T-one busy 7 days

So I'm sitting in the airport, thinking, surely we only just left this place; I can't believe it's time to come (other)home already!!

It's been a busy old week in preparation to come back to you all....I say in preparation, I saved a whopping 4 minutes for packing; a personal best I'm sure you'll agree!

We've both worked all week, and both been asked to promise to return when we do, which is always nice!

Monday evening saw me working for Autism NZ, which I'm not sure I've told you about yet?  I'm helping run two support groups: one every other Monday called Out of Sync, for adults with Autism/Aspergers symptoms and/or diagnoses; another on the first Sunday of every month called Oasis, a group for parents and partners.  It's really interesting and hopefully will give me a bit of an in at the organisation should a job appear.....though as usual the government seem keen to spend as little on the issue as possible.  EG: The whole Wellington branch is currently being run part time by one woman, she's trying to get more funding though so fingers crossed!  The Sunday sessions are a bit of a chance for loved ones to talk/vent/get ideas and strategies and just generally share and can be a bit heart breaking, hopefully I'll come up with some helpful gem eventually.  The Monday groups are very varied as each session there is a range of topics to discuss and (because it's so large) the group split into groups to talk about them with different facilitators.   My two most memorable topics so far have been discussing creativity and giving people a chance to share the various ways in which they've been creative...really it was just a great excuse for me to be nosy and look at some incredible peices the members had made- everything from furniture to sculptures and cryptic crosswords!  The other session which was rather eye opening was called "small talk."  One member in particular found this very hard to grasp as they couldn't understand why we weren't discussing small talk (as with all the other topics) as opposed to just indulging in it and in turn why the same rules etc didn't apply.

Tuesday took some recovering from.  Some of you may know about the...er....experience I had at the hair dressers when we first got here.  It can only be described as a comedy of errors, culminating in me being called the wrong name for hours (longer than necessary because of how late the woman, who apparently is easily distracted, was running), being told how outrageous it was that she had to learn about Anne Frank when she moved here and came to school as her life had been MUCH harder (with all due respect lady, if you're here to tell the tale then no, no it hasn't) and ending up charged $50 more than agreed, with what can only be described as a grey, stripy lop sided mullet.  Needless to say this was not the look I was going for.  I emailed the salon (which I think indicates how bad it was!) and to their credit the big boss from Auckland called me straight up and send me numerous pampering vouchers and arranged to fly down to meet with the woman, while the manager/previous owner of the branch offered to fix it for me free of charge.  Sadly the best she could do was recolour it and chop it into a bob a good 6 or 7 inches shorter than I'd finally gotten my hair to grow.

It was OK as a look, but for my next appointment (as she hadn't quite been able to fix it fully) I decided to take advantage and just sod it and start again by chopping the lot off!  This took a lot of research- and by that I mean feeding of my Pinterest addiction- and I settled on a rather lovely Sienna Miller chop.

So clutching my photo I swallowed my nerves and offered up my hair for the chop.  The hair dresser was excited.  This should always be a bit of a warning.  It should also be noted that to be "wedding ready" for our return to the UK I was also getting my nails done...which meant I was being chopped sans mirror.  Now that is a LOT weirder than you'd think....especially when other members of the styling team come over to chat to you and start bandying about names like Miley Cyrus.  For those of you not sure, this is startlingly different...recap the lovely photo above, then hark at this:

COLOUR.ME.ALARMED.

The resulting look didn't stop me leaving the flat the next day, which I guess says a lot.  It's also lucky as on Thursday night we had tickets to the opening night of WOW- World of Wearable Art.  There is no false advertising about that acronym, perhaps the word wearable, but not WOW.  It was possibly one of the most spectacular shows we've seen- made more so by the ridiculous price of our tickets.  We were promised a restricted view and ended up in the second row, granted we were right at the side of a stage in the round, but we could see everything perfectly.  The only restriction really was that there was SO much to see you didn't know where to look first!  The best way to describe the show is if Tim Burton & Baz Luhrmann got together to direct and episode of Dr Who...set during fashion week...with the help of the team from La Clique...WOW is what it would look like.  WOW indeed!  It was almost overwhelming and actually I'd like to go again at least 3 more times to see it from every angle.  It really was a visual spectacle, from the costumes- no creations, to the setting and choreography, sets and music.  Everyone here says it is a firm favourite on people's Wellington bucket list and I can REALLY see why.  I'd fully recommend you booking your visits to us in September time!

