Hills, beaches and bistros!

It's now coming to the end of my third week in New Zealand and I'm feeling pretty settled in now which is good. I can't believe how quickly time flies, but I think this has definitely got something to do with the fact I'm a lot busier during my days now than what I was when I first got here.

As I said before I've managed to get a job in a beautiful bar and brasserie in one of the local villages - you can find a photo of it through the following link http://www.times.co.nz/Dining%20Guide/guide/picton_street.htm

It's quite a swanky place - make no comment as to what I am doing there thank you! But fortunately the other staff and the customers are all very friendly and easy going. I'm there 5/6 days a week and for 5-9 hours a shift generally, depending on day and how busy it is.

I've also taken to swimming most days - I'm trying to do between 30-45mins 5 times a week and combining that with lots of hill walking - Highland Park and Howick the area I live in is set on hills - which you will see from some of the photographs.

In the past week, I've had a chance to check out some of the local beaches, which are pretty spectacular, and handily close - again I've added some pictures so you can get and idea of the surroundings I am in.

Elizabeth, May's daughter keeps me occupied whenever I'm not out or helping with cleaning stuff in the house! May bought her an inflatable hammer from the Easter Show, which she relentlessly batters people over the head with - fortunately in a cute and funny way!!! Well, most of the time...

I'm also in the process of applying for a new passport - my entry into the country was somewhat K-Style!!! I'm sure one of these days customs is going to have photos pasted of me all over the place - this going back to several experiences I have in international customs - starting with my drugs swabbing as I left Heathrow back in May 2003!!! Anyway, on arrival in Auckland I discovered that my passport had been soaked by something which had leaked in my bag on the flight over - sod's law it was the ONLY thing affected by it! Anyway, this meant that when I went to show my passport and my boarding card from the flight to confirm my status - the card was now blank as all the ink had washed out and pretty much the same with my passport - all previous entry/exit visas were obliterated!!! Which made explaining where I was coming from interesting! When the woman asked where I was going to as well, I told her that i wasn't really sure as I was first going to see this woman "May" and then work the rest out from there... Of course she asks me for May's details and I'm like, urm, yeah, she's a friend - to which customs lady asks me "and what is her surname?" my face of course is blank -"and how do you know her?" Now stop me if I'm wrong, but simply answering "through the internet" does sound a little dodgy under the circumstances!

Anyway, after about half an hour, they managed to track me through the records - I guess it proves I wasn't on any Interpol listings - and sent me on my way, with a firm reminder I should get my passport fixed!!! So yeah, I have to do that, otherwise I'm not going anywhere for a long, long time!

So, that's about it for updates just now. I've got the day off today, so after swimming I'm heading into Auckland CBD to do a bit of shopping and sightseeing. The weekend of the 30th I'm off up north for a few days to the Bay of Islands and the tip of the North Island - really looking forward to seeing some of the scenery up there... And hopefully will get the chance to do a dive - Rainbow Warrior the Greenpeace Ship the French sank is up there!

Hope those of you in the UK are enjoying the coming of summer as we over in this part of the world prepare for winter... although those in WA around Perth have little to worry about - the climate is always pretty good - hence another reason I'd like to stay there!! For my friends in Thailand, I hope you are all well and ready for the monsoon to come or go, wherever you might be! And to anyone elsewhere in the world at the moment, whatever the weather, hope you're all safe and happy!

Until next time!
K xxxx