It's amazing how busy you become when you have absolutely nothing to do. I love it. I've done not one productive thing in the past week. Not one. But it's been a riot.

Not sure where I left off... Sunday Mark, Joeleen (Joey, my ScIrish friend) & I went to Arthur's Pass, a village in the middle of the mountains that is so peaceful & cozy & beautiful! We tried to do some walking but many of the paths were closed due to heavy rains that occurred all week. That's okay, we found other ways to amuse ourselves - a snowball fight with the bits of remaining white stuff, dinner in the cafe/cinema (consisting of a cafe with a big screen tv and mid-range stereo), cards and an evil box of wine back at the hostel. Fun ensued.

Tuesday was Mark's last day :( but life will resume... I got to catch up with the Doorways gang and others at the hostel. The rest of the week consisted of a bit of walking, hanging out with Joey & Rona before their departure this am, and playing games (cards, chess, connect 4) with John & Scooby, fellow members of the unemployed gang.

But when it rains it pours... this weekend was Joey's birthday (we're really good at celebrating those around Foley), and her, Rona & Ian's last weekend. Sarah & Paul were also around for the weekend before heading back to Australia, as was another friend Duncan who now lives in Wellington. To top it all off, last night we had a staff pot luck (mmm... something Canadian... potato salad it is!) to say goodbye to Ian (he was the hostel manager, now replaced by Nick & Roz) and our 3 cleaners Ayaka, Kazako & Takako - the 3 sweetest & funniest Japanese girls who all leave this month.

So to wrap up all that craziness, I spent the day doing airport runs! 5am wakeup to get the first lot off, breakfast with the rest of the gang before taking them at lunch time. 6 people, 4 flights, 2 runs... it was a busy day! And I had to move today - took about 5 minutes to get all my gear together! I now live in a staff house with the 3 cleaners just beside the hostel with - get this - my own room!!!!!!!!! This may not seem like a big deal to any of you, but I haven't had this luxury in 7 months! A double bed, a closet, a shower I can leave my gear in... so exciting!

I know I'm simple, but I'm happy.

But the best part of the whole weekend... the SNOW!!! Christchurch got it's annual snowfall yesterday. Big flakes falling all day, leaving 2-3 inches on the ground all over the city and covering the hills. Such a beautiful city in snow. Added so much atmosphere to the events of the weekend and made me appreciate the white stuff. Gave them all a laugh when I tried to explain what an average PEI winter was! Being dead serious talking about -40 degrees seems to entertain those who complain that anything in the single digits is unbearable. So much to learn about the ways of winter...

So that's my oh-so-busy week... trying to recover from some minor go-cart injuries (damn seatbelt rash) and over exposure to wine before starting work on Wednesday. Is Foley ready for this?