s***ting hell its the bloody 9th September!Shelly and Cairns came down just a storm was brewing. Cardrona was shutting due to high winds and it was pretty cold. We met them in town, had a drink in Shooters then showed them out little house and made some lunch. We had a meal booked at Oakridge at 7.30 meanwhile I impressed Matt with my new memory by asking him to write down 20 digits. I litterally looked at it for a couple of minutes, gave the list back to him and recited them perfectly. The first attempt didnt go well as I was nervous and keen to impress. But I relaxed a bit and nailed it! He was impressed and has just bought the book off Amazon and sent to his UK address. We got a taxi to Oakridge which cost us $25! Ouch! Its only bloody 10 minutes away! Anyway it was weired being in Oakridge and not working. We were seated and had our napkins put on our laps for us which I still think is an invasion of personal space but oh well. We skipped starters and went straight for the mains. Matt, Mike and Me had pre-ordered the lamb, which came out with roasts and carrots. This was calved infront of us and put on our plates. Shell had the fish of the day. I still dont think the meals are big enough, but in a way its good as it means you dont get that uncomforable bloated feeling where you cant even move and fit any alcohol in there! It was really good though with caramalised onions mmmm. We all had dessert. I found it funny that Cairns said Shelly doesnt like to share her food which makes me giggle as she is such a laid back person! He asked for some of her chocolate soufflet but she refused to give him some. Our soufflets were out of this world!!!! soooo nice I could eat one now and its breakfast time! We also had cocktails and again Shelly ordered a minter. Frangelico, bailey's and cream it was delicious. I went for a safe bet as usual and had a cosmopoliton. We split the bill at the end. We got 50% off because we worked there which was good so it was just $30 each for a 5* meal with desserts and drinks. They even gave us a lift into town how nice! We went and met James in the Local as it was his last night in NZ. He wasnt having a late one as he was leaving early in the morning. He bought a couple of jugs for us all to share which was nice and everyone was out. Tom, Lee, Dave(harry), Kev, Irish Guy, Julia, Ange and a few others. Dave (Harry) has dyed his hair back to normal colour brown and had his teeth filled in so he no longer looks like Harry! We only stayed for one as Shelly and Matt are on a budget due to a 2 month road trip round NZ soon, so we went headed back to the house. We were walking and I think Mike had stuck his thumb out, so guy stopped and gave us a lift to right near our house which was great! We drank alot of vodka and beer back at our house, had some drunken cheese on toast then went to bed around 3.45am. This is the latest we have all stayed up in NZ! Typical UK time to go to bed! The next day we borrowed Danny's boat and we all rowed to Ruby Island in the middle of the lake. We did the short walk round the island, took some pics and then rowed back. It was nice weather but when we were rowing back the weather was coming in and started getting really windy, which was scaring me to death! It was like we were rowing but not going anyway and we as usual were the only people on the lake! Without lifejackets and its a $500 fine if you dont have one each! Anyway we arrived back in one peace! We had lunch at Finchy's for $10 bargain in Wanaka! Then Shell and Cairns set off home and walked back to our house. Nice 2 days.Yesterday Mike and Kev went up Cardrona but I decided to give it a miss as had a few things I needed to do. I went to the College and saw my old work friends. Mandy, Cathy, Helen and Kelly. They are all soooo nice and generally seem pleased to see you when you come through the door which is nice! I dropped the DVD player off which I borrowed off them, but forgot my library book so I need to go back and give it to them. I need to get some bubble wrap aswell for the laptop. I then walked into town and bought my mum a small present and birthday card and posted them with the Thailand books I sold for a profit on Trade Me. I then walked to the Information Centre and booked our transport from Queenstown to Christchurch which cost $55 each including airport transferr and boad bags which are extras. I nipped to the loo in Tango's and checked when I was next in: Wednesday then set off back home which takes me 1/2 hour to walk! I made baked pork, tomato, onion, peppers for my lunch (no carbs). Then had an apple after and a cup of tea. Mike came back and said he had a fun day with Kev doing little jumps and messing around, hardley any queues which was good.Today we had all our gear on when Kev arrived and told us again it was a white out up there! Damn these white outs. It was like this the WHOLE of July!. Kev arrived and Mike pointed out that his headlight was broken and hanging off which he hadnt noticed. He was gutted as everyone would be living and working in Wanaka with no money! We went to placemakers to by some tape, then the garage to see how much a new one would cost: $160! Ouch. Meanwhile I was on the phone to remi for about 1/2 hour in the car whilst they sorted it out. They called a guy from Cromwell who luckily had a couple of spares to fit his Subru Legacey Car and was on his way to Wanaka! How lucky and it would cost only $30! Great! We went back to ours to get changed have a coffee and check emails. Then we took the laptop to Kevs and sorted out transfer of pics / vids etc. We showed Danny and Ange our Video, had another brew, and waited for the guy to come round. He did and it was fixed in a matter of minutes. We then decided to go for a Thai, as it is $10 12.00pm - 2.00pm brilliant! It was busy as this is a good price in Wanaka especially the Thai is such gorgeous food! We treated ourselves and ordered some Spring Rolls for $7.50 you get 6 so we had 2 each. We had to wait for a while but was well worth the wait mmmmmm! Loving my food at the moment! Its raining in Wanaka so not much to do. I went and weight my Cambodia book which I am selling. $2 to send to Aukland, *Sweet*. I tempted Kev back to mine with some of my home made Apple and Potatoe Soup, then he gave Mike and lift to the Gym and he went to work. He works teaching kids and Adults Gymnastics which he likes. They are looking forward to going up Cardy's tomorrow as it has lots new snow, but typically I'm at work at Tango's at 10.00am - 6.30pm! Damn it! Defo going up Thursday though as this will be our last night in Wanaka! Ahhh scary stuff! Okay well i'm going to go now and practice some more Thai whist mike is away and I can concentrate. Oooh I forgot I was about 35% going to do the bungee when I called my New Nan Dolly and told her and she made me SWEAR that I wouldnt do it, she made me say the words I HAYLEY PROMISE THAT I WILL NOT DO THE BUNGEE. Over again and then said You've promised me and sworn now Hayley, now you cant do it!... So now I have no choice I cant do the bungee! She is a little on the physcic side so again that is a mitigating factor in this? I'm a little miffed that I cant make the decision on my own as now there is no way I can do the Bungee as I have sworn and promised. I think I will pluck up the courage and do a sky dive maybe in Australia. Anywa here are our plans for next few days:Wedneday: Work at Tango's: Chill at nightThursday: Go up the mountain for the last time, go out for our last night in WanakaFriday: Head up to Queenstown and stay over at Shelly's HostelSaturday Morning: Matt, Shell and Mike to do the Nevis Bungee, 2nd biggest in the world, 11 secs of free fall!Saturday Afternoon: Get on the coach to Christchurch at 3.00pm arrive approx 9.45pmSunday: Go and find out where S.B logistics is and send our snowboards and laptop back to the UKSunday Night: Have a nice meal and walk around ChristchurchMonday: Fly from to Sydney, then Sydney to Adelaide Snowboard Season 2008July, Completely white out, plenty of snow but couldnt see a thingAugust: Sunny days, couple of white outs,September: It is spring the snow has melted, icey, clear days