Fantastic news!!!

We had the news we've been waiting for for months today. Jason and I finally got our visas approved!! It's been such an uphill battle, we've been so stressed about it for nearly 6 months trying to work out what to do. I haven't been documenting our struggle on my blog as I wasn't sure whether it would get accepted and I wanted to wait until we had some sort of news, so here's the good news ;o) The visa is valid until May 2008, so it gives us time to decide where we want to live. It also means I can finally work and earn myself some money. What a big relief, and just in time for our holiday, so we can enjoy it more and not have the worry in the back of our minds!

I had a major achievement last night... I made my first homemade soup!! I never thought I would have the patience to make soup before, but I wanted to give it a shot! And it was bloomin lovely (even if I do say so myself!) it was red capsicum and sweetcorn. I must admit though that half of it ended up all over the kitchen floor when I tried to blend it, and I did ruin Jasons cookery book....but apart from that, it went very well!! Jason cooked the main course, filo pastries with feta cheese and yummy veggies....mmmm!! I led in bed last night thinking of what other soups I could make (how sad am I!!).

Earlier I phoned up one of the recruitment agencies I go through to get a summary of all my pay from the last year and I had a really nice compliment. It was a woman I've never spoken to before, she asked me my name, when I told her, she said, oooh, I've heard lots of good things about you. She said that TAFE, where I worked at the beginning of the year have been saying very good things about me. So that made my day, it must have been good that she recognised my name to tell me!

Countdown is on....only 7 days to go till our holiday ;o)

We had the coldest day on Tuesday....it was down to 15 degrees....brrrrrr!!

I went out with Sue last night, we met up at our local bar for a few drinks, had a bit of a catch up.

Just found out that Robbie Williams is coming to Sydney in December, he's finishing his world tour here, so I'm hoping to get tickets for that. It will be a great couple of months in Nov and Dec, we have U2, Pearl Jam, maybe Kylie, and now Robbie too...cool!!

Thats about it for now.

We went to see the Da Vinci Code last Thursday, we really enjoyed it, although the reviews weren't the best.
Friday night we went out with a few friends. Paul had just returned from China, so we caught up with him. We just went out for a meal and a few drinks. Saturday Jason and I went for a drive to some of the posh parts of Sydney, we had some chips at Watsons bay (not normally part of my diet!). We took a diversion to Bondi shopping mall, they have a couple of pet shops there, and we always check them out when we're passing. They always have really cute puppies there, most of them are those designer dogs, like laboradoodles and cockerpoodles!! This week we saw the cutest yet, beagliers (cross between a beagle and a king charles cavalier) I just wanted to take them both home with me, they were the loveliest dogs I've seen. I've got this thing about pets at the moment, it must be because I'm a bit lonely what with not working. There's a really sweet friendly cat downstairs that I'm quite attached to (this is very strange tho as I don't really like cats...they scare me a bit) like I said, I must be very lonely!!

I just realised, it was 6 years ago yesterday that I moved to Munich....wow, it seems like a lifetime ago, and I still haven't stopped travelling!!

Anyway, I'm just off to buy our travel insurance now....only 11 days to go ;o)

It's turning cooler here now, winter is definitely on it's way (thank goodness!!) it's still pretty mild, but I'm sure it won't be long now.

I'm getting really excited about our holiday, we're leaving in 2.5 weeks ;o) I can't wait to go back and see everyone, and it's a real bonus that I'm able to go to Munich too.

Apart from that, not too much going on. Jason and I went out on Friday with Linn and Martin for a friends birthday, we went to a bar I'd never been to before, it was good fun, they were playing loads of 80's music which I'm sorry to say I really love! Saturday, I got the ferry over to Manly to visit Sue. We bought lots of food and dips and had a girls night in. We had all good intentions of watching a dvd, but as always, we talked all the way through it, so we had no idea what was going on in the film....so we had to watch it again the next day (we managed to shut up for it!) and I'm glad we did watch it again as it was really good. After we'd watched that we walked down to Manly beach and had an ice cream and sat watching the world go by. When the sun started to go down, we went to a bar for a couple of drinks before I went home. It was great fun to see her again.

