30 October 2009
Things I miss
I miss my daily hit of quesadillas! Actually I miss the all round goodness of the food I ate in Auckland!!!
I am satisfying the requirements of bureaucracy.
I got my bank account sorted today and applied for my Tax File Number so to be honest I'm pretty pleased with myself. I also spent about two hours down at Circular Quay just reading and drinking water and listening to my iPod. It sounds dull but the fact is that it was 24 degrees here and sunny and I could. I hope you're all OK in your coats, hats and scarves.
I have a job interview on Monday at a wine bar so please all cross your fingers for me.
I moved hostels cos the one I was at last night was rubs and now I'm happier. I think the sun might have contributed to that. Anyway I am settling in again, even though I'm all alone, boohoo for me and my princessy ways.
P.S. I will give prizes to people who guess who BeautifulGerman is as there's a photo on Facey B.
I have a job interview on Monday at a wine bar so please all cross your fingers for me.
I moved hostels cos the one I was at last night was rubs and now I'm happier. I think the sun might have contributed to that. Anyway I am settling in again, even though I'm all alone, boohoo for me and my princessy ways.
P.S. I will give prizes to people who guess who BeautifulGerman is as there's a photo on Facey B.
Ciao for now, New Zealand
I'm actually writing this blog post in my notebook ready to transcribe later. Man, I miss writing on paper; it's ace. Anyway...
So today I am finally going back to Sydney. Actually I'm sitting in departures looking at all the planes taking off and loading and things. I'm such a geek; I don't think I'll ever get bored of watching them because planes are amazing. FACT. This kid's just walked past with one of the little model planes they give to children. I want one. Maybe I'll mug him for it.*
I think I'm a jinx to weather - it's warm and sunny and lovely in Auckland today and I bet it'll be pouring with rain when I get to Sydney! I slept really badly last night: I don't think I'm taking too well to being on my own again after being with such cool people and having a little family these last weeks. I'll also admit I've been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too lazy but as it's now job time it's not huge problem. As long as I don't do it all the time, obviously. Being at YHA in Auckland with such a big group of people has been amazing. Although loads of people have come and gone, we've had a really cool if ever changing crew. It's weird because at home I'm so much more comfortable in small groups ad here I've been sitting around a table for dinner with sometimes 12 or 13 of us after a big cooking session.
Actually this guy Ollie turned up the other night and we were doing dinner for 10 and we always take up loads of the kitchen, so we're using sometimes 3 hobs and the whole bench on one side. We whack my iPod on and drink beer whilst we all chop, cook and taste (lots of, 'I just want to see that it's seasoned!') Anyway, this Ollie guy was standing there repeating how awesome the camaraderie and atmosphere was. It was only then that I realised actually how brilliant it was even when I wasn't cooking and therefore had to be DishBitch.
As a result of all this, I do feel a very tangible sense of loneliness again. I'm sure it won;t last long but it's still not the greatest thing in the world. My hostel in Sydney is fully booked so I currently have nowhere to sleep tonight. Ah well! Tomorrow is going to be laborious; I have to get my TFN and sort a bank account before I go and get me some gainful employment so that I can get somewhere to live that doesn't involve me living out of a rucksack for the next four months or whatever.
Hm, I think that's enough rambling now. OH! Except for one thing - I had quite possibly the most cheesy thought ever the other day. I think (I hope) it's because of the song I'll Be Seeing You by Billie Holliday. It occurred to me that when I look at the moon or when the sun is shining, it's the same moon and sun that everyone back home sees. Anyway, since then I keep looking at the moon to remind me of people from home. I know, it's so sappy but actually I don't care.
On the plane now (which, bizarrely, has an all male crew) so over and out from New Zealand.
*To be clear, I neither attempted to nor seriously contemplated this.
