The trip to Rarotonga is getting really close!!

I know it's still over a month to our Rarotonga trip but now it's beginning to feel like the trip is actually going to happen - why is this? You may ask - well two things....

Firstly - we went and paid for the rest of our trip today - and a bit THANK YOU Jess for sorting it all out:)

Secondly - I've filled in my application for my passport and I'm posting it off tommorrow - although my passport photo is SO heinous - but I guess they all are - at least Kat didn't laugh when she witnessed the photo!

So yes I have paid for my tickets, I've (nearly) applied for my passport and Rich and I are going to work out exactly what we want to do when we're in Raro over the next few weeks! Yah!

Turkish Delight Night

Last night was my first Turkish Delight Night - what is Turkish Delight Night you may well ask?

Well it's an evening that's going to be held once every 6 weeks at the bellydance studio I go to - basically it's a night of performance, dancing and Turkish Delight (and damn good Turkish Delight too!).

So last night Rich and I headed over to the bellydance studio to go to Turkish delight night - Fiona came along too given that she's a bellydancer of some significant talent (unlike me - but hey we all have to start somewhere!).

The performances were all amazing - in particular I loved the Samba dancing, the bollywood/bellydance fusion and the tribal bellydancers that had the most incredible costumes I've ever seen.

It was fantastic to see so many great dancers - I think it's a really good idea to have these performance nights once every 6 weeks as it will give me something to aspire too.

After the performances there was some dancing with a middle eastern band providing the music - I was pretty nervous about dancing to begin with - but then I found a few of the girls from my beginners class and I felt much more comfortable dancing with girls whose skill level was about the same as mine.

So Turkish Delight night was awesome - much fun dancing, beautiful sparkly costumes and yummy turkish delight!

The Weekend so far

Well I haven't blogged in a few days so here's some general rambling about what I've been up to over the weekend.

On Friday night Mariella came over for dinner - which was cool, it's always fun to catch up with her crazy world! We also ended up watching a DVD called"sexy beast" - it was a really excellent film - in the style of "Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels" - although I think maybe this film came out before that one?

On Saturday morning I did my usual coffee thing with Kat and Fiona - but as Kat was off in Dunedin I just hung out with Fiona:) After a hot chocolate and some gossip Fiona went to open up Triange (as she's looking after it this weekend whilst Kat's away). I hung out there for a while longer - just catching up on general gossip.

However, whilst a Triangle Fiona and I came across the cutest wrap dress. I don't think I've blogged about this before but Kat has decided to use three of her friends as her muses for her label "Macska" and I am one of these muses! So the very cute wrap dress that Fiona and I came across in the shop was a "Teresa" dress - very excitied about that!

Whislt hanging out in the shop Karyn came in so was good to catch up with her - she told me about some very very cool knitting patterns she has lined up! Looking forward to seeing on of these projects at craft club on Tuesday.

I then went to catch up with Jess and Celia - we were supposed to be having a walk along the water front - however - it ended up that not so much walking was involved but lots of gossiping was - oh well - what can you do?

I met up with Rich after the walk/gossip session with the girls and we went to this alternative comic book festival thing that was on at the Southern Cross bar - it was pretty cool to check out some of the ideas that people have for comics...we didn't end up buying any comics though...

Saturday night we went to Downstage Theatre with Ross and we saw "The Graduate" which I have been wanting to see for ages! It was really well done too - a lot of laughs - I'd actually didn't really know what the graduate was about (all I knew was it was about some guy having an affair with an older woman) I really enjoyed it. After the play we went and had a coffee at Ernesto because for once it wasn't TOTALLY packed! Also there was a Jazz Band playing there which was pretty cool, turned out the jazz band was Twin Set - who Rich said are a pretty well know jazz band - so we got a hot drink and a free Jazz show! Very cool.

