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Birthday party

We had lots of fun last night at the Southern Cross. Silva and Masumi couldn’t come, but Kathrin, Tony and Emma were there, plus Emma’s boyfriend (whose Icelandic name I really have no idea how to spell).

We had dinner, ate the yummy cake and then sat out in the beautiful courtyard just talking. I also got some lovely pressies, which was a lovely surprise. However, because this is Wellington, it got quite windy and chilly after a while, so we moved back inside, hoping that there’d be dancing. However, although there was a DJ, things were still rather quiet and we were all too tired to find a different club, so I got home around 1am. Emma promised to take me out dancing with her sister some other time, so I’m definitely looking forward to that.

My birthday 2008 My birthday 2008 My birthday 2008

All in all a lovely way to start this year – different from my normal celebrations with family and friends back home, but definitely promising!

[tags]birthday, friends, wellington[/tags]

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Happy birthday to me! :)

After a nice Skype session with the family, I went into town. The trip was one birthday treat after the other – quite expensive, but a girl’s gotta spoil herself on her day, right?

First I went to the hairdresser, who’s quite lovely (and wow, was it necessary, as I was quite shaggy). So this is what I currently look like, with hair all straight and shiny:

Fun with PhotoBooth #4

Then I went to Border’s and bought four books for $26, thanks to Michi’s Christmas/birthday pressie of a book voucher and a 3-for-2 sale:
– Alice Sebold – The Almost Moon
– Mark Haddon – A Spot of Bother
– Haruki Murakami – Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
– Nina de la Mer – The Modern Maiden’s Handbook

The first two I knew I’d get, but then I saw the 3-for-2 sale and couldn’t resist the other two. Murakami reminds me of my trip to Japan (where I read several of his novels) and the non-fiction one sounds fun as well as informative. 🙂

I also finally bought myself a spray with sun protection for my hair, because the sun here is really brutal and my poor hair’s been suffering quietly the past two months, but especially now that summer’s really getting started. And last but not least I dropped by a confiserie that Tony from down the hall recommended and bought a delicious-looking chocolate cake for tonight. My mouth starts watering just thinking of it! 🙂

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Last night – Nelson

I spent the whole day on the bus traveling along the coast from Franz Josef, but I didn’t mind at all, as it’s one of the most stunning parts of coastline ever. I’d done the same trip before, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing the cliffs, the beaches and ocean…

Now I’m dead tired and think I’ll fall into bed soon. Franz Josef was fun – I used the short amount of time I had there to the best of my abilities and went for some short walks around the base of the glacier. Then I met up with Kevin, a friend I’d met online who works there, and we had a good time. So I’m definitely glad I stopped there – might even have to go back for a real glacier tour one of these days.

I don’t have the time to see anything of Nelson, however, but I already checked out some of the sights last time and I might be back to go to the Abel Tasman National Park that’s very close to here. At the moment it’s incredibly busy – everyone seems to want to use the holidays to enjoy the scenery and the summer weather at the beach.

Tomorrow I’m catching a bus to Picton, where I’ll have a couple of hours to kill before the ferry back to Wellington leaves. So next time you’ll hear from me, it’ll be back at my place… Good night for now! 🙂

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Making my way back North

I left Wanaka behind this morning and took the bus to Franz Josef, the glacier town, where I’ll spend one night before traveling on northwards. It’ll take me another two days of traveling to reach Wellington, but I don’t mind, as the landscape is truly stunning and we even take photo breaks! 🙂

Yesterday turned out to be lovely, btw – first I walked up Mt. Iron and took in the beautiful panorama, then I chilled out at the lakeside and even went for a refreshing swim. The evening I hung out with the guys from my dorm, talked, played cards and went to enjoy the beautiful Southern nightsky once more. Now I’m in the hostel in Franz Josef and will be picked up by a shuttle to take me to the glacier, so I can at least look at it, although I don’t have the time for a tour.

But the best experience of the whole day? I’d forgotten my rainjacket in Wanaka and had texted one of the guys from Wellington to take it along for me – and then, on a toilet/photo break from the bus, I ran into this very group of guys, traveling by car! So now I have my jacket again, isn’t that something? *g*

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Happy New Year!

Last night was a lot of fun – I ended up watching a lovely fireworks display with a whole bunch of people from the backpackers. It really couldn’t have been better (except that there was no champagne, as you’re not allowed to drink in public over the holidays) and I’m very happy I ended up staying in Wanaka!

Now I think I’ll go for a little hike around the area. I hope all of you will have a good start into 2008 as well!

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Last day of the year…

…and wow, 2007 sure is ending on a high note here in Wanaka! First I went dancing with a couple of guys from the backpackers last night (I went home before they did, but I had such a blast!), then I went skydiving – my second time after Airlie Beach in Australia four years ago, and once again it was an incredible rush!

I just love being so high up, in a tiny little plane where you can see the gorgeous panorama in all its glory, and then hurtling downwards for a short while, secure in the knowledge that a professional has your back (literally, as my tandem master Chris was awesome), until the ‘chute opens and you glide gently towards the ground… This experience will have me smiling for the rest of the day at least!

In the afternoon I went to check out Puzzling World, a giant timber maze and illusion museum. I got hopelessly lost in the labyrinth and finally gave up in disgust – my sense of orientation didn’t do me any good as I kept turning in circles… 🙂

After I’m done here in the internet cafe (the backpackers doesn’t have a computer, unusually enough), I think I’ll head down to the lake for a bit, maybe get an icecream, as the weather is very hot. It stays light forever here – I think the sun went down around 9.30pm last night… Tonight, for New Year’s Eve (a huge party in Wanaka, thanks to which there are hundreds if not thousands of young people from all over New Zealand and the world here), I’ll go to the Cinema Paradiso to see ‘The Golden Compass’ (the cinema is famous for its atmosphere and yummy homemade snacks), and afterwards I’m planning to meet up for New Year’s drinks with some guys from the hostel, maybe have a look at the fireworks and music at the lake.

It’s sure looking to be a good end of the year for me – I hope it does for you, too!