My tales of the big wide world!!

Surprise trip to Singers

2011-05-15T06:15:00.001+12:00

20 april
boat trip
bus
sembawang school ottawa auckland road fernleaf
dawn service

Twenty Eleven

2011-05-15T05:41:00.004+12:00

waitangi day 5th feb
6.3 earth quake 22 feb
cape fear acton 25 feb
earthquake appeal 6 march
memorial westminster and crusaders vz sharks 27 march
go see abby 1 april
kylie at o2 7 april
naked boys singing 15 april
royal wedding 29 april
trip to oxford, blenhem palace 13 april
isas 20 april
high tea 21 april
7's 22 april

Homeward Bound

2011-05-15T05:39:00.003+12:00

5th dec
danis grad
methven
timaru
ashberton
abbys new years
fly back to the uk 4th jan

Summer Travels with the Old Man

2011-05-15T05:30:00.005+12:00

kneller hall
touring london
edinburgh
turkey, grand bizarre, blue mosk, io sofia cistern
wicked 22 sept
oktoberfest 2010
bbc tour 23 sept

Sail Croatia

2011-05-15T05:17:00.002+12:00

1 may- 8th

twenty 10

2011-05-15T05:10:00.008+12:00

vue
heidi and ben get married 6 feb
avenue q 15 april
anzac day hyde park cnr 25 april
isa's 21 may
sevens 22 may
iow festival 11 - 14 june
green day 19 june
hard rock calling, pearl jam 25 june
kings of leon 30 june
bon jovi 23 june
tap dogs 24 june
hampton court palace 9 july
andersons (wales, iow, windsor and oxford, diksmuide beerfest 2/10)
carnival 2010 30 august
earthquake 4 sept 2010
abs vs england 6 nov
barbars vs sth africa 4 dec
abs vs wales 27 nov

Way too much sun and skin in Teneriffe

2011-05-15T04:46:00.001+12:00

21-28 Nov

AB's kick some Italian Ass!

2011-05-15T04:44:00.000+12:00

13-15 november

Back End of 2009

2011-05-15T04:27:00.005+12:00

Girls night at Cozzies 23 oct
Beks Birthday 24 oct
Nuns (and one in training) go to Church 25 october
(Sober) trip to Oxford 31 oct
Jades Birthday 6 november
abs vs babars 5 december
xmas party 11 dec
snow 2009!!

Beer Wenches 09, Your Tent or Mine

2011-05-15T04:25:00.003+12:00

17 september

Summer 2009

2011-05-15T04:02:00.002+12:00

strange lying places 9 may soho theatre
ISA's 15 may
eurovision 16 may
sevens 24 may
globe theatre 31 may
kristys return 5 june
twenty 20 6 june
church again fluro 14 june
wimbledon 24 june
toast 2009 27 june clapham common
moved into 18 canada road 28 june
abbys marathon 12 july
greenwich 25 july
the soloist at somerset house 9 august
edinburgh 17 august
- walking tour
- tattoo
ice bar 22 august
nottinghill carnival 30 august
double header twickenham 5 september
abby and alenas leaving drinks 12 and 13 september

May Bank Holiday to Portugal

2011-05-15T03:59:00.000+12:00

ANZAC Day in Turkey 2009

2011-05-15T03:55:00.001+12:00

Nov 08 to Now-ish

2009-04-04T09:28:00.023+13:00

Jack the Ripper Tour: Started at Tower Hill and went for a couple of hours, walking around the east of the central city where he killed and massacred the women, where they lived or lodged... we even walked in his foot steps, walking through a courtyard where the only way out was through a narrow archway. we saw a pub where he probably used to drink, was quite an interesting tour, although now know far too much about what the first ever serial killer did to his victims.

Ba-bars Vs Aus: on the 3 December 2008 the Barbarians played Australia at Wembly (which was amazing). It was a pretty scrappy game, ba-bars couldn't really get their shit sorted (obviously due to not playing together long) at one stage there was a it of a punch up which went trough one of the advertising boards and involved half the team!! George Gregan played for the Ba-Bars which was an interesting turn of events.

Work Christmas Party: On the 5th December the BSC took to the Thames and had their Christmas Party on a boat which left from Putney to well past the O2 then back again. it was a great night, too much drink and lots of dancing!

Ice Skating is a great winter past time in the capital city, Bek, Mez and I went to the Natural History Museum where a rink was set up outside under floodlights and fairy light covered trees. although only skating for and hour or so (and paying £14 to do so!!) it was quiet enough, especially dodging the the people trying to fly/not fall over and those that were confident but lacking the skill not to take anyone else out!!!

Christmas eve was spent at the walkie drinking lots of Redbull and Vodkas and dancing the night away. Christmas Day we had an Orphans Christmas at Hotel Bracewell Road while trying to recover from the night before I cooked Christmas Dinner with the help from Abby and Andre... turned out not too bad ... apart from Crispy potatoes it wasn't too bad!!!

The morning after the night before...

New Years 2008/2009 was spent at a pub on Embankment, and even though we were so close we ended up watching the fireworks on the telly in the pub!! it was a great night spent with Erica and Beks, they even got me in a dress for the James Bond Themed Ball. Lots of drink was had and a free trip home thanks to TfL!!

