room with just six bunks in it, rather than having to sleep in a line in one long room, like concentration camp prisoners/everyone else. There was also a heater and powerpoint outside the room, which we 'borrowed', thus enabling us to keep our room like a sauna the rest of the weekend.
The walk on Saturday was pretty enjoyable too. Not wanting to appear pathetic, nor wishing to push myself too much, I chose to do a 'medium' walk. I joined a group led by a kiwi girl, Jen, along with a Danish girl named Lykke and a few tramping club committee members, including captain Rion, who told me a lot about civil engineering and ferns, his girlfriend Lizzie, who was very nice and to whom I chatted to a lot about civil engineering and AUTC socials, and treasurer Richard, who instructed us a lot on civil engineering and tramping do's and dont's. It turns out a lot of people who do tramping also do civil engineering.
The walk itself involved us racing through bush (what they call forest out here, snigger) and then retracing our steps after a member of the party took a wrong turn. We also admired kauri trees (second biggest in the world after great redwoods in the US) and crossed a couple of rivers (wet feet! How upsetting!) In the morning I felt we went too fast, so you couldn't look at your surroundings as you had to focus on your feet. But after lunch - eaten perched on boulders by a river - we slowed up a bit and I could take in the sparkling blue rivers and the thin, leafless trees in the cold afternoon sunshine. We also paused to test Jen and Richard's waterproofs under a waterfall (they worked exceptionally well) and to laugh at me as I repeatedly slipped going down hill, resulting in a very muddy arse. I also learnt about scroggin - an excellent, energy-restoring combination of nuts, raisins, dried fruit, seeds, chocolate, sweets ('lollies') and whatever else takes your fancy, really.
In the evening there was a massive group meal of questionable quality, an impossible quiz (unless you were an expert in NZ history, tramping and plant diseases) and a disco in a small school-esque hall, which was decorated not unlike something you might be excited to attend if you were 12 and didn't know any members of the opposite sex. For some r
eason, the whole time we had to be dressed in outfits we'd fashioned out of 'rubbish' materials. Admittedly, the man wearing shorts and a t-shirt made of sacking was pretty cool, as was the girl who had unzipped her rucksack and managed to get in to it. On a different scale, my gang had spent a very enjoyable hour constructing skirts, dresses, waistcoats and accessories out of newspaper and bin liners. Jamie wore a fetching box with shoe-lace braces and a paper tie, and Amanda was a dab hand at making us all newspaper hats. That was probably the best part of the evening! Plus we all looked well hot. Obv.
On Sunday we took part in a massive tidy up of the kitchen/dining area and our rooms, before the group (probably about 60 people in total) went their separate ways. Jamie, Amanda, Jessie, Steifan and I went to Waihi beach, not too far from where we'd been staying and where Amanda's family owned a beach house. The other four all decided to swim in the sea, and the beach house's shower proved useful after that, as they all emerged blue and shivery. I remained on shore, partly on pneumonia watch, but also enjoying the particularly compact nature of the sand (I hate sand) and taking faux-arty photos of the large number of beautiful and perfect shells spread across the beach. A few other of our tramping chums crossed our path whilst we were there and we sat and ate lunch together.
The next stop was Paeroa, where New Zealand's 'famous' drink, L+P (Lemon and Paeroa), is made. Paeroa is not something you can eat, being a town, so the name is odd. Anyway, the reason you might stop there - as we did - is because of an over-sized novelty bottle of L+P perched by the road. It now has a little car park next to it, after its popularity lead to several deaths, when people stopping to take pictures of it decided to pose in the middle of road, no doubt to the annoyance of Paeroa's permanent residents, who probably sped up in order to floor these lovers of giant, novelty containers of sweet, lemony carbonated drinks.
I then drove us back to Auckland, which was a lot of fun and not as scary as expected - of course, everything's on the same side of the road here, tho the automatic nature of the car was initially a little unnerving. Back in the Big Smoke the gang and I went to see a film (it was the last day of the film festival) about a Spanish guy living in an East London squat. We then had some very tasty Japanese dinner and a few beers. It was all excellent excellent excellent - we were a great team, who had (partly) come together by coincidence but who all got on really well. Woo!
Right. Before this gets too much longer, here's a quick(-ish) summary of the rest of the week:
Monday - in an attempt to 'see' more of Auckland I spent the three hours between my lectures going round on the Link bus, which essentially travels in a circle through the main parts of town. It was quite interesting and I feel better acquainted with the city's geography. In the evening I met a band consisting of a 20 year old guy, a 30 year old woman and a 50 year old man (her dad). They were nice people but the music was a little middle-of-the-road and their cross-section of ages wasn't really what I was after.
Tuesday - I went to my first Pragmatics lecture was which was hell. I hate pragmatics as it is, and the lecturer was pretty annoying, so I left half way through (in a break, mind) to research other options. In the evening Cheery Canadian Mark and I went to a talk from Miriam Meyerhoff, sociolinguistics lecturer in Edinburgh, which was pretty interesting. Then we went to an Irish pub, where I had a massive steak, and where we joined Mark's friends for a pub quiz. We didn't win, but we're going back for more this week, I hope.
Wednesday - I was quite pleased with myself in the morning, having done a fair bit of work. I then had lunch with Steifan, which was nice (both the food and the company) and in the evening I met with another band, which I've subsequently joined. Called 'Breakdown' (what a shame the name's so emo!) they consist of three guys in their 20s playing original funky rock type stuff. They're all really good musicians and one of the guys has his own recording gear and an electric drum kit (much excitement). I played with them again yesterday and we're probably going to practice twice a week, in the hope of doing some gigs over the summer (by which I mean your winter). It's exciting. Plus it means I've met some more kiwis - yay!
Thursday - I remember Polynesian Comparative Linguistics being particularly fun. The class is a good group, even if it's mostly just Jolly Canadian Mark (he's been mocking me for referring to him as 'cheery' so I'm going to have to come up with other things) and I bantering away at each other. In the evening Jessie and I joined a bunch of tramping people for a dessert night at one of their houses. I have never eaten so much sugar. It was gooooood.
Friday - I had my first Film Studies class, which was pretty awesome, so good call me. Worth sacrificing Free Fridays for, I think (and I now have Totally Nothing Tuesdays instead.) We're doing the history of film, so were looking at the origin of films and silent films this week. I thought it was all fascinating, and I learnt a lot about how films are made too. In the afternoon I watched a Charlie Chaplin film, 'Modern Times', which was surprisingly funny and then went with Jamie, Happy Chappy Mark and his girlfriend, Lindsay, freshly arrived from Cheery Canada that morning, to see Bruno (not so good as Borat, I thought). After that we went on to a bar, where we danced to an Afro-Reggae band for a while, and Jamie and I indulged in that Scottish classic, cheesey chips.
