A Personally Happy Update

That getting things settled and in routine thing is coming together! New flat is going pretty well and the job front looks good. I have a waitressing job for now and I have some good prospects going for later in October - updates on that when some official signing stuff has been done.

I get to go back to pole tonight then out to dinner with my awesome man. And right now I am watching Mean Girls. Things are roling pretty smoothly personally right now. Shame on a national level things are abismal since half of the country thought it would be a good idea to vote our shitty government back in.

But that is it, just a short update for now.

Stressful Times

I now descend back to my blog with a sigh. I have kept thinking how I must write another post, round off the UK trip, and share the next step on my journey now I am back in New Zealand. I kept thinking "when I have had a couple of days to recover from jet lag, when I am not so tired, when I am not so busy." And that is now.

Writing helps me rid myself of frustrations and someone just caused me a great deal of frustration. I am no longer jet lagged and exhausted. I finally have some free time. So here I am. Writing away the stress.

I finished up my visit in England with a couple more catch ups with friends, including seeing the very cute How To Train Your Dragon 2 at my old regular cinema. I saw one of my very longest friends who I have known since before I would have any memory of it. And I got to take a pole class. It was all good and then I embarked on the long journey back to NZ.

The flight was pretty uneventful. I had to make a tight connection in Singapore but we got there in time and I continued on. When I got to Auckland I got to see a couple of my high school friends and stayed the night with one of them. Our long yarns meant little sleep so I was beyond exhausted for my bus ride the next morning.

I continued to be exhausted for quite some time. Having had so little sleep on my journey took it out of me and getting back to feeling like a living human took some time and then I was thrown straight into flat hunting and job hunting which came down on me into a big pile of stress. After the first absolute cram of trying to get a flat and job sorted in a few days in Wellington I had to step back and slow it down.

Now I have successfully organised the flat part and can focus simply on finding a job. I know it is unlikely that I will find a job I really love straight away and I will likely be spending more time in hospitality but at least I enjoy hospo work if not so much the unsocial hours. Once I have a job and I am more settled I can think about finding something more awesome a bit further down the line. Though this sounds like I am being reasonable and have my head together on the job hunt I don't really. It is stressful. I just want to get into work and get some routine.

One of my friends has just hit me with an awful start to any day by making a sexist comment towards me then refusing to acknowledge its sexism and how disrespectful he was being towards me so I now feel run right down again. I might have to bother getting dressed and take myself out for some fresh air and perhaps a treat along the lines of ice cream or frappaccino.

High Flying Visit

The majorly exciting part of the past week here has been... aerial yoga!

I went to antigravity aerial yoga classes twice at a pole studio near here and it was fantastic. Quite similar to the fly gym classes I did in Melbourne. This was the second studio I tried out in the area and by far the nicer of the two. The first one was in a fairly small, rather dark room, in the corner of a gym. The second was a lovely, large, bright space. I am hoping to get back in there on sunday and actually do some pole.

As well as that I have had more friend catch ups. A long time friend on saturday, who is a bit of a Countdown champ, and renowned Scrabble pro. Of course with my own wordy love and penchant for Scrabble I had to challenge her to a game. No one had faith in my skills so I had to prove them wrong and beat her. Which I did. Obviously.

Then last night I went out for dinner with her and a few other girls. The two I had Indian with and one other who couldn't make it last week. So lovely to see so many old friends. We had a nice meal at a lovely little pub and enjoyed catching up.

I am off to see two of them again after lunch.

World Wide Catch Ups

I came across the world to catch up with people and seeing all these old friends face to face is wonderful but I also want to take note that in our digital age it does not matter where in the world our friends are. Yesterday I had wonderful catch ups with friends who are currently in NZ, Australia, and Indonesia, and right now I am talking to one in America and hoping to soon hear from another in Australia, all through the wonder of instant messaging. These people are all dear friends to me, most of whom I do know through having once been local to each other but a couple who I came to know over the internet and whose friendships have truly stood the test of time.

As for my face to face catch ups, yesterday I saw a couple of friends for dinner. One I went to primary school with and both I went to secondary school with before I moved away. We went for an Indian meal at my old local. The owner basically watched me grow up and after 8 years was still able to recognise me and ask after my parents. My friends and I spent the evening reminiscing about our younger years, laughing at the silly things 12 year olds get up to, and filling each other in on what we have gotten up to in more recent times.

Really that is all I have to update on right now but I am feeling blessed to know so many great people and to have spent so much time talking with some of them over the past couple of days I just had to share my joy.

