Boxing Day, 27/28th December (Guest editor Hilary Hodge)
Well for those who follow Luke and James blog once again I have been designated by’ he who shall be obeyed’ to be the guest editor during my stay. Unfortunately I cannot replicate the amusing and insightful blogs which Luke does so expect a much more prosaic approach!
So what has happened so far. Sedbergh to Napier in one continuous journey is not a fun thing to do but something to be endured. Luke was appalled that I had ‘wasted’ money by upgrading to business class but I knew it was the only way I could survive the journey. ‘Take note of everything about business class’ Luke demanded as he said he would always be to mean to ever travel that way. So what are the benefits? The main one is that you can lie down properly and sleep comfortably which is what I spent most of the 27 hours flying time doing. I estimated that you have about 3 times the space you would have in cattle class – hence the huge difference in cost. Then there are the privileges – going down the priority lane to have bags checked - although unfortunately I missed that advantage as I hadn’t realised at Manchester – it was stamped on my ticket but being of a rather unobservant bent I didn’t notice until later ! - having white linen tablecloths plus decent meals with wine and drinks on tap as required, getting on and off the plane first so you are first in the queue for passports etc and ever attentive cabin crew to see to your every need.
We landed at Auckland around midnight and then I had to get the shuttle bus to the hotel. Next morning back to the airport for the one hour flight to Napier. So I arrived safely in Napier to the forecast of rain – must have brought it with me from Sedbergh! I was met from the plane by a friend of the boys as both were at work. However Luke came home for lunch and then took me out on his visits around the ‘council estate area’ visiting the tenants. If he hadn’t told me I would have thought it was ordinary housing as in comparison to England the housing stock looked much the same as other areas.
As by the evening the threatened rain stayed away we were able to sit outside and consume too many beers catching up with our respective lives.
29th December
James has finished work until 23rd January but Luke had to work today so James and I had the day to enjoy together. We both went to the chiropractor for a ‘top up’ before our trek next week – an interesting experience at his home which I had been warned was pretty chaotic – but the treatment was good.
We met up with Luke for lunch at Zig Zag where Luke had worked. It in a good location in the art deco town which is Napier and which reminds me of places in my childhood before the redevelopment mania took hold in England.
James and I then went to the lido and I swam outside and we sat in very warm pools and had a sauna. The evening brought odd spots of rain and an overcast sky but the threatened downpours have yet to materialise. However I awoke at 4am to a heavy downpour and it was still raining when I woke up. Never mind it is warm with it!
My first impressions – lots of lovely bird song, stunning trees and masses of colour from a wide range of flowers and plants, tin roofs on many houses, lots of space and houses of many and different designs but mainly built of wood and bungalows predominate.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Christmas in the sun... there is somthing not normal about that
21/12/11-23/12/11
work, work, work but its christmas sooon
24/12/11
Well its Christmas eve and after a day of work we were looking forward to a sunny Christmas and low and behold the weather looked like it was going to play ball! That evening our friend Tory came round and we watched a movie ate food and wondered what Santa would be bringing. Unfortunately for James we had not send the change of address cards to Santa's little helper so whilst there was a tree and a chimney we were quite sure Santa would not be able to find him...
25/12/11
We woke to a white Christmas... sorry I mean a bright Christmas. The sun was out, there was not a cloud in the sky and we were ready for our first kiwi Christmas. First up was breakfast for James, Tory and me. Of course this was outside in the sun and was leisurely. Jealous yet? Before long we were off to the beech complete with 3 deck chairs, bbq, chilly bin, sun tent, badminton set, body boards and wet suits. Well we thought we best hit all the bases! The day its self was of course fantastic. We ate, sun bathed, played and swam. Quite why we celebrate Christmas in the northern hemisphere in the winter is beyond me. If only we could move the dates to mid summer. That way travelling 12,000 miles would not be necessary to get the Christmas sun. Dam geography and pesky traditions of celebrating on the 25th December
Post beech we were all rather brown and in some cases red. Not to be detailed we headed up to R&R's for dinner. Roger had forgotten that I was catering so alas we ended up with more food that you could shake a stick at. Roger being roger had also requested that I wore a shirt that I had bought in Auckland. When I arrived the git had the exact same one...grrrr
After a leisurely dinner and skipping both mothers we fell into the hot tub, drank more wine and were merry. Anyone missing the cold and or snow? We concluded that the best place for that weather was only on the front of cards!
26/12/11
Ross visits his mother on Christmas day and as this requires a 5 hour trip each way he was not back. This was not good for his business as there was a cruse ship in for the day. So with a mild hangover I hit the port and began selling his tours. a few hours later and I had 16 punters signed up and Ross was back to take them out. Well one loves selling stuff and being flamboyant so its a good partnership really.
Post sales and it was back up to R&R's where the boys were emerging from their slumbers. A round of breakfast later complete with bucks fizz and we were set for the day. Piling into the card James, Tory, Ross, Crag and I hit another beech, had a walk, sunbathed and relaxed. On our travels we encountered meant other Kiwis' who had gone camping. Now this is not camping as the Brits know it. There are no small wet tents congregating in a damp field with a stinky toilet block. No the Kiwis' do it properly. First up select a spot you can drive your truck to. Unload a tent the size of a house, dining tables, proper cutlery, fire up you gas BBQ, and reline next to your beer fridge. Now that's what I call camping.
27/12/11
After much talking about mums arrival I woke with a start as I realised that she would be with us the next day. A round of lawn mowing, sheet washing and shopping then occurred. Feeling prepared we headed off to another beech (any one spotting a trend here) for an afternoon with R&R. Post beech we were ready for rehydration so we cracked open some wine and admired the view.
Dinner was Tory's treat so he and I drove over to a very popular fish and chip shop where after a 45 minute wait we were rewarded with some fantastic food. Back home reclining of the sofa we ate and watched the sex in the city movie. Sentimental trash but a nice way to end the Christmas break.
28/12/11
Its H day. After 36 hours of travailing, admittedly business class, Hilary was due on the other side of the world. Ross collected her from the airport and deposited her at our house. After popping home from work for lunch with her we decided that a trip round the Nui was in order. The Nui is the ghetto social housing estate where I work. Ross was unsure mum would be safe but as mum pointed out it is hardly toxteth!
Post work we spent the evening catching up and drinking far too much beer! would you expect anything else?
Mob: 021 2432887
work, work, work but its christmas sooon
24/12/11
Well its Christmas eve and after a day of work we were looking forward to a sunny Christmas and low and behold the weather looked like it was going to play ball! That evening our friend Tory came round and we watched a movie ate food and wondered what Santa would be bringing. Unfortunately for James we had not send the change of address cards to Santa's little helper so whilst there was a tree and a chimney we were quite sure Santa would not be able to find him...
25/12/11
We woke to a white Christmas... sorry I mean a bright Christmas. The sun was out, there was not a cloud in the sky and we were ready for our first kiwi Christmas. First up was breakfast for James, Tory and me. Of course this was outside in the sun and was leisurely. Jealous yet? Before long we were off to the beech complete with 3 deck chairs, bbq, chilly bin, sun tent, badminton set, body boards and wet suits. Well we thought we best hit all the bases! The day its self was of course fantastic. We ate, sun bathed, played and swam. Quite why we celebrate Christmas in the northern hemisphere in the winter is beyond me. If only we could move the dates to mid summer. That way travelling 12,000 miles would not be necessary to get the Christmas sun. Dam geography and pesky traditions of celebrating on the 25th December
Post beech we were all rather brown and in some cases red. Not to be detailed we headed up to R&R's for dinner. Roger had forgotten that I was catering so alas we ended up with more food that you could shake a stick at. Roger being roger had also requested that I wore a shirt that I had bought in Auckland. When I arrived the git had the exact same one...grrrr
After a leisurely dinner and skipping both mothers we fell into the hot tub, drank more wine and were merry. Anyone missing the cold and or snow? We concluded that the best place for that weather was only on the front of cards!
26/12/11
Ross visits his mother on Christmas day and as this requires a 5 hour trip each way he was not back. This was not good for his business as there was a cruse ship in for the day. So with a mild hangover I hit the port and began selling his tours. a few hours later and I had 16 punters signed up and Ross was back to take them out. Well one loves selling stuff and being flamboyant so its a good partnership really.
Post sales and it was back up to R&R's where the boys were emerging from their slumbers. A round of breakfast later complete with bucks fizz and we were set for the day. Piling into the card James, Tory, Ross, Crag and I hit another beech, had a walk, sunbathed and relaxed. On our travels we encountered meant other Kiwis' who had gone camping. Now this is not camping as the Brits know it. There are no small wet tents congregating in a damp field with a stinky toilet block. No the Kiwis' do it properly. First up select a spot you can drive your truck to. Unload a tent the size of a house, dining tables, proper cutlery, fire up you gas BBQ, and reline next to your beer fridge. Now that's what I call camping.
27/12/11
After much talking about mums arrival I woke with a start as I realised that she would be with us the next day. A round of lawn mowing, sheet washing and shopping then occurred. Feeling prepared we headed off to another beech (any one spotting a trend here) for an afternoon with R&R. Post beech we were ready for rehydration so we cracked open some wine and admired the view.
Dinner was Tory's treat so he and I drove over to a very popular fish and chip shop where after a 45 minute wait we were rewarded with some fantastic food. Back home reclining of the sofa we ate and watched the sex in the city movie. Sentimental trash but a nice way to end the Christmas break.
28/12/11
Its H day. After 36 hours of travailing, admittedly business class, Hilary was due on the other side of the world. Ross collected her from the airport and deposited her at our house. After popping home from work for lunch with her we decided that a trip round the Nui was in order. The Nui is the ghetto social housing estate where I work. Ross was unsure mum would be safe but as mum pointed out it is hardly toxteth!
Post work we spent the evening catching up and drinking far too much beer! would you expect anything else?
Mob: 021 2432887
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Fabulous darling
12/12/11-21/12/11
Well I have had my last day at Zig Zag. What a relief. It’s not a bad place to work its just so dam boring and predictable. Yippee for freedom and a job that I like. On the Jobs that I like front the new role as Housing Manager (Housing Officer) is still going well. I am encountering a few problems that I never saw in the UK. Banana trees growing too much and causing havoc in the gardens. Heat pumps being stolen... well once I worked out that a heat pump was in fact an AC unit that also blows out hot air, half the population wearing black and red (the gang colours) and people of all age calling out yo bro, hay bro or in fact any sentence finished with the word bro. The normal things are still in existence, not paying rent, hiding when I turn up to the door, overgrown gardens and rubbish. Oh it’s just like being at home but with sun and effective AC in the car!
The weekend heralded a trip up to the big smoke. After work we hit the road with Roger and Ross and drove the 5 hours to Auckland. For those of you who know us well we don’t travel more than 2 hours in the UK unless it’s for the week. Into this you can read the fact we wanted a big night out where there were lots of people.
Arriving quite late we had a quick tour of the bars before heading back to lady Leaubo's rather swish flat. He was away but his presence was felt everywhere for his apartment was furnished exquisitely with a lot of white paint, fragile ornaments and terrifying surfaces. One barely dared to breath for it may damage something. Clearly this was a man without children as the coffee table was made of natural stone and would stain it you put anything on it, the sofas were fantastic but would be forever ruined if we spilt wine upon them. All 4 our us relaxed but not quite enough to the point of relaxing enough to cause damage. 10 out of 10n for being fabulous 0 out of 10 for livability!
The next day we headed to downtown Auckland and had brunch in the sky tower. The largest building in the southern hemisphere. What’s more it revolved so we could see the whole city and by goodness there is a lot of it. During brunch an number of people flinged themself off the top of the tower but not to a certain death as they were paying for this experience. We kindly declined instead opting to take in the views. To our left were the occupy Auckland protestors, centre a church with Mary looking aghast at a pregnancy test kit and to the right a fantastic number of very large boats.
Post brunch and it was into the throng of the shoppers. I knew James liked shopping and people but I always thought that I did not. Well after 3 months in Napier I was ready for the crowds, shopping and seeing people. We shopped and even introduced R&R to the opshop (2nd had shop) where they bought some clothes.
Exhausted we returned to the apartment to drink bubbly wine and lament the weather. For the weather had only gone and bloody done it... done what I hear you ask. Well as a wise woman once said it does not rain abroad and being in New Zeeland we can’t be much more abroad relative to the UK but no one told the weather that. Not only did it rain it rained like a really bad day in Manchester. Maybe the weather is trying to ensure we are not homesick. Well we are not and could it please stop raining. For the last few months it has been fantastic but as those dam school holidays approached the weather got worse and it’s been overcast for days. It better get its act together before the 25th or we shall be asking for a refund from the New Zealand tourist board. On their web sight there are no pictures of people enjoying Christmas day in the rain. As James may say whilst shacking his fist at the sky bloody well sort it out....
Ok post bubbles and a nap we were heading out to the heart of gay Auckland. First up was SPQR a fantastically hip and chilled out, busy establishment serving the most wonderful pizza. Oh to be surrounded by a throng of people once more. Dear god it sounds like we like cities more than we realised! Post food it was off to the bars and pubs where we partied until the sun came up... quite literally!
Ok so Sunday we slept from 6am-2pm, got in the car, drove home via Burger King and collapsed into bed. Not what one would call making the most of your time in a new city but hay one needs beauty sleep!
19/12/11-20/12/11
Back to work and back to reality. Well briefly. Monday came and went as did Tuesday day but the evening required more socialising up at the beehive (R&R's). Here we mused upon the fact that no one had any Christmas decorations up not even in the council estate I was working in. I am in heaven James not so much. Now back home at least one tenant would have injured themself by tapping there lights into the mains but here there is not a sausage. This put into context the popularity of a nice middle class street in Auckland that was bedecked like a upscale council estate!
James has been working hard and changing the unit he works on. Last week was an away day and this week heralds the cold reality of change. Its rather hard work and all consuming. No doubt a blog of his experience will no doubt follow.
21/12/11
Well it’s a year today since Colin died. Wow that has gone fast. Much time thinking of him and his life has ensured. I am comforted by the fact that mum has lots of people around her today and that she is visiting the bench. As always well done sedbergh you are taking good care of her!
Well I have had my last day at Zig Zag. What a relief. It’s not a bad place to work its just so dam boring and predictable. Yippee for freedom and a job that I like. On the Jobs that I like front the new role as Housing Manager (Housing Officer) is still going well. I am encountering a few problems that I never saw in the UK. Banana trees growing too much and causing havoc in the gardens. Heat pumps being stolen... well once I worked out that a heat pump was in fact an AC unit that also blows out hot air, half the population wearing black and red (the gang colours) and people of all age calling out yo bro, hay bro or in fact any sentence finished with the word bro. The normal things are still in existence, not paying rent, hiding when I turn up to the door, overgrown gardens and rubbish. Oh it’s just like being at home but with sun and effective AC in the car!
The weekend heralded a trip up to the big smoke. After work we hit the road with Roger and Ross and drove the 5 hours to Auckland. For those of you who know us well we don’t travel more than 2 hours in the UK unless it’s for the week. Into this you can read the fact we wanted a big night out where there were lots of people.
Arriving quite late we had a quick tour of the bars before heading back to lady Leaubo's rather swish flat. He was away but his presence was felt everywhere for his apartment was furnished exquisitely with a lot of white paint, fragile ornaments and terrifying surfaces. One barely dared to breath for it may damage something. Clearly this was a man without children as the coffee table was made of natural stone and would stain it you put anything on it, the sofas were fantastic but would be forever ruined if we spilt wine upon them. All 4 our us relaxed but not quite enough to the point of relaxing enough to cause damage. 10 out of 10n for being fabulous 0 out of 10 for livability!
The next day we headed to downtown Auckland and had brunch in the sky tower. The largest building in the southern hemisphere. What’s more it revolved so we could see the whole city and by goodness there is a lot of it. During brunch an number of people flinged themself off the top of the tower but not to a certain death as they were paying for this experience. We kindly declined instead opting to take in the views. To our left were the occupy Auckland protestors, centre a church with Mary looking aghast at a pregnancy test kit and to the right a fantastic number of very large boats.
Post brunch and it was into the throng of the shoppers. I knew James liked shopping and people but I always thought that I did not. Well after 3 months in Napier I was ready for the crowds, shopping and seeing people. We shopped and even introduced R&R to the opshop (2nd had shop) where they bought some clothes.
Exhausted we returned to the apartment to drink bubbly wine and lament the weather. For the weather had only gone and bloody done it... done what I hear you ask. Well as a wise woman once said it does not rain abroad and being in New Zeeland we can’t be much more abroad relative to the UK but no one told the weather that. Not only did it rain it rained like a really bad day in Manchester. Maybe the weather is trying to ensure we are not homesick. Well we are not and could it please stop raining. For the last few months it has been fantastic but as those dam school holidays approached the weather got worse and it’s been overcast for days. It better get its act together before the 25th or we shall be asking for a refund from the New Zealand tourist board. On their web sight there are no pictures of people enjoying Christmas day in the rain. As James may say whilst shacking his fist at the sky bloody well sort it out....
Ok post bubbles and a nap we were heading out to the heart of gay Auckland. First up was SPQR a fantastically hip and chilled out, busy establishment serving the most wonderful pizza. Oh to be surrounded by a throng of people once more. Dear god it sounds like we like cities more than we realised! Post food it was off to the bars and pubs where we partied until the sun came up... quite literally!
Ok so Sunday we slept from 6am-2pm, got in the car, drove home via Burger King and collapsed into bed. Not what one would call making the most of your time in a new city but hay one needs beauty sleep!
19/12/11-20/12/11
Back to work and back to reality. Well briefly. Monday came and went as did Tuesday day but the evening required more socialising up at the beehive (R&R's). Here we mused upon the fact that no one had any Christmas decorations up not even in the council estate I was working in. I am in heaven James not so much. Now back home at least one tenant would have injured themself by tapping there lights into the mains but here there is not a sausage. This put into context the popularity of a nice middle class street in Auckland that was bedecked like a upscale council estate!
James has been working hard and changing the unit he works on. Last week was an away day and this week heralds the cold reality of change. Its rather hard work and all consuming. No doubt a blog of his experience will no doubt follow.
21/12/11
Well it’s a year today since Colin died. Wow that has gone fast. Much time thinking of him and his life has ensured. I am comforted by the fact that mum has lots of people around her today and that she is visiting the bench. As always well done sedbergh you are taking good care of her!
Monday, 12 December 2011
PARTY PARTY PARTY
7/12/11- 13/12/11
Another few days at work and then it was the weekend. My new Job is going well and I remembered just how much I enjoyed working in housing. We may be 12,000 miles away from home and a few of the procedures are different but social housing tenants are the same the world over. Many a good tenants, a few are completely chaotic and a small number cause all the problems. I was taken to the estate that everyone told me was awful and not a place to go… well it would be the upmarket accommodation and area in the UK! In my hour driving round I saw only one of each of the following- boarded up house, graffiti, wrecked car and a drug deal. I think I will be ok here.
So onto the weekend and what a weekend it was. Saturday and we headed out to James staff Christmas lunch. Much eating, merriment and a game of cricket later and we were heading back to get changes for our main party of the weekend.
