Hello there everyone!!!
The last couple of weeks we have spent in Melbourne and its been really good. We stayed at the hostel where Katie works...it was really nice for us all to meet up again! The hostel was full of scousers so that was a good laugh! Everyone was so friendly, we felt really at home and like we'd known them all for ages! We had a bit of a nightmare with our room though because we had bed bugs! We should have realised when this french girl who was staying in our dorm quickly scarpered in the middle of the night! It was such a pain in the arse coz we had to wash literally everything in our backpacks and we were so hung over...it was the worst day ever! You know when all you wanna do is just lie in bed!! It actually worked out really well in the end though coz we moved into another room while they fumigated our old one and ended up meeting two really nice roomies! One was from Ireland (as is every second person you meet!) and the other was from Australia. They were cool and even accepted our pink pyjamas!!! (haha...me and ninny have the same fleecy pink pyjamas because they were on offer in this shop for really cheap and its bloody freezing so we had to get them!!! We look like d*** but at least we're warm...they are also about ten sizes too big!!)
We did loads of stuff while we were in Melbourne.... we went to look round Ramsey Street which was really cool! Its absloutely tiny though! We got to meet Carl Kennedy...wahoo!!!
We also went on this neighbours trivia night where you have a pub quiz and some of the neigbours stars come round to your table and you can chat to them! We met Toadie, Jayne and Stingray! Me and Nin also went to see Carl Kennedy's band play! It was so funny to see the doc strutting his stuff up on stage, we loved it!
We also went to Phillip Island where we saw all the little penguins in the wild! They came out of the sea and onto the beach into their little burrows, it was so cute! Really cold though as they don't come out till dusk and you have to sit on the freezing cold beach and wait for them!! We also saw a wombat - they are huge!!! Very cute though and much like Ninny as they sleep for about 18 hours a day!!
Ali and Emma came to meet us in Melbourne too which was really cool. Its so nice to see familiar faces - you forget what people look like! We all hired a car and drove down the Great Ocean Road - "Road Trip!!" That was really nice - the coastline is gorgeous.
Me, Ali and Emma also went up in hot air balloon over the Yarra Valley which was amazing! We had to get up really early and drive to this big field where we helped pump all the hot air in the balloon- it was massive! I can't believe how quiet it was up in the air, it was so peaceful! We had a champagne breakfast by a little log fire at the end of it which was also very nice!
What else did we do...erm...we went for a look around the city- which is very much like Manchester - saw the cricket ground which is huge!! We tried to get in to have a look but you had to pay so we bought a postcard instead :-)
We left Melbourne about a week and a half ago now. Had a bit of a night mare getting into New Zealand!!! It took us ages to get through customs! We both have electronic visas but this horrible lady at the checkout (who looked very much like the rats we saw in Penang) was like...erm you should have a print out from your email aswell - which we didn't have. We assumed that because it was electronic that was the whole point- that you didn't need anything else, they just swiped your passport through and it came up??!! Anyway - she ended up getting the immigration officers and we had to go and wait while they looked over all our stuff - we felt like criminals!!....just listening to radio 1 as i write this...its really wierd! Chris Moyles is cool!Anyways....
Oh yeah, we also got our juggling balls conferscated at the airport because the balls were full of bird seed and we weren't allowed to take any food into the country!! It was a bit embarrassin actually coz they were right at the bottom of our bag and we had to rumble through everythin, pulling everything out item by item while they tried to figure out what was showing up on the screen!!!
We ended up staying in Christchurch for about four nights...it was really nice but so quiet!! Its the biggest city in the South Island and there was hardly any people about....every day was like a Sunday it was wierd! It was a really nice city though - we even managed to go on a little ramble in the countryside!! We saw some really stunning views of the city and the mountains in the background and it was free!! We like things that are free!
