Off to the Races!

Ok! this is attempt #2 for me trying to get this blog published! Here we are all set to go to the races! Steph and I got up at 6am to get ready! We left around 830 to drive to Wellington to pic up Keiran and get to the races kinda early to get good seats. I decided after we were ready that I was channelling Samantha from Sex and the City with my outfit haha.

I don't know why the pictures are all in weird spots...the pic of me, steph, tony, and keiran is at kez's house in wellington where we stayed...not the best pic, but the only one i had of all 4 of us!

Here I am trying to be posh hehe....we got members tickets which meant that we got to go pretty much wherever we wanted and in the members stands so we didn't have to wait in line for anything :) yay!

Our seats were also right across from the finish line! yay!!

Me and Kez enjoying the races!

Steph and I walked down to the non-members section to check it out....man there were a lot of people there! I read in the paper that there was an estimated 28,000 people at the races!

Me and Steph :) It was really hot out too!






Here is me right in front of the race track!

There were also tents set up where there were fashion shows going on...like you could enter yourself into the fashion show...we watched like one contest...it was pretty cool...we also got to see the new prime minister John Keys speak.








It was so nice to be out of the sun!

In between races you could walk into the middle of the track...as you can see there were like millions of people trying to cross...steph and i checked it out, but there was nothing cool in the middle...so we returned to our luxury member seats hehe.

I did place one bet on #10-Tinsletown. He didn't win...Lame! I had no idea how to bet...the lady said that race 8 was supposed to be a big one...so that's the race i bet on!

Here we are enjoying ourselves before we left to go into town.



Below is us on the over-crowded, wayyy too hot bus ride into the city part of Wellington...it was like 500degrees in there...not a fan!

Once in town we might have made a stop at Maccas...we needed fuel for the evening :)

Umm yea....so this is what happens when you've been at the races all day long haha. Tony carried that pony around with him all day and night...it was pretty funny! He got a lot of comments on it!

Tony, Kez, and the pony at one of the clubs we went to.

Tony, Steph, and the Pony :)

Here is a pic of me pretending to be gangsta....this one's for you devon :)

This is poor mr. pony after a long night of dancing....he got a little dirty!

When we got home the next day someone had TP'd the house! haha...we still haven't figured out who it was...pretty funny tho!

Ice was very happy to see us!

Anyways...i had an awesome time at the races...i definitely would recommend going! Now it's monday night and i'm exhausted...i still haven't packed to go camping tomorrow yet...oops! i'll have to do that in the morning. but i need to go to sleep now so i can get up at 7 to go for a run! ah!

good night! i'll be back from camping on saturday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZ!! :)

YAY! HOPE YOU HAVE FUN OUT TONIGHT I WISH I COULD BE THERE TO CELEBRATE!! :) I MISSSSSSSSS YOU!!

Beep!!

I ran the beep test yesterday at the gym...i got to 17-2 which I was pretty impressed with since i had already gone for a run that morning and just finished a leg work out at the gym - it goes up to 21-16! i haven't done that since like high school haha.

Saturday is the races (and liz's bday:) ) which i am super excited about...what til you see mine and steph's outfits! hehe....there was a segment on the news this morning about fashion for the races...like seriously, there are fashion contests for the races! a hat or fascinator is a must apparently! here is the website for the races!

http://www.trentham.co.nz/wgtn_cup_day.html

then next week...since i don't have anything else to do because i can't find a job...i am going camping at castlepoint with frank (the guy i borrowed the surfboard from) and a couple of his mates...castlepoint looks pretty cool...we are also going to paraparaumu (where there is a LOTR filming location - yes!) and maybe to otaki as well.

so, i have a bunch of exciting things to look forwards to! :)

Obama

First of all...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!! :):):)


I actually woke up at 5:30 this morning to watch the presidential inauguration shown live on TV.

It's not that I'm any more politically minded, it's just that I felt like I should have watched it...like when it was actually happening. It was a pretty historic moment that I didn't want to miss out on even though I'm halfway across the world.

I liked some of the things President Obama had to say in his speech...about leaving Iraq and trying to be more friendly towards our adversaries....and i like how he touched on lots of different aspects like science, education, and global warming. All important things. However, I do hope he follows through with all his promises and I am a little curious to see how he is going to accomplish all of these great things.