Saturday - I hired a car and went with Jessie, Lindsay and Bouncy Boy Mark to a food show. We undoubtedly ate our weight in samples - mostly bread with a variety of sauces and dips, washed down with a selection of coffees and indeterminate wines (although we weren't exactly concerned with working out why they tasted different, it was obviously important to try everything on offer...) There was a lack of chocolate, we felt, but we did enjoy watching a cooking demonstration from a crazy kiwi chef lady, who's bright red boots matched her bright red hair. In the afternoon I went to Hamilton, which is where I started this blog...
Except now it's actually Monday, so I'll just quickly say that not a lot happened on Sunday; I did a bit more work, JJ and I spent a happy hour or two playing with clothes pegs and bubbles and reading the Gruffalo (tho only the first half seemed to be of
interest) and Rachel was an excellent surrogate mother, providing washing facilities and care packages of leek and potato soup. I also met in town with Jamie and Amanda, and we had coffee and cake, as you do, at the feet of the statue of Riff Raff (we shared our cake with him too). A brief rainstorm resulted in a fantastic rainbow just before I headed back to Auckland for band practice.
So, there it is. You get the idea. Meanwhile, I'm starving. There's only so many Tim Tams (NZ's Penguin biscuit, which you can use as a straw through which to drink your tea) you can eat before you crave real food. And I know there's some soup-er soup waiting for me...
Speak soon, A x
I'm back in Hamilton this weekend. JJ is (finally) sleeping soundly and Rachel and Nick are off watching Harry Potter and the Poorly Edited Script. I should do that work I put aside for tonight, because now term is really under way and I actually have stuff to do, with deadlines and everything.
So... I think it's probably best that I write this blog instead. (I've already unloaded the dishwasher, reloaded the dishwasher, washed the pots from Rachel's fantastically delicious lamb and prune tagine [better than Morocco], wiped down various surfaces and tidied JJ's toys away. And people say I'm OCD! Ha!)
Anyway, I think the last time we spoke I was about to go off tramping? As it turned out, the tramping weekend was - brace yourselves - actually a lot of fun. I travelled up on Friday night with Jamie (who provided an excellent soundtrack), Amanda, Jessie, an American girl with whom I do Polynesian Comparative Linguistics, and Steifan, a bearded Dutch medical student. We arrived a little after most of the group due to a few wrong turns and consequently were directed towards a separate series of rooms. This transpired to be massively in our favour, as we got a room with just six bunks in it, rather than having to sleep in a line in one long room, like concentration camp prisoners/everyone else. There was also a heater and powerpoint outside the room, which we 'borrowed', thus enabling us to keep our room like a sauna the rest of the weekend.
The walk on Saturday was pretty enjoyable too. Not wanting to appear pathetic, nor wishing to push myself too much, I chose to do a 'medium' walk. I joined a group led by a kiwi girl, Jen, along with a Danish girl named Lykke and a few tramping club committee members, including captain Rion, who told me a lot about civil engineering and ferns, his girlfriend Lizzie, who was very nice and to whom I chatted to a lot about civil engineering and AUTC socials, and treasurer Richard, who instructed us a lot on civil engineering and tramping do's and dont's. It turns out a lot of people who do tramping also do civil engineering.
The walk itself involved us racing through bush (what they call forest out here, snigger) and then retracing our steps after a member of the party took a wrong turn. We also admired kauri trees (second biggest in the world after great redwoods in the US) and crossed a couple of rivers (wet feet! How upsetting!) In the morning I felt we went too fast, so you couldn't look at your surroundings as you had to focus on your feet. But after lunch - eaten perched on boulders by a river - we slowed up a bit and I could take in the sparkling blue rivers and the thin, leafless trees in the cold afternoon sunshine. We also paused to test Jen and Richard's waterproofs under a waterfall (they worked exceptionally well) and to laugh at me as I repeatedly slipped going down hill, resulting in a very muddy arse. I also learnt about scroggin - an excellent, energy-restoring combination of nuts, raisins, dried fruit, seeds, chocolate, sweets ('lollies') and whatever else takes your fancy, really.
In the evening there was a massive group meal of questionable quality, an impossible quiz (unless you were an expert in NZ history, tramping and plant diseases) and a disco in a small school-esque hall, which was decorated not unlike something you might be excited to attend if you were 12 and didn't know any members of the opposite sex. For some r
eason, the whole time we had to be dressed in outfits we'd fashioned out of 'rubbish' materials. Admittedly, the man wearing shorts and a t-shirt made of sacking was pretty cool, as was the girl who had unzipped her rucksack and managed to get in to it. On a different scale, my gang had spent a very enjoyable hour constructing skirts, dresses, waistcoats and accessories out of newspaper and bin liners. Jamie wore a fetching box with shoe-lace braces and a paper tie, and Amanda was a dab hand at making us all newspaper hats. That was probably the best part of the evening! Plus we all looked well hot. Obv.On Sunday we took part in a massive tidy up of the kitchen/dining area and our rooms, before the group (probably about 60 people in total) went their separate ways. Jamie, Amanda, Jessie, Steifan and I went to Waihi beach, not too far from where we'd been staying and where Amanda's family owned a beach house. The other four all decided to swim in the sea, and the beach house's shower proved useful after that, as they all emerged blue and shivery. I remained on shore, partly on pneumonia watch, but also enjoying the particularly compact nature of the sand (I hate sand) and taking faux-arty photos of the large number of beautiful and perfect shells spread across the beach. A few other of our tramping chums crossed our path whilst we were there and we sat and ate lunch together.
The next stop was Paeroa, where New Zealand's 'famous' drink, L+P (Lemon and Paeroa), is made. Paeroa is not something you can eat, being a town, so the name is odd. Anyway, the reason you might stop there - as we did - is because of an over-sized novelty bottle of L+P perched by the road. It now has a little car park next to it, after its popularity lead to several deaths, when people stopping to take pictures of it decided to pose in the middle of road, no doubt to the annoyance of Paeroa's permanent residents, who probably sped up in order to floor these lovers of giant, novelty containers of sweet, lemony carbonated drinks.
I then drove us back to Auckland, which was a lot of fun and not as scary as expected - of course, everything's on the same side of the road here, tho the automatic nature of the car was initially a little unnerving. Back in the Big Smoke the gang and I went to see a film (it was the last day of the film festival) about a Spanish guy living in an East London squat. We then had some very tasty Japanese dinner and a few beers. It was all excellent excellent excellent - we were a great team, who had (partly) come together by coincidence but who all got on really well. Woo!
