Last day at work!

Ello all. So today's the last day at work here in Queenstown for Kat and I. Crown relocations have been and packed up our stuff on Wednesday, so the house is looking a little barer. Add to that the impromptu sale of the remaining stuff in the house at a BBQ we had with mates on Thursday and we've got very little left!

So yes, a little sad at the mo.... looking out across the lake really makes you wonder what we're doing - but it still feels right to move... we'll see!

We don't actually leave till next Thursday, when we're flying to Sydney and spending the first 2 nights there with Bev and Chris in a flash hotel! NICE!

Then it's off to Bankok to see Mr. Brooks and his bride to be, before exploring the country and avoiding the poultry!!! We don't get much news on the bird flu here in NZ; they're pretty laid back about it.

Stewart Island - The secret weekend

Well as you may or may not know it's my birthday on Thursday. Last Wednesday was also the birthday of a good mate here - James. Between us, we've been trying in vain to organise something for everyone for the weekend.

To cut a long story short, Kat and Erin (James' bird) had sorted out a surprise weekend in Stewart island, which started with us being called unexpectedly home from work Friday lunchtime to be bound and blindfolded, before being herded in the back of a car! We then endured a two and a half hour trip to god knows where (Bluff) where we were finally relieved of the blindfolds on the back of a boat, where we were met (totally unexpectedly) by 10 of our mates - BRILLIANT! I'd spent most of last week moaning about how crap everyone was for dropping out of James and I's weekend, when in fact the crafty buggers had been plotting this whole weekend months in advance - SNEAKY!

Stewart island is a tad bigger than Malaysia and sits about 30km from the bottom of NZ. It's a protected island and a natural haven for lots of rare species and native birds/animals. There's a population of 300, 1 pub, 1 shop and a lot of beautiful bays!

When we got there Friday evening, right on cue a seal came out of the water just in front of the "batch" (kiwi holiday home) and had a roll around on the beach, much to our entertainment!

We spend the evening eating and drinking lots, playing the drinking game "F#$K YOU" and having a great time. At midnight, we celebrated the start of national nude day in style by running straight of the house into the sea, ditching the clothes on the way and heading in for a skinny-dip! After only a couple of minutes (It's only about 12 degress in the water !), we finally retired about 1a.m. nice and early for the 'surprise' fishing trip the next day.

Fishing in NZ is quality, there's shedloads of fish and they're HUNGRY! 8 Of us went out on the boat (a couple were too hungover... shocking) and between us we landed about 30-40 Blue-Cod. Made a mighty lunch on the boat with some bread and mussels on the side. The 76 year old Captain Birdseye bloke even got us some Paua, which you have to try if you ever go to NZ...

In the afternoon we played Hacky Sacky on the beach and had a U.K. Vs. NZ/OZ game of footy, which we shockingly lost!

More fun and games in the evening, with some naked laps for the boys around the house in celebration of the end of national nude day!

Alright, tiring writing this.... Sunday we went on a semi-sub (glass-bottomed boat type thingy), saw lots of fish etc etc...

Had a wicked weekend - great surprise, good mates, good laugh, gonna be sad to leave!!!

Here's a couple more - The gang, Kats monster fish, the girls in action and the boys chilling!

More pics from Stewart Island

Hmm... not sure what happened to them all in the previous post, but here's some more!

The relief!

Well all, looks like after 4 weeks of trying we've finally manager to sell our house - WAHOO! It's a massive weight of our shoulders as now we'll be able to go and explore Thailand on the way back to the UK without the worry of building up a massive credit card debt. It should also give us a few bob to get set up back in London............. and................. relax....!

There's still lots to sort out before we leave, with shipping things home, organising travel insurance, house lawyers, bank mortgage pay-off etc... but it feels like the hard part has now been done.

Speaking of Thailand, if anyone's got any top tips for travelling there (we'll be there for 6 weeks!) then send us an e-mail... you know the address ;-)

We're heading away this weekend to a place called 'The garden of Eden' in Paradise, which is an out-of-the-way spot about 2 hours drive from our place. There's a few of us going - so we'll get some fishing done, a nice BBQ and beers, games etc... but there's also a nice log sauna and plunge pool on the grounds. There's no electricity there so we'll have to chop wood and stoke up the backburner to get hot water (and stoke up the sauna boiler!) and take plenty of candles.

Hmm.... now to find some portable battery powered speakers for my IPod!

Housey housey

Well, we've had the house on the market for a couple of weeks now, I really don't want to sell...

