'Sup

Hello!

I'm writing this from our mates' flat, where they've kindly let us crash the night before we leave Auckland tomorrow! We've had a real busy week getting jobs done and chilling out. In classic fashion we wrote a list and I'm very chuffed to say we have ticked them all off.

My mum phoned me and I've lost my jus.

We leave tomorrow for the East, and we're bloody excited.

In a bit

hello

Good evening.

Life has been very good the last month. Having a car is equal luxury and necessity, allowing us to get up to some really cool things over the weekend. We went to Piha Beach, on the west coast, the beach famous for 'Piha Beach Rescue', a true Kiwi staple of television involving surfers getting dragged out and kids getting lost. We took a walk to the Kitekite Waterfall, a 6 tier jobby which was stunning. We've been to Waiwera Hot Pools, an industrial swimming pool complex though with hot water, a cinema and slides. We had a picnic by the beach. We walked round Western Springs, and visited the Butchers, which makes Countdown meat look like stuff of imitation. We also stumbled upon a Provincial Rugby game, Auckland v Northland, a friendly game for the upcoming ITM cup, and casually there were a few All Blacks playing. I've come to really love rugby here, the appetite for it is insatiable. If one of the ABs doesn't have a game at the weekend for whatever reason, he'll pop down to his local club and play 80minutes with the boys. Today's (Monday's) sport news was opened with build up to the AB's V Wallabies game on Saturday, pipping the Athletics World Champs, the Ashes, The Community Shield, the NRL, the US PGA  and Nadal beating Djokovic down the ranks. I watched the Chiefs beat the Brumbies to a second Super Rugby title, and fucking loved it. Down the pub, it was nerve-racking and brilliant.

My friend Toto has gone back to Brazil for the first time in 7 years, so we had a man-date consisting of Pool, a metre pizza and then to the civic, a beautiful and tacky theatre. There was a film on for the NZ film Festival, The Spectacular Now, which was very enjoyable. It was like a semi-art house coming of age movie, pretty generic though very well done, though the star of the place was the Civiv. It got re-done for the filming of King Kong, was very 'kitsch', though my favourite part was the ridiculously high ceiling where they mapped out the stars in fairy lights, only properly, so if the film got a bit slow I just looked up, it was stunning.

Part  of the reason life has been very good recently is that Auckland Life is coming to an end. Auckland has been very good to us, and can see myself living here in the future, though not just yet. We both are scratching at the door to start living life a bit more, rather then just zombie-ing through the weeks, with the previously distant goal of saving money, buying a van and going on an adventure. There's light at the end of the tunnel. We've written a final 'to-do' list, consisting of 30odd things that we have to slowly tick off. It reminds me a bit of when I went away first time round, slight nerves, the uncertainty, though I remind myself that I've done it before and it was the best decision I ever made, there's no need to be scared of the unknown, everything will be alright.

I'm really looking forward to having no obligations in my life. I'm fed up of being on Auto-pilot, of not having many imaginative thoughts, of waking up in the morning knowing what I'm going to do today and being unexcited about it, only to go to bed feeling no sense of achievement. I miss walking down streets I haven't walked down before, just for the sake of it. Or looking at shit differently, like buildings and trees and finding them marvelous, instead of pounding the same streets cursing work and wondering what I'm gonna cook for dinner.

I'm looking forward to seeing Hannah properly and happy. We see each other so sporadically that I think we feel pressured to do something worthwhile, something of note to tell each other and ourselves about when we recall what we got up to at the weekend. I'm looking forward to not being tired. Being able to get up whenever we want, and be able to go to bed early without the foreboding predictability of tomorrow lurking over. I'm looking forward to reading more, and simultaneously being able to spell again. Recently I've felt thick, uninteresting, kinda like my personal weather has been overcast. I'm really starting to get excited again, my travelling batteries are re-charged, patience has come back, freedom has become desired again. All of the amazing things I did prior to NZ seems like ages ago, like they happened to a different person. Where I've been in Auckland a while now, I don't feel amazed with NZ, and it's something I can't wait to rectify.

So yeah, things are going good. A little bit up and down, the waiting, the excitement, the nerves and panic of lots of things to get done which, no matter how well you try and manage it, tell yourself you're being silly, get drunk, just ignore it, still creeps in. Though the thing I'm most looking forward to is getting time back, by almost pretending it doesn't exist. Time to do whatever we want. Whenever someone asks me what I want for Christmas/Birthday etc, I have to fight the urge not to say Bernard's Watch.

Lots of love x

We have a high sense of self-Estima!

I also published 2 posts today, so read the one below if you're pedantic about chronological order...

Hello. My Mum emailed me letting me know I hadn't updated this for a while and more often then not she's right, writing it for her, Dad and Ali plus the handful of lovely friends that keep tabs on my ramblings, plus writing it for me in the future to remind me what a awesome time I had, no doubt in 15years I'm shaking my fist at my younger self wanting more detailed updates.