I have to admit...I did tear up a little when Aretha Franklin was singing...maybe I was just really tired haha.

anyways...my job search continues with out any real luck...most of the vineyards don't really need any help until like march....one is going to call me back by the end of the week....we'll see how it goes!

Hotels and Hiking

Last Thursday, Steph and I randomly decided to go to Palmerston North to go shopping for some accessories to wear to the races in Wellington this weekend.


We ended up getting a hotel room and going out that night :) We had a lot of fun being dorks and jumping on the beds because we were so excited we got a hotel room haha.

This is us ready to go out! (yes Steph has a new dress and I have a new shirt...which I am mad at because all the boning started poking out of the seams...i have to return it!)

Steph and I also went for a hike this weekend...we went to Mt. Holdsworth. We hiked to one of the huts...we're going to plan another tramp to one of the farther away huts and stay over one night too!

Another view of the river we were hiking along.

Here I am crossing one of the many cool bridges we had to cross! It was fun to cross...probably not if you hate heights tho!

Here is the hut we hiked up to...it was kinda run down looking....the next one we hike to is bigger, so hopefully it's not as crap haha.

Other than that, I've been running a lot and going to the gym where Steph works. We're motivating each other. It's been tough, but we're both getting back into the groove haha.

I am also supposed to be job hunting...but am procrastinating so bad...I don't really want to work...but I could use the extra money...sigh...maybe I'll just go out and buy a lottery ticket today haha.




Other exciting news...my parents are coming out to visit at the end of February! yay! :) We're having a hard time figuring out what to see, but I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually...there are just too many decisions!

Bye Bye New Plymouth!

So, I officially left New Plymouth the other day....I'm actually kinda sad about leaving...I really like it there...like I could totally see myself living there! I am going to miss being by the ocean SOOOOOO much! I spent the day before I left on the beach surfing and soaking up the sun...it was like a perfect day!

This is Back Beach in New Plymouth where I was. I miss it already....I know I'm going to have lots of fun with Tony and Steph tho!

Here is one last view of the mtn...most of the snow has melted...those are the neighbor's cows.

Well...here I am...back in the car...it took me 5 hours to drive down to Gladstone...and I only stopped once!

Here are some new baby pine trees that have been planted that I saw on my way. Pine logging I guess is big in parts.

This is Marlborough-Masterton Rd where Steph and Tony live. The landscape is quite different...it's pretty much all farmland and a lot drier that the Taranaki region.

Here is their house...they live right on the farm where Tony works.

And here is the view from the deck. Lot's sheepies around here :)


That's about all my exciting news for now...miss everyone back home!

Ladders and Lights

So...I fell off a ladder yesterday. I was picking plumbs and reaching for this really juicy one...and low and behold, my ladder decides to tip over on me...and I came crashing down with the branch i was holding onto! I must have fallen a good 7-8 feet off the ground...it was pretty sweet...the ladder broke my fall. Im alright...a little sore today...and here is a pic of my leg....you can't really tell, but it's super swolen around that top graze. I thought it was pretty funny after it happened...i wish someone caught it on camera. It was also interesting that that morning I said to the 2 other WWOOFers "if I fall off a ladder, it will be today" since I was tired and it was my last day picking plumbs....i probably should have kept my mouth shut!

Last night Me, and the 2 other guys (from America!) went to Pukekura Park because during the holidays/summer they put all these lights up in the trees and it was really cool! Here is a picture of the waterfall...it was my fav :) All the lights changed colors on it!

Anyways...I have to continue trying to pack...i'm supposed to be leaving today hehe. I have WAY too much stuff with me!

Holiday Travels

Hi all...i have a lot of pictures for you :)

22 Dec 2008 This is a lovely view of Mt. Taranaki on the drive up to Coromandel. It's in Mokau. I'd say this was about an hour into our trip. A lot of our drive up was along the coast, it was very pretty!

Here is another stop a couple hours later. This drive up to Coromandel through Thames is famous for it's coastline. And no, it wasn't cold out, I was just cold sitting with the wind blowing on me in the car.

Here is me squished in the back seat of the car!