It's a Family Affair

Family is a wonderful thing, whether you grew up with them or you are meeting for the first time you have a connection to hold onto, as some distant relations at my second cousin once removed's (I think) wedding proved when we discussed our long line to relation, crying "you're family" embracing me, literally. The invite alone was testament to my lovely family. I had not previously met Will so it was an honour to be able to attend the wedding and meet him, his new wife, and much more family!

The wedding was beautiful. Seeing the Midsummer Night's Dream seating plan for the dinner tipped me off straight away, Will and Lucie are my kind of people. A lovely ceremony in a lovely setting was followed by dinner with a lot of wine and then even more dancing. We danced the night away finishing up with Bohemian Rhapsody, which the DJ was shown is not a song to be cut off in the middle. When he stopped the music it continued in the bellowing voices of those of us remaining on the dance floor.

The next day a catch up with a family friend continued my trip. Intending to drop in for a chat of course turned into a good few hours talking and catching up on the gossip of our mutual acquaintances. It was juicy gossip too, involving prison sentences and babies with disputable fathers!

Family is of course something which is not all smooth sailing and in the case of my brother's fiance the bumps have been many. A lot of the family have not gelled with her so I was nervous to meet her, but we did ok. I found her a bit rude in a couple of conversations but most of the time she seems reasonable and I could get on with her. I made my attempts at suggesting the both of them make more effort in communicating with my parents so hopefully they take heed of that. And hopefully neither of them stumble upon this blog because wouldn't that be a touch awkward! Ha. It was genuinely lovely to see them, though.

Having dinner with (two of) my cousins and aunt was a great catch up. They enquired as to when my brother would get married, no date set but we all promised to be there with bells on whether they want us or not. We were told it will be a Pagan ceremony. My older cousin was an absolute gem and bought me a few sweet gifts. Wine, cider, and shower gel, carefully checked for vegan suitability.

Spending a few days with brother and fiance wasn't the easiest game since they are both fairly solidly interested in not much more than games, but we did our best and even passed the time with a few games, getting granddad playing Wii (Nintendo land) and xBox (drums on Guitar Hero). He is a bit of a dark horse and was actually not bad at them!

We also got to see my younger cousin a second time for a drink in Leicester between taking a wonder round the shops and down the river. Then yesterday granddad and I set off for home with a stop on the way to visit someone else dear to me- Shakespeare.

Stratford-Upon-Avon is beautiful, whether Shakespearean heritage interests you or not the town is lovely, centered on the river, bustling with tourists, on that particular day enjoying fantastic sunshine. We got tickets for the hop-on hop-off tour bus and visited Anne Hathaway's Cottage, the church where Shakespeare is buried, his birthplace, and Mary Arden's (his mother's) farm. The history is fascinating, both of the families and the period. Well worth a visit.

Now back in Maidstone I have spent a day shopping and made plans to see more old friends. Home is keeping me well.

Enter Nostalgia

As was expected the nostalgia on this trip is strong, and I've made a good start on it.

On Thursday, a brilliantly hot, sunny day, with no particular plans, granddad and I decided we must go and enjoy that sunshine. I picked Tonbridge castle, a place that was prevalent in my childhood. We used to go there for things like Scout and Guide parades, and we often swam at the swimming pool nearby. So we drove via Yalding and Paddock Wood (both very relevant to me as some of you will know, if anyone is reading this other than my mum) to Tonbridge, and went for a lovely walk at the castle. It was a scorching hot day so after a while a cool down was in order so we bought ice lollies and sat in the park. I had to bust a move or two on a playground pole but forgot to get any photos.

Friday I went up to London and met up with Connor. We visited the Queen and then visited Georgia at the pub she works at. Georgia wins really, would visit her over the Queen any day. We had a good NZ in London moment there, then Connor and I continued on our adventure, got some takeaway lunch things to eat in the park, and walked round stumbling on the sights (Big Ben & Houses of Parliament, London Eye) then we were too bloody hot and went to Costa Coffee for cold drinks. Then Connor took me on a wild chase because his phone's map did something funny and sent us the wrong way for his interview, so we hopped in a cab to rectify our problem, then I headed back to Victoria Station to journey home. South Eastern trains gave me the proper service, complete with 40 minute delay.

On Saturday I had a family visit, seeing Aunt and cousins in Paddock Wood, meeting their playful pup (who is actually quite a large dog that thinks it is small enough for jumping up). That was about it for then, quite in contrast with the hectic day in London.