The Tower of London is a must see/do of London. Its great to see where Ann Boelyn was beheaded, and buried, to see ancient graffiti of people who are about to be put to death or imprisoned in the Tower of London and to hear of all the blood gory stories that are associated with this historic building. it is also where the Crown Jewels are kept, although we didn't get a chance to see them, no doubt I will be back to see it again!

On the 2nd February we had a snow day which literally shut down the entire city of London. all tubes and buses were stopped making getting anywhere virtually impossible. After it was clear we had a day off work we all headed down to the park at the end of our street and built mammoth snowmen and had snow ball fights.

Waitangi day in London is a big deal... it starts at 11 am at Paddington Station where usually traveling on the Circle line to Westminster we walked most of the way due to it being down for 'works'. From Paddington, we walked to Bayswater.. Nottinghill Gate (where some cricket took place) onto Kensington High Street, where it was time to get a feed to soak up some of the Alcohol...from there we walked onto Gloucester Road... caught the District line to St James Park and walked to Parliament Square. The Square looked green before and a mud pit after!! there were several Hakas and then the mud bath began with everyone being tackled to the ground. Aftwards we made our way to Hammersmith for a feed then to the She Bu walkie to finish off the night. I managed to get my drink spiked... which took a couple of days to recover from. But apart from that it was an awesome day out and surprisingly with the number of people, there were no reported incidents, all the cops that we met along the way were in pretty good spirits and would stop and have a chat every now and again.

Lindsay, my brother, left at the end of February to move back to Melbourne with his girlfriend Dani. We spent an awesome day together doing stuff he had yet to cover in London, we saw the Rosetta stone, went via Big Ben and found the Speights Pub called the Southerner.

Alena, Abby, Jade, Kristy and I all piled into a hire car, then exited the car and piled into a less funny smelling car, and headed off on our road trip to Stone Henge, Salisbury and (literally) a flying visit to Windsor. After a few wrong turns, and riding a few curbs (thanks Alena) we found Stone Henge, walked around a while taking in the rocks and the possibility of their meaning... piling back into the car and headed to Salisbury a town which has a Cathedral which holds an excellent copy of the Magna Carta. the Magna Carta is a document written by nobles o force the King at the time (I forget which one) to obey some form of rules so he couldn't treat his subjects like crap. we thought we would visit Windsor on the way home, but unfortunately couldn't find the turn off, so only got as far as the motorway!!

St Paddy's Day in London, is a pretty low key affair, there is a parade on the weekend prior, and it consisted of a few vintage vehicles, some flatbed trucks with Irish Dancers on them, Pipe and Brass bands. Most exciting part was Borris Johnson at the front!!

St Paddy's Day in Dublin was much more exciting... although, there was more alcohol involved!! we started at about 11am and placed ourselves in prime parade viewing spot in a pub called The Citi. after having breakfast we got stuck into the doubles which were over 6 Euro!!! Guinness wasn't that much better at 4.90 a Euro. but it was a great day out and the parade was amazing, with massive float and performers and bands from all over the world. after a feed of pizza we jumped on the train and headed back to Sams wee town to the bar called the Roost. after a long day we were all in bed relatively early... not as young as I used to be!!! went into town the next day and met up with Erica and spent the afternoon sitting next to the river Liffy in the sun.

Every year a boat race is held on the Thames between Putney Bridge and Cheswick Bridge, between the rowing teams of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Lot of people head to the river with blankets, champagne, wine, cheese, crackers etc!!! these people sure know how to watch a boat race... then you could pick the kiwis and aussies with their jandles, cider and funnels!!! the race was pretty intense with is being quiet close most of the way, until Oxford pulled away and Cambridge crashed into them on purpose, hoping to throw out the rowers, it didn't work and Oxford won by quiet a large lead in the end. a good day out and even the sun made a short appearance!

October 2008 to November 2008

2009-03-29T21:18:00.005+13:00

James Blunt: on the 14 October 2008, Brook (flatmate) and I did the mission from work (in the West) to the O2 (in the East) to check out James Blunt. The concert went off, although the effects were minimal, he was a great singer and at one stage jumped off the stage running down isles of screaming women to a platform in the middle of the the audience where he played the piano. Was excellent live although may have been better in a more intimate setting than the massive O2, which incidentally is the the largest single-roofed structure in the world, now arnt you glad you read this. :)

All Blacks: On the 22 November 2008 all the flatmates and I jumped in a bus and headed to Cardiff, Wales for the All Blacks vs Wales game. We got to our hotel and headed straight to a pub, where I dared Andre to shout 'Go the All Blacks!!' in a typical welsh pub... needless to say you could have heard a pin drop afterwards. We went back to our dive of a Hotel (after they had cleaned up the glass and put the door back on the cupboard!) and got geared up for the night ahead. We headed to the main street and had a few drinks prior to the game. During the haka it was hard to hear due to the deaffening chant of Wales Wales Wales Wales... then there was the stand off between the 2 teams... which felt like went on for ever. The game was awesome my first All Blacks game ever. Afterwards, we all went into town and drank the night away... also attending the Welsh Walkie!! :)

Dave Dobbyn: On the 28 November 2008 a group of us headed to Portobello road in Nottinghill to see Dave Dobbyn. He played all his new stuff in the first set. In the second set he rocked out all the old stuff. Half way through the entire audience started singing Slice of Heaven... da da da dodo da da da and he asked 'do you not know the rest of the words,' so everyone rocked out 'Hey, I got a lot of faith in you I'll stick with you kid, that's the bottom line' and he just said 'all in good time'... o for oarsome!