And well here we are, sat in departures waiting to come (other)home.  I can't believe it's been 3 months already.  Time goes faaaaar too fast when you live in the future....though no doubt it'll only speed up as we come home and rush around desperately trying to see everyone.

I do hope you can all make it to birthday/leaving drinks on the 18th at The Boatman in Guildford.  Remember to be nice about my hair!!!!!

Time Travel

...Well that's the only way I can explain it, the fact that I blinked and started to think it was about time to write, blinked again and suddenly it's been nearly two months!!??  Sign of good times well spent I suppose....but I can't right now remember a single thing!

Short blog then don't know what all the fuss was about.

Please, as if I'd let you off that easily, I have to bore you far more than this first...

I suppose I should start with real life, just to prove we are having some, before I harp on about more trips etc.  I believe when we left you last Martin's job at Statistics House had been reshuffled by the earthquake causing his building to be reshuffled.  Sounds frustrating enough after a 3 week wait for a start date, but alas, it got worse as, the day he started replacement work he got a call saying they were ready for him and he should start Monday.  That was Friday evening.  The agent, who is clearly reputable and honest and as all folk with the word AGENT in their title tend to be, then suggested he just jack in this other job so he could take hers.  Thanks but no thanks to her translated as, "Great give me a call on Monday morning and let me know your thoughts."  Mmmm so needless to say Martin has not yet worked for Statistics House...however when he explained the situation to him they did express a desire for him to keep in touch, so who knows that could change- not though if Hays have anything to do with it!  In the mean time he's had a great time and met some great people (because apparently the office working week in this country is only 4 1/2 days long; Friday being half work and half hanging out with your mates and a few bottles.  Dress down and drink down Fridays!) working for Sharp's offices and a Property Managing Agent (there's that agent word again.  Needless to say Sharp was the preferred role and they wanted him to stay too!).  He's also landed the role of Henry VIII in a production of Anne Bolyn which he is rehearsing as we speak- sounds rather good too!  Obviously.

My day to day goings on are somewhat less glamorous.  Dressing down and drinking up is less possible/appropriate- all be it more necessary sometimes- in the wonderful world of childcare!  I'd been taken on by a group of 5 childcare centres called ChildSpace to do some supply work, with a view to potentially taking over from one of the centre deputy managers while they were on holiday, in the UK funnily enough.  I thought that was unlikely to happen though as our trip meant I couldn't cover the whole of their 6 week leave; however I obviously did OK on the days I worked prior in their other centres as I am now there and have been asked to come back when we're home...er....from home.  That would be great news, except it's just in time for the NZ equivalent of OFSTED.  Say no more.

I'm not going to lie, I was dreading going into a nursery-age setting...I'd only ever seen glimpses of it back home and those glimpses looked like everyone (staff and children) was bored and getting very cross about it.  There are things to love and hate about it and how it's done here but for the most part I'm enjoying it....this may have something to do with the fact I seem to have developed a habit of making a HUGE mess with the children, the name of learning, obviously, just before it's time for my break.  The lack of British red tape is taking some getting used to though and I'm sure everyone is sick of me asking for forms and proformas and whether we can and can't do things and if so when and for how long!  I've been with the whole range from infants to 5 and am currently with the 2-3 year olds and definitely think that's the place to be...despite the nappies.   That said having experienced a spate of streakers this week I'd say bring back the nappies any day!!

On that note I'll take you back to my happy place, holidays.  All in the name of research you understand!  They go in for Groupon and LivingSocial type bargain offer schemes a lot here and I've been fully taking advantage and using these deals as a means to see the place.  Our first little mini break (of this blog!) was a trip to the mountains to try a spot of skiing- after all you can take the couple out of Surrey.  We headed about 3/4 hours in and north to Mt Ruapehu; a place that, I thought, was far more famed for it's walking as it has one of the "Big Seven" treks, the Tongariro Crossing in its peaks.  I didn't actually know you could ski there at all....not that we really did particularly, Ha!  I was very impressed with how quickly out pre-teen ski-school experience was all flooding back to us....when it dawned on me that we were essentially "bombing it" down the flats of the learner lane.  Attempting to traverse the real (green) run was much hairier....what with all the kamikaze kids whooshing past us on all sides!  By the end of the day our confidence had really grown and I even attempted a jump!  To a fashion.  Well I skied up to it, freaked out and slowed down to such an extent that I banked on the top of it.  GNARLEY!  It was certainly worth a day out and in a beautiful location not far from the banks of Lake Taupo we will be back....in fact we're already planning to walk the crossing in Summer.  It's still weird that's December.  I think we'll definitely try skiing again and not just for a day or for the hot chocolate- or calve cramp.

