With my backpack ready, fresh and raring to go....off I went to see the sights of NZ and do everything a traveller should do! Stepping out on the street I felt invinsible and revelling in the freedom and the adventures that would come. Feeling like I was the only one who has ever done this I soon remembered that the only people up at 6am in the city are travellers.... and lots of them! And then came the flashbacks of carrying a cumbersum backpack...how long would I last! First stop, Hahei Beach on the Coromandel. Unfortunately due to 'inconvenient' tides I [View Full Entry]

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Well life in NZ continues..... ...my New Year's Resolution is to do something new every week....so lets see how it goes in 2006! First up....AWOL Canyoning.... hiking to the top of a gorge and then abseiling and jumping off waterfalls in the Waitakere Ranges! It was time for a girlie outing and so off Chloe, Gemma, Rachel and I went! Great fun, spectacular scenery and definately a new experience! Although Question: would you rather wear a wet suit for the rest of your life OR lose a hand? Might sound a tad extreme if not a bizarre question but if you've [View Full Entry]

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My first New Zealand Christmas (and my first Christmas away from 'Home'!). ...but what a Christmas to remember! Becky and Clive (and Addison) were the perfect hosts! They invited the waifs and strays to have a full on NZ style Christmas spread! After exchanging pressies and eating ourselves silly we headed down to Long Bay to relax on the beach. To be honest I think I was having more fun than Addison when it came to building sand castles! We then headed home for dessert (NZ have a whole shop dedicated to Cheesecakes!) so of course I was in my element [View Full Entry]

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How lucky am I? Well my luck continued..... deciding to settle near Matt n Chloe and Becky n Clive on the North Shore, I managed to land a job at North Shore Hospital in Takapuna (a town just a couple of kilometres north of Auckland city). A couple of phone calls and a day later I was interviewed and then a week later I was in post doing Orthopaedics and MSK Outpatients... just like that! Anyway, on my second day I landed an amazing 5 bedroom, villa-style house, only 5 mins walk (if that) from an amazing beach....and all rent free [View Full Entry]

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Well, it was time for my first mini solo journey before starting work. Well, almost solo! I decided to use Stray (hop on/off bus company) to meet some fellow like-minded travellers and to share the experience with. First stop was Goat Island, a marine reserve on the east coast. The opportunity to do some snorkelling was on offer but I declined. For three reasons 1) The recent storm 2) Visibilty was zero and 3) the fact that the NZ driver/guide wasn't even putting his big toe in the water! Nevertheless we could see blue maomoa, huge snapper and stripey parove...so I [View Full Entry]

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Well I landed in New Zealand, to be greeted by Matthew at Auckland Airport.....eventually got back to Matt and Chloe's place (Matt promises me he knew where he was going and was just showing me the sights but I have my doubts). Anyway, Matt and Chloe were kind enough to make me feel at home and soon helped me to settle into the Kiwi way of life! First weekend....first camping trip! Cars packed and off we went to Rotorua for some fun! Set up camp and headed straight for Wai-O-Tapu "Thermal Wonderland" for some eggy smells and crazy, colourful, gurgling hot [View Full Entry]

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Well, i landed in Brisbane to be greeted by Emma (and rain!). A crazy, slightly tearful reunion on my behalf (its amazing what a long haul flight and the realisation of what you're doing can really have!). Anyway, once we had composed ourselves, Em gave me the guided tour back to their house in Upper Coomera. The journey mainly consisted of me saying "wow" every five minutes.... I mean how often do you see a flock of cockatoos and other amazingly colourful birds just sitting on the fence as you drive down the highway! To say the least I was very [View Full Entry]

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Having said my farewells to all (including Jasper and Rory), I waved Morpeth goodbye and set off on my travels. I'm afraid all I can say about the car journey to Glasgow was that it was wet! A typical grey, wet and miserable winters day. It made me laugh, cos sitting in the car Dad turned to me and said "just think you're leaving this all behind for sunshine"....little did he know that when I landed in Brisbane there was torrential rain and days earlier they had experienced a crazy hail storm! Ok, it was raining but the temperature and humidity [View Full Entry]

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At last I've mastered the world of computers (I know I say this every time)! I know its simple and you just follow the instructions but computers and I have occassional, ok frequent, disagreements (and I'm sure one day they will rule the world!). Anyway, for those of you who are interested here's my story so far..... For those of you who don't know, I'm now in NZ and it's amazing! Why? Not quite sure myself! How? By plane! For those of you who know me well, you'll know that I get restless and itchy feet every few years. So, the [View Full Entry]

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