So today I am finally going back to Sydney. Actually I'm sitting in departures looking at all the planes taking off and loading and things. I'm such a geek; I don't think I'll ever get bored of watching them because planes are amazing. FACT. This kid's just walked past with one of the little model planes they give to children. I want one. Maybe I'll mug him for it.*
I think I'm a jinx to weather - it's warm and sunny and lovely in Auckland today and I bet it'll be pouring with rain when I get to Sydney! I slept really badly last night: I don't think I'm taking too well to being on my own again after being with such cool people and having a little family these last weeks. I'll also admit I've been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too lazy but as it's now job time it's not huge problem. As long as I don't do it all the time, obviously. Being at YHA in Auckland with such a big group of people has been amazing. Although loads of people have come and gone, we've had a really cool if ever changing crew. It's weird because at home I'm so much more comfortable in small groups ad here I've been sitting around a table for dinner with sometimes 12 or 13 of us after a big cooking session.
Actually this guy Ollie turned up the other night and we were doing dinner for 10 and we always take up loads of the kitchen, so we're using sometimes 3 hobs and the whole bench on one side. We whack my iPod on and drink beer whilst we all chop, cook and taste (lots of, 'I just want to see that it's seasoned!') Anyway, this Ollie guy was standing there repeating how awesome the camaraderie and atmosphere was. It was only then that I realised actually how brilliant it was even when I wasn't cooking and therefore had to be DishBitch.
As a result of all this, I do feel a very tangible sense of loneliness again. I'm sure it won;t last long but it's still not the greatest thing in the world. My hostel in Sydney is fully booked so I currently have nowhere to sleep tonight. Ah well! Tomorrow is going to be laborious; I have to get my TFN and sort a bank account before I go and get me some gainful employment so that I can get somewhere to live that doesn't involve me living out of a rucksack for the next four months or whatever.
Hm, I think that's enough rambling now. OH! Except for one thing - I had quite possibly the most cheesy thought ever the other day. I think (I hope) it's because of the song I'll Be Seeing You by Billie Holliday. It occurred to me that when I look at the moon or when the sun is shining, it's the same moon and sun that everyone back home sees. Anyway, since then I keep looking at the moon to remind me of people from home. I know, it's so sappy but actually I don't care.
On the plane now (which, bizarrely, has an all male crew) so over and out from New Zealand.
*To be clear, I neither attempted to nor seriously contemplated this.
28 October 2009
Wonderful novelties
I just got an abusive email about how I'm whinging about things that I miss so to make a point (I love making points!) this is to rectify the situation.
Beer. There is a plethora of beer to choose from and all of it is good. Especially the trivia questions inside the Tui and also the fact that the beer is twist off so you don't have to look for a bottle opener every five minutes.
The vegetation here is really interesting and it's cool, because there are these tropical trees in amongst the evergreens and (I think this is what they're called) deciduous trees.
I like the fact that it's normal to play pool here and there are pool tables everywhere. It's weird because in England the pubs have maybe one pool table hidden away if at all and here they're everywhere and it's normal to play pool.
The meat. The meat is cheap and it's good and it's plentiful. I heart all the meaty goodness, even if it is probably the cause of my almost permanent heartburn.
Tim Tams are amazing. Especially a Tim Tam slam. I know it's not strictly speaking NZ, but it's Aussie and that's practically the same thing.
It's cool to have beaches nearby and the contrast between beachy goodness and then all the parks including wonderful Auckland Domain and actually One Tree Hill Domain.
The fish and chips here are divine and are about a million times better than fish and chips.
Beer. There is a plethora of beer to choose from and all of it is good. Especially the trivia questions inside the Tui and also the fact that the beer is twist off so you don't have to look for a bottle opener every five minutes.
The vegetation here is really interesting and it's cool, because there are these tropical trees in amongst the evergreens and (I think this is what they're called) deciduous trees.
I like the fact that it's normal to play pool here and there are pool tables everywhere. It's weird because in England the pubs have maybe one pool table hidden away if at all and here they're everywhere and it's normal to play pool.