We had to be a bit more dedicated with our next trip as we hot footed it aaaaalllll the way down to Stewart Island, the last piece of land before Antarctica.  That said it was far more balmy than you'd expect for the middle of winter- us Britts really do get a bum deal.

So we set off from a bar on Sunday night to the ferry terminal to catch our over night ferry down South.  "Hilariously" it only actually takes about 30min to get to the South Island from here, the other 3 hours of the journey are spent traversing the sounds, which is actually really beautiful to just watch, if you're not facing a 13 hour drive.  Luckily we had an early check in and a cabin (best £20 you could ever spend.  Ever.) so could sleep through it.  In theory.  In reality we'd had the latest bout of earthquakes hit over the weekend, as usual this time bigger than the last (you've never known good time management until you've attempted to shower or use the toilet during times of seismic activity.  True story.  Not fun.), that plus a couple of drinks made the movement of the boat and waves feel uncannily like more tremors.  So I swapped blissful cruising sleep for drunk panic.  Less than ideal...particularly when we had to drive through Seddon, the epicentre, about 45 minutes into our road trip.  One adrenaline crash power nap (that accidentally lasted 2 hours) and a few pit stops later we pulled into Bluff and found, literally, the only building with any lights on was a hotel that was about to close it's doors for the night.  Luckily it let us in before it did.  Except it also let everybody else out.  Seems Bluff isn't so much your Winter mini-break type destination.  Cue night two of terror based sleep deprivation; this time at the hands of the Alfred Hitchcock type decore, shadows and eerie middle of the night sound effects resonating through this seemingly abandoned hotel.  Dawn broke and with it came the realisation that we hadn't been dismembered and breakfast.  Thus our distaste for Bluff started to thaw.  We actually had a lovely morning exploring view points, the end of the world, I mean State Highway 1 and the ships graveyard before abandoning our car at the horror hotel and catching our ferry.

I had no idea how mammoth Stewart Island was, I literally thought it was a dot that had fallen off the South Island.  Turns out it has 700 km of coast line....but what gives it its dot like feel is that there are only 20 km of roads.  Pretty much the entire population (all 400 of them) is based around one bay and the rest is sprawling bush land and I'm sure an abundance of secret Fern Gully'esque wonder.  I am, there's a even a place there called Fern Gully so it stands to reason that there must be!  After the horror hotel debacle we decided to pre-book into Jo & Andy's B'n'B...which turned out to be a treasure trove of a place in which (literally) every spare (and not so spare) piece of wall space was covered in bookshelves.  Catalogued bookshelves.

As you know we'd journeyed allllll this way to see the Southern Lights, Aurora Australis, as I had it under good authority that this was THE year to see them and July August were THE months.  PERFECT.  But for all of the cloud.  All of it.  Cloud that arrived just after sun set on our first day and stayed until we were safely on the ferry out. A trip on which I read that actually the lights had been seen as far north as Christchurch- even Wellington recently.  Boy were my cheeks red.  Anyhew, though we did not see the sky dance we did see a plethora of other amazing things, including a real, live, WILD kiwi.  For those of you at home, no not the fruit, the bird, the national bird of NZ that a lot of you have surprised me by not knowing.  For those of you at other home, no it was not a weka (though we saw them too) it was definitely a kiwi.  Though, as we told more locals and saw the sympathetic glint sheen across their eyes we couldn't help but be reminded of the time when we were last here and two very excited tourists (gawd who'd be them?!) came bounding up to us eager to show us the all their amazing kiwi photos they'd taken....of a weka.  But to be fair that was in the middle of the day at a car park, our sighting (of a kiwi.  I swear.) was in the middle of the night(ish) in the bushes of a remote lane.  None the less we soon learnt not to tell too many people.  One thing there is no doubt that we saw were albatross.  Amazingly striking and intimidating birds that stalked us on a fishing trip that we took on our second day there.  Yes fishing.  We did quite a good job too, caught enough blue cod for dinner (and one terrifying red bucket mouth, NOT for dinner) when we got home and rather tasty it was too!  Seeing the island and surrounding by boat also gave us the chance to explore neighbouring Ulva Island and bird reserve as well as an abandoned whaling station back on the main island.

