From Halifax to Hokitika and beyond

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Hello all

As most of you are probably aware, I'm back in the country of normal coloured cheese (and multiple cheddars - I counted 13 different types of cheddar in the supermarket today). For the moment at least.

I arrived the day before Elly and Benj's wedding in beautiful sunshine and promptly went for my first (and only) summer sea swim at Balena Bay with Dad - the Wellington Sea is still freezing. Then for the ultimate indulgence, I picked up a big ice cream (hokey pokey of course) at Oriental Parade. Yay for the Wellington summer. For mum and dad, I think the novelty of having me home, died after the first supermarket trip as they watched in horror as the bill rose due to all the extra stuff I snuck into the trolley (essential stuff - like vegemite, vogels toast, toffee pops, ice cream and Tim tams).

Elly's wedding was a wonderful affair. It was situated in Otari native gardens, surrounded by an eclectic mix of native plants. The tuis, kereru and fantails were all twittering and chasing cicadas in the background. Eleanor, of course, looked stunning. The reception was held at Katherine Mansfield house (a famous New Zealand writer) with lots of yummy nibbles and a cake that stole the show (Sarah made a cake of very tasty chocolate truffles). All the praying to the weather gods must have paid off as the weather was almost perfect.

I spent a couple of days on the West Coast of the South Island courtesy of the Department of Conservation. I was flown down Hokitika (via Christchurch) for a job interview in Franz Josef. The interview itself was interview like and therefore not much fun - but the rest of the trip was awesome. The weather was gorgeous (for an area that receives over 5,000mm of rain per year, that's say something! - to put that in perspective for the Canadians, that's about double the rain Prince Rupert receives). From Hokitika I drove south along the coastline to Franz Josef with the hire car provided by DoC. Unfortunately the interview prevent me from exploring all of the West Coast but I did have a little time for a couple of walks around the glacier before the interview. In the evening I scoffed fish'n chips for dinner and explore the town (flight times meant that I had to stay the night). Although I wouldn't recommend staying in Montrose backpackers as I woke up covered in bed bug bites! The flight back to Wellington was pretty cool too as we flew over the Southern Alps with views down to Mt Cook. The job itself went to an internal applicant.

Currently I'm keeping myself busy trying catching up with people, attending the odd Festival of the Arts performance and working the odd temping agency job while I plan my next move. I'll keep you posted.

Hope you're having fun wherever you are

Cheerio
Cielle

Ps. there are heaps more photos of Canada, New Zealand and the wedding on my Facebook site (for those that are interested).

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Photos

Dawn
Somewhere inbetween Franz and Hokitika

Some of the girls
Anna, Ronnie, Jen and myself

Southern Alps
Mt Cook somewhere in the distance

Comments

[Eleanor]

photos
I must say Cielle, you do take a great photos...very postcardy:-)