Right. Before this gets too much longer, here's a quick(-ish) summary of the rest of the week:
Monday - in an attempt to 'see' more of Auckland I spent the three hours between my lectures going round on the Link bus, which essentially travels in a circle through the main parts of town. It was quite interesting and I feel better acquainted with the city's geography. In the evening I met a band consisting of a 20 year old guy, a 30 year old woman and a 50 year old man (her dad). They were nice people but the music was a little middle-of-the-road and their cross-section of ages wasn't really what I was after.
Tuesday - I went to my first Pragmatics lecture was which was hell. I hate pragmatics as it is, and the lecturer was pretty annoying, so I left half way through (in a break, mind) to research other options. In the evening Cheery Canadian Mark and I went to a talk from Miriam Meyerhoff, sociolinguistics lecturer in Edinburgh, which was pretty interesting. Then we went to an Irish pub, where I had a massive steak, and where we joined Mark's friends for a pub quiz. We didn't win, but we're going back for more this week, I hope.
Wednesday - I was quite pleased with myself in the morning, having done a fair bit of work. I then had lunch with Steifan, which was nice (both the food and the company) and in the evening I met with another band, which I've subsequently joined. Called 'Breakdown' (what a shame the name's so emo!) they consist of three guys in their 20s playing original funky rock type stuff. They're all really good musicians and one of the guys has his own recording gear and an electric drum kit (much excitement). I played with them again yesterday and we're probably going to practice twice a week, in the hope of doing some gigs over the summer (by which I mean your winter). It's exciting. Plus it means I've met some more kiwis - yay!
Thursday - I remember Polynesian Comparative Linguistics being particularly fun. The class is a good group, even if it's mostly just Jolly Canadian Mark (he's been mocking me for referring to him as 'cheery' so I'm going to have to come up with other things) and I bantering away at each other. In the evening Jessie and I joined a bunch of tramping people for a dessert night at one of their houses. I have never eaten so much sugar. It was gooooood.
Friday - I had my first Film Studies class, which was pretty awesome, so good call me. Worth sacrificing Free Fridays for, I think (and I now have Totally Nothing Tuesdays instead.) We're doing the history of film, so were looking at the origin of films and silent films this week. I thought it was all fascinating, and I learnt a lot about how films are made too. In the afternoon I watched a Charlie Chaplin film, 'Modern Times', which was surprisingly funny and then went with Jamie, Happy Chappy Mark and his girlfriend, Lindsay, freshly arrived from Cheery Canada that morning, to see Bruno (not so good as Borat, I thought). After that we went on to a bar, where we danced to an Afro-Reggae band for a while, and Jamie and I indulged in that Scottish classic, cheesey chips.
Saturday - I hired a car and went with Jessie, Lindsay and Bouncy Boy Mark to a food show. We undoubtedly ate our weight in samples - mostly bread with a variety of sauces and dips, washed down with a selection of coffees and indeterminate wines (although we weren't exactly concerned with working out why they tasted different, it was obviously important to try everything on offer...) There was a lack of chocolate, we felt, but we did enjoy watching a cooking demonstration from a crazy kiwi chef lady, who's bright red boots matched her bright red hair. In the afternoon I went to Hamilton, which is where I started this blog...
Except now it's actually Monday, so I'll just quickly say that not a lot happened on Sunday; I did a bit more work, JJ and I spent a happy hour or two playing with clothes pegs and bubbles and reading the Gruffalo (tho only the first half seemed to be of
interest) and Rachel was an excellent surrogate mother, providing washing facilities and care packages of leek and potato soup. I also met in town with Jamie and Amanda, and we had coffee and cake, as you do, at the feet of the statue of Riff Raff (we shared our cake with him too). A brief rainstorm resulted in a fantastic rainbow just before I headed back to Auckland for band practice.So, there it is. You get the idea. Meanwhile, I'm starving. There's only so many Tim Tams (NZ's Penguin biscuit, which you can use as a straw through which to drink your tea) you can eat before you crave real food. And I know there's some soup-er soup waiting for me...
Speak soon, A x
Thursday 30 July 2009
Please await further instruction.
This morning the fire alarm went off.
It started quietly, almost as if politely inviting me to get out of bed with its low honk, before developing in to more of a bellowing horn. Intermittently, about every 2-3 minutes, the goose-like racket would be interrupted by a voice:
'The fire alarm has been activated.' (No shit!) 'Please await further instruction.'
Well, gee, thanks. That's helpful advice. Here I am, in my pyjamas, awaiting your word on whether or not I should put shoes on - heck, maybe even underwear - in case I need to flee from the building. What kind of fire alarm system tells you to WAIT? Either I need to run from the blazing inferno or I don't.
Who decides when a fire is safe enough to stay indoors, or dangerous enough to run screaming down the road? Is there someone employed to press the button to change the man's voice to 'GET THE FUCK OUT! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!'? What if they missed the bus this morning?
As it happened, I didn't need to go anywhere. Nonetheless, Kristoff and I took great pleasure in standing at our kitchen's massive bay windows, watching as four (FOUR!) enormous orange fire trucks pulled up outside and a group of disgruntled firemen got out and loitered about for a while.
Ultimately though, we knew there wasn't fire because there was no one gathered rubber-necking on the street outside. The occasional passer-by spotted the fire engines, glanced up, looked puzzled by the lack of flames, and sauntered on.
Eventually we were left in peace and I had a shower. You'll be pleased to know I'm now wearing both shoes and underwear. And clothes.
It started quietly, almost as if politely inviting me to get out of bed with its low honk, before developing in to more of a bellowing horn. Intermittently, about every 2-3 minutes, the goose-like racket would be interrupted by a voice:
'The fire alarm has been activated.' (No shit!) 'Please await further instruction.'
Well, gee, thanks. That's helpful advice. Here I am, in my pyjamas, awaiting your word on whether or not I should put shoes on - heck, maybe even underwear - in case I need to flee from the building. What kind of fire alarm system tells you to WAIT? Either I need to run from the blazing inferno or I don't.
Who decides when a fire is safe enough to stay indoors, or dangerous enough to run screaming down the road? Is there someone employed to press the button to change the man's voice to 'GET THE FUCK OUT! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!'? What if they missed the bus this morning?
As it happened, I didn't need to go anywhere. Nonetheless, Kristoff and I took great pleasure in standing at our kitchen's massive bay windows, watching as four (FOUR!) enormous orange fire trucks pulled up outside and a group of disgruntled firemen got out and loitered about for a while.
Ultimately though, we knew there wasn't fire because there was no one gathered rubber-necking on the street outside. The occasional passer-by spotted the fire engines, glanced up, looked puzzled by the lack of flames, and sauntered on.
Eventually we were left in peace and I had a shower. You'll be pleased to know I'm now wearing both shoes and underwear. And clothes.
Monday 27 July 2009
Chocs away!
