Thursday, May 25, 2006
Settling in
We moved into our new place to live last weekend. I've moved in with Sam (bloke) and soon Kat will be arriving. We're all English and all quite insane so it should be an interesting ride.
It's a nice cosy house/bungalow in Sunshine Bay, a suburb of Queenstown. It's all wood-cladded inside making it look slightly like a swedish spa straight out of Ikea but we've learnt to ignore it by now. It's got a wood-burner in the lounge area, which we haven't quite figured out yet. Sam is busy chopping wood every day, but we can't seem to get big chunks of logs lit, just the kindling. If anyone has any tips for us, please let us know! We've just about got the place warmed up - between the oil heater in each room plus the halogen heater and the wood burner in the lounge, sometimes it feels almost toasty. And it's still only the end of May and will get much colder. Mmmm can't wait for my ski jacket to arrive to keep me warm outside. I wake up each morning and look out of the kitchen window (no, I don't sleep in the kitchen, don't be stupid) and see Cecil and Walter Peak across the lake and the Remarkables off to the north east and it's just stunning. Well, it wasn't this morning as it was raining. But that meant I didn't have to spend 10 minutes scraping ice off my windshield with my credit card. Yes, I've finally found another use for them, they're really great multi-use things. And yes I'm driving and no I haven't crashed yet, I'm really a very good driver as I proved in Hawaii thank you very much. I own a nice automatic honda accord with a nice red interior. I would've preferred pink but that wasn't an option.
The ski season starts over here mid-June but we've already had sporadic snow. Some insane people hiked up to the top of Coronet Peak last week when we had snow so they could ski or board down, since the lifts aren't operational yet. I plan on heading out to Cardrona at some stage as that is the best place for beginners to ski. I won't be going up to the Remarkables, just the drive up alone would put me off - hairpin bends with sheer drops with snow on the road is a combination I don't fancy facing! But it does all make for incredible scenery.
I've been in my new job for just over two weeks now. We get paid every fortnight which is a nice surprise rather than having to wait until the end of each month to get back afloat. The job is going well, but I'd forgotten all the day to day transactional stuff I used to know when I worked as a secretary at SJB ... but it's gradually coming back and I'm finding my way around, and everyone is really nice.
I'll get those pictures from Milford and Doubtful Sound loaded up one of these days. We're getting broadband installed at the house this weekend so I'll be able to load them up from there.
Hope everyone's well, keep emailing me your news and gossip.
Hugs,
Suzi xxx
It's a nice cosy house/bungalow in Sunshine Bay, a suburb of Queenstown. It's all wood-cladded inside making it look slightly like a swedish spa straight out of Ikea but we've learnt to ignore it by now. It's got a wood-burner in the lounge area, which we haven't quite figured out yet. Sam is busy chopping wood every day, but we can't seem to get big chunks of logs lit, just the kindling. If anyone has any tips for us, please let us know! We've just about got the place warmed up - between the oil heater in each room plus the halogen heater and the wood burner in the lounge, sometimes it feels almost toasty. And it's still only the end of May and will get much colder. Mmmm can't wait for my ski jacket to arrive to keep me warm outside. I wake up each morning and look out of the kitchen window (no, I don't sleep in the kitchen, don't be stupid) and see Cecil and Walter Peak across the lake and the Remarkables off to the north east and it's just stunning. Well, it wasn't this morning as it was raining. But that meant I didn't have to spend 10 minutes scraping ice off my windshield with my credit card. Yes, I've finally found another use for them, they're really great multi-use things. And yes I'm driving and no I haven't crashed yet, I'm really a very good driver as I proved in Hawaii thank you very much. I own a nice automatic honda accord with a nice red interior. I would've preferred pink but that wasn't an option.
The ski season starts over here mid-June but we've already had sporadic snow. Some insane people hiked up to the top of Coronet Peak last week when we had snow so they could ski or board down, since the lifts aren't operational yet. I plan on heading out to Cardrona at some stage as that is the best place for beginners to ski. I won't be going up to the Remarkables, just the drive up alone would put me off - hairpin bends with sheer drops with snow on the road is a combination I don't fancy facing! But it does all make for incredible scenery.
I've been in my new job for just over two weeks now. We get paid every fortnight which is a nice surprise rather than having to wait until the end of each month to get back afloat. The job is going well, but I'd forgotten all the day to day transactional stuff I used to know when I worked as a secretary at SJB ... but it's gradually coming back and I'm finding my way around, and everyone is really nice.
I'll get those pictures from Milford and Doubtful Sound loaded up one of these days. We're getting broadband installed at the house this weekend so I'll be able to load them up from there.
Hope everyone's well, keep emailing me your news and gossip.
