When I last blogged, I was headin into week two of my Epic Greenpeace travel trip! Week 2 started out in Whangarei where work went so much better for me than the last time I was there! Our day was cut short by a threat from a council member and so we had to move on.. Damn GP haters! We spent the next few days working in Kaikohe, Kaitaia and finally Kerikeri which was awesome! I had been to a few of these places before but working there meant gaining a much better view of the place! We had gone to Ngawa Hot Springs which was super nice, especially in the rain, gotten mani/pedis (just me lol), gone to Manginangina nature reserve (awesome) and ate some super good food (eggs Benny @ Zest, Kerikeri).

Friday was the best, it was a paid day off and so each and every one of us made our way up to Matauri Bay where we would all spend the weekend, enjoying the Maori hospitality and culture, the beautiful surroundings and each other's company :) Not to mention a days hard labour up the mountain ;)

We all met at the local fish and chip shop for a quick song rehearsal for the gathering at the marae we were invited to stay at. We learned 3 songs in about 30 mins which was pretty superb and yes, we sounded great! We sang Nga Iwi e, Te Aroha & Tutira Mai Nga Iwi which all translated into some very inspirational messages for all of us! We all headed off in convoy to the marae where we were give instructions in how to enter, subject to invitation. When we had all entered, greeted each person from the Iwi and paid homage to the ones that passed, we all took our respected seats. We were greeted by the chief, a lovely old man with a walking stick who shared his history with Greenpeace and the rainbow warrior with us. We listened to speeches from members of greenpeace and we then sang the songs we had learned just an hour before.

That night we ate an amazing vegetarian meal together in the dining area and afterwards everyone set up there tents and joined others in the marae for story time. The fowling morning we all awoke for breakfast and were given instructions on the day of labour ahead! We each took on a job and followed each other up the mountain with our respective tools! Spades, shears and rakes in hand, we hummed 'hi ho hi ho it's off to work we go' as we reached the familiar rainbow warrior memorial sat proudly at the summit.

We spent the morning and afternoon clearing the path way, weeding, making way for plants and generally tidying up the whole area, not forgetting an amazing vegetarian lunch in between! The coolest thing was having a few people walk up and down the track offering us water, vegan biscuits, sunscreen, ice pops and first aid help. It made it a lot easier ;) Each and every one of us did a great job wether it was one of the jobs mentioned above or helping out with cooking. Some people were there helping out who didn't even work for greenpeace which was pretty awesome!

Over the weekend I met some great people, got to know friends better and got to do all of this in one of the most surreal places on earth! There was an air about Matauri Bay and it must have been the chiefs speech at the end that did it for me because it made me realise how lucky I was to be apart of it all. Greenpeace had given me this opportunity which not many people would ever get the chance to experience in their lifetime. I was truly grateful. We spent Saturday night partying the night away before one by one dropping off. Sunday was a sad day, it was an experience I was too familiar with... Saying goodbye! The group set off home at different times from morning up until evening when we left back to Auckland. I got to spend the last few hours lying by the bay with new friends and when the time came, it was time to head back to Auckland. And eventually to the mount ;)

Matauri Bay was an incredible experience and it will be something I will remember for the rest of my life :)

Kia Ora x

So the time had finally arrived when I was asked to go on a travel trip with greenpeace! I was stoked, apart from the fact that it collided with the time my mam was coming. Exact timing believe it or not... 3 whole weeks! After a lot of thought and planning, I had sorted it with my mam and boss that I would do the road trip for 2 weeks and in turn take a paid week of leave off to spend time with my mam. We were all happy! I had some time to show my mam around before I left and she had full use of my car while I was gone which would be great for her. My flat mate and friends offered to take her out and show her around which was super nice of them. Even though I felt terrible leaving, it worked out well for both of us and I would now be travelling the north island for two weeks ending in Matauri Bay with everybody else from GP for an annual weekend of cultural fun!