When I lived in Edinburgh I had to make the effort to heave open my bedroom door in order to go out through the flat, down two flights of stairs, along the street and across a road if I wanted to get to chocolate.
Now I live in Auckland I only have to step out my bedroom door, which is opposite the flat's front door, in to the lift outside, in order to go down one level, out the building and across the road to get to chocolate.
So expect me to be a few stones heavier upon my return - I can't be bothered to cycle (too many hills and motorway-esque roads) and I feel it's my duty to naturalise fully in to society by sampling every Pinky, Pebble and Pineapple Lump the country has to offer.
And I still haven't had a Perky Nana yet...
Now I live in Auckland I only have to step out my bedroom door, which is opposite the flat's front door, in to the lift outside, in order to go down one level, out the building and across the road to get to chocolate.
So expect me to be a few stones heavier upon my return - I can't be bothered to cycle (too many hills and motorway-esque roads) and I feel it's my duty to naturalise fully in to society by sampling every Pinky, Pebble and Pineapple Lump the country has to offer.
And I still haven't had a Perky Nana yet...
Thursday 23 July 2009
I love college! Hey!
So. A week since I updated you all; you must be chomping at the bit.
Gosh. It just occured to me that on Saturday I'll've been here 2 weeks already - only another 50 to go! This year will go very quickly, I suspect.
Anyways, I left off mid-Orientation ('O') Week. We never made it to Sky Tower - and despite repeated suggestions that we go up, we never have. One day, one day... Instead Colleen and I met up with a friend of hers, Steve, and we went to International House (nowhere near as nice as WSA, where I am) and went to someone's birthday party in their room. A different kind of fun, and I felt like a first year again, but fun nonetheless.
The next day I went to some rather dull talks from the Arts department (free cake tho) and about living in Auckland and travelling in NZ. The talks may not have been very exciting but I met some cool people, which was kinda why I went anyway, so I suppose needs were met. These new friendships were consolidated in the evening at the internationals' pub night, where everyone came dressed as their country. There was a beaver (Canada), a dragon (Wales), a red telephone box (England), some 'beauty queens' (America), berets and striped tops (France, obv) and a lot of flags and football shirts. To show willing I got a shoe lace and stuck a tea bag, a Cadbury's wrapper, a tube map and a 50p to it and wore it as a head band. Given my lack of glue, I had to be quite inventive in my methods of attachment - safety pins, needle and thread, and a plaster. 'Here's one I made earlier...'
The next day I paid for my frivolity (Hangover #1 - felt more like H1N1) but luckily was well-stocked with bacon. I went to a super-dull careers talk (I'd like to do an internship or something whilst I'm out here) then attempted to meet Jamie and his friend Amanda for a film but couldn't find the cinema. Trying not to lose my temper, I gave up and went to the Auckland art gallery instead, which had an interesting collection of paintings, old and new, reflecting landscapes and Maori themes. After that I did meet up with Jamie and Amanda, sushi was eaten and we went to see another film, Mary and Max, which was bloody brilliant and you should all go see it - it's claymation, and about a pen-friendship between an 8 year old Australian girl and a neurotic 40-something Jewish New Yorker. Marvellous.
At the weekend I hopped the bus back to Hamilton to see surrogate Mum and Dad, Rachel and Nick, and my new best friend and the most beautiful child in the world, JJ. We had a relaxed weekend (ideal), visiting a lake and park with some birds, where JJ and I ran around, one of us like a nutter and the other trying not to annoy people eating fish and chips. On Saturday evening we watched the rather dull All Blacks game - I was informed they were not at their best and games can be much more exciting, tho we did win, hurrah hurrah - and on Sunday upon my return I met up with new friend Meagan (she does dance and architechture, possibly my favourite degree combination ever) and we saw Harry Potter and the Stupid, Incoherent Plot.
Monday, Monday. The start of classes. Suddenly the university was awash with students - universally the same, in baggy jeans and Ugg(ly) boots, sauntering along - and the previously empty union buildings (far superior to Potterow and Teviot) were alive with chatter. I had lunch with Jamie - there's about 10 food stalls in the union building, two of which sell sushi - and we signed up for Tramping Club (which means hiking, okay? The Americans find its name quite confusing). As a result I shall be going off to some hut in the middle of some mountains Friday night to 'tramp' about in the countryside for the weekend, along with about 50 other people. There didn't seem to be as many socieities as Edinburgh, unless you were Christian, in which case they have every niche covered ('Hong Kong Christian Engineers Society', anyone?) and the tramping people seemed pretty cool, and pretty enthusiastic. They own this hut in the mountains which people lovingly restore, and I got an instant flash of Bedlam and Dave Larkin. Perhaps, strangely, it'll be the closest thing.
Some actual work has been done too, in the form of attending lectures, thankfully not as much of a shock to the system as expected. Annoying that my one class on Tuesday (pragmatics) was cancelled, not that we knew 'til we got there, but I did meet a Taiwanese guy called Austin whilst waiting for the news. He was in the process of making 999 paper roses for his girlfriend (of 5 months, don't ask) who he was going to ask to marry him. The roses were pretty cool, although I wondered why he was using blue paper for them, and involved making a sort of box and then twisting the top. I asked if he was going to put the ring in one of the roses. 'Oh,' he said, 'I hadn't thought of that.'
The other classes - English language worldwide, language change and Polynesian comparative linguistics (don't try saying that when drunk) - offered a rollercoaster of lecture-type experiences. I have the same guy for the latter two, a bearded, mumbling Canadian with a sense of humour and who needs no notes, and a Kiwi lady for the other one, who fervently read from her notes for two hours. That's the other thing - some classes are one hour, some are two. Two hours! Luckily you get a ten minute break in between, where you all sit wondering why you can't just get on with it.
In the English language worldwide class we get to write a 12 page (12 PAGES??!!) report on how we speak, which I'm quite looking forward to, having never done anything like that. Polynesian comparative linugistics has probably proved the most interesting so far tho, partly because it's the only class where I haven't covered the material before, but partly also because the class only has 7 other people in it, so I've actually gotten to know them a bit. I was pleased to meet a cheery Canadian called Mark, who has a good sense of humour and proved fun last night.
That sounds worse that it should. Basically, I wanted to go see this film 'Dogtooth' as part of the film festival, but when Mark, Colleen and I got there it was sold out. Lame! So I suggested we grab a few beers and watch some awful Kiwi television (sadly they have no discriminatory board that prevents them importing Jeremy Kyle. Sigh.) Instead, the few beers were replaced by a bottle of vodka and a drinking game, which saw Colleen yelling defamatory things out the window and me hopping about like a squirrel. We were joined by my flatmate Kristoff, who was made to literally drink under the table, and the vodka then became a trip to the uni bar, Shadows. There we had beer and tequilla (mistake!) and jumped about to a rather good covers band playing Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana. The beers and tequilla then took us to a club, where there was a queue, so we went to the pub opposite, where more beers were had, and - oh, the shame - absinthe. (MISTAKE!) Needless to say, I lost today to Hangover #2.
