The photo

This is the photo that sparked two things for me:

1) my love of carousels... they are just magical, colour things and I love them

2) my want to take better photos than ever before.. actually I wanted to take THAT photo

photo by Henri van Noordenburg

This is my response to that photo:

Now to be honest, a lot of this photo is down to editing - even tho I didn't really edit it too much. I was really proud of my photo - it was (as still is) one of the best photos I have ever taken

It is done....

It might have taken 24 years, but the above image is one that will go down in history. I am so proud to be a kiwi right now!! 24 years after hosting & winning the first Rugby World Cup, we have finally both hosted and won it again. We have been called many things over the years - mostly chokers but after last nights game, the All Blacks are the 2011 Rugby World Champions. We have dominated the world of rugby for years and have been that team that other teams look up to, but somehow the biggest reward in world rugby has alluded us... but no more! And what a game it was.. I did actually think there for a minute it might have been a French win.. but thankfully the boys held one and got the silverware...

I know its been said but you do have to put into perspective just how much this means to NZ as a country. We haven't had the best year when it comes down to it (and yes I say this in light of the floods in Asia, the deadly earthquakes in Japan & Turkey).. when you look at it tho.. it has been pretty much an 'Annus horribilis' - to steal a phrase from the Queen.

1) Sept saw the first earthquake in Chch

2) The Pine River disaster

3) The deadly Feb quake

4) The Rena disaster

Not to mention all the crap weather that happened around the nation & the constant aftershocks in Chch... this has definitely been a year that most people would like to forget, but then to host the Rugby World Cup - which by all accounts has been a wonderful success and to top that off with the unofficial King of New Zealand - Richie McCaw holding that gold cup above his head, well that is the stuff that dreams are made of.

I am so proud of the All Blacks, of New Zealand and to be a kiwi. There is no better nation in the world and when you see moments like last night, you know why it is be the best country in the world - no matter what the world throws at us. NZ is and always will be Aotearoa - Godzone

Getting Excited!

So this time in 2 weeks I will be on a Great Ocean Road Tour... so excited about this. I have been wanting to see the Great Ocean Road for ages and I decided that even tho the tour is 13 hours - someone else is driving and you get to sit back, relax & take in the amazing sights..

I am really excited about my trip.. tho a little nervous that my flight might not go as planned. They had already changed my flight to be a later one - arriving in Avalon (about 50 mins out of Melbourne) at 9.45pm instead of 2.15pm... I rang Jetstar to say it wasn't good enough so they changed me to be arriving at 11.40am in Tullamarine (about 20 mins out of Melbourne).. so it was better for me that they did that coz a) its cheaper to get to Melbourne from there; b) I get to Melbourne earlier meaning I have more time; c) it didn't cost me a thing to re-route.. which wasn't allowed on the fare I had but because they stuffed up my plans they changed for no fee.. Yay!!

I can't wait to get down there.. the way my plans are now is that because I get to Melbourne earlier I get to have a whole free day there on the Friday which is awesome - because now I am doing my Melbourne Museum exhibit on the Wednesday afternoon now - hence my reason for the flights being on time!! Then the tour on the Thursday and a whole free day on Friday before leaving early Saturday morning... then it is CHCH!!!!!

I plan on having my birthday in Chch and then going over to my sisters on the Monday for a few days, then back to Chch for 5 days. So looking forward to being home! Just can't wait to walk down to the beach, drive around familiar streets - well quake damage allowing of course! Seeing friends & new babies!!! Seeing gorgeous little nieces :) Just can't wait to be home to be honest.

Anyhoo.. I will have to post some pics of the Great Ocean Road when I get them.. really can't wait for this tour :)

Diabolical Plan.. The Sequel

Ok so I had planned on going to NYC for my 40th and I have slightly changed this...


I decided it would be way more fun to have my 40th with a bunch of friends and thought the closest place that would be an awesome holiday for everyone was Hawaii... so now I am planning:


7 nights Honolulu
7 nights NYC 


So I get the best of both worlds... 


I am really excited about this because it means I could have a great time with my friends in the sun and then go to NYC for a bit of culture and city life.. plus it means I get to go to NYC!!!  


