Girly Surprise Trip: Myall Lake Resort

• Destination: Myall Lake Resort, Port Stephens
• Date: 14/15th Oct 2006

Just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU to the lovely ladies who organised this trip - Nattie & Lynda!! You girls are the best!

Also, another THANK YOU to Nattie for sacrificing her car through rain, rocks and rough grounds to get to our destination =)

This trip was exactly what I needed after such a workaholic past few months. I had so much fun with the girls. Makes my trip back to NZ even harder cos I know how much I'll miss them.

Just to recap on the memories and to laugh at them once more =):

- Getting lost 3 times on the way there, taking us 6 hours (yes, 6 HOURS) to reach Port Stephens (stopping by Newcastle)
- Singing to Lynda's ol' skool classics in the car (think Backstreet Boys, Westlife… ;)
- "Mooned" by the boys in the car next door!
- Boat trip with Ian and Ty and watching the sunset
- Discovering the “toilet” boats – eww!
- Being totally harassed at the Pub by lots of men (including the crazy red top guy). And by harassment I’m talking bra strap snapping, felt on the legs, bodies shoving against us, arms around the shoulders and lots of verbal abuse from the crazy man. You can’t help but laugh – hahaha!
- Movie night in with "Love potion #9"
- Our "lite and diet" food (haha)
- Freezing the wine and milk (haha)
- Truccie grabbing a certain part of my "ahem" in the morning....

I can't wait for our next girly surprise trip! =)

*BIG BIG HUGS*

Jenn

Waiheke Island

Hi guys!

Spent the weekend in Auckland this time and went out to Waiheke Island on Sat for a GoRgEouS Sunny day out!! Company included: Sonal, Josh, Marie-Anne, Pumi, Jo and Linda. It was so much fun and we didn’t even talk about work, not even once!

We took a ferry out from the Viaduct wharf and arrived at Waiheke Island for a 2pm lunch. The restaurant was called “Vino Vino” and the place had an amazing view – however the food was quite average. I find that quite common with restaurants, there is always this main fantastic feature about it and then there’s always something that balances it out and makes it crap =P

Anyhows, lunch ended up costing $60/person (yes that included lots of wine – yummo!). We then headed out to the vineyards and visited “Te Whau” which had this 360 degree view of the island, water and city Auckland. It was amazing!! (see my yahoo albums for the pics). We all had a glass of wine each before heading out to Stonyridge Vineyard, my second time there. Had MORE wine and loved the wine, music and atmosphere. This place was a definite fav for all =)

The best:
- Singing in the taxi-bus to old tunes
- Playing “corners” at the back of the taxi-bus
- Drinking too much wine and feeling sick
- The super views!
- Laughing sooo much I experienced tummy aches

Overall, spent $200+ this day (haha, yes there goes my per diem) but it was all so worth it!! Who would have thought you could have so much fun with your work mates =)

These past 5 weeks here in NZ have been quite eventful. I’m getting a lot closer to Pumi with many D&M sessions and learning so much more about all the peops here in NZ. It’s really hard when you’re here away from your family and friends, that I’m really glad that Pumi is here with me. I think I would be really upset and missing home if it weren’t for Pumi here with me. She’s become someone I can depend on when I’m here in NZ. So to my Pumi – thanks for being there for me and listening to my craziness, depressions and for being able to put up with me. *Hugs* =)

I must say being in NZ has really made me grow up. It’s made me a lot more independent and I’m really surprised of my work progress while I’ve been here (yes I’m working 10 hour days + weekend).

The bad part of this whole experience is that I do have to put my life back in Syd on hold, and while my friends are moving on, making more connections and accomplishing lots – I feel like I’m here building a totally new life for myself. It does get depressing if you think too much into it but I’ve gone past that stage and am now trying to be a lot more optimistic. I’m trying to make my stay a lot more worthwhile and I’m trying to get the most out of it.

A shout out to my gf’s because I miss you all very much! Can’t wait til I come back this weekend =)

Looking forward to:
- Girly Surprise weekend 14/15th Oct

*Hugs*
Jenn