We had a lovely weekend. One of Jason's friends won a competition for a stay at a holiday home at Smiths Lake, (which is 3 hours drive north of Sydney) and they asked if we wanted to go with them. We jumped at the chance of a free weekend out of Sydney, so we all drove up on Friday night. The place was really lovely, the back door opened straight out onto the lake. We unpacked all our food, then settled down to a night of eating lots of yummy food and drinking wine, we didn't get to bed till about 3am! Next day, Natalie wasn't feeling too good, so Jason and I decided to go off on our own to see Forster, which is the next main town up the coast. We stopped off at a viewpoint on the way, where I managed to get eaten alive by all the bloomin mossies, I've never seen so many and in the daytime as well, Jason was swatting them off of me as I'm very prone to getting bitten. I thought I'd gotten away with getting bitten until yesterday when they all came out..my arms and back are covered in them! Anyway, after the lookout we made our way to the beach. There was hardly anyone there, we had our lunch and chilled out on the beach for a few hours. Jason went for a snorkel, but I wasn't feeling brave enough to venture into the cold water! On the way back we stopped so I could take a picure of one of the many kookaburras, eventually I got a good pic (it kept moving it's head) but I think I must have disturbed it with my flash and he flew towards the car, I screamed as it was so close I thought it was going to fly in the car window, they're not small birds, I wouldn't fancy that in our car! Jason thought that was very funny!! When we got back, a friend of Linsey's had arrived, we cracked open the wine again and started off the evening with some board games. It was a great laugh...I realised how hopeless I am at Trivial Pursuit...but am a lot better at Pictionary and Outburst!! After another long night, we headed for bed.

Yesterday we had breakfast and then made our way to the local beach (Sandbar beach). It was really lovely there, again hardly anyone there, except for some surfers. The surf was really good, so the boys jumped straight into the sea....again I just watched, but it was nice just sitting on the lovely beach. We stayed there a couple of hours, then Jason and I headed back to the cottage and packed up all our stuff for the drive home. We had a really nice weekend, it was so nice to get out of the city and see somewhere different, and I really loved just sitting around talking and playing games, it was so relaxing.

The view from the lookout

The sunset over the lake

Kookaburra

Sandbar beach

Jason getting battered about in the water!

Had enough....

View from the back door of our holiday home

I managed to get to the cinema a couple of times last week which held the boredom at bay a little! Saturday night, Jason and I went to Gemma and Garry's for a bbq. Jason used to work with Gemma, and I met them at the races last year, we've been trying to meet up for ages, but only just got a chance this weekend. Had a really nice evening, Gemma cooked some really nice food, she went to a lot of effort. The only thing that ruined it was all the guys just had to watch the football...I don't know, I just don't understand it!

Yesterday I was a bit worse for wear...I didn't realise I'd drunk so much. I managed to get myself out of bed and we went to the Kings Cross Food and Wine fair. I had a few sips of wine which made me feel so much better. Later on, Curly, Rachel and Linn turned up and we had a catch up with them, then I just had to go home as I was really tired. We watched the Whale Rider when we got home, it's a story about the Maori in New Zealand, it was quite a good film.

Yesterday it was Anzac Day, so everyone gets a day off work. I met up with Sue and her boyfriend and a couple of other friends at the RSL club in Mossman. It took me a while to get there as I had to get one bus to the city, then I got stuck at Martin Place, I couldn't get through as the Anzac Day parade was still going on....eventually I made it, and managed to get my next bus. We had lunch and a few drinks, then we went downstairs for the main event of '2 up'. I hadn't played it before, but I know it's a tradition on every Anzac day, the soldiers used to play it to pass time. Basically, everyone stands around in a huge circle, to play you have to put some money in your hand and place it by your head (which means you bet on heads) and then someone else can come up to you and give you the same amount of money, and that means they get tails (or you can do it the other way around). Then the guys in the circle toss the 2 coins, and when 2 coins come up the same, whoever has betted correctly wins all the money (if that makes any sense!) It was such great fun, and really rowdy, everyone is shouting 'Heads or Tails'...Roger gave me $5 to start me off, I managed to get up to $15, then I lost it all again...oh well, it's definitely good to get involved!! They play '2 up' all afternoon, and they were still going on at 6pm when we left, I can see it's very addictive!! Towards the end people were betting much more that the $5 we were!! What a great way to spend the afternoon!! and another fact...it's actually illegal to play it any other time in the year.