After that lull in excitement the feeling about Sunday is something like this: fhaungfjfrknhgsjk!!!!nfkdsngkj!!!!!!

Keyboard mashing is the closest I can come to describing it in writing. I was off to see my childhood best friend, after at least 8 years apart. I think we both had apprehensions. What if we don't get on now we're grown up? Does the other drink and party? Do we still both love walking, swimming, playgrounds, Disney, a good mix of sweets and healthy food? We can now ecstatically report that we are still a house on fire. Over the two days we shopped, cafe'd, ate salad, walked, swam, bowled, all while reminiscing, and we made plans for two weeks time when I get to see her again! 

I also met her fiance and their two lovely wee girls of the feline persuasion, Poppy and Milly. I heartily approve of this little family and I am super excited for them and their exotic wedding later this year, which my heart truly desires to attend but my bank account is sulking.

The Great British Summer

The next big step on my life journey: home. After 8 years I have now returned to the place which I grew up in, the place I will always call home. I have a month to cram in a whole lot of catching up with people and a bunch of sight seeing, not of the usual tourist type, but of all the places I loved growing up here.

I spent an awfully long time getting here. With 8 hours on a bus and roughly 24 hours in the air, adding in all the bits in between I had about 45 hours travelling, and only got about 5 hours sleep in that time. It was my first time flying with Singapore Airlines and I am pleased to say the experience was good. Service and food was good (good as aeroplane food gets). As is usual for me on flights I couldn't get to sleep and watched a lot of movies.

Landing in London brought a fantastic feeling to me, seeing the sights which I left behind 8 years ago. Then I exited Heathrow to the 30 degrees, blue sky, sunny afternoon. A stop off at Tesco's for a sim card and a couple of food items, and I was at my home for the month, grandad's house.

I managed to stay up until 9.30pm, and slept until around 7am, waking up a couple of times in between. Now at just past 8pm I am just beginning to tire again so I think I can say I have successfully beaten jet lag, as long as I don't stay up terribly late tonight!

With another brilliantly warm summer day today I had a good start to my trip. A pretty relaxing day with a few chores sorted out. I managed to leave my phone charger behind in Auckland so I went to buy a new one, then we got some groceries, and then went off to the farm which my granddad used to work at to pick cherries. He gets invited back every year for some cherries, among other things including the work christmas dinner, and I feel very lucky to be benefiting from that this year! We picked lots of cherries, ate plenty as we picked and brought a big bowl home.

After lunch my great aunt and uncle came round and we think the last time I saw them was at my mum's cousin's 40th birthday party, which was 14 years ago, when I was 7, so that was a good catch up despite me having been too young to really remember them from previous meetings.

I made potato top lentil pie for dinner since despite saying it is not right I spend my holiday cooking my granddad has accepted that I actually love cooking and he can expect me to do plenty of it while I am here.

Nothing planned for tomorrow, but friday I am headed into London to see Connor, and hopefully Georgia too... both people I know from NZ. Figures the first friends I catch up with are not actually childhood friends but highschool ones, but whether it has been 6/7 months or 8 years all catch ups I am sure will be fantastic.

The Journey Continues

My amazing time in Aus may have come to an end, but the journey never stops. Whether you are travelling across the world, across your home country, or locally, you are always on a journey. I realise I rather let this blog drop off which I never intended to do. Now my head is feeling very cluttered so I decided it would be a good time to resume blogging, get some of the jumble out of my head, and update the world (ie the very few people that will read this) on what I have been doing.

Thinking back, my last entry came just before I returned to NZ. I had an uneventful journey back. The only thing that stands out in my memory is waiting for my bus from Manakau to Hastings. The only place open at the time, around 7am, was McDonalds. I went in and got a soy hot chocolate which was pretty gross, and used the free wifi. Whilst I was in there a guy at the next table leant over and asked me "Hey, what does that word mean?" pointing to a word in his horoscope. I don't remember what the word was, but I told him what it meant, and we chatted for a few minutes. Then a guy that had been on my flight and also wanted to use the wifi was struggling to get onto it and came and asked if I'd got on and if I knew why it wouldn't work for him. He had just not hit the log on button or something really simple so I was able to help. I felt like an agony aunt. An agony aunt with jet lag.

After a week in HB I set off for Wellington to spend some longed for time with my man. By which I mean I drove 4 hours each way for curry noodles at Aunty Mena's.

The next exciting entry in my schedule came on the 3rd May. ARCTIC MONKEYS. Seeing my favourite band live, I don't think will ever get old. They were fantastic. There were two songs which I particularly hoped they would play but they didn't. Everything they did play was perfect though.