The trip to Stewart Island was topped off and summarised nicely by stopping to watch a seal frolicking in the channel on the way back to Bluff...before one of the crew told the captain that Carol had an appointment she needed to be back for.  Perks of living on a huge island with only 399 neighbours and all this amazing nature and wildlife on your doorstop I guess.  So we bid adieu to the seal and carried on our road trip.

That however is for another blog another time.  Not least because this is FAR too long (I did promise to bore you) but because we stopped off in Christchurch on our way home and I think that city and its people and their incredible spirit and courage deserve more than a passing mention.  As scary as these few months of wobbles have been, we Wellingtonians really know nothing about earthquakes.

In the mean time if after all that you still need tiding over, here's some snaps we've taken a long the way...like the other album this will get added to a LOT while we're here.  Road Tripping NZ

Photo Album

Hopefully this link will take you to an album of photos to keep your eye on if you want to see what and where we're up to... "Do we actually live here?!"

In the mean time this is a bit of a selection of before/after Sunday's shake, rattle and rolling...

First World Problems

Well, here we are...I started this (using that term VERY loosely)  at 2 1/2 weeks in and now suddenly we've hit the 5 1/2 week mark...one thing I've definitely learned is that time goes VERY quickly when you're living down-under-and-to-the-right-a-bit!!

There are a multitude of reasons that I decided to call this post First World Problems at the time, and no doubt they were all HIGHLY amusing; including such gems as the fact that the flight didn't have the films we wanted to watch or seats that lay flat, our apartment doesn't have a bath so we're forced to use the hotel jacuzzi whenever we want a soak, (natural disasters aside) the weather is so warm we've not been able to go skiing yet (I laugh in the face of your heatwave Britain ) and, most devastatingly of all, not one member of bar staff seems to know what a spritzer is- leaving me no choice but to try a cacophony of cocktails out of an increasingly bizarre range of receptacles (tea pots, mason jars, anything but an actual glass).  Alas though it has been too long to send you a list of complaints so I shall start with an apology...

I'm sorry it's taken so long to write...though I expect you don't mind...but I still feel a bit bad.  It's not that I 've not been thinking about you all lots- it's more I've been too busy hunting down your every move on social networking sites to write!

I was talking to a friend about this earlier and why- even with a self confessed total inability to write any form of journal- it is really easy to blog when you're travelling; but not as easy as I thought it'd be when you actually move somewhere new.  The fact is, it's not very exciting, it's not moving around doing/experiencing something new all the time that just has to be shared (boasted about!), it's just every day life: same as yours but upside down and with better weather...and cinemas.
(...I'll come to that....)

So what exactly have we been doing with these weeks that I claim have gone so quickly then??

The first week was spent very much in limbo.  Arriving to an empty shell of a flat with literally nothing but the bed we rented from the hotel (I should explain our apartment block, Museum Apartments is attached to the Museum Art Hotel http://www.museumhotel.co.nz/) was interesting but definitely gave us the impetus to avidly run from jet lag while trying to turn the shell into a home.  Jet lag did have it's own laughs mind, with little moments like the time I stared with great confusion at the "emergency wok" we'd bought and it's slowly congealing and ever cool contents on the hob for a good 10/15min before working out that we were in fact the proud owners of our very own induction hob (posh words for a hob that's fussy about the type of pots and pans and, indeed, "emergency woks" you use on it) but sadly not our first in house hot meal.  

Still, we battled on and by the end of the first week here we were proud owners of phones, bank accounts, IRD number (tax code) applications and a lot of furniture that was actually our own.  Just not with us.  Yup, that was the weekend the 200km/hr winds came to greet us and cancelled our delivery... partially because the van couldn't drive in such high winds, partially because the roads couldn't be used in such high winds; due to the rather inconvenient sea/boulder to tarmac ratio that arrived with them.  However, this did prove a good opportunity to test our building's earthquake proof foundations.  These involve rubber and bearings and general cleverness and engineering that afford the building some "give" in the event of a quake, meaning that they can move with the ground....or as it turns out, the wind.  It is a bizarre feeling, seeming to be on a boat swaying with tide, when in fact your on the 7th floor of a building...and not one Mr T was entirely sure he believed until the water started splashing around the toilet bowl.