Here's a couple of pictures of the interior, just to prove the view isn't a random pic from the web!

6 weeks till we leave.... and counting...

View from the bedroom (note the luvely curtains!)

Kat working hard!

The kitchen / lounge looking out over the lake...

Ohau Boarding weekend...

Aching now after a quality weekend away with the crew to Ohau.... about 2 hours drive from Queenstown.

12 of us drove up and stayed in a lodge at the base of the ski-field, next to a lake. A beautiful setting, but then it all is in NZ! After driving there on Friday night and settling into to the 'BOYS ROOM' bunks, we headed straight to the (reasonably priced) bar for some post drive bevvies. The bar was buzzing with a 'Contiki tour' (backpackers road trip thingy) who were all dressed in Toga's and 'pi$$ed as'. Funny stuff though, especially the midnight spa bath - 12 people in a 4 man tub is a bit of a squeeze!

The night from 15cm of fresh powder, which we were all grateful of, since it's been a pretty crap season in Queenstown this year. Up on the slopes for 9 a.m., we had a whole day of boarding in pretty good conditions. I'd forgotten how knackering boarding is, especially when you've not done it for a year.... and by 4 p.m. I was buggered.

The evening meal was quality, followed my more beers (naturally) in the bar, the Rugby game (NZ All Blacks vs. South Africa) and a laugh at the new Contiki crew, this time in 'dress to impress' mode!

Here's the link to Ohau's ski field - here

So yeah, quality weekend away with the boys and girls. Played 5-a-side tonight too - need to improve my fitness!

Right, emough waffle... things to do! I'll add some photo's when my mate Sian gets her ar$e into gear and e-mails me them!

Here are the photo's.

Lunch at the office...

Well, here's another pic.... this one's from the balcony at the office... the mountain in the background is Coronet Peak, where we go snowboarding. Beautiful view, but painful to watch the slopes in action while working!

NZ - the beauty of where we live!

Here's a view from the house...... pity we're gonna have to sell it when we leave!

A new Era begins!

Alright everyone.... gotta get into this blogging lark. I've had this thing set up for some time now, but never got around to actually writing in it, instead I just annoy you all with group e-mails.

So, to avoid boring you, here's the plan!

We leave here 4th November, head to Sydney for 4 nights (might as well while we're on this side of the world right!) and then head up to Thailand. Hopefully Mr. Brooks will meet us at the airport and we'll spend some time with him and Amar, before having the next 6 weeks travelling around... the beaches..... the culture... blah blah - the travel guide looks good and I remember from my previous visit that it is DAMN CHEAP!

We'll fly out of Bankok and land back in England on the 22nd December, just in time for a big fat Turkey and some xmas pressies!

Then, a new year..... a new job...... a new location....!

Oh - here's a piccy for ya... I know y'all like pictures - well here's Kats mum, Dee, Kat and I at her sisters wedding back in July in sunny old Skegness!

Happy New Year

2005 is here

Well, just started back at work today after a nice refreshing break on Slipper Island in the Coromandel, North Island NZ. Kat and I went up to Auckland boxing day to stay with friends for a couple of nights before heading off to the island paradise!

There were about 40 of us altogether, 8 of which we knew beforehand, but with 20 bottles of wine and 60 beers for 4 nights (average for a couple of people!) we soon got to know the others! Snorkelling, cricket, kayaking, running, fishing, swimming, footy were all on the agenda over the few days there, although we only had good weather for about half of the time. The bay there is like something from Fiji, with a gorgeous sandy beach and clear blue waters.

We camped for the 5 nights close to the other Aucklanders who stayed in the lodge. Nnew years eve was quality, and we watched the fireworks on the mainland at midnight.

Back to work today, so not much time to write. The usual mountain to catch up on, so I'll write again soon.

Hope everyone had a wicked New Years around the world. Finally found out Marek was at home over xmas today, so the worry of the tsunami in Thailand was finally resolved!

Later...

Merry Xmas!!!

Well, as this is the first post, I'll try not to bore you too much!

Basically here's the story so far:

Came to New Zealand xmas 2002 with Kat planning to stay for a year.
Loved it.
Went to Queenstown for the ski-season.
Got a job designing toys and household products!
Bought a house with a lake and mountain view.
2 years later - stilll loving it, sorted the snowboarding lark out, running half-marathons and still spending lots of money we don't really have!

... missing friends and family in the UK more than the UK itself!

What are you all up to?

MERRY CHISTMAS to you all!