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On the first day of Christmas Queenstown gave to me……….a Jaegerbomb-and-lack-of-sleep inflicted cough plus a bar full of people to spread it to!

Life here in Queenstown is reminding me more and more of Cairns - drinking, drinking, drinking, eating and very occasionally sleeping!It seems almost as though in working at a bar we have to show the punters how it is done…and then are made to go on courses on intoxication and our role in cutting down on it…..hmmmmm, hypocritical much?! Valentina (my new German flat/room mate) and I have some war wounds to show for our nights out already…well actually to be fair Valentina's was inflicted by somebody else, and while I think of it so was mine.A very drunk bar manager knocked me off my treacherously tall bar stall and nearly broke my coxic (but not quite) though in comparison to Valentina's incident this is something of a mountain out of a molehill.A punter at the bar knocked into Val one night at work who then fell into a tray of glasses and slashed her arm open on a broken one.I somehow managed not to pass out as her arm ran with blood and the 4/5inch gash stretched open, and then even managed to watch it get stitched up at hospital!Very proud of myself, and of course her as she dealt with it all like a real champ.

Before this blog starts to sound like some kind of round-about confession to an alcohol abuse problem I'll let you all know that since my discusting congestion and cough has started to manifest itself in a very loud and muc-tastic fashion I have come straight home from work rather than going out and not drank anything…I also went for a walk up the mountain yesterday and a run this morning.Desperate attempt to crawl out of my pit of lazy unfit-ness before I get to the point of no return and look in the mirror to see a TRUE queen biff standing before me. Can you imagine?None of you would be able to call me 'fatty' or 'biff' anymore because it would be too close to the bone!

So despite the minor illness (lets face it, it wouldn't be quite right if I didn't spread a few germs in each country I visit…it's just the everlasting cold popping out to say hello after all eh Michelle?!) and the unexpected, sudden and devastating death of my phone the other week all is well here the other side of the world.As I said I have just moved into a flat just up the hill from the centre of town with Valentina who is amazing - it's so nice to have someone again like I did in Oz with Jasper and Mathilde who I feel close to.Cute little place with 4 other people and awesome views over the lake and mountains.The best bit is having no more housekeeping; not that I was too lazy, honest, but just because I feared if I stayed any longer I would probably end up throwing the bloody mind-of-its-own-running-my-foot-over-all-the-time hoover over the balcony.Having to change a bed which somebody had wetted just a few days before I moved out was also a final straw and certainly not what I came away to be doing so call me a snob but here I am enjoying my own space, free laundry, free internet and a free view instead of having my wallet raped for all of those things at the hostel!

All is going well at the bar also; I work with great people including Val so have a good laugh…especially when crazy camera-wielding Chinese people come in taking pictures of me pouring every drink they order INCLUDING WATER!!! Very much enjoying the power of refusing to serve people who are too drunk or swear at me/speak to me inappropriately.I'll be a ruthless barmaid if I work again at one of the local village pubs when I am back!

I am writing this on Valentina's laptop so apologies if you find z's where y's should be and random characters in the place of forward slashes and question marks - it's all wrong on this keypad!! Sorry for having taken so long with this update also...this working malarky is tiring stuff guys, you've no idea........?!?!?!!!!!!!

Loads of love as always. Posting some pics also, (more) apologies that there are not so many of scenery and mostly photographic evidence of our drunken antics!

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