Okay I'm ready!

Right I'm ready for my holidays now :)

I *think* I've left everything all organised in office for while I'm away. I managed to get out a little early today... just before 5pm and I left with, totally unexpectedly, 3 bottles of wine! I arrived in this morning to find a bottle (nice cellophane wrapping and silver ribbon) sitting on my desk from one of the PMs whose project I'm managing the configuration for. Then about an hour later I get a bottle from another PM whose project I'm also working on. And then afternoon I get a card and a bottle of wine from my manager! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not the only person to receive wine from these particular PMs/managers but that doesn't make me appreciate them any the less. So that'll be something to look forward to in the New Year.

So I came home, emptied rubbish and set about the packing. I didn't pack everything that I intended to but I think I should be okay - 2 dresses, one pair of jeans, the pair of trousers I'll be wearing, all my winter icebreaker tops, one pair of shoes and one pair boots (my nice Mia Piaci ones). Oh and my camera's in there :) Hand luggage will consist of trainers (for wearing once get to colder climes), book, tickets, and I can fit my Macbook so I think that I'll take it with me. Just hope they can set me up on the wireless at home!

So, like I said, let's go. I'm ready :)

Happy Christmas (again)!

Been a while...

since I've posted. Not sure that this is going to be particularly long/interesting either.

Had a great birthday last weekend. I love opening birthday cards and each of the ones that i received from my sisters and parents were addressed slightly differently which amused me. Lovely presents too... I'm very much looking forward to my Deluxe Facial in my favourite beauty salon in Wellington (favourite but not most visited as they ain't cheap!) But what really made me laugh was the sound track to Mamma Mia. I laughed my whole way through that movie and the sound track is definitely something to listen to if you want a need cheering up and/or a laugh. I found myself singing along to it last night! I was a little surprised with myself but for someone with a voice as bad as me, it's maybe helpful that they're all far from brilliant singers :)

We headed up to Karori Wildlife Sanctuary to enjoy the sun and take a few photos. To be honest it was pretty disastrous for me on the photography front... as can be observed by the rather few piccies that i posted on flickr. Whether it was my struggling with new lens or just being too slow I don't know. Who knows, maybe I'll have better luck next time :)

This week, my last 5 working days, before flying back to Ireland have been unbelievably busy. So much for the pre-Christmas slow down. Monday was just horrible, Tues a bit better but not much, Weds I started to get things under control and today I'm v busy but *think* I have everything under control before I head away. Tomorrow morning is full of meetings though... week before Christmas? Sure it's great to be popular. Go figure...

Anyway, I have the suitcase out on the floor. I have some stuff sitting in it but won't pack properly until tomorrow evening. I have this weird thing where jeans need to go at bottom of case or near bottom and well, I'll be wearing them tomorrow so not starting. I'm looking at "hand luggage" pile spread across the table here and thinking that maybe I won't be bringing my Macbook with me after all. There's alot of stuff!

Okay, that's it. I'm tired (actually I'm exhausted) so think it'll be an hour of some CSI Miami (it's ridiculous; I love it :) ) and prob bed with book.

And in case I don't get to post before Christmas, Happy Christmas to anybody who I won't see before the 25th...

The Weekend

What a weekend... I can't get over how hot it's been!
Leisurely coffee/brekkie on Sat morning. Then we headed off to On Yer Bike to hire me a mountain bike before we headed off to cycle the Rimutaka Rail Trail. This was an interesting experience for me considering that the last time that I was on a bike was in 1997! A tad wobbly at first but that didn't last for too long. I have to say that I did enjoy the feel of the wind on my arms (have I mentioned that it was hot out?) especially on the way down. I definitely prefer downhill to uphill :)

Watched a few episodes of Firefly over Fri and Sat evening. I've seen these before but I love them! If you haven't watched it then my recommendation is that you do so once you get your hands on the DVD set. Why they only made one series of it is beyond me! Witty, clever and thoroughly enjoyable to watch :)
I think that today was even hotter than yesterday! I met a friend to visit the Thorndon Fair which is an annual event. Bit disappointing for me on the present purchasing front but an enjoyable couple of hours nonetheless. The rest of the day was spent doing real Christmas shopping, browsing stores with Dave before heading off to complete shopping.

Feeling relatively relatively smug with myself having finally given the apartment a proper clean! Am now moving in a sunny warm leisurely Sun evening.

10 working days to holidays :)

the brown baron

the brown baron
Originally uploaded by edartr

I just love this! So so cute :)

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth...

The Kiwi dollar has been weakening over the last 6 months and I got quite excited when I was getting about $2.10 per euro on my credit card. The other day I got a rate of $2.34 to the euro and that prompted my brief lunch time clothes purchases. But... I have been talking about getting a 55m-200mm lens for my camera. They're cheaper here than back home and the shops match prices if you seem same item cheaper elsewhere. So today I decided to do something about it. I was buying the lens and a polarising filter and not only did they match Christchurch online site price but they bettered it. Of course I don't yet know how credit card rate but I'm expecting it to be good. Happy me :)

3 weeks to the day to heading home for Christmas... I'm excited!

Bits & Pieces

Well, I've managed to whittle down the large number of photos that I took on hols to the 27 that I've put up on flickr. Needless to say I have many more that I could put up but I'm trying to show some restraint :)

Week back at work is fine... been pretty busy. Just 16 working days to Christmas break :) Will be a long journey home but I'm looking forward to it!

No climbing or running at the moment... ankle has been misbehaving (i.e. swollen and sore) for over a week now. Hopefully it'll get bored and go back to normal soon.

Kiwi dollar is so weak at the moment... as a result I had a brief shopping visit at lunch time :) And no, it wasn't shoes!

Some holidays snaps

Sth Island was great. Don't even know where to start.
Visited Picton (dodgy motel - I slept on floor),
Christchurch (stayed with some friends),


the totally breathtaking Lake Tekapo,


Mt Cook National Park (2nd visit there and I still haven't seen Mt Cook - the mist at back of photo is Mt Cook),


Arthur's Pass (cold but so so beautiful),


Punakaiki,


Cape Foulwind (I love the irony of me staying in a place called that!) where we had beautiful meal and great time in local bar,


Motueka (beautiful bird sanctuary near beach),


Takaka (I LOVE the Wholemeal Cafe), Farewell Spit (stunning) and Pohara where we spent 2 nights in the wonderful Sans Souci Inn. Oh and photo is of when three grown men spent nearly 20 mins trying to get one tiny little bird out of the hut :)


And that'll have to do for the moment as there's no way I can blog everything that I saw and/or did. I have many many more photos (like nearly another 370) some of which will make it up on to flickr at some point :)
Oh my favourite new phrase from the holiday was "meadow muffins" to refer to sheep (or other) dung in fields :)
Oh and I realised this morning that I have one too many silver/grey hairs in my head. It would seem that age is catching up with my head.. maybe time for visit to hair colourist soon.