We've had a hectic month. It's been pretty routine-y though has certainly had it's highlights. We both are starting to get itchy feet, as well as cold feet as it's been really fucking cold here at times. Work is getting Hannah down a bit, she's ready to move on. So in order to be in a position to do so we wrote a to-do list, partly because I'm still a child and find it hard to do stuff unless it's written down and I can show someone I've accomplished something.

The coolest update is we bought a van. A Toyota Estima, 1996 and cloudy-green glass colour. It's the first ever car we've both owned. Hannah's brother kindly took us to the car market where we had a look at a few of them and found this one, 115k and unconverted. The bloke selling it was a dealer though didn't say he was, he was the trusting bastion of being half Greek and half Russian. We got it checked out by a Mechanic who said it was one of the better ones he seen, and in true Cheeseman fashion went to work haggling. Out of pure stubborn-ness I spent 10mins knocking an additional 50bucks off as I wasn't keen on the bloke, then as me and Hannah got the dosh out the ATM I got my maths wrong and overpaid him the $50.

It's lovely having a car, it's been raining and Hannah has booked a couple of Sundays off so we've got a few things planned. Going to do a Tree Rope adventure course in nice weather, go to the hot springs in bad weather, and going to Countdown doesn't take half a morning and look like an amateur version of Worlds Strongest Man, both of us with a couple of bags in each hand staggering forwards in vests and the lip between the teeth, blood drew. We need to sort out insurance and then start converting it. At the moment it's got 7 seats which is cool. About six of us are planning a Ski Weekend away in the mountains, and would be really cool to go down in one car and have a right laugh.

Other cool things to happen, we polished off the Star Wars films. Now started on the Terminators! Football has been good, we had 2 byes, lost one and won the most recent one. Went to Footy training tonight and smashed a beauty, a proper ISS 98 style volley. Been boot-camping Tuesday and Thurs, really enjoying it and getting fitter. Haven't been to Yoga in a while, we have a 6 session ticket thing for a place in Newmarket, should start going again. Went the Theatre last week, my mate Toto was in a play called Cat and Mouse, was very good, hung out after with his friends, some very cool and interesting people who have done interesting shit. I spoke to the bloke who wrote and directed the play, was a lovely chap, he's written a few things for Kiwi TV and was thinking of moving to LA as his dream is to write for the Simpsons.  I found it refreshing to meet someone with an ambition that he was trying to realise. I'm still waiting for lightening to strike, inspiration on what to do with myself. I'm not that fussed about it right now, I'm having a ball achieving my short term ambition (have lots of fun and do cool shit) though would be nice.

Our Flatmate Bex moved out today, she's starting Uni and a room got free with her friends so she's off. We have a new girl moving in shortly, a textiles working called Zoe.

I got my NZ driving license. In the most dreary AA building I took my completed forms, photocopy's and money to the lady behind the desk, who looked almost as dreary as the building, and waited while she did her thing. I passed the weird Eye test thing, which has three lines of letters though both Adam and Simon could only see two and somehow cheated and passed. Then it came to the photo-taking bit. She sat me in the chair, perked right up and said "I want your happy drunk face". I obliged thinking she'll get me to do the standard mug shot straight after, but no. So my license came and looks like this...

Good night x

Polar Blast!

Hello, I wrote this a couple of weeks ago though didn't push the 'publish' button because I'm special

NZ is being hit with a Polar Blast at the moment, snow is hitting the coasts and it's fucking cold and rainy. They're calling it a 'weather bomb'. I went to boot camp though it pissed it down with cold rain and wasn't feeling it, so ran home to eat, cooking up a mean roast.

I'm kinda failing at posting weekly though they're hard to keep track of at the moment. I only know it's been a couple weeks since I last posted as we've played footy twice, loosing 2-1 and drawing 2-2. It's been a good two weeks. Went to the pub to watch the ABs then smashed Hannah at darts. Been enjoying yoga, we finished the original trilogy of Star Wars (I might have made a Darth Vader finger puppet at work the day after...), 

It's been quite an interesting couple of weeks of news for NZ. Normally I don't care much for news, it's a showpiece of how fucked we are. Although I've grown to love Kiwi news, how it very much is Kiwi news, so most sport pieces start with the ABs or Warriors, or the news starts with the weather here or some other quirky story. Like recently a English kid fell 15 floors trying to drop into his balcony from his neighbour's flat above. Only in NZ would a lady let a strange drunk man into her flat at 2am when he says he wants to drop down into his balcony like it's a normal thing. The kid didn't even scream. Somehow he'll make a full recovery. 

Or Sky TV have lost the rights to the English Premier League. They've lost it to a new Internet company who will provide every single game live and on demand with a variation of packages from 3-5 bucks a week. That's 380 games for at most $200 a year. I found this really interesting. Firstly, this only cost them a reputed $600,000 (this number may be wrong), and Sky said that was too expensive. Secondly, they narrowly beat a new free to air sports channel. Also normal TVNZ1 will show a game each week, as well as an hour highlights show every Monday. NZ has just become a little more attractive to live in!