Jared and myself left Sunday evening with the door te who drove us to Auckland to pick up out van. After we got our hands on our awesome graffitied Wicked van, we set off to Mount Eden to pick up se GP bits and pieces before heading to Thames to spend the night before we started work the next day. Arriving at midnight, after driving for ages in the tail end of Cyclone Lusi, I randomly checked the roster once more only to realise it had been changed and we are now in Paeroa. Straight away we headed 30km back down to the place I was familiar with and stayed the night in our van. The next day we placed shamrocks on our faces and boppers on our heads for our day working in Paeroa before driving to Thames. It was by chance that we met a couple at the public BBQs down at the beach who offered us a place to stay... Their guest caravan. We ended up having some Paddys Day drinks with them back at their caravan nearby their house and admired the incredible 180 view of the ocean from the edge of the caravan that scarily sat on the hills edge. After heading into town for more drinks, we headed back later that night to stay in our van which was parked roadside by the caravan. It was a tad more hygienic lets just say. Oops!

Waking up the next morning to the beautiful view was priceless and we were just thankful to have had a place to crash without risking a 'freedom camping' fine! Common in the coromandel! We headed off to spend the day working in Thames which I loved! It was a beautiful town with a beautiful backdrop of lush Forrest and the people were super friendly. Braden then met us later on that day to join the team! It wasn't long before we hopped in the van, picked up some more groceries for a feed and headed off to Whangamata. This was one of the coolest little towns is seen in New Zealand so far and Jared thought the same. Work wise, the town was dead but it kept us occupied with it's strip of quirky shops and amazing beach! Jared loved it so much that he was adamant that he would move there. After a half day of working and a half day of sun bathing, we hopped in the van and headed off towards Auckland where we stated for the night in the van. The next morning we headed from Auckland to Orewa which was a pretty cute beach town with many Greenpeace lovers :)

We arrived in Orewa with a team of 3 and left with a team of 2! Jared had decided to end his time with GP! It was official, I had no street team, I was the original member and now the only member! But hey, onwards and upwards. Not letting it get us down, we spread the good greenpeace word around Orewa and then drove to Whangarei where it turned out the door teams were working! We met up with them, many who is met through training and working in Auckland previously, and some who would get to meet for the first time then! We met up wth them at their holiday park, had some beers, created some power animals for each other and called it a night! The next day after work, we went and cooked some yummy Thai curry wraps from the back of the van, down by the Whangarei falls. With full bellys we headed to the liquor store and then back to meet the 'doories' again. After a few drinks in town, a nice shower back at their holiday park and a few games of mafia, we headed to bed. We prepared to wake up early for a morning working at the markets. That afternoon we headed up to meet the team in Paihia, stopping off in Kawakawa home of the famous Hundertwasser toilets where we bumped into everybody! After a brief watergun battle we sipped on some beers as we headed up to the bay of Islands! Beautiful Paihia...!

When we arrived in Paihia, we headed to The Peppertree hostel which the team had booked. Us on the otherhand, being the street travel team, had out van for comfort! As luck would be, GP booked us in with the others for the night which turned out to be so much fun! We drank, played beer pong, sang and danced the night away in various bars before ending the night with a dip in the ocean right by our hostel. It was a frickin great night! I will however add that the owner of the hostel was a twat and even though the signs around the hostel stated 'no noise after 10:30/vacate by 11:30, we were told to quit beer pong at 8:40pm because people were trying to sleep above us! Take a run and jump Mr, it's a hostel not an old folks home! super annoyed we carried on for a bit longer and in no time her came back and warned us of an eviction. Note taken! The sign should have said 'Do not stay here of you wanna have fun!' .... Rant over! ;)

The following morning, after waking up with a headache and a room full of sand, I got myself ready for the day! Paddle boarding/kayaking we had planned! After a yummy Mexican breakfast, we headed to the beach to look for my lost watch, before going back to the hostel to watch a movie and chill. 2 movies later there I was plonked on the couch,with a blanket over me, eating fijouas and toast, with some of the others. It had been mentioned earlier by Sarah and Johan that they were keen to get tattoos and so the conversation started, and eventually ended with an appointment for 8 of us with a local Maori tattoo artist in Waitangi. It was 8pm by the time we rocked up at this lovely woman's house and well after midnight by the time we were all done. I guess! We had left after our tattoos were done in order to get back to Whangarei. We had all agreed over and over that this was 'the most spontaneous thing we'd ever done'. It was 7 of us Greenpeacers and a German girl named Fine :) The lovely lady named Paitangi was super cool and had a great array of wooden carvings she had done, dotted around the converted garage. She explained to us about her Moko- the tradition Maori tattoo on her chin, her experiences and herself as a person. It was a great experience to meet her and in would recommend anyone to go to her while in Paihia! She is also very affordable especially with group rates ;)

And did I mention what tattoo I got??? I decided on a random stickman on my ribs but instead of just giving the peace sign, like I had mentioned earlier, I got him in Warrior 2 yoga pose :) Pretty random i know! But when In Rome... Aka Paihia :) (with awesome people) So week two will consist of 4 days travelling around before venturing up to Matauri Bay on Friday for our epic annual Greenpeace shindig! This place, for anyone unaware, is the memorial place for the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior. I had visited there with Amy on our little road trip in January and here is a taster...