We were off to a studio 54 themed party. No for those who don’t know what this is (me included) it was a fabulous nightclub in 1980’s America. In essence anything went. James dressed in 80’s gym gear with white socks to the knees with meat written on the side, tiny running shorts a vest and head bands. True to form I opted for drag. The costume and make up were borrowed from various people but obtaining size ten heals was a challenge. After visiting 3 shops and enlisting the bemused shop assistants I eventually found a pair of heals that went with my dress. Yes the hurt but buy god they were fabulous darling!
All made up we headed up to Roger and Rosses with a few friends for pre drinks. The odd looks we got on the way only encouraged me to roll down the windows and wave to my “admirers!” After pre loading the booze we headed up to the party which was conveniently located up a goat track from R&R’s. Normally no problem but heal, a short dress and fishnets did prove to be somewhat of a challenge!
As the party progressed the frivolity increased and came to a crescendo when James pushed me into the pool. Normally this would be more prerogative and stupidity level but James excelled as this lady was storing the camera and phone down her knickers at the time. There was a collective hush as I entered the pool but calm remained as I had the realisation that this single act had wiped the slate clean on a decade of my stupidity! A price well worth paying one thinks.
Post party we stumbled down the goat track and fell into R&R’s hot tub for a post party party as only the Kiwis could do. Oh for a warmer climate in the UK!
Another few days at work and then it was the weekend. My new Job is going well and I remembered just how much I enjoyed working in housing. We may be 12,000 miles away from home and a few of the procedures are different but social housing tenants are the same the world over. Many a good tenants, a few are completely chaotic and a small number cause all the problems. I was taken to the estate that everyone told me was awful and not a place to go… well it would be the upmarket accommodation and area in the UK! In my hour driving round I saw only one of each of the following- boarded up house, graffiti, wrecked car and a drug deal. I think I will be ok here.
So onto the weekend and what a weekend it was. Saturday and we headed out to James staff Christmas lunch. Much eating, merriment and a game of cricket later and we were heading back to get changes for our main party of the weekend.
We were off to a studio 54 themed party. No for those who don’t know what this is (me included) it was a fabulous nightclub in 1980’s America. In essence anything went. James dressed in 80’s gym gear with white socks to the knees with meat written on the side, tiny running shorts a vest and head bands. True to form I opted for drag. The costume and make up were borrowed from various people but obtaining size ten heals was a challenge. After visiting 3 shops and enlisting the bemused shop assistants I eventually found a pair of heals that went with my dress. Yes the hurt but buy god they were fabulous darling!
All made up we headed up to Roger and Rosses with a few friends for pre drinks. The odd looks we got on the way only encouraged me to roll down the windows and wave to my “admirers!” After pre loading the booze we headed up to the party which was conveniently located up a goat track from R&R’s. Normally no problem but heal, a short dress and fishnets did prove to be somewhat of a challenge!
As the party progressed the frivolity increased and came to a crescendo when James pushed me into the pool. Normally this would be more prerogative and stupidity level but James excelled as this lady was storing the camera and phone down her knickers at the time. There was a collective hush as I entered the pool but calm remained as I had the realisation that this single act had wiped the slate clean on a decade of my stupidity! A price well worth paying one thinks.
Post party we stumbled down the goat track and fell into R&R’s hot tub for a post party party as only the Kiwis could do. Oh for a warmer climate in the UK!
Monday, 5 December 2011
. Mad Brits and beaches and a Job. Yippee!
1st Dec- 6th Dec
Thursday and after a flurry of phone calls from housing new Zealand (HNZ) we moved from asking me to hold off on making a decision to offering me a job. It was very much like having one bird in the hand and two in the bush. Put that way HNZ agreed to offer me the housing access manager job but in not so subtle language suggested they may like me for the tenancy manager job which they were interviewing for the following week. I agreed that beauracracy was difficult and I would be amenable to either option. Result… I have a proper job at last. Yippee.
Friday and I am up bright and early and off to do some more voluntary work at Hank and Johns. Today’s manual labour was filling in a large trench. Oh the joy of being hot and sweaty and doing something practical. Payment… a dip for me James and Roger in their new $25,000 dollar hot pool. Oh if we had some spare cash and were going to live permanently in NZ we would so have one of these!
Post manual grunt work Roger, James and I hit the beach for some body boarding. For us brits it was a beautiful if not a little windy day. 30degrees and sunny. Apparently the kiwis thought we were mad as we had the beach almost to ourselves. A true kiwi does not venture to the beach before the Christmas holidays. Madness I say. Back home the beach would have been packed, everyone pissed and no one in work on Monday. Oh yes and they train tracks would have melted but as they don’t have trains in this part that’s not a worry.
Post beach it was to Roger and Ross’ for dinner. But alas my abscess was back and being on medication I could not drink. For once in my life I actually volunteers to drive. Normally we would walk or get a taxi back not that I am a dipsomaniac or anything!
Saturday,7.30am and I was trying to sell Ross’ wine tours to the cruise ship visitors. The week before I had filled his bus in 40 minutes using a combination of a strong Brit accent, a loud blazer and lots of eye contact. Alas these customers were keeping their wallets firmly in their pockets. I was not too disheartened though as none was selling anything to anyone.
With James still tucked up in bed I hit the beach with Hamish (a Brit doctor from James ward) and went body boarding. Again another nice and sunny day and the beach deserted. Kiwis should NEVER come to the UK as they would be somewhat disappointed with the temperature and could well freeze.
Back home for midday and after a bout of house cleaning we had a friend over. Reclining in the sun, playing cards and doing not very much apart from eating some dinner somehow lead to midnight. Bliss.
Sunday and it was off to the farmers market to stock up on supplies. Ethically great as everything’s local. Financially even better as it’s cheaper and what’s more after three months of searching we found someone to make us some bacon chops (bacon cut 2cm thick). Yummy. The afternoon well more sitting really and planning the next few months ahead.
Monday and it was my first day at work. OK so I don’t officially work there yet, I am working for free and taking the time as paid leave when mum comes and I am not sure which role I will be taking but never the less it was nice to be back in a housing roll. As a brucie bonus the computer system was the same as I used back home. The day revolved around meeting customers and assessing their need for housing. As a trial I applied and despite my fictitious self-earning only 150 quid per week, suffering from domestic violence and living in a garage I was not eligible. They would however help me with a bond for the private rented sector!
Post work James, Tory and I hit the gym before heading home to watch our other lover on the TV…Harry from spooks!
Tuesday- well work and gym really not much to report.
Thursday and after a flurry of phone calls from housing new Zealand (HNZ) we moved from asking me to hold off on making a decision to offering me a job. It was very much like having one bird in the hand and two in the bush. Put that way HNZ agreed to offer me the housing access manager job but in not so subtle language suggested they may like me for the tenancy manager job which they were interviewing for the following week. I agreed that beauracracy was difficult and I would be amenable to either option. Result… I have a proper job at last. Yippee.
Friday and I am up bright and early and off to do some more voluntary work at Hank and Johns. Today’s manual labour was filling in a large trench. Oh the joy of being hot and sweaty and doing something practical. Payment… a dip for me James and Roger in their new $25,000 dollar hot pool. Oh if we had some spare cash and were going to live permanently in NZ we would so have one of these!
Post manual grunt work Roger, James and I hit the beach for some body boarding. For us brits it was a beautiful if not a little windy day. 30degrees and sunny. Apparently the kiwis thought we were mad as we had the beach almost to ourselves. A true kiwi does not venture to the beach before the Christmas holidays. Madness I say. Back home the beach would have been packed, everyone pissed and no one in work on Monday. Oh yes and they train tracks would have melted but as they don’t have trains in this part that’s not a worry.
Post beach it was to Roger and Ross’ for dinner. But alas my abscess was back and being on medication I could not drink. For once in my life I actually volunteers to drive. Normally we would walk or get a taxi back not that I am a dipsomaniac or anything!
Saturday,7.30am and I was trying to sell Ross’ wine tours to the cruise ship visitors. The week before I had filled his bus in 40 minutes using a combination of a strong Brit accent, a loud blazer and lots of eye contact. Alas these customers were keeping their wallets firmly in their pockets. I was not too disheartened though as none was selling anything to anyone.
With James still tucked up in bed I hit the beach with Hamish (a Brit doctor from James ward) and went body boarding. Again another nice and sunny day and the beach deserted. Kiwis should NEVER come to the UK as they would be somewhat disappointed with the temperature and could well freeze.
Back home for midday and after a bout of house cleaning we had a friend over. Reclining in the sun, playing cards and doing not very much apart from eating some dinner somehow lead to midnight. Bliss.
Sunday and it was off to the farmers market to stock up on supplies. Ethically great as everything’s local. Financially even better as it’s cheaper and what’s more after three months of searching we found someone to make us some bacon chops (bacon cut 2cm thick). Yummy. The afternoon well more sitting really and planning the next few months ahead.
Monday and it was my first day at work. OK so I don’t officially work there yet, I am working for free and taking the time as paid leave when mum comes and I am not sure which role I will be taking but never the less it was nice to be back in a housing roll. As a brucie bonus the computer system was the same as I used back home. The day revolved around meeting customers and assessing their need for housing. As a trial I applied and despite my fictitious self-earning only 150 quid per week, suffering from domestic violence and living in a garage I was not eligible. They would however help me with a bond for the private rented sector!
Post work James, Tory and I hit the gym before heading home to watch our other lover on the TV…Harry from spooks!
Tuesday- well work and gym really not much to report.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Work, Job interviews and more
21-30th Nov
Well the beginning of the week mainly revolved around working. Yes I know how dull! That said a little birdy had told me how important it was to write something about yourself on a covering letter when applying for jobs. This combined with adding some trite nonsense about my personal interests on my CV appeared to pay off as I had not one but two job interviews. One as an admin assistant and one working as a housing officer. Thank goodness was the cry from me and James as my days of baking were becoming very limited. There was real potential for me to begin making meat pies using the flesh of humans. In other words I needed out!
Fridays rocked around and I went to do some voluntary work on a homestay. Oh the joys of doing manual labour in the garden. Yes there were no animals but physical work has always appealed to a certain aspect of me. Payment… well there was none of that in the cash sense but in kind I was offered the use of a kayaks and bikes. Well that’s a few weekends sorted.
This weekend was however dominated by James reclining in the sun on Saturday and me working at the general election. I also discovered that stamping forms also appeals to me as it was much fun issuing votes all day and then counting them. What’s more we even got the count right the first time.
Sunday. Again sunny (yes I know I am probably developing hated status by all the brits who are entering winter) and first up the farmers market. Yummy cheese, meat and oils were purchased. We even found a friendly butcher to cut us some bacon chops for our next visit. A little bit of homesickness me thinks coming out. Post lunch we met some brits down at the pub and then had an afternoon with this group in our garden. 5 Brits equalled lots of reminiscing about the UK and of course drinking. We may be 12,000 miles away from home but some things will never change!
Post weekend and it was back to work. James trying to make his changes of which a blog will be forthcoming and me baking. With no news from the jobs by Monday evening I was getting worried. Tuesday and all was well. The admin job was offered to me. Of course this meant containing the Housing New Zealand people and seeing if they could speed up the process on their end and if they were going to offer me the job get on and do it. Much toing and fro-ing later and by Wednesday evening I had two job offers on the table. Pay and hours different and just waiting for a conversation with James to see which one I accept. Oh to be wanted again!
Tally HO
Well the beginning of the week mainly revolved around working. Yes I know how dull! That said a little birdy had told me how important it was to write something about yourself on a covering letter when applying for jobs. This combined with adding some trite nonsense about my personal interests on my CV appeared to pay off as I had not one but two job interviews. One as an admin assistant and one working as a housing officer. Thank goodness was the cry from me and James as my days of baking were becoming very limited. There was real potential for me to begin making meat pies using the flesh of humans. In other words I needed out!
Fridays rocked around and I went to do some voluntary work on a homestay. Oh the joys of doing manual labour in the garden. Yes there were no animals but physical work has always appealed to a certain aspect of me. Payment… well there was none of that in the cash sense but in kind I was offered the use of a kayaks and bikes. Well that’s a few weekends sorted.
This weekend was however dominated by James reclining in the sun on Saturday and me working at the general election. I also discovered that stamping forms also appeals to me as it was much fun issuing votes all day and then counting them. What’s more we even got the count right the first time.
Sunday. Again sunny (yes I know I am probably developing hated status by all the brits who are entering winter) and first up the farmers market. Yummy cheese, meat and oils were purchased. We even found a friendly butcher to cut us some bacon chops for our next visit. A little bit of homesickness me thinks coming out. Post lunch we met some brits down at the pub and then had an afternoon with this group in our garden. 5 Brits equalled lots of reminiscing about the UK and of course drinking. We may be 12,000 miles away from home but some things will never change!
Post weekend and it was back to work. James trying to make his changes of which a blog will be forthcoming and me baking. With no news from the jobs by Monday evening I was getting worried. Tuesday and all was well. The admin job was offered to me. Of course this meant containing the Housing New Zealand people and seeing if they could speed up the process on their end and if they were going to offer me the job get on and do it. Much toing and fro-ing later and by Wednesday evening I had two job offers on the table. Pay and hours different and just waiting for a conversation with James to see which one I accept. Oh to be wanted again!
Tally HO
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Bloody cars, elections, gardening… oh and my bottom
14/11/11-20/11/11
The week went a little like this. Work, gym, home, spooks on the laptop, bed. Not bad as we are on “school” nights but not exactly blogging gold either! That said I did have a rather a stinker of an argument with the garage. Remember last week we needed a new radiator? Well at the time I asked if the car was worth fixing or whether I should just buy a new one and start again. The garage (which had been recommended) said that with a new radiator the car should be fine. The famous last words. Upon collecting it we drove a 40km round trip and the clutch stopped working. The garage lent us a courtesy car and said they would come back to us. Despite the problems occurring in less than 1 hour of leaving the forecourt the garage maintained that they could not have foresaw the problems. I begged to differ and suggested as a good will gesture I buy the part and they install them for free. This did not go down well and in a fit of argument the owner told me to bloody well bring back his hire car and take mine away. Not to be deterred I emailed them with alternative quotes but alas they would not lower there’s. One was not happy but we did find a far cheaper garage who fixed the car. That said our cash flow has somewhat been affected as in we have none left.
Thursday night saw tory our friend popped round for dinner and a DVD. Saturday was meant to be a trip to the beach for surfing but in the end the weather was overcast (oh what wimps we are now) and we opted for a drive out with roger, some lunch and a visit to someone who owned a guest house. Now this is not just any guest house this is a lush garden experience with fabulous rooms. What more they have an outdoor bath. Not hot tub (well they have one of those too) but a proper bath. Over tea we agreed that as I needed entertainment I would do some labouring around the gardens and in return they would let us use the bath, feed me and at some point stay there. Well I was happy with an outdoor project and James with the prospect of an outdoor bath.
Staying on the water theme we headed back to Roger and Rosses for a dip in their hot spa accompanied with a glass of wine before returning for another episode of spooks.
Sunday morning was a proper Kiwi Sunday… gardening! As there is rain and lots of garden things have a tendency to grow. So along with what sounded like half the neighbourhood were out cutting the grass. Post lunch and it was election training for me as next week I am going to be an issuing officer for the general election. Interesting and more money!
One last things… my bottom is much better. I knew you would be thinking about it!
The week went a little like this. Work, gym, home, spooks on the laptop, bed. Not bad as we are on “school” nights but not exactly blogging gold either! That said I did have a rather a stinker of an argument with the garage. Remember last week we needed a new radiator? Well at the time I asked if the car was worth fixing or whether I should just buy a new one and start again. The garage (which had been recommended) said that with a new radiator the car should be fine. The famous last words. Upon collecting it we drove a 40km round trip and the clutch stopped working. The garage lent us a courtesy car and said they would come back to us. Despite the problems occurring in less than 1 hour of leaving the forecourt the garage maintained that they could not have foresaw the problems. I begged to differ and suggested as a good will gesture I buy the part and they install them for free. This did not go down well and in a fit of argument the owner told me to bloody well bring back his hire car and take mine away. Not to be deterred I emailed them with alternative quotes but alas they would not lower there’s. One was not happy but we did find a far cheaper garage who fixed the car. That said our cash flow has somewhat been affected as in we have none left.
Thursday night saw tory our friend popped round for dinner and a DVD. Saturday was meant to be a trip to the beach for surfing but in the end the weather was overcast (oh what wimps we are now) and we opted for a drive out with roger, some lunch and a visit to someone who owned a guest house. Now this is not just any guest house this is a lush garden experience with fabulous rooms. What more they have an outdoor bath. Not hot tub (well they have one of those too) but a proper bath. Over tea we agreed that as I needed entertainment I would do some labouring around the gardens and in return they would let us use the bath, feed me and at some point stay there. Well I was happy with an outdoor project and James with the prospect of an outdoor bath.
Staying on the water theme we headed back to Roger and Rosses for a dip in their hot spa accompanied with a glass of wine before returning for another episode of spooks.
Sunday morning was a proper Kiwi Sunday… gardening! As there is rain and lots of garden things have a tendency to grow. So along with what sounded like half the neighbourhood were out cutting the grass. Post lunch and it was election training for me as next week I am going to be an issuing officer for the general election. Interesting and more money!
One last things… my bottom is much better. I knew you would be thinking about it!
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Hospital for Luke…
06/11/11-13/11/11
Over the previous week a lump had been developing on my bottom and by Monday this had become so sore I could barely walk. Not one to miss work I went in but before long the parcetmol, codeine and ibrufin were not controlling the pain. A trip to the lovely Dr Alex confirmed I had an abscess and I needed surgery that day.
Before long I was in A&E showing my bottom to all and sundry before being admitted and put on the list. Ever increasing doses of painkillers were not helping so at midnight I was somewhat relived to be taken to theatre, anesthetised and the abscess cut out and drained.
The next day James came to see me before work and ascertained I had not assaulted anyone verbally or physically, my normal trick with a general anaesthetic. Later that day after the ward round and the consultant’s entourage I was ready to be released. Roger took me home and ended up putting me to bed as I tuned white as a sheet and started to shake. Some hours later I was ok though.
The rest of the week was spent in a drugged up haze. Tramadol I have found spaces you out and stops you getting on with things. One moment I was lucid and the next I would be staring out of the window washing the same dish for 5 minutes. Drug addiction is not for me although I can see why a stressed out and board house wife or husband with a brood of children may take the pills. They do take the edge of the daily reality.
During the following days I felt rather old as my days revolved around waiting for the district nurse to pup in and dress my wound. Later James took over and proved to be a far more complete nurse. The procedure (don’t read on if your squeamish) is too heel the wound from the inside out. This involves prodding my wound with a stick to see how deep it is, pushing in a wick to drain out any of the bad stuff and when the outside of the wound heals opening this up again with the same nasty little stick. In all pretty dam horrid!
So in all this week was a right off although James and I did receive lots of visitors brining scones, muffins and DVD’s to keep me occupied. The weekend was akin to James fantasy. I slept for 12 hours a night and wanted to sit on the sofa doing nothing. This of course lasted until Sunday when I declared myself almost better and board and undertook 6 hours of gardening…. I never said I was a good patient!
Over the previous week a lump had been developing on my bottom and by Monday this had become so sore I could barely walk. Not one to miss work I went in but before long the parcetmol, codeine and ibrufin were not controlling the pain. A trip to the lovely Dr Alex confirmed I had an abscess and I needed surgery that day.