You may have noticed I've been a bit neglective of my blog lately, I think it's cos I've not been working and I'm just getting a bit fed up with it....and not much to tell really. I know you're probably all feeling really sorry for me cos I haven't been working for nearly 6 weeks (!!!) but it does really get to you after a while, and especially cos I can't actually afford to go out anywhere while I'm off. Mostly my days consist of checking my emails and maybe taking a walk, reading and of course, watching some TV (I'm addicted to the Lifestyle channel!!)...exciting stuff!

But the weekends are a bit better. I met up with Sue last week, as always, it was great to catch up with her, I ended up drinking one to many wines though, and the next day I wasn't feeling the best! Saturday Jason and I went down to the beach for a sit in the sun...it's still really nice here, but the wind is a bit chilly now, as long as you're sheltered you're alright though. On Saturday night, Rachel invited us all around for a bbq. I had a really nice night, I much preferred doing that to another night out in Coogee, we had some really nice food and wine and a really good laugh.

Sunday Jason and I took a walk to pick up his car, then we met our friend Sean for lunch. After that I sent Jason to the cinema and I settled in for a bumper night of the Biggest Loser, and Big Brother (yes, it's back again!!) so that was my fun night ;o)

Still struggling to get all of our information together to apply for our visas. We've got our bits together, now we're just waiting on Jason's company to provide documents. We're hoping to send off it all on Wednesday, so it should hopefully be approved (or not) in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to finally get it done, we've been so stressed about it, it's not easy at all. We tried to forget about it over the weekend and enjoy Easter. Friday night we went out with Martin and Linn for his birthday. We went to a bar with a great view of Bondi for a few drinks, then we came back to Coogee for dinner. It wasn't a late night tho as it was Good Friday, all the bars shut at 10pm, which was probably a good job! I managed to get hold of my brother on the phone when we got in as it was his Birthday too, it was nice to be able to wish him a Happy Birthday!!
Saturday, Jason and I got up early and went for a drive, I'd read about a new road 'Grand Pacific Drive', opened late last year that hugs the coastline from the National Park to Wollongong, which is south of Sydney. After you've driven through the park, you come to the Sea Cliff Bridge, which is just under 2km long, it's really cool, it follows the curve of the coastline below the cliffs....you feel like you're driving on top of the ocean. We stopped off at one of the villages too, there are some really stunning houses along the coast.

On the way to Wollongong, we stopped at one of the many beaches and had our lunch, then headed on. We didn't do much in Wollongong, just looked in the city centre, and then went to the viewpoints on the seaside. It was a bit windy and chilly, so we didn't stay that long. It was a great drive though, very scenic, really worth doing.

When we got back, we went to the cinema to see Ice Age 2, which was really great, then we had a quiet night in and watched a DVD. Yesterday, Jason and I went to Sue and Grants for dinner. It was really nice to see them again, as it had been a while. It was good to catch up on all the gossip!!

The weekend was quite a busy one. Friday night, we met up with a few people for dinner. We went to our local Thai restaurant, which is really cheap, but the food is fantastic. I opted for a change this time and had Cho Chee (I think) it was really yummy. It was nice to go our for a meal and to catch up with everyone.

Saturday day, Jason and I had to do a few things for our visa, it's really such a nightmare, he has to get re-sponsored (long story) and then we have to apply for our visas. I'm very stressed about it at the moment. Anyway, we did that, then Saturday night we went to Bondi for a friend's leaving party.

Yesterday I typed up a CV for Jason (for the immigration) so that kept me busy for a while. Then in the evening I went into the city to meet Mirjam (I'd met her in Auckland a few weeks ago, and she mailed me last week to say she'd be in Sydney). She is the one from Germany that lived in Munich and knew a few people I used to work with at HP. We had a really nice evening, we went down to Darling Harbour for a couple of drinks and chatted about Munich and all the different places we used to go to. She is actually going back there in a couple of weeks, so we're going to catch up again when I'm there in June. It was nice that she made the effort to contact me while she was here. When I got home I phoned up my Mum as we hadn't spoken for a few weeks (which is very unusual for us) so we had a nice long chat. That's about it really, this morning, we've just been running around trying to find a Justice of the Peace to certify all our documents for the visa....what a nightmare!!