Once we got closer to Papa Aroha, the scenery changed a little. Papa Aroha is a town on the Coromandel Peninsula where Jon and Jenny's friends, Peter and Anita, own a holiday park (campground). This is a little bay or a river leading out into the ocean.

23 December 2008

This is Steph, Tony's girlfriend (Tony is J&J's son). Liz, I have to thank you for the idea of drinking Jenga :) Steph and I found a jenga set at the house we were staying in while bored because the weather wasn't so great and turned it into drinking Jenga...it was quite fun...especially when we got more people to play!



24 December 2008

On Christmas Eve Day, Jon took me, Tony, and Steph to a Kauri Tree forest. Kauri trees are native to NZ and they are HUGE! and very straight. And they have really pretty wood. It was pretty cool...like a more tropical version of a redwood forest.

We also visited the Waiau Waterworks. It was this place that had all these water-powered sculptures and things, and just random stuff like zip lines and giant pigs. It was pretty fun hehe.

Here is one of the random things...hehe. It was cool to ride on, I felt like ET (sorry liz).

Christmas Eve came with a rescue story! Peter is a member of the Papa Aroha (papa-arro-ha) fire dept. and they got a call in about a woman stranded, withouth clothes, under a red tarp. and her car was also stuck on the beach, but no one knew what beach it was. Peter had an idea...so me, Steph, Tony, and Peter got in his car and went to search for her. This is the beach that we found her on...it was so sketchy! We drove down this giant hill to the beach and there is this red ford falcon and a guy who looks like he's hitting something with like a bat. We get closer and this dude is in rough shape...like he's drunk or on drugs or something and he said he was trying to get the car unstuck and that the lady (Penelope) is under that red tarp over on the beach. So...Steph and I go trudging through the marshes over to this big red tarp...we start calling out "hello!!" but get no answer...there was a person-ish looking lump and a dog sitting next to it...and as we get closer, there is still no one responding. at this point, Steph and I are like omg we're going to find a dead person!!

But, luckily...Penelope responded....she must have been high off something....she was soaking wet, had only and old ragged sweater on...no pants...and her hair was all greasy and covering her face...she was trying to light a fire using cigarettes...and her belongings included some toilet paper, booze, and an old jacket. We kindly drove her back to her shack....but have no idea what was going on down there...it was so weird...why the heck didn't she have pants?? and why didn't she just walk to her shack....and how the heck did she call the police to say she was trapped? so many unanswered questions!

25 December 2008

Christmas day proved a little more cheerful :) The day was full of eating, drinking, napping, and swimming! Here I am on the campground's beach with my Christmas drink! My day pretty much went like this...wake up, eat breakfast, open presents...eat more, start drinking....nap time! wake up for lunch which was sooo good! eat too much...nap again! wake up in time for left over nibbles and maybe a couple more drinks hehe. It was a good day!

Here is another part of the beach....parts were pretty rocky.

Yay for swimming on christmas!! i've never done that before! :) the water was warm too! That's the campground in the back...





26 December 2008

On boxing day, me, Steph, and Tony travelled to Tirau to Steph's parents' house....they usually celebrate Xmas on Boxing day. That night me, Steph, her sister Jodi, their mom all went out in a town called Tauranga...I borrowed one of Steph's shirts...and shoes :)

Steph and I getting ready to go out! hehe. (and no we're not alcoholics!). It was so much fun going out....we went to this bar that had a band playing lots of good American music! yay! and...we didn't get home til 5:30am haha. The next day was kinda quiet...

27 December 2008

On the 27th, we were all feeling a bit tired...but, Tony, Steph, and I went to Mount Monganui. It is a city/little mt. to climb. Here is a view from the top, i'm glad we went! You can see the "city" - the road closest to the beach as a little board walk and one side is all cafe's, bars, and little shops.

Here is another view of the city...it's kinda like a peninsula ending in the actual mt.

On our way back to Steph's parents we stopping in the very small town on Tirau who's claim to fame is corrugated iron. So...they have a giant corrugated iron dog as one of their buildings...

