Fiji baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yippee we are off to Fiji in 51 sleeps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we finalised everything for our stay in Fiji, we are going for 6 nights of fun in the sun. I cant wait I have never been on a beach holiday before its never been my scene really maybe cause I lived on a party island for 8 months so I got it out of my system then. The resort we are staying at is lovely, if you want to check it out its www.sonaisali.com we are staying in one of the Oceanside Bura’s for the first four nights and then in the private spa Oceanviews ones for the last 2 nights! How romantic will it all be? Well the reason we are going is because Al has a work conference there, all the partners of the Horwath firms are going with there wifes/girlfriends/husband/boyfriends, Al has a day and a half worth of a conference to attend (while I relax in the sun, by the pool or in the shade of the bar he he he) there is also a days boat trip to some nice island (cant remember the name) for a whole day with everyone, we are staying on for a further two nights then just by ourselves I guess this will be the romantic part!!

HOG Annual BBQ

The HOG club’s annual BBQ took place on Sunday at a park about 40 mins ride from town, it is a family BBQ so there was a good few kids and Granny’s around enjoying the sun and food. There were different games for the kids and different games which had to be done on the bikes. There was also a show and shine (basically a beauty contest for bikes) but unfortunately our bike did not win it, there are some awesome bikes in our club so you can’t feel too disappointed if you don’t win.

The BEST news ever.......................

We found out at the weekend that both Emma and Amber our two nieces can be the ring bearers at out wedding next year. Susan and Kim were understandably nervous about them doing it at first cause the whole trip to Ireland, the wedding etc will be quite a big thing for the girls. Ring bearing is not something that is done back home, but Emma has been talking about doing it ever since we got engaged, so we will be incorporating the whole ring bearing thing into the ceremony, they will both have their own cushion and they will hold a ring each. We are just so happy about this and I am now calling them my Frodo (as in Lord of the Rings Frodo).

Happy Birthday Kim

It was my brother in law Kim’s birthday on Fri but we all celebrated it on Sat up at a camp site in Otaki, where Kim and his family were spending the long weekend with Al’s parents also. We took the bike up so we had a beautiful ride up there. Susan and Ronda had pre prepared the BBQ food so it was all ready to go once everyone got there (Kim’s Mum and partner also came) we had a very scrummy BBQ and loads of very scrummy wine (the joy of only having to hold onto the bike and not ride it !!!). Kim was his usual quite sober self…………………………………………………….yeah right !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The birthday boy had been downing a few beers and glasses of wine all evening, so he was on right form and drunk enough not to be too embarrassed when his out of tune families sung him Happy Birthday!!

Playing cards and drinking do or don't go well together?

Friday night saw Al, Kirsten, John and myself playing the card game 500 until 1.30 in the morning. The night started off great and what I mean by great I mean we were sober enough to play cards, remember the rules and not have an attack of the drunken giggles, which is how our night ended up, I don’t remember much of the last game but I think it took us nearly 2 hours to play it!!

Based on this night I have concluded that Kirsten and John are a very bad influence on me and I tend to drink more when they are around, so the moral of the story is to hang out with them more!!

Our baby has been sold

Last night was the saddest night of my life for a long time; we sold our little Baby our Harley Davidson Sportster!

We had a man come around last night to look at her and from just seeing her in the photo he knew he would fall in love with her so he had a bank cheque already prepared. It all happened way to quick he was only there two mins when he said he was pressed for time and that he had the money in his pocket let’s get this deal done!!! So less than a half hour later she was been ridden off by some strange man, this is when I started to cry. I will miss that bike, Al and myself had some great times and adventures on that bike and she has been with us for over two years so you cant help but get emotionally attached to her. I know we have the new bike and we will have plenty more adventures on that but I will always have a special place in my heart for the sportster.

When with Pagona, do what she does and eat Greek !!!!!!!!!!

Last night was my first Greek restaurant experience in New Zealand and I am very pleased to report it will not be my last experience there either.