Also a burglar was robbing a house and bumped into a hung up body in the dark, scared the shit out of him and called the police.

*I've also been coerced into saying I didn't smash Hannah at darts, it was her first time and she improved rapidly.

I still like you Liz

We had a 3 day weekend just gone for the Queen's birthday and had a cracker.

Played football Saturday, smashed them 7-0 then cooked Hannah dinner and had a quiet one. Had a great day Sunday, went to Nikau Cave, 2hours out of Auckland almost on the west coast, on Farm land where this family found a cave full of Glow-worms, Staglamites (sp?) and Stagalitites (sp?), was awesome. Drove down with Adam, Sarah, Johnny and Katherine. They roasted their own coffee down there, which was awesome, and had a super special pizza. The caving bit was really cool, mostly following the stream, in some bits thigh deep, including a special squeezed bit (specially for Adam who's a big bloke), where we slipped between and crack and crawled through a 15m tunnel Army-Style in the water. Had a great day. Monday was spent chilling and we started looking at Vans.

During the week we yoga'd, went to Boot Camp where I attempted to join the 500 club, 100 Squats, Sit ups, Burpees, push ups and 20m shuttles in 25min, I failed, managed 423 all together, next time... Work   has been good, went out for drinks on Friday with the team, had a mate over for dinner and a movie, seen a lot of Hannah as her roster has been very kind to us recently. We also went to the FoodStore for our friend Liz's birthday, had Paua to start (devine, like a posh seafood Chowder) then me and Hannah shared a venison and an Eye fillet. It was a great evening round a big table, with Liz and friends, as well as her partner's family.

Other stuff you may want to know or I may want to read again in a few years time or whenever...

- My 'Smart'-phone reset itself for some reason, losing all my photo's. My fault as I didn't back them up so not going to cry or moan about it, though had some really cool shots in and around Auckland. Sunsets, rainbows, landscapes, my Darth Vader Cake that Shelley made me, a few funny pics of people, the massive Santa on Queen St - (Ali, I don't know how to use Hannah's Mac, so if you Google Map 'Queen St', on the intersection of Queen and Victoria St, you can't miss it, it's the 50ft Santa...). Also had some really cool pics of sporting events, all 3 international England Black Caps Cricket games, where during the breaks they let everyone on the pitch so you see 300 games of mini cricket, rugby and football which was awesome, Super15 Rugby, Provincial Rugby, an NRL game, they were cool.

- It's been 2 years since I left home. Today is Day 734. Fuck yeah. I remember in my first couple of weeks of traveling talking to Pat (of Pat and Ellie fame, the Aussie's whom I spent most of Italy with. Ellie met a English boy she liked, Tom, who was with magician Josh, and he liked her, and now she's in Southampton with that boy and Pat's engaged!) Anyway, talking to Pat about why I'm traveling and the grand plan I had before myself, how my attitude was 'I'm never going to be able to do this again so I'm doing it now', and he said that was bollocks and was a rubbish way of thinking and not true, and I had me a little epiphany. *Sorry - my flat isn't the most soundproof and upstairs are having a bit of sex, I say 'bit'... So yeah, have had a great two years.

- Hannah had never seen Star Wars (I know...) so we're watching the Original Trilogy at the moment and loving them, and then no doubt have to watch the prequels out of curiosity only to be disappointed yet consoled by Revenge of the Sith.

This is a Vid that two mates made of their trip, the Daves, from the 'No Shave-a-Asia' and the Game of Fives fame. We met these two boys in Hoi An and took them for a jaunt on our bikes. It's a cool vid, with some bits that I really like, such as casually riding a bike through Asian countryside or beautiful new mountain roads, stumbling upon neat urban areas or hidden waterfalls, sitting in the back of a Pick up (I'm surprised there were no manic tuk-tuk rides in it). There's better done vids out there, though  it's cool how I know these two, they don't try too hard and have a great time.

Hello again

It's sad but true that one of the reasons I haven't updated this is because I couldn't think of a witty/half original blog title post... and that was annoying me, so I thought if I left it I'd stumble upon something, though haven't so we're back to 'Hellos'.

We've had a very good couple of weeks, relatively quiet in a busy way. We went to a posh restaurant for a friend's birthday dinner, went to a mate's sci-fi dance play, been to yoga, been to boot camp, played football a few times, had some more metre pizza, seen some friends, visited Zeffa's for a coffee (I think I spell his name differently every week but he's class), seen a fair chunk of Hannah, had Hokey Pokey and Bacon ice cream, had some drinks, went to footy training, seen some films... we've done loads though struggling to remember it all.

In a similar vein, yesterday was the end of my first year in NZ. I'm not really in a writing mood so not going to attempt anything too meandering or contemplative, though it's been a fucking good year.

Auckland's great, in a take it for what it is yet look round the edges sort of way, like this  vid.

And I got my Visa!

love x

May I get my Visa extension, please...

The week was a mixed one, started off quite good, enjoyed my days, handed my visa extension application in, went to boot camp, though I then came down with something and felt like shit.