I have got some serious travel plans in my mind for the next year or so... 


1) Christmas.. really wanting to go to Vanuatu for Christmas.. tho I will have to wait till I am back from NZ before making any serious plans.


2) May... I have a week off in May 2012 and was thinking of going home coz it would be have been my dads birthday but if Vanuatu at Christmas doesn't work out I might go there in May instead. Or I could do something really stupid & go to London for 5 days!!  That would be crazy!!


3) November... the big one.. Hawaii & NYC.. 


Somehow I got to work out how to pay for all of this tho... 


But hey - dreams are free!!

Well...

So this weekend it will be one year since my little old Christchurch decided to makes its presence known to the world... why it had to be in the shape of a 7.1 Richter earthquake I don't know but there you go... you can't predict these things really can you.


It's weird to think of everything that has happened in the past 12 months - a lot of non memorable stuff but HEAPS of things that I don't think if you were writing the story of one person you would be able to get away with.. I know that compared to some people I have had a pretty mundane 12 months, but for me it's been rather full on... lets have a look shall we:


This time last year I was in Chch with the rest of my family preparing for my mothers 80's birthday.  It was meant to be a nice, calm, civilised afternoon tea with my mum surrounded by her friends & family... instead it was a rushed, haphazard get together at my brothers farm - coz the venue we were meant to have it at didn't have any power after the quake.  Sometimes your life can change in an instant and I know that Chch, and a lot of people who lived there would never be the same after that 30 seconds at 4.35am on Saturday 4th September.


You know how you have moments in your life where you go Before & After that moment?  Mine is broken into two of those moments - Before my dad died & After my dad died; and Before the Chch earthquake & After the Chch earthquake... some moments in life define you as a person.


The next monumental thing to happen was finally going to the UK - still can't quite believe that it happened actually... Such an amazing experience and I want to be back there so badly.  Its been nearly a year since I was there but I still think about it nearly every day.  I fell in love with London from the first moment and everytime I think about that place, the love grows.  I never knew you could actually fall in love with a city but there you go. I mean I have been to a few places around NZ & Australia and love a lot of those places - Chch of course!, Dunedin, Melbourne, Adelaide... but I actually fell in love with London!  I never felt so at home in a place other than Chch... it was a really weird sensation - I had never been there before but at the same time, I felt at home.  


Christmas - I wasn't gonna write about Christmas but it was a time that I guess changed a lot of things for me.  Christmas 2010 will definitely go down as my worse Christmas on record.  It was a huge disappointment and I never want to have that feeling of utter loneliness again.  It wasn't down to one specific thing but a combination of things that happened leading up to the day itself.  I hated it so much that I am adamant that I do not want to spend Christmas in Brisbane ever again... Sad but true.. it is not my first choice of where I want to be at that time of year... I am even contemplating escaping to a tropical island for a few days over that period because I don't want to be anywhere near this place!!  I can't say that my love affair with Brisbane is over because I never "loved" it here.. but I know I am getting near the end of my tenure here...


2011 - I have this rule... I never say Happy New Year until at least March because I don't think anything good happens in January & February... This year will be the one I fall back on when people say that is a ridiculous notion.... January saw Brisbane & 80% of QLD under water.. floods were everywhere, there were cyclones and just plain trashy weather, people lost their livelihoods, homes & in some cases, their lives.. then came February and the day that Christchurch will remember forever... February 22nd 2011 12:51pm - 6.3 mag earthquake struck causing widespread damage that is still evident today - 6 months later.  Not only did we lose a lot f Chch history that day, but 181 people never went home that day.  This on the day before the anniversary of my father passing away, so it was already an emotional time.


I hold firm to my belief that nothing good happens in January & February..


Another major thing that have happened in the last 12 months; my 14 year old great niece has been diagnosed with epilepsy - you really wonder what is going on when something like that happens to someone that young... I have always had the belief that things happen for a reason - it isn't always obvious and sometimes I do question my own belief but I really do think that. But someone that young gets something like that you just really do question it... She seems to be coping ok with it all, but it must be scary at the same time.  


