Songs In Blue

We’re going to Taupo this weekend!  There will be walks, and hot pools, and massages, and you’ve heard all this before…Can you tell I’m excited?  And also, a little nervous?  This weekend will be the first time I’ve driven IN A YEAR!  I have no need to where I live and, more importantly, no car to drive even if I wanted.  I know as soon as I get behind the wheel I’ll be fine – just need to remember to drive on the right (left) side of the road.

We actually have quite a few trips planned for summer. So many that we should really come up with a name for the collective group – I’ll leave that to someone else as I’m not very creative in the name department…

Anyway, 3 weeks after our Taupo trip we’re going to Toast Martinborough.  It’s a one day wine festival that we’re turning into a weekend with a few people from Matt’s work.  We booked our house way back in April and it was one of the last places available.  It looks awesome, and I can’t wait to go!  I bought a dress to wear on the actual day – it’s up on Flickr and I’d really love your opinion so leave a comment!  I don’t mind brutal honesty so be sure to say EXACTLY what you think.  I still have a few weeks to buy a new dress if need be…

The trip after that is a big one!  We leave Dec.27 (Happy Birthday Mom!) and will be road trippin’ for 2 weeks in the South Island.  We’ll be in Golden Bay for the longest amount of time – hanging out on the beach, doing some walking tracks, kayaking, and I want to go horseback riding along the beach.  Matt’s not too keen on the last one (fair enough) but I’ll go by myself if I have to cause it looks like so much fun!

After that, we’ll go to Westport for a couple nights, Franz Josef (Glacier and Hot springs) for one, Wanaka for 2 more, then spend a few days visiting Matt’s Dad in Timaru.  We’ll finish the trip with a night in Christchurch (apparently Chinese food and the Casino are on the menu) and fly home the next morning!

But wait, there’s more!  Three days after all that we’re flying up to Auckland for a few days and going to Big Day Out – a one day music festival being headlined by Muse!  We’re staying at the SkyCity hotel which has a heated rooftop pool (that you won’t get me out of) and the Casino (that you won’t get Matt out of) downstairs!

There’s also a few ideas for camping trips and visiting Matt’s older brother and nephews sometime in February, but nothing’s been booked yet.

I’m excited (and little bit tired) just from writing all that out but we want to make the most of this summer, especially since there will be little to no travel next year.  Matt starts accounting school in April so he’ll have his head buried in books for the majority of 7 months and I want to use that time to save as much money as I can.

We’ll have to plan a big trip when he’s finished to celebrate!

All the nerves, insecurities, worries, and excitement I had felt over the last few months had reached a boiling point.  I thought I was going to throw up as I gathered my things.  My legs were almost too weak to carry me through, what seemed to be, the longest corridor ever made.  My mind was racing so fast I thought it would explode as I neared the open door.  Then, as quickly as my panic had started, it was over.  I saw him.
His smile was all the reassurance I needed.

A year ago today, I got off the plane.

First of all, I have to say thank you for all the awesome comments I got on my last post. You guys ROCK! I can’t tell you how much better I’ve felt since writing that. It took a lot to work up the courage, but it was so worth it!

Now that that’s all taken care of, let’s get back to the fun stuff, shall we?

A while ago, I mentioned that I was in the process of getting a Partnership Visa so I could stay in NZ and keep my job. Things changed, and I no longer needed it for my work contract so I put it off until I had enough money and was running out of time on my current visa.

After a couple months of gathering all the evidence we had to prove we were in a ‘genuine and stable relationship’ (emails, pictures, bank statements) and making it look pretty (highlighters are my friend), I finally sent in my application.
But, I forgot to include the fee.

I’m awesome like that.

So I called and begged them to not send my application back and said I’d be in the next morning to drop off the fee. They agreed and soon had everything they needed to judge me. These things usually take weeks to process, so I was left to hold my breath and wait. Which I hate doing. Maybe they knew that because three days later I was approved.

YAY!

This visa gives me another year in NZ, plus I can get permanent work instead of just short term contracts. I can’t wait for the day when I’m a resident and don’t have to worry about things like this. It’s enough to do my head in!