That night kickstarted my busy and exciting month of May. The next morning I embarked on my first trip to the South Island. My parents and I did a bit of a whirlwind tour:
4/5- sailed Wellington-Picton, drove along Queen Charlotte's Drive (this involved intense motion sickness) to Nelson, where we spent the night. The motel we stayed in there I rate highly so shout out to them (http://www.delorenzos.co.nz/).
5/5- drove Nelson-Punakaiki (Pancake Rocks). We messed up a turning on that drive so it took us an hour or two longer than it should have, but Pancake Rocks is so worth it. I'm sure my geophysicist boyfriend is glad I think so. After Punakaiki we drove on to Franz Josef and checked into a motel. The motel owner gave us a nice tip about some nearby glowworms so we were able to take a late night stroll and marvel at those amazing creatures.
6/5- started the day with Franz Josef glacier. Poor weather meant the safe point to walk to was quite a way from the glacier, but we could still see it. Then we went on to Fox Glacier, which similarly we could not get close to but still amazing stuff. Then we drove to Queenstown for our next stop.
7/5- here we took the opportunity to relax, with no long drives planned immediately. We found hot chocolate and wifi and walked round the town. We wanted to go to the local pools but discovered they were closed for maintenance. Then in the evening did something mum and I were excited for and dad probably could not have cared less about, the ice bar. I went to an ice bar in Koh Samui and I think I will continue to visit ice bars whenever I am in the same town as one. Mum and I had yummy icy cocktails and we took lots of photos and then we went to the bar next door to warm up with mulled wine.
8/5- up early and onto a coach for a long but beautiful drive to Milford Sounds. We booked a day tour to do this which included coach there and back, and a boat trip round the fiord when we were there, which couldn't have been better. It was a beautiful day and we were lucky enough to see dolphins, who spent a good amount of time following the boat and playing in its wake.
9/5- drove to Lake Tekapo where we stopped off for a dip in the hot pools. Then continued to Timaru where some friends of ours live and had a wonderful catch up with them.
10/5- Akaroa. Quaint beach town just south of Christchurch. I had a really awful experience being yelled at by the man in the fish and chip shop. I then checked the reviews for the shop and found out that he does that to customers often, so while the town is lovely, the fish and chip shop is to be avoided. Lots of other places to eat, and we found a better dinner experience at La Thai. Yes. "La" Thai. The town is French influenced and a few places make a good joke of that.
11/5- drove to Kaikoura and saw the seals. They are such sweet creatures. Big cute lazy blobs.
12/5- back to Picton for our return ferry to Wellington.

That was the end of the South Island trip but not the end of being busy, with good things of course. My graduation was the next day, so all my uni friends were in town. We all met up for dinner and a catch up which was awesome. Then graduation! Finally have that nice sheet of paper to certify my degree. Graduation robes are fun, because you have wings. That's right. I'm an adult with a degree.

My parents headed home the next morning but I stayed on in Wellington with the boyfriend and managed to catch up with more people there. Then on the monday (19th) I had to get back to HB because on the 20th mum and I went to Auckland for even more excitement. Michael Bublé! His show was really great. He is an excellent entertainer with an amazing vocal talent.

That Auckland trip was the end of the excitement of May really. The past week I have just been chilling out at home, watching a lot of House, getting emotionally exhausted over the UCSB shooting and everything that is riding on the back of it, and hanging out with one of my top girls making rainbow cupcakes as therapy to cope with the depressing state of the patriarchy in which we live.

This writing stuff down business is good and I am hoping that by typing this update speel I will manage to clear my head enough to do the writing I really love, poetry. My head has been too much of a jumble to comprehend making any particular poetic order of it.

Roos and Didgeridoos

Since the unfortunate beginning at my temporary Perth abode things there looked up considerably. The housemate is beyond apologetic for his initial behaviour and I have been offered everything from cups of coffee to extra pillows during my stay now.

As for my time in Perth, Perth city is uninspiring itself, but the surrounding areas hold some true gems. As most people know there is seaside town Fremantle. It has a great atmosphere. I spent an enjoyable few hours there with my friend on Saturday. We walked round the markets, got Asian food for lunch (Thai for me, Chinese for him) and were privy to two extremes of busking. While we ate lunch an unfortunate young man sang nearby. He was, to put it lightly, not very good. People at the tables were joking that they wanted to pay him to stop, and singing along to That's What Makes You Beautiful with parody lyrics, "you don't know that you can't sing." Once we departed the Asian food hall area we found a real treat to make up for the awful singer. We had the pleasure to discover The Badpiper. I don't enjoy bagpipes as a rule, but this was fantastic. I will let his website fill in the detail. http://www.thebadpiper.com

After Freo we headed to Swan Valley, another gem. We met up with a couple of my friend's friends and they were excellent company over a few local beers at the Duckstein Brewery, then at their house over some more drinks, and didgeridoo. I had a wee play of the didge and could make a steady sound but playing properly seems to need rather a lot more practise than one drunk Saturday night.