I am really hoping that the next 12 months turn around.. honestly things haven't been good since 2007 - that was a shit as year and they seem to be getting worse every year.  Don't get me wrong - there are some good things that have happened - I started with Weight Watchers in February and have lost about 14 kg since... which is a really awesome thing.  I know there is a lot more to go and I have been struggling with it all in the past couple of months but it is time to get back on track and to keep going towards my goal... my first main one is to lose 20kg by the time I go on leave in November.. I have 8 weeks today to lose 20 kg.. I know I can do it - I just gotta motivate myself to do it... 


Another AWESOME THING was meeting Richie - well I didn't exactly meet him... just rocked up to him and asked for a photo.. still it was the best 5 seconds I've ever had in a Brisbane back alley ;)


Well I guess that is it for me.. bit of a long one.. I have to go now and find a plaster coz I cut my finger one a carving knife when I was doing the dishes... see even doing the dishes is hazardous :)

Quickie

Just a quickie to say that I have had the best moment ever today... why you ask? Well.....

This is why.....

Yep.. Me & Richie together at last :)

That's not frustrating.....

Oh wait, yes it is!!

I seem to constantly have pc issues at home. For some reason (ok I know the reason but I am trying to make people feel sorry for me) my data usage has gone over my monthly limit and there is still 14 days left in the month - believe me I am counting!!!

As a result of this.. my internet is running EXTREMELY slow... you really take some things for granted and when they are taken away from you, you realise how much you rely on them. I know that in grand scheme of things slow internet is really not a life threatening problem but hey - I live in a developed country, there are just certain things you become accustomed to!

Ok so not only that but my pc has decided to restore itself to an earlier point - meaning that I cannot now access my games. Having slow internet was slightly easier to bear because I had games on my pc that I could play... but no now they have gone away too and I can't download the game manager because the bloody internet is too slow and it keeps crashing out! Not only that by my Norton has decided it doesn't want to play anymore either... seriously - it is never just one thing is it...

I know, I know... these things might not seem important to others, but to me they are. Everything in perspective right!! I mean, I don't have a partner or kids or commitments other than work to occupy my time.. I need to have some kind of an outlet right? I am even getting to the point when I might just have to load up Age of Empires again... yes I am getting that desperate!!! Luckily I do have internet at work so I can use that - one of highlights of working on a public holiday is being able to hang around and use the internet to play my FB games - I think I am beginning to sound more & more like a geek!

I think I should go and do something more constructive before I really give away all my sad secrets :)

Pretty Darn Excited

83 sleeps to go... I am very, very excited... only 83 sleeps to go till I have two weeks off and I head to Melbourne for 3 days and then Christchurch for 10 days. I haven't been home since Easter (which I know is not long ago for some people) but I just love going home to Chch... its just.... its home!

But I am also excited about Melbourne - I love it down there. I haven't been down for a couple of years - actually two years ago in Nov (83 sleeps!) and last time I did the same thing I am doing now.. flying down to Melbourne, then home and then back to Brisbane.

I have also decided that whilst in Melbourne I am going to do a day tour to the Great Ocean Road. http://www.viator.com/tours/Melbourne/Great-Ocean-Road-Small-Group-Eco-Tour-from-Melbourne/d384-3181GOWEST1 .. a full day from Melbourne but I reckon it will be a great day out.

I have already bought my ticket down to Melbourne, got my accommodation sorted in Melbourne (just gotta pay for the balance), got my flight back from Chch to Brisbane and got the hire car booked in Chch... just gotta get my ticket from Melbourne to Chch, get the tour sorted and pay off the rest of my accommodation and then it is just save for spending money :)

Really can't wait...

What to do, what to do

Sunday arvo and I am bored. Had a great day out at Southbank but now I am home and not really wanting to do anything. Don't know what I want to look up online, don't want to read or play games.. I want to be in NYC.. I am planning, planning, planning and I want to be there now... thats all I can think about..

Well that and my trip to Melbourne & Chch in November.... yay I can't wait to go home. I was home at Easter but only for about 4 days. This time I will be home for 10 days and I plan to go up to Nelson & over to the Coast too. Can't wait. I am so over Brisbane right now. It doesn't inspire me anymore. Its just the same old thing every day and I am getting jack of it.

