Back once again

Apologies for the absence; yes I am still around - net access costs a touch more round these parts than in Asia, unsurprisingly, and funds are beginning to dwindle, also unsurprisingly. Sorry to be gone so long - it's hard on me too my darlings. In Oz now and my great and generous new housemate/landlady has let me use her laptop, so here I am again.

Anyway, what of New Zealand I hear you ask? OK, so basically it's stupidly, absurdly, where-are-the-stagehands-and-mirrors beautiful; the people are lovely and take the piss out of Australian sports; they have great pies. Went from Oamaru (which turned out to be fascinating, cheese was good too) round the south coast, spent a couple of days down on Stewart Island (that little chip off the bottom of South Island), up through Te Anau with daytrips out to Doubtful and Milford Sounds, on to Wanaka to freeze my ass off in the lake, then up the north-west coast via Nelson back to Picton and the ferry back to Wellington. Won't bore you with a massive list of everything I did, but a few real standouts were: catching the ferry over Lake Manapouri en route to Doubtful Sound and seeing a complete rainbow form in front of the boat; having an afternoon pint in the snug of the Victorian-styled, William Morris-wallpapered Hotel Criterion bar in Oamaru and thinking it must be 1890; the view from the cafe at the top of Mount John over Lake Tekapo and the surrounding mountain ranges; glistening dolphins leaping from the water next to our boat at Kaikoura with the Ranges looming in the background. All good moments to be alive.

Got back yesterday morning, spent last night drinking Bailey's from a shoe (I was assured it's a rite every new housemate undergoes) and meeting some of Rhiannon's (the housemate) friends, went out and almost immediately had to come back having discovered that two hours' sleep in two days and a stack of booze aren't the best preparation for staying up. Good night though. Should be having an interview with a temp agency tomorrow afternoon, gainful employment hopefully soon after. Real life resumes.