The Catch Up

Ok so where to start?, where to start? hummmm ok so the last time I posted was in July that was just before I finished up work in Sydney. I finished up on the 17th July & then hence had no internet except going to internet cafe so I tended to just check emails & that when I was there so no blogging for a bit.

So the week after we finished work, we filled out all the forms & did medicals & x-rays & all that malarky & went & had them in to the NZ immigration office in Sydney & yipee we got them. SOoooooooo the next thing we had to start organising to move & look up shipping companies & hand in our notice for our apt & all that. More madness & here I was thinking Iwas getting a break from it hahaha. But it was good progressive madness so much better.

Back in April we had booked a ski trip with friends of ours to Queenstown, NZ for 14th Aug so when all the visa happened we decided rather than spending extra on flights we'd try to combine it all & be there by 14th & go to Auckland from Queenstown at the end of our skiing week. Yeah so literally the week after finishing work sorted visa, the week after started cleaning & packing, that took bout 2 weeks, as well as organising all the customs & shipping stuff so our stuff would arrive when we got there. Then spent few days meeting up with people to say goodbyes & that then the final week we decided to get our stuff shipped on the wed of that week so it won't be all panic the last few days. We were leaving the Friday so we booked to stay in a hotel the last two days in Sydney & our friends who we were going skiing with came up the Thurs so it was nice & relaxed then. But to get to there was fun. Not only did we have to pack but we had to pack for a holiday plus & few bits to do us when we first got to Auckland in case our stuff got delayed & also try not go over our baggage weight allowance. Fun Fun Fun. But we got there & apart from a small delay we got out of our apt & had final inspection & got our bond(deposit) back which was good. I was a bit worried as its harder to chase up when you're not in the country.

So we flew to Christchurch, NZ on 14th Aug (still can't believe it was less than a month since finishing up work & making the decision to move) & we stayed the night there with friends of the people we went with. Then we hired a car & drove to Queenstown & got settled into our 'home' for the next week anyway. http://www.camp.co.nz/, really nice place, we enjoyed it. We got one of the self contained units so we could cook ourselves & that.

We ended up going to get fitted for our boots & boards that night as well to save time the next day & we got our life passes & that. We all had decided to go snow boarding instead of skiing. I'd never done either so it didn't bother me, S had gone snow boarding before & defo wanted to do it again & the other couple we were with had skied loads so wanted to try something new.

So started a week of lots & lots of snow, I have to say I don't think I've ever seem so much but it was really beautiful up there. This was the view from the mountain, Coronet Peak was the one we went to, there were a few you could go to. Oh yeah and not to forget a week full of pain..... being a beginner the first few days I spent more time on my ass the upright yes feel free to laugh cos its very very true. I'd do the whole getting up really slowly & I'd just be vertical & boom down again ahhhhhhh even thinking about it now, it was so frustrating but apparently thats the hardest bit to master but man was I frustrated until I got it sorted that I could get up all by myself. & if the snow was hard it was SO NOT FUN. Every evening we'd all be sore from using muscles we rarely used but it was nice to fall into bed & sleep really deeply from the exertion. So the week went on, we got lessons as well so we were all improving the others having done snow sports before were miles ahead of me but I'd didn't mind as as soon as I was able to stay upright I was happy doing the easier runs. Although that being said I fell every time I got off the ski life at the top of the run, bar once I fell EVERY time. haha. This is a picture of the ski lift. Actually going up that thing was pretty scary, I forgotten that. Anyway the evenings were nice, we took turns with eating out & cooking & eating in, it was nice & laid back. We all got a massage closer to the end of the week cos man we needed it. We went for walks around the town, I have to say I really like Queenstown a lot.

Oh yeah I nearly forgot one of days we took off from snowboarding cos really I was just in too much pain from falling in the same place the whole time so we went up the gondola that they have there that was pretty cool straight up the side of the mountain & had a really nice lunch up at the restaurant at the top & then on the spur of the moment decided to go paragliding down. Was pretty to cool, basically flew out over the town. Fun.

This was the view looking out the gondola on the way up...









& this was the view behind us going up the mountain. Cool huh?



This was the view from above &


me coming into land.



A good time was had by all.