I want to see more of this world! I think after going to the UK last year, I really do realise that there is a big wide world out there waiting for me and I just want to be out there seeing it.

Time for me to stop with the planning and start with the doing!

Its so gonna happen

My niece was talking today about visualisation and I thought it was a great idea. You want something so you get a photo or make a list and visualise it every day. So what did I get?

Yep... a map of New York City. Ok so it might not be the most accurate map, but it gives you the idea, plus its MASSIVE and it sits right behind my pc so I see it every single day and can visualise myself walking up Seventh Avenue!!

I have other stuff that I want to visualise too but I think I will start with this and just go with it for now.

The Plans

Ok, so I'm in planning mode once again... this time it is NYC in my sights. Well its been in my sights for a while but I am hopefully going to make it a reality in November 2012...

Why then you ask? Well a couple of reasons... 1) so I can save!!!! (best intentions!); and 2) coz November 2012 will be my 4oth birthday... yip thats right... I will officially be middle aged next year! Man that is a scary thought.

So what better way to ring in the middle age than to be in NYC. Currently looking at accommodation etc. Did you know how hard it is to find a decent place in NYC... they don't have apartments as such like other places and if you do look at booking at an apartment you could possibly be breaking the law! So I looks like a hotel for me... ok so next thing - do you know who bloody expensive NYC is???? For 8 nights I am looking at at least $2000 for a decent place in Midtown. Bloody oath! I mean, for 10 days in London it was cheap and we had an apartment! Admittedly it was a little out of town but even when I was looking closer to the city it wasn't that expensive.

But hey... NYC Baby!!! So may things to see & do.. I wanted to stay a bit longer but it would have ended up being too expensive... actually what I really wanted to do is have 16 days in London/UK and 10 day in NYC but it would have ended up costing me about $10,000! I don't really care how long I go for as long as I am able to stand at the top of the Empire State Building on my 40th birthday.. I could go for 1 day for all I care... that is my goal tho..

If I can do it so can you

I use to hear people say that, and they would say it to me too. I would dismiss them saying "you have more willpower than me".. I never thought I would be one of those people who actually says "if I can do it so can you"

But seriously - if I can change my lifestyle, eat healthy and loose weight then ANYONE can... This is a person who thought nothing about ordering Dominios pizza, eating the whole thing in one sitting and plus the garlic bread as well... now I really don't know if I could have two pieces.

I got a Casear salad from McDonalds last night - I really felt ill afterwards... I even did some yoga moves from the Wii because I felt bloated and just not right. It really is amazing what you can accomplish and how your body can change in just a few weeks.

7 weeks ago today I started Weight Watchers, and I can actually tell you that my life has turned a corner. I had low self esteem, pretty much hated myself and thought everyone was judging me and talking about me. Now - just 7 weeks later, I am 6kg lighter and I have found a new confidence.
This is me in November in the UK.. I am using this photo as my "Before" photo.. I know I have a long way to go before I reach my goal but that is the destination and with any destination, you have to embark on a journey.. Weight Watchers is that journey - its not just about losing the weight, its about having the tools to maintain that weight loss and thats what I am learning. I have eaten more veges in the last week than I think I ever have in my life but I feel good for it and thats what counts.

I am so glad to be on this journey with two awesome chicks Adele & Mell who motivate me, share awesome tricks with me and we have a bloody good laugh as we go. Its been really awesome having people cheering me on. I think that is the problem a lot - you try to do thes things on your own but really you need that support. I have told most people at work what I am doing and they are encouraging me, withholding mornings tea cupcakes from me and really just being there helping me when I get discouraging and prasing me when I do well.

Like I said, this is a journey and I haven't even reached the first stop over yet. I have a long way to go but I really hope that I learn a lot in the process - not just about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but also about myself. I have never been "skinny" so I really don't know what it holds for me once I get there - its a completely different path that I have found myself on and it scares me but excites me too...