13 of us headed to a Greek restaurant in Miramar (a suburb in Wellington) led by my Greek friend Pagona. Its kind of a tapas type restaurant so we got loads of different types of food, from the breads and dips like taramasalata to spinach pies, calamari, octopus to horrible chicken livers (which were nice, I just don’t understand why someone would eat them if they aren’t been forced by their Mum too) all of this was washed down with some lovely wine or Ouzo for Pagona, we also had some very yummy desserts like Baklava. All this coupled with great company it made for an excellent night!!!!!

Al arrived back from Melbourne last night after spending four days there, and being the dutiful fianc‚e I picked him up from the airport at midnight (but really its because I had missed him so much), he had a good time, he was at a training course which was tough going but apart from that he ate and drank loads and basically had a good time.

Dinner at a friends and it wasn't a BBQ !!!!!!!!!

Last night I went over to Kirsten and John’s place for dinner and at the risk of sounding ungrateful yippee it wasn’t a BBQ. Not that I am sick of BBQ’s but it is nice to have a change!

Kirsten is an awesome chef and she made us this Chicken Enchiladas Stack, with yummy salad! All washed down with a couple of glasses of Sav of course. I must say I am beginning to feel sorry for her, because when she comes to our place she would have had the same dish a few times but anytime she or John has cooked for us it is never a dish they have made before. Hopefully for her sake I will start to get embarrassed by this and change!!!

We normally do each others hair and she quite often gets left with dye dots all over her face/neck and ears but last night it was a very professional dye job, so I am very pleased with myself today. But as I am not dying my hair at the moment (except for the blonde streaks I have on the sides and grown out fringe which I get done at the Hairdressers) she didn’t have to do mine. Although when she has done them they have always been very professional.

Another Birthday BBQ......................and my drum kit

On Sunday it was our good friend Jason’s birthday and he had a BBQ at his place. Al didn’t come as he flew to Melbourne earlier in the morning where he is going to be for 4 days. There was quite a big turn out for the celebrations and the food Jase cooked was awesome, he did these delicious marinaded beef kebabs, so yummy you had to have two!

After the BBQ I had my friend from work Darren come over to set up my drums properly, they needed a few adjustments but myself or Al didn’t know what type of adjustment. I have also now put a pillow in the base drum so the sound is much better. As a result I have my kit all ready to start playing properly well as properly as a learner can play. Kirsten and John came over and had a bash on the drums, Kirsten thought it was just so much fun (and she would be right) and John thought he was the drummer for Guns and Roses (and he would be wrong) but they are right it is so much fun and Al is really enjoying them too which is great, I cant wait to start lessons again in two weeks!

My favourite big nieces birthday

Last Saturday our eldest niece Emma turned 11, she is a great 11 year old though she is at that stage when she is as mature as a teenager but as affectionate as a 5 year old, she doesn’t have any embarrassment about giving either of us hugs. Which is something I hope she doesn’t lose and to be honest I can’t see her losing it either, she has the biggest heart and has always been a sweetie so it looks like we will have many more years of hugs to come.

For her birthday the whole family gathered at their house in Raumati for a good few bottles of wine and some yummy pizza! I will upload a photo once I get one. Next Friday is my brother in laws birthday and that will end the birthday season for awhile I am all BBQ and birthday caked out!!!!!

Me and Jade

This photo was taken when Jade was three days old and I went to meet her for the first time in the hospital, she is a cutie !!!!

Is it possible I could make more noise than I already do?

Hell yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am now the proud owner of a second-hand drum kit !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have the picture attached but to give you a run down of this wonderful set up that I am going to be the next Rick Allen (Def Leppard one armed drummer, awesome dude!!)
I don’t know the exact dimensions but it’s around the following
22"x16" Bass Drum 16"x16" Floor Tom 13"x11" Tom 12"x10" Tom 14"x5.5" Snare Drum 14" Hi-Hat 16" Crash

It also comes with all the pedals, stands and the chair !