So the wind blew us into a very sociable and exploratory few weeks, visiting the family here (who we can't thank enough for their incredible welcome.  A lot of LOVELY meals and hospitality, the introduction to many new friends, meet up groups and even the loan of a car and a TV, have all greatly added to our Shell-to-Home project and things wouldn't be the same, or nearly as fun with out them, so, again,THANK YOU ALL) and checking out the various bays and beaches around the city, of which there are many.

The thing I love about Wellington, that drew a staunch pair of country bumpkins out here in the first place, is how incredibly eclectic it is.  One minute you can be in the CBD (central business district) but walk across a few roads and your at the harbour, drive a few and you can choose to be in the hills, nature reserves or at a beach that feels so remote you feel like you must have driven for hours.  As I say, when it's not horrific and terrifying, the weather has been beautiful and sunny and relatively warm- we've even managed a few outdoor dinners on the harbour, so perfect exploratory weather.

I think so far my favourite "discovery" (because don't be fooled by the sprinkling of houses, we were DEFINITELY the only people in the world by the time we arrived...well, us and the goat) is a place called Makara Beach, about 20/30 minutes out of the city.  A stunning place, that suits us both perfectly as it's beach (for me!) surrounded by hills (for Mr T), topped off by a small river estuary.  We (Mr T) even heroically saved the life of a storm battered shark there!!!  (*disclaimer, apparently if you want to talk in real terms it was a dog fish who may/must've (ie: it's a mystery) been dropped by a fisherman).  We need to go back and explore it further as, though the sun was shining, it was still a tad too windy for the cliff walk that would've taken us to the WW2 gun emplacements and then onto the, clearly well positioned, wind farm.

We've also had a little jaunt slightly further afield up to Palmerston North, where we learnt that it is imperative, if you go exploring in anyway here to bring your walking boots with you!  (No matter how mild you intend your Bear Grills impersonation being.) 

There were some lovely, naughty individuals who ignored our request of no wedding presents and instead bought us some vouchers, giving us something to do when we got here.  One of these was for a massage up in PN, so it seemed rude not to celebrate our new car and our month anniversary with a mini break and a massage.   It was a blissful and slothernly escape, as it should be, and one I think we'll have to do again (with the boots and with out the massage bliss bubble) to enable us to discover sites like, "The Bridge to Nowhere" and the rest of Manawatu Gorge.  As it is we got home just in time, for storm number 2 which saw all of the roads in/out of the area PN is in closed due to the rain and more wind (a mere breeze at 165km/hr) etc...but this also meant that we could do a bit more furniture shopping and order our sofas (including one EXTREMELY comfortable sofa bed, thus completing your bedroom ready for when you get here) and reclaim our lounge floor from aaaaallllllll our DVD's and CD's (while reminiscing about how laughably eclectic that collection is!)

The following weeks bought work interviews, jazz shows, (more) massages, cocktail nights, lunches, dinners, bike buying (and desperately trying to remember how to ride-ing), as well as fire dancing, stilt walking, Maori (Te Reo) and Bobbi Brown beautifying lessons, some cinema outings (Oh yeah, why cinema is better here....it's half the price, even for the expensive seats, 3D is actually 3D, you get to sit in actual real life La-Z-boys and have waiter service drinks and even meals bought to you.  I bet their pop corn isn't made of card board either) and earthquakes.  Lots of earthquakes.  At the last official count I saw we were at 1,500 (http://www.geonet.org.nz/), but there've been plenty since then too.  I don't envy the person in charge of keeping score, let's not distract them!

The first quake we felt was a bit bizarre really and by the time we'd had our very Surrey conversation about how, it couldn't be a big truck passing (duh you live on the 7th floor guys, how big do they make trucks here?!) and wasn't it a bit of an inconvenience because we (Mr T) had eggs on the hob but we supposed we'd best get under a door way, it had stopped.  We didn't really feel any of the subsequent aftershocks until Sunday....which is lucky because Saturday was stilt walking class day and I'm not convinced that would've made for a winning combination!  What you could feel was a strange feeling of sea sickness though, like you're body knows it's being shaken around even if you're not consciously aware of it.  Sunday put pay to that though and made sure we were very much aware, starting with a rude awakening at around 7am, shaking us straight out of bed and under the door way.  The lack of conversation this time though may've been more about the hour!  Despite the loss of a reed diffuser the novelty factor was still seeing us through- mostly as we tried to work out just how the reeds had made such a ninja-like protest at their impending demise that they ended up spread between two rooms, over the breakfast bar and even with one hanging out of our loft hatch!