Contiki Photos Part 4

2008-10-05T01:47:00.003+13:00

Anne Franks House

Amsterdam

Clogs!!

Netherlands - Edam

Toast Festival

2008-09-30T22:38:00.002+13:00

I went to a festival called Toast on Saturday. It was a kiwi festival, celebrating everything kiwi!! I paid £5 for a NZ lamb and mint-sauce burger, that’s almost $15 for a burger, but I would do it again, I didn’t realize how much I missed NZ meat... by the way, all donations of meat from NZ greatly appreciated!! Just throw it in an envelope and send it this way!! :) For sale were t-shirts for Africa with Kiwi designs, Tim Tams, Minties, Grainwaves, not to mention the Monteiths and Speights, and kiwi wine. Appearances by Dan Carter and Zin Zan Brooke and Opshop and Supergroove played!! Scorpi-oprpi-orpio Girl!!! It was a fantastic day out, I say day as we started drinking around midday... :) Good times!

But the biggest thing I realised was how amazing it was to see the turnout and the pride and enthusiasm everyone had for everything from home. Practically everyone had a piece of ‘kiwiana’ on be it a ‘next Palmy mayor’ t-shirt to greenstone and bone carvings as far as the eye could see. Its an amazing culture here, there is no Pakeha, Maori or Polynesian, everyone is just ... Kiwi, and we proudly display New Zealand like walking billboards with our clothing, jewelry, bags, blow up kiwis, hats and yes even the tricky art of wearing flags. It is not so much where you come from as it is an identity that we all relate to, we are kiwis and we are proud of it. It makes you realise if all the expats went home the culture of New Zealand would be for the better.

We are all so far from home, its nice to be in a room with people whom you can relate... and mourn the loss of Snifters, Tangy Fruits and Sparkles together.

Photos from Contiki Part 3

2008-09-29T07:09:00.006+13:00

Swiss Alps

Beer Hall, Munich

St Marks Square

Venice

Photos from Contiki Part 2

2008-09-29T05:33:00.015+13:00

Venice

Corfu, Greece

Sunrise in Greece

Pompeii

Trivi Fountain

Colosseum

Rome

St Pauls

Florence

Fake David

Pisa

The Chateau we stayed at in France

Photos from Contiki Part 1

2008-09-15T06:48:00.005+12:00

Beach and town of Nice

Beaujelais Wine Region France

The Grand Casino, Monaco

Mona Lisa

Me and the Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triumph

Tea with the Queen

2008-09-01T08:20:00.005+12:00

Mum and I went to Buckingham Palace today to take a look through the Queens pad.

We went through the state rooms and the banquet room all laid out like it would for a state banquet. Gold and silver... complete with 6 glasses each!!! Talk about over the top!!

After walking through the palace we took a leisurely stroll through the gardens, straight to the gift shop :) nothing like a £5 key ring to top off your day!

After being asked AGAIN what part of Australia I’m from, Mum and I went and had a pub lunch then home for mum to pack to get out to the airport on time.

With Mum leaving, Lindsay being in Europe and no more travel planned for a while, home sickness has started to kick in. for those that don’t know, it is this overwhelming impulse to jump on the next plane home, which is difficult seeing them fly over work to Heathrow everyday. Everything is easier at home, traveling anywhere, work, socializing all easier at home… London is another way of life I suppose, but that doesn’t help a whole lot.

Homesickness is not knowing how to get exactly where you want to go without asking or looking at your trusty A-Z. It’s being given directions to places which involve turn left after the third McDonalds. Homesickness is not knowing where to go for a few drinks, what time they stop letting you in or what time they close. Its having to put aside an entire day to have coffee with a friend. It’s knowing exactly where you stand at your job, or knowing exactly what’s expected of you! It’s not being surrounded by family and friends and having to stand on your own two feet...

Latest Travels

2008-08-28T00:59:00.001+12:00

Went up to North England on Friday night, to Harrogate. Mum was up there visiting a friend so decided to crash their party for the weekend.

Yorkshire was very beautiful, lots of field of differing shades of green separated by dry rock walls built by hand hundreds and hundreds of years ago, that’s talent. Its very difficult still, to get your head around that some of the buildings were built before the first white person settled in New Zealand.

The roads are exactly out of a movie with the narrow lanes (just wide enough to fit a smart car down them) and walls on either side covered in climber… me sitting in the back of the car in a state of hysteria in case we meet any oncoming cars… of which we did, and several tractors!!!

It was a great day out in the Yorkshire dales visiting little villages and seeing the country side, complete with the traffic jam due to on coming … sheep!

I had my very first bank holiday on Monday… now nothing until Christmas!! *sigh* But Mum and I did a day tour to Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge. HUGE day with not enough time spent at any of the destinations, but was great if you needed to jam it all into one day. But going to have to go back…

Windsor Castle is a great place the town seems to be very quaint, although it was a bit of a blur as we raced through it to get to the castle. The castle itself is kinda what I expected, lots of portraits of creepy looking people and their animals and dead animals in one case… go figure?? Fair amount of gaudy gilt, all very ostentatiousness. Quite a bit of gold, in the form or cups and statues, plus some amour and lots and lots and lots of weapons mounted on high walls, muskets, swords, etc etc

Then onto Bath, another lovely town, but with no time to see it… we went through the Bath House, now museum, which was very interesting to see how the Romans laid it all out utilizing the hot springs, lead floors and all! Bet that was healthy.