Today I've not been up to much - I had a hot drink with Donna at Kelburn cafe which was cool - I really like it there. I hadn't seen Donna for a while - turns out she's been quite sick with colds and flu. But the good news is that her and Lee have finally found a new house and it sounds very cool - can hardly wait to check it out.

Well I best be off now before I spend the rest of my Sunday in front a computer screen (I do enough of that during the week).

Jo & Andre's Wedding

Over the weekend Rich and I attended another wedding - this time it was over in Tauranga and the wedding was that of our lovely friends (and former neighbours) Jo & Andre.

Here's a few photo's of the venue for the ceremony - Papamoa Beach - the rainbow appeared during the ceremony - which can only be a good omen.

Here's a couple of photo's of "the crew" pre the wedding ceremony - firstly, one of all the grrls - (L-R - Mella, Sue, Chay, My lovely self & Nicky)

Another pre-wedding shot - this time of everybody but Mella and myself! (L-R Sue, Nicky,Rick, Chay and Rich)

Here's a few pics of Jo and Andre's ceremony - as you can see both the weather and the bride are beautiful! (I guess Andre's not too bad either he he he)

Just a couple of pics taken whist hanging out waiting for the reception (L-R Myself, Sue & Chay)

Rich and I looking "so hot right now" in our wedding attire

Me with the beautiful blushing bride!!

Photo taken at the reception of Rick, myself & Nicky

As always - a few strange things happen at wedding receptions - Rick wasn't drinking alcohol - and ended up drinking this rather odd creamy, pinky and VERY girly drink!

Rich and Rick - just having a "staunch" moment!

Thank you Katrina!

Yesterday I recieved a postcard from my friend Katrina, whose currently travelling about South America. The postcard was from Lima and she promised that yet more postcards are to come - yah! I can hardly wait:)

How Exciting! Every geeky crafty bone in my body is excited about this one!!

Yesterday Rich and I went to the library to pick up some DVD's....anyways whilst leaving we came across a wee flier on the flier stand they have outside the library.

The flier was all about a "Patch Swap" - basically the idea is you make a patch and send it away by a certain date and then you get a totally new patch back of someone else's design!

I find this all very exciting - which just goes to prove what a crafty geek I am. Anyways at this stage for my patch I plan to get a piece of red felt and sew on buttons in a heart shaped pattern - however, I may at the last moment decide to do something entirely different - will post for when I have finished my creation.

Otari Wilton Bush

To finish off our Easter Break Rich and I decided to go for another day walk - this time it was Otari Wilton bush - and as you can see from the above picture of a Kahikatea Tree it's a pretty cool place.

Turns out that the reserve was established in the early days of European settlement by a guy called Job Wilton - he was a farmer but decided to keep park of his land aside as a reserve because of the destruction of native forest in New Zealand.

Which is good, because this is a really amazing place, whilst it's one of those walks where you're always keenly aware that "civilisation" is just around the corner - it's also a lot of fun because there's a lot of birds about (like native wood pidgeon's) and also a lot of very old trees - including an 800 year old Rimu which was very cool!!

There is also a fantastic picnic area there with "pay as you go" style BBQ's - so I think in the near future we will have to go back and have a picnic and do more walkies.

Also on the way to the park we found a garden centre and managed to buy some more herbs - including Pizza Thyme - which smells like Pizza Shapes! We had it on our homemade Pizza tonight and was really good:)

Easter Sunday

I really didn't need to worry that an Easter spent in Wellington would be boring!

Yesterday first thing we did what we always do on Sunday - we went to the fruit and vege markets...ok so that's not terribly interesting!

But at half twelve we went to the Kelburn Cafe for lunch and met up with Ross and also a couple of friends from Hamilton, Hazel & Sam, that we hadn't seen for absolutely ages so it was good to catch up with them and hear their crazy stories - especially their crazy couch surfing (www.couchsurfing.com) stories and their crazy "Not your mothers cookbook" (a cookbook which includes recipes for things like coffee lamb and a vegemite milkshake) stories.