It was the Sunday night tremor that killed the "fun" for us....and from the sounds of it, a lot of Wellington, who stopped joking with Christchurch about stealing their rocking and rolling thunder and started advising people about "Grab and Go" emergency kits and structural scrutiny etc.  Coming in the immediate wake of a post unpacking spring clean and not to mention the second round of ornament selection pruning and a meticulous display procedure, Sunday's quake was one big (scary) arse slap in the face.

Our beautifully, brand newly finished, shell no more, 100% home was shaking like things only shake on the news or in museum simulators.  There wasn't much more we could do but cower under our dining table as items started to crash and tumble around and your bedroom was totally, utterly, frustratingly and soberingly wrecked by our brand new, fitted and filled bookshelves heaving their contents or falling entirely to the floor.  Evidently one of the downsides of allowing a building to move with the earth and then choosing to live at the top of it, is that you move too...a lot....and so does your stuff....a lot.  Having felt like we'd just finally finished settling in and making the flat home, it was really disheartening to look around it in those hours after that one hit.  To be honest I spent most of the evening still under the table after my first few attempts to move were met with more shaking- Mr T was braver and at least made it to the chair.  We didn't really tidy up that evening though, too busy feeling sorry for ourselves and frustrated...and unsure if that was the prelude or the grande finale.

Apparently it was stronger than the big Christchurch one, but we were just lucky it wasn't under the city as theirs was.  We were also lucky that there's been a big drive to quake proof much of Wellington so, for the most part, building's mainly suffered superficial damage; though the city was pretty much on lock-down for all of Monday and some places further into the week as debris was cleared up and checks completed.  More over, we were lucky it happened on a Sunday night; it seems that it's not just us ruddy naive foreigners that didn't think to secure things to the walls in our buildings, but a lot of offices made the same mistake too and have also suffered a lot of damage to floating ceilings and pipes etc...though I think, for the most part, they're sorted enough that people have returned to work, although many in different offices.

A few buildings are still closed though and there's a road near us that's been evacuated due to a mysteriously owner less (and building-less) lift shaft remaining from a property development that went bust some 30 years ago.  How they've just noticed it I'm not sure, but anyway...it's now unsound and so being attached to the building next door until a more permanent solution can be found.  

So we rattled into Monday and Tuesday with ever increasing numbers of aftershocks, but ever decreasing magnitudes and statistical likelihoods of another big shake up and back we seem to be at the sea sickness levels of movement....which....in wonderful hindsight is the FAAAAAR preferable alternative.  We've stopped sulking about the state of the flat and tidied (well, Mr T did really) it all up pretty much, just need to fix the shelves and re-reclaim the floor...possibly thinking in a more physics than aesthetics based way about how we load them this time...and of course NAILING THE BUGGERS TO THE WALL!!!!  

I can't lie I still jump when the building makes anything that even vaguely resembles the weird pre-shaking lurch noise, am apparently now feeling phantom quakes and no longer think much of almighty Mother Nature's sense of humour...but the sun's out, the birds are singing, it's the weekend, which means that the city is flooded with markets and music, the Wellington International Film festival is starting and we might finally get a go at sailing tomorrow and away on our skiing mini break next week....

*********

Just a quick PS:

Sorry for buggering on soo long, will try to keep that to a minimum.

PPS:

Some photos will get sorted and posted ASAP

I'm getting too old for all this new fangled modern technology...

Obviously, OBVIOUSLY, one of the most important things about getting ready to move abroad (still weird!) is dusting off the old blogspot in preparation for all the boastful and fabulous posts I hope to make you all green with!! Well they've only gone and ruddy changed the whole look and layout, I'm not even convinced I'm logged in, ever mind publishing as we speak. Oh well it's all good packing procrastination.

T- 31 hours till the off.

Yikes.

2 years down and time didn't stop long enough to simply fly by...

Hello everyone!!!

