4 months, in reverse!
As promised here's the lowdown on what I've been up to over the last few months of 2008! What a great year it has been and the last few months were no exception.
As December drew to a close I decided it was time to get my ass in gear and make my way to New Zealun(as its pronounced here). I booked flights from Saigon to Bangkok and then from Bangkok to Brunei and then from Brunei onwards to New Zealunnn. the journey was spread over 3 days without much break time between flights. That didn't stop me taking advantage of my time in Saigon to get royally smashed with some travelers I'd met along the way. Waking up 50 minutes before my flight was due to depart was enough to have me muttering Lethal Weapon cliches such as "I'm getting to old for this shit".
Due to the savoury hangover I instigated in Saigon the next 2 days of travel were somewhere between unmercifully uncomfortable and mildly tolerable. Although I did have a stroke of luck in Brunei, they were screening folks for Visas, and sending you back if you didn't have the proper documentation. I met 2 Canadians who were unlucky enough not to have been born with the irish charm. It was a bureaucratic nightmare for them, but they made it in the end. All the while I smiled and cursed Vietnamese whiskey breath..
I arrived in Auckland and quickly made my way up to Anne and Red. Pretty choice situation really, as they live in Mt. Maunganui. A beautiful coastal town on the Bay of Plenty. ( Mr. Cook has alot to answer or his ridiculous naming policy..) My time with them flew by and I made my way down to Wellington.
Once in Wellington I found a room at the Nomad Hostel. An enormous building right opposite the Train station. It's an okay hostel although unless you need to be near the train station I'd recommend getting a place closer to town. Sharing in Nomads was my first experience of a western hostel. For some reason I felt more conscious sleeping there, as if the gutter-slum places I'd stayed in in Asia encouraged one to abandon all adherence to social conventions, and now that I was back in the real world I wasn't so sure what was acceptable.
So on my first(and only) night I went to bed later than the others in the room. About an hour after I fell asleep I woke to the sound of the girl above me sleep talk. Amusing and quaint I thought to myself I returned to the land of slumber. Little did I realise that the next time I woke it would be to the sound of my own sleep talking, except mine wasn't so quaint. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was a string of profanities I'd *somehow* heard somewhere.....Needless to say I'm sure the other inhabitants of the dorm were delighted to be sharing with Elvira the Ranter and Richard Tourettes. So I promptly found a more permanent place to live ;)
I ended up getting work with the Ministry of Education here in Wellington. Working as part of their Interoperability Team. It was a great contract and opened my eyes to a totally new environment having spent years working for Microsoft. Some of the things happening in the education space right now lie somewhere between exciting and downright frightening. But nonetheless the nerd in me enjoys being part of new technology and seeing cool solutions come into play. Although...I can;t say I'd like to be a student in school nowadays. Parents being equipped with online access to you latest homework results - eek!!
Once contract finished I decided to take a little break from the 'real' world and head down to the south Island. Somewhat randomly I ended up booking a trip to KaiKoura. Easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Nestled between a snow capped mountain range and a crystal clear sea, the town is certainly a candidate for the very definition of the word haven.
I stayed in a hostel called Dusky Lodge, which was homely, happy and had such essential facilites as a swimming pool, Hot tub and Sauna...hmmm...I ended up staying there for 12 days. Meeting some really cool heads and eventually meeting up with those I'd end up ringing in new year with.
ducky lodge ahs a great view over the hills around KaiKoura and one morning whilst sitting eating my breakfast the idea came to me that I'd really like for my neices to see this palce someday. Alex and Isabelle are 6&3 respectively right now so it'll be a while before they can travel anywhere on their own. But nonetheless I thought it'd be sweet to give them an incentive to visit this place, if my words of praise were not enough for them.
So I bought them some gifts and decided to bury them in a prominent loation in Kaikoura. Funnily enough the clouds came in nice and low on the day I choose to complete this task, so I got to complete my work under the cover of a thick fog cloud. It felt somewhat Lord of the Rings like to be honest. It was a great day and I truly hope the 'treasure' stay in its rightful place until the intended recipients come to collect it. The idea of reading a note from me to them, written 15 years previously is very exciting, i just hope they like the gifts! :)
I spent Xmas on an island off the south coast of the south island. Stewart Island is home to 10,000 kiwi birds and 370 human inhabitants. Its a fantastic place, but you really need to spend a few days there to appreciate it beauty. I didn't see a single kiwi by the way...sheesh! Apparently they were all at some sort of Flighless Bird Package holiday convention. I did however see KaKas, the native parrot like bird with a rather distinctive cry. The can be seen swooping all over the place, clumbsy in the air, they fly like how I imagine prehistoric creatures did.
All in all its been an amazing few months. A really fantastic round off to 2008. Lets hope 2009 can be even better.
Happy 2009 All!!