My City - Blog4 NZ

I am a Christchurch girl born & bred. I often say that I am a Cantabrian first and a Kiwi second - not that I am not proud to be a Kiwi, because I totally am, after all I do have the Silver Fern and Southern Cross tattooed on my back. But I am as One-Eyed as they come.

22nd February 2011 will be a day is forever imprinted on the hearts and minds of a lot of Kiwis, especially Cantabs, who have been living through quakes for 5 or so months. I wasn't there on the day - I live in Brisbane for the moment but I did experience the September 4th quake - along with pretty much all of my family who were all in Chch to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday on that day.

It was certainly a shock to the system to wake to a such a jolt out of the blue. Seeing the devastation in the news you wondered if it could get any worse. Then one month ago today it did.

I watched in horror from the safety of my office in Brisbane as the city that I loved and felt was a part of me crumbled. After checking on the safety of my family and friends, my thoughts turned to those who had lost family. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like in Chch that day and I hope that I never have to experience it either.

The day was defined for me with the images of the Christ Church Cathedral - that iconic building that has stood at the centre of Chch for more than a century. I remember a time when the Cathedral was the heart and soul of the city, when it was the tallest building for miles around. I think over the years we have lost that part of ourselves as the urban spread began and malls like Northlands, & Riccarton were built.

I know that I should be thinking about those who have perished and those they have left behind, but (and I know it sounds silly to say) my thoughts are of the buildings. The ones that I have grown up seeing, the ones that I have worked in and the ones that define the character of the City of Christchurch. I know that rebuilding has to happen and I hope that whoever is charged with the task will do the city justice. It was and is a beautiful city and I can't imagine it any other way than the way it was. I know we have to move forward and this could be our opportunity to really make something of ourselves.

What do I say to people who want to visit Christchurch - Just Do It! Christchurch is my favourite city in the world. Not only is it a gateway to the stunning South Island but it is an amazing city on its own and one that has a lot to offer. The Botanical Gardens, the Port Hills with its amazing views, wineries without an hour of the city,and of course the people - you would not find a more resilient people than the Kiwis. Plus they need our money :)

Where in the world do I want to go?

Ok, so I have been stuck at home for the past two days sick and now I am completely bored out of by brain - not that I really need to be bored to post this but I was just googling and thought I would write a post about where I want to go in the world

I crossed off a MASSIVE part of the list when I finally went to London last year - man I still love that place! I want to go back so much.. even after 4 months. So where's the next destination? Well I am hoping to go to Vegas later this year, but with everything happening at the moment, I am not sure I will be able to after all. Plus I need to save for NYC next year - for my big 4.0!!!

So anyhoo, where I want to go - well it might be easier to write a list (these are in no particular order):

• To see the Northern Lights - whether that is in Alaska, Iceland or Norway doesn't really matter as long as I see them
• Bavaria - mainly to see the Neuschwanstein Castle
• Antarctica - come on?? Who wouldn't want to go there
• Egypt - The Mummy... need I say more!
• Ireland - It just looks stunning, plus Irish accents ;)
  
• Canterbury, UK - actually I would like to see pretty much ALL of the UK, and of course I need to go to Canterbury - after all I have been to Christchurch in the UK :)
  
• Kronborg Castle, Zeeland Denmark - apparently this is where the inspiration for Hamlet came from - Hamlet being my favourite Shakespeare play
  
• Maine/New England in the Fall.. just want to see it, Autumn is my favourite season and the pictures of that area are just stunning
  
• Kenya - I would love to do a safari
• Capetown - it just looks beautiful
• Copenhagen - actually any of the Scandinavian countries would be great
• Scotland - well I guess this falls in the 'UK' section
• Petra - ever since I was little I have want to see the buildings in the rock
• Perth - everyone who has been says how great it is, really want to get over there
• NYC - hopefully cross this off the list next year
• York, UK - yep another UK one, this one is special tho. My dad use to put me on his knee and bounce me up and down whilst singing The Grand Old Duke of York when I was little. Ever since I have wanted to go to York

That is just some of the places I want to go. I would love to do a road trip in America -down Route 66.. I would also love to see the historic cities of Savannah & Charleston (I think this comes from being a huge Gone With The Wind fan). I would love to see the wide open spaces of Montana - I am not sure where it comes from but when I would little I always dreamed of having a ranch in Montana... - like I said, I have NO idea where that came from. I would also like to see San Francisco, San Diego and of course visit ALL my friends in the States.