Hugs,
Suzi xxx
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Pandas...
Well I had written up my post with my pictures of me feeding the pandas and saved it as a draft to post another time, posted it up this morning and unfortunately it has retained the date I originally wrote it. So you'll have to scroll down to the bottom again to view them. But they're so darn cute that they're totally worth it!
Suz x
Suz x
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Piccies!
Check out the several posts below for piccies - they go down a long way and you're probably better off starting at the bottom and working your way up. I've still got Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound to load up, will do that over the weekend. Enjoy everyone!
Queenstown
Here's me and my mate Maggie at the Kawarau Jet, on the Wakatipu and Shotover rivers in the Queenstown area.
Luging
Here's me and Paul with our respective new friends in Minus 5, the ice bar in Queenstown.
Luging
Here's me and Paul with our respective new friends in Minus 5, the ice bar in Queenstown.
Glaciers
Me n Em at Franz Josef
Here are a couple pics from my heli hike near the top of the glacier at Franz Josef
The road less travelled...
Here's Shaun, our guide, pointing something out...
Skydive #2
Looking down onto the Fox Glacier...
Looking up to Mount Cook (left at just over 12,000 ft) and Mount Tasman (right at just under 12,000 ft). Nearly time to jump out now...
And here's me and Greg (the tandemmaster) on our way down.
Here are a couple pics from my heli hike near the top of the glacier at Franz Josef
The road less travelled...
Here's Shaun, our guide, pointing something out...
Skydive #2
Looking down onto the Fox Glacier...
Looking up to Mount Cook (left at just over 12,000 ft) and Mount Tasman (right at just under 12,000 ft). Nearly time to jump out now...
And here's me and Greg (the tandemmaster) on our way down.
Various
This is the reason why I'm reluctant to do a bungy... this is the giant swing at Rock n Ropes - the 50 foot pole on the right with the cage at the top is what you jump off of and swing. Yes, it looks bloody high up from the ground when you're a short ar$e like me but it looks twice as high when you're actually up there. Strangely, the bungy locations are starting to look less high...
Mt Ruapehu aka Mount Doom
Get off the road!
A friend for Rodney...
Friends for certain people... you know who you are...
This is where I stayed in Greymouth...
... and as you can see I made myself right at home...
Mt Ruapehu aka Mount Doom
Get off the road!
A friend for Rodney...
Friends for certain people... you know who you are...
This is where I stayed in Greymouth...
... and as you can see I made myself right at home...
Lord of the Rings alert
Welcome to Hobbiton.
Of all the LotR places I've visited, this was easily the most recognisable.
Here is me with the signboard, and the party tree in the background to the left.
Looking up Hobbiton, with Bag End at the top left. The tree at the top is not the oak tree above Bag End, that was imported in pieces and taken down when filming finished.
Me, in the entrance to Bag End. I could pass for Gandalf - look how small it is!
Looking out of Bag End...
Of all the LotR places I've visited, this was easily the most recognisable.
Here is me with the signboard, and the party tree in the background to the left.
Looking up Hobbiton, with Bag End at the top left. The tree at the top is not the oak tree above Bag End, that was imported in pieces and taken down when filming finished.
Me, in the entrance to Bag End. I could pass for Gandalf - look how small it is!
Looking out of Bag End...
Tamaki Hangi
In Rotorua, I went to a traditional Maori Concert and Hangi. Here are the pics...
This is the entrance to the Hangi
... the Maori do their dance to intimidate their visitors...
...inside to the concert...
... the chiefs touch noses as they are welcomed into the hangi...
... this is the hangi in which our dinner was cooked...
This is the entrance to the Hangi
... the Maori do their dance to intimidate their visitors...
...inside to the concert...
... the chiefs touch noses as they are welcomed into the hangi...
... this is the hangi in which our dinner was cooked...
Auckland
On my first real day in Auckland (i.e. after Qantas gave me my backpack back) the first thing I did was head up the Sky Tower. This is my hostel from the Sky Tower viewing deck, about 180m up...
And here is the SKy Tower from Mount Eden, the highest point in Auckland...
And here is the SKy Tower from Mount Eden, the highest point in Auckland...
Panda Feeding Frenzy
As promised, here are the photos of me feeding the lovely pandas at Wellington Zoo. If you don't say "aaahhhhhhh" then you've got no heart.
The top two photos are Jay and his daughter Kali, and I can't remember the names of his other two kids in the third photo. Mum was outta sight as she had had a phantom pregnancy and was a little upset.
But aren't they just tooooooo cute?
The top two photos are Jay and his daughter Kali, and I can't remember the names of his other two kids in the third photo. Mum was outta sight as she had had a phantom pregnancy and was a little upset.
But aren't they just tooooooo cute?