Pretty cool eh? So let's get going with a week two and bring on Matauri Bay in a few days!

Peace out world travellerz! xx

J

So for a lot of my blog readers, you will already know I am now living in the beautiful town of Mount Maunganui in the north island of New Zealand. For the rest of you who may not have known, well, now you do. 'The mount' is an awesome, chilled, atmospheric place with a truly summery vibe, perfect for me.

I first came to know the mount from a nice a girl by the name of Sarah who I met in Malaysia and who joined us for my birthday dinner celebrations in Langkawi. She checked out the next day but I was left with a nice little note filled with places she thought I would like to live. On the top of the list was Mount Maunganui which at first 'google images' I chose. It happened to be the home of my previous travel mates Midge and Mark whom I had met in Brazil last summer, which was great!

During my first few weeks in The Mount, I was constantly checking flatmates wanted ads on TradeMe.nz, my saviour website for everything from flats to jobs to motors. It is the Gumtree of New Zealand and is so helpful. So much so that, an ad I posted for flatmates, caught the attention of Kiran who in turn became my flatmate at a super cool town house. Following this, the website also helped us find out flat mate Ross who had seen our ad and responded.

Apart from websites, New World, Countdown and Woolworths supermarkets all have notice boards filled with heaps of ads for everything around town whether it's work, flats or maybe even a surfboard to get out there and learn on. Anything goes, and you could find a great bargain.

When it comes to shopping, I find NZ to be a tad more expensive than home and even the 'cheap' shops just don't compare to Penneys/Primark prices. This only means one thing... I get to go opp shopping and market shopping a lot more than I normally would. It may not be for everyone but if you are into vintage, chic one offs that you know not everyone will be wearing then go for it! It's extremely cheap and you know your helping out a good cause. My favourites are Red Cross and the Salvation Army to name but few. The Mount and Tauranga town have awesome 'little big markets' once a month over summer which is where I picked up some vintage goods from a little known stall called Trash Bag Diaries, which is on FB! They have super cheap, retro, vintage pieces which if you are quirky like me then you will love!

When it comes to phone companies, NZ has not got as cheap prepaid deals as they do in Ireland but they do have some decent ones. Skinny is very cheap and has some good deals but note that no companies here offer unlimited data which is the downfall for me. The good news is, Skinny and Telecom both pick up the free 1gb per day wifi hotspots scattered around town which is awesome. Another good thing to note is that when road tripping etc, most libraries around NZ have free wifi outside which can be very handy. So with both options you will never be stuck.

Rent is generally paid weekly and can range from as cheap as $100 to anything really depending on what you want and location. Hostels tend to be around $170 + a week so if you are staying longer than a week than maybe look for a short term rental to save money. If you need to get around, you can easily buy cheap bikes (got mine new from KMart for $79) or a car for as little as $900 for a decent runner. Obviously you can spend as much as you like bit generally if you are a traveller you are on a budget right? ;) Car insurance is super cheap here because it is not necessary but if you are like me and would prefer to be safe than sorry, than just pay the $150 for a year and relax. You can also add drivers to your policy for free should you have friends staying over or family visiting.

Grocery shopping.... The nessesity for every backpacker. We can't afford to eat out constantly right? Unless we are in Asia of course! So we need to shop smart and stock up. Being vegetarian has proved expensive in some places and here can be one of them if you don't shop around. Branded stuff like Quorn etc that can be cheap at home, definitely isn't here, so I choose go eat a lot of yummy falafel which can be added to tonnes of dishes for dinner or lunches. In general the basics are not too expensive such as bread milk eggs and cheese although cheese kind of is. Shop around though because a lot of shops have different deals and having a 'One Card' or 'FlyBuys' card can save you a few bob. When it comes to alcohol, it's a bit expensive so as per usual, just buy some beers in the supermarket and chill at home before going out. Saves you a fortune :)

There are a lot of activities here to do but many can cost quite a bit. It is the adventure capital of the world right :) You can always go on hikes, do yoga on the beach, go running, biking or walking around beautiful areas which is free. Grab one nz has some good deals for activities such as black water rafting, kayaking etc which can save you half the price. In general from talking to travellers here, buying a package works out much cheaper if you plan to do a sky dive, bungy, canyon swing, fox glacier walking etc. So I will post more about that once I start getting into the adventure side of things in a few months.