As December drew to a close I decided it was time to get my ass in gear and make my way to New Zealun(as its pronounced here). I booked flights from Saigon to Bangkok and then from Bangkok to Brunei and then from Brunei onwards to New Zealunnn. the journey was spread over 3 days without much break time between flights. That didn't stop me taking advantage of my time in Saigon to get royally smashed with some travelers I'd met along the way. Waking up 50 minutes before my flight was due to depart was enough to have me muttering Lethal Weapon cliches such as "I'm getting to old for this shit".
Due to the savoury hangover I instigated in Saigon the next 2 days of travel were somewhere between unmercifully uncomfortable and mildly tolerable. Although I did have a stroke of luck in Brunei, they were screening folks for Visas, and sending you back if you didn't have the proper documentation. I met 2 Canadians who were unlucky enough not to have been born with the irish charm. It was a bureaucratic nightmare for them, but they made it in the end. All the while I smiled and cursed Vietnamese whiskey breath..
I arrived in Auckland and quickly made my way up to Anne and Red. Pretty choice situation really, as they live in Mt. Maunganui. A beautiful coastal town on the Bay of Plenty. ( Mr. Cook has alot to answer or his ridiculous naming policy..) My time with them flew by and I made my way down to Wellington.
Once in Wellington I found a room at the Nomad Hostel. An enormous building right opposite the Train station. It's an okay hostel although unless you need to be near the train station I'd recommend getting a place closer to town. Sharing in Nomads was my first experience of a western hostel. For some reason I felt more conscious sleeping there, as if the gutter-slum places I'd stayed in in Asia encouraged one to abandon all adherence to social conventions, and now that I was back in the real world I wasn't so sure what was acceptable.
So on my first(and only) night I went to bed later than the others in the room. About an hour after I fell asleep I woke to the sound of the girl above me sleep talk. Amusing and quaint I thought to myself I returned to the land of slumber. Little did I realise that the next time I woke it would be to the sound of my own sleep talking, except mine wasn't so quaint. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was a string of profanities I'd *somehow* heard somewhere.....Needless to say I'm sure the other inhabitants of the dorm were delighted to be sharing with Elvira the Ranter and Richard Tourettes. So I promptly found a more permanent place to live ;)
I ended up getting work with the Ministry of Education here in Wellington. Working as part of their Interoperability Team. It was a great contract and opened my eyes to a totally new environment having spent years working for Microsoft. Some of the things happening in the education space right now lie somewhere between exciting and downright frightening. But nonetheless the nerd in me enjoys being part of new technology and seeing cool solutions come into play. Although...I can;t say I'd like to be a student in school nowadays. Parents being equipped with online access to you latest homework results - eek!!
Once contract finished I decided to take a little break from the 'real' world and head down to the south Island. Somewhat randomly I ended up booking a trip to KaiKoura. Easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Nestled between a snow capped mountain range and a crystal clear sea, the town is certainly a candidate for the very definition of the word haven.
I stayed in a hostel called Dusky Lodge, which was homely, happy and had such essential facilites as a swimming pool, Hot tub and Sauna...hmmm...I ended up staying there for 12 days. Meeting some really cool heads and eventually meeting up with those I'd end up ringing in new year with.
ducky lodge ahs a great view over the hills around KaiKoura and one morning whilst sitting eating my breakfast the idea came to me that I'd really like for my neices to see this palce someday. Alex and Isabelle are 6&3 respectively right now so it'll be a while before they can travel anywhere on their own. But nonetheless I thought it'd be sweet to give them an incentive to visit this place, if my words of praise were not enough for them.
So I bought them some gifts and decided to bury them in a prominent loation in Kaikoura. Funnily enough the clouds came in nice and low on the day I choose to complete this task, so I got to complete my work under the cover of a thick fog cloud. It felt somewhat Lord of the Rings like to be honest. It was a great day and I truly hope the 'treasure' stay in its rightful place until the intended recipients come to collect it. The idea of reading a note from me to them, written 15 years previously is very exciting, i just hope they like the gifts! :)
I spent Xmas on an island off the south coast of the south island. Stewart Island is home to 10,000 kiwi birds and 370 human inhabitants. Its a fantastic place, but you really need to spend a few days there to appreciate it beauty. I didn't see a single kiwi by the way...sheesh! Apparently they were all at some sort of Flighless Bird Package holiday convention. I did however see KaKas, the native parrot like bird with a rather distinctive cry. The can be seen swooping all over the place, clumbsy in the air, they fly like how I imagine prehistoric creatures did.
All in all its been an amazing few months. A really fantastic round off to 2008. Lets hope 2009 can be even better.
Happy 2009 All!!
Labels: travel
I think I may have stayed in the same hostel in Kaikaura. Is that the one with the chill-out area out the back, up the hill and overlooking the sea? Oh and I've definitely stayed in the same place in Wellington. It smelled strangely like a hospital. Are following a trail of evidence that will eventually lead you to my front door and the treasure?
Getting flashbacks to Shawshank Redemption where Andy buried the flights and money for Red!
Definitely a shawshank influence there. Although my life doesn't seem to carry as much weight without the gravelly tones of Morgan Freeman narrating my every move.
the narrator