I had half of Wednesday off, Thursday and Friday off, which sucked as it was Hannah's Birthday at the weekend, and we were going to go down and do the Tongariro Crossing with Adam and people. They still went and had a great time, with cracking weather.

So this is how the weekend should have gone...

Saturday morning wake up lazily, go for a walk up Mt Eden on a crisp morning with a Zepher coffee in hand, before having a posh brunch and having a nap. Then walking into town, tucking into a little Italian place and sharing two meals, then watching the new Star Trek, which would have been fantastic.

Sunday would have been spent chilling out before heading into town and doing the SkyWalk, 192m off the ground, harnessed in enjoying a beautiful sunset, leaning out back and forward and it would be fucking high. Then we would go round Hannah's brother for a amazing dinner with friends and a natter.

Alas that wasn't our weekend, it was spent in bed or sat down, watching the Batman Trilogy, reading and sleeping. And my football team lost 6-0, our first loss of the season.

Here's traffic in Hanoi, a crazy place to buy a bike and ride around

May...

So it's May and Winter has truly set in, I dusted off the Duffle coat yesterday, we closed the windows and it's been raining so much Football was cancelled because in parts of the fancy artificial pitch we were shin deep in water. Apart from the rain it's been a good week, mixed things up at work with an 'engagement' 2 day thing, where all the teams came together and chatted, did some cool things including have a tour of Sky City's restaurants and it's inner workings, plus a nice Chinese and some drinks.

Chilled out the rest of the week when not at work, went to my friend Ari's graduation ceremony, helped ourselves to champers and canapes... Friday night cooked Hannah a Roast and fell asleep during 'the Illusionist'. The weekend was pretty quiet, had a 5pm kickoff so not much during the day, watched 'Looking for Eric' with our flattie Bex, the Eric masks cracked me up, then went to the game though was called off so had a beer with some of the lads and back to chill out with Hannah.

 Sunday headed off to Oaklands to say goodbye to Gorgeous Alex, who's heading back to France, then hung out at Adam's, Sarah's, Gary's, Ari's and Simon's gaff, did a top notch lasagna and watched Game of Thrones as it was pissing it down, then played Futsal, lost 5-3 to a not great team before coming home to a butternut squash risotto that Hannah rustled up. I missed playing 11-aside footy last week, and not playing this week as it's Hannah's birthday, but this makes up for it, the most Sunday League Goal Ever, complete with the Goalie kicking the post...

The days of April

Hello,

It's Monday night and have a good week since we last spoke. I'm pretty knackered atm, just got back from football training, gonna watch the Crowd goes Wild in a min before crashing out.

We had a great week, both Monday and Tuesday night was spent with Hannah, Hannah did home-made fish and chips which were brilliant, and Tuesday I boot camped, she ABT'd and then we Yoga'd. Had another good session, really enjoying it. Wednesday was a complete chill out getting ready for thursday...

Which we had off for ANZAC day. Hannah worked it so Adam picked me up and along with his mrs Sarah and Simon went off for a walk around Hunua ranges, saw the waterfall and went for a wander up to a reservoir, had a great time. On the way back stopped off for Manwich material and ate too much, before getting shipped off home and walking into town in the drizzle to meet Toto and go see Apocalypse Z. We had a drink before then went to the show, it was an immersive Zombie play, and thought it was shit, no real story, some cool camera shots, but it was people shouting at each other and the crowd were knobbers. It was in this made up space, and reminded of a theme park queue for Hostel at Thorpe park, only done worse.

Friday was back at work for a pretty laid back one, got a metre pizza with Toto, yep, it's a normal pizza by the metre, in it's metre box, magic. Then met up with Hannah for a couple of drinks down Mezze bar and met Shelley, Jenna and Graham for dinner at Tony's steakhouse, had a good evening. Walked home, watched some more Wire.

The weekend was a good one, lazed saturday morning away before playing football. We played top of the league though we did them 3-2, should have won by more. Sat night I cooked Hannah dinner, a decent pork belly thing, then we went to see Olympus has Fallen, which was dreadful. Maybe worse then The Sweeney, which in turn was worse then Taken 2...

Sunday was spent chilling round my friends, cooked them some dinner, watched some Game Of Thrones and played Futsal in the evening, winning 7-3, I played in goal as our keeper was away and didn't do half bad. Spent the rest of the evening watching the last episode of Season1 of the Wire (!).

Here's an example of why I love the Crowd Goes Wild

April try to write this on a Monday like I said I would...

But I was having fun with Hannah, so Wednesday will have to do ya.

So it's Wednesday and I'm doing great.

Had a really good start to the week last Monday, Hannah's family over here had us over their new place, had a chat and they cooked a decent curry before watching Argo together, loved it. Tuesday night was our 3rd week of Yoga, I skipped Bootcamp as still hobbling from my knock though I got the most Zen I've been. I've become a lot more aware of what my body does and the strains put on it, trying to sit up straighter and all that. The rest of the week flew by, had a good week at work and chilled out with Hannah. Have been eating very well, would say I'm the healthiest I've been at the moment and feel great, am really happy.