I checked it out last night and when we got home we made an offer on it and they accepted so we are going to pick it up tonight !!

I must say Al was a bit dubious at first but he knows how much and for how long I wanted to play the drums and I have had 8 lessons before I have bought them so he is being so supportive on this, how cool is he eh? I got him to have a bash on them too last night and I saw the look in his eyes I think he could fall in love with drumming too, if not he can continue playi8ng the guitar and we can jam and stuff together.

I am not going to go back to lessons for 2 weeks this will give me a chance to refresh the stuff I already learnt as I still have all the lesson notes etc and once I have got the basics again I will start back at lessons.

A great ad !!!!!!!!

http://www.bigad.com.au

This ad is a must to check out

Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another BBQ

Just when you though you were all BBQ’d out we get invited up the line to Susan and Kim’s place for a family BBQ. We had planned on spending the day at home doing household chores etc but it’s the summer the time for BBQ’s so you cant help yourself but say yes to all those delicious invites. It was good to see everyone and Susan did some experimenting with salads she made this most delicious rice salad which I have to get the recipe for and try to recreate she also made this Greek salad which was also very yummy. We rode the bike up there and it was a very windy ride up there but the ride back was brilliant no wind at all.

BBQ, Babies and the Speedway

What else could you want for a great Saturday in the summer??

Our friend John (whom we went down south with) had a birthday BBQ lunch on sat and yet again the good old Island Bay butcher was visited. John and Kirsten are amazing cooks and this was no exception we dined on a multitude of international style sausages, wallaby (similar to a kangaroo) burgers and the most divine salads you could imagine and more variety of breads than a bakery, all I can say is if you get an invite to their place you should cancel your own wedding to make it !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Later on that afternoon we popped over to see Jade, Liane and Alan’s baby girl, you will have seen a photo of her in an earlier blog. She is now three weeks old but 3 millions times cuter and if she keep getting cuter at this rate she will be as beautiful as me !!!! he he he She is such a content little girl however I did get nervous holding her, I know she is not made of paper but she is not made of cast iron either and when I passed her over to Al I was sweating buckets afraid id do something wrong, it really has been ages since I held a baby. Liane is doing great she is such a cool Mum, very laid back and totally great with her, I have said it before and I will say it again Jade is very lucky.

Before we got to clucky and kidnapped Jade we left to go to the Speedway or stockcar racing as it is also known.

Scott the wonderful hubby of one of my friends here in work invited us promising it was a night not to be missed and it will be packed full of fun and drama and as usual he didn’t let us down. There was 18 races and then a demolition derby, the races themselves had a mixture of some awesome races to some ok I can talk to you know cause the race isn’t holding my attention races but that was generally the smaller mini-stocks. I love the super saloons they are mental and the cars are up on two wheels etc it was very cool to watch. The best part I think was the demo derby (although some lady driver got hurt in an accident) but the way these people trash there cars and ram each other etc is just crazy and they had a ramp for them to go over which was right in front of us and the force some of them land with would give you whiplash from just watching!! I cant wait for the next one, although it is a pity you cant have a drink while you are there, my first Saturday in months without a drink !!!!

There is no such thing as a quite Fri night

After our week away and the three days back in work myself and Al decided that we would have a quite Friday night at home, but how could we forget there is no such thing as a quite Friday night at home. We went around to our good friends Nat and Stu’s place for a BBQ, Nat had just bought herself a new road bike, it’s a Suzuki GN250 it’s a cool little thing but I really see Nat on a Kawasaki Ninja in a few weeks !! Nat’s brother had his new to him trail bike and Al decided to go for a quick spin on it and now all he is talking about is getting a trail bike, I am keeping him away from helicopters!!!!

The food was as usual yummy with the Island Bay butcher (a top grade butcher) doing the meats and Nat doing the rest, oh yeah and Stu preparing the shots of Midori, Malibu and Gin which I invented and totally recommend. I was driving but Al left there a lot worse for wear but as I said there is no such thing as a quite Friday night.