Before long I was in A&E showing my bottom to all and sundry before being admitted and put on the list. Ever increasing doses of painkillers were not helping so at midnight I was somewhat relived to be taken to theatre, anesthetised and the abscess cut out and drained.
The next day James came to see me before work and ascertained I had not assaulted anyone verbally or physically, my normal trick with a general anaesthetic. Later that day after the ward round and the consultant’s entourage I was ready to be released. Roger took me home and ended up putting me to bed as I tuned white as a sheet and started to shake. Some hours later I was ok though.
The rest of the week was spent in a drugged up haze. Tramadol I have found spaces you out and stops you getting on with things. One moment I was lucid and the next I would be staring out of the window washing the same dish for 5 minutes. Drug addiction is not for me although I can see why a stressed out and board house wife or husband with a brood of children may take the pills. They do take the edge of the daily reality.
During the following days I felt rather old as my days revolved around waiting for the district nurse to pup in and dress my wound. Later James took over and proved to be a far more complete nurse. The procedure (don’t read on if your squeamish) is too heel the wound from the inside out. This involves prodding my wound with a stick to see how deep it is, pushing in a wick to drain out any of the bad stuff and when the outside of the wound heals opening this up again with the same nasty little stick. In all pretty dam horrid!
So in all this week was a right off although James and I did receive lots of visitors brining scones, muffins and DVD’s to keep me occupied. The weekend was akin to James fantasy. I slept for 12 hours a night and wanted to sit on the sofa doing nothing. This of course lasted until Sunday when I declared myself almost better and board and undertook 6 hours of gardening…. I never said I was a good patient!
Fear, drinking and relaxing
28/10/11-5/11/11.
So this week was rather short on work and big on having fun. James had a conference in wellington and as he had his flights paid for we decided to make a long weekend of it. James flew down on Tuesday and we spent our first night apart in 7months. It was not right having only a pillow to cuddle but enough of the soppy stuff.
I flew down on the Wednesday and despite being a confident flyer was terrified. The little bombardier 20 seater plane was not the cause it was the wind. Now wellington is known as the windy city so when the local news are talking about just how windy it was you know you’re in for trouble. Upon the final approach the pilot told us to fasten our seatbelts as the approach was going to be bumpy. Never has a man understated the reality so much. The plane lurched up and down left to right and saw me holding onto the seatbelt next to me for dear life. The vomit bag almost saw use particularly was when we were approaching the run way that just out into the water we appeared to be heading for the sea and almost certain death. We did in fact land and the plane, mainly made up of locals erupted into a round of applause.
Safely in wellington Jams and I met and had a coffee before catching up with some friends we met last time we were there. Sue and Shane had kindly agreed to let us stay at their flat. Sues work colleagues thought she was mad as we had only met the once in the pub but she is a good judge of character (or so we think) and decided that we were not axe murders. A supposedly quite night predictably tuned into a long and drunken affair which eventually saw the Irish contingent of which everyone but us were drinking well into the night long after we had gone to bed.
The next day we went shopping. After 6 months in Asia our cloths were literally falling apart. A wonderful day of pottering around the shops ensued and amazingly I managed more than an hour without complaint! That evening we spent chatting with Sue and Shane and the time just whizzed by. Somehow meeting people of the same age and collective understanding of the world lubricated our conversation without the need for booze.
Being always on the lookout for a bargain James had managed to find us a 5 star hotel for hostel prices. Oh the joys of trading my cooking for his internet research. The website secret hotel allows you to book a 4 or 5 star establishment but does not tell you which one until after booking. James of course circumvents this by googleing the description given and working out which hotel we were to stay in. Well done Mr James.
After checking in and enjoying the BBC news we headed off for a couples massage and Jacuzzi. Another bargain from the net of course. An hour and a half later we emerged and fell back into our hotel and reclined for some time before heading out for a romantic meal for two. Oh how nice to go to a proper restaurant three have courses and relax. Beech huts and sea front food we have had a plenty but a night out like home was just the ticket.
The following day we pottered around with Sue, Shane and T before heading to watch the fireworks as it was the 5th November. It felt rather odd standing not knee deep in mud sheltering from the rain but in a pleasant temperature by the sea watching fireworks being shot into the sky from a barge. Being British and Irish we of course took along a beer and found ourselves to be the only ones drinking. Well there is always some truth in the old stereotypes! Later in the pub there was much merriment, giant jenga and connect four and of course drinking. Being budget conscious we headed back to the flat and continued the party.
Again the Irish out drank us and we limped off about 3am. This was not without it’s befits as for we were in a big city and people were still awake. We saw a drag queen tottering into an apartment, a man dressed as a priest blessing the police, an odd man wandering round with a blanket on his head and a collapsed lady in the hotel. What a contact to Napier where the streets are deserted by 10pm. would we live in wellington. NO. The weather is too wet and windy. We like all to wall sunshine in Napier and what’s more wellington is a mere 40 minutes away on the plane. Even better it’s just like a flying bus. Turn up 30 minutes before you fly, show no ID, and put your own bags on the tarmac next to the plane and your away!
Sunday morning and we had a rude awakening at 7.30am. Housekeeping tried to clean our room and not satisfied with seeing us in bed rang to find out if we were indeed in the room. As you can imagine one was not happy. When waking at a sensible hour I went to see the manger. No matter that we were not paying full whack we expected a five star service and to be fair to the manager his response was gold plated 5 star. He found out why we had been woken (our room was checked out on the system accidently), apologised and offered us a free taxi to our next destination.
After a lazy Sunday on Sue and Shanes couch we hit the airport and flew home. Total bliss…
So this week was rather short on work and big on having fun. James had a conference in wellington and as he had his flights paid for we decided to make a long weekend of it. James flew down on Tuesday and we spent our first night apart in 7months. It was not right having only a pillow to cuddle but enough of the soppy stuff.
I flew down on the Wednesday and despite being a confident flyer was terrified. The little bombardier 20 seater plane was not the cause it was the wind. Now wellington is known as the windy city so when the local news are talking about just how windy it was you know you’re in for trouble. Upon the final approach the pilot told us to fasten our seatbelts as the approach was going to be bumpy. Never has a man understated the reality so much. The plane lurched up and down left to right and saw me holding onto the seatbelt next to me for dear life. The vomit bag almost saw use particularly was when we were approaching the run way that just out into the water we appeared to be heading for the sea and almost certain death. We did in fact land and the plane, mainly made up of locals erupted into a round of applause.
Safely in wellington Jams and I met and had a coffee before catching up with some friends we met last time we were there. Sue and Shane had kindly agreed to let us stay at their flat. Sues work colleagues thought she was mad as we had only met the once in the pub but she is a good judge of character (or so we think) and decided that we were not axe murders. A supposedly quite night predictably tuned into a long and drunken affair which eventually saw the Irish contingent of which everyone but us were drinking well into the night long after we had gone to bed.
The next day we went shopping. After 6 months in Asia our cloths were literally falling apart. A wonderful day of pottering around the shops ensued and amazingly I managed more than an hour without complaint! That evening we spent chatting with Sue and Shane and the time just whizzed by. Somehow meeting people of the same age and collective understanding of the world lubricated our conversation without the need for booze.
Being always on the lookout for a bargain James had managed to find us a 5 star hotel for hostel prices. Oh the joys of trading my cooking for his internet research. The website secret hotel allows you to book a 4 or 5 star establishment but does not tell you which one until after booking. James of course circumvents this by googleing the description given and working out which hotel we were to stay in. Well done Mr James.
After checking in and enjoying the BBC news we headed off for a couples massage and Jacuzzi. Another bargain from the net of course. An hour and a half later we emerged and fell back into our hotel and reclined for some time before heading out for a romantic meal for two. Oh how nice to go to a proper restaurant three have courses and relax. Beech huts and sea front food we have had a plenty but a night out like home was just the ticket.
The following day we pottered around with Sue, Shane and T before heading to watch the fireworks as it was the 5th November. It felt rather odd standing not knee deep in mud sheltering from the rain but in a pleasant temperature by the sea watching fireworks being shot into the sky from a barge. Being British and Irish we of course took along a beer and found ourselves to be the only ones drinking. Well there is always some truth in the old stereotypes! Later in the pub there was much merriment, giant jenga and connect four and of course drinking. Being budget conscious we headed back to the flat and continued the party.
Again the Irish out drank us and we limped off about 3am. This was not without it’s befits as for we were in a big city and people were still awake. We saw a drag queen tottering into an apartment, a man dressed as a priest blessing the police, an odd man wandering round with a blanket on his head and a collapsed lady in the hotel. What a contact to Napier where the streets are deserted by 10pm. would we live in wellington. NO. The weather is too wet and windy. We like all to wall sunshine in Napier and what’s more wellington is a mere 40 minutes away on the plane. Even better it’s just like a flying bus. Turn up 30 minutes before you fly, show no ID, and put your own bags on the tarmac next to the plane and your away!
Sunday morning and we had a rude awakening at 7.30am. Housekeeping tried to clean our room and not satisfied with seeing us in bed rang to find out if we were indeed in the room. As you can imagine one was not happy. When waking at a sensible hour I went to see the manger. No matter that we were not paying full whack we expected a five star service and to be fair to the manager his response was gold plated 5 star. He found out why we had been woken (our room was checked out on the system accidently), apologised and offered us a free taxi to our next destination.
After a lazy Sunday on Sue and Shanes couch we hit the airport and flew home. Total bliss…
Friday, 28 October 2011
Making James happy and disaster…
23/10/11-28/10/11
What does a 6ft 4inch man need most in life? You’re thinking a sofa well even more than that? Can’t guess well it’s a bath. One small problem with that need is that we don’t have one and the landlord may object to us ripping out the existing bathroom and installing a bath.
So what is the solution? The numerous natural hot spas are too cold for James, digging a mud pit is not his idea of bathing and having a shower is not a long term option. So after some asking around I located a second had shop that sold baths. Not pretty baths but baths that have been ripped out during a renovation. This unique approach to recycling developed years ago as getting stuff to this small dot of an Island was hard so recycling was big even before the concept was developed elsewhere.
So after tracking down a shop I bought a second hand bath, plumbing and plug. Now where to put the bath. Outside- well we have enough space but it can get a bit chilly in the wind. Option 2 the shed. We have two and with some judicious cleaning and the draping of sheets from the celling to cover the fact it is a shed and we have a bathroom. The issue of waste water well dig under the shed and install a pip of course.
So during this week I have had a project and by Thursday night I was nearly ready for the inaugural bathing of the James. With minutes to go before the filling I was putting the finishing touches to the bath stabilisers (a pile of rocks) when disaster struck. I dropped a rock and split the bath down the middle. I am not known for the over use of foal and abusive language but by goodness I shouted, swore, my head span round and smoke came out of my ears. To make matters worse that bath was stable enough I just wanted to reinforce it!
Not to be put off the inaugural bathing I got out the handy role of gaffer tape and patched up the bath. James bathed and it was a success. That said James has now been back to the second hand shop and we have a new pre loved bath to be installed.
So apart from the saga of the bath we have been working. Money is tight with James on 3 days and me on the minimum wage. I worked out that after tax I only get $80 a day which is 40quid. This was rather depressing. This combined with the lack of job offers or come to think about it interviews and I am going slowly mad. I need some intellectual stimulation in excess of backing cakes. I was doubly depressed when two prospective employees contacted me but were put off by my 1 year work visa. Despite assurances that we could easily get an extension (we are not planning to) the interviews have not been forthcoming. Can I survive a year of café work? Watch this space to find out.
Ok so apart from being grumpy about work what else have we done. Well we have had a few friends over for dinner and I James and I have been playing with tractors on a vineyard. Ross our friend is setting up a wine tour (yes mum we have booked you on) and needed some help taking a huge table to the top of a hill. Always game to play outside we agreed. The only problem when the day came was the weather. It was raining. However we soon pulled ourselves together and remembered we were British and if we did not go outside when it was raining we would never go out back in blightly.
So in the cold yes cold rain we hefted a table onto a trailer, attached the trailer to a tractor and started our assent of the hill. All was well until the bolt sheared off and the trailer hit the floor mid-way up. After some repairs, grunting and lifting we were on our way again. Before long the table was situated and I had found vineyard worker who wanted some help in the fields. Whilst there is no pay I am quite partial to wine and just being outdoors for a few hours sounds good to me.
So in summery. We are settling in, have almost created a bathroom, I may be working outside, James is enjoying his job and the world of cakes is not too bad…
What does a 6ft 4inch man need most in life? You’re thinking a sofa well even more than that? Can’t guess well it’s a bath. One small problem with that need is that we don’t have one and the landlord may object to us ripping out the existing bathroom and installing a bath.
So what is the solution? The numerous natural hot spas are too cold for James, digging a mud pit is not his idea of bathing and having a shower is not a long term option. So after some asking around I located a second had shop that sold baths. Not pretty baths but baths that have been ripped out during a renovation. This unique approach to recycling developed years ago as getting stuff to this small dot of an Island was hard so recycling was big even before the concept was developed elsewhere.
So after tracking down a shop I bought a second hand bath, plumbing and plug. Now where to put the bath. Outside- well we have enough space but it can get a bit chilly in the wind. Option 2 the shed. We have two and with some judicious cleaning and the draping of sheets from the celling to cover the fact it is a shed and we have a bathroom. The issue of waste water well dig under the shed and install a pip of course.
So during this week I have had a project and by Thursday night I was nearly ready for the inaugural bathing of the James. With minutes to go before the filling I was putting the finishing touches to the bath stabilisers (a pile of rocks) when disaster struck. I dropped a rock and split the bath down the middle. I am not known for the over use of foal and abusive language but by goodness I shouted, swore, my head span round and smoke came out of my ears. To make matters worse that bath was stable enough I just wanted to reinforce it!
Not to be put off the inaugural bathing I got out the handy role of gaffer tape and patched up the bath. James bathed and it was a success. That said James has now been back to the second hand shop and we have a new pre loved bath to be installed.
So apart from the saga of the bath we have been working. Money is tight with James on 3 days and me on the minimum wage. I worked out that after tax I only get $80 a day which is 40quid. This was rather depressing. This combined with the lack of job offers or come to think about it interviews and I am going slowly mad. I need some intellectual stimulation in excess of backing cakes. I was doubly depressed when two prospective employees contacted me but were put off by my 1 year work visa. Despite assurances that we could easily get an extension (we are not planning to) the interviews have not been forthcoming. Can I survive a year of café work? Watch this space to find out.
Ok so apart from being grumpy about work what else have we done. Well we have had a few friends over for dinner and I James and I have been playing with tractors on a vineyard. Ross our friend is setting up a wine tour (yes mum we have booked you on) and needed some help taking a huge table to the top of a hill. Always game to play outside we agreed. The only problem when the day came was the weather. It was raining. However we soon pulled ourselves together and remembered we were British and if we did not go outside when it was raining we would never go out back in blightly.
So in the cold yes cold rain we hefted a table onto a trailer, attached the trailer to a tractor and started our assent of the hill. All was well until the bolt sheared off and the trailer hit the floor mid-way up. After some repairs, grunting and lifting we were on our way again. Before long the table was situated and I had found vineyard worker who wanted some help in the fields. Whilst there is no pay I am quite partial to wine and just being outdoors for a few hours sounds good to me.
So in summery. We are settling in, have almost created a bathroom, I may be working outside, James is enjoying his job and the world of cakes is not too bad…
Labour Day… or a day off to you and me!
20/10/11- 24/10/11
Well it’s Labour Day which means we are not working. Yippee. So what do we do on a day off? We head to the local agricultural show. Before we arrived we picked Tane up a friend who agreed to take us to the show and give us free tickets. We agreed to pick him up from the house he was house sitting. The directions he gave us were simple enough but when we turned down a track and appeared to be heading into a field we thought we were lost. Alas no it was the tracks that lead down to this fabulous high end house with pool, manicured gardens and a swimming pool. Oh how we had house envy!
Once at the show we realised it was going to be hot hot hot. Being a good boy I slip slop slapped and put on some sun tan lotion. But as it got hotter I needed more and guess what there were handy dispensers all around the show ground. The highlights of the show included cake flavoured vodka, free tasting food, a race to start chain saws (hell yes that was fun) a sheep with 5 legs native to an area nearby (an extra lamb chop) a huge huge pig and a bull with an amazingly large set of balls.
The afternoon was spent pottering round in a topless car before heading back to the house for some more house sitting/ partying/ swimming and drinking. A proper Kiwi day.
Saturday and Sunday well that was work again for me and James relaxing on the sofa. There was a rather important event on the Sunday night. Rugby world cup final? Well we had a proper kiwi night out. After work we headed to Bruce and Marians house for a BBQ and some beer. The BBQ was loaded with meat and the fridge well stocked with beer. We ate, drank and shouted at the TV like it was going out of fashion. Fortunately but some would say undeservedly the all blacks won. This we decided was the best outcome for the collective mental health on the nation. All the TV has shown is the rugby it’s on the news, adverts and programmes has been rugby. There are signs everywhere and there is a real world cup fever here. Whilst the Americans may need to spate church and state I think the Kiwis may want to give rugby and state a trial separation!
Monday and it’s another public holiday and even better we got paid as it was our usual day of work. Again it was hot and sunny so we did what any self-respecting Kiwi would do and headed to the beach with another friend. It was amazing not having to go to the airport and fly to the sun. It’s here on our door step. The water was too cold and the current too strong to swim but our picnic and music kept us entertained. I again liberally applied sun tan lotion, and did not but, James did not but was also lobster free by the end but our friend Tory who is part Maori went red!
The afternoon was spent in our garden under the lemon tree playing cards before heading up to the bee hive of the gay mafia for dinner. In all a blissful day!
Well it’s Labour Day which means we are not working. Yippee. So what do we do on a day off? We head to the local agricultural show. Before we arrived we picked Tane up a friend who agreed to take us to the show and give us free tickets. We agreed to pick him up from the house he was house sitting. The directions he gave us were simple enough but when we turned down a track and appeared to be heading into a field we thought we were lost. Alas no it was the tracks that lead down to this fabulous high end house with pool, manicured gardens and a swimming pool. Oh how we had house envy!
Once at the show we realised it was going to be hot hot hot. Being a good boy I slip slop slapped and put on some sun tan lotion. But as it got hotter I needed more and guess what there were handy dispensers all around the show ground. The highlights of the show included cake flavoured vodka, free tasting food, a race to start chain saws (hell yes that was fun) a sheep with 5 legs native to an area nearby (an extra lamb chop) a huge huge pig and a bull with an amazingly large set of balls.
The afternoon was spent pottering round in a topless car before heading back to the house for some more house sitting/ partying/ swimming and drinking. A proper Kiwi day.
Saturday and Sunday well that was work again for me and James relaxing on the sofa. There was a rather important event on the Sunday night. Rugby world cup final? Well we had a proper kiwi night out. After work we headed to Bruce and Marians house for a BBQ and some beer. The BBQ was loaded with meat and the fridge well stocked with beer. We ate, drank and shouted at the TV like it was going out of fashion. Fortunately but some would say undeservedly the all blacks won. This we decided was the best outcome for the collective mental health on the nation. All the TV has shown is the rugby it’s on the news, adverts and programmes has been rugby. There are signs everywhere and there is a real world cup fever here. Whilst the Americans may need to spate church and state I think the Kiwis may want to give rugby and state a trial separation!