The Week-end was football-less, had a bye, so knowing how to show Hannah a good time took her to Countdown, the supermarket, not the TV Show and made a decent breakfast, got coffee from Zepher (this dude who runs a espresso bar down the road) and chilled out. In the evening went round mates and had a few drinks while watching How to Train your Dragon, (loved it) and walked home in the early hours and skype'd the mother.

Sunday was spent as Sundays should be, doing very little and enjoying it immensely. Went round friends and chilled out, then went home and cooked Hannah a Roast Dinner and putting on a film.

Things are grand at the moment, I'm really happy. It's been quite a settled, routine-y life the last couple of months, though have really enjoyed it and mixed things up nicely. We're slowly getting more connected and having the chance to get to know people better. We have quite a few cool things lined up for the coming weeks, and while rain has set in, Auckland is no less alive. I've quite enjoyed the change in scenery, different constructions of cloud, putting on some layers, or marveling how quickly this place changes weather (the other day it was raining though I couldn't see a cloud in the sky, it was blue as, and there was a rainbow in front of me).

To sign off on something topical - I'm not sure if you've seen or heard of this speech though it's massive here, not solely for the (brilliant) content, though because Ellen DeGeneres wants this dude on her show after making this speech, and Kiwi's love their Ellen...

April showers - it rained today, and yesterday, like being home

Hey y'all 

Things are going good here, had a great weekend. Started Friday night with a couple of beers with some people from work, then had my mate Shaun round ours for a cracking dinner. Up early on Saturday for my second part of my medical, I passed with almost everything bang in the middle of the acceptable ranges. I dragged Hannah with me for it and had a stunning brunch at this artesan bakery/cafe, they made their own bread and cured Salmon and it was divine. We squeezed in an episode of the Wire and I went off for Football. We won 2-0, as well as missing a penalty, though I picked up a knock from some knobber. That evening got picked up by Simon and met up with Matt and Eden, went round to some of our Irish friends and walked round to Eden park, to watch the Blues beat the Hurricanes in teh super rugby. 

Sunday was a complete chill out, lazed with Hannah and made breakfast, went round Adam's and peoples, hung out, played Playstation, cooked them all dinner and watched a movie before heading home. I was still hobbling a bit so gave football a miss, so watched some more of the Wire with Hannah. 

The week was the usual but a good one, boot camp, chilling with Hannah, watched Trance (loved it then hated it) and played in goal for our Futsal Side on a thursday. Also bought some tickets to walk around the SkyTower, 192m of the ground with no handrails, you're harnessed in, going to take Hannah on a nice day! 

Much love 

April!

Another Monday and another month.

I've just come home from seeing Trance, still don't know what I thought of it.

Weekend was really good, involving breakfasts and coffees with Hannah, football started in the afternoon which was great, we won 2-1 and it was a good bunch of lads and we knocked the ball about nicely. Sat night was spent chilling out and stocking up in Countdown. I watched the Saints play lovely against Reading, and crashed out. Sunday was much the same, chilled out at Ari's and Gary's, played futsal (lost 10-2 and might have got sent off....) but was a good laugh.

The week started off well, boot camping and then straight off to Yoga with Hannah, to start a beginners course. I'm as good at yoga as I am at Swimming, something which Hannah loved. In a relaxed crouch on your knees the instructor came round and told me to sit up as "you don't look comfortable, love".

On the Wednesday me and Hannah went to the Basement Theatre, to see a play called Dolly Mixture which my mate Toto was working on, one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen, in places very funny, in places flat out creepy verging on the scary. A tale of a weird man being taken in by a eccentric old lady with intent to resurrect her disturbed dead daughter... I still don't know what I thought of it, though we had ice cream after and had a great evening!

Chilled out the rest of the week, watched the first episode of The Wire, loved it, boot camped, getting fitter and cooked some decent food.

love you all x

The long March goodbye...

Hello April!

This week's entry is a bit late as we had a 4 day weekend over here, and was busy.

Last week was really good, hanging out with Hannah, going to Boot Camp, had friends over for dinner which was grand.

Then Thursday finished work early, our Welsh friend Simon took us to the Airport and me and Hannah flew to Wellington. It was Robyn's birthday, a Canadian I met in Burma (who's come to NZ to live), so we crashed at hers, had a great weekend consisting of eating, drinking, meeting up with Amy and James and also meeting Robyn's friends, and drinking.

Saturday Robyn took me to a boxing class, (I can't throw a left hook...), me and Hannah booked flight tickets home for Chrimbo! and we had a good night out. It's been slightly weird as they have rules about the religious holidays, with lots of things closing, on Sunday you could only drink alcohol with food out, and on Saturday they practically kicked us out at midnight, though we planned for it and got on it early.

Sunday was a chill out day, a big brekkie and a wander round the town. I like Wellywood, though am glad we live in Auckland.

Be back next week, any suggestions for titles with April in?