Bridezillia

Last night I watched a TV program called Bridezilla and oh my god these women are shocking, ok for starters its filmed in America and lets face it Americans tend to be very OTT and in your face, but these woman they morph from normal sane woman into a totally Bridezilla in a matter of days or hours even, its crazy. I think every bride to be should be made watch this programme so they can see how not to be and how to stay sane and realise yes it is the best day of your life but it doesn’t have to be everybody else’s worst!

I have also heard today that friends of ours from London Chris and Helen will be here to spend Easter with us this year yeah and also my sister Theresa and her hubby John are going to be here in late April how awesome is that !!!!

That added to the fact my Scottish twin Mandy will be here in Dec/Jan next with her hubby to be Luke it will be a cool year for visitors but a very bad year for our livers esp with Mandy was Oliver Reed’s mentor !!!!!!

Looks like 2006 is going to be a good one !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wedding Date Set !!!

Yippee, we have now set a date for our wedding 7^th June 2007; it’s a Thursday so it will be a long weekend of festivities!!

It will be in Ireland at Trinity Church which is our local parish in Wexford followed by a reception in the Riverbank Hotel, which is just across the bridge in Wexford town itself. We have also booked the band, they are called American Heart and they are totally the best band in Wexford and they are also very good friends of my Aunty Eileen and Uncle Joe, Caroline had them at her wedding and they were awesome! Fr Doyle is going to be the priest who marries us, I have known him all my life and he also married Caroline and Theresa. That is all the plans we have made so far, but of course everyone will be kept updated on this blog of all the latest information regarding our big day !!!!

Family BBQ

No sooner had we gotten home from the ferry that we jumped in the car to see Al’s parents as they were having a family BBQ for their niece and grandniece who was over from Australia, Susan and her gang where there as where more relatives, so 15 in all. It was great to see everyone after the New Year etc and as usual the Scott’s put on an amazing BBQ with loads of yummy food. We were so tried though we left early, which is not bad as we were just going to go for a half hour but stayed for 3!

Our Holidays.......................Nelson

The last leg of our trip was two nights in Nelson. The ride from Hanmer Springs to Nelson was beautiful, open roads, windey roads and amazing scenery, this was a four hour ride so we really got a great blow out on the bike that day, which really helped relive any New Years hangover we had.

Our first day in Nelson was very subdued, we were tried from the night before and from the trip, so we had a BBQ at home and chilled out on the couches in the sitting room watching TV, (backpackers are so handy for this reason!) the next day we went for a wander around town, where I bought 2 pairs of magic jeans ( I call them magic cause they fit so perfectly and for a 5ft 2in person with legs that could start kick a combine harvester they are magical) a pair of black boots and a hoody. That night we went to see an old work mate of Alan’s who had moved there a few months ago with his family and then we went to this delicious Indian restaurant, where I must say I had the best curry I have had since I came to Kiwiland.

The next day we made our way back to Picton to catch the ferry home. The ferry ride was not rough so we were very pleased about that, but no sooner had we come off the ferry that the wind in Wellington nearly blew us off the bike!!! We didn’t have any wind while we were away and it was so nice for a change!

All in all we had a great holiday with the guys, filled with laughter, a crazy card game, great food and loads of booze what more can a person want !!

Our Holidays..................Hanmer Springs

The ride to Hanmer springs is pretty cool and it only took under 2 hours, we had been to Hanmer two years ago on our other trip of the South Island but we hadn’t stayed there, so we were really looking forward to going back. The first day we went to the Thermal Spring baths, which had rock pools, thermal spas, hot water swimming pools and cold water swimming pools (cold being 27 degrees!!!) and they also had a water slide which the other three went on, me I was too scared what with not being able to swim and all that !!! That night we had a BBQ at the place we were staying and drank loads more wine and played cards all night.