When it comes to jobs, timing is everything. Know where and when the season starts for industries before settling down, such as fruit picking areas, ski season, summer jobs etc. Picking up jobs in restaurants and cafés is pretty easy in summer which is what I did to begin with. I then got hired by Greenpeace NZ (thanks TradeMe) after 3 stages of interviews and have now been promoted to team leader which I'm excited about. It is an awesome job and I get to meet some great people every day and help save their environment. With the opportunity to travel around this beautiful country, I couldn't have landed myself a better job! Thanks Greenpeace :)

Hairdressing and Beauty Therapies here are normal priced but for backpackers it may work out to go to the academies on training days for a cheap hair cut or manicure :) Grab one also has deals on these sort of things so have a look. NZ is am awesome country and from what iv seen it has everything a country should have. It may be a tad bit more expensive than the rest of the world but when you change your money over from Pounds/Euros etc you get a tidy little extra few bob ;)

Hairdressing and Beauty Therapies here are normal priced but for backpackers it may work out to go to the academies on training days for a cheap hair cut or manicure :) Grab one also has deals on these sort of things so have a look. NZ is am awesome country and from what iv seen it has everything a country should have. It may be a tad bit more expensive than the rest of the world but when you change your money over from Pounds/Euros etc you get a tidy little extra few bob ;)

NZ is the kind of country that has everything you could want and working such tiny distances. Someone once told me when I first arrived, 'you can go for a surf in the morning and then head inland a few hours and ski that same afternoon'... It's a travellers dream and the best way to get around is definitely by car (preferably a van or station wagon to sleep in)then get yourself one if you are keen to explore the ins and outs of a superb country. Iv still got 9 months left here and I am sure I will have plenty more tips and tricks for you guys during my time here.

Peace out guys & remember to send me any info or advice queries about New Zealand through the 'contact' tab on the website :)

As the Kiwi's would say...Sweet As Bro!!

As luck would have it, my old friend Amy, whom I had met last year in Hollywood, happened to be in Auckland the same time as me. It worked out perfectly as I and just been sent up there for two weeks to train for my new job with Greenpeace New Zealand, and she was planning to be there that same time. We met up during the first week, the day before her birthday and within ten minutes we had planned a trip together to the Bay of Islands that weekend. It was the long weekend, and she had mentioned she wanted to go swimming with dolphins and also up to Cape Reinga which I totally was up for. The next evening we met up after work, the day of her birthday and went straight to the tattoo/piercing studio, a place that seemed to be tradition for us, having gotten tattooed together in Venice beach last year. We bought, birthday food and later on attempted to bake a cake, which after it exploded in the oven, looked more like some sort of crumble. Nevertheless, we downed some beers, iced the rocky cake and drunkenly decorated it with glitter pens. It may have looked messed up but it tasted damn nice!

The next day, whilst I was at work, Amy did some research and it seemed that we had found a camper to rent for the long weekend. She planned to collect it that afternoon and we would leave that evening to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. Later on, I rushed back from Papakura in South Auckland, made a beeline for the shower and quickly packed my monstrosity of a suitcase for the weekend. I was so excited for my second road trip of New Zealand and to properly get to travel with Amy. That evening, I was picked up from my hostel in a massive, bright orange, ‘Spaceship’ with the name ‘Lord Crum’ on the side. When I got in, I totally got why it was called a spaceship, It was huge. We dropped her friend back to his hostel and went on our way Northland bound. When we arrived in Paihia, we found a great camping spot and so we set up the back of the van and prepared for our first night of the trip. Our van, which came with all your usual utensils, a lot of space, a large bed and even a top notch dvd player/tv, was perfect for us. We fell asleep that night to the DVD ‘Going the Distance’. The next morning we awoke to the beautiful sun outside the car complete with and incredible view of the ocean and islands. We headed into town to book our Dolphin trip for the next morning and then set off to Matauri Bay, to see the Greenpeace ‘Rainbow Warrior’ memorial. We walked across the beautiful beach of Matauri Bay and bushwhacked our way up the side of the mountain to reach the awesome memorial. Later on we set off to Cape Reinga, the most northern tip of New Zealand. The scenery was amazing along the way and the closer we got to the cape, the less cars there seemed to be around us. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. And we were!

