I'm contactable!

[Mon 12 Dec 05 1430]

This morning (Mon) I went to town and got my bank things sorted out (oh, how I love NZ and its efficiency). Then I walked down to the Vodafone shop and got a SIM card, before coming home to have lunch with Joy. Tonight we're having tea with Brad & Vic (that's where I'll be staying/sleeping while in Palmy). I don't quite know what I'll be doing for the rest of this week, but Geoff is coming up on Friday for a day which will be awesome. I've got to plan some time to see all my different groups of friends; and some of them don't even know I'm back yet, although I don't think it'll be long before they hear that I am or get a visit from me. Oh, my number is +64 21 023 13819.

It's nice to be back

[Mon 12 Dec 05 1400 (update until sunday night)]

When we got back from Hastings (with diversions on the way) on Saturday night, I wanted to get a phone (well, only the SIM card actually) and had heard that the Warehouse sold them. So off we went; Joy got me to drive and I was a bit rusty at first. As it turns out the Warehouse only sells Telecom phones (which don't have SIM cards) so we couldn't get one from there. It felt good to be driving again. Sunday morning I went over to Feilding to go to church where I grew up. It was strange to see all the familiar faces again; and sad to only not recognize a few people. I quickly got used to the standard questions, and formulated some standard responses. There was no-one from my group of friends there. I learnt (from talking to parents of my friends) that Lorelle was going to have a little talk about her year with Y One after a pot-luck tea at 5pm. So I decided that I'd come back for that. I then drove back to Palmy and had lunch with Joy and Anna. We went shopping for the week and food is expensive over here. There were more of my friends at the pot-luck tea, but still not everyone. I guess my hopes were too high. It was nice to catch up with those who were there all the same. Afterwards, as Relle and Matt were busy doing some other thing, I hijacked Hayden and we went visiting people. Ace wasn't home, nor was Jenna, but Little Jen's parents were and they told us she was at work (and where that was). So off we went. She got a _real_ big shock to see me as I don't think she knew I was coming back to NZ yet. When I got back to Palmy, Anna and Julz came over (to see Joy), and we went to a café. There I saw Rose (from MYO) and I didn't expect her to recognize or remember me, funnily enough nor did she although we both did. I asked some questions about Jenna and I think we both realised we knew each other. I got her number, but as I didn't have a phone yet (see above) I couldn't give her mine. Oh yeah, I also fixed the printer and other various computer stuff for Joy.

The weather has been very good

[Post written in Hastings on Fri 9 Dec 05 evening (2115)]

Yesterday (Thu) we went down to Taupo. It was a nice 18°C with a clear (apart from the occasional wisk of white) sky, which didn't feel too hot, supprisingly. Then this morning (Fri) we drove over to Hastings to see Grandma. We had lunch, then Eunice (my auntie) went to see her parents in Napier. Both Grandma and I had a rest in the afternoon as it was a classic Hawkes-Bay 32°C. During dinner it rained for a few minutes which dropped the temperature a few degrees. I haven't worn shoes all day - actually I've been bare-foot since I had my first shower in NZ yesterday morning. Matt, Matt and I went to De Bretts last night. It's been a while since I've done that. You can now park at the bottom of the hill if there are free parks, so you don't have to walk all the way back up at the end. I've been able to help Grandma with some computer stuff. I'm still a bit tires, but I think that's due to Jetlag and maybe the fact that I didn't have all that much sleep before I came over. Joy's coming to pick me up tomorro; so it'll be nice to see her again.

I made it

Now writing from New Zealand (please note, times shown on this blog are for the UK). I arrived this morning (Thu 8 Dec 05) at Auckland International (AKL) airport; the plane touched down around 5.25am local time. My parents and I left Canterbury at about 8am on Tue 6 Dec 05 and my plane left London Heathrow (LHR) at the expected 14.35 (well, actually 10 min later than expected). We then had a 10 hour flight to Los Angeles (LAX) where they made us go through USoA Customs and we had to sign a rights waiver saying that we won’t argue if they choose to deport us – even though we never left the airport, nor the international transit area. On arrival in AKL my carry-on bag was searched because a search dog thought there was something in there. I explained that there was an apple, but I’d eaten it during the flight. Then I got my bags (took ages) and went through to get them scanned. They wanted to look inside them because of the wax crystals and took a bag away to get it tested. Of course it came back clean, but the official who opened my bag refused to repack it for me – even after I asked him before he started and he said it’d be ok. I’m now near Auckland and will be heading down to Taupo for the night at about 4pm. Matt will be there so I’ll get to see him, which will be nice. We’re planning to arrive in time for tea. Well that’s all I know for the moment. We intend on going to Hawkes Bay the next day where I’ll stay a night with Grandma and Joy’ll come get me on Saturday.

Oh yeah, on another note: I haven’t got a SIM card yet. I went in to Vodafone and asked about them, then went to Telecom and apparently they don’t do SIM cards. The guy said “well you won’t find a SIM card in a Telecom shop since Telecom phones don’t use them.”

Well the adventure begins

That said, it's already begun quite a long time ago. I just said goodbye to some of my friends tonight. That felt strange because I know I won't see them for a while; and yet I know I'll see them in only a few months.
Tomorrow I fly to New Zealand. It's a long way and takes a long time, but it's worth it. I've been out of New Zealand for more than two years now. I don't quite know what I'll find when I get there. Last time I was in my home town was when I was back at school. Since then all my friends have moved on to university or are working or other things. Not too sure how many people I'll meet up with; though being Christmas [and summer holidays] there may be a few more around. But then again, they may be away with their families too. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
I need to sleep now, so it's time to post this entry - I'm leaving at 8am, and I don't really love mornings.