While I’m on the topic, I’m also waiting on some documents from my mom so I can get an Irish passport. My grandpa was born in Ireland and I can gain citizenship through him! That means if I happen to go over to the UK, I can live, work and travel all over the EU! I’m trying to get my younger siblings to do it too, since they might as well! Matt can also get the same thing through his dad, except he’d be on a British passport.
It’s pretty cool that there are options like this out there. Yeah, it might be a lot of paperwork but it’s definitely worth it in the long run.

We spent a lot of time just walking around the city.  It was cool to see things like the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge in person.

As you can see from the pictures, the weather generally worked in our favour.  The last day we got caught in a massive downpour and hid in the shelter of a public restroom until it passed.  I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty romantic…

I couldn’t believe how warm it still was.  Winter in Sydney is like Summer in Wellington or even Vancouver.  I could totally live there!

There were a couple events on while we were there.  Darling Harbour was celebrating 21 years, so they had a jetski fireworks show.  Exactly how it sounds, 4 guys rode around on jetskis while fireworks exploded from the back, plus more from a platform.  Matt took these sweet photos:

Then there was the Vivid art show.  Every night, music played and buildings around Circular Quay were lit up with lights and projected pictures, including the Opera House.  Matt took these as well (he rocks the night shooting):

This is one from our hotel room:

I like how most of the beaches had these side pools cause there’s no way I’d get into Aussie waters (which was still 20C)! Matt and I thought about throwing steaks into the ocean to start a shark feeding frenzy, but better judgement won out.
This is Bondi:

Palm Beach, where Home and Away is filmed.  No one back home will know about this show, but I’ll get you hooked if you visit!

We spent $150(each) to do a Blue Mountains tour and this is what we got to see:

A whole lot of nothing.

It was still a good trip though.  We went on the world’s steepest railway.  This pic doesn’t do it justice, but it was pretty much vertical.

Highlights for me were in the little things.  Our tour took us to a tiny candy shop that had every sort of candy you could imagine!  I finally found the cola bottles I’ve been looking for.
I was a loser and took a picture of Krispy Kreme!  So yummy!  These aren’t even in Canada and the last time I had one was on the way to Mexico like 7 years ago (has it really been that long??).

Wellington doesn’t really have a bra/underwear store like La Senza, for example and I always complain about it.  So, I made sure I bought a couple when I found, you guessed it, LA SENZA!!

I don’t normally shop at the following store.  I boycotted it when I was still in Canada cause EVERYONE wore it (at least in Vancouver anyway), and I would never spend more than $50 for any item.  But I caved and ended up buying a pair of pants before I left for NZ and fell in love straight away.
So, when I found it in Sydney, I decided to splurge and buy 2 more pants and my first hoodie from LULULEMON! Goodbye $450! It was worth it.

The whole trip was a lot of fun, whether plans worked out or not.  I would go back in a heartbeat.

*There’s a lot more pictures on Flickr and Facebook

Last April, I applied for a Partnership Visa with Matt sponsoring me. Unfortunately,  we didn’t have enough evidence supporting our relationship at that point and it was declined.  The lady dealing with my application was really helpful and said she would give me a 1-year Working Holiday Visa instead.  That way I would still be able to work and live in New Zealand then re-apply for Partnership once Matt and I had been living together for a while.

I was going to wait a few more months before doing that, but thanks to work, plans changed.

My 6-month contract with work ends in the middle of April.  I’ve been asking for an extension until August because it would be impossible to find a new job with only 4 months left on my current Visa.  Last week, work asked if I could apply for the Partnership Visa now so they could give me a longer contract or even make me permanent!

There’s a lot of extra paperwork to go along with the 16-page application form, so it’s going to take a couple weeks before I can send it in.  This creates a bit of a problem since I probably won’t be accepted before my work contract expires.  I’m still not sure what will happen in this case…they want me to continue working, but I’m not really comfortable doing that without a contract.  We’ll see how it goes, but I may have to take a couple weeks off.

Good thing is, since I sent in the same application last year, my police certificate and medical forms are still valid so I don’t have to send in new ones! 
This saves me a lot of time and not to mention, money I don’t have. 

The only downside to applying for this Visa early is that it’ll only be good for a year so I’ll have to go through the whole process again before I apply for residence. Overall, I’ve had a pretty easy go with Immigration matters, which is more than most can say.  Hopefully, that luck continues.