We went to the Basement on Saturday night to watch a band, they were really good, it's very expensive there though, we spent a fortune. Sunday I didn't get much done at all, Jason's shifts have change at work, so he's now working every Sunday. I just lazed around really, but it was such a long boring day, the clocks went back too which made it much worse.

It's starting to cool down here now, the evenings are much more bearable and I'm even using a duvet (or doona as they call them here) at night which I love. The temperatures are now varying from about 23 - 27 degrees...and at night it is very cool. I'm really looking forward to wearing the small amount of winter clothes I have got! I didn't really have much of a winter last year as I was away for 6 weeks of it in Queensland, and it's like summer up there in winter. I really do miss the seasons, Autumn and Spring are mostly hot or warm, so you really get 9 months of summer weather in the year, so if you like changes in seasons, it's not really the greatest climate and I'm sick of wearing the same summer clothes....I'm happy it's going to be winter soon ;o) Sorry, listen to me moaning...you can tell I've got far too much time on my hands!!

Nothing much to tell this week, it's been good in a way not working, as it's given me the chance to catch up on things, but I'm sure I'll get bored soon. A few of us went out for a trivia night at the local RSL club on Tuesday night. That was good fun, we actually did quite well between us, we came 4th out of 7. The funniest was when we had to write down an answer and then run up to the quiz master with it for a free drinks voucher....Linn and I both tried to run up, I ended up tripping over her and headbutting the guys chest, very amusing! He thought it was most funny!

I've been watching a few dvd's in the daytime, I'm going to go down the beach for a swim in a bit as it's still really hot here...I really am counting down the days until it gets cooler!

I had a nice weekend. I went over to Manly on Friday evening to visit Sue, I hadn't been to her flat yet, so we thought it was about time! We had a few snacks first, then we got all dolled up to go out, but we'd walked out the door and it just started tipping it down with rain and we still had to walk 10 mins into Manly...so we made the split decision to just go back to her flat and share a bottle of wine. Actually I'm getting to the stage where I prefer to stay in with friends, at least you can talk properly (god, I do sound old don't I!!). Next day after breakfast we took a walk down to the beach and talked for a few hours, before I had to get the ferry back. As always, I had a really nice time.

Saturday night, Jason and I met Linn and Martin at the pub, we had a few drinks and a catch up together which was nice. Yesterday was a very lazy day, we just chilled out and watched lots of films on the TV.

I've been a real lady of leisure today, I had a facial this morning which was the most relaxing thing I've done for ages (it was a freebie, but still very good!). Then this afternoon I watched a dvd. All I need now is for some ladies to do lunch with!!!

I made it back into Sydney....yaay!!!

Leah took me for lunch before I left for my flight which was nice. I got onto the bus ok, and arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. I was really nervous about going back to Sydney for immigration reasons. I'd mentioned before on my blog that it was a palaver getting into New Zealand, well what happened was basically I had to give the airline an onward ticket from New Zealand (apparently New Zealand are one of the strictest immigration in the world), I did have a ticket, but that was back to Australia, so I couldn't show them that as they wouldn't have accepted it as I didn't have a visa to get back in. So anyway, after loads of faffing around, I had to buy a ticket from Auckland to Fiji, then they would let me on the flight. So I got that ok, then I did get questioned at New Zealand airport, but as I had an onward ticket, they let me in. So that was the hassle on the way. I had a lovely week in Auckland, but I always had it in the back of my mind about coming back!

So, yesterday, I got on the flight ok, no questions so that was fine. The flight was ok, I had a couple of glasses of wine to calm my nerves!! I got to immigration, and of course as soon as he typed in my passport number, a little bell rang, so he asked me to wait as I would have to speak to immigration (oh my god, that was scary!) then he was actually really funny, he saw on my arrival card where I was staying, and he then started asking me if I liked babysitting, and as I was staying near where he lived, he asked me if I could babysit his child tomorrow!! It was so funny, he was obviously just having a laugh, it was good though as it took my mind off seeing immigration!! Then I asked him what the problem was, and he started telling me about his why he needed a babysitter, I interrupted him saying, no I mean about me seeing immigration...he was like...it's all about you isn't it?!! it was very amusing!! Anyway, immigration finally came over and I was sooo nervous....they just asked me a few questions about why I had come back and where I worked before etc etc, then they just kept saying...you cannot work, you must realise you cannot work this time, I was like, yes, of course, I'm just on holiday...then they let me go....phew! It's not that I've done anything against the law, but they just don't like people coming back here again after they've already had a years working visa, but my reasons are legit, so that's fine ;o) So after that palaver, I picked up my bag (it was the lonesome one on the carousel!) then I went through customs, then I got my bloody bags all searched....they just picked me randomly...so he went all through my bags to check for food (which they are really strict about bringing in here) I told him I had some chocolate and a packet of crisps in there, he said that's ok, if I had an apple I'd be in trouble (luckily I'd just thrown an apple in the bin before hand!) So that's my story about getting home, it was quite funny looking back, but I don't want to go through that again!!

