SORRY! i've been a bit slack on the old update front. i do apologise. So what's happened? Well loads and nothing really. Easter was bleak. I had no calls from the agency ie no work and some truly appalling weather descended upon Wellington. It was dark and miserable and wet and foreboding - which seemed to match my mood. Winter (it's autumn really) seemed to loom up like a perilous storm and after the distinctly summery time we had while James was here, not to mention having had two summers in a row and feeling like the summery-est girl in Summerland, this came as a bit of a shock to the system.

After the awesome time i had with James, i felt a bit lost and lonely and (obviously) skint! I don't mind admitting that it was my darkest hour to date. It was strange though because i had no actual reason whatsoever to feel down. It was a testing time but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and i feel i needed this time to put things in perspective and put any complacency that may have been creeping in, to one side.

Ian and Laura came to the rescue. Having guessed that James' departure may signal a lonely time for me, they rallied round and one night came back to the hostel with a bunch of flowers for me! They declared the day "Julee Tuesday" and took me out for Malaysian food and to the cinema - what a couple of loves! They also bought me a present of some incense (Nagchampa) to deordorise my stinky room (no, not my BO, but mould and musty dampness). Bless you E and Lozenge.

Things picked up as the agency finally called and i was sent to work at Wellington City Council in the Building Consent dept. Ooooh! Although not exciting (after NZRU, what would be?), the people were lovely and it was easy admin and word processing work. There i met Barrie who was very friendly and invited me for dinner at his house with him and his wife Ella. How kind. It was really lovely and we even watched a movie after dinner (The Third Man).

So we've had a few good nights out and in here and there as people have left Maple Lodge and new people arrive. Newbies are Sharon and Ed from England who are lovely and have taken over as the managers as Patrick left this morning to go to Auckland to work. (Bye Paddy! Be a good boy and limit yourself to one Subway per day). Ian and Laura also left to tour NZ with Laura's parents. It was really freaky to see them go and we had a little buffet party to see them off. Maple Lodge just won't be the same without seeing Ian's Nic Cage impressions or Laura practising Salsa with Paddy in the hall or Ian's comedy shaving surprises or without Laura's special hugs! Thanks for everything you two, see you when you get back and don't forget to keep the Faberge Egg dream alive!

We found a tv hidden in the hostel the other day and, being a no-tv hostel, obviously this revelation caused quite a stir. We had a vote and after endless discussions, it was agreed that a dvd night one night a week was acceptable. Yay! Don't underestimate the excitement this created in me after two months or more of no tv! A dvd player was bought with hostel funds and me and Ian went and hired a couple of movies.

The big night came and we all gathered round and settled in for a real treat in front of the box. Well the ******* thing didn't work! The tv totally pre-dates video never mind dvd. It was so annoying and disappointing. Anyway, the tv does receive a signal so as a consolation we were allowed to watch the one hour-special of the highlights of Charles and Camilla's wedding. Whoop-dee-sh*ts. But since then we have bought a new tv (from the pawn shop!) and had the much awaited dvd night. To celebrate I made apple crumble and custard for everyone (18 people!) which went down very well.

Stuart (from Kent) and Donagh (from Cork) are other newbies and we've just had a ball this last week or so. Lots of boxed wine has been consumed but to balance things out we've done some big walks too. Stu is a bit of an expert on these things being a climber (nay, mountaineer!) despite having a broken ankle (from kiteboarding, crazy fool). There's a beautiful national park called Tararua less then an hour north of Wellington and, having had some unbelievably beautiful autumn weather, walking was top of our list! The last one was a 3300ft (1100m) climb. Three and a half hours UP a mountain, stop for lunch at the top and then 2 hours plus down. I thought if Stu can do it with a broken ankle then surely it should be "a walk in the park". But no. Oh my god. The agony. My new nicknames are Lobster Girl (on the way up) owing to the remarkably scarlet complexion and glow i exude as we climbed. And John Wayne on the way down, thanks to my legs going to jelly then giving up entirely half way down. Yes i have been crippled for 4 count 'em 4 days since and i'm ceratin everyone at my new job thinks i wear a nappy, due to my odd new walking style. It was very hard and probably the maximum height i could walk/climb but it was a REAL challenge and i'm so glad we did it.

One particular night as we bonded over a box of wine, Stu and i decided to be cooking buddies and have become the culinary masters of Maple Lodge! We got so excited about our creations and talked endlessly about food and texted each other about ingredients and generally salivated like pigs! We've had risotto, lasagne, chicken casserole, steaks and dahl to name but a few. Thanks Stu for being such a positive and entertaining force in my life of late. And for laughing when a seagull shat IN MY EAR. And for letting me boss you around in the kitchen. And for making me go to that s***e gaming exhibition. And for making me eat kebabs and drink 40 litres of wine. You're a legend!

So the new job is at the Department of Corrections (prisons!) helping with a "reintegration" project for offenders with families. I'm basically processing the findings of a study into how effective two particular rehabiliation programmes are. Part of the job is looking in the offender database which is complete with mugshots. I don't mean to make light of such serious matters but it's just a mullet festival. I don't know what it is about Kiwis (and antipodeans in general) but boy do they know how to wear and indeed elaborate a basic mullet. They've got to be seen to be believed. I almost turned to my boss and asked if this was in fact a database for the Fashion Police.

So that job is for the next two weeks and then i'm finishing work for a month because PRAISE THE LORD our Dan will be arriving on this side of the globe for the AWESOMEST ADVENTURE of all time. Excited? Moi? S'pose....just a LITTLE.

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