I would love to go up to Canada and do a train trip across the state. Visit Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Prince Edward Island.

And I haven't even got to Europe yet!!! Germany, Italy, Croatia, Beligum, Czech Repulic just to name a few.

They say the world is our oyster.. well I wish it was cheaper & quicker to get around.. I need some of the floo power from Harry Potter!

At least dreams are free :)

Happy Freakin New Year

I am thinking of proposing to the Govt to change the New Year to March...

I said to everyone who wished me a Happy New Year on Jan 4th when we went back to work, "I don't say happy new year till March because bad things always happen in January & February".. Well to say bad things have happened is a little big of an understatement...

First there were the horribly floods in QLD including Brisbane, then came Cyclone Yasi... and to be honest I didn't really understand how people could be so upset - I mean sure, I was sad to see some of Brisbane CBD under water, but at the end of the day I was "we can rebuild"..

Then came February 22 2011.. a day that will be one of the worse days ever... Chch, my beloved hometown was devastated by a massive 6.3 earthquake. Yes this comes 5 months after a 7.1 quake hit Canterbury on my mums birthday, but this one was closer to Chch and shallower meaning a lot more damaged and sadly this time loss of lives - mostly because the quake happened at around lunch time on a week day.

I watched in shock from the safety of my office in Brisbane as the news unfolded and just how damaging the quake was. Luckily my mum was ok and my family & friends all appear to be ok, but then I saw images of the iconic Chch buildings such as the Cathedral, The Press building, the Bascilica & the Baptist Church. Not only that but buildings that I knew - the CTV building being one of the most damaged and one that my friend use to work in and knew people who still did.. a lot of those people have been lost.

I know that its stupid but the first thing I thought when I heard the news is "I need to be there now".. people were (& still are) said there was nothing I could do... Don't you think I know that!?! I am under no illusion that I wouldn't be any use but for me its a case of if I am not there I don't believe it... even tho all the images prove me wrong. I also know that if I am there I am in more control of my emotions. Adele reckons its coz I am a control freak.. haha I think in part it is the reason. Having been in the Sept quake and not there for this one, I know that I would rather be there.

Everyone is different.. I think most people would want to get out of the city rather than go towards the city.. I guess it is a control thing for me...

I am absolutely guttered that this has happened to my town. I love Christchurch so much & would go back there in a heartbeat. In the words of Scribe: "I'm from Christchurch, my home in this earth". Chch will always be my hometown and I am so proud to be a One-Eyed Cantabrian.. born & bred!! It has such a special place in my heart and to see the city go through this is so heartbreaking.. to watch the images & see the photos I can't even begin to imagine the terror that everyone was feeling... I just hope they know that they are not alone.

After it happened so many of my work colleagues & friends contacted me to see if my family was ok... You really appreciate your friends & family in times like this.

I know that Chch will pick itself up again but it will take a lot of healing and time. Chch people are resiliant if nothing else. They are strong and prepared to do what it takes to make the Chch as gorgeous as it once was... yes it is sad that we have lost some beautiful old buildings that have been there since the city was settled in the 2nd half of the 19th century. These buildings have been through a lot, including several large earthquakes... it is so sad to see the rubble.

You do have to wonder if they will come back from this... I like to believe that we can but it as I said, it will take a long time and the city of Christchurch will never look the same again.. but it will always be my home.

The Christchurch Cathedral, the earthquake has caused the steeple & most of the tower to be destroyed..
this is the symbol of Chch that many overseas people see, seeing the damage has caused alot of heartbreak,
especially since after the Sept quake it was still standing and a lot of people said if it was destroyed,
it would cause untold devastation throughout the city.

The Baptist church which was damaged in the Sept quake has been completely decimated

The historic Timeball Station on Lyttelton Harbour has been severly damaged
with part of the back coming away from the building

The Catholic Bascilica has been badly damaged with pretty much the whole
of the right hand side now rubble in the car park

Dreams

Ok, so for the last two nights I have been dreaming about family members - its all very weird..