After some time spent at Cape Reinga, takings pictures, walking to the lighthouse and doing standard headstands, we headed back towards Paihia, to be close by for our early trip the next morning. Coming close to Kerikeri, we slowed down when we noticed a rest area and upon indicating, we were greeted by flashing lights from behind, urging us to pull in. At first I believed it was just overtaking us, I mean we weren’t doing anything wrong right? It wasn’t long before the cop approached the window and gave us a lecture about the dangers of sleeping on the roadside in NZ whilst breathalysing Amy as I tried so hard to contain my laughter. I couldn’t believe what was happening. He was convinced her sketchy driving was the result of a crazy night for the both of us, and my laughing didn’t make us look less guilty. With an agreement from us to move somewhere safe, he set off on is way. We pulled out and carried on hoping to find another rest area where he wouldn’t find us the next time. Approximately five minutes back on the road, another set of flashing lights urged us to pull over once again. This was surely enough to start me off in hysterics again. What was going on? Approaching us, was a man dressed in all black leather who, upon leaning on our roof, looked in and uttered the words ‘You’re driving’s SHITE!’……… To Amys shock and my amusement, we told him we were just looking for a safe place to pull over. He lectured us just like the last guy and warned us not to sleep on the roadside in this ‘dangerous’ country. We agreed, to get him off our backs, and eventually he had us follow him to the nearest town where he would show us to a safe place near the police station, should we need help. As we followed the convoy, I began to think he may be a fake cop and was pulling a ‘Wolf Creek’ on us, pretending to help us but instead would take us somewhere to murder us.

But with no options left, well, we followed him anyway!

He led us to a New World supermarket car park opposite the police station where we stayed for the night, very obviously. We closed our curtains and prepared to get a good sleep! The next morning, we awoke to people pulling up to do their shopping, while we hopped out to the first sunlight and prepared to find a campsite to get ready at. After getting ourselves prepared for the trip, at a Paihia campsite, we parked in town and set off on our boat out to the Islands. Unfortunately the weather from the previously day hadn’t stuck around and it seemed to be a gloomy day upon us.  Nevertheless we wouldn’t let this disappoint us, and the day surely didn’t. That day was great, we saw tonnes and tonnes of dolphins, a rare blue penguin, went swimming by an island and had a lovely BBQ onboard before going sailing. Unfortunately we couldn’t swim the dolphins as there were baby dolphins who were milking. It didn’t take away from the amazement of watching them being playful and doing crazy tricks in the water. It was awesome. After the trip, we planned to couchsurf at a local guys place, but instead decided to head towards Waipoa Forest where we saw Tane Mahuta, the largest Kauri tree in the world. The forest was awesome, and with the rain it seemed much more tropical. We found a rest area in the Forest where we pulled up for the night, drank some beers, made some dinner and watched our other DVDS in bed. It was like a proper house in there and we loved it!

The next day after two hours of off road driving on gravel roads, we nearly ran out of petrol (having decided to take a ‘shortcut’). When we luckily reached a garage in Whangarei , I was given yet another lecture from the lady serving me having answered her question of ‘Where have you guys come from’, with ‘Ah we’ve just come from Waipoa Forest where we stayed last night’. She was definitely not happy about that! Having seen some awesome countryside along the way and listening to the Lumineers on repeat, we ended having lunch in Whangarei by the water.

After getting some info from the ISITE, we drove further south and ended up at the Waipu caves on our way back home, where we saw some epic glow worms. We then headed back towards Penrose in Auckland where we dropped the car off at right on time at 4pm. We cleaned the mess we had made from cooking the past few days and packed all our belongings up, ready to catch the bus back to our respective hostels.  Our trip was amazing and we saw some incredible scenery whilst having such a fun time together. We couldn’t get over how awesome this country was, the fact that it is so small, yet has so much diversity when it comes to landscape. It beat Australia by far!

New Zealand is sweet as bro…………! !

I had always been used to either a cold Christmas, a rainy Christmas or if we were lucky, a White Christmas- apart from the one I celebrated in Australia back in 2007! This time however things would be different! People here in The Mount were Christmas shopping in shorts and tank tops and going to the beach during the holidays, It was so different here!

