Ok. the problem with not writing for a while is that I've got to think about what the hell we've done since the last written entry four months ago!
End of September, beginning of October, I was poorly and had to have some time off work, and as a result lost my job. But apart from the fact that my bosses were complete arseholes about it, it's a good thing as working there was making me ill, hence the time off!!!
So I had a couple of weeks off work, and got some temping work at an estate agents (for the third time in my life!) doing admin and advertising (doing the actual formatting and layout of it, which is something I've never done before). So I was dumped straight in the deep end with quite a big backlog to tackle. So in the run up to Christmas I was working ten hour days to try and tackle the backlog, and finally the hard work paid off as I can now see my desk! I'm there long term and it is likely that they will take me on permanantly (fingers crossed).
Christmas was a complete non-starter, we didn't bother with any decorations or special food. We went to our favourite restaurant, The Fettuccine Brothers on Christmas Eve, and before eating I was violently ill and had to take my dinner home in a doggy bag to eat later. Spent most of Christmas day curled up on the sofa, although we did go out for a short walk in the after noon. Boxing day was very much the same.
In between christmas and new year we spent escaping the heat and the zillions of people that were here for the annual Rythm And Vines music festival by hitting the beach. We also went to watch the annual Kapa Haka competition (the adult competition this time) - which was pretty cool. I don't speak Maori, but the singing and traditional dances are absolutely brilliant - well worth watching if you are visiting the land of the long white cloud.
We also went on one of the few remaining steam trains in New Zealand - sadly it is only able to run a short way, about half an hour in each direction, as very few railway tracks are in use in New Zealand, especially not in the more "provincial" areas. But quite frankly half an hour each way was more than enough as we were stuck in a carriage with two families from hillbilly hell!