After Bath we ventured onto Stonehenge. I always thought it would be in this huge field and you can’t see it till you walk over a grassy knoll and it appears magnificently on the horizon. In reality it is in a field, but is flanked by two semi-major highways, which you drive past Stonehenge to get to the parking lot on the other side of the road. Don’t get me wrong it is spectacular and to be able to wander around these huge rocks for about an hour is amazing but the amount of traffic driving past is crazy, not to mention they are endangering the foundations of the Stones. The vibrations from the traffic are moving the stones and putting them at risk of falling. They propose to build a tunnel (which create more vibration) and make people walk 2 miles to get to Stonehenge hence creating my ‘walking over the grassy knoll to see it on the horizon’ view! NICE :)

Back to work this week with a day off on tomorrow to spend some time with Mum before she flies out tomorrow night.

CU

"Sanca ya deed mun?" ... "Yeah mun"

2008-08-21T19:51:00.004+12:00

Ok so not quite dead, but busy.

I have had a relativly eventful few weeks, of which i will try to tell you about without boring you all to tears!!

First of all i have a job, its at the British Safety Council... anything and everything to do with Health and Safety... no running in the office with scissors around here!! :) My job title is Operations Coordinator, which sounds all very flash and stuff but is really an admin role, scanning, photocopying etc... gotta love how that degree is coming in handy huh? :)

Flat is going great guns there is now 6 of us and the hundreds of bed mites that seems to have moved in! But they have been sprayed and hopefully the unexpected/unwanted house guests will be no more!!!

here are a few things i have learnt since arriving here...
*Buses don’t usually go where you expect them to... ever
*If the is someone who looks like someone you know from home 99% of the time they aren’t... the other 1% makes you realize how small London is!
*Tubes and buses terminate at stations/stops for no reason
*as bad as it sounds you quickly become annoyed when someone jumps in front of a tube, disrupting all tubes
*you need to leave an hour to get anywhere
*they shut down entire main roads for fix a water pipe... and take forever to do it!
*There are bottle stores on every corner ... nice :)
*Organized is not a recognized action in the UK
*Parks are the new beaches and everyone uses them
*You can easily walk to the highest point in London and see everything (Primrose Park)
*Pubs open and close ridiculously early
*They love talking about the weather when its sunny
*I’m still not sure anyone knows what a forty hour week is...
*Soccer is god

Went to Dublin last week to see my bestest friend Hannah who is going home after 3 years away… yes perfect timing, ahh the irony!! She came to London for a few days and once they let her back in the country, we had a very wet/flooded few days in Ireland, visiting a few Irish pubs (yes to the Guinesss… twice :) ) and having a real good look around town, walked through Trinity college, over the River Liffy, and through the infamous Temple Bar. Was good just to hang out with Han and spend some quality time together!

Off to Harrogate this weekend to spend some time with Mum and her friend who lives there. BTW costs more to get a train up north (£80) than to fly to Dublin (£60)!!!!!! What the..... !!!

Doing a day trip to Bath, Stone Henge and Windsor Castle on Monday ... BANK HOLIDAY!! woohoo

Me and the flatties have booked tickets to Cardiff in November… get this … to watch the ALL BLACKS!!!! Play Wales at Millennium Stadium. Cant wait sooooooooooooo excited!!

UPDATE:
Rain... still raining!!! apart from 2.75 days where it was sunny just as i started my new job... TYPICAL doing washing is a mission… yes I do washing!!!

Internet was NOT hooked up on Sunday and after 1000 calls to both BT and Sky we finally got it a week ago... but i dont want to talk about it...

luv
Kim

Birthdays, Rain, Work and no internet

2008-07-12T01:22:00.003+12:00

and that pretty much sums up the week or so...

Tuesday was my first birthday away from home, little different spending it with Lindsay rather than the parents, but spoke with them on the phone for ages. Then Lindsay took me out for breakfast, which was yummy. Then we went to a show called We Will Rock You. Its based on the songs from Queen with a bit f a story thrown in for good measure. It was awesome. And stoked they played our day song. A day song for those that dont know is a song that we listen to every morning when we got on teh bus on Contiki. It is Dont Stop me now. As soon as it started playing at the show i got all excited and nostalgic, for being crammed in a bus with 50 other people!!

Well i have experienced first hand why everyone thinks it rains a lot in England... BECAUSE IT DOES!!!!!!!!!!! the last few days we have had quite a bit of rain... and me yet to invest in an umbrella (doh!!) is has fined up today but the clouds are still a-threatening :)

... and work... yes well who would have thought i'd be itching to get back to work... ok who wouldnt have thought it! but i am, 2 weeks off doing not much, apart from job searching is getting slightly tiresome!!! so if anyone has a cousins, friends, mothers, son looking for anyone who needs work??????