Much love x

Oh, when the Saints go March-ing in.

I'm well chuffed with that Post Title...

We've had a really good week and a great weekend. During the week I worked, boot-camped, chilled out with Hannah, watched some movies and went to the Theatre!

My mate Toto worked some wizardry and sorted out tickets to see One Man, Two Guv'nors, showing as part of the Auckland Arts Festival. We met up before hand and had some food, a little Japanese place which was top notch, plus a Moroccan Mint  tea in this really cool cafe/bar place, then watched the Play. It was a farce, lifting the plot of The Servant of Two Masters (an Italian play which me mum dragged me and my brother to go see it in some wanky manor, by an AmDram group and it was fucking awful, we left as soon as it started raining and bitched the thing all the way home, though my mum insisted that she saw a version when she was younger and was in stitches.) Well this was set in Brighton in the 60s and it was fucking amazing. I loved it, was really funny, well acted, I had an Ice Cream and a lift home, don't know what more you could ask for in a evening.

Saturday I got my Medical done, so far so good, got to go back to see a Doctor in two weeks, then we had a decent Fry up and bumped into my friend Jenna, who I used to work with, then hung out and played Fifa. Me, Adam and Gary started getting on it, went into town and had a cracking night out.

Sunday felt like a mess, we chilled out in the morning then went to watch the Test Cricket at Eden Park. I got some free tickets from work in the Corporate box and me and Hannah went along. The corp seats weren't the greatest, teh Barmy Army were 30 ft underneath 5ft of concrete so couldn't hear anyone, it was proper sterile, so we sneaked through a couple of doors into general admission and played musical chairs, sitting between the Barmy Army in the sun and then places a bit more quiet in the shade. It wasn't the most interesting though was good to be outside, was a lovely day and spent some decent time with Hannah.

Futsal that evening, didn't play my best, and my boots are turning into a football version of Darth Vader, more Duct tape/super glue/electrical tape then actual boot. We lost 6-5 to a shit team, and I didn't even score. That evening Hannah cooked steak and Kumura mash with Garlic Mushrooms and had a quiet one.

We're still in Drought, and Autumn is setting in. It's getting a bit nippy in the mornings, have to wear a jumper on the walk into work now, and night is setting in earlier, getting dark about 8.

I'm looking forward to the coming week, catching up with some friends for dinner, then heading to Wellington on Thurs evening with Hannah for the Easter Weekend, seeing some friends and having a night out and maybe even an ice cream...

March...of the penguins (?)

Sup!

Had a great week, the North Island was officially labelled in a Drought, with some scary space shots of NZ akin to the Middle East. Though it rained all weekend...

Had a nice and relaxing weekend with Hannah, having Coffee together with Hannah's brother and his missus, watched the Raid, like an Indonesian Die Hard, went out for a chippy and watched the Warriors (rugby league) game at Eden Park. It was the first league game I've been to, wouldn't go back as found it boring, though the crowd were pretty funny and it was reasonably full house so enjoyed it.

Sunday was more chilling out, had Hannah's family round for a roast lamb and chilled out, played football in the evening and watched Barney's version. And Saints won (football - or Soccer Football as they call it over here), though England got spanked (Rugby - or footy as they call it here).

The week was a good one, work was alright, and in the evenings saw Hannah, didn't go to Boot Camp as knackered and tight from the run, went round Adam's, Simon's and Sarah's and we had another roast dinner and watched a film which was good craic. Thursday I went to the Breakers (basketball) game at NSEC, work got me some tickets to say thanks for doing a good job which was proper nice of them, Hannah was working so took my mate Shaun and had a great time.


Things are going well, enjoying life and having a great time.

much love x

The March Goes On

Our weekly updates continue!

Had an amazing weekend! Saturday spent it with Hannah, mixing it up with laundry and pastries, beers and mexican with our friend Robyn who was up from Wellywood, meeting Hannah's brother and his fiancee and having a lovely BBQ with Liz with some more beers.

Great preparation for a 8.5km run. Me, Gary, Ari and Adam did Round the Bays, NZ's largest sporting event with over 70,000 people. Was amazing, felt like an antelope in a stampede (we didn't kill Mufasa). We got there about 8 and it didn't start till half 9, and where I had attempted to rehydrate like a mofo as soon as we started I sprinted 250m to Maccas, accidentally went into the JungleGym and had the longest piss in the world, (not in the jungle gym) before running out and pounding the tarmac in just over 45 minutes. It was my first semi-long run and enjoyed it.

The rest of the day was taken up with reverse carbo loading, cycled round to Gary's to mooch about, went back and cooked Hannah and myself dinner, then went and played football. We had a shocker, going 3-0 down to an own goal and a keeper nutmeg, and a poor backpass. We switched on in the last 2 minutes, scored a good goal, I got a poachers special and we had chances to get the equaliser and fucked it. 

The week before the weekend was good, work, boot camp, saw The Sweeney which was dreadful, worse the Taken 2. DREAAAADFUL. 