...and sheep :)





28 December 2008

On this day, Steph and I drove Tony to Taupo to meet his friend Keirs because him and Tony were going hunting for the New Year. We walked around Taupo for a little bit (there's a huge lake there) and got some lunch. (and i got a phone call during a certain hunnukah party :) it was so nice to talk to everyone!). And then Steph and I headed over to Rotorua...we stopped off at Huka falls on our way. They were cool...they were like long flat falls, rather than your typical waterfall...the water was really blue/aqua too!

Me in front of the falls.....yes, that was the real color of the water!

Me and Steph in helmets to go on the luge in Rotorua...they're like the alpine slides we have in NH and VT....so much fun! I caught some air on one of the hills :)





30 December 2008

Say hello to Taryn and her cask of Tequila sunrise. We had done a little shopping and decided to do have some sunrise on the way home :) don't worry, Jodi was our sober driver! Taryn is one of Steph's mates who is currently working in Australia, but home for the holidays...she spent new years with us - yay!

The result of drinking too much Tequila :)

Another result....you can't tell, but we were all trying to pose on one of those little razor scooters. haha.






31 December 2008-01 January 2009!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!! :) The girls all glammed up for a night on the town...from left to right, it's me, Steph's sis Jodi (our sober driver once again), Steph's sis Janelle, Taryn, and Steph in front! This is at Steph's parent's house in Tirau...we drove to Tauranga to go out which is like 45min-1 hour away.

Umm....posing for the camera!

Hi :) we stayed and played some drinking games before we went out. If you can't tell, the black part of my dress/shirt thing is sparkly!!! i love sparkles! :)

This is what Tauranga looked like on New Years....that's the bar we went out to the other night, but it was too full for us to get into on New Years, so we went to one a little down the road which also had a band and was lots of fun!

Here we all are drinking our "juice" ;)

Here we are again hehe. On our way home, we got lost and ended up in Rotorua which is like an hour out of our way!! We didn't get home until a little after 6 in the morning! ah!

New years day was pretty quiet. Steph and I took her nephew, Jacob, (once we woke up) to the hot springs in Matamata (which is like 10 min away). They were pretty cool...they were basically pools where the natrual mineral water was pumped into...they had one naturally hot one...a medium heat one, and a cooler one to swim around in.




02 January 2009

On the 2nd, Steph and I drove down to her friend's house in Wairoa (i still can't pronounce that name right). Her friend Carly lives down there, and 2 other friends, Donna and Tracy, were also visiting. The boys were done with their hunting trip, and Tony, Keirs, and Dave all came up to visit for the night before they went back to Dave's farm in Namatea (sp?) which is in like the middle of nowhere. Here are Tony, Steph, Keirs, and I demonstrating how the belt, worn high on one's waist, can have a slimming affect on one's figure :)




04 January 2009

This is a beach in Mahia...or Te Mahia....and that is Tony and Steph's dog, Ice.
I don't have any pics from the 3rd and i can't remember what we did, so it couldn't have been too important haha.

Here is more the beach in Mahia...they had some cool rock formations in the water :)

Me on the beach :)

This pic didn't really come out too well because I took it from in the car, while we were driving, with the window up. But, they had some really cool white cliffs in Mahia! Totally different landscape!




05 January 2009

On the 5th, Steph and I drove down to Masterton to where her and Tony live (well, it's really Gladstone, but Gladstone is really small). We drove past teh Tui Brewing company on our way down! If I haven't mentioned before, Tui is a New Zealand beer...it's pretty good!



07 January 2009

This....is my new suitcase :) I decided that it was a necessity for weekend trips because my other suitcase is too huge, and my backpack is too small....and i might have gone shopping a couple times and aquired some more unneeded clothing :)

So...now that you've all read my extremely long blog entry...I have some more news to share!

After this weekend I am moving down to Masterton to live with Tony and Steph for a little while :) I am really excited about it...Steph and I have lots of fun things planned. We're going to the Wellington races (horse races), where people get all really dressed up and wear fancy hats...and we're going to go hiking, and on a wine tour...and i'm pretty sure we had some more stuff planned but i can't remember haha.

I'm also going to try to find a job for a little while, whilst down there...maybe working on a vineyard. :)

anyways...i'm sure this entry is way too long...and i'm getting tired....so I hope everyone had a good holiday season and are not too cold ;)

I miss everyone!!!!!