Here's a bit of an anorak-ish thing, but as of tomorrow it will be 100 days since we left Scotland. Not the largest amount of time anyone has ever been away from home but it certainly feels long and the fact that 100days away falls on New Years Day is a bit of a coincidence.
Our house sit is almost at an end which is sad but at the same time it is good because we were getting too used to having a big house and a car - both of which we are not going to have for a while yet methinks (if at all)
We have been looking for places to rent here in Wellington and it is surprisingly expensive especially when measured against the wages they pay here. The houses are also a) Predominantly built on the side of a steep hill, great for views not so good in a place prone to earthquakes b) Made of wood c) Have no heating - no, none d) have no double glazing e) Have all been decorated with left over wallpaper and paint from the UK circa 1970's and f) The cheaper options are invariably sheds in other peoples gardens or basements.
The good news is that we will almost definitely get somewhere bigger than we lived in back home ;o) which will be good news but it may be old, cold and unfurnished which will cause more difficulties. We are already speaking to people about lending us furniture and if all else fails it is off to the charity shop we go - lots of people do that here and there's no stigma attached to it. In fact when my mate Dave McG was over in Nelson he bought all his furniture that way and then managed to sell it a year later for profit. Nice work Dave.
It is Hogmany here and we are just chilling out before going into the city tonight, we were very kindly invited to a barbecue by Steve and Shona but we fancied heading into the city to see what's on. However I am not too optimistic, on Christmas Day I dragged Katie down to the city centre after dinner, convinced that the town would be jumping but alas not a bar was open. At least the bus home was free - that's one thing they are good at here, free, regular, reliable buses on Christmas Day. Why would you need to drink and drive?
There are a few things on in town tonight actually, we just have to decide how much we are willing to spend - Zane Lowe the Radio 1 DJ is playing here but it is more expensive than we really want to pay. Regardless of how well known he is he is just some dude playing someone elses records isn't he? ;o)
Oh, I should also fill you in on my Old Firm online adventure the other day. Basically I was emailing all sorts of Rangers Supporters clubs here in NZ desperately looking for somewhere to watch the game (1.30am kick off here) but with no success - there was a group of guys going to a pub in Auckland but Welly wasn't quite so with it. Anyway, I eventually decided to stay awake, drink some beer and utilise free internet access to try and track down some live coverage online which I eventually managed to do. It was some Afghanistan-ish Tv station showing the game with the British commentary which was great. When it cut to the studio though it was all in the local lingo but i presume they were saying "Stupid infidels! We are so powerful we will enjoy this mighty game of football and then we will kill them all! 'Mon the Hoops!"
Was it worth staying up all night just to see a jammy Celtic win? No, probably not. ;o) (Even Osama Bin Laden admits that the chalked off Gers goal should have counted - if you don't believe me just go and ask him, he's probably still in a London suburb laughing at the Infidels searching Afghanistan)
(By the way, this is funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Guh5vrwtC80&feature=related)
More news? We went to Karori Wildlife Sanctuary the other day, it's beautiful and we would definitely go again but unfortunately most of the wildlife are birds and you can't really see them (well if we sat around all day we might have) but apparently it's been single handedly responsible for the repopulation of the Tui (a very impressive native bird that can be rather loud in the morning). Tui is also a brand of cheap Kiwi beer.
http://www.kiwi-wildlife.co.nz/Sounds/tui.mp3
Well, I better go for now and start revving up for the massive party tonight - I will give you a full review in due course but for now I think Katie and i are going to take our new running shoes (Christmas pressies) and go for a jog with Jack the dog.
Speak soon, Have a great New Year everyone!
SB ;o)
No comments:
Post a Comment