Auckland (New Zealand) - Parties, Drama & General Mess

Life Is Good

For a while life became quite depressing in Auckland. We had just returned from the sun and sand of Samoa and we were greeted by a cold and wet city - oh and work again. To top things off - Kate and Rob were off to Australia, Asia and then home, Tom had already left us and it ended up with myself, Harriet and Scott living in a small flat which quickly felt like a prison. I mean things wern't all bad. My work Ultimate Frisbee team somehow managed to come top of our group even with my disasterous throwing skills and we have managed a few fun things during the time that I am not at work.

Many weekends have involved going out on the town during the late hours and not returning till the early ones. I have played a few more 11-a-side games of footy too although the team I play for are so completely hopeless that even San Marino or dare I say it - Hamilton Academicals would reach double figures against us. And the gym in our apartment block continues to get used on the odd day by myself.

Harriet and I also rented a car one weekend but failed to cruise anywhere particularly far or exciting. We did manage to make it round to the beautiful Mission Bay which, just outside Auckland's CBD is a great little, quiet beach spot. We also managed to venture to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Adventure. It's a cool aquarium with penguins and sharks and all sorts of other cold watered creatures. It also has a mock up of the Antacrtic Base that Scott and his crew lived in and a cool little ride where you enter a snow-cat and cruise in what appears to be Antarctica.

I've also been out to Harriet's Aunt and Uncle's farm where I groomed horses and carried hay around the place. We got back on the quad bike to great hesitation but were soon back in the swing of things - speeding over the water-logged fields and around dirt tracks.

Work has really started to get busy. Presentations have been the main focus. I've done one (on the work I am doing here in Auckland) for a whole group of important people from GNS, IESE and the Auckland Regional Council. I still have two presentations to go - for a couple of other meetings we have coming up.

Everything seemed to be returning to normal - that was until the drama started. Our house-mate Scott decided that actually he wanted his own room and did not want to live on the sofa any longer - which is fair enough. What wasn't fair is the way he left us in the lurch because he has no legal contract on the flat and so he hoped he could just walk out without paying a cent or giving us any sort of notice - and this was with one day before our next rent had to be in. In the end he payed the rent - even though Harriet and I did feel we had been somewhat blackmailed into the whole thing because he demanded that he would only put his rent in if he could get his bond back in the next week or two. It was a bit of a mess and what appeared to be a good friend quickly turned into a person I would rather not associate with - which was a real shame. You live and learn from other people in this world - even if it is the hard way. So now it's just Harriet and myself in the flat and we are both currently enjoying the extra room even if we have to pay a bit more rent for the privelege.

All drama's aside - there has been a lot of planning too. The news from my Sister's wedding at the end of August, 2009 has resulted in a rapid plane ticket purchase back home. It will be a year and a half of traveling by the time I return but I will finally be making my way back to London to see all the family and friends again. To say I can't wait is an understatement. I'm not too sure how long I will be home for - perhaps a month or so before returning either to New Zealand or some other worldly destination - I suppose it all depends on work which I am still trying to sort out. The contrct in my current job is set to expire at the end of July and there is unfortunately no more funding for what I am currently doing. However - there are still many an option regarding work still to consider and thats what I am presently doing.

The good news is there are many exciting things planned between now and the day I head home. Regarding work - I am flying down to Wellington for the day for meetings and presentations - okay, actually thats not that exciting. A few of us are currently palnning a trip skiing and Harriet and I have just purchased tickets to our first New Zealand All Black's Rugby game - well it had to be done. At the end of July, my parents are heading out to see me for a few weeks - where I will show them a bit of NZ and just spend some time with them which will be fantastic. It's been too long. Oh and before I head to London - I am stopping off in Hong Kong and China. It's far from fully planned but the idea is to travel by train around China for a bit and then spend a few days in Hong Kong seeing the sights before flying on. Harriet just so happened to be returning home too at the same time as she has to go back to University so we decided to do the trip together. It should be fun if not a little chaotic.

So thats where I'm up to at the moment. A lot of exciting things planned as always, a lot of present drama of course and a lot of ridiculous stories to come. Until then..............