The meat. The meat is cheap and it's good and it's plentiful. I heart all the meaty goodness, even if it is probably the cause of my almost permanent heartburn.
Tim Tams are amazing. Especially a Tim Tam slam. I know it's not strictly speaking NZ, but it's Aussie and that's practically the same thing.
It's cool to have beaches nearby and the contrast between beachy goodness and then all the parks including wonderful Auckland Domain and actually One Tree Hill Domain.
The fish and chips here are divine and are about a million times better than fish and chips.
27 October 2009
Things I miss
I miss Tropicana orange juice with no bits in. Seriously, I've scaled Foodtown and New World for this sort of orange juice but to no avail. You can either get smooth orange juice 'with an apple basis' or orange juice which is ridiculously pulpy or orange juice that you don't know what it's like because it's in a carton and it has nothing on the carton to tell you 'with bits' or 'smooth'. It's rubs.
26 October 2009
The most awesome, wicked super cool story ever.
I got up this morning and basically managed to drag myself downstairs to the big communal area of the hostel. Well, I was still bleary eyed and as I walked in there was a girl drinking tea, reading a magazine and she had long dark hair. I couldn't really see her face apart from the bleary eyed-ness but when I blinked again I was like, 'Oh my god, is that Gemma*?' and so I blinked again and it was definitely her. So I just blurted out, 'Oh. My. God.' And she looked up and said, 'Oh. My. God.' I repeated this, then she did, then I did, then she did, then there were a few seconds of silence, then I repeated it again, then she said, 'I don't know what else to say. Oh. My. God.'
Well, I knew that Gemma was travelling but as far as I knew she was like up in the east coast of Australia and she didn't know that I was in Auckland at all, I don't know where she thought I was but anyway I sat down and we started talking and I was telling her about the hostel and stuff and then we sat and talked for like five hours and I introduced her to the crew and invited her to join us for dinner. The funniest thing was every so often just stopping the conversation and repeating our disbelief that we had bumped into each other here in Auckland.
It really makes me believe that things happen for a reason and bumping into her is absolute proof of this. Of course I had to tell everyone that this was my friend from Bristol and that it was complete coincidence, blah, blah, blah. It's really very, very bizarre to have bumped into her but it's also very, very cool. Cos she's ace and because it's wonderful to see somebody you know, regardless of how bizarre the circumstances are.
*OK, for those of you who don't know (most people), Gemma is a girl I worked with for a really short while not long after I first moved to Bristol and we always got on really well and saw each other sporadically for dinner etc because she's really good company and so she was going travelling but going through America first and my plans hadn't been firmly settled when I left and what with not having been in Australia I hadn't yet emailed her to get her geographical location and possibly meet up with her but anyway, moot point, because I've now met up with her anyway. Awesome.
Well, I knew that Gemma was travelling but as far as I knew she was like up in the east coast of Australia and she didn't know that I was in Auckland at all, I don't know where she thought I was but anyway I sat down and we started talking and I was telling her about the hostel and stuff and then we sat and talked for like five hours and I introduced her to the crew and invited her to join us for dinner. The funniest thing was every so often just stopping the conversation and repeating our disbelief that we had bumped into each other here in Auckland.
It really makes me believe that things happen for a reason and bumping into her is absolute proof of this. Of course I had to tell everyone that this was my friend from Bristol and that it was complete coincidence, blah, blah, blah. It's really very, very bizarre to have bumped into her but it's also very, very cool. Cos she's ace and because it's wonderful to see somebody you know, regardless of how bizarre the circumstances are.
*OK, for those of you who don't know (most people), Gemma is a girl I worked with for a really short while not long after I first moved to Bristol and we always got on really well and saw each other sporadically for dinner etc because she's really good company and so she was going travelling but going through America first and my plans hadn't been firmly settled when I left and what with not having been in Australia I hadn't yet emailed her to get her geographical location and possibly meet up with her but anyway, moot point, because I've now met up with her anyway. Awesome.
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