Now, I’m not assuming you’ve all been at the edge of your seat with anticipation, awaiting the next thrilling instalment in the mundane happenings of me, I’m just saying that I know I’ve been totally rubbish at keeping in touch with you all and I am actually sorry!!!

I cannot believe how fast time is going; it’s JULY on Wednesday when on earth did THAT happen??? So, I thought I’d take a few minutes to give you a little recap of where I am, not to be vain, but in the hope you might reply and tell me how you are and what you’ve been up to...

Things have been a bit of a whirlwind these past 12 months; I was made redundant back in November, just before going on holiday for a few weeks. This was, was actually more fortuitous than you’d think as, surprisingly, things did not go accordingly to plan...that’s right, the holiday was in Thailand, and thanks to the PAD my friend, Hattie, and my holiday ended up being more like a month long, rather than a few weeks! Now, despite finding ourselves refugees really we mustn’t grumble, as, for a start, had we flown the day and route we were due to fly home we would’ve ended up flying straight into the monstrosities that happened in Mumbai (they don’t call me Calamity for nothing!), and for a second, an extended stay in Thailand can’t be too bad- specially when very generously put up in my cousin’s very beautiful home.

When I eventually got home I spent a very enjoyable Christmas at my mother’s festive three-day extravaganza, with one of her best friends, Hiroko, my cousin Vanessa and Martin. It was, yet again a tough old time, involving much food and merriment, quickly followed by my cousin Beccy’s wedding up in Warrington and Martin and my New Years Eve spent at a gala dinner (daaling!) in the beautiful Tudor town of Stanford.

2009 has remained as active as it started, if not more so! I’ve been on long-term temping contracts since January. The first of which involved working 1:2:1 in a mainstream school helping a girl with autism. We had some feisty moments over my months with her, as well as some very touching moments, including encouraging and hearing her read out loud for the first time in 2 years. It only served to affirm my want of opening a centre for autism.

That’s still slowly and steadily on track; my Cambridge Autism Course and Aston Business course are (I hope) going well and nearly finished. I’ve decided to do a teacher training PGCE as well, as it would be advantageous both to the centre and as a back up if it doesn’t go well (but it will!!!!). If they’ll have me, that will start in January at Roehampton Teaching College, and the completion of all 3 courses will coincide, leaving me ready and raring to get out to New Zealand! Speaking of which, Martin and I are planning to do a kiwi rekey in April for about 3 weeks....

Since leaving the school I was temping at I’ve been working at Surrey Social Services, in the children’s team, getting a bit of behind the scenes experience, while also tutoring a boy with autism on the side on a Saturday. It’s fascinating, if a touch stressful at times and I am loving it; but very much missing the classroom and have been approached by a few schools about working for them for the Winter Term, until I start my official training. So fingers crossed for a busy end to the year to....

On the social side, Martin and I moved in together at the end of last year and are looking for a place that is ours, rather than mine- it’s just a matter of finding the time to do so! It is all going very rose tintedly swimmingly I’m pleased to report, he’s also got me back into the theatre world. Admittedly my appetite had been wet at the end of 2007 when I discovered rather a random and surprise love of burlesque performing, I’ve done a few shows up in London over the year, but I’ve always been really partial to a spot of musical theatre- can’t resist the lure of a jazz hand or two! So in April Martin and I were in a musical production of Around the World in 80 Days, in a studio theatre in Carshalton. It was certainly a lot of fun....possibly more so to be in than to watch, though mum and my Godmother were very generous with their rave reviews.

Since then Martin has been cast as Hal in Shakespeare’s Henry IV part one and two no less. I will also be guest starring as a screaming wench, but wouldn’t want to steal his lime light....the fact that I get to be supportive with out having to pay for tickets has nothing to do with it I tell you, nothing!

My best friend Libby has also enjoyed theatrical success, making her directorial debut in London. So the two of them have made me very proud and really inspired me/given me the kick up the bum to go out and get over my fear of auditioning...

...Though this has provided some interesting results I must say... My first audition was for the same company that we did 80 Days with. They are doing Calamity Jane at the beginning of November and I decided to try out for Adelaide, the Hollywood Glamour puss/Bitch! People were very kind about my efforts, though I didn’t get the role. The director himself kindly congratulated me on my audition and told me I was so glamorous he’d like to cast me in another role, which is even introduced by name in the opening number, the role of Flo. Well I was flabbergasted and couldn’t possibly refuse... Imagine then how flabbergasted I was when this glamour filled little role turned out to be the village scuz- true, she is introduced by Calamity Jane herself in the opening number...as being offensively smelly and disgusting!!

