Tudor Lodge Motel Hamilton

So we rented a car to drive around NZ since Alex is only here for a few days. It was a tiny little Toyota, but as long as it ran for 3 days, I didnt care. The first day, we headed south then west, to spend the night on the coast in a town called Raglan. Its a big surfer town in NZ. It took a bit, but we eventually found a room for the night. Then ...

Ok so I know that I'm being a TOTAL eager beaver, but this is our first time out in the big beautiful world (other than KiwiLand and Oz of course) so I'm a taaaaaaaad bit excited :). We bought our tickets last week so OFFICIALLY the journey has begun. Happy as with the price, so just saving for play money now!! I've been sussing out Travel Insurance, and at the mo State Insurance has a ...

... She's keen to do a house swop at some point in the future and wanted to show me her house. After seeing her place (absolutely magnificent, huge, wonderful views overlooking the Waikato river), I won't dare ever show her mine as she'd think she'd really come down in the world! Afternoon tea was actually orange juice and asparagus rolls (asparagus wrapped diagonally in very thinly sliced white bread) which and which delicious ...

... we kept on looking. Finally, we ran into someone who told us that the cheapest place to rent boards was at the local hostel down the road. We arrived and found (what I believe is) the coolest hostel in New Zealand. The hostel is located right near the beach and all around the place there were hammocks hanging, about 12 in all. I wished that I would have spent a night there...maybe next time. The guy we met was really helpful in getting us decent boards ...

... so we work on that. There are also stretches to do so that she doesn't stiffen up so much we can't put her clothes or nappy on anymore. Then loads more percussion and suction before bed in hopes that she'll be clear enough to sleep through the night. (She usually doesn't.) She also goes to school during the week if she isn't sick and there they do extra activities with her (I'm not sure what they are as I don't go). I enjoy working with her, of course I ...

... Uhh... yeah. This is just a little... umm....intense." "I was thinking that too. Sorry!! We're full on tonight." "You certainly are. Probably because I'm new. You're pulling out all the stops to impress me." Side note: My friend doesn't appear at all crazy. She doesn't constantly talk about Jesus and she wasn't one of the "worshippers" in the aisles waving her hands and sobbing maniacally. She seems pretty 'normal' for lack of better words and within the first five minutes of ...

... do all the fun stuff with patients - taking them through their exercise routines. The patients are brilliant and although I have moments when I think... Um... that wasn't the best way to do that' on the whole I think I'm doing well. I'm certainly learning a LOT :o) Doing this job has really given me back my enthusiasm for physiotherapy again and I can't wait to get back to uni and get qualified. I was feeling quite hacked off with my course but now I can really see ...

... dining hall here is quite different than the ones at home. There is only one line, and there are 2 options for a main food for your meal. Ones vegetarian and one's not. You can't get seconds. Then there is just a few random sides that you can eat like pasta salad, potatoes, salad, and veggies. You can get as much as you want of that. Then at every meal they save us by having bread, peanut butter, and jam out so all the ...

... because they go catch it every day. I plan to take advantage of the opportunity while I have it! I've finished reading a book I picked up here (this crazy thing about going behind enemy lines in the Serb-Croat civil war to investigate the death of a British girl and finding a war crime - not like me at all but a good book) and started another one (a play by Christopher Marlowe about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in return for infinite knowledge - much ...

... 9th January Today we spend the day in Hamilton. After a morning of organising our next few weeks' accommodation and transport, we took a walk along the river to Hamilton Botanical Gardens. They were beautiful and much larger than we expected, so we spend all afternoon exploring them. My favourite themed gardens were Chinese, Japanese and Italian.