EXPIRED?

a Kuni Kuni

Yes, like the Harry Potter Legend, this blog has to come to an end... But don't be desparate! I will start a new one. I have run out of space for the photoalbum, so I decided to create new account. The address is:

The point in time is well chosen, since my 'lonely travels' will have an end on wednesday  15th of august - when Cris finally comes down here to join me and Signor Rossi to explore Kiwi Country. And, to end this page appropriately, I have not only uploaded a few pictures (into the 070610-Queenstown - folder, which for some reason is hidden in the middle between other folders...) but also written 2 (TWO!) entries!

ENJOY!

winter

My life has calmed down to a more steady pace, I am living something that could be called 'everyday routine' even though I usually decide only at sunset where my home will be parked for the night. They call it 'freeloading'  which is meant to insult and accuse people like me for not paying money on accomodation. However, I refused to see a negative connotation to that word and adopted it to my active vocabulary. I am a proud freeloader!

I quit the job on the vinyard - for several reasons. The major one was the weather - not that I did not want to work in snowstorms and antarctic winds... but the boss would not let me. Those days were called 'upaid vacation', something you can't really enjoy  when the only reason for your stay here is to make money to afford more travels...

Seen in retrospect I could not have had any more luck, there were too many coincidences coming together which made me end up at "2arc",  designing and creating their homepage (www.2architecturestudio.com  , which will be uploaded on monday). I very enthusiastically plunged into my new challenge and received a lot of good feedback from my boss and my collegues. It will be hard to leave...

the newfert and the hayfelee

I also established some sort of routine in my private life - I made friends with Kiwis, started to have hobbies, started to do things on a regular basis...

Monday evenings are dedicated to indoor climbing. I met Rupert, who grew up here and is a locally known climbing-freak. I learned a lot from climbing with him and really pushed my limits due to his talent of motivating me. He even belayed (sichern) me during my first fall outdoors - something that I had been scared of for many years... It was nowhere near a bad or dangerous fall, but I DID break of a tiny little bit of my front tooth (I can feel it with my tongue, but it is hard to see) - so I feel like a REAL climber now!

I also went bouldering with Tony - who is just like a Gecko climbing up seemingly flat rocks - during my lunchbreak. Tony happens to be a technical ingeneer working for our office...well, everything here is a little bit smaller...

that's Rupert

Tuesday! The big Pokernights! You might have heard of the 'Pub Poker League', an international Poker tournament where people just play for the fun of the game, and the honour of winning - but not for real money. Most of you know how much I love playing games... So the Tuesday Poker nights at my homepub, the  FAT (Frankton Arm Tavern) became a must-do. And I am not doing bad, either! Tuesdays were also a good event to see my friends Penny and Glen, whom I had initially met during a party at the FAT. Penny ' the rocket', who has just turned 19 keeps surprising me with her unlimited creativity and curiosity.

see my piles of money in the front?

Glen Crawford Smith

Penelope, the rocket

yep, two holes in the guitar

Signor Rossi passed the Warrenty of Fitness (the NZ equivalent to the German TUV) - which might seem a minor event for you...  I have been scared of that day ever since I bought Signor Rossi. If you want to, you can always find something to not let a car pass through - especially if it was built in 1980 - before my boyfriend was born... But luckily, Penny works for VTNZ...

Not only that I got the new sticker (which now says 'Signor Rossi' on it! Thanks, Pen!), I also got the chance to climb into the trench and see my van from underneath. And man! He looks good....

Cheers,  anika