Hi, just wanted to do a quick post to say that we are still very much alive although i start school next week (boooo!)so that might not last ;o) - I am in and around the school this week trying to get things organised but everything is going rather smoothly.
We are currently in another house sit (2 cats) in a place called Newlands which is about a 30 minute bus ride out of the city. The lady is a primary teacher (is it only teachers who do this?) and seems really nice - she is visiting family up north for 12 days so we are there until the 29th and then on the 30th we move into yet another house sit would you believe. This one is in the Kelburn area right next door to the indonesian embassy (!) and it is for 2 months with NO PETS would you believe? Magic. Gives us plenty of time to find a better place to rent really which is brill.
Any other quick news for you? Well no not really i am afraid - this blog thing was always going to be more interesting when we were moving about seeing lots of different things but we will try and keep you updated with news wherever possible and try and limit the info to the more interesting and humorous things. (like how many kids in my class wet themselves during gymnastics)
We have no internet access out in the sticks at the moment so thats why there have been few pics posted but as of the 30th that should be resolved hopefully - and there are plenty of pics to post of our trip to Rotorua, the cricket, the house sits etc so keep an eye open.
Good news this week - my Mum and Aunt Christine have booked their tickets to come over in April which Katie and I are really looking forward to. We have already booked them in for a sky dive and a bungy jump so they should have an exciting time (just kidding Mum, honest!)
Anyone else who fancies a trip over should definitely come over if they get a chance - it's expensive to fly but then things in NZ are pretty cheap if you are bringing over the pound so why the heck not. (recession? What recession? ;o)
Will speak again soon folks, all the best to everyone in wee chilly Jocko land ;o)
SB
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Rrrrrrotorrrrua
(first things first, I am going to try and fix the broken links to flickr - so you can see the other photos - keep a look out)
Anyway, here we are in seismically challenged, eggy whiffy Rotorua. (ok so there is no pic yet but there will be - you can try and imagine the smell though)
We arrived today and we ae staying at Joanne McMillan's (Katie's best buddie from Carradale) Auntie Eileen's house (well, if i get the coffee/tea order wrong again we may well be booted out!!! ;o) who very kindly has offered to take us in for a few days and show us around.
We left Wellington a few days ago in our nice new FREE rental car - a Ford Falcon MR6sport which we will also post pics of. Basically it would have cost $100 in total to get the bus from Welly to Rotorua but this way we had our freedom to roam and it only cost us $80 in fuel.
Our first stop from Welly was Lake Taupo where we spent the night in Tiki Lodge which was great apart from the worst snorer we have encountered on this entire trip -or maybe we have been away from 6 bed share dorms for a while - we moved rooms the next day into a nice family room with a private kitchen which we got at a reduced rate from the really nice owners there which was brill. In and around Taupo there is a lot to do but the only mad adventure thing we did was go on a jet boat on the waikato river which was a pretty good way to spend an afternoon - pics to follow.
Our next stop was Waitomo (further North and West towards Auckland) where we stayed in Kiwi Paka youth hostel - it used to be a YHA bt we think it has let its standards slip and lost its affiliation - it wasn"t that nice and Katie was appalled by the cockroach in the kitchen. Even the nice view of some horses nearby couldn't make up for that.
Whilst in Waitomo there is only one thing to do really and that is to go into the caves and see some glow worms - if you don't know about glow worms well they are basically just the larvae of a type of Gnat who give off a green glow from their faeces and eat flies and other insects attraced by the glow - they also eat each other and also their parents. So, as our tour guide in the cave put it they are "cannabilistic cave dwelling larvae with shiny poo." ;o)
The tour we chose combined some caving (crawling about in caves) with abseiling (dangling about in caves and screaming) which was really really good fun actually. Some of the abseiling was quite a long way and some of it was down through waterfalls which was refreshing to say the least. I think we would both highly recommend this trip and if my brother is up for it then we might go back when he makes it over to NZ.
And, as I move seamlessly back to the start of this post, we drove to Rotorua this morning in the heaviest rain we have seen since arriving in NZ - by the time we got here though it had dried up. Rotorua is bigger than we expected and pretty impressive apart from the eggy sulphur odour from the thermal pools that are everywhere. Aunt Eileen took us on a quick tour today and showed us tons of stuff including free, just by the side of the road bubbling pools of mud - apparently in 2003 there was a big explosion of mud that covered this large public area and destroyed a lot of trees and the surrounding area. Pretty scary as it could happen again at any time. We also went for a walk around the big redwood forest which was really nice. Tomorrow we ae heading off to some thermal pools (polynesian pools if you want to google it) and then we are off out to a proper Maori evening of entertainment just down the road - will tell you all about it in the next post.
Ok, I'm pretty tired now so I am off to sleep - hope everyone back home has a jumper on as I am hearing that it is pretty cold.
All the best,
SB
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
jacks face is hilarious
Jack was a wee bit mental and decided that this was a good pose for the camera/
Steve and Shona and me and Katie
At the KT Tunstall gig with Steve and Shona - Shona is from Bonnie Scotland and Steve is a Wellingtonian - they get married this year and have very kindly adopted us. ;o)
jack - not as innocent as he looks
On the last day, on our last walk he rolled in a cow pat - cue a lot of swearing and a jolly good hosing down!
The cat sat on - the bed!
One morning we woke up wondering why we were having trouble breathing - the reason? Well for me it was allergies, for Katie it was Leo the cat sitting on her head (almost)
Monday, January 5, 2009
The promoters hadn't sold many tickets for my solo gig
Some folk are having trouble viewing and commenting on pics on flickr so we will start transferring some more across here too.
Steph singing Travis in a packed pub on Hogmany ;o) It was busier than it looks!!!!!!!!!!
Steph singing Travis in a packed pub on Hogmany ;o) It was busier than it looks!!!!!!!!!!
Rubber Stamp.
Hi, just a quick one to let folks back home know that I had a meeting at immigration today and that all my paperwork is now finalised. The girl was so nice (I think she liked the accent) and she managed to waive the fee ($200) for the work visa component so that I am able to go on holiday and come back as many times as I like(or can afford)
We have been staying with Steve and Shona in Wellington (very kind of them to look after two homeless Scots) but i think we are going to take a well earned trip up North towards Rotorua and relax - or do a sky dive?????? Who knows? ;o)
Other news:
Sports news: We are off to see the Black Caps (NZ) play West Indies at cricket tomorrow - Katie has been told the rules and she is raring to go!
Accommodation: After almost running ourselves ragged over the last three weeks looking at flats we have a new housesit on the go - very bizarre, more details to follow - we are looking after a house, no pets, in Kelburn (quite posh) starting at the end of january for two months. This will save us a small fortune (approx 1000 GBP) and give us a wee bit of stability allowing us to choose a nice home for the rest of the year at our leisure.
Will write more later, hope you are all well ;o)
SB
We have been staying with Steve and Shona in Wellington (very kind of them to look after two homeless Scots) but i think we are going to take a well earned trip up North towards Rotorua and relax - or do a sky dive?????? Who knows? ;o)
Other news:
Sports news: We are off to see the Black Caps (NZ) play West Indies at cricket tomorrow - Katie has been told the rules and she is raring to go!
Accommodation: After almost running ourselves ragged over the last three weeks looking at flats we have a new housesit on the go - very bizarre, more details to follow - we are looking after a house, no pets, in Kelburn (quite posh) starting at the end of january for two months. This will save us a small fortune (approx 1000 GBP) and give us a wee bit of stability allowing us to choose a nice home for the rest of the year at our leisure.
Will write more later, hope you are all well ;o)
SB
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