Monday and it’s another public holiday and even better we got paid as it was our usual day of work. Again it was hot and sunny so we did what any self-respecting Kiwi would do and headed to the beach with another friend. It was amazing not having to go to the airport and fly to the sun. It’s here on our door step. The water was too cold and the current too strong to swim but our picnic and music kept us entertained. I again liberally applied sun tan lotion, and did not but, James did not but was also lobster free by the end but our friend Tory who is part Maori went red!
The afternoon was spent in our garden under the lemon tree playing cards before heading up to the bee hive of the gay mafia for dinner. In all a blissful day!
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Seeing more then the motel and an Irish bar…
09/10/11
Upon waking we resolved to see more of Wellington than the Irish bar and the motel bedroom. With this in mind we set off to the cable car that would take us to the botanical gardens complete with a look out over Wellington. After some two hours we had seen lots of pretty plants, been the dial of a sun dial (that said the time was wrong when we stood there) seen and observatory and generally pottered about.
Retuning to Bruce we set off to the other side of Wellington. As you know from our previous blogs such an activity in New Zealand does not normally present us with any serious traffic. Despite there being an international rugby match scheduled we had no problem driving just finding a parking space. Some 30 minutes later a nifty U-turn and some parking without regard to the junction nearby and we were ready to explore. One small problem… Bruce was a fair clip away from where we wanted to be.
Not to be deterred the three of walked along the prom and within no time were in the museum. We saw lots of things chronicling the innumerate seismic activity of New Zealand, learned how to earthquake our house and reviewed the immigration status of a number of people. Then came the interactive Hakka learning session. Well what a kafuffle. Alice could not get the computer to recognise her as a woman so did the man’s version and the three of us were less than convincing. The recording showed an overlay camp James, an uncoordinated luck and an overstretched Alice. Unsurprisingly we did not purchase the clip as a memento.
The evening well rugby of course. That said we decided to save some cash and reconvened to our motel for dinner and some sky TV rugby classics. Come on New Zealand!
10/10/11 Road trip part 2 and a strange strange local...
What a luxury it is to have a car. No more packing rucksacks and trudging to the bus station. Instead we though it all in Bruce and set off on our road trip part two. First up was gray town where the café, food and locality was far nicer then the name suggests. Soon after we were in Dannyberg which was co9led, smelly and damp. It did however herald the beginning of our adventure as here we turned right and headed off road. Alice best described the foray as “this is not just pissing pretending to be rural this is proper bloody rural.” Indeed she was correct as soon the road became a track, the only inhabitants were sheep and there was no one to meet… apart from some crazy local in his ute. We first met this gentleman complete with dirty trousers, cowboy hat and 5 days stubble, I a car park. He seemed odd but harmless enough. Sometime later we stopped to buy some duck eggs and he was there again. A little later we stopped at a pub for a drink but it was closed. As sure as day follows night he was there again. He ambled over put his arm on the door where the window was rolled down and began to talk. Soon after in a creepy manno9r he asked whether we were ‘looking for accommodation.’ At this point we were somewhat freaked out and James almost stamped on the accelerator to get away.
So why were we in the rural area? Well in true Alice, James and Luke style we were in search of the lesser visited waterfall. After following some rather sketchy directions we eventually arrived. There was not a sole about but there was a bin within which James found an old pair of flip flops that he thought he could use to protect his feet in the water! Well anyway we got down to the waterfall and it was beautiful if not a little cold. The sun had gone in on cue and it was rather windy. Not to be deterred I striped off and elicited a promise from James that he would join me in the water if I went in first.
After some counting down I took the plunge and jumped in. Out came an involuntary scream and much flailing about as it was so cold it took my breath away. For a few seconds I feared I would not be able to get out as I was freezing and it was slippy. With some effort and a few scrapes I was out. James and Alice decided that they would wait until summer to swim and I shivered away. It was there we realised that we had no photos of my heroic stupidity. The only sensible course of action… to jump back in and do it all over again!
11/10/11- 12/10/11 Alice last days
Our time with Alice was drawing to a close. How had two weeks gone by so fast. Why was one of our best friends due to get on a plane and fly 12,000 mile? Well because we had so much fun the time had flown by. Not to waste the last few days we embarked on a wine tour and a trip to the local pub for the quiz. One small problem on the quiz front we had zero kiwi knowledge. Despite this we did not loose coming a respectable 8th out of 12. This was due to James and Alice’s combined efforts as I am crap and read the newspaper throughout!
The last day and James had to go back to work. Alice and I hit the mean streets of Napier, enjoyed a breakfast and then headed off on an impromptu wine tour (without the tasting) with Ross. Originally he had asked us to lend him some muscle to help set up a table for his new wine tour venture. In the end the path was too muddy so instead we had a tour round, saw vineyards and visited an orange and lemon farm. This was very exciting for us somewhat common a garden for Kiwi’s as they all have them growing in their own gardens.
But no matter what we did to distract ourselves the time came for Alice to head to the airport and fly back to blighty….
13/10/11- 19/10/11 The week that was.
With Alice gone it was back to work and time to recuperate from the hectic pace we had maintained during her visit. The weekend was spent sitting in the garden and doing nothing save watch the rugby. Oh and the rugby what a poor decision to send of the Welsh man. How crap were French if they could not beet the Welsh by more than one point and without the sending off could we have seen a welsh victory. We will never know.
With the all blacks victory the collective mental health of the Kiwi’s is good. They have invested so much mental and physically they really need to win. A match against France should probably facilitate this.
Upon waking we resolved to see more of Wellington than the Irish bar and the motel bedroom. With this in mind we set off to the cable car that would take us to the botanical gardens complete with a look out over Wellington. After some two hours we had seen lots of pretty plants, been the dial of a sun dial (that said the time was wrong when we stood there) seen and observatory and generally pottered about.
Retuning to Bruce we set off to the other side of Wellington. As you know from our previous blogs such an activity in New Zealand does not normally present us with any serious traffic. Despite there being an international rugby match scheduled we had no problem driving just finding a parking space. Some 30 minutes later a nifty U-turn and some parking without regard to the junction nearby and we were ready to explore. One small problem… Bruce was a fair clip away from where we wanted to be.
Not to be deterred the three of walked along the prom and within no time were in the museum. We saw lots of things chronicling the innumerate seismic activity of New Zealand, learned how to earthquake our house and reviewed the immigration status of a number of people. Then came the interactive Hakka learning session. Well what a kafuffle. Alice could not get the computer to recognise her as a woman so did the man’s version and the three of us were less than convincing. The recording showed an overlay camp James, an uncoordinated luck and an overstretched Alice. Unsurprisingly we did not purchase the clip as a memento.
The evening well rugby of course. That said we decided to save some cash and reconvened to our motel for dinner and some sky TV rugby classics. Come on New Zealand!
10/10/11 Road trip part 2 and a strange strange local...
What a luxury it is to have a car. No more packing rucksacks and trudging to the bus station. Instead we though it all in Bruce and set off on our road trip part two. First up was gray town where the café, food and locality was far nicer then the name suggests. Soon after we were in Dannyberg which was co9led, smelly and damp. It did however herald the beginning of our adventure as here we turned right and headed off road. Alice best described the foray as “this is not just pissing pretending to be rural this is proper bloody rural.” Indeed she was correct as soon the road became a track, the only inhabitants were sheep and there was no one to meet… apart from some crazy local in his ute. We first met this gentleman complete with dirty trousers, cowboy hat and 5 days stubble, I a car park. He seemed odd but harmless enough. Sometime later we stopped to buy some duck eggs and he was there again. A little later we stopped at a pub for a drink but it was closed. As sure as day follows night he was there again. He ambled over put his arm on the door where the window was rolled down and began to talk. Soon after in a creepy manno9r he asked whether we were ‘looking for accommodation.’ At this point we were somewhat freaked out and James almost stamped on the accelerator to get away.
So why were we in the rural area? Well in true Alice, James and Luke style we were in search of the lesser visited waterfall. After following some rather sketchy directions we eventually arrived. There was not a sole about but there was a bin within which James found an old pair of flip flops that he thought he could use to protect his feet in the water! Well anyway we got down to the waterfall and it was beautiful if not a little cold. The sun had gone in on cue and it was rather windy. Not to be deterred I striped off and elicited a promise from James that he would join me in the water if I went in first.
After some counting down I took the plunge and jumped in. Out came an involuntary scream and much flailing about as it was so cold it took my breath away. For a few seconds I feared I would not be able to get out as I was freezing and it was slippy. With some effort and a few scrapes I was out. James and Alice decided that they would wait until summer to swim and I shivered away. It was there we realised that we had no photos of my heroic stupidity. The only sensible course of action… to jump back in and do it all over again!
11/10/11- 12/10/11 Alice last days
Our time with Alice was drawing to a close. How had two weeks gone by so fast. Why was one of our best friends due to get on a plane and fly 12,000 mile? Well because we had so much fun the time had flown by. Not to waste the last few days we embarked on a wine tour and a trip to the local pub for the quiz. One small problem on the quiz front we had zero kiwi knowledge. Despite this we did not loose coming a respectable 8th out of 12. This was due to James and Alice’s combined efforts as I am crap and read the newspaper throughout!
The last day and James had to go back to work. Alice and I hit the mean streets of Napier, enjoyed a breakfast and then headed off on an impromptu wine tour (without the tasting) with Ross. Originally he had asked us to lend him some muscle to help set up a table for his new wine tour venture. In the end the path was too muddy so instead we had a tour round, saw vineyards and visited an orange and lemon farm. This was very exciting for us somewhat common a garden for Kiwi’s as they all have them growing in their own gardens.
But no matter what we did to distract ourselves the time came for Alice to head to the airport and fly back to blighty….
13/10/11- 19/10/11 The week that was.
With Alice gone it was back to work and time to recuperate from the hectic pace we had maintained during her visit. The weekend was spent sitting in the garden and doing nothing save watch the rugby. Oh and the rugby what a poor decision to send of the Welsh man. How crap were French if they could not beet the Welsh by more than one point and without the sending off could we have seen a welsh victory. We will never know.
With the all blacks victory the collective mental health of the Kiwi’s is good. They have invested so much mental and physically they really need to win. A match against France should probably facilitate this.
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Rugby Rugby Rugby- Drink
08/10/11
By the time we surfaced and got out of the Moto lodge it was 3. As planned the night before we met up with T and went shopping… straight man shopping. In out purchase pub. Well I loved it James being tired accepted it but determined that next time we were in wellington we would “do the shops properly.” James is his mother’s child and I mine!
With two hours before kick-off for the Ireland wales match we were back in the pub. Using his Irish charm which I fell for T convinced me that he was good at applying face paint. Some 20 minutes later we found this not to be the case and I looked like I had green and white smeared across my face. I returned the favour but unfortunately did a good job so he looked out. Not to be outdone I headed to the toilets to apply more face paint. It was quite curious applying makeup in the lads of an Irish pub. No one batted an eyelid. Not sure that would be the case on a normal Saturday. Anyway after 10 minutes I looked good and then engaged in painting a few more girl’s faces. Now if I was in the market for a lady this would be my approach to chatting up the fairer sex. First they lean on your legs and smile and for five minutes they can only look at you. Straight boys out there take this advice and go forth!
Ireland lost although it was a fabulous atmosphere complete with a boom box playing fields of Ath and Rye. There was much singing, chanting and catcalling. Next up the English and they feared no better but the Irish did not get behind us instead supporting the French. 800 years of history mostly acrimonious appears not to predispose the Irish to joining in a chorus of swing low sweet chariot!
By the time we surfaced and got out of the Moto lodge it was 3. As planned the night before we met up with T and went shopping… straight man shopping. In out purchase pub. Well I loved it James being tired accepted it but determined that next time we were in wellington we would “do the shops properly.” James is his mother’s child and I mine!
With two hours before kick-off for the Ireland wales match we were back in the pub. Using his Irish charm which I fell for T convinced me that he was good at applying face paint. Some 20 minutes later we found this not to be the case and I looked like I had green and white smeared across my face. I returned the favour but unfortunately did a good job so he looked out. Not to be outdone I headed to the toilets to apply more face paint. It was quite curious applying makeup in the lads of an Irish pub. No one batted an eyelid. Not sure that would be the case on a normal Saturday. Anyway after 10 minutes I looked good and then engaged in painting a few more girl’s faces. Now if I was in the market for a lady this would be my approach to chatting up the fairer sex. First they lean on your legs and smile and for five minutes they can only look at you. Straight boys out there take this advice and go forth!
Ireland lost although it was a fabulous atmosphere complete with a boom box playing fields of Ath and Rye. There was much singing, chanting and catcalling. Next up the English and they feared no better but the Irish did not get behind us instead supporting the French. 800 years of history mostly acrimonious appears not to predispose the Irish to joining in a chorus of swing low sweet chariot!
A curious night out
07/10/11
The next morning came around all too quickly. We had set a total achievable target of leaving by 10 am but in our hangover state this morphed into 11am. More important matters were at hand. We needed to collect the car which entailed riding down the hill to collect it. Whilst I was there a bacon butty from Zig Zag was required and after all the faffing about getting ready we were behind schedule.
Upon hitting the freeway which was little more than a two lane road Bruce our car developed a temperature. Were we doomed never to get to wellington? Alice being the most technically minded amongst us instructed us to turn on the heaters to draw heat from the engine. It worked and Bruce cooled down but we sweltered at an uncomfortable 35 degrees for the five hour journey. Inevitably the windows had to we wound down so we ended up being a bbq in reverse. Our core and lower extremities were well cooked but our heads and necks were distinctly frozen. Where is my mother with a scarf when we need her? James had the right idea and curled up on the back seat and slept for the entire journey only waking for lunch at the 200km point.
After some hours and with numb bums we arrived in wellington and promptly fell into bed for an afternoon nap. Upon waking we hit the local restaurant for an amazing Turkish meal. After a quick was and applying some tutty to Alice we were on our bay to the big lights. After a month in wellington we were perturbed by the motorway and the seething mass of humanity albeit less crowded than York.
We stared the night sensibly enough catching up on old times, drinking rum and coke and chilling. Then came the shots always a bad idea particularly when they contain tequila. After trolling around a few bars we hit the big gay bar and whilst it was very nice inside it was rather dead. The teapots of cocktails and the circular pool table never the less kept us entertained.
Nicely lubricated we headed to the local Irish bar. With an Irish match the next day the pub was packed with paddies and they were very well lubricated. We got talking as you would expect and made all sorts of plans for the next day including shopping with a straight?? Lad (T) who wanted some help buying cloths as he felt intimidated by the sales ladies. Well they are scary sometimes.
As the night wore on we lost Alice and presumed she was off chatting to some nice hunk. Unperturbed we continued talking, parting and having fun. As 4am approached the pub was closing. Never one to leave a friend behind James sent a girl into the ladies to check Alice was not there. After prolonged knocking and name calling there was a response came from one of the cubicles “oh I am oh Not oh Alice oh Rawlings oh oh oh.” So we had both ascertained Alice was not there and we had disturbed someone’s nefarious activities. Still perturbed I agreed to check the other toilets. The only problem was a bouncer who stood in my way. Summoning up my best British accent I explained the situation and asked to check the toilets. The answer was no. I suggested that he should look. No came the response. Not to be fobbed off as we were a long way away from home I said I would not leave until one of us had checked the situation. The bouncer’s response was to pick me up and carry me out of the venue. The decision had seemingly been made… I would not be locating Alice!
A master plan then struck us- we should utilise the power of modern cellular technology and ring Alice. Upon entering the numbers we spoke to her via the medium of satellite link up and ascertained that she was not dead, in distress or unwell but was in fact having a whale of a time. Happy now we retired to the hotel and fell into a drunker stupor.
The next morning came around all too quickly. We had set a total achievable target of leaving by 10 am but in our hangover state this morphed into 11am. More important matters were at hand. We needed to collect the car which entailed riding down the hill to collect it. Whilst I was there a bacon butty from Zig Zag was required and after all the faffing about getting ready we were behind schedule.
Upon hitting the freeway which was little more than a two lane road Bruce our car developed a temperature. Were we doomed never to get to wellington? Alice being the most technically minded amongst us instructed us to turn on the heaters to draw heat from the engine. It worked and Bruce cooled down but we sweltered at an uncomfortable 35 degrees for the five hour journey. Inevitably the windows had to we wound down so we ended up being a bbq in reverse. Our core and lower extremities were well cooked but our heads and necks were distinctly frozen. Where is my mother with a scarf when we need her? James had the right idea and curled up on the back seat and slept for the entire journey only waking for lunch at the 200km point.
After some hours and with numb bums we arrived in wellington and promptly fell into bed for an afternoon nap. Upon waking we hit the local restaurant for an amazing Turkish meal. After a quick was and applying some tutty to Alice we were on our bay to the big lights. After a month in wellington we were perturbed by the motorway and the seething mass of humanity albeit less crowded than York.
We stared the night sensibly enough catching up on old times, drinking rum and coke and chilling. Then came the shots always a bad idea particularly when they contain tequila. After trolling around a few bars we hit the big gay bar and whilst it was very nice inside it was rather dead. The teapots of cocktails and the circular pool table never the less kept us entertained.
Nicely lubricated we headed to the local Irish bar. With an Irish match the next day the pub was packed with paddies and they were very well lubricated. We got talking as you would expect and made all sorts of plans for the next day including shopping with a straight?? Lad (T) who wanted some help buying cloths as he felt intimidated by the sales ladies. Well they are scary sometimes.
As the night wore on we lost Alice and presumed she was off chatting to some nice hunk. Unperturbed we continued talking, parting and having fun. As 4am approached the pub was closing. Never one to leave a friend behind James sent a girl into the ladies to check Alice was not there. After prolonged knocking and name calling there was a response came from one of the cubicles “oh I am oh Not oh Alice oh Rawlings oh oh oh.” So we had both ascertained Alice was not there and we had disturbed someone’s nefarious activities. Still perturbed I agreed to check the other toilets. The only problem was a bouncer who stood in my way. Summoning up my best British accent I explained the situation and asked to check the toilets. The answer was no. I suggested that he should look. No came the response. Not to be fobbed off as we were a long way away from home I said I would not leave until one of us had checked the situation. The bouncer’s response was to pick me up and carry me out of the venue. The decision had seemingly been made… I would not be locating Alice!
A master plan then struck us- we should utilise the power of modern cellular technology and ring Alice. Upon entering the numbers we spoke to her via the medium of satellite link up and ascertained that she was not dead, in distress or unwell but was in fact having a whale of a time. Happy now we retired to the hotel and fell into a drunker stupor.
YOUNG PEOPLE!!!
06/10/11-
Determined to find some nightlife and young people Alice and I headed out to a music night. James being the main bread winner needed a night on the sofa. The plan had been to drive down have some food enjoy the music and head home in good time as we were driving 300km to wellington the next day. The best laid plans… well suffice to say it did not turn out that way! We were too early for the music so a trip to the Irish bar lubricated us. Dinner followed by a bottle of wine signed the death nell for the car ride back up the hill and meeting lots of young people who were interesting was just the end. So in all we consumed too much wine listened to some fab music, talked politics and New Zealand life and only headed home once the money ran out. Sensibly we had taken a limited budget.