The weather is amazing, we're classed as being in a drought which is terrible for the farmers (and probably us next year)  though love it. Hannah's really good and we're great. Also I forgot to mention last week, I went to two England NZ Cricket games, we won both! 

Much love, and Happy Mothers day Mum, you're so good they named a day after you. 

...MARCH?!

Hello.

So it's March 2013, who knew. I know I've made a few mutterings and broken promises about getting round to this more often though I'm going to start updating this once a week, more then likely on a Monday, to cover the weekend in all it's glory, with the week of work a fade on the memory. This is because sadly my computer died. Black Screen. Sad face. I managed to salvage my blog through wizardry, though I haven't wrote a daily post for over 2 weeks.

• I'm really good! Have been easy on the alcohol and going to bed early-ish and feeling great

• Me and Hannah are going really well, we're eating like Kings and seeing a semi decent amount of each other, we went to our friend Ari's graphic design show last week with everyone, it was great. 

• I've started playing football again which is good, signed up for both sat afternoons and Sunday Futsal, and yesterday played SUBfootball, a rather brilliant game of football with no contact whatsoever, small goals which are worth 3 points and a metre board either side of the post which are worth 1 point. I love a bit of contact me though you relied a bit on skill, had a bit more time and was a very fun game to play, plus no injuries almost ever! Somehow I got sin-binned for 5 minutes for a barge on a player, the most ridiculous decision ever made, going up for a header, with eyes only for the ball, I jump with arms down, a bigger bloke comes from the side and gets no where near it, I win the ball, we collide, I land and he's on the ground flat out, and the Ref sends me off for barging. Disgrace. 

• Me and Hannah are going off to Wellington for the Easter Break, looking forward to that, it's my friend's Birthday, Robyn that I met in Burma, which will be good.

• We've got a new flatmate, a cool girl named Bex, moved in yesterday.

That's it really, been playing tennis, no bootcamp for me last week as I got a head knock playing Futsal (we had an rather intense game against some teenagers, sneaking the win 6-5!), chilling out, seeing friends, I'm loving life.

36 days after Christmas

Hello. It's been 43 days since my last post on here and a fair bit has gone on. We've had a really good start to the year, as most people reading this are from the UK I'll put them in priority order; Weather has been really nice, days are long, sky is clear and pretty, stars shine. (The plough/big dipper is upside down here, fascinating). Me and Hannah have managed to spend a fair chunk of time together which has been lovely. Walks, beaches, meals out, cinema, meals in, racing, playing catch, reading, it's been great. The other great thing has been Auckland. It's very easy to dismiss Auckland as ugly and boring, and that the best things to do in Auckland is to get out of Auckland as there's so many great things to do and see within an hours drive, though I don't feel that way. Auckland still manages to surprise and impress me, we've been exploring round places we've never gone to before (Parnell Baths), mixing it up and loving it. Well done Auckland. Work has also seen some positive steps and given me quite a lot to think about, as well as having my best mate from England stay with us, Jason. I've just seen him off on the airbus, the liability.

• Christmas and New Year was amazing. Instead of presents and stuff me and Hannah had a few really nice days in a van seeing the East Coast. We went down to Mt Maunganui, beached, saw an incredible sunset, had some nice food, then to the Coromandel, where we got the tail end of a Typhoon so did the only thing we could have done when being attacked by Forest Gump rain, we went to the hot pools, complete with fake caves with fairy lights as glow worms and a plastic volcano. 
• Christmas eve we drove back, had the glamorous experience of Pak 'N' Save, then Christmas day Hannah's friend came over in the morning, then Adam, Gary, Ari, Simon and Rebecca came over, we all bought food and had a buffet, a few drinks and Trivial Pursuit. (Though the American version which was just stupid). Boxing day (or St Stephens day for you Brian) was spent at Bethell's Beach in the rain which was magic. Felt like walking in a poem.
• New Year Eve's was a quiet low-key affair (which at the moment is my favourite ke. Alicia, you're second) where me and Hannah had a proper nice dinner (lamb shanks with red wine and herbs and shit) and went up Mt Eden for the fireworks off the Sky Tower. I bloody love the Sky Tower, and one day I'll tell you why. 
• I'm also a year older writing this to you. I had a really nice day, me and Hannah went out the day before bowling and playing pool, then on my Birthday it was off to work. I got some balloons, some cards and a quirky (bizzare) Tic Tac Toe set featuring Kiwi birds and Seagulls, which sits pride of place at my desk. Hannah did a great job, with tickets to the England-Black Caps cricket games, some shaving stuff, a loofer and Yorkies! I know Nestle are bastards but I do love Yorkies (and Kit Kat Chunkies). Jason arrived on my birthday with tales a-plenty, then went out the next day with everyone, co-celebrating Ari's birthday. Thanks also for the birthday messages and cards!
• I had some positive news today at work, I'm switching over jobs where Shelley's leaving,  (Sad to see Shelley go, she's awesome) into a more admin role which I'm looking forward to. It's given me a fair bit to think about what I'm doing in the next year because...

