I will be one lucky woman if I'm not sick for this wedding/honeymoon!

Seriously, everyone around me is sick...at work, the hostel...and then there is this dengue fever and contaminated water in Rarotonga...not to mention I'm due for PMS (lucky Steve!)

I think I need prayers;)

Insurance and weddings

Well I'm at the point where I like Auckland. Although I'll be happier when summer comes around, the climate isn't too bad and it's very lush. I've been working the same job about 6 weeks...insurance administration/brokering. I actually like it. One would think of it as one of the evil professions on first thought, but as I do a lot of claim processing, I get to see how it works to benefit people. We're off to the Cook Islands to get married at the end of the month. My dress came from Nordstrom's back home and it fits whoo hoo. We've got pretty much everything sorted or about to be sorted with 2 weeks+ left, aside from working on finalising jobs for when we return. Hopefully they'll have me back here a few weeks when we get back so I don't have to think on it when gone or right when we return. Spousal visa stuff is progressing...one of three of my police checks is complete, and we have most of everything else ready or in progress, so hopefully, the stressful part is mostly over;) Fingers crossed we'll be able to start travelling New Zealand around Christmas time, which will be great as it'll be warm here then.

I miss shopping!!!

Man, do I miss shopping back home. There is more shopping in Orland Park than there is in all of Auckland!! I started to shop for a wedding dress, then just gave up and ordered one from Nordstroms. Seriously, we went to the biggest mall in Auckland...and it seriously blew. They don't have department stores in their malls down under. They have grocery stores! There...is...fuck...all...here.

Life in a hostel

Brushing teeth in the kitchen sink guy has turned out to be exceptionally friendly, although it turns our he comes down to the kitchen about 5am-ish to eat breakfast every morning (our room is right across from the kitchen so I get woken a bit early...fortunately he's only here a few days).

My laundry is hung up all over the room----underwear on hooks in the wardrobe, shirts on chair backs and socks over the headboard. I just can't get used to hanging my things outside, especially with other people's stuff.

Modified to add: Brushing teeth in the sink guy got kicked out for stealing..around the same time about half a shelf-full of our food went missing!

Hostel oddities and whatnot

Yesterday there was someone brushing his teeth in the kitchen...sink:/ Today I got a cold shower after about 20 seconds under the water. Gotta love living adventurously!

One month to my birthday!

Ugh, I'm going to be 31. I forgot there were birthdays after 30:/

Lemon trees

I'm sick. Just a tingle in the throat and itchy eyes, but I don't feel so hot. The man keeps urging me to drink more fluids, so last night I was thinking lemon in hot water...as there's a fresh lemon tree in the hostel garden. Steve went to wash the dishes after dinner, then comes back and puts his coat on. I knew he wasn't going out for his evening smoke, as he'd already done that, so I asked if it was that cold in the kitchen. (Sidenote that they had record winds last night here...it was blustery and wet all day, and there were rumours that they shut down the main bridge here...they definitely cancelled ferry services...and the french doors in our room blew open at one point, with my umbrella flying out the doors, bouncing along with the garden furniture off the porch.) Anyhoo, back to it...he said no, there were no more lemons in the kitchen, so he had to go outside and get some.

Hiking around...

Spent a lot of this past weekend hiking around the area...either out of fun or necessity. The nearest area for shopping is about a 20 minute walk away...up and downhill. Had to go twice as Steve bought the wrong colour shoe polish;) So, after walking back from Newmarket (the 2nd time) to where we're staying in Mt Eden, we decided to take a 'fun hike' up the big hill, back to the volcano crater. Here's some photos...

Pics of Auckland

Here are a few pics, mostly of the Sky Tower it seems;) New Zealand seems to be the capital of adrenalin junkie activities, such as bungie jumping, sky diving, and what this idiot is doing. Why people would pay good money (upwards of $200 for some activities) just to induce a panic attack is beyong me! Also some pics from the top of Mt. Eden, an inactive volcano, very near to where we are staying at the moment.

Temping yet again

Well, I have a job beginning Tuesday. It's general admin work yet again. Not sure I'll be happy to do that for a year while here, but it's money in the bank. Trying hard to find some contract work in conferencing/tourism; it seems there are many jobs, but all are full-time permanent.

We took a break from job hunting today to do a free city tour. Unfortunately the one we had wanted to go on was fully booked, and the one we ended up on was a bit of a, erm, disappointment, as the bus got a flat and we had to wait an hour and a half for the tire to be changed. Ah well, we ended up at the top of Mt Eden volcano, and will have some very cool pics to show you shortly.