The next day we heading off to this adventure place, where the four of us hired 2 4wd safari carts and we did a safari trail, which consisted of the boys driving like crazy men around a very dusty, bumpy track until we came to the river in which they drove through like compete mad men, with myself and Kirsten egging them on !!! It was nearly a two hour safari and on the way back we came across the river again and this time the lads went totally crazy through it about 4 times too I might add, back and forth, back and forth and we got soaked, as the speed in which they went through the water was coming up over the top of the buggy and these buggies are just bars of steel and are not closed in at any part, so we really did get truly soaked but man it was such fun!!!!

That night it was New Years Eve, so after a few getting ready drinks at home we heading off into town for some dinner and more wine, after dinner we went to the local pub which had a band playing on a truck in the car park. The band themselves were very very cool and the atmosphere was filled with happy drunken people i.e. our kind of people !!! WE danced and drank the night away there until about 2am when we started to walk home with 3 lost English people !!

Our Holidays..........Kaikoura

On the 28^th of December we headed off on our Summer holiday, we were heading down to the south island for a week with our two friends Kirsten and John.

The first stop on our trip was Kaikoura, we were extra lucky on this trip not only were we going away to tow ultra cool people but we were also going on the new bike and the lads were taking their car so we didn’t have to carry anything on the bike, yiphee !!

The place we stayed at in Kaikoura is wicked, the rooms themselves are pretty neat, but this place also has a swimming pool a spa pool and a thai restaurant by the pool, our first day there we had a wander around town, sat outside our room in the sun and had some drinks and then went out for a lovely dinner, our second day was spend by the pool, either playing volleyball, swimming, playing cards and of course drinking, this night we checked out the Thai restaurant, very yummy indeed ! Oh and we also had a massage just to help us unwind for the holiday, not that the three bottles of wine myself and Kirsten drank on the first night didn’t do that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

St Stephens Day aka Boxing Day

The next day we headed up to Wanganui (just over 2 hours away) on the Harley up to some bikes races, stopping along the way at Susan’s so both she and Emma could go for a spin on the new bike. The Cemetery Circuit, which is a motorbike race was on in Wanganui hence why we were heading there. We had an awesome ride up, the weather was perfect and there was not too much traffic on the roads either.

The races themselves where very cool, and we only saw one guy fell off and he wasn’t hurt and was able to get back on his bike and rode off again, quite a good result considering the speed he was going !!!! The sidecar races are my favourite the way the swinger has to swing back and forward and throw himself around is extremely scary and you would never catch me doing it that’s for sure !!!

We rode back home that same day, stopping off for fish and chips by the sea on the way home, my favourite you just cant beat Fish and chips by the sea!!!

Christmas Day

It’s been a while since I had a chance to blog, so I will update you all by different dates rather than by a long big blog, so here goes Christmas day.

Myself and Alan spend Christmas day up at his sister and brother in laws house in Raumati (about 45 mins drive away) all of Alan’s immediate family and nearly all of Kim’s immediate family (he has a brother in Singapore) was there, a grand total of 15 in all. But that did not deter the ever organised Susan, she had various dishes tasked out to everybody who was coming and she was up earlier sorting the place out and doing prep of the yummy salad and spuds and of course the old bird itself !!!

Loads of wine and beer was consumed but not to much by me as I was driving, we ate too much food as you do on Christmas day and we got loads of presents. I got this really amazing screen divider of the Mona Lisa, but I am going to take off the hinges and mount the three pieces on the wall instead very cool, from his parents I got a statue of an elephant which I totally love and I have called Grant, I also got two bracelets, an elephant hand bag and other bits and bobs from them, from his sister and her family I got a white strappy top, while I had wanted and was going to get myself after Christmas, so I was very pleased about that ! From my family we do a secret Santa thing and my sister Theresa got me this year and I got a beautiful silver frame and a cast iron frame too. So as you can see I was very spoilt this year !!!

We had a great Christmas day, my third in New Zealand and after being home just a few months ago I was very homesick from my family but it was still a great Christmas.