Arriving home both of us were steaming drunk. We greeted James with details of young people and nightlife in Napier. All was not lost. It was not a town of retirees but if you knew where to look there was fun to be had.
Determined to find some nightlife and young people Alice and I headed out to a music night. James being the main bread winner needed a night on the sofa. The plan had been to drive down have some food enjoy the music and head home in good time as we were driving 300km to wellington the next day. The best laid plans… well suffice to say it did not turn out that way! We were too early for the music so a trip to the Irish bar lubricated us. Dinner followed by a bottle of wine signed the death nell for the car ride back up the hill and meeting lots of young people who were interesting was just the end. So in all we consumed too much wine listened to some fab music, talked politics and New Zealand life and only headed home once the money ran out. Sensibly we had taken a limited budget.
Arriving home both of us were steaming drunk. We greeted James with details of young people and nightlife in Napier. All was not lost. It was not a town of retirees but if you knew where to look there was fun to be had.
Oh god work again
01/10/11-05/10/11
Back to Napier meant that there was no avoiding going to work. After 6 months off we remember how much work crimps ones style. That said we need money so we obliged. Alice spent the days catching up on sleep or exploring the locality. Being a part timer I normally managed top get away by 3 for a trip to the café or a pub. Evenings were again spent chatting eating out or playing backpacker… oh how we love backpacker!
Back to Napier meant that there was no avoiding going to work. After 6 months off we remember how much work crimps ones style. That said we need money so we obliged. Alice spent the days catching up on sleep or exploring the locality. Being a part timer I normally managed top get away by 3 for a trip to the café or a pub. Evenings were again spent chatting eating out or playing backpacker… oh how we love backpacker!
Wellington, a sheep’s arse and Rugby
30/09/11
Having a playmate I was able to leave James to catch up on his beauty sleep as Alice and I headed down to explore wellington. After breakfast where the sexy waiter more than made up for the shocking coffee we hit the shops. Not so much to shop just to potter around.
Later with James in tow we popped into a walking shop offering you the chance to put your hand up a sheep. As we were going to the Wales V Fiji match we decided to give it a go. Alas it was not a real sheep but never the less I did win a hat so we concluded that having fun with sheep was not just for the sole enjoyment of the welsh.
With a number of hours to go before kick-off we headed to a nail salon. Yes yes I know this sounds a bit gay and it was. I had a pedicure and manicure, Alice had her nails done and big gay rushby had a facial. During the course of this we got talking to the owners who were Chinese. We enquired as to where would be good to eat. The place they mentioned we knew and when we left we were sent on our way with a slip of paper which Chinese characters telling the restaurant what we wanted to eat. What a phenomenal success that was as the food was out of this world and to quote Alice “some of the best she had eaten.” Now that’s high praise from Alice as she knows her food.
Before heading to the match we hit the pub near the ground to watch the New Zealand match. Watching was a loose term due to the inordinate number of people in the pub and the lack of TV’s. Suffice to say the All Blacks won and we had got our beer jackets on ready for the live match we were to watch.
Now one thinks is does not rain abroad but as certain as day follows night you can guarantee that if James and I go to a match it will be cold and wet. Hamilton duly obliged and before long we were rather cold. Not to worry though as my Welsh flag looked good and the Welsh smashed the opposition wining very convincingly.
After a sodden walk back to the fan zone we once again found ourselves in the pub watching Ireland play. They won and we all headed back to warm up. We’re not a young as we used to be as we had planned to go clubbing but a nice hot shower and a bed was far more appealing!
Having a playmate I was able to leave James to catch up on his beauty sleep as Alice and I headed down to explore wellington. After breakfast where the sexy waiter more than made up for the shocking coffee we hit the shops. Not so much to shop just to potter around.
Later with James in tow we popped into a walking shop offering you the chance to put your hand up a sheep. As we were going to the Wales V Fiji match we decided to give it a go. Alas it was not a real sheep but never the less I did win a hat so we concluded that having fun with sheep was not just for the sole enjoyment of the welsh.
With a number of hours to go before kick-off we headed to a nail salon. Yes yes I know this sounds a bit gay and it was. I had a pedicure and manicure, Alice had her nails done and big gay rushby had a facial. During the course of this we got talking to the owners who were Chinese. We enquired as to where would be good to eat. The place they mentioned we knew and when we left we were sent on our way with a slip of paper which Chinese characters telling the restaurant what we wanted to eat. What a phenomenal success that was as the food was out of this world and to quote Alice “some of the best she had eaten.” Now that’s high praise from Alice as she knows her food.
Before heading to the match we hit the pub near the ground to watch the New Zealand match. Watching was a loose term due to the inordinate number of people in the pub and the lack of TV’s. Suffice to say the All Blacks won and we had got our beer jackets on ready for the live match we were to watch.
Now one thinks is does not rain abroad but as certain as day follows night you can guarantee that if James and I go to a match it will be cold and wet. Hamilton duly obliged and before long we were rather cold. Not to worry though as my Welsh flag looked good and the Welsh smashed the opposition wining very convincingly.
After a sodden walk back to the fan zone we once again found ourselves in the pub watching Ireland play. They won and we all headed back to warm up. We’re not a young as we used to be as we had planned to go clubbing but a nice hot shower and a bed was far more appealing!
Road trip
29/09/11
As is the custom when we have people visit we try to squeeze lots into our free time so we were off to Hamilton to watch world cup rugby. We had planned to take the bus but Roger was going that way and agreed to drive us. We had thought it would be a direct life but Roger stepped up and acted as our tour guide. On the way we saw all sorts of weird and geological bits of New Zealand. There were bubbling pools of hot mud, a Luna type end of the world landscape venting gas, natural hot spars, and a town that smelt of sulphur and a few cafes and cake shops along the way. With Rogers’s kindness we had transformed what was likely to be a boring bus journey into a magical mystery tour.
Once in Hamilton we hit the fan zone to watch the rugby. The match; England V Scotland. A furious sense patriotisms griped me and James and we cheered and shouted our way through the game and somehow it worked as England Won. They didn’t deserve to but they bloody well did. Come on England. Only 3 more games and you could win this thing. Optimistic yes but it’s always good to hope.
As is the custom when we have people visit we try to squeeze lots into our free time so we were off to Hamilton to watch world cup rugby. We had planned to take the bus but Roger was going that way and agreed to drive us. We had thought it would be a direct life but Roger stepped up and acted as our tour guide. On the way we saw all sorts of weird and geological bits of New Zealand. There were bubbling pools of hot mud, a Luna type end of the world landscape venting gas, natural hot spars, and a town that smelt of sulphur and a few cafes and cake shops along the way. With Rogers’s kindness we had transformed what was likely to be a boring bus journey into a magical mystery tour.
Once in Hamilton we hit the fan zone to watch the rugby. The match; England V Scotland. A furious sense patriotisms griped me and James and we cheered and shouted our way through the game and somehow it worked as England Won. They didn’t deserve to but they bloody well did. Come on England. Only 3 more games and you could win this thing. Optimistic yes but it’s always good to hope.
Alice has landed
28/09/11- 29/09/11
ALICE IS HERE. Yippee. James was dispatched to collect her from the airport but managed to walk straight past her. Yes we know he is not the most observant person but this time it was due to Alice or shall we call her the ever disappearing Alice for she has shrunk. When we left the UK Alice was on regime aka weightwatchers and my goodness the effect shave been dramatic.
So once Alice had captured James the catching up began and within three days it was like we had never been apart. There was lots of wine and coffee drinking, games of backpacks and a rundown of what all our friends were up to. Despite suffering from jetlag and the ill effects of a few days partying hard in Bangkok Alice was soon on top form.
The days before the weekend we spent pottering around Napier, with lots of café stops and much more chatting. Unfortunately the working man of the house had to do just that leaving Alice and I udels of time to catch up. Some of the days were sunny so we spent them walking and popping into op shops (second-hand shops). In one particularly fabulous shop we interrupted three octangerians having afternoon tea. These very civilised old ladies were most concerned out our skin as it was hot out there and we would burn. But the old rule of never judge and old person to be boring came to the fore as one of them described trying to drive into York in the UK. “Well you see the traffic was awful with so many roundabouts that we just could not get in so we thought bugger that and headed off to the pub.” Alice and I did a double take at this old ladies swearing. Is this an insight into what my mother is like when working at the charity shop. Surly not???
ALICE IS HERE. Yippee. James was dispatched to collect her from the airport but managed to walk straight past her. Yes we know he is not the most observant person but this time it was due to Alice or shall we call her the ever disappearing Alice for she has shrunk. When we left the UK Alice was on regime aka weightwatchers and my goodness the effect shave been dramatic.
So once Alice had captured James the catching up began and within three days it was like we had never been apart. There was lots of wine and coffee drinking, games of backpacks and a rundown of what all our friends were up to. Despite suffering from jetlag and the ill effects of a few days partying hard in Bangkok Alice was soon on top form.
The days before the weekend we spent pottering around Napier, with lots of café stops and much more chatting. Unfortunately the working man of the house had to do just that leaving Alice and I udels of time to catch up. Some of the days were sunny so we spent them walking and popping into op shops (second-hand shops). In one particularly fabulous shop we interrupted three octangerians having afternoon tea. These very civilised old ladies were most concerned out our skin as it was hot out there and we would burn. But the old rule of never judge and old person to be boring came to the fore as one of them described trying to drive into York in the UK. “Well you see the traffic was awful with so many roundabouts that we just could not get in so we thought bugger that and headed off to the pub.” Alice and I did a double take at this old ladies swearing. Is this an insight into what my mother is like when working at the charity shop. Surly not???
Thursday, 13 October 2011
A Great Chimps Thoughts on Work, Life and Health in the Land of the Long White Cloud
OK, first things first. It has been an absolutely chaotic time in our first 4 weeks in New Zealand.
OK, it has not been helped by the fact that we actually didn’t do an awful lot that required the firing of brain cells in the 6 months prior to our arrival, but very busy nevertheless . New home. New car. New bank. New tax number. New job. New friends. New bills!
You come to a land 12,000 miles away from home. It looks, sounds, and smells a little like home, a lot like home at times. But there are subtle differences that sort of bite you on the arse at times and make you feel a little inadequate and stupid.
This could be wanting to know the way to the Post Office, erm, surely you mean the PostShop (not to be confused with the Postshop). There is also a clothes shop called Postie…confusing!
This could be wanting to calmly and safely turn left at a junction, until you are suddenly made clear that the car who wants to turn right into your road has priority.
This could be wanting to order a new examination bed and finally discovering that Kiwi’s call them plinths.
This could be wanting to know why why why in a country seemingly committed to bi-culturism and the Treaty of Waitangi, the Pakeha (NZ European’s/White’s) behave so badly towards the Maori (Indigenous population) - especially in private.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a fabulous country. The area we live in is doubly fabulous. The general impression is that New Zealand is a bit like England, but it WORKS. I have been so impressed by fact that people seem to enjoy their jobs and work hard. Good customer service and general cleanliness and politeness are endemic, and it rubs off. I honestly felt a little suspicious about why everyone was so nice. It really isn’t the English way. And for those of you who say it is, you are wrong, we just think we are polite, we are very wrong.
Napier itself is a place that was near levelled by an earthquake in the 1930’s, something you will be told about endlessly. The resulting rebuild created an area of almost unique ubiquitous Art Deco architecture. This is combined with the wide open streets, single level detached properties on decent plots of land, the presence of the beach and sea, Mediterranean climate, Café culture, and comparative affluence, creates an area enabling a high quality of life with a mix of almost knowing smugness. It really is very nice. Maybe too “nice” at times.
It is not the most culturally knowing place in the world or the trendiest. It really could do with some more nightlife. The high quality of life here and general relaxed pace numbs people into a very Kiwi stupor so it lacks of bit of vive about the place. I am almost paining for a bit of grime and a knife crime or five. You don’t realise just how much energy there is in British cities and how much this guides our daily lives. We are also desperately missing the BBC News and Radio, especially politics as this tends to prompt a bit of heated discussion on the sofa on our lazy evenings home. And we are missing regular contact with our friends and families.
Starting work again has of course been the biggest shock. One of the reasons for choosing New Zealand was, I thought, the relative ease within which I could slot into the health system. Although I am still sure that it must be one of the easiest countries in the world that an English trained nurse could migrate to, it has still been surprisingly hard.
I think some of this is that the NHS is not just a health service, it is very much part of the British psyche. Changes in the NHS tend to be discussed widely so knowledge of its workings tends to be become ingrained over time. I arrived in work fresh off the boat and didn’t (and don’t) have a cultural familiarisation on which to build.
Funding arrangements are very different. The British have got used to having a health system free at the point of need. I cannot tell you how dirty it felt when I had to pay for seeing a GP and then pay for each and every blood test that was ordered (I am fine BTW!). Although there are some concessions available for various groups, no Kiwi can get out of paying for a GP visit, which has led to many services been secondary care led, with hospital services facing a dual challenge from both the patient and the GP when trying to discharge care back in the primary setting.
This is a bit bonkers when you consider the distances that patients can travel in order to access health care. New Zealand is VERY rural in parts and it is not unusual for patients to travel 2-3 hours to come to my unit for treatment.
Just some idea about population density here:
Rochdale. Population approximately 200,000. Square miles approximately 20.
Hawkes Bay. Population approximately 155,000. Square miles approximately 5,500.
Crazy eh! And if you want chemo, my “Villa” is the only place you can go!
One of the major problems I have faced is, bizarrely, acronyms. I simply didn’t realise how much health staff (myself included I suppose) spoke in these riddles. It is incredibly isolating not to know the “language”, especially when I spent 3 years training and 6 years working in the “club”. PAL’s doesn’t mean Patient Advice and Liaison Service (Complaints Advocacy) but rather Payroll and….erm, see, I still don’t know! The Health Care Assistants are called Associates and don’t actually do any clinical care (a subject in itself). The Porters are called Orderlies. Estates are called BIEM’s (don’t ask, don’t know). When working with policies, procedures, contracts it is much much worse, with these bloody codes being bounced across the table like ping pong, whilst my brain slowly melts.
Needless to say the learning curve I have experienced in my new post as CNM (any guesses?) – Clinical Nurse Manager, has been so beyond vertical that I think I actually know less now than I did a month ago. There has been so much expectation about my arrival it is hard to anticipate how I will ever satisfy. There is so much to learn, and so quickly. I suddenly need to know everything about everything, when the whole focus of my previous clinical practice has been to narrow and focus and specialise. To try and do this with without an underlining foundation of knowledge in systems, language and process (which I would have in the NHS) is just overwhelming.
That said, people do seem impressed with me. Which is lovely and massively heartening. I really would have left by now if it wasn’t for the Clinical Nurse Specialist’s support and advice and encouragement. Had a major success with getting a room back from a different service resident on the Villa (6 year history, 3 weeks in and Jimbo got the builders in! Oh yes!). I also keep asking the silly questions. My general musings today in a meeting seem to have generated a renegotiation of the contract with the tertiary centre. Health staff the world over spend so much time on the minutiae of “interior design” they don’t step back and see that the building “foundations” are royally buggered and in the wrong place. It is sometimes good to be the outsider.
I am also strangely enjoying being a manager. Sometimes. Sometimes I hate it and just want to go make the patients cups of tea and make a few beds. But sometimes, sometimes it is so empowering to actually be able to make the decisions that you want making and actually get things done the way that you know things should be done. I am probably not the most natural at it in the world. I am probably too nice and always wanting consensus, but I am adapting and learning, slowly accepting that running a unit well is not about making friends and recognising that you will never make everybody happy all of the time. It is strange not been able to be involved in a bitch and a moan. It is also strange when conversation suddenly stops when you walk in the room. Not because they don’t like me, but rather that I am their manager and that changes the dynamic. I did it. People now do it to me. It is just different, and rather odd.
Just as an aside, I’ll finish on something that bridges health and general interest. You cannot sue anybody for personal injury in New Zealand. No “Slips, Trips or Falls? Claim NOW!” No ambulance chasing lawyers in A&E departments. Every employee pays a small premium each month for ACC cover – Accident Compensation Scheme. If you are injured at work or on the road or wherever, this covers you for health costs, lost work time, rehabilitation expenses, whatever. It is great. Car insurance here costs us 38 pounds sterling…for the year! We thought that was the roadside assistance cover or something! At home this insurance would cost us over 1000 pounds sterling for the year, at least. Just a thought for the UK government there. New Zealand copies a LOT of English ideas but the no litigation thing is definitely something that we should try out.
Enough for now!
OK, it has not been helped by the fact that we actually didn’t do an awful lot that required the firing of brain cells in the 6 months prior to our arrival, but very busy nevertheless . New home. New car. New bank. New tax number. New job. New friends. New bills!
You come to a land 12,000 miles away from home. It looks, sounds, and smells a little like home, a lot like home at times. But there are subtle differences that sort of bite you on the arse at times and make you feel a little inadequate and stupid.
This could be wanting to know the way to the Post Office, erm, surely you mean the PostShop (not to be confused with the Postshop). There is also a clothes shop called Postie…confusing!
This could be wanting to calmly and safely turn left at a junction, until you are suddenly made clear that the car who wants to turn right into your road has priority.
This could be wanting to order a new examination bed and finally discovering that Kiwi’s call them plinths.
This could be wanting to know why why why in a country seemingly committed to bi-culturism and the Treaty of Waitangi, the Pakeha (NZ European’s/White’s) behave so badly towards the Maori (Indigenous population) - especially in private.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a fabulous country. The area we live in is doubly fabulous. The general impression is that New Zealand is a bit like England, but it WORKS. I have been so impressed by fact that people seem to enjoy their jobs and work hard. Good customer service and general cleanliness and politeness are endemic, and it rubs off. I honestly felt a little suspicious about why everyone was so nice. It really isn’t the English way. And for those of you who say it is, you are wrong, we just think we are polite, we are very wrong.
Napier itself is a place that was near levelled by an earthquake in the 1930’s, something you will be told about endlessly. The resulting rebuild created an area of almost unique ubiquitous Art Deco architecture. This is combined with the wide open streets, single level detached properties on decent plots of land, the presence of the beach and sea, Mediterranean climate, Café culture, and comparative affluence, creates an area enabling a high quality of life with a mix of almost knowing smugness. It really is very nice. Maybe too “nice” at times.
It is not the most culturally knowing place in the world or the trendiest. It really could do with some more nightlife. The high quality of life here and general relaxed pace numbs people into a very Kiwi stupor so it lacks of bit of vive about the place. I am almost paining for a bit of grime and a knife crime or five. You don’t realise just how much energy there is in British cities and how much this guides our daily lives. We are also desperately missing the BBC News and Radio, especially politics as this tends to prompt a bit of heated discussion on the sofa on our lazy evenings home. And we are missing regular contact with our friends and families.
Starting work again has of course been the biggest shock. One of the reasons for choosing New Zealand was, I thought, the relative ease within which I could slot into the health system. Although I am still sure that it must be one of the easiest countries in the world that an English trained nurse could migrate to, it has still been surprisingly hard.
I think some of this is that the NHS is not just a health service, it is very much part of the British psyche. Changes in the NHS tend to be discussed widely so knowledge of its workings tends to be become ingrained over time. I arrived in work fresh off the boat and didn’t (and don’t) have a cultural familiarisation on which to build.
