Weekend Trip with the Flatmates

I'll start off with the exciting news! I got my residency! My flatmate got his residency this week as well so we had a barbecue last night to celebrate!

Two weekends ago my friend returned back to Auckland from his travels in time for the weekend and we did another day trip. We went to Shakespear park, one of my favorite places nearby. He went back home and I signed up for another soccer team. This means I am now playing three soccer games a week and Sean and I have also started yoga. Its exhausting, but at least I am getting in shape.

Last weekend our whole flat went to Sean's parents place up north for a weekend away. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time. Saturday we went to the beach and all got a bit of sun. The next day we went and did a walk down a peninsula, and back to the beach for a few hours. Since I had enough sun, I did a bit of scenic walk while everyone else got some more sun. We made it back home just in time for an early night.

From my scenic walk while everyone else was at the beach!

It was a holiday weekend this week but since Sean and I have been non stop we took the weekend to rest. We have another long weekend in two weeks, so we might go camping in the corromandel.

It has been beautiful and sunny but it has also been hot. We went to go buy a fan this weekend (because there is no A/C in this country) and apparently most every store has sold out. When I looked two weeks ago there were a ton of fans and they are all gone, its crazy.

Happy Holidays!

Well it looks like its been awhile since I last wrote. I've forgotten most of what I have done since then, so I'll do my best to remember.

The Tauranga boat show was a lot of fun and a lot more laid back than the Auckland show. I successfully towed a trailer without hitting anything, and I even backed it into our driveway by myself so I was pretty proud.

For Thanksgiving I cooked a traditional Thanksgiving meal on the weekend for my flatmates, including a turkey! I was pretty proud of how everything turned out considering I hadn't cooked most of it before and despite taking lots of time waiting, it was a lot easier than I expected. There were empty plates all around, so I assume everyone was pleased with the results.

For actual Thanksgiving day, I went to Sean's work Christmas party, which was held at an events center that threw a disco night. Everyone got really into their themed outfits and it was a really fun night. They even had turkey too, so it felt a bit like Thanksgiving.

I finally submitted my residency application, but since it takes up to six months for them to decide, I had to apply for another work visa while I wait. That got approved and I now have a visa until January 2016!

We fortunately had a very calm Christmas season. Christmas day we spent at Sean's aunt and uncle's house in town. We had a great meal and great company and a good time was had all around. We were really excited because summer finally decided to show up and its been gorgeous and sunny ever since. The next few days we spent relaxing and then a friend of mine from the US came to visit.

When he got in, we took him to Mt. Victoria and North Head on the north shore. I made it a dual purpose trip and we stopped at Sean's parent's house to see their new puppy. We are really excited to get to dogsit for them when they travel. She is a labradoodle and the cutest little puppy.

The next day, we finally got to do a hike I've been dying to do for months. We went out to Duder Regional Park and it was a fantastic hike. Its about an hour's drive from our house. Unfortunately I forgot my camera and haven't quite mastered the camera settings on my new phone, so my pictures weren't that great.

Even though it doesn't look like it, this is actually a 360 degree view.

The next day we went to the Art Museum to see a new Exhibit that was really cool. They also had a large lego display in the window that people were constantly playing with and changing.


New Years Eve day we flew to Wellington with my friend. Despite the pilot at the beginning of our 40 minute flight saying the weather in Wellington was beautiful, it was rainy and overcast all day. We did the inside things: Te Papa Museum, Parliment Tour (really awesome!) and had a bit of a rest since we had to get up at 4:45am to catch our flight.

We met up with one of Sean's friends and his girlfriend and they cooked us a fantastic dinner. We went down to the waterfront to catch the fireworks at midnight, then went for a drink and went to bed. We all had a fantastic time and I think it was the favorite part of our trip. This friend is one of the guys that encouraged me to talk to Sean when we first met, but I hadn't seen him since and didn't really remember him, so I didn't know what to expect. We all had great conversation and were a bit bummed that meeting up with him again never worked out.

The next day was beautiful out again and we took the cable car up to the botanical gardens. Friday we hiked up mt. Victoria and then sat along the waterfront and read. My friend left us Friday night to keep traveling down south and we left Saturday evening. We had a great time but were ready to be home.

I finally got to see the rose garden in bloom!!!

Wellington from the top of the cable car

At the waterfront reading

The city from the top of Mt. Victoria

Sean started back to work today and I will start back Wednesday. Today I went and got my haircut. I was getting 10" cut off to donate and the hairdresser added a bit extra to it, so I ended up with a 12" ponytail to donate and a shorter haircut than I anticipated. Its going to take some getting used to, but I don't mind it too much. I think I might actually have to get something other than just a hairbrush to style it now.

We have a lot of exciting trips coming up, so I'm sure there will be more posts in the near future. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!