Dedicated to Gary Kingi

I got the call today, that Gary ( my cousin) was killed last night in a car crash, 2 November 2007. He left behind Cherie and their 2 children.
I think its fair to say i never got to know Gary as an adult, the last time i saw him was 3 years ago, and before that about 10 years ago. We saw each other growing up as kids when we went to visit Nana and the family living in Auckland. So i can honestly say i dont have one unpleasant memory of him. Only of us playing in Nana's house, and running round outside playing cowboys and indians, ha ha ha...
And when we met again 3 years ago he had the most fantastic memories of having holidays with us...
So my tears flow from the sadness of losing my cousin, but they also flow from the joy because i got given a chance to get to know my cousin again for just one short day. To see him as a father to his 2 kids and as a partner for Cherie, and to see him once again as my cousin who i seem to have let slip away all those years ago when we were just kids ourselves.
Rest in Peace Gary!

Southland Road Trip!!

I still had to work on the Saturday morning of Labour Weekend 2007, so at 12.30 when i finished I rushed home to shower and pack my bag. Mike was already to go, good man. But in true form he made me slow down a little, we sat down and had a cuppa and some lunch.
We first headed to the catlins, to my surprise, a rainforest by the sea. Yep, i had no idea, until we drove past a huge sign saying "COASTAL RAINFOREST".
The first place we stopped was a little village on the sea i had been told about by workmates, Nugget Point. This has a lighthouse, and there is also a little bay (Roaring Bay), where you can see (if your lucky) yellow eyed penguins and sea lions. The weather was so bad we didnt walk up to the lighthouse but by the time we got back to roaring bay it had come out beautiful. So we took the chance to go for a walk and see some of New Zealands wildlife. We saw 1 little penguin, and this was just as we were walking back. I'm so glad we did, Mike had never seen one.
Time to go again, this time we stopped at a sign that read Tunnel Walk.
Now for those of you who know me reasonable well you will know that i am not a big fan of walking in the dark, and especially thru old abandoned tunnels of a railway. It was only a 10 min walk tho so off we went. We had the tiniest of torches and true to form Mike did his best to yell and yahoo in the tunnel and try and create echoes etc... the only thing he did manage to do was scare the shit out of me, this was horrible for me. I finally made it to the end of this 100m tunnel only to find that the track ended there and to get back to the car i had to walk back thru it again (like the first time wasnt scary enough). So i grab the torch and set off on a blistering pace, once again Mike was laughing and yahooing making a big noise (such a kid sometimes, ha ha ha). By the time i was out the other side my heart was beating 100 miles an hour and i rushed for the safety of the car. I was shaking!! I remember telling Mike, i would rather do 100 skydives than walk thru that tunnel again.
Our trip then continued with a beautiful bush walk to the bridal vale falls, this is what i named it. It was fantastic... and true to form the batteries in my camera were flat.
We stayed the night at Mclean Falls Motorhome Park and had dinner at there new cafe/bar "the whistling frog", had the most yummy tomato soup and rhubarb crumble pie. The weather took a turn for the worst, wind, rain and the sound of a million frogs in full voice, almost deafening. In the morning we watched England lose to South Africa in the World Cup, then hit the road. The wind and rain would come and go, and Mike ended up sleeping in the car until we hit Bluff. At the lookout, we nearly got blown off the top of the hill, it was so incredibly cold. The fog was in and you couldnt even see Stuart Island. Down at sea level next to that famous sign in my first picture you see out to sea these huge waves breaking, amazing!!!

And no that isnt Stuart Island in the back ground.
We drove to Invercargill for a late lunch at the Kiln, then did a walk thru of the Southland Museum and Art Gallery. They had a exhibit on Burt Munroe and his fastest Indian. And also some Tuatara that you could see, babies as well. They are so cute. We decided to head onto Gore, the weather seemed to be getting a little better so off we went. I slammed on the brakes, did a u-turn, woke Mike up... in the paddock thousands of tulips everywhere, all in flower, it was just beautiful, a tulip farm. So out came the camera again...

We finally made it to Gore, and tried to find a neighbour of mine that i grew up with for years, Rhonda Ludwig, it's not Ludwig anymore cause she is married so that made it a bit harder. It wasnt long before we found her place but she wasnt home, so i left a note. We stayed that night in Gore, in the Old Firestation Backpackers, it was nice and cosy, only 12 beds. I had a great nights sleep here and woke to the sound of rain on the roof again, surprise surprise...