Funding arrangements are very different. The British have got used to having a health system free at the point of need. I cannot tell you how dirty it felt when I had to pay for seeing a GP and then pay for each and every blood test that was ordered (I am fine BTW!). Although there are some concessions available for various groups, no Kiwi can get out of paying for a GP visit, which has led to many services been secondary care led, with hospital services facing a dual challenge from both the patient and the GP when trying to discharge care back in the primary setting.
This is a bit bonkers when you consider the distances that patients can travel in order to access health care. New Zealand is VERY rural in parts and it is not unusual for patients to travel 2-3 hours to come to my unit for treatment.
Just some idea about population density here:
Rochdale. Population approximately 200,000. Square miles approximately 20.
Hawkes Bay. Population approximately 155,000. Square miles approximately 5,500.
Crazy eh! And if you want chemo, my “Villa” is the only place you can go!
One of the major problems I have faced is, bizarrely, acronyms. I simply didn’t realise how much health staff (myself included I suppose) spoke in these riddles. It is incredibly isolating not to know the “language”, especially when I spent 3 years training and 6 years working in the “club”. PAL’s doesn’t mean Patient Advice and Liaison Service (Complaints Advocacy) but rather Payroll and….erm, see, I still don’t know! The Health Care Assistants are called Associates and don’t actually do any clinical care (a subject in itself). The Porters are called Orderlies. Estates are called BIEM’s (don’t ask, don’t know). When working with policies, procedures, contracts it is much much worse, with these bloody codes being bounced across the table like ping pong, whilst my brain slowly melts.
Needless to say the learning curve I have experienced in my new post as CNM (any guesses?) – Clinical Nurse Manager, has been so beyond vertical that I think I actually know less now than I did a month ago. There has been so much expectation about my arrival it is hard to anticipate how I will ever satisfy. There is so much to learn, and so quickly. I suddenly need to know everything about everything, when the whole focus of my previous clinical practice has been to narrow and focus and specialise. To try and do this with without an underlining foundation of knowledge in systems, language and process (which I would have in the NHS) is just overwhelming.
That said, people do seem impressed with me. Which is lovely and massively heartening. I really would have left by now if it wasn’t for the Clinical Nurse Specialist’s support and advice and encouragement. Had a major success with getting a room back from a different service resident on the Villa (6 year history, 3 weeks in and Jimbo got the builders in! Oh yes!). I also keep asking the silly questions. My general musings today in a meeting seem to have generated a renegotiation of the contract with the tertiary centre. Health staff the world over spend so much time on the minutiae of “interior design” they don’t step back and see that the building “foundations” are royally buggered and in the wrong place. It is sometimes good to be the outsider.
I am also strangely enjoying being a manager. Sometimes. Sometimes I hate it and just want to go make the patients cups of tea and make a few beds. But sometimes, sometimes it is so empowering to actually be able to make the decisions that you want making and actually get things done the way that you know things should be done. I am probably not the most natural at it in the world. I am probably too nice and always wanting consensus, but I am adapting and learning, slowly accepting that running a unit well is not about making friends and recognising that you will never make everybody happy all of the time. It is strange not been able to be involved in a bitch and a moan. It is also strange when conversation suddenly stops when you walk in the room. Not because they don’t like me, but rather that I am their manager and that changes the dynamic. I did it. People now do it to me. It is just different, and rather odd.
Just as an aside, I’ll finish on something that bridges health and general interest. You cannot sue anybody for personal injury in New Zealand. No “Slips, Trips or Falls? Claim NOW!” No ambulance chasing lawyers in A&E departments. Every employee pays a small premium each month for ACC cover – Accident Compensation Scheme. If you are injured at work or on the road or wherever, this covers you for health costs, lost work time, rehabilitation expenses, whatever. It is great. Car insurance here costs us 38 pounds sterling…for the year! We thought that was the roadside assistance cover or something! At home this insurance would cost us over 1000 pounds sterling for the year, at least. Just a thought for the UK government there. New Zealand copies a LOT of English ideas but the no litigation thing is definitely something that we should try out.
Enough for now!
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
The week that was 19/9/11- 27/9/11
Ok so it’s not quite a weekly blog but there is so much going on. We have settled into our house and managed to get it warm. No mean feat when there is no insulation and we only have three little heaters. We have worked out the vagaries of the log burner and have installed ourselves on the sofa. After 6 months even I am liking sofa time.
On the work front all is well for James. He appears to be getting into the swing of management and true to form has told his manger that the budget is wrong and he would like to change XY&Z. I think he may be a natural at this. That said he is a bit anxious still and in time he will do a special entry blog. On the Luke work front I am enjoying baking cakes, serving food and using the till. Essentially I get to cook in the morning and interact with customers the rest of the day. My ideal job apart from the pay. Although it is nice to finish work and have nothing to think about.
Our social life has taken off. We appear to know rather a lot of people. We have had a night out with James work colleagues. Had my work colleagues over for dinner and some wine, had Aaron round for dinner and more wine and had our house warming. Now that was fun. I mixed up a huge carrot cake in a 10L bucket (no pans big enough) and put on a fab display of breads and salads. The event it’s self was a lovely relaxing day. The sun came out the guest’s number 20 and the party rolled on from 1pm to 1am. We had kids running round the garden and launching stealth attacks with soft fruit on passing cars and stacking logs. We had lemons off our garden tree for G&T and we bought ice. In all we felt like proper Kiwi’s although the actual natives were not excited about our lemons as EVERYONE has a lemon tree or 3 in their gardens.
The next day we had another social event. Brunch with Ben. Unfortunately we had not factored in the clocks going forward for summer. So bleary eyed we arrived for lunch and had a good time but the food its self was crap. We sent James burger back twice as it was not cooked in the middle. It never happens at ZIG ZAG I will have you know.
After a hectic week of socialising we collapsed on the sofa for Monday but then we had another house guest James2 for more fun and relaxation. Tuesday night we managed a whole night of the sofa watching BBC downloads and listening to BBC radio. God bless the unique way the BBC is funded. The only downside is that all this Britishness may make us homesick.
So our overall we are having fun, making friends, settling into the house and getting established. We like the people (although they can be quite a racist bunch), the clean streets, the weather, lack of traffic and my new bike- Bruce. We also had good news about carol. She is home and whilst she is nowhere near right she is at least home and sleeping in her own bed. Get well soon Carol!
On the work front all is well for James. He appears to be getting into the swing of management and true to form has told his manger that the budget is wrong and he would like to change XY&Z. I think he may be a natural at this. That said he is a bit anxious still and in time he will do a special entry blog. On the Luke work front I am enjoying baking cakes, serving food and using the till. Essentially I get to cook in the morning and interact with customers the rest of the day. My ideal job apart from the pay. Although it is nice to finish work and have nothing to think about.
Our social life has taken off. We appear to know rather a lot of people. We have had a night out with James work colleagues. Had my work colleagues over for dinner and some wine, had Aaron round for dinner and more wine and had our house warming. Now that was fun. I mixed up a huge carrot cake in a 10L bucket (no pans big enough) and put on a fab display of breads and salads. The event it’s self was a lovely relaxing day. The sun came out the guest’s number 20 and the party rolled on from 1pm to 1am. We had kids running round the garden and launching stealth attacks with soft fruit on passing cars and stacking logs. We had lemons off our garden tree for G&T and we bought ice. In all we felt like proper Kiwi’s although the actual natives were not excited about our lemons as EVERYONE has a lemon tree or 3 in their gardens.
The next day we had another social event. Brunch with Ben. Unfortunately we had not factored in the clocks going forward for summer. So bleary eyed we arrived for lunch and had a good time but the food its self was crap. We sent James burger back twice as it was not cooked in the middle. It never happens at ZIG ZAG I will have you know.
After a hectic week of socialising we collapsed on the sofa for Monday but then we had another house guest James2 for more fun and relaxation. Tuesday night we managed a whole night of the sofa watching BBC downloads and listening to BBC radio. God bless the unique way the BBC is funded. The only downside is that all this Britishness may make us homesick.
So our overall we are having fun, making friends, settling into the house and getting established. We like the people (although they can be quite a racist bunch), the clean streets, the weather, lack of traffic and my new bike- Bruce. We also had good news about carol. She is home and whilst she is nowhere near right she is at least home and sleeping in her own bed. Get well soon Carol!
Monday, 19 September 2011
The week that was 12/09/11- 19/09/11
Living in a small town and being know to the gay mafia has turned James and I into somewhat of a talking point. The jungle drums had sounded our arrival before we ever even in the country, every time we go out to roger and rosses more gay men appear, gay men introduce themselves to James at work and four or so have popped into the café to say hi or discuss job opportunities. Now we think we are fab but normally our arrival does not cause a stir. That said we are young (under 65), out and new her. A rarity we have found.
Café life is still fun. Every day I bake 8 different lines of cake and then spend the day working the till, serving customers and having fun. Most of the time the banter is fab. I have never worked somewhere where it’s ok to be rude and to take the piss! We have had comments about glory holes (they are all straight apparently), love life and mad customers. Most days it’s a fairly predictable day but with the rugby in Naper there are lots of French and Canadian people. Now the French are a pain in the acre. They take an age to order and then order off menu. I would like a green salad with feta cheese, tomato and onion. That is NOT a green salad and we don’t have the on the menu. That said I smile and nod. The day before and after the rugby was another matter altogether. We were busy from 8am till 5pm, sold out of all cakes, most of the mains and at the end of the day we had plates stacked up on every available surface including the floor. Madness but fun.
On the rugby front we went to see France Canada. WOW what a match. Ok it may have rained solidly for two hours before the match and I may have booked standing room only and it was cold but it was still fun. James nearly did kill me for booking the standing but we survived. The Christchurch earth-quake meant that Napier hosted two matches. Now the stadium resembles a club rugby stadium and as such were right on the action. Simply amazing!
During our time here we may become dipsomaniacs as its wine country. Everywhere we look there are grapes growing and wineries processing them into luscious wine? We will of course go on a vineyard tour which in my opinion is just an excuse to get pissed. In the mean time we have been to one vineyard to buy some wine. Oh my it’s good and so so cheap. We bought a crate of skins wine (wine without labels direct from the vineyard) and are currently working our way through this.
The wine is not all for us by the way as we are having a house warming next weekend. Within three weeks we have met about 25 people who we have invited to the house warming. The café in which I work are supplying some of the food and we need to borrow some plates etc. but apart from that we are set.
Before our house warming we have been meeting lots of new people. We have been out for dinner with the owners of the café and been to watch the rugby with people recommended by the local gay mafia. We have learned the Roger and Ross are referred to the queen bees of Napier and they have been putting us in touch with lots of nice people. That said if we had neighbours living as close to us as we did at home tongs would be wagging. Whilst we have not been hosing wild sex parties we have had a succession of men sitting on our veranda drinking wine. Well with a small town the pubs empty or close quite early and the New Zealand way is to return home and carry on the party and that’s what we have been doing.
In amongst all this enjoying ourselves James mum has been admitted to hospital and is not well. Never have we felt so far away from home. With 11 hours’ time difference and 12,000 miles separating us from the UK it’s not been easy. We have been on the phone to Paul, Emma and Hilary, a number of nurses and consultants secretary and hopefully in time a consultant himself! We have spoken to travel agents in the uk and NZ and have come within an inch of putting James on a plane. Fortunately carol is a little more stable and James has not jetted off but it’s been a close run thing. All we can say is get well soon carol!
Café life is still fun. Every day I bake 8 different lines of cake and then spend the day working the till, serving customers and having fun. Most of the time the banter is fab. I have never worked somewhere where it’s ok to be rude and to take the piss! We have had comments about glory holes (they are all straight apparently), love life and mad customers. Most days it’s a fairly predictable day but with the rugby in Naper there are lots of French and Canadian people. Now the French are a pain in the acre. They take an age to order and then order off menu. I would like a green salad with feta cheese, tomato and onion. That is NOT a green salad and we don’t have the on the menu. That said I smile and nod. The day before and after the rugby was another matter altogether. We were busy from 8am till 5pm, sold out of all cakes, most of the mains and at the end of the day we had plates stacked up on every available surface including the floor. Madness but fun.
On the rugby front we went to see France Canada. WOW what a match. Ok it may have rained solidly for two hours before the match and I may have booked standing room only and it was cold but it was still fun. James nearly did kill me for booking the standing but we survived. The Christchurch earth-quake meant that Napier hosted two matches. Now the stadium resembles a club rugby stadium and as such were right on the action. Simply amazing!
During our time here we may become dipsomaniacs as its wine country. Everywhere we look there are grapes growing and wineries processing them into luscious wine? We will of course go on a vineyard tour which in my opinion is just an excuse to get pissed. In the mean time we have been to one vineyard to buy some wine. Oh my it’s good and so so cheap. We bought a crate of skins wine (wine without labels direct from the vineyard) and are currently working our way through this.
The wine is not all for us by the way as we are having a house warming next weekend. Within three weeks we have met about 25 people who we have invited to the house warming. The café in which I work are supplying some of the food and we need to borrow some plates etc. but apart from that we are set.
Before our house warming we have been meeting lots of new people. We have been out for dinner with the owners of the café and been to watch the rugby with people recommended by the local gay mafia. We have learned the Roger and Ross are referred to the queen bees of Napier and they have been putting us in touch with lots of nice people. That said if we had neighbours living as close to us as we did at home tongs would be wagging. Whilst we have not been hosing wild sex parties we have had a succession of men sitting on our veranda drinking wine. Well with a small town the pubs empty or close quite early and the New Zealand way is to return home and carry on the party and that’s what we have been doing.
In amongst all this enjoying ourselves James mum has been admitted to hospital and is not well. Never have we felt so far away from home. With 11 hours’ time difference and 12,000 miles separating us from the UK it’s not been easy. We have been on the phone to Paul, Emma and Hilary, a number of nurses and consultants secretary and hopefully in time a consultant himself! We have spoken to travel agents in the uk and NZ and have come within an inch of putting James on a plane. Fortunately carol is a little more stable and James has not jetted off but it’s been a close run thing. All we can say is get well soon carol!
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Oh my what a time....
30/08/11 The flat or the house…
3am and James wakes me up as he can’t stop thinking about the flat. Have we made the right decision? 30miniutes later we decide we have and James goes to sleep. Then ensues my nightmare of not being able to sleep. I hate it but by 5 I had dropped off.
The next morning we rape our bank accounts getting cash from credit cards, any current account we own and by converting any foreign currency into cash. Inevitably this takes longer then we expect and we are late to sign up for the flat. The rudest ever letting agent greets us, begrudgingly shows us the flat one more time and then we sit down ready to hand over a sizable lump of cash. We are informed the sofa could not be moved but fortunately we had decided we wanted it but the final nail in the coffin was the tenancy tenure. The landlord would not budge. This was one too many compromise on our part and we rang the letting agent we had been dealing with to give her an ultimatum. Either the landlord agreed to the tenancy type we wanted or we would walk away. We had cash in our hand, were ready to move in that day and would wait 1 hour before signing up for another property.
An hour came and went and there was no call. Walking back to Napier we stopped off at the car ladies house paid a deposit and bemoaned our situation. Theresa said we could always move into her son’s old room for a few weeks for a very small rent. We were taken aback with her kindness. Yes she’s quite mad and drinks too much but she has a heart of gold and whatever the outcome we will certainly be having a night out with her.
By midday we were at the letting agents to sign up for the house with two bedrooms that we also liked. That would be no problem normally but the landlord was in Canada and she needed his approval before we signed up. Of course he had no phone so we were at the mercy of him replying to email. Stress levels begin to rise as tomorrow is our last night of booked accommodation and James starts work the day after.
There was not much time to dwell on this as James had emails to tend to and I had a job interview with a labouring/ factory agency. I arrived whizzed through the paper work, had a chat with the chap and ended up pumping him for information about the locality. One hour later I was on the books. That said there is not too much work as Napier is still emerging from winter (ha it’s not winter it’s a British summer) but hopefully things will improve shortly.
Next up was an appointment yes an appointment at the bank to sign up for an account. New Zealand does customer service very well. There was no tapping at the computer with a monosyllabic grunt but instead we had Kim who was pleasant, engaging and very helpful. One hour later we had our joint back account numbers (no shock at a gay couple here which is not what we were expecting) had been registered on internet banking and had been shown how to do it. Our bank cards would be with us in a few days. WOW
Following this we literally ran to the post office to submit our tax forms to get a tax number. Squeezing in 5 minutes before close we were again greeted by pleasant people as opposed to some grumpy cow from the didsbury officer who is tutting and muttering about being open all day not just 5 to 5.
With these tasks done and everything registed to 8 Burns road the property we want but have not signed up for we head back to the hostel to sit with our fingers crossed. Please landlord replies to your emails otherwise we will have nowhere to live and won’t be able to go to the furniture action to buy stuff tomorrow.
31/08/11 oh god no house….
After a surprisingly restful night’s sleep I rise early and go to the letting agents to ask if the landlord has been in touch. He hasn’t. Despite my hangdog look and our desperate housing situation there is nothing she can do until he does. Even the offer of more deposit does not sway her. Feeling dejected and worried about where we are going to live I head back to break the news to James. A collective depression then forms only interrupted by the phone ringing 20 minutes later. It’s the letting agent. The end of the world is not nigh. The landlord has been in touch and we can have the flat at the slight reduced rent we wanted and we can have the tenancy type we requested.
After much whooping and professing our love to the letting agent we agree to sign up for the property at 1pm. We race to the furniture action and spend 4 hours buying stuff and ludicrously low prices. For 500 quid we furnished a half a house from plates to sofas. All we need from next week’s auction is two beds, and a fridge. Half way through the auction James slips out to sign the tenancy agreement and he retunes with keys in hand.
Never liking to make things easy we had agreed to pay for the car so we walked to the owner’s house. Now Napier is costal with a huge hill in the middle. We will live on the hill but at this point we were on one side of it and the car on the other. We could walk around the hill but this is quite a long walk. We opt for the shorter but almost mountainous walk over the hill. Some of the roads at a 70% gradient and its hot but the views from the top are fab.
30 minutes later we are at Theresa house. She is obviously well into the wine and offers us a glass. We accept and she begins to tell us lots of interesting stories. Her kids have moved out and it feels like she has adopted us and by the time we have left she has given us some kitchen ware. As I said mad as a box of frogs but lovely with it!
01/09/11 The wrong shoes
We woke nice an early ready to take James to work but disaster struck when he came to put his shoes on. He had sent one of each of our shoes to our new house and thus had odd shoes. In a state of panic he dispatched me to the house and of course I got lost. Not to worry though as Napier is small so before long I was back and we were on the way to the hospital. Disaster averted.
Our 20km journey took 20 minutes. What a refreshing change to the U.K. This coupled with beautiful views over the sea and countryside meant that we arrived in a state of calm. After a quick bogy check by James he was off and into work for his first day as a manager.
Next up our furniture was delivered to our lovely little cottage. The delivery men huffed and puffed lifting our furniture up the hill and stairs into our house but after 20 minutes all was sorted. Then came the realisation that I was not cut out for the life of a house wife. Everything had to be unpacked and washed. So boring but by the time I had finished everything looked spiffing.
