Waiwera....
Dos anterior fin de semanas fui con mi amiga Jeannine a Waiwera. Nos fuimos a nadar a piscinas termales, estaban muy bien, por que el agua es caliente, pero no importa por que es invierno. Bueno, el invierno aqui es templado en comparacion con todos los otros inviernos en mi vida. Las noches son frias, pero los dias no estan mal. En mis primeras tres semanas, llovio todos los dias, pero ahora esta bonito. Hace un poco de frio, pero algun asi, es posible hacer deportes al aire libre y deportes acuaticos, y es muy divertido! Hacer deportes (aventuras) y ver peliculas son a unica diversion aqui. Es por eso que hago aventuras cada fin de semana. Desgraciadamente mis aventuras son muy caras. Creo que no mas aventuras este mes, ademas necesito un coche y un ordenador.

Extrano, pero en BCN no esa tan importante tener un ordenador, pues BCN es muy divertido. Pienso que N.Z. es un jardin, pero Auckland es aburrido y caro. Necesito a tener un ordenador.

Para el proximo mes tengo planificado ir a las cavernas y.....no se, alguna otra cosa mas interesante.

Mi situacion en el trabajo es buena, me gusta mucho, pero es muy diferente aqui. Mis estudiantes son un 90% de China, Su cultura es muy diferente. Prefiero la gente de Espana, pero me comprometi a estar aqui, no esta mal, solamente diferente. Tengo miedo de infringir sus costumbres son muy conservadores.

Hecho de menos a mis amigos en Espana. No puedo creer que esto es mejor para mi espanol, por que no quiero pender mi espanol, necesito trabajar mucho y practicar cada dia. Es ilogico que haya esperado hasta ahora para estudian mucho.

Chicos...No me gustan los chicos de aqui. Hubo chicos guapos, pero la mayoris mediocre, y no me gusta el accento N.Z. No volvere mas aqui, es diferente no malo, es que mi corazon esta siempre en espana. Ilogico pero verdad.
Abrazos muy fuerte para todos mis amigos.

Two Players Backed Out...

We didn't make it to the Waitomo Caves this weekend as two of our foursome backed out on Friday evening. Jeannine stayed the weekend with me and on Saturday we ran many errands. Saturday night we rewatched Lord of the Rings and then proceeded to Coyote Ugly...

COYOTE UGLY....

This is a fabulous little bar where the music is loud and there are 6 beautiful female bartenders who dance on the bar, juggle flaming bottles and all sorts of wonderful entertainments choreographed and not.

When we arrived we were the only two females not behind the bar and there were only six males in the place besides and we were nervous and hid in a corner. The waitresses were lovely, friendly and had great smiles. This was at 9pm. At 10pm just as we were thinking about leaving it started to liven up . Once the bartenders got going the place filled up. The couple next to us left us a shaker full of sweet shots of Kahlua and Baileys which we added to our two glasses of wine. Before too long several girls sat beside us and we shared our shots and I spent half of the night dancing on one of the bars with our new found friends. I wasn't drunk, just love to dance. Halfway through I took off my boots, left them under the table and returned to the bar (much cooler that way). We had a fabulous time!! Jeannine danced on a table with me one song, but was too shy beyond that. Some guys bought us some drinks- never even talked to them, they bought drinks for all six of us. Not sure why. Grin. One guy was trying to watch my new friend dance with his face two inches from her crotch, so I pushed him away with my stocking foot on his forehead. He returned, so she and I both shoved him away, one foot on his forehead, another on his chest. He responded by sliding across the room and putting his
arm around Jeannine and talking into her ear. Enough is enough. We got down from the bar, I went over tapped him on the shoulder and beckoned him with my hands. He looked confused, so I smiled sweetly while holding out both arms to him in a welcoming gesture and backing away. He naturally followed and I simply slipped in next to Jeannine, our new friend slid in beside me and I put my leg over her in warning to ward him off. When she got up for a drink and another song came on he said in my ear "You should dance, you're really good." to which I replied, "I'd love to, but you crossed some lines while we danced and I think you're really creepy." He looked a bit hurt and left. I felt bad, but he was in fact creepy. We were there to have fun, not to lapdance.

We managed to make our way home via a mysterious night bus around 3:30am.

We were up at 7:30am to go to the train station to buy Jeannine's ticket, have breakfast, rent a car and head off for the day. The phone rang at 7:30 and I stumbled out of bed to answer it. Missed the phone but discovered that I smelled like an ashtray and couldn't possibly sleep with that smell any more. Took a shower, left for the station, got her ticket and then headed for breakfast.

I had a huge steak with eggs, grilled mushrooms and grilled tomatoes and two slices of toast. (I was really hungry). It was fabulous.
Jeannine was a little more demure with eggs, toast and bacon. A pot of tea between us finished off the meal and finished sobering and waking us up.

Later that day...

I drove my first standard on the wrong side of the car!! It was easy, luckily the gears are all in the same place or I would have been lost. It was actually less confusing than driving an automatic. More to do always calms me down. We drove to Waiwera where there are thermal pools. Fabulous experience going swimming outdoors in heated pools in the middle of winter!! The slides were pretty cool too. Lovely way to spend a day. Really hot pools, medium pools, cold water on the slides, pools with and without kids. The hottest pool had a bit of a sulpher smell, but not too bad. Not nearly as expensive as some of my other weekends.

Sadly I left the lights on and we had to suffer the humiliation of finding a jumpstart. (Jeannine was actually quite smug. I suffered the humiliation) We got off ok though and Jeannine is now off to Wellington and beyond. She will return this weekend for a night before heading back to Germany on Saturday.