The rest of the trip home was pretty uneventful, Mike stopped in Balclutha so i could take a photo of their beautiful bridge spanning the Clutha River. And it was Mike's turn to slam the brakes on and do a u-turn, he had spotted a sign about a whale fossil, so we headed into the Limestone Works to check it out. It was quite amazing, i was pleasantly surprised. They had fossils of whale, dolphins and some seashells etc... it was great.

So there you go, that was our Southern Scenic Road Trip over two days and i loved it (except for the Railway Tunnel). It was great to get out of Dunedin and start travelling again. Life is so beautiful. So dont forget to "STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES".

New things everyday!!!

You guessed it, we have a new car. The clutch in our old Bighorn Isuzu had worn out so we flogged that off and invested our money into this little beauty. And we love it! 1998 Toyota Caverleir, automatic, 2.4L, and everything electric. And the best part, only $2,600. Mike wasnt to keen on the colour at first but who's going to argue when your nice and warm in this beauty...

And today i did something else new,

yep i am now the proud sponser to Barnardos. Mike laughed about it, but i am quite pleased with it.

A new beginning, my apprenticeship...

Well we are back from Germany and its straight back to work again at the bakery but this time with a difference. Yep I am now on a Baker's Apprenticeship. And just so you all know, this is not one of my cakes in the picture... We came into work a 4am to this beautiful surprise, yep it had been baking away all night, it couldnt get much more black than what it is now.

So now i'm on the bread production side of things, learning lots of new things, and loving it...

Only one complaint, it's freezing back here. Yep lots of snow and very little sunshine.

So Much To See and Do

There's just so much to see and do in Europe. So many castles to see... different foods to taste... people to meet... It really has been great! This photo is of me at the Heidelburg Castle Ruins, it was my favourite place. But its so hard to compare.

We saw and did so much.

Mike's family was great, lots of home made cooking. Pizza from a home made pizza oven, it was the best i've ever tasted.
Old family recipes that his Grandmother showed us how to cook.
And fantastic restaurants meals with good friends.

But all to soon our 6 weeks in Germany were over. One of our last outings was a lovely evening with Mikes family, it was Oma Maria's 80th birthday. I wore my derndl (Barvarian Outfit). We had coffee and cake, then later in the evening a beautiful dinner. Mike played some songs on his guitar and sung a couple of songs we got off Charlie in Karumba, Australia.
It was a lovely evening, and very sad also.

It was very hard saying goodbye and tears flowed easily.

Germany, Mike's home coming!

Happy 50th Birthday Steven!!! This is what we were here for. Mike hadnt been home for 2 and a half years and what a great surprise for the family. Only Annette and Tanja knew we were due to walk in the restaurant doors at any moment now. It was perfect, Steven couldnt believe it, he was without words and the tears flowed... It wasnt till later that we learnt he had to go off and take his heart tablets. Ooops!!! The whole family was there, and i had my first introduction to the way of German life. The next 6 weeks were to consist of lots of visiting and sightseeing and not understanding a word of what was being said. Oh and also "The Autobahn"!!!! Yeehaa!!!