Sunday was another excellent day. We headed to the hills and went to an Irish pub where we drank cider in the company of kangaroos. I will add photos to illustrate that, among other things, when I am reunited with my laptop in a couple of days.

Yesterday I had mondayitis so instead of touristing I stayed in and made good use of my friend's kitchen. I baked the gooeyest brownies, and oreos in chocolate chip cookies.

Today I was going to be cultural but discovered the art gallery is closed on Tuesdays and the museum is not very exciting. Tomorrow evening I depart and journey through the night back to NZ. My trip has been just the break I needed but funds dwindle and it will be nice to return to my own bed, a wardrobe instead of a suitcase, my cat, and some certain people.

Turn Your Clocks Back By 3 Hours

Final day in Melbourne, now first day in Perth.

I am going to miss Melbourne very much, but there are definitely things calling me away right now so Melbourne long term will have to remain a dream for the future.

Thanks to the hostel for being home even though I hated sharing a kitchen and being woken up most nights. There were some great people there which made it fun as well as often insufferable. Thanks to family friends here for having me stay for a weekend and for receiving my new passport for me. And the hugest thanks to the Melbourne vegan group, people who fast became my friends and showed me most of the best vegan food Melbourne has to offer. It has been amazing. Thank you, and goodbye.

I am in Perth now. Local time 16.51. Melbourne time 19.51. NZ time 21.51. I have been up since 6.30 Melbourne time after having a very poor night of sleep. I am exhausted.

I haven't been into the city yet. I came straight from the airport to Midland, where I am staying with a friend. Unknown to me until this morning he moved yesterday and had not mentioned to his new housemate that he had a friend coming. Housemate also works nights, so tired after an early start and a 4 hour flight I unwittingly woke this guy up and he proceeded to yell at me. Hoping I can still stay my intended 6 nights with my friend without maddening this housemate any further because I do not fancy returning to hostels.

"No, you can't say cock."

I reached a point in Melbourne today. The point of being able to walk through the city and bump into someone you know. New places always bring the joy of anonymity, but over time that will certainly dissolve. You reach a point where you occasionally see people you know when you go out, and as you spend longer somewhere these interactions will become more frequent, until you reach a point where it seems impossible to go out without bumping into someone you know.
For now Melbourne will remain for me a place where I occasionally bump into someone I know, because I am temporary in this place. My flights are booked and in a little over a week I move on. I will find anonymity again in Perth, but then I will return to the intense familiarity of HB where I do most often bump into acquaintances when I go out.

This past week I certainly continued finding the phenomenal food around the city, but I have also returned to my happy place which counteracts the food addiction and found a wonderful pole and aerial studio to immerse myself in. With a special offer 2 week unlimited casual class entry deal I have been taking all the strength and stretch classes I can. My muscles are sore but so happy to be working again. Time off really effects the fitness level.

But back to food! I've been introduced to Lentil as Anything, a fantastic organisation which works on pay as you feel and volunteer staff. I have been to the Abbortsford branch, twice for dinner and once for breakfast. The atmosphere is great and the concept fills me with warmth and joy. Everyone should be able to eat and Lentils is an embodiement of this. The second dinner I had there was on friday, world poetry day, and I even did some open mic. I am still distressed by that however as the poetry event was run by a youth organisation I was told I had to be PG, which ruled out rather a lot of my writing.
I also had my second taste of vegie bar (Brunswick St, Fitzroy) where I got a great tofu burger sandwiched between roti bread. We followed this up with frozen yogurt at Berrissimo which unfortunately was in its last week of trading. Definitely discovered that one too late. But I still have La Panella. Look out, food porn!

Situated on Preston High St, 30 mins train ride from the city, this bakery is a vegan heaven. Super cheap, everything was about $2. Pies, cakes, slices, pizza bread, and donuts, delicious and vegan. I will definitely be going back before I leave Melbourne.