Well, that pretty much brings you up to speed. Oh, I did also see MGMT, but they were a bit of a disappointment. Nice to hang out with Jamie and Amanda, Jamie's flatmate Yoki and their Irish friend tho. I'm also looking in to going to Tonga in my mid-semester break early September in order to swim with whales, and to ignore all the assignments I have to do around then. And I'm trying to find a band, and have lined up a couple of jam sessions.
So there we go. I hope you're well, and congratulations if you read this far.
A x
Gosh. It just occured to me that on Saturday I'll've been here 2 weeks already - only another 50 to go! This year will go very quickly, I suspect.
Anyways, I left off mid-Orientation ('O') Week. We never made it to Sky Tower - and despite repeated suggestions that we go up, we never have. One day, one day... Instead Colleen and I met up with a friend of hers, Steve, and we went to International House (nowhere near as nice as WSA, where I am) and went to someone's birthday party in their room. A different kind of fun, and I felt like a first year again, but fun nonetheless.
The next day I went to some rather dull talks from the Arts department (free cake tho) and about living in Auckland and travelling in NZ. The talks may not have been very exciting but I met some cool people, which was kinda why I went anyway, so I suppose needs were met. These new friendships were consolidated in the evening at the internationals' pub night, where everyone came dressed as their country. There was a beaver (Canada), a dragon (Wales), a red telephone box (England), some 'beauty queens' (America), berets and striped tops (France, obv) and a lot of flags and football shirts. To show willing I got a shoe lace and stuck a tea bag, a Cadbury's wrapper, a tube map and a 50p to it and wore it as a head band. Given my lack of glue, I had to be quite inventive in my methods of attachment - safety pins, needle and thread, and a plaster. 'Here's one I made earlier...'
The next day I paid for my frivolity (Hangover #1 - felt more like H1N1) but luckily was well-stocked with bacon. I went to a super-dull careers talk (I'd like to do an internship or something whilst I'm out here) then attempted to meet Jamie and his friend Amanda for a film but couldn't find the cinema. Trying not to lose my temper, I gave up and went to the Auckland art gallery instead, which had an interesting collection of paintings, old and new, reflecting landscapes and Maori themes. After that I did meet up with Jamie and Amanda, sushi was eaten and we went to see another film, Mary and Max, which was bloody brilliant and you should all go see it - it's claymation, and about a pen-friendship between an 8 year old Australian girl and a neurotic 40-something Jewish New Yorker. Marvellous.
At the weekend I hopped the bus back to Hamilton to see surrogate Mum and Dad, Rachel and Nick, and my new best friend and the most beautiful child in the world, JJ. We had a relaxed weekend (ideal), visiting a lake and park with some birds, where JJ and I ran around, one of us like a nutter and the other trying not to annoy people eating fish and chips. On Saturday evening we watched the rather dull All Blacks game - I was informed they were not at their best and games can be much more exciting, tho we did win, hurrah hurrah - and on Sunday upon my return I met up with new friend Meagan (she does dance and architechture, possibly my favourite degree combination ever) and we saw Harry Potter and the Stupid, Incoherent Plot.
Monday, Monday. The start of classes. Suddenly the university was awash with students - universally the same, in baggy jeans and Ugg(ly) boots, sauntering along - and the previously empty union buildings (far superior to Potterow and Teviot) were alive with chatter. I had lunch with Jamie - there's about 10 food stalls in the union building, two of which sell sushi - and we signed up for Tramping Club (which means hiking, okay? The Americans find its name quite confusing). As a result I shall be going off to some hut in the middle of some mountains Friday night to 'tramp' about in the countryside for the weekend, along with about 50 other people. There didn't seem to be as many socieities as Edinburgh, unless you were Christian, in which case they have every niche covered ('Hong Kong Christian Engineers Society', anyone?) and the tramping people seemed pretty cool, and pretty enthusiastic. They own this hut in the mountains which people lovingly restore, and I got an instant flash of Bedlam and Dave Larkin. Perhaps, strangely, it'll be the closest thing.
Some actual work has been done too, in the form of attending lectures, thankfully not as much of a shock to the system as expected. Annoying that my one class on Tuesday (pragmatics) was cancelled, not that we knew 'til we got there, but I did meet a Taiwanese guy called Austin whilst waiting for the news. He was in the process of making 999 paper roses for his girlfriend (of 5 months, don't ask) who he was going to ask to marry him. The roses were pretty cool, although I wondered why he was using blue paper for them, and involved making a sort of box and then twisting the top. I asked if he was going to put the ring in one of the roses. 'Oh,' he said, 'I hadn't thought of that.'
The other classes - English language worldwide, language change and Polynesian comparative linguistics (don't try saying that when drunk) - offered a rollercoaster of lecture-type experiences. I have the same guy for the latter two, a bearded, mumbling Canadian with a sense of humour and who needs no notes, and a Kiwi lady for the other one, who fervently read from her notes for two hours. That's the other thing - some classes are one hour, some are two. Two hours! Luckily you get a ten minute break in between, where you all sit wondering why you can't just get on with it.
In the English language worldwide class we get to write a 12 page (12 PAGES??!!) report on how we speak, which I'm quite looking forward to, having never done anything like that. Polynesian comparative linugistics has probably proved the most interesting so far tho, partly because it's the only class where I haven't covered the material before, but partly also because the class only has 7 other people in it, so I've actually gotten to know them a bit. I was pleased to meet a cheery Canadian called Mark, who has a good sense of humour and proved fun last night.
That sounds worse that it should. Basically, I wanted to go see this film 'Dogtooth' as part of the film festival, but when Mark, Colleen and I got there it was sold out. Lame! So I suggested we grab a few beers and watch some awful Kiwi television (sadly they have no discriminatory board that prevents them importing Jeremy Kyle. Sigh.) Instead, the few beers were replaced by a bottle of vodka and a drinking game, which saw Colleen yelling defamatory things out the window and me hopping about like a squirrel. We were joined by my flatmate Kristoff, who was made to literally drink under the table, and the vodka then became a trip to the uni bar, Shadows. There we had beer and tequilla (mistake!) and jumped about to a rather good covers band playing Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana. The beers and tequilla then took us to a club, where there was a queue, so we went to the pub opposite, where more beers were had, and - oh, the shame - absinthe. (MISTAKE!) Needless to say, I lost today to Hangover #2.
