Bit of a vague 'sunrise' picture (actually one taken at Awakeri) because I haven't really seen Thornton Beach in daylight yet! Its sun up at about 7.30 and dark at about 5.30 - and I was busy seeing practice today...

Even having not seen the views, I'm loving this campsite - after a week living in a camper van, things like hot showers and wireless internet seem to make or break the day! Thornton Beach Holiday Park has been newly renovated, with a new amineties block - so hot, powerful showers to rival the downstairs shower at Thomas Road, clean and spacious kitchen facilities, internet direct to Freddy the campervan and not having to worry about getting Freddy stuck in the mud in the morning (drainage was not Awakeri's strong point).

My days are going like this at the moment;
7.00 - alarm goes off. Groan until I realise I'm in New Zealand! Spend 4 minutes (yes I timed myself) faffing around putting duvets and pillows away and folding Freddy's insides to look like a table and benches not a bed (pictures on www.escaperentals.co.nz). Have a hot shower, then cereal (with milk kept nice and chilled in my cool box) for breakfast.
8.00 - head off to the clinic, which is about 15 minutes drive away. I stop at a garage on the way which does a mean ham salad roll - 'salad' includes lettuce, carrot, beetroot, cucumber, tomato and best of all, egg mayonnaise!
8.30 - seeing practice - either a heavy-duty large animal morning or consults, followed by some surgeries in the afternoon. Yesterday I spent the whole day out with a large animal vet - a lovely day and some spectacular scenery to be seen from the 'ute' - a cow-print Toyota Hilux (the vets have one each and I want one so bad!).
5.00 - 6.00 - finish and head 'home', the day having flown by! grab a quick supper (having a bit of takeaway and a lot of pot noodle at the moment), straighten up the campervan, check emails and then get as long a sleep as I can!

Still loving seeing practice, a busy day of small animal consultations and surgeries today, which is all good with me - I get to practice sticking needles in veins and try to get to grips with intubating dogs! Halfway through seeing practice already - how the time has flown since Mum and Dad waved me off in Birmingham. The likelihood of snowboarding after I finish here is getting better - the beginner slopes at least are due to open on Saturday, and we're not planning to get get there until about a week after that. So back to the original post-work-experience plan - grab Caroline, Taupo for my birthday (bungee jumping), ski and mountaineer for a week, and then head up via Waitomo caves for some black water rafting on my way back up to Auckland (Zoo and Sky Tower before flying home).

Marie, I'll get my tripod out and get some pics of myself and Caroline, and I'm definately on the hunt for a massive burger now! Hope everyone's doing well at home and enjoying the nice weather I hear you're having! More pics up tomorrow hopefully! xxx