I will shut up about food soon, but since I mentioned everything else I will mention Panzerroti (Flinders Lane). These are like pizza pastie kind of things, and they have a vegan on demand option, so you just pick ingredients from a list and they make it fresh. Delicious, and just round the corner from where I am staying, so no doubt I will sample another combo of ingredients before I go.

Also worthy of a mention from the past week was seeing Cock, the current Melbourne Theatre Company play. It was moving and amusing, and suitably raunchy, much to the shock of the two old ladies seated by me. What did they expect from a play called Cock?

The Week That Was

Looks like it is updates time! Blog neglect must mean I've been keeping busy, right?

Something like that...

I went to see Grease on wednesday night which was really great. It was exactly what you want Grease to be, excellent singing, excellent dancing, and just good fun.

Thursday night I had an extreme feast with a great group of vegans at Loving Hut in Northcote. That was some damn good food. The highlights for me were mock duck katsu with plum sauce, and the ice cream.

Can't go wrong for food in Melbourne. I have even had some delicious vegan fresh hot jam donuts.

Friday really was exciting. I had a job trial at a vegan cafe. I think it went well and should be speaking to the owner about it today so fingers crossed I have a job. Then it was onto the train to go far away to Boronia. By far I mean one hour travel. 

I stayed with family friends for the weekend, which was a great escape from the city and the super busy grand prix weekend. I got to get close to some parrots and had the pleasure of hanging out with the family dog, a darling labradoodle called Monty. This also allowed me use of a proper kitchen. I made curry, tofu fried rice, and pb choc pillows.

Now I am back in the city, back to hostel life, and ready to enjoy more of the food Melbourne has to offer.

Including an Ode

Today was good. I don't have a job (well I haven't told the company that yet but I am not wasting more time on sales). But money is not absolutely desperate yet so there is time to worry about that later.

Roll back to last night. I went for dinner at Gopals, a veggie restaurant, it was cheap and tasty. We then moved onto a wonderful bar attached to an alternate theatre called The Butterfly Club. It is so cute and I had a delicious cocktail there.

This morning I went out for brunch, had yummy pancakes and tried tempacon (tempeh bacon). Then the group decided to continue on to a park because we all agree you are never too old for playgrounds.
Then four of us decided to go to the beach so we picked up towels and headed to St Kilda. The cool sea was very welcome since it is really hot today. It is now 8.30pm and I am still warm in a summer dress. Then we went for ice cream, and here comes the Ode.

Ode to Fritz Gelato

You bring a joy to the mouths
of Melbourne.
You are the true bliss
of summer
days in the heat.
To Bounty
God of Sorbet
we praise
bow down
coconut delight.
Tantalizing
you complement tanned
skin and sea salt hair
and as sun sets
oh Bounty
you are Ice
Queen of dreams.

This shit is seriously good. If you are ever in Melbourne make sure you try it.

Following that one of the guys and I went to Starbucks so we could organise tickets to see Grease on stage! Super excited for that on Wednesday night.

Future Thinking

So when you calculate the hours and pay for sales if you are no good at it it is below shit. If you are ok at the job then it gets just about acceptable. If you are an awesome seller you earn awesome money.
I don't have time to get awesome at the job so I am over that experience. Which leaves me with plan A and plan B.

I interviewed for a hospo job this morning.
Plan A is get the job. Stay here til the end of April as planned. Work and do tourist and fun stuff on days off.
Plan B is do not get the job. Do all tourist things I want to immediately. Book flights on to Perth as soon as I have my passport back. Spend 2 weeks there then return to NZ earlier than planned.

I actually do not mind either way. I still get some awesome time in Melbourne whichever happens. Both sides have benefits, and I have already come into new interesting thoughts about the whole 5 year plan that hangs round your thoughts generally, or it does mine at least. Particularly since I find I hate hostels future travel plans are going to involve normal holidays or more permanent living. I don't dig the inbetween.

On the Job

I have now spent two days observing door to door sales. I got to see a bad day and a good day for the team, and tomorrow I get official training and start getting paid. Despite this really not being the job I was looking for any job means money and local friends and the team I am working with are good fun.

