Blogs from Newmarket, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

8/29 - 30 /06 (Tuesday -- Wednesday) - Beer Does Not Make For Good Cough Syrup Reader Warning: This is another long one, sorry. The last two days are more a blur in my mind, than anything else. The sinus cold made talking difficult and decision making/thinking almost near impossible. But the flat hunt goes on, I’m riding a wave that I don’t want to get off of. Very good news last night (Wednesday) I found a flat share last night (very nice). The last four weeks have proved Toney Robbins, Dr. Wayne Dyer, etc.. are right, positive thinking is very powerful stuff. More about my flat later right now I want to talk about backpackers, a truly hearty breed of people. Beginning Friday, I move into the status of semi retired backpacker and feel that ... read more

8.26.08 (Saturday) Let me begin this blog by saying that I may need to call someone for a voice check. To date I’ve received 8 to 10 comments from non English speakers that my accent doesn’t sound “American”. I think that I may have discovered the cause for their confusion, and am embarrassed by the conclusion. From past experience (especially when working at the Hotel in Oxford) I’ve learned that when speaking to non English speakers I slow the pace of my words and try to annunciate each syllable clearly. If the person I’m speaking to has a reasonable grasp of English they very rarely ask me to repeat a sentence. I think this clarity temporarily alters my voice and speech patterns. I’m really worried that these non English speakers may think I have a speaking ... read more

August 24th Waiting, Waiting, Waiting…… just need to pass the time before my second interview Scheduled for Friday at 10am. Nick Gillingham my recruiter at BBT sounds very positive and feels that congratulations are in order. Started searching for a long term accommodation. I had to move from my nice dorm room to a 5 person room that smells like hangover vomit. Opened the windows and let the place air out over night. When I moved into the room the party remains from the last group were still present. Two full garbage cans of beer and wine bottles. The refuse was generated all in one night according to a German sharing the room with me. My cloths are beginning to acquire a musty odor from the unheated and humid rooms. All my dress clothes will need ... read more

And I shall drive my chariot/ Down your streets and cry/ hey, its me, Im dynamite/ And I know why.... so the big news is Aiden & I are back together!!!!!!! A question in my footsteps as Suzanne Vega would say has followed me around and I am so escatic to bring forth such good news! Aiden arrives into Auckland tomorrow; we're gonna travel around for three weeks taking in the highlights of NZ, Sydney, Hawaii & LA. I will follow him home shortly afterwards. I'm gonna do a whistlestop tour of the States taking in San Fran, The Grand Canyon, Washington DC, NY, a few gigs along the way - naturally i've researched the gigs and who happens to be gigging but Feist, Vashti Bunyan, Van Morrison, Architecture In Helsinki, Sufjan Stevens, Roger Waters, Eric ... read more

Our last few weeks in Auckland were pretty busy as we tried to cram in as many things as possible. In between packing and saying goodbye to our new found friends we managed to climb mount Rangitoto, go out for a meal out at the top of Aucklands highest buuilding (the Sky tower), go to the Ireland/All Blacks game, return to the West coast beach of Karikari, sell our van and generally making the most of being in New Zealand. Our last night in Auckland was back where we started at Rick and Doreen's and they very kindly gave us a lift back to the Airport. Our final destination was to be the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia for a quick holiday on the way back home. ... read more