I love Kathmandu! Katmandu is Australia & NZ's equivalent to Mountain Equipment Co-op and is full of treasures for the travel friendly. Right now they're having a huge Easter sale with 50% off most items. I had just had a great time picking up some necessities (even a travel towel that is highly superior to the Roots one that is in my possession). I'm on a Kathmandu high.

Last day at the BNZ. What have I learned while here... that it's not polite to scream "do it yourself" at superiors when they request remedial tasks, reading people's mail is fun and having nothing to do is more painful than having a painful task to do. No seriously, I have gained a bit of an insight into the process of corporate banking (and been amazed by the amount of legal work that goes into it), learned that random filing is bad, organized colour-coded filing is good, seen proof that an open office concept not only works but promotes a real team feel and enhanced communication, and saw in a different setting the effect leadership has on employee morale. As for skills gained... umm... I can get the mail delivered in no time flat. I'll get back to you with the rest...

From now and for the next few weeks my blogging/emailing is likely to be quite sporadic. My plan as of right now is this:
Sat 27 March... Happy Birthday Scott (my roommate). B-day adventures so far include a 9am brewery tour... who knows what's to follow...
Sun 28 Mar - I head to the Bay of Islands for 4 days(ish)
Fri/Sat 2/3 Apr - In Auckland, perhaps visit Rangitoto (volcanic island in the Haikuri Gulf, short ferry ride from here, only 600 year old piece of land)
Sun 4 Apr - Wine Festival and Rugby game, conveniently across the road from each other
Mon 5 Apr - Sherilyn & I head out to see Hamilton, Rotorua, Taupo, Napier
about 8-10 days later - I fly to Christchurch, beg for work, live in cardboard box

Thought you all may appreciate my uphill struggle on the scooter in Waiheke...



I told you it had no power!

Good Morning all!

Today marks the arrival of the Kemper... Rob Kemp (a good friend from university and one of the original "dream team" members, although all the other members decided if we were Survivor he'd be the first voted off the island...) gets into Auckland in the next few hours. His trip has previously "gone postal" (been slightly delayed) so it'll be nice to see him finally arrive. He's here for a good few months looking for the surf. Although I'm not sure how much our plans Some Kemp-style adventures should ensue.

Last night Sherilyn & I went to take advantage of the March Movie Madness (= cheap tickets) but again couldn't get to see what we wanted so settled on Gothika. Better than I expected and rather creepy. Thrills were had by all.

Second last day of work! I just counted and I have packed 192 boxes full of paper in the past 3 weeks. Oh the skills I have gained...

I was wrong. As I listened closely today, I realized they actually pronounce my name Rerbeckar but the rr's aren't prominent. Just in case that one kept you awake last night.

Again my evening revolved around a bookstore. I just learned that Borders stays open late every night and often has authors in to chat. Last night was one of the Rough Guide (another travel guide geared to the budget watchers) authors (his name has already escaped me). I was a bit late but still there long enough to realize that being a travel book writer is a pretty sweet deal. Who's surprised that today I want to be a travel book writer when I grow up?

After that I made attempts at 2 different internet places to download some more *(!?@*$*&#$ pictures. It didn't work and I in the process I think I seriously messed up a computer. Thankfully it was one facing away from the owner so I just paid him and ran out. Think I'll wait a bit before frequenting that spot again...

Why can’t she just do something worthy of writing about, I hear you cry. Frankly I’m not listening. My current streak of doing nothingness has been spurred on by 4 key factors: 1. Laziness, 2. Being poor and saving money for next week’s adventures, 3. Reading a really good book and 4. Having seen every theatre performance I can afford in the city. I had originally only thought of 3 reasons until I realized what role laziness was also playing…

I’ve noticed the Kiwi accent adds the “rrrr” sound to words. It’s hard to notice and doesn’t seem consistent, but my name is pronounced Rebeckar for example. (Yes, for those of you gasping at the use of Rebecca, I do use it when at work. Explains my split personality syndrome). They shorten many words (not as bad as Aussies) but VLT’s are pokey machines, … (here comes the brain block. I just thought of about 6 examples but as I type they seemingly evaporate from my brain, only to reappear once I am a safe distance from the computer).

So new thought… It’s fun to be surrounded by people who have travelled and who know what it’s like and offer encouragement, advice and suggestions. Two women I work with actually know where PEI is and another guy did his OE (overseas experience, not an educational requirement, but treated as such) in Ireland the same time I was there. My travel plan for the next few weeks is being given many suggestions and I have even had offers to stay with children of co-workers. Kiwis are very open and understanding in that sense and it’s comforting.

On another note, I am constantly entertained by the emails I get telling me who exactly reads this! Really people, GET A LIFE! Sorry. It is really nice to be able to stay in touch with everyone so easily and share this experience with friends, family, colleagues, children of colleagues, friends of family, colleagues of friends, random strangers who searched “super cool Island girl goes to NZ, becomes filing superstar”…

It is really him but I'm not sure why it's so small. It's on webshots too if you don't believe me.

Sorry for my absence yesterday... quite honestly, I completely forgot. Am going to try again to post the pic of the 2 curly cuties...

It's been an adventurous weekend! Friday all the roommates headed up to the Bay of Islands (I'm going next week when I can take more time so will describe it more in detail then) so I had the place to myself - almost. Chantel, A friend of Pam & Beck's was in town so I invited her to enjoy the space too! That's a decent size place for 2 people. 5... well... it's cozy.

Saturday Chantel & I discovered there was a Maori & Pacific Island festival in Manukau City (20 min drive, 1 hour bus ride) so we were onward bound. It was held in a large park (think it's part of a college) and there were almost as many people as at last week's cultural festival. The only difference is that of 100,000+ people there, only about 10 were white (pakeha). I've never been so aware of my skin colour before. There was no racial tension or anything of the sort, it was just very obvious who the outsiders were. Anyway, it was super cool. It was a competition between secondary schools (high schools) for traditional dancing. Each culture (Maori, Samoa, Fiji, etc) seemed to just compete against themselves on separate stages. We just made it to see the last Maori group perform a couple of slower traditional pieces, a modern interpretation (Hey Ya by OutKast - very cool), and the battle songs. They all wear beautiful costumes with grass skirts and bone jewelery and are painted with intricate patterns, particularly on their faces. I took pictures and a short video but am having trouble burning them lately. I'll post as soon as I take the time to figure out this slight technical difficulty.

Today I decided to hit some of the reputed suburbs. I started at the Victoria Park Market (all shops with crafts, jewelry, clothing) then headed onto Ponsonby. There's a Fringe festival on there now but I must have been too early in the day to catch any of it. So I kept walking down to K'Road which is home to one of my favorite bookstores ever (I think I could live in bookstores. If it wasn't for the mothy/must-induced sneeze attacks, second hand shops would be my preference). Being another beautiful day, I continued my little jaunt on down to Auckland Domain, a large park where I watched a bit of a cricket match. Not for long as then I decided to go into New Market, a great little shopping district. After that I decided I may as well hit Parnell while I was at it. In Parnell I found a second hand designer boutique where used brand name clothing was sold for what I would still consider outrageous prices. Cool idea, but really if was going to spend $100 on an item of clothing or shoes, I think I'd like them to be new. That's just me. I found another 2-hand bookstore that had 2 books I've been hunting for though, so my faith was restored in the value of 2-hand materials. I kept walking, now struggling to get myself back to Albert Park in city centre where I plunked down to read and realized, apart from the 15 min rest in the domain, I had been walking for over 5 hours. It was a great day and now I'm very pleased with my weekend accomplishments! Tomorrow, when I have trouble standing, I may feel differently though...