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There’s an update for my last post on my sideblog

Wouldn’t you know the first full day we were there…it rained. Hard and ALL DAY.  Probably karma for my bragging about how I’d be on a beach and NOT drowning in snow like people are back home.  We ended up spending most of that day indoors reading, until we decided it would be fun to walk an hour in the rain to get groceries and Trivial Pursuit!

Although it pains me to say it, I still haven’t won a game.  I think the score is Matt-10, Dayna-0.  I blame it on all the  sports questions being about rugby and cricket.  I’m from Canada!  Me like Hockey!

The rest of the week was hot, sunny and so awesome!  We walked around the Mount one day, up it (an hour…all uphill) the next, and got some sweet photos from the top.  Other than that, days were spent on the beach and at night we’d go out for dinner then watch a movie or play thegameIcannotforthelifeofmewin.

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.

It’s so nice to FINALLY have a job and a sweet one at that!  The people I work with are really cool and a lot are my age too.  Every Friday at 4:30, our company supplies beer and wine for free(!) and we all get to chill out after the work week.  Seriously? Best.Idea.Ever.
I never used to drink wine, but I’m starting to like it…a lot…especially when it’s free.

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Matt and I fly to Christchurch tomorrow for an extended (as in 6-day) long weekend!  We’ve managed to pack a lot into the few days we’re there and we’ve rented a car to ease the process.  I get to do ALL the driving too, since SOMEONE doesn’t have his licence…
It’s ok, I love driving, but I am a little nervous about doing it on the other side of the road.

Anyway, we’ll spend a night at hanmer hot springs and stay at a really nice hotel.  Then I get to meet Matt’s dad for the first time and we’ll all go to Wanaka, Queenstown, and a bunch of other places.  I’ve never been to the South Island, or a hot spring, AND I get to go on an airplane….so I’m pretty excited!

As we were packing tonight, Matt took out a folder with all the tickets/confirmations/directions/information in the order of which we will need it.  I love him.

At least between the hours of 8-5, when I’d normally be working!  I enjoyed my first couple weeks of unemployment, but now I’m getting restless and frustrated and I want to buy stuff without feeling guilty.  Plus, I’m a very social person and should not be left alone for long periods of time.
I try to get out of the house for a few hours everyday, which helps a bit, and allows for some adventure.  Like today, I don’t know how it happened, but I managed to get lost in the middle of the city.  Go me.
Anyway, I’ve been applying for absolutely every job posting I see, so that improves my chances of landing one soon, right? RIGHT?
It’s Friday night, so I don’t have to worry about job stuff until Monday.  Yay!

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Tonight we’re going to a Mexican restaurant with a bunch of Matt’s extended family.  I’ve been craving Mexican (food) for a few weeks now, and I’m told there will be pitchers of Margarita, so it should be a good night!

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I know I’ve been absent from my blog and most of my family&friends back home probably thinks I’m dead in the week between posts, but I have a good reason….besides being lazy.  I was going to go self-hosted before, but that didn’t really go according to plan.  No worries tho!  I signed up, and have been working on my new site!  It’s very frustrating at times, so I tend to give up after a couple hours and don’t have it in me to pump out a post.  The site should be up next week tho, and after that I have no excuse but to blog regularly.

Add ‘eating m+m’s’ and ‘watching Shortland Street’ to that photo and you have me…right now.  Yum.
I’m not feeling all the great, although I’m the only one to blame.  I may or may not have walked around Wellington for hours, in the rain, wearing very inappropriate footwear (read: flip flops).  In my defence, my feet hate me right now thanks to walking long distances in high heels…damn job interviews…so I thought it would be smart to wear flip flops then put on my heels once I got to the interview.  It would’ve been the perfect plan if I had factored in the fact that it rains almost every day.  Oh well, I have chocolate so it’s all good.

The job search is going pretty well.  I’ve had a few interviews and signed up with a temp agency, but nothing has gone much further than that.  I do have a 2nd interview next week for one place, so we’ll see how that goes.

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A couple months back I posted the shorten version of how Matt and I met and got to the point we’re at now. That ’short version’ turned into three parts that you can read here, here, and here.  Anyway, I walked past a few places in our story on the way home and decided to take a couple pictures.

The hostel Danielle and I stayed at

The main street

The first bar we went to on the night I went 'missing'

Where Matt worked and we met