Internet will be hooked up on sunday... all going to plan so then i can be in touch a lot more... these internet cafes are not cheap!

hope you're all well and happy

K

Living in London

2008-07-06T11:02:00.004+12:00

the last few days have flown by... we found a flat, i have a room, i have all my clothes out of my pack (sweet!!!) and we are almost settled... next would be the job.

things have flown by so fast in the last week, it barely feels like a week that we have been back in london! i havnt seen much as i have been stressing about finding work.

the next mission is to find a job... not as easy as one would think being a kiwi in london, but hopefully it wont be too long, as the old money situation is not looking promising!! especially with rent going out...

tonight i am at my brothers bar, and he is making cocktails... i have to say pretty good ones... very very very berry bery drinkable... :) hehehe

so therefore i have much better thing to do than update this...

hope all is good with you all... prromise to rite more wen im not dfrunk... :)

EMAIL ME PEOPLE... I MISSING ALL THE GOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

CU

Vienna to Prague to Munich to Switzerland to Germany (again) to Amsterdam to London

2008-07-01T04:29:00.006+12:00

Ok, so I am still alive... but the last 2 weeks have been a little insane... more so than usual!

so from Venice we made our way to Vienna, which was crazy! our first night we attended a Mozart/Strauss Concert which was great, nice to see a number of tv advertisements ripping off the greats :)

The euro cup was also being played in vienna while we were there, which made driving, sightseeing and general movement within the city ... interesting, to say the least.

Had 2 full days in Prague, where we saw Charles Bridge, the most photographed bridge in Prague, also the bridge at the end of the movie XXX (go Vin Deisel). Also had a bike tour through the city which was fun, especially on the cobblestones.

After Prague we had one night in Munich... 2 words... beer hall :) nothing like a litre of beer to celebrate octoberfest... oh no wait... only 4 months too early!!

Then onto the beautiful switzerland, and swiss alps, where we went to the top of europe, also known as jangfrau, some 11,000 feet up! was a great day out, had a snow fight, did snow angels, wrote in the snow... with our hands!!! get your mind out of the gutter only boys can do that!! we also attempted the snow man, but we were all to lazy to move the snow. :)

We then made it back into Germany were Birkenstock's are only 45 euro!! nice... here we stayed in Grandmas house... the most freakiest "hotel" in the world!! jesus rooms, dress up clothes, leaky ceilings and creepy locked cupboards. did i mention my own personal shower... next to my bed!!

once in the Netherlands we did a bike tour through edam then a visit to the clog factory and cheese factory... yes together. but funnily enough no cheese clogs???

Amsterdam was a blast, the first night we went to a sex show... yes a sex show... and thats all i will say on the matter :) and also took a walk through the red light district... its literally like window shopping, only for women... or not women... what ever your taste

the following day we went to Anne Franks house, which is now a museum, it was fascinating and really well laid out with excerpts from her diaries and photos from when they lived there.

After amsterdam we made our way back to london. where for good measure we all went to the bar... well going cold turkey would have been a bit of a shock to the system!

went to camden market on Saturday, where i met up with Hannah YAY!!!!!!!! friend i havnt seen in 3 years. was awesome to see her again after all that time.

yesterday we went to church... church is from 12 till 4 you have to buy 3 drinks at a time and the idea is to get as drunk as fast as you can. enough said...

today Narae, Brooke, Sam, Andre and I found a flat to move into, we can move in tomorrow, its a nice wee place and i have a nice wee room.

anyway thats enough... you may all breath a sigh of relief now :)

Corfu, Verona and Venice

2008-06-16T06:21:00.002+12:00

Corfu was beautiful, we had our first day with out rain on the tour!! bonus! as we were out on George's boat. George is a lovely greek man (although slightly un-PC, when i say slightly i mean the most un-PC person i have ever met!) he took us around the island and to swimming spots in the Mediteranian. THat night we went to a greek restaurant and was treated to traditional greek dancing and not so traditional greek food :)

We also had a free day to roam the island in Corfu, they gave us cars (bad idea) and we went to the beach. greek drivers are crazy!!!

we then had a day and a night on a mini cruise ship up the adriattic sea, which most of us spent sleeping off the effects of greece... and the bar!

Yesterday we visited verona and saw the Juliets balcony, and rubbed her boob (...statue) for good luck. verona is a great city, would love to get back there.

today we spent the day in venice, it was a long day which started with a glass making and lace demonstration in the morning, and then we went into St marks basilica at St marks square. we did a little shopping (now to fit it all in my pack!!!)

we got a touch lost, but the locals were very happy to help, including one very smooth waiter named Oscar. we then went on a gondola ride, our "driver" was a little insane, which made staying in the boat a little interesting.

photos to come... promise

Pompeii and Corfu!!

2008-06-11T00:29:00.002+12:00

Pompeii was amazing, it was really interesting to see all the building uncovered, that were almst perfectly preserved when Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. there are even plaster moulds of people who were buried in the ash and when the bodies decayed they left void in the rock and people filled them with plaster cast, which created moulds of a man sitting down wainting for the enevidable, a pregnant women trying to protect her unborn child and also a dog who was not unchained when the mountain erupted so could not escape. his body is in a mangeled position where you can see him trying to break free from the chain. it was all very morbid but an interesting step back in time.

We then traveld t the ferry where we were on a night cruise to Corfu an island of the caost tof greece, i can literally see the greecian mainland from our balcony!!!

we had a look around the town today and will be doing a whole lot of nothing while we're here... cant wait!!!

C U

French Riviera, Nice, Monico, Florence and Rome... PHEW!

2008-06-09T06:40:00.009+12:00

Ok since i last left you i have seen all of the above... done good, see you next time.