That's about as fast as this little car would take us! We did so many things, where do i start? I saw my first Stork (it wasnt carrying any baby for me), a woolley pig, a big brown bear, a moose, wolves, I held a traranchella in my hand ( it was very tickly), and lots of lizards and breaded dragons too. We went to the Black Forest for a day trip, it's so beautiful there and their houses are just amazing. I saw an orignal Black forest Gateaux and yes i couldnt leave without trying it, very yummy. We went and saw the biggest Cuckoo Clock in the world, it was the size of a house. Mike took me on a trip to Strassburg to see the Cathedral, wow... and we stayed in a castle in Saverne (check this out below)Yep, thats my castle. FANTASTIC... He also took me to the Ellsa's (think i spelt that wrong), and we had tarte flambee. Oh how wonderful that was, we ordered 3 all together and totally pigged out. We went to a Mother Concert (Mikes old band). What a great night that was. Mike loved it, he was invited up on stage and totally milked it, ha ha ha ha... Tanja invited us out to meet her friends at a Gothic Party. Now that was a sight. Everyone was dressed in Gothic, all dancing the exact same way, ha ha ha, it was great. Unfortunately we didnt stay long, I was absolutely buggered. We did a trip with Mikes parents to see the fairytale castles, another WOW... then onto Constanz, across into Switzerland to see the Science Expo and also to the Rhein Falls. Mike and I went on a 5 day trip by ourselves, we went to Denmark and learnt all about the Vikings, then headed to the Netherlands and stayed with Marty. He showed us all aroun the top half of the Netherlands. We saw all the canals, dykes, reeds that they use to build the roofs of the houses, windmills and even 5000 year old stone age grave sites. Amazing, it was great. And cant forget the Coffee Shops as well!!! Then we headed to Belgium and found a lovely little forgotten town, nestled between sheer cliffs with a fortress on top. That was a great find. Continued onto Luxemburg City and did the city tour. A fortified city it was, so much history. Then the Wine Gate stop and onto home again. German and Europe is so beautiful, it really is. They have massive feilds of gold, Raps actually, but a brillant yellow. There are so many things, i could rave on for hours... I will try and get my photos online as soon as possible so you can all see them. So dont forget to check them out.

Thailand

If there is a country with 2 totally different sides to it, then Thailand is it. On one side the flith and poverty is hard to comprehend. But then the beauty of the place overwhelms you, the golden budda's, the elephants and a beautiful countryside splashed with palm trees, is just amazing. We got picked up from the airport and taken to our hotel, 'The Bangkok Palace'. It was very nice and quite comfortable, everything that you would need. But the first thing you notice is the heat, yep it was hot... After the 12 hour flight i went straight to sleep. We got up in the morning to a beautiful breakfast then decided to have a walk around, try and find the markets, well that was the plan. That's when i saw it!!! The poverty and flith in the streets, brings you back to reality quite fast. And then you hear it... Took took, i'll take you everywhere for 20 bart. I think i heard this sentence 100 times a day. We learnt quickly if you dont want a tok tok, do not engage in conversation with a tok tok driver under any circumstances, ha ha ha... We had a good first day, we just wandered the streets and the markets for hours. Then we did the Took took thing, wow, i enjoyed that. He took us to about 6 different places where we didnt want to go and eventually dropped us off at the Grand Palace liked we asked 2 hours later, ha ha ha, quite an experience for only 20 bart, $1. By this time we were exhausted, the sun was at full strength and we had drunk over 4 bottles of water. We had a look at the Grand Palace and caught a took took home for 160 bart, $8... man did we feel ripped off. Well that was our first day. Over the next 6 days we did heaps. We went to an elephant and crocodile show ground. I cried at the elephants, they are so amazing and lovely and wonderful. And the best part for me was being able to feed and touch them. Mike was taken by the crocodile show, he loved it! We had our photo taken with 2 huge thai tigers. We did a canal river trip, the water was so green and yucky and we have photos of the local kids swimming in it. We visited the reclining budda, WOW!!! We saw a budda the size of a house, maybe bigger, made of solid gold. Mike had a Thai massage nearly everyday, and i had a fantastic foot massage. We stayed in Pattaya for 4 days. Lots of older men with very young Thai girls everywhere.
So Thailand to me was a very mixed place, even if you thought you'd have a lazy day, you seemed to be busy all the time. I think that's because there are so many people constantly at you, "Took Took, buy this, hey miss" and at the end of each day i was very happy to be back at the hotel.

See you when we return Dunedin!

Well here they all are, the better side of our bakery team, hee hee... Centre City bakery packing staff!!! 2nd attempt to photo them without them being silly!!! We have Joanne, Maf-a-hew, Lisa, Matt, Marie and James. So we are off to Germany and I have to say goodbye to all the bakery staff now. But our plans have changed, we are no longer going there to live. Mike has taken 9 weeks off work and I have been promised my job when I return, we are keeping our apartment and have signed up for the other room as well, so we no longer will be in one room. Yep thats right, we will have a lounge, Yeehaa... Everything here in Dunedin seems to be working out for us just as we planned. Yeah!!! Mike is all excited about going home and to be honest i am bouncing off the walls. First Thailand, then Germany, so we will see you there.