The first one, I was at the old house that I grew up in and my mum, sister & dad were there. My sister was trying to do something with my hair. I went outside and dad was watering the garden - he had the sprinkler going and the cat (which wasn't actually our cat but in the dream it was), was actually running through the sprinkler and dad told me to get it away from there because it shouldn't be doing that. I managed to get it away but it was just running around the backyard & thats when I noticed it was raining... at which time I wondered why dad had the sprinkler going in the rain... just a side note - my dad passed away in 2008.

The one last night was a little more involved and I can't really remember what was going on but I do know that my mum, my sister, my nana, my niece Aimee, her daughter, my great niece Courtney & her mother were all there... my nana passed away in 2005...

Like I say.... weird

The Diabolical Masterplan

Ok so here it is... the diabolical masterplan - unfortunately I don't have any minions to help carry this out... I gotta get me some minions!!

Right so my long service leave becomes available in February 2014 - so pretty much 3 years today! The plan is to work at QUT until my long service leave kicks in - maybe a couple more months and then leave. This part of the plan changes all the time - not sure if I will leave & get my LSL paid out or whether I will go on LSL and still accrue leave whilst on leave and then get a pay out at the end...

Either way I will be intitled to 65 days LSL. I predict that I will have approximately 30.89 annual leave days owed to me - thats with taking 2 weeks leave this year & 3 next year. Which means I would get approximately $17338 as a payout amount if I leave at 31/01/2014. Obviously the longer I stay the more I get, but that's pretty much the amount I am going with at the moment.

So the plan that I have in my head at the mo is that I work until maybe September 2014 and then leave heading over the America. My friend Gailene is renewing her wedding vows in Vegas in October 2014 after a trip to Disneyworld Orlando, so I am thinking of meeting them in either Vegas or Orlando.. but either way I know people in Sacremento, Vegas, just outside of Houston, Louisana & Buffalo so I am pretty sure I will find plenty to do... of course I will end my US trip in NYC and then fly to London where I plan to stay for a good month, doing day trips to Canterbury, Brighton, Bath, Oxford, Cambridge etc and then head to Edinburgh for a week and Dublin for a week. I would really like to head to Denmark for a little bit of time too oh and Germany.

So yeah the plan would be to leave Brisbane in about September 2014 and probably be away until about late January 2015 - I would love to have Christmas in England. Then I am thinking of heading back to Christchurch to live.

I have to be honest, I am a little over Brisbane but I want my LSL and I only have 3 years to go so I am sure I can last for that long. The other thing is that I am paying off a debt that will be paid off in about October 2012 and that means that I will have at least 2 years of saving that will help too (thats the plan of course!).

There is just one fly in the ointment... by the time I get back to Christchurch I will be 42! Holy crap!!! 42!!!! That is old! I am hoping that I will be able to pick up work easily enough. I don't mind temping to be honest - I mean my last two jobs came from temping so its not like I won't be use to it. Also - sounds morbid, but I hope my mum is still around then. Not that it is a necessity that she be around but you know, it would be nice to be able to be there for her... 3 years is a long time and a lot can happen in that time.

So yeah... there it is... my big diabolical plan! I am actually really excited about it - the travel to the UK especially.. I have been back from my trip for over 2 months and it now seems like a lifetime a go... This trip I am planning would definitely be a trip of a lifetime tho and it would really let me see a lot of places and tick them off my list.

Plus... I love the planning :)

Not to sure what to make of it all

Well, I really don't know what to think... part of me wonders if I am cursed, part of me wonders if its just the weather & mother nature and then another part of me wonders if its the start of the end of the world...

