Aukland, Lifeguard... oh yeah

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Well its been a while and after rumaging through the 117 emails in my inbox I finally get the chance to enter a blog.

Life here is good. We have landed ourselves jobs as lifeguards working odd shifts and really not caring about it. Hey its work. We have been having training here and there as well as the odd emergency. No drownings yet though, just dislocations and the occasional scraped knee.
Our trip up here was interesting to be honest with you, we slept rough for two of the three nights it took us to get here, spend one night in a hostel in Wellington. That should have been a good nights sleep. Only problem was we were told the england game was at 3 in the morning and at 3 found out its actually at 8am. So we went back slightly drunk to attempt to get some sleep. Well we got some sleep, and I mean some. I had to move the car or it would have been towed, we made it to the irish pub, which was filled with french people t watch the game. Around this point I started feeling positively ill so I told Ross to meet me at the car. This was parked on a main road, and I mean main road, 4 lanes in each direction. Needless to say I fell asleep in the car and woke up as Ross came back. After 15 minutes driving, not something I should have been doing with the alcohol in my system I pulled over again and we both grabbed a lovely warm 4 hours sleep. I think it was that long, we were tired.

So we keep on driving up the coast and find ourselves running dangeriously short on fuel... sleep... and well lets say I wasnt being too cooperative to reason. So trudging along the east coast on the north island we eventually find a fuel station, at this stage the fual light had been on and off for half an hour depending on the hill we were attempting to climb. So the station is closed... damn locals dont do the 24 hour thing, how inconsiderate. So in desperation and again pure tiredness due to 14 hours of driving I pulled over on the side of the road just under a rock face and we got some sleep.

We got the fual and made our way into Aukland where we met Peter, Lorraines Kiwi husband. Lorraine kept saying he was short... and he wasnt THAT short, just a little shorter than erm... me. Anyway we had a good catch up, he is a head chef in a Steak Restuarant in Auklands City Centre. We flt like VIP's being taken to the back, or mafia, not sure, but we were taken to the kitchen where we were given directions to Lorraines house. We thanked Peter and went back through the bar with one thing in mind... a drink. Heinikin... or however its spelt. We had to have one. So we did, and we enjoyed it too, it didnt last long though... heh heh heh. On going to pay for it we were told its ok. Now me having one of my moments is quite amusing (like my laughing at farts in general) and I gae the lady that look a cow gives an oncoming train of "Come again, we just had a beer each here", I think she saw it and said its ok, you dont have to pay for tham. Oh what joy. Our first big saving.

Right so we head out of the city centre, Ross the navigator doing a spendid job of getting us out of there not to mention finding the place. Thankfully I got the AA atlas of NZ, that helped too. So we are heading back, keeping the eye on the speedo, dont want to go over, I mean the car isnt hard to miss, need I say more?

We get to the house after ignoring all plees and requests from Lorraine not to park in the drive, parade round the neighbourhood and pull into the drive. i have to admit I see a lot of Irene there. And well I understood then why she didnt want us on the drive. Talk about a plush place and a snazzy neighbourhood. So we are there and the first question, one that needed little resistance was, would you like a beer. SNATCHED THAT ONE UP, and the next, and then well... we moved to coffee. Its really a fancy place, think about my enjoyment of gadgets and put them ALL into a house. Touch light switches with dimmers and remote controls, A vacume system in the house that doesnt need a vacume cleaner and the rubbish bag only needs to be replaced once a year. I wont bother going on but its really nice there, so nice we had to get our own place or we would never have left.

So this is where we got our current place, 5 minute stoll from work, the pub, and the beach, working as lifeguards looking good in the uniform. I mean hello ladies, stop undressing me with your eyes. ha ha ha

Free entry anytime, further discount from our accomodation from working at the Thermal Pools. And a few of you might sit back and act all surprised but I have been swimming. The last time before here I did that was back in 1998 when I was still in SA. Its great, gym at the pools, followed by a soak in the hot pools to loosen the muscles and then a swim in the main pool, which is also heated. If I wanted I could go on the tubes too. No complaints here I have to say.

Thats about it for now... oh wait, we saw a place called "Ross" and yes Ross was besides himself with excitement when he saw it, so we stopped and took a picture. Unfortunately we forgot the camera so no pictures today. Soon though, when we get the chance. Its been exciting but now things are settling again and access to the internet should be more frequent.

Oh yes, we were pulled over for the first time since we got here on our way back from a party we were invited to. Some english girls 21st who works with us, Catherine, thats the one (thank you Ross). So me being the designated driver, or BOB, only had one beer and stuck to cokes after that. The lights went on behind us, and I calmly pulled over. Now I have to say we had a few people in the car, well 3 in the back seat, all being dropped off in Orewa. They realised no seat belts were on and frantically grabbed for tham and I pulled over. Opening the window I waited, see I checked this with Catherine as she is training to be a cop herself. The gentleman came over and did the usual meet and greet, and then asked me to say my name into the little breatherliser machine. So I did and passed... well duh, the beer here is so weak and I only had 1. WOOHOO. Asking for my licence he went to check the WOF and Tax on the car. Satisfied I showed him my UK card and he let us go telling us he liked the paint job. I mean hello, free pass to drive lumo lasers in NZ accepted.

Chat to you all soon

Me :o)

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