Alexandra road trip with mum and dad!!!

Mum and Dad finally made it down here and have been working on the Bungo Lodge Orchard, 8 kms from Alexandra. I had a spare weekend so took off to see them. They look great and are enjoying it so much down this way. We headed to the pub (The Dam Pub) in Clyde for dinner the first night with Roger and Jill. It was a lovely meal, I had a Ribeye Fillet with salad. Yum Yum... Watched the rugby then sleep was calling to me so we left and went back to the bus. ZZZZZzzzzzzzz... They were keen to get in the car and see a bit of the scenery down this way, so on Sunday we all jumped in the car and headed for Queenstown. I drove and managed to stop and every possible moment to take photo's... The Clyde Dam, Cromwell, Shotover Jet etc...
We saw lots of old chinese village shacks on the side of the clutha river, and learnt they flooded part of the old town of cromwell when the built the dam. Amazing!!! Then onto Queenstown, it was bloody cold as usual. I took them to a little cafe' I liked at the Remarkables Shopping Centre for breakfast and then showed them around Queenstown (where mike and I use to live and work). We then drove out towards Coronet Peak and came across the Shotover Jet. So pulled in there and had a look around. Mum and Dad were really keen to have a look at Arrowtown so that was next on the list. We did the main street walk, grabbed a hot chocolate and then walked thru the Chinese Village. Lots of photos on that one! I'm sure mum closed her eyes and we went over the Crown Range Road, ha ha ha... but we stopped at the top so they could see the fantastic view. Past rather quickly through Cardrona(as you do) then onto Wanaka. They had a wonderful display there, it was photos of different places on earth but all taken from the air. Really amazing!!! We got lunch there, good ole subway. Then headed back to Clyde. We took the road that goes up the left hand side of Lake Dunstun. And came across the Motorbike man. Click on my photo album to check out those photos, they are great. Unfortunately mum and dad had to work the next day, but i had to be gone just after lunch anyway. Never mind, I had a fantastic time and thats the main thing. Love ya heaps mum and dad xxx

Highlanders vs Stormers

What a great day!!! This was Mike's first ever rugby game and where better to go than to the first game of the season at Carisbrook. We got tickets for the stands but when we arrived the band (Elomeno P) were playing in front of the terraces. So we got a 6 pack and sat in the terraces for the band. And it was hot!! The sun was out in Dunedin, and the band totally rocked the place. The heat mixed in with the beer and it didnt take long to feel the effects. Mike went below to cool down a bit and met up with some friends from Germany. Half and hour later we moved to where they were and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Telo and Mikka invited us to the Empire Tavern for drinks afterwards so we left the car at the grounds and headed for the Tavern. Luckily for us it was at the bottom of High Street. So we had a fantastic time, wouldnt change it for the world. Oh except for the next day, oh we were so sick!!! The "Never Again" words came up often. "Go the Highlanders!!!"

"The Crusty Demons!!!"

The Crusty Demons, what a fantastic show that was! Mike and I found a park, walked to the gate only to be told "sorry no food or drinks to be taken in", I was pissed off, as usual Mike wasnt. He had left his camera at home so wanted to go and get it anyway. So we decided to meet at our seats. After walking around for ages looking for my seat i found it, i finally saw Mike doing the same thing. I had quite a giggle watching him walk around not knowing where he was suppose to be, ha ha ha, (he doesnt know i did the same thing). The first half of the show started with the world's best snow mobile jump rider, he had been in an accident before he arrived and had a very sore knee. He managed to do a couple of jumps but unfortunately in the 2nd half his knee gave way again and he had a bad fall. Hopefully he will be alright.

Then we got introduced to all the riders, including Nate Adams(the world's best) and Mary Perkins(New Zealands World's Best Women's Rider). They all did a few jumps for us, we thought that was great.

The show looked like a sell out, and the crowd was reasonable well behaved, THEN the "Crusty Babes", yep the crowd went wild and so did Mike's camera, ha ha ha... They got up on the jumps and did a few dance moves to the song "I like the way you move". It went down really well with the crowd. The 2nd half of the show was the crusty's doing jumps together in a train. Nate Adams did a back flip and he let go completely of the bike while doing it. Then another crusty landed a backflip with no hands on his bike. I would like to tell you about every trick they did but i dont do justice to how fantastic these guys are. They were amazing. The show ended with a massive burnout from a Harley Davidson. Smoke everywhere, that was great!!! Anyway check out my photos of it, in my online photo album. And if you get a chance to see "The Kiwi Karnage Tour" go for it.