Today I went with the team manager and we went to a big block of flats, cheap housing kinda places. This meant a fun and interesting experience. The people you come across are fantastic. I will try to remember some of them!
One man immediately said he wasn't interested in the power offer but invited us in for a drink, so we stopped for a glass of water. He had an interesting story, whether a yarn or true it was an interesting chat. He used to play guitar in a band and was a multimillionaire, then he got divorced and his wife got the house and car and most of his money. Now he is a manager doing some sort of work helping people that need it (addicts etc).
One lady peered round the door at us and immediately shut it again.
One man we signed up was 85 and from Glasgow and been 50 years in Aus.
We spoke to a lady who was a bit of a worry, even said she didn't care about the power bill because she might commit suicide tomorrow. Comfortingly she has a lovely dog who seems to be a solid reason to keep going for her. She also told me I have nice legs.
We signed up a man from Sussex who was pissed off at a bad deal he'd just signed up for with someone else. Team Brit getting shit done. (George, team manager, is a Yorkshire lad).
There were also lots of Russian people who barely spoke English.

Overall interesting experience. I don't think in the long term sales is something I would want to do but for a temporary job while I am here I am happy to have a new experience, and since it is 6 hours walking each day at least it will keep me fit. :)

Let Me Tell You About Trams and Creeps

I have had a couple of uncomfortable experiences in Melbourne so far. The first was on a tram when I went to check out Brunswick. Two men who had clearly been drinking got on and were standing and then sitting near me. They were having a conversation that would make anyone uncomfortable, talking about teaching people lessons and one was saying he was going to go slash some guy's face. Then one realised he was sitting next to a little girl and asked the man sitting opposite if it was his daughter and apologised for swearing, which is fair enough, but then he continued to talk to the father. The father was black and I don't remember exactly what it was but there was some racist subtext going on. One of the drunk guys berated the other for striking up conversation with just anybody and said when they got home "Betsy will teach you a lesson" to which the other responded he would "snap Betsy in half and shove her down [his] throat." Once they got off the lady sitting next to me, a guy who had been standing and took one of their seats, and I started talking about it. The lady said she had heard they guy talk about using Betsy to teach someone a lesson, so we could figure Betsy is a knife, and she also noticed him tapping his Australian flag tattoo when berating the other for talking to the black man. Overall a very unpleasant experience, probably more so for the man and his daughter.

More tram experiences-
Today I was at a tram stop and on a tram which came before mine I could hear two men arguing loudly. The driver put his speaker on and told them to sit down apart from each other and not to talk to each other anymore. I was pretty amused by that.
Then my tram came, the free city circle, which I am now thankful for as I had left my myki card at the hostel and walked a long way.

My other unpleasant experience happened just about an hour ago, sitting here in federation square. I had my headphones in and was about to start a blog post and a man came and crouched by my chair, far too close, right in my personal space. I paused my music to see what he wanted. A few people have approached me here asking if I know where something is or students doing surveys for schoolwork, which is fine. This guy says "this probably seems random, but I saw you sitting here and thought you looked nice so I thought I would say hi." There are times when an intro like that could work out and get a good conversation started, but he was so in my face and too close and had obviously interrupted me and it just seemed creepy. I said yes that was random but ok fine, he introduced himself, asked if I am Australian, when I said no English he asked if I was from London, when I said no Kent he said that sounds like a boring place, which seems to me a very strange thing to say to someone you want to talk to. The feeling was generally tense and awkward so I tried to politely diffuse and said I was going to carry on what I was doing, to which this arrogant prick says "what is more important than talking to me?" So I told him, "Everything. Now leave me alone." He walked away saying "fine, I don't talk to boring people anyway" because obviously a woman who tells him to piss off must be boring.

Friends and Money

I had job interviews today. In sales. Selling door to door for energy companies. Different but if you don't make sales it pays enough to get by and if you do make sales it pays well. So it seems likely I am going to work for one of those companies and try something new. They sound like fun workplaces anyway with lots of staff drinks and events.

Other than that last night I made friends with a half English half South African guy because he looked at me funny when I did a handstand in federation square. We walked and got ice cream and went to the arcade. I obviously got over excited at the arcade and did pretty well doing La Bamba on DDR.

It will probably take nearly a month to get my passport back which means no ID so no drinking for me but I suppose that saves me money.

Something Bad Happened

Somewhere in the top 10 things that turn your overseas trip upside down and make you want to throw it in is the number 1 thing which stops you doing that. That is losing your passport, which this afternoon I realised I had done. After a stressful hour searching through my bags and checking the hostel lost property I managed to lose the sick knot in my stomach, get my head together and accept that I would just have to deal with the paperwork (police, NZ consulate, insurance) and get a new passport, so that is tomorrow morning's activities decided.

That consumed a lot of my afternoon but I had already done CV dropping this morning, so with what was left of the day I got myself veggie pho and chocolate cake, then joined in the hostel giant jenga tournament, in which I came 4th, winning a water bottle and $5 off a night at the hostel.