Never one to sit on my bum I then filled in a job application for a role in the petrol station before heading off to collect James. His first day was judged to be a success, his team was nice and he liked the unit. That said after 6 months of not working, combined with a new role and a different system he was somewhat tired. Of for a life of leisure thought James!
02/09/11 Oh to be living somewhere nice!
After depositing James at work I headed back to the cottage to potter round and tidy some more. It’s so nice to have somewhere to live with no bag packing required. The cottage has gardens, a veranda, two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and dining room. All for $280 per week (half it to get UK money). It survived the 1920’s earth quake so has period features and solid wood floors. That said it has no heating so is pissing cold. The electric heater we got from the auction is running 24/7 but failing to keep the chill out of the air!
The afternoon was spent exploring Napier and trying to get an internet connection. In the U.K. this would be both cheap and easy. Here not so. First up its $100 per month and voderphone appears to think they are extending a massive amount of credit to us for they want copies of passports, work visa, immigration stamps etc. This we would soon discover would take a week of calls and emails to get approved but approved it would be!
03/09/11 Manly Lu
Leaving an exhausted James in bed I headed down to the auction again. We needed beds, bedding, a fridge and freezer and luckily a hotel was just being liquidated. At the auction I met Steve who had just moved over from England with his wife and 3 children. We agreed that unlike the last auction we would not bid against each other and formed a buying pact. If there was a lot that contained lots of items we would share them out and if you had the option on other beds etc. we would exercise this and sort it out later. In effect we became the English mafia spending $4000 between us.
Once we had our wares we had the problem of getting them home. The auction house could not deliver for a week and would charge us storage. Steve’s relative had a trailer but he could not tow it as he was at work. I had a car with a tow bar. In effect we were a match made in heaven. The only problem being that I had not towed a trailer before and we lived up a 75% hill with a slalom type turn on it. Not to be detailed we loaded up and spent the four hours transporting stuff to both Steve’s and our house. As we needed to empty the auction house we enlisted James support and had him sit in the sun on one of the sofas guarding our stuff whilst we delivered it.
Now Napier being a friendly place we returned after some loads to find James with a cold beer in hand and some chips to much on. The auction house had ordered food and beer in and had taken pitty on James. At the last load we were invited to Steve's relative’s house for a beer. We planned to have one but like all good plans ended up staying most of the evening. Bruce and Marian (Steve’s relatives) provided cool beer; we ate pizza and drank until it past dark. What’s more we were given a life home by Marian complete with a set of sheets, a jumper, coat and hat. Now that’s what we call hospitality!
04/09/11 Sunday in the house.
Waking up late we pottered around but found we still needed stuff so headed into Napier to hit the discount shops. After flying around for a few house we returned to our cottage for dinner and our first night on the sofa. Bliss squared!
05/09/11 Board Now
After taking James to work, checking out the gyms and trying to register with a GP I decided that I was board of having no job. Not liking to be bored I whisked up a CV relating to my student days working in a shop, bar and café and hit the streets of Napier. After passing out 50 CV’s to local businesses I received a call from Zig Zag café. Was I free to pop in and have an interview that afternoon? Was I ever? After a brief chat it was agreed that I would come the next day for a try out. Minimum wage but an income never the less and more importantly something to do.
I picked James up and told him the good news. This was received well but the enormity of being a manger was playing on his mind so it was time for a quite night in and some plotting. James will in time update the blog as to his views of work, management and New Zealand Health.
06/09/11 Try out at the café
At 11 am I duly reported to work and was thrown in at the deep end. Within a matter of minutes the café was full and I was taking food orders to tables, washing pots and having a ball. The 3 hours passed by in a blur but I was invited back the next day. Good news for me and the bank balance.
07/09/11 Promotion at the café and the gay mafia
After another manic day I got talking to the owners, a couple in their 20’s about my love of cooking and my travels. This lead onto a discussion about my ability to bake. They were looking for someone to make each of the 10 lines of cakes and savouries each day and wondered if I would like to do it. Of course I accepted as it was more hours and I got to cook. Never one to miss a trick I negated an extra $1 an hour pay rise and agreed to start the next day.
James succeeded in finishing his 2nd week and was exhausted. That said he appeared to be both loving it and hating it but time will no doubt make things become more clear. Big up the Hastings newest Clinical Nurse Manager. Brap Brap Brap.
Despite tiredness we were keen to make friends so when we were invited out by my café colleagues we jumped at the chance. Rayners and Samara, Jay, his girlfriend and son took us to the pub. We all got on like a house on fire. We are certainly being made to feel welcome in Napier.
As we mentioned previously the jungle drums had sounded our arrival before we had even got here. That’s small town living for you! This had led to a dinner invitation from a couple of gay guys. One of which was a colleague of James and the other a vineyard manager. So with some trepidation we headed up the hill to have dinner with a couple who we had only talked to on the phone. We needn’t have worried as both roger and Ross were lovely 50 something men who prepared a fabulous dinner and plied us with wine. It turned out that they were in fact part of what can loosely be described as Napier’s gay mafia. They knew all the gays, where to go and who was who. Again another lovely welcome.
08/09/11 Baking, putting myself about and food porn
With James tucked up in bead I headed to the café for my first day as baker. I was like the preverbal pig in shit. The cakes were all home-made, delicious and huge. Samara was an excellent teacher and before long I was turning out carrot cake, scones, brownies and alike.
As you know I am not shy so having met the ex-chair of the chamber of commerce in the post office I took his advice and headed to a business expo that was happening just down the road. Two hours later, lots of talking and smiling and explaining what I did I left with a fistful of business cards the owners of which had agreed to me sending them my CV. Only time will tell if anything comes of this but never the less it was fun
After work I indulged in some more food porn. I went to the shop and bought everything you can’t have when you’re living out of a bag. Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, soya sauce, fish sauce, salt pepper, baking products and alike. The experience far exceeded watching normal porn by far
09/09/11 It has started
The rugby world cup has started. Oh my god likes oh my god. What’s more we were invited to Marians and Bruse's house to watch it. Could we get any more of a New Zeeland experience? BBQ, beer and watching the rugby whilst sitting outside surrounded by lemon and orange trees. Oh yeh!
10/09/11 Domesticity and the gays
Loving our new home James decided that we should clean it and tidy up. James is not a lover of general cleaning and to be fair I hate it but when James cleans he cleans properly. After our domestic bliss we sat in our garden in the sun, read a book and relaxed. What’s more we discovered that we too have lemon and orange trees with fruit on ready to be picked.
Later in the afternoon we received a call from roger saying he had a gift for us. We suggested that he and his partner come found for dinner. The idea was accepted with slight modifications. We would make it but serve it at their house as A) they had the internet and we were due to skype carol B) they had sky and I wanted to watch the England match.
Roger popped round with our gifts… Our own little slice of home. This included English sweets, black sheep beer, bisto and a yorkie. WOW it’s like being at home. Arriving at rogers house we discovered more gay men some of home had their children. We decided that our lesanigia was not going to be big enough to feed everyone so I set about raiding our host fridge and cupboards in order to cook more food. Again bliss as they had nice plate, food and condiments allowing me to rusell up a lovely selection.
After dinner James skyped his mum whilst we got ready to watch the rugby. Now we are not overly patriotic but being so far away from home it felt important that England should win so we got behind the boys and cheered. Now this was quite a surreal experience… I have never watched the rugby with 7 gay men mainly ogling the nice men in shorts and to add the the verity show there was a little dog japing every time I cheered. Still had a fab time though!
11/09/11 Planning and reflecting
We had a Sunday morning in bed. Oh how nice. Not shared showers, no noise, coffee and food just in the fridge. Bliss. After a lazy morning we began to assess James work situation. He had lots of information, lots of questions and lots to do. We set about getting things from his head and onto paper. Whilst he was doing this I spent a delightful (yes I am sad) four hours trying to map his staffing, room and visiting doctor’s schedule and capacity.
Later that afternoon after a dinner of steak, BISTO and chips we sat reflecting on the last two weeks. We realised the we had come to a new country, found and furnished a flat, bought a car, started a job, found a job, applied for a bank account, tax number and the internet, made 15 friends, being invited out 5 times and settled into life quite nicely. Well done us!
3am and James wakes me up as he can’t stop thinking about the flat. Have we made the right decision? 30miniutes later we decide we have and James goes to sleep. Then ensues my nightmare of not being able to sleep. I hate it but by 5 I had dropped off.
The next morning we rape our bank accounts getting cash from credit cards, any current account we own and by converting any foreign currency into cash. Inevitably this takes longer then we expect and we are late to sign up for the flat. The rudest ever letting agent greets us, begrudgingly shows us the flat one more time and then we sit down ready to hand over a sizable lump of cash. We are informed the sofa could not be moved but fortunately we had decided we wanted it but the final nail in the coffin was the tenancy tenure. The landlord would not budge. This was one too many compromise on our part and we rang the letting agent we had been dealing with to give her an ultimatum. Either the landlord agreed to the tenancy type we wanted or we would walk away. We had cash in our hand, were ready to move in that day and would wait 1 hour before signing up for another property.
An hour came and went and there was no call. Walking back to Napier we stopped off at the car ladies house paid a deposit and bemoaned our situation. Theresa said we could always move into her son’s old room for a few weeks for a very small rent. We were taken aback with her kindness. Yes she’s quite mad and drinks too much but she has a heart of gold and whatever the outcome we will certainly be having a night out with her.
By midday we were at the letting agents to sign up for the house with two bedrooms that we also liked. That would be no problem normally but the landlord was in Canada and she needed his approval before we signed up. Of course he had no phone so we were at the mercy of him replying to email. Stress levels begin to rise as tomorrow is our last night of booked accommodation and James starts work the day after.
There was not much time to dwell on this as James had emails to tend to and I had a job interview with a labouring/ factory agency. I arrived whizzed through the paper work, had a chat with the chap and ended up pumping him for information about the locality. One hour later I was on the books. That said there is not too much work as Napier is still emerging from winter (ha it’s not winter it’s a British summer) but hopefully things will improve shortly.
Next up was an appointment yes an appointment at the bank to sign up for an account. New Zealand does customer service very well. There was no tapping at the computer with a monosyllabic grunt but instead we had Kim who was pleasant, engaging and very helpful. One hour later we had our joint back account numbers (no shock at a gay couple here which is not what we were expecting) had been registered on internet banking and had been shown how to do it. Our bank cards would be with us in a few days. WOW
Following this we literally ran to the post office to submit our tax forms to get a tax number. Squeezing in 5 minutes before close we were again greeted by pleasant people as opposed to some grumpy cow from the didsbury officer who is tutting and muttering about being open all day not just 5 to 5.
With these tasks done and everything registed to 8 Burns road the property we want but have not signed up for we head back to the hostel to sit with our fingers crossed. Please landlord replies to your emails otherwise we will have nowhere to live and won’t be able to go to the furniture action to buy stuff tomorrow.
31/08/11 oh god no house….
After a surprisingly restful night’s sleep I rise early and go to the letting agents to ask if the landlord has been in touch. He hasn’t. Despite my hangdog look and our desperate housing situation there is nothing she can do until he does. Even the offer of more deposit does not sway her. Feeling dejected and worried about where we are going to live I head back to break the news to James. A collective depression then forms only interrupted by the phone ringing 20 minutes later. It’s the letting agent. The end of the world is not nigh. The landlord has been in touch and we can have the flat at the slight reduced rent we wanted and we can have the tenancy type we requested.
After much whooping and professing our love to the letting agent we agree to sign up for the property at 1pm. We race to the furniture action and spend 4 hours buying stuff and ludicrously low prices. For 500 quid we furnished a half a house from plates to sofas. All we need from next week’s auction is two beds, and a fridge. Half way through the auction James slips out to sign the tenancy agreement and he retunes with keys in hand.
Never liking to make things easy we had agreed to pay for the car so we walked to the owner’s house. Now Napier is costal with a huge hill in the middle. We will live on the hill but at this point we were on one side of it and the car on the other. We could walk around the hill but this is quite a long walk. We opt for the shorter but almost mountainous walk over the hill. Some of the roads at a 70% gradient and its hot but the views from the top are fab.
30 minutes later we are at Theresa house. She is obviously well into the wine and offers us a glass. We accept and she begins to tell us lots of interesting stories. Her kids have moved out and it feels like she has adopted us and by the time we have left she has given us some kitchen ware. As I said mad as a box of frogs but lovely with it!
01/09/11 The wrong shoes
We woke nice an early ready to take James to work but disaster struck when he came to put his shoes on. He had sent one of each of our shoes to our new house and thus had odd shoes. In a state of panic he dispatched me to the house and of course I got lost. Not to worry though as Napier is small so before long I was back and we were on the way to the hospital. Disaster averted.
Our 20km journey took 20 minutes. What a refreshing change to the U.K. This coupled with beautiful views over the sea and countryside meant that we arrived in a state of calm. After a quick bogy check by James he was off and into work for his first day as a manager.
Next up our furniture was delivered to our lovely little cottage. The delivery men huffed and puffed lifting our furniture up the hill and stairs into our house but after 20 minutes all was sorted. Then came the realisation that I was not cut out for the life of a house wife. Everything had to be unpacked and washed. So boring but by the time I had finished everything looked spiffing.
Never one to sit on my bum I then filled in a job application for a role in the petrol station before heading off to collect James. His first day was judged to be a success, his team was nice and he liked the unit. That said after 6 months of not working, combined with a new role and a different system he was somewhat tired. Of for a life of leisure thought James!
02/09/11 Oh to be living somewhere nice!
After depositing James at work I headed back to the cottage to potter round and tidy some more. It’s so nice to have somewhere to live with no bag packing required. The cottage has gardens, a veranda, two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and dining room. All for $280 per week (half it to get UK money). It survived the 1920’s earth quake so has period features and solid wood floors. That said it has no heating so is pissing cold. The electric heater we got from the auction is running 24/7 but failing to keep the chill out of the air!
The afternoon was spent exploring Napier and trying to get an internet connection. In the U.K. this would be both cheap and easy. Here not so. First up its $100 per month and voderphone appears to think they are extending a massive amount of credit to us for they want copies of passports, work visa, immigration stamps etc. This we would soon discover would take a week of calls and emails to get approved but approved it would be!
03/09/11 Manly Lu
Leaving an exhausted James in bed I headed down to the auction again. We needed beds, bedding, a fridge and freezer and luckily a hotel was just being liquidated. At the auction I met Steve who had just moved over from England with his wife and 3 children. We agreed that unlike the last auction we would not bid against each other and formed a buying pact. If there was a lot that contained lots of items we would share them out and if you had the option on other beds etc. we would exercise this and sort it out later. In effect we became the English mafia spending $4000 between us.
Once we had our wares we had the problem of getting them home. The auction house could not deliver for a week and would charge us storage. Steve’s relative had a trailer but he could not tow it as he was at work. I had a car with a tow bar. In effect we were a match made in heaven. The only problem being that I had not towed a trailer before and we lived up a 75% hill with a slalom type turn on it. Not to be detailed we loaded up and spent the four hours transporting stuff to both Steve’s and our house. As we needed to empty the auction house we enlisted James support and had him sit in the sun on one of the sofas guarding our stuff whilst we delivered it.
Now Napier being a friendly place we returned after some loads to find James with a cold beer in hand and some chips to much on. The auction house had ordered food and beer in and had taken pitty on James. At the last load we were invited to Steve's relative’s house for a beer. We planned to have one but like all good plans ended up staying most of the evening. Bruce and Marian (Steve’s relatives) provided cool beer; we ate pizza and drank until it past dark. What’s more we were given a life home by Marian complete with a set of sheets, a jumper, coat and hat. Now that’s what we call hospitality!
04/09/11 Sunday in the house.
Waking up late we pottered around but found we still needed stuff so headed into Napier to hit the discount shops. After flying around for a few house we returned to our cottage for dinner and our first night on the sofa. Bliss squared!
05/09/11 Board Now
After taking James to work, checking out the gyms and trying to register with a GP I decided that I was board of having no job. Not liking to be bored I whisked up a CV relating to my student days working in a shop, bar and café and hit the streets of Napier. After passing out 50 CV’s to local businesses I received a call from Zig Zag café. Was I free to pop in and have an interview that afternoon? Was I ever? After a brief chat it was agreed that I would come the next day for a try out. Minimum wage but an income never the less and more importantly something to do.
I picked James up and told him the good news. This was received well but the enormity of being a manger was playing on his mind so it was time for a quite night in and some plotting. James will in time update the blog as to his views of work, management and New Zealand Health.
06/09/11 Try out at the café
At 11 am I duly reported to work and was thrown in at the deep end. Within a matter of minutes the café was full and I was taking food orders to tables, washing pots and having a ball. The 3 hours passed by in a blur but I was invited back the next day. Good news for me and the bank balance.
07/09/11 Promotion at the café and the gay mafia
After another manic day I got talking to the owners, a couple in their 20’s about my love of cooking and my travels. This lead onto a discussion about my ability to bake. They were looking for someone to make each of the 10 lines of cakes and savouries each day and wondered if I would like to do it. Of course I accepted as it was more hours and I got to cook. Never one to miss a trick I negated an extra $1 an hour pay rise and agreed to start the next day.
James succeeded in finishing his 2nd week and was exhausted. That said he appeared to be both loving it and hating it but time will no doubt make things become more clear. Big up the Hastings newest Clinical Nurse Manager. Brap Brap Brap.
Despite tiredness we were keen to make friends so when we were invited out by my café colleagues we jumped at the chance. Rayners and Samara, Jay, his girlfriend and son took us to the pub. We all got on like a house on fire. We are certainly being made to feel welcome in Napier.
As we mentioned previously the jungle drums had sounded our arrival before we had even got here. That’s small town living for you! This had led to a dinner invitation from a couple of gay guys. One of which was a colleague of James and the other a vineyard manager. So with some trepidation we headed up the hill to have dinner with a couple who we had only talked to on the phone. We needn’t have worried as both roger and Ross were lovely 50 something men who prepared a fabulous dinner and plied us with wine. It turned out that they were in fact part of what can loosely be described as Napier’s gay mafia. They knew all the gays, where to go and who was who. Again another lovely welcome.
08/09/11 Baking, putting myself about and food porn
With James tucked up in bead I headed to the café for my first day as baker. I was like the preverbal pig in shit. The cakes were all home-made, delicious and huge. Samara was an excellent teacher and before long I was turning out carrot cake, scones, brownies and alike.
As you know I am not shy so having met the ex-chair of the chamber of commerce in the post office I took his advice and headed to a business expo that was happening just down the road. Two hours later, lots of talking and smiling and explaining what I did I left with a fistful of business cards the owners of which had agreed to me sending them my CV. Only time will tell if anything comes of this but never the less it was fun
After work I indulged in some more food porn. I went to the shop and bought everything you can’t have when you’re living out of a bag. Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, soya sauce, fish sauce, salt pepper, baking products and alike. The experience far exceeded watching normal porn by far
09/09/11 It has started
The rugby world cup has started. Oh my god likes oh my god. What’s more we were invited to Marians and Bruse's house to watch it. Could we get any more of a New Zeeland experience? BBQ, beer and watching the rugby whilst sitting outside surrounded by lemon and orange trees. Oh yeh!