In the afternoon we headed out to J'ville to spend the evening at Ange and Brendon's house - a whole bunch of us were invited and Ange had made the most beautiful meal - including duck (which was good) and Pork (everyone else assures me that was good but I don't eat pork) and a vegetarian pie and lots and lots of roast vege's and bread.

We also had a huge pudding of ice cream and chocolate and chocolate and more chocolate!! Not to forget that Ange has made from scratch hot cross buns!

Plus there was lots and lots of wine to be had.

It was a fantastic night - it felt so much like Christmas would feel like if you spent it with your friends rather than your family! Ange had made this huge lovely meal that everyone filled up on - despite that we still made room for heaps of dessert - not to mention the wine...then after tea we just all hung out at Ange and Brendon's feeling sleepy and watching TV on their MASSIVE television! SO MUCH LIKE CHRISTMAS!

Also - during the course of the Easter/Christmas meal I got a text from my friend Charlotte in Auckland saying that she's now finnished studying and has a job. She also said now she has a job she can come and visit us down in Wellys and she's going to try and come down for my birthday weekend! Super duper!

Farewell Georgie!!

Well - it seems like just yesterday that Geogie was telling me that she was thinking of heading back to the UK and now it's becoming a reality:( She's leaving Wellington shortly to go for a bit of a trip around NZ, then Asia and then finally home.

A few weeks ago I asked Georgie if she would like to come over to my place for lunch today - but all the while I was planning with the other girls for them to come over (secretly) at the same time.

So when Georgie arrived - not only was it me that greeted her - but also Ange, Jess, Celia and Karyn!

Anyways - here's some photo's - including one of a fantastic pony cake Ange make - she's such a legend in the kitchen!

Good Friday - Kaori Wildlife Sanctuary

Yesterday Rich and I decided to head up to the Kaori Wildlife Sanctuary - whilst walking up there we were kinda wondering whether we should go or not because we thought it might be super packed being Easter and the start of school holidays as well - but thankfully it wasn't too busy and I'm really glad we went along:) During the course of our walks I got to see HEAPS of Tui's - some of them were HUGE as well, a stitchbird, some other random little bird I didn't recognise (with a bit of a shrill call) and also - most exciting of all - a Tuatara! The Tuatara's are in their natural habitat behind a wee fence so you get to see them "in nature" - I was quite surprised how unfazed there were at having so many people stare at them and take photo's of them.

Anyways - here's a few photo's that Rich and I took when we were at the sanctuary.

Ok - you may be asking WTF is going on here? Well at the Santuary they have an "exploration centre" which is essentially a big A-Frame struture (it's a veiwing platform) which you can walk to the top of and have a view of the park - this is a view from part way up the structure looking straight up - it's my one crazy arty shot of the day.
Photo of Rich and I taken from the "exploration centre" AKA Viewing platform
View of the Sanctuary from the viewing platform - I really like this picture - everything is SO green
In the wildlife sanctuary there is an old damn and this photo of Rich and I is taken from the top of the dam - as you can tell it's quite windy there!
Another photo of me standing on the dam
Rich checking out the park on the binoculars at the top of the dam - I had a bit of a look with them as well - but I actually found the view to be kinda boring - the only water foul I could see were boring old mallards

Just another photo of my lovely self by the dam
View going down to the wetlands in the park - I was a bit disappointed by this though - lots of Mallards and no Pukeko! But I did see a Weka hanging around here.

HAPPY EASTER!!

What as absolute corker of a day too!! I can hardly believe how beautiful it is - in a little while Rich and I are going for an adventure to the Kaori Wildlife Sanctury - can hardly wait!!

Last night I had bellydancing class - which was as always - awesome! The class was a bit empty though, I guess some lucky people out there are going away for Easter *sigh* - but nevermind - it's not like I haven't got anything to do this weekend and I am going away next weekend so no reason to complain.