BRING IT ON!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well try and bring me down off this one, not likely!!! Hayley and I had been planning this for the last month. New night club opened "The Fever Club" a 70's club and believe me we were gonna be there. The plans were set. Hayley came round about 3.30pm we went and got some drinkies, then she straighten my hair, on with our outrageous 70's clothes. We kept telling each other "we look fantastic" but after looking at the photos the next day i'm not so sure, ha ha ha... So Mike, Hayley, Me and Kay then headed to Jason and Brad's place for a pre-party drinking games. Kay is from Korea and her english is not to good, but she got the hang of "DRINK"!!! Brad finished work and made it home, which meant it was time for the guys to get dressed. We had picked out some hot red leather pants with a sparkly top for Brad, and Jason looked great in his purple pants and shirt. But thats not all, bring on the wigs!!! Hayley and I let Brad run free with our makeup... We got the pleasure of Hayleys mum turning up, she's great!!! One thing missing, MUSIC... Now the party begins, the shots came out, Mike finally had enough to drink and put on his bright orange top and the wig, and we partyed on... We also had some Brazilian's staying nextdoor who made it to the party. Then 11.00pm we all headed off the the Octagon, it was packed, you could hardly move. Kay by this stage had had enough, so into a taxi she went, i think it was the shots that did it for her. Made it back to the Octagon just in time for the countdown... Yeah!! Happy New Year Everyone!!! BANG BANG BANG... the fireworks went off, fantastic. Go home now, NO WAY DUDE, The Fever Club here we come, Hayley had her first Pinocolada, and loved it. It was great!! I think we made it home around 3.30am...
I had so much fun, it was the best new year for a very long time.

Christmas in Dunedin

Another quiet one again, like last year it was just Mike and I home for Christmas. Christmas Eve arrived and we found ourselves down at one of the local bars in the Octagon to have a couple of beers with my workmates, Jason and Colin. Ants and Kay(out flatmates) came with us, then we all went out for dinner afterwards. It was very nice. But i was looking forward to getting home, we had our presents to open that night, ha haha. Mike had bought me my favourite chocolates, they are from Germany, yum yum... Christmas day came and i went around to Bev's in the morning to find them (Bev, Paula and Carol) with the wine out already, ha ha ha... It was lovely just sitting in the sun, having a beer with them. Then Bevvie and Aiden came around as well. But time flew bye and I left to come home and have Christmas Dinner with Mike, Ants and Kay. It was nice to share our Christmas meal. Mike spoke with his family online, it was great to see them again. I think he really enjoyed it and is hanging out to get on that plane and head home for a while. I got to talk to everyone at home, I really missed them this year. So that was Christmas for another year. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Dunedin!!!

We made it!!! What a day for a day dream, well if you know this song this is how i think of Dunedin. It's as fast or as slow as you want it. "Custom made for a day dreaming boy". We got a flat the 2nd day we were here, its very nice, quite comfortable indeed. We share up the top floor with 3 other rooms. It has been newly renovated. And its only $155 a week, a real bargin. A very nice walking distance from my work too. Yep as usual we both picked up jobs on the 3rd day here. Mike is working in a joinery that assembles doors and stairs. I got a job working at New World Bakery and its huge. They have 28 bakery staff there. Its great, no stress and everyone is great. I have made friends with most of them and they tell me that i have blended in very well. As usual my singing comes up quite a bit. "I never thought it was possible for some to swallow a singstar until i meet you Pip" That was Gordon's comment. He's lovely and I have learnt so much from him. I meet up with a friend of Mum's (Bev), so once a week we meet at the Lemon Room(a bar in the Octagon) for a drink and a catch up. We have certainly had so fun. Seen heaps of the sights, out round the Penisula, The steepiest street, Aramoana, the choc factory. Its all been great. I will be very sad to leave this place, I made some great friends. Only one thing wrong with it, NOT ENOUGH SUNSHINE!!! Yep, it's bloody cold here.