Decisions

Well, we are hanging around for the first half of the term as Jon has taken the music job @ Bethlehem College for this long. We are moving out of this house on the 10th Feb and shifting into a friends house for about a month, as we aim to leave Tauranga on the 10th March and fly out the following week sometime. It is all starting to get exciting etc.
This past weekend I have managed to get a cold and now Jon has come down with some kind of sickness too, so we havent felt like doing much, although we have gone over to Parachute music festival 2 days as Jon has been playing in Alex Smart's band. Just to clarify, me as the drummer & side of stage technician, thats just really a nice flash way of saying I was side of stage, pushing the laptop button to set the drum tracks going for each song. We did ok, kinda nerve wracking at times, there's a lot of pressure up there and clashes of personailites, esp with the always incompetent sound people!! I only stuffed up 2 tracks, and I think I did ok. Got a free ticket & backstage pass for my efforts.

Decisions

Home Again & Complications

Well...
The trip home was pretty uneventful, spent the day in airports & aeroplanes pretty much, quite enjoyed getting ourselves around etc.
The complicated part was when I turned on my cellphone when we got to my parents place. There were a couple of messages on there from the principal of the school Jon used to work for. I did wonder at that stage whether it was to offer a Jon a job in music, which proved to be correct cos when we got back to our house, he rang and offered the exact thing for the 1st term of the year (until mid April) which really put a spanner in the works.
We then spent 30 mins on the phone to Paraguay, talked to many people, prayed & tried to figure out if we wanted to stay, and how the hang we could work it all out!!
So we are kinda in limbo, do we pack, do we stay, do we buy groceries, do we...
So yesterday we mainly spent sleeping, playing Far Cry (Jon' addicted) Tani came over for dinner & we also went to McDougalls for another game of Settlers.
Will be interesting to see what Jon's meeting today will bring to light.
Oh also, we had a music practice this morning for Parachute, and I have found out that I am needed as the drummer for the band, and side of stage technician, so that should be fun.

Home Again & Complications

Sun, rain & swimming

Well in the past few days, we have attempted swimming twice. The first time was on Sunday were we had planned to go to Redcliffe lagoon, have a BBQ and catch up with Bec & Josh Gollan and there new kid-- Thomas. But as we set off to leave, the wind & rain picked up and it became not that nice. The kids, Tim & Jon still swum anyway, but we didnt stay long, and headed back to Josh & Bec's house for tea. It was good to see them, they have been doing there house up and added a new deck etc. it is looking quite good. There little one is pretty cute too. Josh ended coming back here for a game of Settlers, which he almost won.
Then yesterday was the big day... we headed off about 10am up to the Sunshine Coast, where we stopped at Caloundra. Tim, Jon & I hired sea kayaks for a couple of hours where we paddled out to the surf and attempted to catch some waves, which proved to be harder than we thought because of a very strong current and the tide coming in. While we were there we saw the biggest ship ever to come to Australia go past. It was the largest nuclear powered aircraft carrier in the world, called "Ronald Reagan". And yeah it was pretty huge, they also had a number of helicopters accompanying it and a pilot launch of some type. I could see the aircraft on the front & back decks, and see that it was painted in camo colours, a rather impressive sight!
After out paddle, we picked the kids up, had lunch, played in a park & then headed to the beach for a swim in a sea bath/rock pool where we saw some very cool stripy fish swimming right past us. We then enjoyed some surf where we attempted some body surfing & I taught Jadeen how to do 'bum hits' to avoid big waves. We then had a freshwater shower in the park where there was sprinkler type things that the kids had awesome fun playing in. A great day, and one in which we all got very sunburnt!!
We headed home, had Sizzler for dinner & then went around to the Gollan's place for Jon to meet them, was great to see them again and have a good chat. We had our last game of Settlers with Tim last night, (while watching Federer beat Haas in a 5 set thriller in tennis) and have packed up this morn ready to head home via a stop in Sydney -- it will be a long day!!

Sun, rain & swimming

30 hour craziness

Well, we spent about 14 hours at a LAN in the last day or so, although the rest of them were there for 30 hours. There were about 25 people there and probably about 25,000 -30,000 worth of gear in the one room!
Yeah, I like playing computer games, but not that much!!! I find it amazing really how much money and time is put on an inanmiate object! My comment to Jon was that a computer can be an everlasting hole for both time & money, doesnt interest me in the slightest. I think it is a great tool to use, but beyond that well... I wont take the liberty to judge, but there's other things in my life that are more important.
We meet a few interesting people, and some random ones too. There was a guy there who was the spitting image of "Kip" from "Napoleon Dynamite." He was funny tho. I played a few games of Warcraft (don't like it think its overrated and extremely simple), a few of FarCry (which is okay, wouldnt rave about it yet) and one game of Seafarers (that was cool). We also played some pool and I had a sleep cos I had a headache, so really not that much happened for the 14 hours I was there, definatley not a massive highlight, but all the same was okay.
I have been watching the Australian Open Tennis today, and hope to watch a bit of the cricket, before we head off somewhere for a BBQ.

30 hour craziness

Goals for next 5 years

Well, I am starting to get the hang of this blog site, and hope to change it around a bit and personalise it. So that ties into my goals for the next 5 years, they are...
* Learn web design
* PE teaching training
* Travel the world
* Have kids
I think that should keep me busy enough!

Goals for next 5 years

Introductions

Hi this is me!
I am 27 years old, happily married, with no children as yet.
I enjoy sports, playing board or computer games, cooking and anything else that sounds fun!
We are heading overseas this year, so I aim to use this blog as a record of our travels and adventures.

Introductions

Public Transport

We are still in Australia, it has turned a bit colder in the past few days, so we are enjoying that!
On Wednesday we navigated our way through the train, ferry & bus system to get into, around the city and back again. We explored Southbank, Queen street, and some other places.
We were suprised and impressed with the ease of use with the public transport and how many people use it. We found a games shop in the some massive shopping centre that had an enthusiast version of Settlers of Catan. It came in a wooden chest, with complete 3D hexs, and pieces etc. It looked really cool but the downside was it cost $800. The idea was for Jon to go win some money at the casino so we could buy it, but instead he lost $10 and decided to quit then. We then caught up with Tim for lunch at a cool lunch bar called Make your own. Then we headed off for ride on the ferry & a sleep for Jon, stopped back off at Southbank were we had a swim in a man-made beach that was actually quite warm, but none the less refreshing. That night we went to play squash with Tim, Jamie, Josh Gollan & another guy called Cam. It was quite different to playing in NZ heat & man did we sweat a lot!! I mangaed to beat Jamie & Jon, although Tim whipped my butt.
Yesterday (Thursday) we had a lazy day at home, and then did the groceries at Morayfield in the afternoon. In that shopping mall we went to the bag shop & managed to purchase after a long decision process 2 big hardcase suitcases for our trip overseas. I must say the shop assitants were very helpful! We came home & cooked tea, and then played hide & go seek with the kids, and then settlers with Tim. Tonight the 30 hour Lan starts, but we have decided to go tomorrow morning for about 12-14 hours instead.

Public Transport

Australia!

Well I am currently in Australia, sitting in the lounge with air conditioning on, discussing business possobilities. It is absolutley riveting and fun!
We have spent time with the neices here, found some nice wildlife (kangaroos & parakeets) completed heaps of SUDOKOS, slept lots, played Settlers and other stuff. We aim to head into the city tomorrow on the train for the day, leaving home at 7am!

Australia!