The original plan was to do a ski season down south somewhere as a liftie. That would mean being apart from Hannah, which I'm not sure I'm willing to do now. She's here till August at her job, then can be on a tourist Visa. I still haven't done the South Island, nor lots of things that I want to do round the north as well. There's also the dream of Bee-keeping and working with animals/butchery which I'd like to do.

 It was my second Christmas away from home though it still feels strange, and have pencilled in next Christmas as a time to go back and see alot of people who are very important to me. Then there's the dream of the North to South Bike Ride (it's still a dream as I haven't yet started riding, haven't even got my shoes yet, but it's gonna happen). And then Australia.     (with bits of Asia I haven't seen, South America at some stage, North America  (cycle?) envisioned as part of 'this' trip, and university always an option). 

Thinkings, thinkings, thinkings. It's amazing how in my head such a short term decision (staying in Auckland for a year or going to do a ski season) seems to throw off balance and timing for my long term rough plannings, and me being pedantic lots of things bounce around, such as Working Holiday Visa restrictions for  Canada, where do I want to 'settle down' and will I get to live in Antarctica? 

*You see I'm thinking here, and have been oooh-ing and aaaah-ing where to go next in this update, which direction to take it, the self aware/faux-profound approach or just to sign off and give Robyn a call. Well fuck it, you've been brought up well and go with first instinct!

Fuck it. Stop worrying you prick. All that matters is you're happy, and if you're not happy you make a decision to change to be happy and you follow it. I always think that I'm tied to things, that I can't do something because of some reason, which is bollocks. Getting a glass of milk during work the TV caught my attention and this American dude in some hideous reality TV show said something like "Everything we do in life is measured, and only if it's measured can we find out if your life is a success". Which is a fucking horrible sentence, and an even worse state of mind. You can't measure a rainbow, and rainbows bring nothing but happiness. 

So there's my first Brain-Dump of the year, it's not perfect but nothing ever is. I feel lighter and happier. Hope you all (all 4-9 of you who are awesome, that care and read this) have a great year, and feel free to brain-dump on me if you need someone.

Lots of love

x

7 days till Christmas!

Hello!

So there's 7 days till Christmas. I'm looking forward to Christmas hugely, although it doesn't feel overly like Christmas. Firstly it's hot, which is still weird, secondly how am I supposed to know when Christmas is? I haven't had an advent calender this year...

Work's been pretty busy though still going well, settling in. Had a couple of Christmas dos, we had a big company one at SkyCity which was really good, everyone in posh dress (I was going to put fancy dress though that would be the wrong connotations), I had a really good time.

I'm lucky to have 16 days off over Christmas and New Year. Hannah has got some time off work so we've hired a van for a few days and heading east! I haven't seen a lot of Hannah what with work so well happy about it. Chilling out, freedom, some time away. Also east Coast NZ is the first place in the world to see the sun, so might have to see a sunrise if we can manage.

Christmas day people are coming over to ours, we're having a picnic and then a big meal. I like Christmas, spending it around people you love. It's also nice to look back on, as everyone remembers Christmas. I can't believe it's been a year since the last one, being part of Christmas Eve Mohawk Club, or the one before, round my dads xmas day and mum's boxing day, all with my brother and his gf. Crazy!

Lots of love
x

sidenote -

Once again I apologise for a severe lack of posting, although not for the rambunctious drunken previous entry, being drunk is not an excuse or a defence and I think it reflects how I was feeling perfectly, although the actual blog for that day may never see an unedited light of day...

Just to confirm, I'm not a waster, nor living on the streets or sliding down the slippery slope to the land of disappointment.

• I got a job! I knuckled down (finding a job is a full time job) and secured one through an employment agency. It's in the city, working within a good team on the phones, dealing with dairies (cornershops), bakeries, cafes etc who are wanting to buy bread/milk etc from us. I like it there.
• My Mum came to visit! My mum was over for 5 weeks, it was lovely to see her, she had a jaunt round the South Island on her own, then came back up. Work, bless them, let me have 2 weeks off (having only worked there for 3 weeks) to spend around the North Island. It was amazing, covered a decent distance, from Cape Reinga all the way to Wellington, then back up to the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula and returned to Auckland. Highlight was Skydiving, doing the highest jump in NZ with Mum from 16,500ft.  Also went up the Sky Tower (my favourite building of Auckland, I'll one day get round to telling you why), where we ate at a revolving restaurant at a height of 194m.

I was back at work Monday, saw Mum off on Tuesday morning and getting back into the flow of life. Have really enjoyed this week, Hannah has had a few evenings off which has been lovely, went out for dinner followed by an ice cream bar for dessert, walked up Mt Eden, returned to boot camp. 

It's Friday night, and while I've been sat a computer screen all day, I've spent my evening on a computer, completely alone for the first time for a good, good while, catching up with things, long overdue emails and general schemings. I'm looking forward to the weekend, nothing really planned, catch up with friends and sleep. 

Lots of love x