Well, that pretty much brings you up to speed. Oh, I did also see MGMT, but they were a bit of a disappointment. Nice to hang out with Jamie and Amanda, Jamie's flatmate Yoki and their Irish friend tho. I'm also looking in to going to Tonga in my mid-semester break early September in order to swim with whales, and to ignore all the assignments I have to do around then. And I'm trying to find a band, and have lined up a couple of jam sessions.
So there we go. I hope you're well, and congratulations if you read this far.
A x
Wednesday 15 July 2009
Actually in Auckland
Tonight is my third night in Auckland, which seems a neat place.
Rachel, JJ and I made it in to town - the drive from Auckland was lovely, green hills with sheep bathed in sunlight - and battled the one-way systems to make it to my halls, which are pretty cool. It was a tad traumatic to say goodbye to them afterwards, so soon after having said goodbye to my parents, but I was brave...
Anyway, halls are halls the world over it seems, but these ones seem nice nonetheless. My flat is on the second floor and consists of a corridor of rooms with a lounge area and kitchen at the far end, with floor to ceiling glass on two sides. Pretty chilly at the moment, but a good opportunity to people watch as you eat breakfast, as we look out on to the street below. We're opposite two sushi restaurants (they have sushi restaurants EVERYWHERE) and a Malaysian cafe and mini-mart. Handy. I'm also about two seconds away from the centre of town and the university buildings. Ideal. My flatmates are two American girls, one from California (who's suffering the cold) and another from Arizona (who didn't know where Edinburgh was...) There's also a French guy I haven't met and a German guy who seems nice.
Actually, the weather's not been too bad - apparently this is as cold as it gets, which is fine by me - it's got nothing on Edinburgh. Nippy at night but I was really quite hot walking round town today. I haven't seen much of town yet, but I went as far as the harbour today down the main road and the centre itself doesn't seem very big. The whole place is shiny buildings and wide roads, and reminds me of America more than I expected. But I like being in cities, and I like it here.
The whole move here has been far less traumatic - so far - than I expected, or perhaps than Shanghai. But no doubt that's because I'm older, I had the Shanghai experience, I know the other people from Edinburgh, it's not as cold and everyone speaks English, to name but a few reasons.
So yesterday we had an orientation morning, with a few speeches and some Maori kids from a local school doing a traditional Maori dance type thing. Chunky semi-naked teenagers gurning and yelling at you at half nine in the morning really gets you in the spirit. (That sounds far more sarky that it should; it was actually quite enjoyable and impressive.) We then stuffed ourselves with free coffee and sandwiches before more talks on how things worked etc etc. When I'd first arrived I sat at random with a guy by himself at a table - he turned out to be a Finnish guy called Manuel (I'm sure that's not a Finnish name?) I later met up with Jamie (friend from Edinburgh) and an American girl, Colleen, who really freaking loves birds and whom seemed to know Manuel, also joined us.
We spent the rest of the day together, having lunch in a park and climbing trees - I was coaxed up despite my insistence that I was better suited to holding bags and taking photos at the bottom. Then we did useful things like open bank accounts before temporarily parting until later in the evening. Everyone came to mine and we cooked and ate pasta, had a few drinks and then went to see the film The Baader-Meinhof Complex as part of the film festival. It was all very jolly, even if the film was epic and about anti-fascist terrorists, and the beer left us tired.
Today I had a lie-in (WOOHOO! Altho' I'm still waking up at 3am and 630am...) and then went shopping with Ben (also from Edinburgh). It turns out NZ doesn't really do high street chains, but loves its boutiques. Ho hum. Tonight I'm meeting up with Colleen and Manuel again and we're going for drinks and up the Sky Tower (alternately described by Lonely Planet as 'phallic' and like a 'hypodermic needle'). Tomorrow, more uni talks.
Oh, and I got my timetable - two 10-11am lectures but mostly 2-4pm and nothing on Fridays! Hurrah!
I hope you're all well,
Love, A x
Rachel, JJ and I made it in to town - the drive from Auckland was lovely, green hills with sheep bathed in sunlight - and battled the one-way systems to make it to my halls, which are pretty cool. It was a tad traumatic to say goodbye to them afterwards, so soon after having said goodbye to my parents, but I was brave...
Anyway, halls are halls the world over it seems, but these ones seem nice nonetheless. My flat is on the second floor and consists of a corridor of rooms with a lounge area and kitchen at the far end, with floor to ceiling glass on two sides. Pretty chilly at the moment, but a good opportunity to people watch as you eat breakfast, as we look out on to the street below. We're opposite two sushi restaurants (they have sushi restaurants EVERYWHERE) and a Malaysian cafe and mini-mart. Handy. I'm also about two seconds away from the centre of town and the university buildings. Ideal. My flatmates are two American girls, one from California (who's suffering the cold) and another from Arizona (who didn't know where Edinburgh was...) There's also a French guy I haven't met and a German guy who seems nice.
Actually, the weather's not been too bad - apparently this is as cold as it gets, which is fine by me - it's got nothing on Edinburgh. Nippy at night but I was really quite hot walking round town today. I haven't seen much of town yet, but I went as far as the harbour today down the main road and the centre itself doesn't seem very big. The whole place is shiny buildings and wide roads, and reminds me of America more than I expected. But I like being in cities, and I like it here.
The whole move here has been far less traumatic - so far - than I expected, or perhaps than Shanghai. But no doubt that's because I'm older, I had the Shanghai experience, I know the other people from Edinburgh, it's not as cold and everyone speaks English, to name but a few reasons.
So yesterday we had an orientation morning, with a few speeches and some Maori kids from a local school doing a traditional Maori dance type thing. Chunky semi-naked teenagers gurning and yelling at you at half nine in the morning really gets you in the spirit. (That sounds far more sarky that it should; it was actually quite enjoyable and impressive.) We then stuffed ourselves with free coffee and sandwiches before more talks on how things worked etc etc. When I'd first arrived I sat at random with a guy by himself at a table - he turned out to be a Finnish guy called Manuel (I'm sure that's not a Finnish name?) I later met up with Jamie (friend from Edinburgh) and an American girl, Colleen, who really freaking loves birds and whom seemed to know Manuel, also joined us.
We spent the rest of the day together, having lunch in a park and climbing trees - I was coaxed up despite my insistence that I was better suited to holding bags and taking photos at the bottom. Then we did useful things like open bank accounts before temporarily parting until later in the evening. Everyone came to mine and we cooked and ate pasta, had a few drinks and then went to see the film The Baader-Meinhof Complex as part of the film festival. It was all very jolly, even if the film was epic and about anti-fascist terrorists, and the beer left us tired.