Nah kidding :)

The french Riviera or the French Riv as us "frequenters" call it (yeah right)... was great, was great weather saw why all the stars have a holiday home there. We went into Nice for a day put my toes in the Mediterranean sea... yes i had to look it up :P

We had a night trip into Monico, didn't get a stamp unfortunately, but went to the le Grand Casino and lost 10 euro... that was enough!

After that we made our way to Florence where we saw where Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo was buried at Basilica di Santa Croce, was huge! had a walking tour done by Fabio!!! (of all names) :)

Today we did Rome, saw the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain and the Roman Ruins. was a huge day and as i have come down with the contiki cough, and cold :( i ended up coming home and crashing.

off to Pompeii tomorrow then the night ferry to Corfu... hmmm night ferry... that will be interesting :)

C U

Paris

2008-06-01T17:23:00.004+12:00

I have 2.43 minutes to fill you in on what i have been doing! damn internet cafes :)

Did paris yesterday...
Louve
Mona lisa
venus de milo
lots of other paintings which were very impressive, but possibly more so if i knew the meaing behind them!

Eiffel tower
cathedral notredam
arch de triomph

cant spell any of these... sorry

also sat in a french cafe and ate lunch watching the world go by. just like the french :)

there are no driving rules here its pretty much a free for all! makes crossing the street slightly hazrdous!

around the arche de triomph there is a crash every 15 minutes...

lots of scams here people asking for money, picking on tourists, dropping really cheap rngs and trying to sell it to you for 100 times what its worth, also pick pockets, Kym a girl i was with yesterday heard her zip open on her bag and turned around and some guy had is had in it!! quite scary, after that we wore our bags on the front.

we also navigated teh paris metro, quite fun once we realised we going in the right direction :)

went to a cabaret show last night, was good fun in the words of our tour manager... lots and lots of breasts.

well times up...

London!!!!!

2008-05-29T19:59:00.003+12:00

Well made here in one piece, the 13 hour flight was insane, i think 10 is really my limit. watched about 5 movies and didnt get a lot of sleep... bad idea! was up at 4am Singapore time to catch the flight at 9.05am (yes i was a touch early, what can i say im paranoid :) )

Got into london and Lindsay had a sign... as promised :) "London Welcoms Miss K Shears to a 5 year sentence of fun and travel" hmmmm not sure what all the other passengers were thinking, but it was very cool :)

stayed up till about 10pm London time... also a bad idea as that meant i was up for over 24 hours... very very dumb.

Have an appointment today with the bankto get all my cards and stuff sorted. Then maybe take a look around this afternoon. but will see how long i can stay awake.

Day 3 & 4

2008-05-28T09:08:00.003+12:00

Day 3
Went to Sentosa, caught the MRT (all by myself!!! everyone be proud :) )to harbour front where i caught the express train across. Sentosa is a (very) small island at the tip of Singapore which was used in the world wars to defend singapore as it was a booming port at the time for most countires, China, England etc. When teh Japanese invaded, they thought it would be from the sea, so thats the way the guns were facing (big big guns) but they actually invaded from the land and Singapore and allied troops got ambushed. Singapore eventually surrendered and was under Japanese rule for over 3 years during the war. Now Sentosa is something of a theme park, with cable cars, rides a water park etc etc.

Now your history lesson is over...

Day 4
I took a stroll around little india (most of it didnt open till 10, if your going to work in retail Singapore is teh place!!) then had to buy a new memory card for my camera as my 1GB was almost full after just 2 days!!! Paid $45 (just under $NZ45) for a 2GB, and i think i got ripped off!!! typical :)

Got back on the SIA hop on bus today and went to see the Merlion at Merlion park. The Merlion was created about the middle of last century, and the story goes that Alexander the Greats grandson saw Singapore in the distance (must have been some distance) and decided to travel there, however came across a sea serpent (just looked like a chiese dragon really) and to calm teh serpent down he gave him a crown given to him by his grandfather. Once on the island he was accosted by a lion, but by smoe mutual form of understanding they didnt kill each other. Hence the half lion half merman/fish thing=Merlion (singapore's symbol).

after that lovely tour through history, i went to Orchard Road... if you want to shop this is the place to go, unfortunately with no room in my pack, that wasnt happening... so really a walk of torture for me!!

Caught the MRT out to Sembawang after lunch (Maccas... meh what are you going to do??) to see my old house from when i lived here 2 decades ago!!!! also saw my old school. All very run down but still standing, was a little weird to be back!

right off to catch that awesome 13 hour flight :( Hello london! or is that ello londen???

Singapore Day 2

2008-05-26T13:49:00.004+12:00

After a bit of a slow start on day 2 I finally managed to sort my sh*t out and got on the SIA hop on bus, for $3 you can get on and take a tour around the city. While on the bus i met Melissa, an Australian, also doing Singaore by herself. So ended up joining forces and headed to the Botanic gardens... although beautiful in over 30 degree heat... i really didnt care about any stinken flowers!!! although the cool room (which we didnt spend nearly long enough in) was very cool... sorry :P

After that we got onto the MRT (Mass Rapid Transport)... or train to most people, and headed off to the zoo. we got accosted by some people at the MRT station saying there was a free bus from the station to the zoo (its a bit of a hike), whats the catch right? thats what we thought too. it ended up we had to purcahse zoo admision tickets from them to get the bus... after a bit of coaxing we did eventually give in and bought our tickets from them. the entire trip i was thinking... these tickets better not be fake!!?? But all was well when we got there... apart from the rain!! feraken typical that it sarted to rain on the way to the zoo, and not just spitting like it does in NZ, but full on pelting down, stand in it for 5 seconds and your wet right through kind of rain!!!