Let me give you an idea of what has happened to me in the past few months:

1) So we gather in Chch for my mother's 80th birthday and on the day of mums birthday - 4th September 2010 at 4.37am without warning, a 7.1 richter scale earthquake occurs forcing the city into chaos. Being the start of spring, the city is in darkness because the power goes out. You have no idea what the rest of the city is like and sitting there relaying on someone's iPhone showing pictures of what one could only describe as a warzone. There are pictures of buildings down, rubble over the streets, people roaming the streets looking lost. If thats not enough, then you have to deal with the aftershocks... you don't know when they are going to hit or how big they will be. Geonet.org.nz becomes the most visited website in the country! You hear stories of lucky escapes and not so lucky escapes. The miracle is that no one was killed! I had a week in Chch after the quake and I came back to Brisbane I constantly felt quakes... it was a very nervous couple of weeks - probably took a good month for me to get back to normal - let alone the people still in Chch...

2) In the UK with my sister and we leave for Paris on 18th November.. we get back in to Brisbane on 23rd November... one week later the UK and parts of Europe are under snow. Ok so we weren't actually there but it was a pretty close call to be honest. If we had been just one week later we would have been forced to sleep at the airport!

3) Brisbane January 2011 - the floods... I say floods mean plural!! Toowoomba, Ipswich, Grantham and Brisbane city and surrounding suburbs... suburbs I didn't even know were anywhere near a river where under water to their roofs.. We were lucky. We live opposite Kedron Brook - which on Tuesday 11th January (incidently my nephews birthday) was really high due to the rain... luckily the rain stopped because if it didn't I could be telling you a completely different story. Most people haven't been at work since Tuesday. The CBD was pretty much completely closed down and had no power. The buses & trains were stopped on Wednesday at 1pm, on Thursday out of over 200 bus routes the city has only 7 of them were operating and that was on limited services. Its really weird to go thru this again because a lot of the information and advice is the same - don't go out unless you have to, keep away from danger areas, this will change the face of the city forever, we will rebuild, etc.

One thing came out of this tho - my friend Suzanne use to work for a local Chch tv station and knows someone who works for TV3, she asked if I would want my details sent to them because I was in the quake as well as this.. so yes, I got interviewed for the TV3 news and was on last night - I have never had so many text & FB messages... haha

I am really hoping that the close call in the UK is the 2nd of the "things happen in 3's" scenario... I really don't think I could actually go through this again. Although I wasn't directly impacted with anything destroyed, you just have frayed nerves because you just don't know when, what, or how things are going to happen.

A Song For Me

Have you ever heard a song and thought "that has been written with me in mind"? You know the ones, where every single lyric seems to have been written about you & your life at that very moment in time.

At the moment mine is Down by Jason Walker (see below for lyrics). Seriously every single lyric has been written for me. Some people might listen to it and think its a depressing, sad song and others might listen to it and think that its a song about making a decision with your life... either way, I think the lyrics are really what drives that song and that it could be able anyone in any situation.

You often want to get on with things but life gets in the way and sometimes you feel like you are standing back waiting for something to happen, waiting while the world passes you by and thinking that its never gonna happen for you.

I feel like that often. I know its of my own making and I guess I am the only one that can push my way through, but sometimes I just wish that there was someone on the other side helping me get out of the funk I'm in right now.

Anyway... here's the song -

Down by Jason Walker

I don’t know where I’m at
I’m standing at the back
And I’m tired of waiting
Waiting here in line, hoping that I’ll find what I’ve been chasing.

I shot for the sky
I’m stuck on the ground
So why do I try, I know I’m gonna to fall down
I thought I could fly, so why did I drown?
Never know why it’s coming down, down, down.

Not ready to let go
Cause then I'd never know
What I could be missing
But I’m missing way too much
So when do I give up what I’ve been wishing for.

I shot for the sky
I’m stuck on the ground
So why do I try, I know I’m gonna to fall down
I thought I could fly, so why did I drown?
Never know why it’s coming down, down, down.
Oh I am going down, down, down
Can’t find another way around
And I don’t want to hear the sound, of losing what I never found.

I shot for the sky
I’m stuck on the ground
So why do I try, I know I’m gonna to fall down
I thought I could fly, so why did I drown?
I never know why it’s coming down, down, down.

I shot for the sky
I’m stuck on the ground
So why do I try, I know I’m gonna to fall down
I thought I could fly, so why did I drown?
Oh it’s coming down, down, down.