Today I had a lie-in (WOOHOO! Altho' I'm still waking up at 3am and 630am...) and then went shopping with Ben (also from Edinburgh). It turns out NZ doesn't really do high street chains, but loves its boutiques. Ho hum. Tonight I'm meeting up with Colleen and Manuel again and we're going for drinks and up the Sky Tower (alternately described by Lonely Planet as 'phallic' and like a 'hypodermic needle'). Tomorrow, more uni talks.
Oh, and I got my timetable - two 10-11am lectures but mostly 2-4pm and nothing on Fridays! Hurrah!
I hope you're all well,
Love, A x
Sunday 12 July 2009
Good boy, Janet.
I have arrived!
We got the plane fine from Dubai and I think I essentially ate my way to NZ, watched a few films, paused in Melbourne, chatted to the lady next to me and tried to stop my knees cramping - I'm so short that my feet don't touch the floor of the plane if I'm sitting back in the seat, so it was surprisingly uncomfortable. The 12 hour leg was pretty tough going but I fell asleep for most of the 4 hours from Melbourne to Auckland, so that was okay.
Finally, after NZ's scary biosecurity scans (why would I have a raw chicken with me? Or soil?) I made it out the airport and it was lovely to see Rachel on the otherside - made the arrival in a far, far away land much less scary and made the vile, grey, very rainy weather far more bearable. An hour and a half later, down NZ's 'M1' motorway (a bit more like a dual carriageway, bless), having managed to stay awake I found myself in Hamilton, 4th largest city in NZ - tho by then it was dark, so I couldn't make out much. I met Nick, Rachel's husband, and 20-month-old JJ, who is possibly the most beautiful and cheery child ever - and I don't even like children. Having said hello, JJ went to bed and we had a nice dinner of moussaka before jet-lag/being the parent of a young child claimed us, and we too went to bed.
Today we all got up at reasonable times and went out for breakfast - apparently a typical thing to do, and very tasty it was too (good bacon, phew) - then to a farmers' market. It was bloody cold tho! Later Rachel, JJ and I did good tasks in 'The Warehouse' (it sells *everything*) getting cutlery and hangers for when I move in to halls tomorrow, and also a mobile (details below). Now I've been exchanging texts with Jamie (friend from Edinburgh also out here) and we're going to meet up for dinner tomorrow evening.
So all in all it's been rather good so far - having Rachel, Nick and JJ to stay with and hang out with is really lovely, just like being at home (with a small child tho, obv). The shower is amazing, the bed is a very comfortable double and JJ is a highly entertaining chap - I'm enjoying his little catchphrases: 'HOT TEA!' 'Good boy, Daddy. Good boy, JJ. Good boy, Mummy. Good boy, Janet' (who's the cleaning lady). If they all continue to be so nice I might have to pack in Auckland and just live here... We'll see what tomorrow brings!
Ciao! A x
PS my mobile number is +64211423945 but you can also Skype me - I'm 'thuggo17', or email aetbrewer@gmail.com.
We got the plane fine from Dubai and I think I essentially ate my way to NZ, watched a few films, paused in Melbourne, chatted to the lady next to me and tried to stop my knees cramping - I'm so short that my feet don't touch the floor of the plane if I'm sitting back in the seat, so it was surprisingly uncomfortable. The 12 hour leg was pretty tough going but I fell asleep for most of the 4 hours from Melbourne to Auckland, so that was okay.
Finally, after NZ's scary biosecurity scans (why would I have a raw chicken with me? Or soil?) I made it out the airport and it was lovely to see Rachel on the otherside - made the arrival in a far, far away land much less scary and made the vile, grey, very rainy weather far more bearable. An hour and a half later, down NZ's 'M1' motorway (a bit more like a dual carriageway, bless), having managed to stay awake I found myself in Hamilton, 4th largest city in NZ - tho by then it was dark, so I couldn't make out much. I met Nick, Rachel's husband, and 20-month-old JJ, who is possibly the most beautiful and cheery child ever - and I don't even like children. Having said hello, JJ went to bed and we had a nice dinner of moussaka before jet-lag/being the parent of a young child claimed us, and we too went to bed.
Today we all got up at reasonable times and went out for breakfast - apparently a typical thing to do, and very tasty it was too (good bacon, phew) - then to a farmers' market. It was bloody cold tho! Later Rachel, JJ and I did good tasks in 'The Warehouse' (it sells *everything*) getting cutlery and hangers for when I move in to halls tomorrow, and also a mobile (details below). Now I've been exchanging texts with Jamie (friend from Edinburgh also out here) and we're going to meet up for dinner tomorrow evening.
So all in all it's been rather good so far - having Rachel, Nick and JJ to stay with and hang out with is really lovely, just like being at home (with a small child tho, obv). The shower is amazing, the bed is a very comfortable double and JJ is a highly entertaining chap - I'm enjoying his little catchphrases: 'HOT TEA!' 'Good boy, Daddy. Good boy, JJ. Good boy, Mummy. Good boy, Janet' (who's the cleaning lady). If they all continue to be so nice I might have to pack in Auckland and just live here... We'll see what tomorrow brings!
Ciao! A x
PS my mobile number is +64211423945 but you can also Skype me - I'm 'thuggo17', or email aetbrewer@gmail.com.
Friday 10 July 2009
T plus 11 hours 30 mins since departure
Well. We got to the airport fine, 4kg over the weight limit (i.e. £140) whereupon we all go to pay saying how I'm going for a whole year and the lady says 'oh, don't worry about it then, just pretend you only had 30kg'! We were so surprised by her kind gesture and of course happy to be financially better off.
Anyway, I bid Mum and Dad farewell (sob sob sob, obv obv obv), go for the plane, first leg 7 hours to Dubai. All fine, sleep a bit, eat a lot, watch Revolutionary Road, quite like it, survive the 3 children in front, 3 behind and 3 to the right, tho' come close to killing the man sitting next to me who does that leg-jiggling thing that drives me crazy (I'm thinking of you, Heidi, and you, Dan.)
Arrive in Dubai, LOVE the airport - it's like the most extreme shopping mall. Tho' no Primark here - only Cartier, D&G, gold and designer stuff. I admire the vile gold jewellery and read a guide book about Dubai. Looks dull, and ugly, with stupid building plans shaped like palm trees. I also finally go mental and buy myself a new Swatch, having nearly cut myself on my old one mid-flight changing the time (much nicer than the Edinburgh ones, Anna - black leather, 'ooh, shiny', sophisticated-looking.)
Step outside to board plane - bloody hell, it's 30 degrees here. Roasting. Then the fun begins. We sit on our plane - seemingly much smaller than the last regarding legroom, but a nice lady next to me. Phew. However, we're there for 2 hours - no air conditioning. We are all literally dripping and people are being sick. I sleep for an hour, maybe more, annoyed to be woken up to find that the plane cannot be fixed from whatever the 'minor mechanical fault' is and we'll have to get another plane, in an hour or so. Refreshments will be provided.