We got some lunch while waiting for the rain to stop, and it did, but as soon as we stepped foot outside the foody place... it started again!!! somebody hates me :)

we got fairly wet, but by late afternoon we had dried out. saw lots of fantastic animals (photos to come... lots and lot of photos :) ).

included in the non-dodgy ticket was the night safari, like the zoo, but at night ... duh. it was pretty cool, we walked the first bit (legs at this stage are like lead) than bailed on that idea and got on the tram nothing like a chauffered drive through a dark creapy zoo with lots of animals that can kill you :)

there was a lot of excellent exhibits with pretty logs and trees, undergrowth, but not a lot of animal :) i think its all a scam... there was nothing in there, pay the admission fee to stare at some trees :) nah most of them we pretty great, and an interesting perspective on the zoo seeing it at night. lots of red eyes peering out from under bushes ... creepy.

Caught a taxi home, tavelled almost the legnth of the island, and it only cost $23!! what the hell is up with the taxis in NZ!! it cost me that to get home from town!

Hope this finds everyone well and happy
take care
KJ

End of an era, last day at work, last week in Christchurch, and day 1! ... Phew

2008-05-25T11:24:00.003+12:00

We'll it has been way crazy over the last few weeks.

End of an era:
I sold my wee Abu! my little Nissan Pulsar that i have had for 7 years, and it didnt crap out on me! i miss my car :(

Last week at work:
Was insane!! i cant believe how fast it went!! didnt quite get everythng done i wanted but i suppose that was to be expected!!!

My last day was nice, the Support team went out for lunch at Red Jacks in Poplar lane, which just happened to be when the Crusaders were thare having lunch!! My team leader, Trac got Richie to come over to say bye, that was awesome!!! Photos to come...

It was really sad to say goodbye to evryone at the council. i will miss everyone *sniff* just not the place...silly councilors and sideshow bob :)

Last week in Christchurch:
was insane!! caught up with a few people and packed my gear, sorted my ipod (took longer than expected...) packed all my room... almost all, sorry mum :)

Day 1:
was seen off at the airport by mum, dad, francie and Dani (thanks for the card btw :) ).

the flight was not too bad, a little bumpy in places and the landing was a bit skew wiff, but otherwise not too bad. felt a bit lonely on the flight, but landing in singapore felt like coming home, although i havent been here for 20 years it still smells the same and i felt completely relaxed by the time i got through customs.

made it to my hostel after a 2 hour scenic view of the island by the bus driver, so by the time i got to my room all i wanted to do was crash.

My cell doesnt work here so emails will have to do.

Today i'm planning on seeing the island a little then possibly Sentosa this afternoon.

Right... off for breakfast :)

CU

12 more sleeps!!!

2008-05-12T17:09:00.006+12:00

Only 12 more sleeps till I am on a plane winging my way to god knows where :)

So far I have paid for my contiki and my flights, booked accomidation in Singapore, got my visa (thank god) all there is left to do is pack and buy a few bits a pieces to fit in my pack... not as easy as it sounds. I cant remember how many people have told me to put aside what I'm taking... then halve it!! Have they met me!?!?! I would take the kitchen sink and the attachements if the airline wernt scared I'd use it as a weapon on the plane!! :)

Had the leaving drinks on Saturday night... awesome night. Its been a while that I've been kicked out of the bar cos it was closing!! How Rude!?!

Heres some photos (where I dont look like a retard!)... Censored! :)

One more thing to learn...

2008-04-05T14:32:00.002+13:00

sitting on the couch, bare legs... cat stretches... rolls over ... and off the edge of the couch.

Well of course its got to grab onto something!!!

it would have been quite funny if she hadnt used my leg to get a grip

ouch...

Split Enz

2008-03-24T08:10:00.003+13:00

Was AWESOME!!! they played at the Westpac stadium last night and it went off! Pheonix Foundation, supporting band, were ok, tried a little too hard with the on stage humour... didnt really work for them...

oh and 61 days to go... does anyone want to buy all my crap, but give me shite loads of money for it??? ... seriously?

63 Days

2008-03-22T09:37:00.002+13:00

In 63 days I will be on a plane heading towards Singapore... out of lil 'ol New Zealand... Off on my OE.

The last few months have been really busy with getting everything sorted, i have paid for my Contiki, flights, booked my accomodation in Singapore and requested a piece of carpet at one brothers house to crash on while i find something a little more permanent.

What with working extra hours and getting all my crap sorted, i fell as though i havnt sat down since Christmas!

Next on the list is the Visa, yes i should really have done this a long time ago... but procrastination is an art :) Plus it doesnt help that you look at you passport and it expires in 6 months... thats just not cricket!! So now i have a brand spanking new passport, chip and all, i can now apply for the visa.

Hopefully i can get ancestry, which will mean 5 years of working non stop, if i want. Which will help with that silly little thing.. the student loan!!

Right...

2007-10-31T08:25:00.000+13:00

Its been the obligatory 2 and a half months so I thought I better update this!