Michael was due to get here a week before Christmas and would leave New Year's Day, so we had two weeks to enjoy the holidays together! The first week we chilled out, enjoyed the beach, spent time together and had some epic nights out with everyone! Our house was well and truly the party house and I loved it! Christmas Eve was spent in Mount town drinking up a storm with Mark, Midge and their friends while we mingled with our friend Marisha as she worked! We had an awesome night which led us back to their house for and after party and then on to Marishas house for an after after party!

The next morning we were up bright and early hangover free, and ready to head out of town to midges Parents and Granparents for the day! We had such a lovely day exchanging gifts, getting to know each other, driving into the lush hills and exploring the local waterfall! It was such a unique Christmas and we loved it. After the boys played some pool and had a second dinner, we headed back home!

The msg day we planned to go on a 4 day road trip in my station wagon which we had not planned at all. Having left on Boxing Day and returned on the 30th we had taken in places in the Bay of Plenty such as Hot Water Beach, Cathedral Cove, Whitianga, Coromandel, Matamata(where we did The Lord of the rings tour) Taupo, Whagapapa (where we hiked some of the hills featured in Lord of the Rings) and Roturua not to forget a lovely hike up the mount the day we got back!

New Year's Eve was great, Ross, Michael and I headed to the main beach for some live bands and entertainment, not before some epic dancing the mount brewing co. We drunkingly rang in the new year in style and started 2014 flying around nauseously on a fun fair ride! We headed back, ate a Pizza Hut and went to bed!

The next day was D Day! The day we all knew was coming but wouldn't acknowledge until it arrived! Michaels bus was due to leave that afternoon from outside my house and so we spent our last few hours together! When the time came my heart broke as the bus drive away even though I hoped I would see him again it was hard not to be upset! We parted ways for the second time on our trip but this time it would be for a bit longer! Absence makes the heart grow fonder as they say and for now I have my 'wifey' Marisha, my flatmates and a bunch of good friends to comfort me ;)

Life is full of ups and downs but that's what makes you appreciate everything that you have. I am truly appreciative of all the people I have met here in the mount and all that is about to happen here over the next few months !

X

Believe it or not, choosing to live in Mount Maunganui was a very quick and easy decision. It came about when I was in Langkawi, Malaysia and I met a Kiwi girl who handed me a list of places she thought I might like to live, given my criteria :) I googled each place and upon reaching images of Mount Maungaunui, I knew it would be the perfect place!

Things started to fall into place when It came to my attention that my travel mates Midge and Mark who I had met in Brazil last year, live in The Mount. They were super helpful to me before I arrived and upon arrival, they had me to stay in their sweet pad for two weeks! I had arrived in New Zealand with nothing but my daypack filled with electronics and the clothes I was wearing as my backpack had somehow gotten lost in transit from Tokyo to Auckland and ended up in Los Angeles... Yeah crazy I know!

My first few weeks consisted of me job hunting, flat hunting and of course earning some beach/hiking the mount time! After a while I had gotten used to my surroundings and felt so comfortable in The Mount, a place that to this day everyone tells me is the best summer destination to have chosen! It would be crazy hard to disagree with that!

I had a few beauty therapy interviews lined up when I got here and all went well until one job wanted me to have a car as the job was a bit out of town. The thing was, my driving license had been stolen in Malaysia and if this has happened any Irish person before, then they would know that Ireland doesn't provide replacement licenses unless you apply in person! After a lot of stress calling embassies, NZTA and the RSA for information It seemed like I would have no choice but to go home and get it sorted! That was until pne day by sheer chance I got some vital info that would allow me to switch to a NZ license without having my original! After weeks and weeks of waiting, my application was granted to do this and so it all sorted itself out!

In the mean time, I had met a lovely lady by the name of Kiran who had spotted my flatmate ad on TradeMe and was also looking for a house! We met up, went to a few house viewings and upon entering the last house we knew this was for us! It took a bit of persuasion to get me into the house as it was a 1950s piece of crap from the outside! Once we were inside tho, it felt so right and the potential it had was exciting! Within two wees the house was renovated and we had moved in. Leading up to this we had met a bunch of potential flatmates who would become our good friends and Ross who became our third house mate!

Life was great, all I needed now was a job! It was coming up to Christmas and Michael was planning to come for a two week visit! Everything was falling in to place and I finally felt at home!