I am back! Sorry for the delay I have been distracted my first week back. I promise to be more attentive to you know. SO...I am back from an amazing holiday back in New Zealand, four weeks it seems is the perfect amount of time for a holiday. Not too short nor too long. I have had a really awesome a relaxing time, be it very busy. A majority of time was spent with my Mum on Waiheke Island which is 30 mins ferry ride from downtown Auckland. That 30 mins makes all the difference as my mother’s property nestled in the hills on the eastern and more rural part of the island, was an escape. Mum has a solar powered house perched on the apex of a valley. My room had a glass roof so I could fall asleep looking at the stars. I have uploaded some images for you to see before. Simply amazing. It also seems with time my relationship with my mother has become closer, it was really amazing to get to know her as a person not just a mother. We have been very close always as it was always just me and her, but I feel it has shifted to a new level of maturity and love. So I craved to be back in the isolation of her house when I was away.
That said I spent a hilarious new years in Pukehina in the Bay of Plenty with my friends who have an uncanny ability to turn any holiday into a debauched conga line of drinking and rude conversation. We went on a cruise to swim with dolphins from Mt Maunganui on the 2nd Jan, and did not see any dolphins. To top this off I was vomiting off the back of the boats for 4 straight hours due to the heaving seas. So no dolphins and I had to pay $120 to feed the fish my breakfast. Not a happy chappy. After the forth vomit I passed out on a bulkhead and was awoken to a man looking me in the eyes and asking “Are you from Australia?” I don’t know what I said but it was not a convivial “Well yes as a matter of fact...” as I wiped the dried vomit form my face and hat. I think I grunted and hugged a life jacket wanting to die. I was In Pukehina for 5 days before heading back to Waiheke to recoup before jetting off to the South Island for a whistle stop tour of the southern south Island and west coast.
My friend Jennifer and I took custody of an awesome 4x4 and drove 1370 kms in 5 days. We went to the primordial and huge Milford Sound, via Te Anua, then back up to the gold rush era town Arrowtown n where we roasted in the heat. From there we drove 5 hours up to Franz Josef Glacier on the middle of the west coast. The drive is through some of the most ancient and Jurassic style rainforests I have ever seen. Once in FJG we hiked the glacier on a half day guided tour. It is one of the best things I have done, you must do it. Then after two days there we drove to Wanaka to stay with a friend Andrew and his fiancé. He took us out on the lake for a swim in the freezing and azure blue alpine lake. After a night there we dropped the car off in Queenstown for our final day and night. I went White Water rafting and promptly fell out in rather a dramatic rebounding incident on the river. But what is WW rafting without getting water up your nostril and a bit freaked out. That night we headed for the World Bar in Queenstown for too many ‘teapots’ and terrible music.
I love the South Island I think I have found a place I want to visit again and again, even maybe buy a property there. That said my mother said she wanted to help me buy my first home. Amazing huh??
So I am very positive about 2008, after an amazing holiday and a new perspective on life. I feel I have fallen back in love with NZ and left my heart there.
Please find some pictures I took from my trip, these will say more that my prattle.
Hope you holiday was amazing for you too.
xxx
Well jeez its another year on almost, 8 hours and so and I will be 31. I feel quite happy about this age, better than I did about 30 as I feel a million miles away from where i was a year ago. Funny how things and your outlook can change in 365 days. 
