Airport Motel Wellington

... me, even to New Zealand. Stan Walker, a native Kiwi, recently won Australia's Idol tv show. His first song to air ( at least to my knowledge) was "Black Box". Immediately after hearing the song I loved it. I kept listening to it for a good half hour. Then I was struck by an idea. Hey... this is the kind of song I would love to write a banquet song to. So that is what I did, but instead of about Purnell, I wrote it about Clyde Quay School. The ...

So we missed the actual Toast to Martinborough, which was last weekend. Apparently you had to have tickets to go and not very many tickets were sold to the public anyway. Toast to Martinborough is a big celebration in this small vinyard town, Martinborough. Basically people go around and do wine tasting all day at all the local vinyards and take buses around to go from vinyard to vinyard. Sounds like a really fun time to me! There is live music at ...

... wygięciu w czasie trzęsienia ziemi, wraca do swojego pierwotnego stanu (budynki murowane w tej samej sytuacji, albo by się zawaliły, albo przynajmniej miałyby pełno pęknięć). Inne rozwiązanie przyjęli architekci przy remoncie zabytkowego parlamentu w Wellington. Budynek jest murowany, więc zeby go zabezpieczyć podcięto jego fundamenty i zainstalowano gumowe wstawki ...

... is unquestionable. I recently suggested we try disc one of my Learn Spanish CD to mix things up a little and he graciously agreed. For a Pole who only started speaking English six months ago and whose primary purpose on this trip is to further his English and as a result his job prospects this is very good of him. I always fear that with every piece of new information I learn a little of the old information gets pushed out. Like Homer Simpson when he goes to a wine making ...

... br>is supposed to be the Chicago of New Zealand – the windy city. But
today no wind and everyone is outside. We hike up Mount Victoria
to see the views and stroll Oriental Parade along the beach and it
looks like a lot of people are playing hooky from work or school. We
also have our first Freddo – coffee and ice cream (delish). When
some clouds came in we visited Te Papa, a great museum – and free
like in DC! Afterwards, we walked the city some ...

... like playing ping pong, Uno and their Wii and watching some Flight of Conchords. Good times.

I managed to get all my bureaucratic stuff done over the last couple days: I now have a one-year work holiday visa and I canceled the onward ticket I had to buy to come to New Zealand. Being able to take care of all that and relax with some Americans for a couple of days with nothing to do helped. It was good getting ...

... to mature in the US are ready for chopping after only 25 years. Winding our way up through the immense mass of green we saw the first clues of what was to come - the rock cut up through the side of the road showing layer upon layer, each representing a volcanic eruption, centuries apart. Before long we emerged on to the central plateau of the North Island - although the view of 'Mordor' was again obscured it didn't take much away from the sight of the barren plains stretching ...

... to me. It was a tense match but the home team won decisively in the end. We have had some great stories in the local paper over the last few days. One of my favourites was the story of the rejection of an application for a special event licence over Easter. The pubs and bars shut at midnight on Maundy Thursday until midnight on Good Friday. However, you can apply for a special events ...

... very RARE to see!) Paihia was our next stop in the Bay of Islands. We checked into a beautiful waterfront studio apartment and had a great view of the powerful storm that hit during the night! After about 15 hours of non-stop buckets of rain and nightmare-ish wind, we were glad to be indoors. The next day we ventured out (in raincoats!) to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. It was very educational, and we loved walking through the Maori Meeting house. It was quite amazing to look ...

... not impeded as they travel down the middle of the road and even as a pedestrian takes a little getting used to! Went to Federation Square, which for the tournament they've named 'Tennis Square' and went into the Transport bar for a drink. The square has a stage built for Oz day and a massive screen on the wall for the tennis. Saturday 24th January Melbourne Got up late and watched some tennis. Went for a walk down by the river and read a paper with a glass of wine.. Very civilised.. I ...