I would like to say that Auckland drivers were barely phased when I made a left hand turn into a right hand lane. (Unlike the people on the cliff two weeks ago) Luckily it was a Sunday night and no one is ever out on a Sunday night. I made it back across four lanes just fine. Secondly I would like to say that I don't think it would hurt NZ to invest in a little reflective paint for their roads. Especially if they don't have street lights!! I downed half a bottle of wine when I got back from that drive. I think I will buy a car here, but I won't drive at night if I can help it. I just can't see anything.

Oi. I'm safe. God is watching over me, for which I'm very grateful. Spanish update to come.

Much love to all. Mi corazon es siempre en Espańa con todo.

The Bay of Islands

The players this weekend were Pablo from Chile, Jeannine (sexy redhead from Germany) and of course, myself. No caravan, as they require a minimum of 5 days to hire. Instead we had a sexy little Honda civic hatchback in silver. We didn't leave on Friday until just after dark, so I was faced with driving the entire way in blackness. I have very little night vision, the steering wheel and and cars are on the wrong side of the road and the first two hours was all winding mountain roads...I was a little stressed.

For those of you that have never been here, I would like to tell you a little about New Zealand street signs. They have normal ones of course, but they have a bit of a sense of humor when it comes to some of them. There is of course the black cow on the yellow sign, easy. Then there is the picture of a truck. Ok. truck. My favorite (now that I'm not driving it at night) read like a soap opera:
First sign was a very very squiggly arrow that was much longer than the American ones I'm used to indicating that I was in for quite a time of very windy roads. Ok. True. A little further along there was a large ! on a background of an orange sign and just as I'm wondering about this there's another picture of a car skidding sideways off of a cliff of a very windy road...I think I whimpered at this point.

There were many possums on the road as well- they don't look the same here as in the States. So-you're driving along and suddenly there is a small congregation of strange looking animals roughly the size of a medium sized dog looking at you as you try not to hit them or swerve off of a cliff. Very strange indeed. Also of note- no one else in the car with me saw them as they raised their heads and regarded us as if they were some mythical creatures and we were strangers in their land (but not ones of portent or note).

At the beginning of the Bay of Islands Pablo took over the driving (as he did for the rest of the weekend). We then drove to the town of choice and we found a small hotel where the owner had just gotten out of bed to let someone else in, so we were lucky enough to score a room as well. It was a large two bedroom which suited us very well. We could hear the sound of the waves, and upon crossing the road we discovered that the ocean was right there. This was around 11:30pm and the three of us crossed the street and sat on the beach under the stars with the sound of the waves watching the ghostly sails of ships in the bay. Jeannine left us after about an hour and a half, but Pablo and I stayed until 3:30 in the morning. Pablo is a kindred spirit who understands the value of watching the stars for hours. The constellations are different here after all and deserve a great deal of attention.

Despite my late night I was up at the crack of dawn where I greeted the rising sun on the beach with my guitar. I was kind enough not to harass my companions until 8:30am. This day was spent largely in cafes, exploring tidepools, watching a swimming competition and hiding from the cold wet pouring rain. We also went to a national reserve that is very important to the Maoris and has the treaty signed with the British as well as a giant migration canoe. Although it was a kiwi habitat, sadly I did not see any of the strange nocturnal birds. We finished off the day watching the Rugby match between the Wallabies and the New Zealand Blacks (so close!!) and playing some mean shuffleboard with a number of others in the bar before going dancing until 3am.

Sunday we had a fabulous breakfast that couldn't be beat before heading off to rent kayaks. Sadly Jeannine did not want to kayak (too cold and wet) so she instead went on a highspeed boat tour of the islands. Pablo and I headed off in the beautiful sunshine into the surf in our swimsuits and lifejackets. Of course I was soaked by a wave before I truly began- but this was not bad. It was perfect weather, the sun was shining, it was cool not cold, the birds were singing...we discovered a very quiet and beautiful bay. We watched the water fowl as they dove for fish and called to one another. Then there was a chill wind. Then it began to rain. Then the fog came in. The next three hours we kayaked merrily in the cold rain (in nothing but our swimsuits and lifejackets). We were terribly merry though, and wound our way around the different islands until we finally came to a point which was closer to the sea and there were many jagged rocks which waves dashed upon and since we couldn't actually see any of the islands around us we opted to head back. Still, it was a grand time. Very beautiful and we didn't mind the cold and rain at all. Of course we couldn't stop paddling without freezing, but this was not a trial (except to my stomach muscles this morning). Our timing was perfect and Jeannine's boat came back right about the same time.

We changed and went to yet another restaurant, a charming but strange place called "Poco Loco" where we had a fabulous seafood meal before heading home. It was another beautiful weekend. Next weekend we're going black water rafting on intertubes through glowworm caves.

Lord of the Rings comes out tomorrow!!!!!! I already have a reserved copy and will be having a viewing party tomorrow!

This is not a real update...

How quickly I lose touch! It has been difficult to access a computer this week and so I have not yet posted the update for last weekend's adventure.

Stay tuned for
...the adventures of two redheads in a sexy red, two seat convertable sportscar driving (on the left) over the entirety of a nearby island...
scenes will include a handsome shepherd with a winning smile..
Beautiful German redhead carefully balanced and standing while attempting drive by sheep filming...
Terror in the faces of oncoming tourists as I swerved to the right to avoid their oncoming car only to realize at the last second that I was on the wrong side of the road....
Dancing under the stars to Simon and Garfunkle on top of said sports car...


Coming up in next weeks episode- the adventures of Pablo, Jeannine and Willow in the Bay of Islands? Will our heros rent their very own caravan? Will they encounter dolphins or sharks on their sea kayaking adventures?

Tune in next time....