Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all!

Here are some photos from our crazy New year with Iain and Lorna - the highlights were:

1) Free bubbly in the bar we went to

2) Iain and I attracting attention in our kilts

3) Talking rubbish to anyone who would listen

4) Dancing until 5am

I'm sure I will share some stories soon - I am sitting up just now watching the Rangers v Celtic game online on Al Jazeera 3 - who said these guys were bad guys? I just hope they don't interrupt the game for a live beheading or anything!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone - we made some videos to post on the blog but I can't seem to convert them to a suitable format but as soon as I can I will have them on here - there will be a way!

For now though here are a few photos from Christmas day on Matai Bay in the Bay of Islands in the North of the North Island - our good friends Iain and Lorna shared our sunny day!

trip to auckland

I said you would get more about the trip to Auckland for Lorna's 30th and here it is....

When Katie and I arrived in Auckland I can honestly say that it felt like we were folk from the wee village visiting the big city for our once a year visit. It was busy, loud and exciting and made us realise just how small (compact ;o) Wellington really is. You can be out for dinner in Welly and meet 10 folk you know through work - it felt good to be in Auckland and have the power of anonymity once again. It's amazing how much I have missed that!

Anyway, Katie and I spent the first half of our first day marvelling at the choice of shops, the almost normal fashion sense and mainly at the fact the wind wasn't blowing. We spent the rest of the day and night in the pub with Lorna, Iain, Julie, Paul and anyone else that wanted to join us. Iain and Lorna took us to a bar called the Patriot that catered for all of the British isles and served Tennents on tap. I must say that the long journey hadn't improved the taste much but it was like an old friend paying a visit. (it was still better than the pint of TL in the Clachan though)

We pretty much spent the rest of the weekend having a great old time seeing the sights and staying at Lorna and Iain's "jungle house" - so named cos it really did feel as if it was in a rainforest or something - surrounded by trees and plants. Twas a pretty cool spot - and only 60 seconds from the beach.(which was where it wasn't like a jungle - unless we are talking about a jungle on a tiny remote island where most of the island is a jungle with only a beach separating it from the sea.)

We went out for dinner on the Saturday with Geoff from Iain's work - and his wife Adine - both of whom were really nice. And once again we got drunk and took silly photos which you will now find on flickr.

We also went hunting on the Monday for a karaoke bar - Lorna was keen to give us another rendition of Wired for Sound whereas I was all about some more classic rock with one hand shoved in my pocket. Alas though all the karaoke bars were the type where you hire a private room and Lorna and I really felt that our performances merited an audience so we went for more drinks instead.

All in all, we had a great time in Auckland celebrating not only Lorna's 30th but also new jobs for Iain and Lorna. Iain now has a fantastic job wih the Auckland Blues rugby team and Lorna now has a full time teaching post - well done by the way guys.

I am heading back to Auckland to see their new house in a couple of weeks when I will be in town to see the mighty Pearl Jam. Awesome - cannae wait.

SB.

Macca's birthday

These photos are from our hilarious trip up to Auckland for Macca's birthday. more of the the story to follow.......

Ski time

I've already mentioned the ski trip but didn't go into detail really so here goes!

We travelled up towards Mount Ruapehu (the town we stayed in was Ohakune - which sounds hilariously like "oh I couldnae" in a West coast-ish accent. Ok, so you had to be there) to meet Iain and Lorna, Clare, Barry and Kaz - it was a long blinking drive but when we arrived we were really impressed by our accommodation and the sight of the fellow Scots. Twas a 5 bedroom villa with all mod cons - another good choice from Katie.

The ski hire shop was open until midnight so after a few drinks and a bit to eat we walked 5 minutes round the corner and got all of our gear for the next day. I was amazed at how cheap it was - we had borrowed gear from colleagues and friends but the shop would have hired us all the warm clothing for $25 for a day. (£10) The board itself (or skis) came with all the boots and bindings and that was only $25 too. Really cheap and really easy to organise.

It was off to the slopes the next day and again, it was all surprisingly easy - it was busy but really simple. We turned up, parked the car and headed to buy our passes - $90 (£36).

Katie tried boarding on the first day but didn't really love it ( fallin on yer backside and taking the board off every 5 minutes does get old fast) so opted for skis on day 2. I was boarding all the way, bruised bahookie and all - and, as I have always said, I feel a lot safer when my legs can't go on either side of a comedy tree on the slopes (I didn't see any of those by the way.) I once saw a video of a skiier falling down and his left foot hit him on the back of the head and his right leg hit him in the face, both legs snapped to pieces - can't really do that on a board.

Anyway, back to the action - my highlight of the weekend (although there were many) was when Lorna and I decided to throw caution to the wind and go all the way to the top. There we were at the top of the mountain at the start of a run called Vertigo - I was of course not frightened at all (aye right) but we both made it down and looked super cool in the process if I must say so.

In the next episode of "My 3 week winter holiday from school" - I will be giving you an hilarious report on our South Island visit with Clarey Doll. I will also be trying to seek out some ski video footage from Lorna - and some footage of me doing the best ever tennis smash.

Steph