At bellydance class I found out that in a couple of weeks all the classes are having a "Turkish Delight Night" which sounds very cool - basically we all bring along $5, a cushion to sit on, a bottle of wine and our coin belts/scarfs - there will be some preformances and some food, apple tea and turkish delight. I can hardly wait!! Our teacher also said they are planning on having a Turkish Delight Night once every 6 weeks too which is really cool because it's like they are trying to build a bit of a bellydance community with this thing rather than just having a group of women turn up each week and do their thing and go home and I think that's really cool.

In other news - I got an e-mail from Celia yesterday to tell me that she went along to Pole Dancing class with Henri - she said it was really awesome and asked a whole bunch of us if we'd be keen to come along next time. I'm totally keen to go along to that as well!! Celia also said that for the class you need to wear shorts (to grip the pole) and also heels (although they are optional - but I might use the ones I wore for Celia and Simon's wedding as I don't know what else I'd use them for - the Wellington hills are not good for heels!)

Here comes the rain again...

Well I know all my non-Wellingtonian friends will appreciate this entry (especially those who live in Auckland) because it's homage to Wellington weather - after a very long period of warm weather and sunshine the rain arrived today!! It's not Hamilton style rain where it absolutely pelts down for hours on end and you wonder if you should really swim home - but it's rain none the less. A lot of people at work were saying they were cold too....but I'm not cold....maybe I've finally become accustomed to Wellington weather?

Anyways - figured I may as well make this a general rant of what I've been up to in the last little while...something that you guys may not all know is that I'm FINALLY back at bellydance class and it's AWESOME - some of you may know that I did bellydance when I first moved to Welly - but then I got sick and lost motivation. Well I've found a new teacher and she's absolutely FANTASTIC - she takes really small classes (about 8 people) and makes sure everybody knows exactly what they are doing...it's fantastic! Thought I'd just mention it seen as I have bellydance class tommorrow - yah me:)

Easter is shaping up to be a busy one - I've got Mariella coming over for DVD's tommorrow, then on Friday Rich and I are doing a daywalk (which I am SO looking forward too - it's been far too long since we've done one), then it's Georgie's farewell on Saturday, Ange and Brendon's Easter "do" on Sunday & Bookclub Monday - oh well - it's all good - I won't get bored...

Also - helping Kat promote her shop Triangle on Saturday - along with Fiona - Kat is putting together some lovely purple Triangle t-shirts to wear - so a free t-shirt for helping out for a few hours....seems like a perfectly good deal to me!

Hummm....yeah...so that's all for now...except for the fact I can't believe it's only ONE DAY till EASTER!!

Steven and Corey are back in NZ!

My friends Steven and Corey are now back in NZ - how very exciting - I haven't seen them in over a year as they have been on their OE.

They are back in Wellington this Wednesday - I'm SO looking forward to seeing them and catching up on all of their exciting adventures...

Best of all - they can come to our flatwarming - I send out the invites for this today - woohoo!

Clothes Swapping Party

Well last night as something different I went to a clothes swapping party at Kat's - I've never been to anything like that before but it's a really cool idea.

I meet a couple of new girls - Lil and Debbie (I especially like Debbie - as I snatched up lots of her clothes!).

All in all I ended up with TWENTY new items of clothing - which is absolutely HEAPS! I figure if I don't wear it all that's cool because there's going to be another clothes swapping party in June...so I can always contribute it to the pile then and give it to someone else who'd like to have it.

Anyways I just have to share something else with the rest of the world - which may shock and surprise many people - last night I actually baked something to take along to the clothes swapping party! Shocking I know (given I'm the least domestic grrl in the world).

Anyway the recipe I made was "Deb's Chocolate Cloud's" and I got it from Muse Feminist Magazine - They are super duper easy to make and are kinda like chocolate macaroons.

Anyways - if you'd like to make them yourself - because if I can make them - anyone can - the recipe is below..mmm...