10/09/11 Domesticity and the gays
Loving our new home James decided that we should clean it and tidy up. James is not a lover of general cleaning and to be fair I hate it but when James cleans he cleans properly. After our domestic bliss we sat in our garden in the sun, read a book and relaxed. What’s more we discovered that we too have lemon and orange trees with fruit on ready to be picked.
Later in the afternoon we received a call from roger saying he had a gift for us. We suggested that he and his partner come found for dinner. The idea was accepted with slight modifications. We would make it but serve it at their house as A) they had the internet and we were due to skype carol B) they had sky and I wanted to watch the England match.
Roger popped round with our gifts… Our own little slice of home. This included English sweets, black sheep beer, bisto and a yorkie. WOW it’s like being at home. Arriving at rogers house we discovered more gay men some of home had their children. We decided that our lesanigia was not going to be big enough to feed everyone so I set about raiding our host fridge and cupboards in order to cook more food. Again bliss as they had nice plate, food and condiments allowing me to rusell up a lovely selection.
After dinner James skyped his mum whilst we got ready to watch the rugby. Now we are not overly patriotic but being so far away from home it felt important that England should win so we got behind the boys and cheered. Now this was quite a surreal experience… I have never watched the rugby with 7 gay men mainly ogling the nice men in shorts and to add the the verity show there was a little dog japing every time I cheered. Still had a fab time though!
11/09/11 Planning and reflecting
We had a Sunday morning in bed. Oh how nice. Not shared showers, no noise, coffee and food just in the fridge. Bliss. After a lazy morning we began to assess James work situation. He had lots of information, lots of questions and lots to do. We set about getting things from his head and onto paper. Whilst he was doing this I spent a delightful (yes I am sad) four hours trying to map his staffing, room and visiting doctor’s schedule and capacity.
Later that afternoon after a dinner of steak, BISTO and chips we sat reflecting on the last two weeks. We realised the we had come to a new country, found and furnished a flat, bought a car, started a job, found a job, applied for a bank account, tax number and the internet, made 15 friends, being invited out 5 times and settled into life quite nicely. Well done us!
Saturday, 3 September 2011
Falling in love with a flat and indecision
29/08/11
I set off early on the flat hunt. By 10 am I had visited 4 letting agents and discovered there was not much on the rental market… oh dear. Well unperturbed I viewed 5 houses 3 of which were clapboard and falling down. One on the hill was lovely with wooden floors, big garden, and two bedrooms. The other was a furnished flat to die for. I woke James with this news and we headed off to see the flat. Yes it was only one bed, yes it was expensive but we loved it. That said we thought we better view the other houses as arranged. We needn’t have bothered as none of them made it into the final list.
Not only do we need a flat but we need a car and as fiat would have it we were walking past a car for sale as we headed to our next viewing. Theresa the owner was mad as a box of frogs but lovely. We got the details and asked if we could take it for a test drive. She said sure and handed us the keys. She appeared to be more than happy for us to take it and return it later. This was just too much for us and we insisted on her coming too. Our test drive was to our next viewing and by the time we were there we agreed that we would buy the car subject to being able to insure it after all it was a 1992 Subaru 2 litre monster!
So after the last viewing we had narrowed our wish list down to two. Our heads said the two bed house on the hill which was bigger but the location not quite as good. Our hearts said the flat that was furnished (right down to cutlery) had a gym and pool and a fab location but was much more expensive. Much talking and list making then followed and eventually we decided to be frivolous subject to 4 conditions being met. 1) The rent came down by $50per week, 2) we could move in the next day, 3) the tenancy was a 3 month periodic tenancy; 4) the landlord would take away the sofa so we could install a sofa bed. We rang the letting agent and the answers were not what we wanted. Condition 1) down by $30, 2 was a yes, 3 and 4 we would have to wait until the next day. Despite this we wanted this property so only time would tell.
Next up was car insurance. Insuring a 2 litre Subaru in the UK would be a costly business even just on a third party basis. Here it was $80. Madness. So of course we agreed to buy the car but we would have to drip feed the cash to the owner as we can only get so much each day.
30/08/11 The flat or the house…
3am and James wakes me up as he can’t stop thinking about the flat. Have we made the right decision? 30miniutes later we decide we have and James goes to sleep. Then ensues my nightmare of not being able to sleep. I hate it but by 5 I had dropped off.
The next morning we rape our bank accounts getting cash from credit cards, any current account we own and by converting any foreign currency into cash. Inevitably this takes longer then we expect and we are late to sign up for the flat. The rudest ever letting agent greets us, begrudgingly shows us the flat one more time and then we sit down ready to hand over a sizable lump of cash. We are informed the sofa could not be moved but fortunately we had decided we wanted it but the final nail in the coffin was the tenancy tenure. The landlord would not budge. This was one too many compromise on our part and we rang the letting agent we had been dealing with to give her an ultimatum. Either the landlord agreed to the tenancy type we wanted or we would walk away. We had cash in our hand, were ready to move in that day and would wait 1 hour before signing up for another property.
An hour came and went and there was no call. Walking back to Napier we stopped off at the car ladies house paid a deposit and bemoaned our situation. Theresa said we could always move into her son’s old room for a few weeks for a very small rent. We were taken aback with her kindness. Yes she’s quite mad and drinks too much but she has a heart of gold and whatever the outcome we will certainly be having a night out with her.
By midday we were at the letting agents to sign up for the house with two bedrooms that we also liked. That would be no problem normally but the landlord was in Canada and she needed his approval before we signed up. Of course he had no phone so we were at the mercy of him replying to email. Stress levels begin to rise as tomorrow is our last night of booked accommodation and James starts work the day after.
There was not much time to dwell on this as James had emails to tend to and I had a job interview with a labouring/ factory agency. I arrived whizzed through the paper work, had a chat with the chap and ended up pumping him for information about the locality. One hour later I was on the books. That said there is not too much work as Napier is still emerging from winter (ha it’s not winter it’s a British summer) but hopefully things will improve shortly.
Next up was an appointment yes an appointment at the bank to sign up for an account. New Zealand does customer service very well. There was no tapping at the computer with a monosyllabic grunt but instead we had Kim who was pleasant, engaging and very helpful. One hour later we had our joint back account numbers (no shock at a gay couple here which is not what we were expecting) had been registered on internet banking and had been shown how to do it. Our bank cards would be with us in a few days. WOW
Following this we literally ran to the post office to submit our tax forms to get a tax number. Squeezing in 5 minutes before close we were again greeted by pleasant people as opposed to some grumpy cow from the didsbury officer who is tutting and muttering about being open all day not just 5 to 5.
With these tasks done and everything registed to 8 Burns road the property we want but have not signed up for we head back to the hostel to sit with our fingers crossed. Please landlord replies to your emails otherwise we will have nowhere to live and won’t be able to go to the furniture action to buy stuff tomorrow.
I set off early on the flat hunt. By 10 am I had visited 4 letting agents and discovered there was not much on the rental market… oh dear. Well unperturbed I viewed 5 houses 3 of which were clapboard and falling down. One on the hill was lovely with wooden floors, big garden, and two bedrooms. The other was a furnished flat to die for. I woke James with this news and we headed off to see the flat. Yes it was only one bed, yes it was expensive but we loved it. That said we thought we better view the other houses as arranged. We needn’t have bothered as none of them made it into the final list.
Not only do we need a flat but we need a car and as fiat would have it we were walking past a car for sale as we headed to our next viewing. Theresa the owner was mad as a box of frogs but lovely. We got the details and asked if we could take it for a test drive. She said sure and handed us the keys. She appeared to be more than happy for us to take it and return it later. This was just too much for us and we insisted on her coming too. Our test drive was to our next viewing and by the time we were there we agreed that we would buy the car subject to being able to insure it after all it was a 1992 Subaru 2 litre monster!
So after the last viewing we had narrowed our wish list down to two. Our heads said the two bed house on the hill which was bigger but the location not quite as good. Our hearts said the flat that was furnished (right down to cutlery) had a gym and pool and a fab location but was much more expensive. Much talking and list making then followed and eventually we decided to be frivolous subject to 4 conditions being met. 1) The rent came down by $50per week, 2) we could move in the next day, 3) the tenancy was a 3 month periodic tenancy; 4) the landlord would take away the sofa so we could install a sofa bed. We rang the letting agent and the answers were not what we wanted. Condition 1) down by $30, 2 was a yes, 3 and 4 we would have to wait until the next day. Despite this we wanted this property so only time would tell.
Next up was car insurance. Insuring a 2 litre Subaru in the UK would be a costly business even just on a third party basis. Here it was $80. Madness. So of course we agreed to buy the car but we would have to drip feed the cash to the owner as we can only get so much each day.
30/08/11 The flat or the house…
3am and James wakes me up as he can’t stop thinking about the flat. Have we made the right decision? 30miniutes later we decide we have and James goes to sleep. Then ensues my nightmare of not being able to sleep. I hate it but by 5 I had dropped off.
The next morning we rape our bank accounts getting cash from credit cards, any current account we own and by converting any foreign currency into cash. Inevitably this takes longer then we expect and we are late to sign up for the flat. The rudest ever letting agent greets us, begrudgingly shows us the flat one more time and then we sit down ready to hand over a sizable lump of cash. We are informed the sofa could not be moved but fortunately we had decided we wanted it but the final nail in the coffin was the tenancy tenure. The landlord would not budge. This was one too many compromise on our part and we rang the letting agent we had been dealing with to give her an ultimatum. Either the landlord agreed to the tenancy type we wanted or we would walk away. We had cash in our hand, were ready to move in that day and would wait 1 hour before signing up for another property.
An hour came and went and there was no call. Walking back to Napier we stopped off at the car ladies house paid a deposit and bemoaned our situation. Theresa said we could always move into her son’s old room for a few weeks for a very small rent. We were taken aback with her kindness. Yes she’s quite mad and drinks too much but she has a heart of gold and whatever the outcome we will certainly be having a night out with her.
By midday we were at the letting agents to sign up for the house with two bedrooms that we also liked. That would be no problem normally but the landlord was in Canada and she needed his approval before we signed up. Of course he had no phone so we were at the mercy of him replying to email. Stress levels begin to rise as tomorrow is our last night of booked accommodation and James starts work the day after.
There was not much time to dwell on this as James had emails to tend to and I had a job interview with a labouring/ factory agency. I arrived whizzed through the paper work, had a chat with the chap and ended up pumping him for information about the locality. One hour later I was on the books. That said there is not too much work as Napier is still emerging from winter (ha it’s not winter it’s a British summer) but hopefully things will improve shortly.
Next up was an appointment yes an appointment at the bank to sign up for an account. New Zealand does customer service very well. There was no tapping at the computer with a monosyllabic grunt but instead we had Kim who was pleasant, engaging and very helpful. One hour later we had our joint back account numbers (no shock at a gay couple here which is not what we were expecting) had been registered on internet banking and had been shown how to do it. Our bank cards would be with us in a few days. WOW
Following this we literally ran to the post office to submit our tax forms to get a tax number. Squeezing in 5 minutes before close we were again greeted by pleasant people as opposed to some grumpy cow from the didsbury officer who is tutting and muttering about being open all day not just 5 to 5.
With these tasks done and everything registed to 8 Burns road the property we want but have not signed up for we head back to the hostel to sit with our fingers crossed. Please landlord replies to your emails otherwise we will have nowhere to live and won’t be able to go to the furniture action to buy stuff tomorrow.
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Just follow me sir…
28/08/11-
Boarding the plane late on the 27th we were treated to a fab inflight safety video which confirmed just how rugby mad the New Zealanders are. In essence the safety message was based around the game of rugby. We were also given score updates for the Australia New Zealand rugby match that was taking place whilst we were in the air.
Upon landing in wellington at 12.05 on the 28th August we disposed of our contraband cheese sandwich in the biohazard bin and proceeded to immigration. As entering Australia had been hassle free we had not bother to print off the visa. Mistake one. This did not please the immigration official but after some suspicious looks and questions we were allowed into the baggage claim hall. Whist I was collecting a trolley a customs official specifically sought out James and began to question him. He took our landing cards and with a flourish marked our cards with a red pen and told us he would see us once we had collected our bags. Ominous.
Thinking the official was just being officious we were fairly calm as we waited to exit the baggage queue but upon doing so we heard those dreaded words “please follow me sir.” The customs official had reappeared and directed us to the searching room and directed us to put the contents of our pockets on a table the James commented looked like an autopsy bench. Oh shit. We were going to be searched. The signs and environment mead out that the authorities were happy to turn us away for an infringement, of which there were many listed
The officer then proceeds to check our passports and write things in his note book. Things were not looking good and we are beginning to become worried and everything feels a bit official. Next up he begins questioning us about where we had been, whether we had contraband, what tablets we had, what drugs were in the bags all the while recording our answers in his book. He then decided that he is going to swab our personal possessions for drugs residue and gives us one last chance to confess ito carrying a kilo of heroin or such like in our bags. By now I am a bit shaky and the colour has drained from James face. Why us. What have we done. Thank god we did not have any free booze on the plane. Oh we don’t like this…
The officer asked us whose iPod is whose and does anyone else use it. Always being together we say we are sharing everything. This is not what he wanted to hear but it the truth. The swabbing takes place and when feeing the cloth into the reader it makes a hideous beeping sound and paper shoots out of the printer. This does NOT look good- we are NOT going to getting in!
We knew that we had not knowingly been in contact with drugs and there were none in our bag. Without this knowledge I think we would have fainted. The officer came back and again questions us again about our drug use whilst on holiday and in the UK. Had we bought drugs in the golden triangle (the Asia back packing route) were we sure there were no drugs in our bags etc. “Would you like to tell me what drugs you are carrying in your bags guys?” None we stutter. We are not sure he beleves a word we are saying.
Ominously he takes our passports into the back leaving us to sit outside in front of a two way mirror. Despite not having done anything wrong we are becoming nervous. Will our time in New Zealand end before it starts. Will we be cavity searched? Will we be put in a holding cell, will the round the world ticket cover a trip home, how quickly can we organise flights back… Our minds were racing. 10 minutes later he returns with our passports and is satisfied that they are genuine and we have not been in trouble. He then goes on to ask could we explain why there were small traces of MDMA (ecstasy) on the IPod and high traces on the money belt. We could not and our denials must have been akin to watching a teenager deny what appears to be the truth. Something must have convinced him as he then decided to let us into NZ - we did not need asking twice to leave the airport, after passing through the bio-security scanning machines of course.
Once at the hotel we were somewhat shaken up. We knew that we did not have a kilo of heroin or some such but never the less it was not a pleasant experience. We deduced that one of the lockers in which we had been storing our valuables must have had MDMA residue inside it but knowing this did not make us feel any better. What a nice welcome to New Zealand- the place of the friendly people. Well everyone but customs officials.
Oh god its 8am and time to get up again for our next flight. Sleep had not come easily the night before so we were not exactly refreshed. That said we were soon boarding a small plane for the hop over the Napier. Our initial impressions were that it was beautiful from the sky. That said the less then optimistic outlook of the taxi driver combined with our tiredness and the route she took left us worrying that we had made a massive mistake. Was Napier just too small??
After check in we went to explore and found that Napier was not as quiet and small as had been suggested. A second hand market soon cheered us up and before long we were buying mismatched plates and glasses. The afternoon was spent searching out rental properties, visiting food shops, buying simcards and having an early night. Still a bit jittery though.
In all the last 24 hours can certainly not be described as boring.
Boarding the plane late on the 27th we were treated to a fab inflight safety video which confirmed just how rugby mad the New Zealanders are. In essence the safety message was based around the game of rugby. We were also given score updates for the Australia New Zealand rugby match that was taking place whilst we were in the air.
Upon landing in wellington at 12.05 on the 28th August we disposed of our contraband cheese sandwich in the biohazard bin and proceeded to immigration. As entering Australia had been hassle free we had not bother to print off the visa. Mistake one. This did not please the immigration official but after some suspicious looks and questions we were allowed into the baggage claim hall. Whist I was collecting a trolley a customs official specifically sought out James and began to question him. He took our landing cards and with a flourish marked our cards with a red pen and told us he would see us once we had collected our bags. Ominous.
Thinking the official was just being officious we were fairly calm as we waited to exit the baggage queue but upon doing so we heard those dreaded words “please follow me sir.” The customs official had reappeared and directed us to the searching room and directed us to put the contents of our pockets on a table the James commented looked like an autopsy bench. Oh shit. We were going to be searched. The signs and environment mead out that the authorities were happy to turn us away for an infringement, of which there were many listed
The officer then proceeds to check our passports and write things in his note book. Things were not looking good and we are beginning to become worried and everything feels a bit official. Next up he begins questioning us about where we had been, whether we had contraband, what tablets we had, what drugs were in the bags all the while recording our answers in his book. He then decided that he is going to swab our personal possessions for drugs residue and gives us one last chance to confess ito carrying a kilo of heroin or such like in our bags. By now I am a bit shaky and the colour has drained from James face. Why us. What have we done. Thank god we did not have any free booze on the plane. Oh we don’t like this…
The officer asked us whose iPod is whose and does anyone else use it. Always being together we say we are sharing everything. This is not what he wanted to hear but it the truth. The swabbing takes place and when feeing the cloth into the reader it makes a hideous beeping sound and paper shoots out of the printer. This does NOT look good- we are NOT going to getting in!
We knew that we had not knowingly been in contact with drugs and there were none in our bag. Without this knowledge I think we would have fainted. The officer came back and again questions us again about our drug use whilst on holiday and in the UK. Had we bought drugs in the golden triangle (the Asia back packing route) were we sure there were no drugs in our bags etc. “Would you like to tell me what drugs you are carrying in your bags guys?” None we stutter. We are not sure he beleves a word we are saying.
Ominously he takes our passports into the back leaving us to sit outside in front of a two way mirror. Despite not having done anything wrong we are becoming nervous. Will our time in New Zealand end before it starts. Will we be cavity searched? Will we be put in a holding cell, will the round the world ticket cover a trip home, how quickly can we organise flights back… Our minds were racing. 10 minutes later he returns with our passports and is satisfied that they are genuine and we have not been in trouble. He then goes on to ask could we explain why there were small traces of MDMA (ecstasy) on the IPod and high traces on the money belt. We could not and our denials must have been akin to watching a teenager deny what appears to be the truth. Something must have convinced him as he then decided to let us into NZ - we did not need asking twice to leave the airport, after passing through the bio-security scanning machines of course.
Once at the hotel we were somewhat shaken up. We knew that we did not have a kilo of heroin or some such but never the less it was not a pleasant experience. We deduced that one of the lockers in which we had been storing our valuables must have had MDMA residue inside it but knowing this did not make us feel any better. What a nice welcome to New Zealand- the place of the friendly people. Well everyone but customs officials.
Oh god its 8am and time to get up again for our next flight. Sleep had not come easily the night before so we were not exactly refreshed. That said we were soon boarding a small plane for the hop over the Napier. Our initial impressions were that it was beautiful from the sky. That said the less then optimistic outlook of the taxi driver combined with our tiredness and the route she took left us worrying that we had made a massive mistake. Was Napier just too small??
After check in we went to explore and found that Napier was not as quiet and small as had been suggested. A second hand market soon cheered us up and before long we were buying mismatched plates and glasses. The afternoon was spent searching out rental properties, visiting food shops, buying simcards and having an early night. Still a bit jittery though.
In all the last 24 hours can certainly not be described as boring.
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