Anyway, here are a few pics from my trip

This is William and Paul

Me on St Paddy's Day

The Sky Tower

Views from the Sky Tower

Looking down...yes, I stood on the glass floor...I'm so brave!

This guy was doing the jump from the top....the horrible people made him hang in the front of the windows before they let him down...poor guy! (sorry, don't know why the pic is so small)

This is Roger, me and Elaine (my step mum)

on a night out.....Leah, me, Rebecca and Dirk (the blacks and the reds!)

I had a great evening last night. Myself, Leah, Dirk and Rebecca (who'd just checked in last night) went out for dinner. We went to a Thai restaurant around the corner which was very cheap and cheerful. After that we went to a bar to try and catch up with someone Dirk knew, but they weren't there, so we bought a bottle of red wine and went to the roof terrace of the hostel for a couple of hours. We had such a good laugh. It was funny talking to Leah, she's American, but was born in Cambodia, she's one of 12 children!! We were in hysterics from some of the stories she was telling....she refers to her siblings by number there's that many of them!!

So this morning, I'm just trying to pass a bit of time until I leave the city at about 2pm. I'm meeting Leah for lunch at 12, so that'll pass a bit of time too.

I've had a really good time there, especially as I didn't really want to come. It's so different travelling on your own here in New Zealand, compared to Australia, the people I've met here are all nearer to my age, so I don't always feel like I'm the old lady of the group..which is great!!!

I had another bad sleep last night, there was a new girl in the bed above me and she kept rocking the bed everytime she moved...I actually had motion sickness at one point (I am very sensitive!) it felt like I was on a boat!

I've got quite a lot done today, I got up early and caught the bus to Mount Eden, it's a dormant volcano. I walked to the summit (196m, I think) there, you get amazing views of the city. That didn't take me long, so I got the bus back into the city and walked to Victoria Park Market...which was a bit disappointing, there wasn't a lot there. I then walked to the Viaduct (the harbour) I had a quick stop at the fish market, but I wasn't yet hungry, so I didn't taste any of the fish and then walked along the waterfront. It's been a beautiful day today, it's really hot, I had to go back to the hostel and change out of my jeans. After my long walk I was tired, so I had some lunch, then this afternoon, I've just been browsing around the shops on Queens Street. I'm actually really unimpressed with the shops here (which is probably a good job) there is not much of a selection of shops along the main shopping street.

So, in a minute I'm off to try and pack my bags, I'm still wondering how on earth I'm going to get all those towels (engagement pressies) in my bag!!

I'm leaving Auckland tomorrow afternoon, I've had a great time here, but I'm now happy to go back to Sydney.

I've been a busy bee, such a lot to tell! St Paddys Day evening was good fun. I met up with Izzy (from the hostel) and some Irish lads in an Irish bar (of course) in the city at about 5pm. It was good fun, they were all really nice and a good laugh, we were all telling stories about our travels and adventures. One of the lads kept telling me I had the nicest brown eyes, he said he would, if I didn't have a boyfriend, even ask me out if he was sober...how's that for a compliment!! I wasn't sure how to take that comment, hahaa!! After a drink in that bar, we went to find another Irish bar, then I had to go back to the hostel to meet Paul and William (Jason's cousins) They'd brought over some engagement presents from Jason's family, there were 3 huge presents (don't ask me how I'm going to get them back!) which was very sweet. Anyway, we walked back up to the Irish bar and had a few drinks in there, they are really sweet lads, both in the Navy, so they were telling me all their stories. We ended up going to the hostel bar for a few, they had a special promotion where if you bought 3 shots, you get a free silly Irish hat, so we had some of those.... then before we knew it it was midnight, and they had to head back to get the last ferry. I stayed for one more drink, everyone else had bailed earlier too, then I thought I'd better call it a night too and went to bed.

