WOW!!! Too tired to write anything more... later

Decided to post something now in the lull before the crazy storm that is 'First Contact' - Helen and Chelfyn's first big club night which is being held in Hamilton. Now for a girl that has no idea about the whole trance/techno scene (Po Na Na's and Cosys are a world away) it's all a bit bemusing being on the inside looking out. The amazing thing is that people are getting very excited about the whole night (doors open at 1000, close 0400, kickout 0600 - thats lots of herbal high energy drinks for me!): there'll be massseurs and live Trip Hop in the Chill Out room; a tea/coffee/smoothie bar (booze-free night); face and body painting so we all glow like worms with the UV-lighting set up; and of course lots of mad dancing to big tunes.

After the craziness the plan is to retreat to a place called Miranda where there's some hot springs and then back home for the after party. Oh I am going to be soooo trashed after this weekend and it's going to play havoc with my jetlag!

Anyway off to go help paint backdrops, signs and iron logos onto t-shirts...

Just checking my mail and thought I'd add another entry here... only so that I can say I've just got out of the spa. Verrry nice lounging in a hot pool outside under the stars on the patio.

So a little more about the place I'm staying. Here's a map of the area: showing Auckland, to the south Pukekohe, then, further down by a lake and above Huntly, Te Kauwhata - I'm staying near here about 15 mins from the lake. Auckland and the coast is an hours drive away. (Quick prononciation guide: in Kiwi wh = f, so Te Kauwhata is said Te Kaufata.)

Chelfyn and Helen's pad is in a valley with hills/forests either side. There's a dairy farm behind us and a couple who breed big hairy black New Founland Dogs on the other side of the road - so they're the neighbours. Further along the valley is an ostrich farm - there's the boys in one field, girls in another (bit boring) - and I'm wondering about the omelete you could make with those eggs!

The house itself is a mad rabbit warren of a bungalow with stripped polished floors and very light and airy. There's a large sitting room, large kitchen/dining room with a wood-burning stove and patio doors (in Kiwi = ranch sliders) which open out onto the above mentioned spa. Four bedrooms, a bathroom, laundry room, another bathroom, an office, Helen's sewing/play room, club and a studio later you get to a nice big garden (about an acre and has a little orchard with orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit trees) and a barn. Lots of room for three people, two cats and numerous guests to run around in. (Jealous yet? You should be!)

PS. An expansion on the Sinagpore gossip for Jenny:

1. Who asked that girl for a date? A fairly foxy dark-haired Frenchman called Emanuel (sorry can't ever hear that name without thinking "porn films"!). They spent the whole evening checking each other out - very sweet.


2. And where were you?! Getting a foot massage.


3. How did the date turn out?! Apparently Rachel's date was great. He took her to a nice Mexican restuarant and chose her wine and her food. Personally I like to pick my own nosh, but then I'm impressed by being taken out in the first place!

All I can say is that winter isn't like this in the UK. Been here almost two days now and all I've seen are blue skies and warm sun, apparently winter NZ-style is like a very nice english autumn... allegedly it does rain here. Yesterday was nice and slow: stopped off in Pukekohe for lunch and supplies. Pukekohe is a very 'Farside' (i.e. subtley surreal in way that can't be described, it's just odd) place with local radio piped out on the streets - a combo of local advertizing and 1950's music. Lunch was sushi, not bad for the equivalent of a market town, and essential supplies was well, wine, what else do you need!

Anyway Chelfyn and I are off to the shops for more essential supplies ;)

6:36 PM


Holy shit, I'm finally here in New Zealand! It still hasn't sunk in that I've just travelled to the other side of the world, crossed the equator for the first time in my life, and now I'm sat here using Helen/Chlefyn's spare PC listening to them picking tunes and getting all excited about their first club 'First Contact' on Saturday. More about that later... first I'm going to recap the last few days.


The trip out to Malaysia was uneventful - slept for about 8 of the 13 hours which was perfect. Tried Tristan's suggestion of choosing a check-in desk with a bloke and using feminine wiles to obtain an upgrade - think I need a lot more practice as I only managed to get the Kuala Lumpur (KL) > Singapore leg, although he did find me a window seat when moments before there hadn't been any.


First evening comprised of a visit to a hawker stall for local nosh (yummm), then loafing in the pool sipping red wine till past midnight (it's far too easy to slip into chillout mode). The next day (Monday) was brilliant fun, got adopted by a couple of Zoe's friends Natalie and Rachel - two very cool chicks. Did Holland Village, shopping area, for Starbucks coffee and muffin. Next was Orchard Street, the ultimate for the girl about town - if you like clothes shopping then this area is to die for. China Town was a wierd mix of nineteeth-century streets (buildings reminded me of Lisbon) with various shops/stalls, including traditional Chinese pharmacies (very weird shit in those places!); found the place a little touristy but fun all the same. The best bit of the whole day was Rachel being invited out for a hot date while we were checking out a clothes stall; she didn't have time to go home and change so we spent about 40 mins putting together a outfit for her so she could turn up straight from the shop looking all fresh and foxy! Finally rounded off the day by returning to Holland Village for a foot/back massage, ummmm... back to the pool to practice chillin out!

The flight from Singapore to Auckland was about 9 shitty hours - couldn't sleep, women getting up at 1 am to squirt on more smelly perfume (eugh), stuffy plane and screaming, overactive children... ggggrrrr! Took about 90 mins to get through passport control and customs, and discovered that the baggage handlers has decided to trash the zips on my small bag (which was padlocked) to have a root around, don't think there's anything missing but can't think why they needed to look.

Left the airport to discover blue skies and sunshine... wow, I'm finally here!!!

Sun, sun, and more sun. I guess this little two day sojourn in Singapore consititutes my summer for the year. Still I've seen more sun and humidity than I probably would if I'd stayed in the UK for the whole summer! It's an amazing place and I've seen quite a bit, definately deserves a return visit. I'll write a proper entry when I get to NZ as right now my stomach is growling at me for neglecting breakfast - slapped wrists, I know!

Umm... it doesn't bode well for a stress-free trip when you almost miss your train from Bristol and you've still got to make it all the way to New Zealand.

Taxis. The bane of the highways, especially when they don't show. You book a taxi leaving plenty of time to get to where you're going, it's late so you ring the taxi co. to be optimistically told, "It's just a moment away..." Ten minutes later, with panic levels rising, you find yourself questioning whether you actually exist in the same dimension as the taxi driver or if he's been mysteriously shunted off into some strange temporal anomaly on his way to pick you up.

So, I'm outside the Glass Boat wondering how the hell I'm going to make my train when I'm saved by an unsually helpful bus driver. He lets me get on at the lights and drops me off outside the station before his allotted stop. I'm stunned - didn't now bus drivers like that existed in Bristol. Made the train with a minute to spare; bit close for comfort but hurrah to the bus driver!

Bloody hell! I'm packed and, barr a few last minute letters to post, I think I'm all set; if there's anything I've forgotten I just hope I don't remember it.

My train leaves at 1425 hours and I should hit Paddington at about 1630 - timed perfectly to coicide with rush hour madness on the tubes (doh!). Why did British Rail scrap the whole concept of porters? I could just do with some bloke to carry my bags for me!

Singapore, New Zealand, here I come.

I have nine days till I leave and as always everything seems to need sorting out at the last minute; I try to be more organized but something tells me I'm never going to manage it. It just wouldn't be me!

I'll be posting accounts of any adventures/mishaps/gossip as they happen and will hopefully get some pictures up here - just to make you groan with jealousy. This way I should have more time to keep in touch personally as the general goings on will be written here. Sound like a good plan?!