Songs In Blue

My Wordpress and Flickr accounts appear to hate each other right now, so I can’t upload photos to my blog without a lot of time and energy….which I don’t have.
I think my whole site needs to be taken down and re-installed, but I’m a little scared to attempt that on my own.

Anyway, we spent last weekend in Castlepoint.  You can see pictures here.  It’s a tiny town, so there wasn’t a whole bunch to do.  We hiked up the big cliff and it was so windy I thought I’d get blown off .  We walked along the rocks  to the lighthouse.  Then the rest of the time was spent playing Trivial Pursuit, Boogle and watching Flight of the Conchords.
Overall, it was really nice to relax and give my camera a bit of a workout.

Which will forever be known as the weekend I peed 247 times.  Seriously.
I ended up sleeping on the picnic tables by the bathroom because I was so fed up with having to get out of my tent and walk all the way over there every. single. time. I woke up.
I have no idea what’s wrong with me, but thankfully, my bladder seems to have calmed down.

Other than my bathroom escapades, the weekend was pretty sweet.  We were up with the sun and spent most of our time at the beach.  The waves were pretty big and the current was really strong so I didn’t last as long in the water as I would’ve liked.  I did try boogie boarding for the first time! I sucked, but it was fun and hopefully I’ll be better next time.  I also tried playing cricket…the result was about the same.

Even though we came home a day early, the weekend seemed to go on forever.  It was awesome!

There are a TON of other photos up on Flickr…so check them out!

I failed at NaBloPoMo.  In all the excitement of yesterday, I forgot to post.  The intention was there but I had no follow through, so Matt won.  There, I said it.  As much as I hate to admit it, I should’ve known because the dude ALWAYS wins.

Anyway, yesterday we went to pick up my Christmas present…the Nikon D60 kit!!  I’ve been waiting ages for this camera, and it’s been worth every one of the many pennies I spent on it.

After we got home with the camera, it was time for my office work party.  Let’s just say I took full advantage of the free champagne (and food) and leave it at that.  I don’t want to ruin the do-no-wrong image you may have of me (HA!).

So today, we went on a bit of a photo walk to see what my camera can do.  I think Matt will end up using it just as much as me…he’s pretty into it and takes really good photos.  Per usual, you can find more photos on my Flickr page.

Matt was taking pictures and started directing me.  This is “Ok, now think Tiger“

I’ve been wanting a digital SLR for YEARS!  After my old point and shoot broke, I started seriously looking at what kind I wanted and how much I could pay.  I settled on one and waited for the right time over the last year to get it.  I came *this close* a couple months ago, but ended up deciding against it since I didn’t have a job and rent/food was more important (just).

It’s a good thing I did, because an even better camera and even better deal has come along!  It’s a new model that comes with pretty much everything for a really reasonable price.  I had it all worked out that I would buy it next month, as a ‘Christmas present’ from myself and Matt.
Today, as I looked at it online for the trillionth time, I noticed that the sale ends…tomorrow.

NOOOOOOOOO!

*ahem*

So now I have a dilemma.  I could buy it tomorrow and get exactly what I’ve wanted for AGES, but be a little tight on cash OR hope that the sale that starts in 2 weeks has the same bundle for a lower price.

My head aches thanks to this, obviously, life-changing decision…

I never really heard of Guy Fawkes…turns out the dude tried to blow up London (400 years ago) but failed, so some places still celebrate the night he was caught.
Fireworks were held in the harbour last night, so we went to check them out.

My camera doesn’t take the greatest photos…but I’m working on that.

Somehow, I managed to pick a few favourite photos out of the hundreds I took while away.  You can find a few (ok, 50) more on Facebook and Flickr.

Matt and I arrived home after a somewhat nerve racking flight.  Matt doesn’t like flying to begin with, whereas I love it (growing up on an airport could have something to do with it) so the poor guy was on the edge of his seat for the turbulent 45 minute ride.  To be honest, I wasn’t feeling any better than him.   Flying in Wellington wind and having a plane powered by PROPELLERS was not what I considered fun.  Plus, I ate some bad candy and my stomach was yelling at me.

You’d think after that experience (and having the wind lift up my dress in plain view of everyone as I got off the plane) would be a bad way to end vacation, but the rest of our trip was so awesome, nothing could ruin it.

We did a lot of driving, which could’ve been boring if there wasn’t so much to look at.  Most of our pictures were actually taken through the window of the car as we were travelling 100km.  Like this one Matt took:

Not sure how that came out perfectly, but it did.

The first night we spent in Hamner Springs where we went to the hot pools and stayed in a nice hotel.

Then we went to Timaru where I met Matt’s dad.

The next day we all went on a bit of a road trip.  We stayed at a backpackers in Wanaka (reminded me of the Okanagan),

and took a day trip to Arrowtown and Queenstown, where we went up the gondola.

There’s not really such thing as a straight road in New Zealand,

and all the hills are lined with sheep.

We went to a few little towns that I can’t remember the name of and on the way back to Timaru, we stopped at Mt Cook where Matt and I went on a 2 hour walk to Kea Point.  I miss mountains, so I got a little home sick…and a bit sunburnt.

Neither of us were ready when Matt’s dad took this picture, resulting in my absolute favourite photo from the trip.

Gold.