I’m a little hurt that my levels of sophistication and glamour equate to repulsion, but am very excited as I think it will be hilarious to do/watch!

I then fell into auditioning for a version of Tommy! The musical, which will be performed at a terrifyingly large theatre in Epsom. For some reason I was possessed enough to go for the Acid Queen, the part Tina Turner played in the movie....for an even lesser known reason the panel was possessed enough to cast me. So those will be two weeks to make my mother proud- first a week as a drug-addicted prostitute, swiftly followed by a week as a stinking toothless hick. YEEE-HA!!!

If any of you find yourselves free and Surrey bound in the last week of September, that’s when Martin’s Shakespeare is on...the last week of October/first week of November are when I should be good for a giggle! Feel free to pop by!

I may have surcomb to the fact that I'm no longer a traveller, but there will still be exciting times ahead damn it....

So technically speaking as I am (shudder) no longer a traveller I am no longer authorised to bombard you all with travel emails, I know and am sorry, and this is the last one, I promise...until next time... The thing is I have some news I'd like to share with you. Yes it is mostly a guilt riddling scheme, designed to get those of you I have yet to impose my presence on out of the wood work, but also I just thought you may be interested to know and share opinions on the fact that...well...

I am emigrating to New Zealand for a few years!!

As you do...?!
(Well you should, and you would if you ever went there...I will be building a band waggon, the more the merrier so hop on board and come on out with me....)

There doesn't seem to be much in the way of resources for special needs there, specifically autism; so at the moment my plan is to look into studying a Developmental Psychology/Teaching post grad out there part time, and with the rest of my time attempt to start a group aimed at either individuals with autism themselves, or their families and siblings. A place of respite for all involved, whether it be from the life of inclusion and a not terribly autism friendly world, or for relatives to brain storm ideas/just realise they are not alone and to make some contacts and devise some strategies.

The original plan was to go at the end of summer! It may sound rushed but why give myself time to wimp out unnecessarily, is there really any point hanging around when I have this vision of what I want to do out there and where...where as here..to be honest...leaves me less than visonless! Unfortunately, and probably enhanced by the wonderful world of travelling, I just don't find this a terribly inspiring or motivational country to live in anymore, and all of these plans I am making don't seem to sit quite as well when I envisage them here as opposed to in New Zealand. I wont go too far into my unpatriotic rant as, well, we'd be here for hours, you've probably all been subjected to most of it before anyway, and boy will my cheeks be red if I find out something scary like New Zealand's on the other side of the world and freak out about the scariness of it all and come rushing home after a week!!

But at least I'll have tried it- best way of finding out how deluded one's dreams are I feel is to chase them like a loon!!

However, this plan has been scuppered. Hat's off to her, Mammabear is a cunning one and seems will do anything to keep me here, even if it means sweet talking the doctors into drawing out the check ups she has left over from when she was poorly at Easter time. Obviously (though I am totally on top of this conspiracy) I cant leave until she has been fully whipped back into shape, so I have developed plan b...big finish still the same...but in the interim I am going to make it my business to learn all I can about business, and enrol in a course (if I'm a student I'm still avoiding the real world you see) in the big smoke for a few months/year, probably move up there to (oh just to clarify, sorry about the confusion in my last email but I meant I've moved home as in out of mum's and back into my home. Though, for all you cocky and terribly amusing people who questioned my "new" address the phone number is actually new, so don't write it off just yet thanks), as well as learning more about Autism (which you can never know everything about), salsa and trampolining (well, when my ankle's better...sprained it, and I didn't even need a waterfall to fall off with the lovely summer weather we've been enjoying).

The perfect combination of skills I think for such a venture...well lets face it people, who would've thought it'd take me 23 years to realise I need to learn how to bounce?!

So the moral of this story is I have a busy few months/year ahead of me, and though you may all have bought yourself some time, I want to make to most of it, no slipping back into old routines and bad habits, I want to catch up with and keep in touch with you ALL, so lets arrange it...or I'll have to keep up with these "travel emails"...and the London commute ain't pretty...

C x