Deb's Chocolate Cloud Recipe

3 Egg Whites
Pinch of Salt
3/4 Cup Castor Sugar
1 Cup Dessicated Coconut
2 Tablespoons of Cocoa

Beat Egg whites until frothy (peaking).

Gradually add salt abd sugar while beating until mix is white, thick and glossy.

Mix cocoa and coconut together separately then fold gently into eggwhite mixture.

Dob onto baking paper and bake for 20 mins at 170 degrees C.

Allow to cool before dipping in melted cooking chocolate (I never actually dipped my clouds in cooking chocolate - seemed a bit too much like hard work!)

Katrina's Farewell

Last weekend was Katrina's farewell - luckily she's not leaving us long - but she is off for 2 months on an exciting South American adventure the lucky thing!

Anyways - here's the photo's we took on the night - which involved burrito's and taco's and 2 bucket's of sangria and two bucket's of punch.

Celia & Simon's Wedding

Well, it seems like some time ago already! But on the 17th March Rich and I headed out to Martinborough along with Greg (who had come down from Hamilton) to attend Celia and Simon's wedding. Unfortunatly we didn't get in early enough to stay at Brackenridge with most of my friends so we ended up staying at a place called the Clairmont along with Navie who had come down for the wedding from Hamilton as well.

Celia and Simon's wedding was a blast - the weather during the ceremony was slightly dodgy (with Celia losing her veil to the wind!) but the rain held off which was the main thing!

We had a fantastic night at the receptiong and big ups to Celia and Simon for playing Poi - e by the Patea Maori Club at the wedding - I love that song!!

I didn't end up taking as many photo's as I would have liked too at the wedding:( Due to all the talking and drinking and eating and dancing which is of course necessary at any wedding! But here are the pictures I did take!



Just a general scenery shot from brackenridge where the wedding took place

Celia losing her veil - poor girl - It was a touch windy outside on the day! But she did look beautiful:)




Rich and I in our wedding gears on the big day - I made the fascinator myself:)
Just a couple of photo's taken the next day with Navie and Greg at the Clairmont where we stayed for the evening - we were all up surprisingly early actually - must have been the switch over from daylight saving which gave us an extra hour of sleep - nice!

And now for your reading pleasure.....

Ross' Blog - "fingers dancing" - only one post so far but he assures me many more posts to come:)

http://fingersdancing.blogspot.com/

YAH!

I'm Back!

FINALLY!! After waiting and waiting and waiting Telstraclear finally thought it was time to come and honour us with their presence and reconnect our phone and internet! Yah!

It's been a pretty busy few weeks - we've moved to the new house, had Jess & Andrew's engagement party, Celia and Simon's wedding and not to forget Katrina's farwell with much Sangria and Punch (perhaps too much for some...oh well....I still had a blast!).

Anyways - I figures seen as a picture paints a thousand words (sorry for the lame cliche) most of my update will be via photos (my favourite medium).

So I thought I'd start off with photo's of my new flat - a lot of my friends out their have seen it already due to their awesome moving efforts - thanks HEAPS everyone - especially Ross who helped loan and unload the moving truck despite being sick:)

But I know there's plenty of people out there who haven't seen the flat who arn't likely to see it for some time...so here it is...and yes to all my Wellington lovelies - we shall be having a flatwarming soon!

Last time on the interweb - for potentially some time!!

Well tonight is the last time I'll be on the internet for some time...we've having major drama's with Telstraclear reconnecting our phone and internet...grrr....

So the plan for the next couple of days is to move outta here!!

Ange is coming over tonight to help us with a load or two....and then tommorrow Donna, Celia and Nankz are all coming over to help us with a load or two and then the truck will be here at 11am to do the rest...

So farewell to you all for now!! Soon as we're back online I promise to post some pics of our new place:)

We now have the keys!

So now it's final we officially have the keys for our new place and Mariella is helping us move a few of our boxes tonight - so I can hardly believe it but we are finally moving.

The flat is in total chaos now - but the packing is all starting to come together...still the cleaning to go though - bleh!