The land of the long white cloud...

On Monday, I'm leaving on a jet plane for New Zealand, ostensibly to housesit for my friend Helen, who is heading over to the UK for three weeks. I am taking the Ballerina & the Rangi.

I spent 26 minutes on hold this morning to Pacific Blue, to ask a simple question (not answered in their online FAQs) regarding the carriage of the Ballerina's guitar. No, I'm not buying a ticket for a guitar. No, it doesn't have a hard case. No, they can't guarantee it won't be damaged... have a nice day. If I can somehow manage to borrow a hard case we will still take the guitar, otherwise it may not be coming with us after all.

Moving on, I have finally managed to jump on the www.newzealand.com website and am pleased beyond belief at their simple to use Travel Planner application. I simply go to the areas we'll be travelling to, and it shows up a whole list of activities, sights, and views, and I can Collect or Bookmark the things we are interested in.

Here are a couple of things I plan to do:
Hunting: in particular, hunting Hobbits (in Hobbiton), and hunting Tim Finn (in Te Awamutu)
Beaching: in particular, sitting on, swimming in, and walking upon Omokoroa beach
Driving: all over the top half of the North Island... Auckland to Tauranga, to Rotorua, to Hamilton...at least
Adventuring: volcanoes, caves, hot springs, Nadia for the day... it's all going to be one big adventure! Not to mention two weeks on my own, with the Ballerina & Rangi...

I have found a WW meeting in Tauranga, which will be interesting. I've spoken to Julie my leader, and she is also quite interested to see how a New Zealand meeting is run, and what shennanigans they get up to on the other side of the pond. The meeting is above a place called the Sober Camel Cafe, which warrants a look for its intriguing name, if nothing else. I hope they make nice coffee...

On a more domestic note, have been hit hard with the flu (or as we call it here at Ground Zero, "the aids"...) It has ripped through our family, and finally come to reside within my body. I can't breathe through my nose, which is quite irritating (and more so for the God of All Men, because I keep snoring at night), despite snorting saline solution into my sinuses. THAT little trick resulted in me vomiting. Ick! On that basis I doubt I'll ever develop a cocaine habit.

Only 4 more sleeps to go until we're in the Land of the Long White Cloud...