Ok I really need some lunch so I'll go do that then be back for part 2 of the catch up :oD

Its only me

Isn't that the best picture ever? I love daffodils & since its spring here coming into summer I thought I'd update a bit :o)

Yes folks she's back FINALLY. Its been too long but I have internet at home now so there will be no stopping me. Just doing my little edits & will do a proper post tomorrow.

Welcome back to blog land to me I've missed it.

Madness Update ;o)

So so where did June go? can anyone enlighten me please? heeeeellllllllloooooooooo its the middle of july. Ok so this seems to be a running theme in my blog............missing time.

So ok we're now in the middle of July & nearly the middle of winter but the days are starting to get bit longer so its nice to have a bit more sunshine.

So anyway bit of an update. No i haven't dropped off the face of the planet you'll be happy to hear :o) hhhuuuummmmmm ok news. I went to the Pink concert in Sydney in June, it was excellent, I nearly wanted to go see her again but all the tickets sold out. If you're a fan I'd definitely recommend her concert, brilliant. Towards the end of June we started having to think about what we were going to do regarding visa & job & such. So S found out that tandem master is on the skills shortage list in New Zealand so he put a few feelers out there to see if there were any positions going. He got back a good few responses but one particularly was willing to put pen to paper. We need that to sort out visa etc. I wouldn't go & work anywhere without a valid visa. So anyway we took a trip over to Auckland at the beginning of July & it seems nice & DZ is nice. It did rain a lot but suppose what can i expect? is so much farther south than Sydney is. I was finding it hard to get a job here because the new restrictions on 457 visa makes it very unattractive for employers to hire oversea workers, they want to give ozzies the jobs first. Which to be honest is fair enough, but not so good for me. So we're going to apply of the NZ visa & see what happens. If it all works out we'll be over there in Aug. There is a house on the DZ that we can stay in when we first arrive so that'll be nice not to have to sort that part out at least.

If that doesn't come through we might stay in Australia on a tourist visa & do a bit of travelling around. It was our initial plan to drive up the east coast so we may still do that. Then possibly travel home through Asia, I'd love that. I'd like to have stayed here for a bit longer but at the same time I was kindda getting itchy feet to go travel again. We've had a few friends visit us when they stopped off in Sydney on their travels & I was so jealous.

So thats all for now folks I've been so mad busy in work trying to find someone to replace me for the last few weeks. Oh yeah did I mention that the Jul 1 contract deadline got extended until 31 Jul? Well it did but we literally only found out the week before & we'd already started looking into New Zealand stuff so we said feck it may as well finish up. So I'm finishing up work on Fri 17th Jul Yipeee. I'm so happy, I've been so stressed & so down & really not liking my life its so nice to be doing something about it. So freeing. And while I know this week is going to be MAD it's all good cos there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I have found some of my enthusiasm again which was sadly lacking before and I think that part of what was getting me down i couldn't be enthusiastic about anything & that's so not like me. That's partly why I haven't blogged didn't have the energy but hopefully all that will be changing soon. :o)

Hope you all good & having a day that's happy.

I saw this & I though it was particularly apt for this week :o)

"I don't mind coming to work, But that eight hour wait to go home is a bitch."

Crazy World

Don't even know why I've titled this post crazy world but it came to me so i put it there. Maybe its my subconscious trying to tell me something. Its been a bit of a crazy time alright. I'm feeling a bit whirlwinded. Is that even a word ??huuuuummmm, me thinks not.

I feel like I'm been torn in like ten different directions, with no end in sight. Well of course there is an end in sight, it'll mostly end when my contract with work is up but then again that presents its whole other set of issues doesn't it? I'm finding it really hard to drag myself out of my negative..........what??? vibe would you say???........frame of mind? maybe.

Anyway I'm stuck in my head a lot recently & its very crowded in there. I'm not really sure what to do I feel stuck full stop. Frustrated. There's a good word for it.

It feels very selfish of me to be so self absorbed but its pretty hard not to be right now & then of course I beat myself up about that, which doesn't altogether help.

I'm tired of worrying. I'm tired out by worrying and the worst part is I'm so lucky in so many regards but I can't help worrying. I worry about everything & its so tiring. I wish I could find the gene that would turn that off :o) A little worry is ok but alot? not so much.