Its almost the end of the year... and again it has gone so quick, what is it with the year flying by so quick? Is it because you get older? and should we want it to slow down rather than speed up!!

All in all this year hasnt been too flash hot, with my Nanna passing away in July and Mums accident back in January (she fell off her bike and had to have 2 surgeries to fix the damage, she doesnt do things by halves!), and not being able to drive... my new ocupation ... taxi driver!! ahh good times :)

Anyway now being on teh downward slide to the end of 2007 hopefully nothing else will happen, but keep your fingers crossed just in case!?!? :)

The Dash Peom

2007-08-09T08:22:00.000+12:00

Check this out, its quite nice

Dash Poem

The result... BLACK FRIDAY

2007-07-13T15:26:00.001+12:00

THE OPPOSITION!!!

THE OPPOSITION!!!

2007-07-11T16:35:00.000+12:00

BLACK OUT DAY

Friday the 13th is Black Out Day. Where all the business and clubs are encouraged to "Paint it All Black" http://www.ccc.govt.nz/PaintItAllBlack/

we are decorating our teams areas here in teh call centre, however with our team being split in 3 different areas we have decided to do the hall in between.

we have an old fridge box, some cardboard pipe things and lots of black crepe paper and paint... we'll see how it all turns out???!!!!

2007-07-10T10:50:00.000+12:00

LAST ONE ... FOR THE MO... PROMISE

You Are 44% Brutally Honest

Honesty is important to you, but generally, you try not to be brutal about it.
You'll sugar coat the truth when you need to... and tell a white lie when necessary.

How Brutally Honest Are You?

hahaha well this is wrong...

2007-07-10T09:19:00.000+12:00

There's a 32% Chance That You Need Therapy

You may need therapy, but you're probably doing okay at working out your own problems.
In general, you are able to solve any troubles that come up. But there's no harm in talking to a professional.

Do You Need Therapy?

Definitely need more than that...!!!

2007-07-10T08:44:00.000+12:00

HMMM ...GOOD TO KNOW...

On Average, You Would Sell Out For

$1,068,799

At What Price Would You Sell Out?

Things I would like to do… but will probably never happen… due to one reason or another :)

2007-07-09T16:47:00.000+12:00

See Cat Stevens in concert
Ride in an Iriquoi (with the doors open)
Fly an Iriquoi (with the doors open)
Fly a plane
Ride in a hot air balloon
Play the guitar
Eat any type of animal, other than cow, pig, chicken or fish
A Yardy (for obvious reasons!)

this is cool...

2007-06-12T16:18:00.001+12:00

http://www.mrwong.de/myhouse/

people have too much time on their hands...

2007-05-22T15:32:00.000+12:00

check out this website i stumbled across in my pursuit to find a pic of a duck...

http://www.getodd.com/duck/index.html

very weird

Does anyone else....?

2007-05-22T15:25:00.000+12:00

...feel sick when they smell a toilet duck???

Or is it just reminding me of the last time I threw up....

blugh

NO I'm not dead... yet

2007-05-17T13:25:00.000+12:00

So dragon boating… we had our south island regatta at the start of march, the team did awesome, with about 95% of us novices… here’s how we placed:

SOUTH ISLAND FINALS
Corporate B Final
1st The Paddlateers 1:30.63
2nd Chch City Cruisers 1:30.69***
3rd Tait Dragon the Chain 1:31.25

NATIONALS
CCC Parks Division Corporate C Final
1st ARC Angels 1.26.84
2nd ChCh City Cruisers 1.27.40***
3rd Airways Paddlateers 1.28.06
4th Tait Dragon the Chain 1.28.10

So all in all not too bad for people who had never done dragon boating!!! And also caring some dead weight!!!

Now its all over and I’m missing the social aspect of it all, meeting up with people every week, almost enough to drive me to join a team sport!!!! … almost :)

Ok...

2007-03-13T16:08:00.000+13:00

soooo i really suck at updating these!!!

This made me laugh...

2006-11-08T11:50:00.000+13:00

so i'd thought i'd share!!

so we have our first Dragon Boating Fundraiser on the 1st December, its a Legends night, so cheap drinks to be had by all!!!

And we meet...

2006-10-26T15:58:00.000+13:00

So we had our first dragonboating meeting yesterday, it was a heads up on the commitment required and fundraising etc.

I thought it was going to put me right off it, what was i thinking type thing!!!
But I'm really psycd (cant spell that) now!!! should be good, getting into the gym and swimming some... I'm knida excited!!!

Go figure... excited agout exercise!! HUMPH?!?
This is not as pretty as our bout... but something for it to aspire to!!!!

cu

Dragon Boating...

2006-10-25T15:39:00.000+13:00

So some how I have got myself roped into Dragon Boating...

The Council are starting up a team for the competition next year. Should be good, so long as i dont die in the process!!!

will keep you posted...

SEE!!!

2006-10-03T13:04:00.000+13:00

Why you should never fall off a scooter...

2006-10-03T12:24:00.000+13:00

What a fitting title for my brand spanking new blog!?! and if i can figure out how i will attach a very attractive photo of my very bruised knee!!! OUCH!!!

So i'd thought i'd check out his whole blogger.com thing, seeing as my last one was completly deleted off 20six... but never mind i didnt like the name of that one anyway :)

thats it for now will post more later... if i feel compelled to do so...

cu