What else...erm yeah i think me and Nin are officially the doziest people i know! We booked a bus to go to Queenstown and it was due to set off about half ten...we hadn't even packed coz it was kind of last minute so we were in a bit of a rush - we only booked it at 9 that mornin...anyway we went to wait at the place we thought we were getting picked up and managed to miss the bus!!!!oops! We were too busy buying sandwhiches and watching the rugby on the tv outside this bar and we didn't notice the bus come by!!! We rung the company and they said there wasn't another bus until the next day and we had already checked out of our hostel so we decided to hire a car...ROAD TRIP!!! The car was an automatic though which was quite humerous as neither of us had driven an automatic before!!...we kangarooed out of the hire car place and then decided to turn right up a one way street!! The lady had to come rushing out to to stop us! It took us about 3 hours to get out of the city aswell, the maps they gave us were crap and we were just driving round and round!
Anyways...eventually we got out and started our 7 hour trip to Queenstown!! It was a really scenic drive - the mountains covered in snow were really stunning! We stopped at this really nice lake which look beautiful in the snow! We were doin ok until it started blizzarding and going dark! It was pretty scary driving through the snow! Just by pure chance we decided to stop at this garage to get some petrol and its so lucky we did! The lady was like...you can't go any further because the road ahead is closed and covered in black ice! We were like..."s***!" ...we were in the smallest town (towns in New Zealand consist of about 5 people, 7-8 shops, 1-2 roads and a handful of houses- seriously!!!).. and there was only 1 hotel so we had to go and check in! We walked in through the bar and it was full of 'locals (or yocals as we like to call them!)' who all stopped what they were doing and stared at us as we walked in! We had to take the last room which was a double bed but it was all good - it was so comfy and there was a big lounge with a log fire and stuff! Actually, we ended up having a really good night doing the only thing we could do in a town so small.... get pissed with the locals!!! Haha....we had the tunes on the dukebox goin and everythin! One guy even started showing us his line dancing which was rather funny!
After our interesting little detour we eventually arrived in Queenstown the next day when the ice on the roads had melted enough for the roads to be safe..we thought we were never gonna get there!!! It was really wierd when we arrived because this is gonna be our home for the next three months- the longest we've stayed in a place since March is two weeks! We're really happy here though, its a really beautiful place and suits us really well! Its only small but has a really nice feel to it because its absolutely packed with tourists and is always busy. Theres loads of nice little pubs with log fires! The town is right on Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by huge snowy mountains - its really stunning - we can't wait to get up the mountain to ski - unfortunately we don't have enough money to go yet which is really annoying but as soon as we get our first set of wages we're goin!!
Oh yeah...we both have jobs now! We work at the Copthorne Hotel which is right on the lakefront. Its a really posh hotel but some of the customers are k*** and a bit snooty! I had some d*** complaining about his steak the other night - i felt like jamming the steak knife into him! Think you need quite a bit of money to stay there!! Our uniforms are absolutely horrendous - theres no other word for it! We have to wear these black silky shirts with really high necks (which don't actually go round our necks), they go really static and stick to you-they're awful! I feel like Dev from Corrie in me silk shirt! They also didn't have our name badges ready for us on our first shift so we had to wear these two random badges! Ninny was 'Lily and i was 'Helen' which was quite humnerous! The shifts are a bit s*** so far aswell coz we have had two breakfasts in a row where we've had to get up at 5am! Its money though so we can't complain! The people we work with all seem really cool so far - even though we've only worked two shifts! We've also moved into staff accomodation which is good because its so cheap and is right next to where we work. However- the only drawback is that there is a really steep hill that you have to climb to get to work! You seriously have to nearly crawl up it its that bad! We'll have thighs and bums of steel when we get home!!!
Erm...whatelse ....oh yeah, we met up with Scott which was cool! It was nice to see a friendly face from home - he took us round Queenstown and introduced us to the nightlife! We havn't been goin mad on the nights out yet but as soon as we get paid i'm sure there will be a few messy ones! We'll try and update you as often as we can....sorry about the massive gaps in between!
Hope you're all ok - get writing some messages jam faces....
See you all soon, love Nin & Anna xxxxxxxx