But there is nothing to be done I'm at the mercy of time/fate/whatever it is? at the moment. I'm trying to be positive but I'm finding it so so so hard.

If anyone is of the praying kind, say a little one for me will ya please? Thanks so much. Hopefully it'll all be sorted soon.

Hope everyone else is doing good though.

PS sorry bout the rant, well more like a whinge but if I can't do it on my own blog where else :o) poor S's ear is probably worn out by now :oD

Monday again

And another Monday rolls around & for that matter another month has passed now that I'm looking at my last blog post date. Oh well.

You know I was just thinking who ever invented the 5 day work week?? they should have been shot haha. Now a four day work week would be nice of course I'd have to earn the same for it to be a perfect world but that ain't gonna happen :o)

Wishful thinking on a Monday, sure what can you do?

Well no news really, still don't know whats happening with my job/visa which is a bit frustrating. I'd just like to know either way so I can DO something. This whole waiting business is not my strong point.

We have a few options at least. We could go to New Zealand for awhile if the visa here doesn't work out. or we're thinking about Canada too, I'd really like to go & work there for awhile, don't' know how visas & that work for there yet but I' might check it out. I know that change is good & we need it to survive really but I'd like to know the facts so I can make some decisions.

Anyways on to more randoms things. I got my hair cut yesterday, it has been doing my head in for awhile so decided to go a little shorter than just getting a trim. So its cut to about my jawline with a few layers, I'm liking it so far but I'll reserve judgement until I wash & dry it myself. It was great at home cos my cousin was a hairdresser & she used to cut my hair & I always loved it but I'm finding it hard to find a good hairdresser here. I suppose just trial & error.

Now that I'm thinking about the whole possibility of travelling, I'm getting excited. I love travelling & seeing new places & I'm good with doing it on a budget. So I suppose that's a good thing that at least whichever way the fates or whatever decide to play my cards I should be ok with it. So, trying to be positive.

S's friends are visiting Australia for a few weeks, they'll be in Sydney next Thurs. He's really excited about it, its a childhood friend of his & his wife. I don't' know them that well but should be good. We can take them out & show them the city. Sydney really is a nice city.

Anyway better go & do some work.

Hope you have a great week & think of something that makes you smile today. :o)

I'm smiling.

A little touch up

Now that its Autumn & I've had the same blog colour for a year thought I'd do a little touch up. What da yay think?

Thoughts

Thoughts are funny things really, well that's if they can be called things at all but not getting into that whole thing. :o)

So I'm feeling bit more human I went to meditation on wed & to the gym Tue & yesterday & I was so amazed at how much I'd gotten out of shape even in 2 months since I've been. But anyway I'm feeling better which is good. I feel like I'm getting proper sleep or should i say more restful sleep which always helps. I hate having to drag myself out of bed Its so much nicer to wake up with some semblance of energy & be able to move.

Anyway back to the thoughts, I was in the gym yesterday & I was running on the treadmill & I was doing ok, tired but going ok & then out of nowhere my brain starts with the ' i can't do anymore' thoughts & nearly immediately I started to fatigue, isn't that mad? I'd felt fine like 2 seconds previous it really brought home to me how much our thoughts effect us. I've been watching the Australian biggest loser & the trainer go on about getting thru the mental barrier & I hadn't ever really thought about it til then. It just goes to show you.

So that got me thinking of how I've been feeling so stressed & under pressure in work etc & maybe if I start thinking about it in a more positive way (not sure yet how) but it might seem a little less overwhelming. So thats my project for the next while we'll see how we go.

I'm in work on lunch listening to Pink(the first of my de-stressing initiatives ie taking a lunch break), I really love her music i really can identify with a lot of it. I'm so glad she's getting back with her hubbie. We have tickets to see her in Sydney in Jun I'm so excited she's supposed to be brilliant in concert. You see....trying to think of good stuff :o).

Anyway I'm glad its Friday I've loads of study to catch up with this weekend cos it has been suffering with being so busy in work but I've exams in like 6 weeks so need to get my ass in gear. oh the joy but it'll all be worth it in the end,(think I'll need to use that as a mantra) :oD

Hope you all have a brilliant weekend & remember keep smiling.