We get a bus back to the terminal - could it be any further? It's like a holiday in itself - and communally moan with joy as the air conditioning hits us. I admire the quiet behavior of the family 7 on the bus next to me, whose 5 children aged 6 to 6 months have not yet had breakfast. Anyway, now we're in the terminal, waiting for our plane, having found the refreshments were actually only a cruel joke. Good job I stole a load of water from Business Class on the way out. I hate long-haul flights.
Nightmare.
At least I have a new watch.
What are you doing? A x
Anyway, I bid Mum and Dad farewell (sob sob sob, obv obv obv), go for the plane, first leg 7 hours to Dubai. All fine, sleep a bit, eat a lot, watch Revolutionary Road, quite like it, survive the 3 children in front, 3 behind and 3 to the right, tho' come close to killing the man sitting next to me who does that leg-jiggling thing that drives me crazy (I'm thinking of you, Heidi, and you, Dan.)
Arrive in Dubai, LOVE the airport - it's like the most extreme shopping mall. Tho' no Primark here - only Cartier, D&G, gold and designer stuff. I admire the vile gold jewellery and read a guide book about Dubai. Looks dull, and ugly, with stupid building plans shaped like palm trees. I also finally go mental and buy myself a new Swatch, having nearly cut myself on my old one mid-flight changing the time (much nicer than the Edinburgh ones, Anna - black leather, 'ooh, shiny', sophisticated-looking.)
Step outside to board plane - bloody hell, it's 30 degrees here. Roasting. Then the fun begins. We sit on our plane - seemingly much smaller than the last regarding legroom, but a nice lady next to me. Phew. However, we're there for 2 hours - no air conditioning. We are all literally dripping and people are being sick. I sleep for an hour, maybe more, annoyed to be woken up to find that the plane cannot be fixed from whatever the 'minor mechanical fault' is and we'll have to get another plane, in an hour or so. Refreshments will be provided.
We get a bus back to the terminal - could it be any further? It's like a holiday in itself - and communally moan with joy as the air conditioning hits us. I admire the quiet behavior of the family 7 on the bus next to me, whose 5 children aged 6 to 6 months have not yet had breakfast. Anyway, now we're in the terminal, waiting for our plane, having found the refreshments were actually only a cruel joke. Good job I stole a load of water from Business Class on the way out. I hate long-haul flights.
Nightmare.
At least I have a new watch.
What are you doing? A x
T minus 3 hours 30 mins until departure
Oh oh. I'm actually off. Pretty scary... Everything has been so neatly tidied away: the goodbyes said, the crap I couldn't pack hidden away in cupboards, the last cupcake eaten...
I've got 3 books I won't read (guidebook, short stories, linguistics-type book) and a bag of Mum's friend Sue's florentines (they are SO good) that security better let me take through. I'll be using a pay-as-you-go mobile from tonight, the number's 07592598133. I also have Skype: thuggo17; email is aetbrewer@gmail.com. Or there's ever-handy Facebook. Thank God for the virtual world's ability to seemingly minimise distance.
I'm quite looking forward to the flight - shock! - long haul on Emirates, so should be comfortable, I chose a window seat, and hopefully the films will be good. Plus the crap food always makes me think of the meals you used to get on flights all the time, like when we went on family holidays. Ah, nostalgia. Then Mum's friend Rachel will meet me at the airport and the adventure will begin!
So, see you on the otherside, quite literally, almost...
Missing you already, A x
I've got 3 books I won't read (guidebook, short stories, linguistics-type book) and a bag of Mum's friend Sue's florentines (they are SO good) that security better let me take through. I'll be using a pay-as-you-go mobile from tonight, the number's 07592598133. I also have Skype: thuggo17; email is aetbrewer@gmail.com. Or there's ever-handy Facebook. Thank God for the virtual world's ability to seemingly minimise distance.
I'm quite looking forward to the flight - shock! - long haul on Emirates, so should be comfortable, I chose a window seat, and hopefully the films will be good. Plus the crap food always makes me think of the meals you used to get on flights all the time, like when we went on family holidays. Ah, nostalgia. Then Mum's friend Rachel will meet me at the airport and the adventure will begin!
So, see you on the otherside, quite literally, almost...
Missing you already, A x
Thursday 9 July 2009
T minus 10 hours 10 mins until departure
Fighting with iTunes to iSort all my iMusic for my long iJourney. In between, I've been using various media to learn about New Zealand, something I probably should have done 6 months ago. So:
Things I've just learnt about Auckland, New Zealand and the University:
1. Auckland is the 50th most expensive city in the world. London is 4th.
2. The university deems these relevant example expenses (there are $2.5 to £1):
-- meat pie $2.50–3.50
-- latte $3.50
-- chocolate brownie $2.50
-- bottle of Coca-cola (600mL) $2.40
3. New Zealand has the highest ratio of golf courses per capita in the world.
4. Auckland has two hills, not unlike Arthur's Seat and Carlton Hill. There is a main road called Prince's Street. It is also reputedly windy. Hmmm...
5. There are 4.2 million people in New Zealand (about 1 million fewer than Scotland) which is the roughly the same size as the UK or Japan.
6. On July 27th 1939 Auckland received its only recorded snowfall.
Know an interesting fact about my new home? Please share it!
A x
Things I've just learnt about Auckland, New Zealand and the University:
1. Auckland is the 50th most expensive city in the world. London is 4th.
2. The university deems these relevant example expenses (there are $2.5 to £1):
-- meat pie $2.50–3.50
-- latte $3.50
-- chocolate brownie $2.50
-- bottle of Coca-cola (600mL) $2.40
3. New Zealand has the highest ratio of golf courses per capita in the world.
4. Auckland has two hills, not unlike Arthur's Seat and Carlton Hill. There is a main road called Prince's Street. It is also reputedly windy. Hmmm...
5. There are 4.2 million people in New Zealand (about 1 million fewer than Scotland) which is the roughly the same size as the UK or Japan.
6. On July 27th 1939 Auckland received its only recorded snowfall.
Know an interesting fact about my new home? Please share it!
A x
27 hours 30 mins until departure
See title.
Bags packed: 3 (suitcase, rucksack, cabin bag)
No. of kilos over the weight limit: 6
No. of pounds sterling it costs per kilo over the weight limit: 35
No. of hours repacking is anticpated to take: 28 hours, minimum.
Bags packed: 3 (suitcase, rucksack, cabin bag)
No. of kilos over the weight limit: 6
No. of pounds sterling it costs per kilo over the weight limit: 35
No. of hours repacking is anticpated to take: 28 hours, minimum.
Monday 6 July 2009
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