I didn't really get that much sleep, I kept getting rudely awoken early in the morning by girls that were checking out, and I wasn't really feeling the best either (not suprisingly!) So I didn't get that much done yesterday, by the time I dragged myself out of bed, I went to get my visa, and then went to pass a bit of time at the cinema, it was all I was good for. I saw The Weatherman with Nicholas Cage, it was ok, but I was a bit impatient to get out after a while, it didn't really hook me. I just went back to the hostel, had some dinner and then went to lie down. I met some really nice girls who'd just checked in too, one, Leah is from the States, and Mirjam was from Munich. We had a long chat about Munich and it turns out she knows a couple of people through work that I used to work with at HP....such a small world! We swapped emails and maybe we can meet up when I go back there.

Today I had a really busy day, I'd arranged to go over on the ferry to Devonport to meet up with Paul and William again, but I had a phone call this morning from Elaine (my step mum) she was in Auckland just for the day and wanted to meet up. I knew she was going to try and come up here, but wasn't sure when as I hadn't heard anything....anyway, I had to cancel with Paul, and I went to meet her, Roger (her husband) and Darren (her son). It was great to see them again, it was a bit surreal seeing them over here, and I hadn't seen Darren for over 4 years, so it was great to catch up. Darren wanted to go up the Sky Tower, as he hadn't been up there, so he took me up there (again!!) as he didn't want to go on his own. We saw another couple of jumpers...the woman hanging in front of the window this time looked petrified!! it was quite funny though!! They had to leave in the afternoon to take Darren to the airport, so we bid each other farewell. As it wasn't too late, I tried Paul again, and he said it was cool for me to still go over, so I caught the ferry there. They picked me in their car and drove me around showing me all the beaches, it was a really lovely area. The houses are amazing, I guess it's really expensive to live there. After a few hours I came back to the city and had some dinner. Leah and her German friend Dirk (who also lived in Munich) joined me and we just had a really funny chat for a couple of hours. They've invited me for dinner with them tomorrow night, so I'm looking forward to that as they are really nice.

Friday 17th March

I finally got checked into my room yesterday. The hostel is much better and cleaner than the other one....although I had a really bad nights sleep, there is a bar/nightclub in the hostel, so the music kept me awake til all hours, my ear plugs didn't even work!

I went to the Sky Tower yesterday afternoon. It's the highest tower in the Southern hemisphere (328m). I paid the extra to go right up to the sky deck which is as high as you can go (220m, unless you do the vertical climb at 270m). When I got in the lift I immediately saw part of the floor was glass, not very nice...and then when we were going up in the lift, you could actually see the city through the glass in the building...it was a bit of a weird experience, and not one that I particularly liked!
When we got up the top, I went straight into the other lift up to the sky deck. It was a great view, and I even got to see a couple of people do the jump from above. It was funny, the second jumper was hanging on a wire outside the observation deck window for a few seconds, we were all waving at him, he looked a bit scared!! I just about managed to stand on the glass floor too, it took a lot of courage though!

I went to the bar in the hostel at 5pm to see if they needed any help handing out flyers so I could get a free night, but they told me they didn't have anything at that moment, so I just went back to my room for a rest. I even tried again this morning to see if I could help with the changing of beds, but there was another person that got there before me... I was a bit peeved, so I just decided to pay for the next 2 nights and not worry about working....after all, I am on holiday! I phoned Mum up this morning, was lovely to speak to her, we hadn't chatted for a while.

I was going to go on a harbour cruise this afternoon, but there is a big black cloud above, it looks like it may rain, so I thought I'll just do it tomorrow. I went for a bit of a walk earlier, I found some lovely gardens, Albert Park, it's really pretty there. I'm meeting Jason's cousin tonight, and also I was speaking to an Irish girl in my room, so she's coming out too, she's desperate to do something for St Paddys Day!

I'm really getting to like Auckland, it reminds me a little of Sydney, with the tower and the water etc, very nice.