So here's to travel insurance!

Have I Really Only Been Here a Day?

It feels like longer. I seem to have packed a lot in today.

I activated my bank account, and realised I am running on my small amount of cash until my international bank transfer clears and I have money on my Australian debit card.
I visited optus because my 3g data wasn't working and they changed  some settings for me. Then I dropped more CVs around the city, got a Lord of the Fries chick'n burger (I liked their fries much more than the burger, but I will give the other options a go), then walked to South Bank. I dropped CVs there but not many seemed to be hiring.

I spoke to people today, charity and promotions people who I would usually blow off and walk straight past. First a guy doing charity sign ups. Since I said I was looking for a job he didn't bother trying to get me interested in that, he just said his Melbourne job hunting tip is make sure you try the side streets. Then a girl doing charity sign ups who also didn't try to sign me up, but turned out to be from Tunbridge Wells.

This evening I decided to go to a free fitness class I had seen advertised and it was great. As well as the fact getting a workout was awesome I got to chat with people. On the way back from that I stopped at a supermarket then stopped and chatted with a guy promoting a new gym. He gave me a free bottle of water.

I did extremely well on my low budget for the next couple of days for dinner and bought a bottle of soda water, can of lentils, and jar of pasta sauce, all for $3.60. So lentil pasta for dinner (I bought pasta yesterday) cost under $2 for a large serving.

Now I am going to read until I fall asleep. :)

Catch Ups and Goodbyes, Flights and Fries

To begin the next installment of the story we continue on the bus. Between Rotorua and Cambridge I met a woman, I guess around 27. She is from Gisborne. She has a masters. Her undergrad was in political science and something else I forget, honours in development studies, and her masters topic was about the links/effects between music and cultures, which I think sounds really interesting. I had been thinking about the fact I would meet lots of interesting people on my travels and I think I will try to remember them in this blog, so the woman on the bus will be the first of the interesting people I tell you about.

She lived in Spain for a year, initially really near where my family used to have a villa on the Costa Blanca. Then she went north because her plans in Moraira fell through. Then she came back to NZ for summer and on tuesday she is going back to Spain. We talked about our studies and languages. It was good conversation. Then she got off the bus and some guy took her seat but I didn't feel like talking anymore so I turned my attention to games and music.

In Auckland I met up with highschool friend, Steph, and uni friend, Lauren. Lauren drove me round a bit so I saw more of Auckland/North Shore than I had before. Then Steph and I walked along K Road in search of dinner, which ended up being at a very tasty Mexican place which satisfied my burrito cravings. Both needing to be up early we obliviously got an early night (read: couldn't stop chatting because it had been so long so lost out on sleep).

5.40am rolled around and I hauled myself out past the AUT night security staff pool game and along to the bus stop, where the bus proceeded to not show up and a Japanese man got chatting to me and kept telling me I am cute. I am not so sure about that, especially at 6am. Thankfully a shuttle driver doing a hotel pick up next to the bus stop offered to take me and the Japanese man for $10 each, which is less than the airbus costs anyway. Made the airport in plenty of time, found avocado sushi as my best breakfast option, then onto the plane. As I walked along the tunnel onto the plane I considered that it was my first international flight alone. I have flown a lot of times, but I guess that is a pretty big step.

On the plane the safety video was the best I have ever seen. Air NZ's current video is "Air Middle Earth" where the staff take on various Hobbit roles, complete with cameo from Peter Jackson. The acting wasn't the best but it was overall great and actually pretty funny.

I have finally seen Pitch Perfect. I put that on first and loved it, then watched About Time, which was alright. We made it to Melbourne a few minutes early. Then we sat on the runway for two hours because the airport had had a security breach and full evacuation in the morning so delayed departures were holding up all of the gates.

When I finally made it through I picked up my arranged shuttle and checked in at my luxury accommodation - a backpackers, where I am sharing a 12 bed female dorm. So far it actually seems good. Not too noisy, but it is a sunday so I guess other nights could be louder.

The rest of the story so far just involved wandering around the CBD, getting kumara (sweet potato) fries from Lord of the Fries, and being super tired by 8pm local time so escaping to my dorm room to write this then read and sleep.

From the bus to Auckland

Here begins my travel adventure, so here begins a blog to record the adventure. A blog with a Disney title no less.

Right now I am on a bus from Hastings to Auckland. I said some goodbyes in Hastings, tonight I get to catch up with old friends in Auckland, then tomorrow I fly to Melbourne to meet new people and see new things.

It has only just begun!