Oh my lovely followers, tis good to see you all again.
It's Saturday morning, I slept in til 10:45, there is gorgeous sun, and I can't wear shorts because my legs are so incredibly bruised that people will think I'm being beaten if they see them.
Is your curiousity peeked? It should be. Commence story here.
It was the weekend of Easter. A time when people everywhere celebrate that Jesus died and rose again to save us from our sins and to bridge the gap between Earth and Heaven. It's an awesome weekend for taking time off from your busy life and really thinking about how blessed you are and what you are doing with the blessings you have been given. And that's exactly what I did.
I went with my friend Gus and his mates (now my mates) to River Valley Lodge near Tiahape. It was about a 6 hour drive from Wellington, mostly because we stopped every ten seconds to get more food, to stretch our legs, and goodness knows what else. It was a pretty sweet ride but I was really happy to have a couple hour break in the trip when we stopped to visit the boys at Rathmoy Fish and Pheasant Lodge near Hunterville. I worked for the Rathmoy guys around Christmas time and had been itching to visit there again. We took a tour around, chatted with Mark, Muz, and Pete, generally took a breather and then were on our way again. The group was so striken by the lodge that we are all considering renting it out some time in July for a weekend of hunting, fishing, sports, and relaxation. I really hope it works out. Back on the road, we rocked out to Muse, Coldplay, ACDC, and much much more. Twas the sing along of a life time and no one knew the words. Well maybe Kevin... but certainly not me.
Right, arrived at the lodge and grabbed a room with Gus, Kevin, Rob, Lucy, and Lisa. Gus is from volleyball and the others are all his friends. Pretty random group, Lucy is the only Kiwi. The rest of us are Brazilian (Gus), British (Rob and Lisa), Scottish (Kevin) and Canadian (I wonder who!). Bunking with those guys for three nights and four days was epic in all proportions except maybe the sleep department. We didn't get much sleep. Anyway, settled in at the lodge and hung out for the evening. The first morning I did Yoga for the first time in my life. It was incredible. I discovered that I am far more flexible than I thought, and that yoga really does provide you a great time to think about how blessed you are. Here's an overview of what I thought about. 1. Family (love you guys!) 2. Friends (love you just a little less haha) 3. God and my faith (What more do I really need to say) 4. Canada (it's a great country) 5. My body (I'm young and healthy, what more could I want) 6. Volleyball (it's a freaking awesome sport) 7. The gym (it keeps me healthy, and hopefully keeps me young) 8. Food (it's delicious) 9. Delta Bessborough (I love it and it loved me back by giving me the money for this trip). And there won't be a 10 here, just to keep you on your toes.
After yoga, I strolled the river valley (fake jogged haha) and had a mini workout session in the room with Gus and Lucy (possibly the reason why our room stunk to high heaven for the rest of the weekend. Though that could also be due to the fact that everyone left their wet clothes on the floor all weekend too.... meh). Then it was beach volleyball on more of a gravel court than a beach court. Still awesome though. And then who really cares! It was a great day.
Next day was yoga, fun, hanging out, more fun and then hot tubbing for 2.5 hours, waiting for our turn in the sauna for 2.5 hours and then the sauna for 3 hours. Can you say "Relaxed!"? At that point I sure couldn't. I was so chilled out I would only have been able to muster a "reeeeeeelaaaaaaaxeeed...". The ridiculously cold shower after the sauna did put a little more oomph in my step but it was just enough to get me to bed and then I was done. haha.
Cool, third day more yoga, more chilling, more fun and then the night of epic bruising! Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnn. So at said lodge there is a massive solid wood table who's width is about my armspan and depth is probably about an outspread palm. This table screams to drunks and sobers alike "I bet you cannot start on top of me, crawl underneath, cross over to the other side, and then get back on top of me without touching the floor!". The table screamed so loudly, in fact, that we could ignore it no longer and the fun began. I'll put a couple pics on Facebook so you can appreciate the magnitude of this task. Needless to say, I attempted to master the table game. Impressively, I got the furthest of all the girls, and even held my own against the gentlemen. While I didn't take away bragging rights from that night, I did take away 4 massive bruises. I have two large kiwi sized purple bruises on my right arm. One fist sized purple purple bruise on my left inner thigh. And one long outstretched palm sized purple and green bruise on my inner right thigh. They hurt, they are beautiful, and they are my trophies of the moment. Kevin actually completed the table -- he was the only one to do so -- and Gus and Rob and I just took away bruises.
Next morning, yoga, and leaving the lodge.
So ya. That was my Easter weekend boys and girls.
Now I'm back on the house. We have the floors down and sanded now. We have removed the back 2 walls and floor and put them back in and down. The bathroom is complete so I now have a shower in the house! Matt's bedroom is finished. The kitchen has been fully relocated and still exsists of only a sink and microwave and toaster. We got a bbq and have stashed that in the back. Steak, sausages and pancakes are our three dishes of choice to cook on the bbq. It's nice to not be buying precooked stuff anymore. My room is still a distaster. We replaced the back part of the roof that was leaking so now the house is nearly water tight. I was throwing chunks of corrogated iron from the roof around when one caught my jeans and ripped a 5 cm right triangle out of my knee area. Thankfully it only slightly punctured my knee. If it had been any closer to my body, I likely would be missing a large section of knee tissue and good stuff. Very thankful that didn't happen.
Still playing volley twice a week. I have two official teams and one non official team. I'm playing fairly well and having a lot of fun. Hannah and I try to get as many games a week as possible. On Sunday this can mean playing from 12:30 til 7:30 straight. There is nothing better my friends. The volley guys are still super good to me. I've made a lot of friends through that club and am going to miss them all super duper much when I leave. I've got a tourny with those guys on May 7th in Wanganui, which I'm looking for to. It's just a one day thing, but it will still be sweet.
Hannah and I have also joined the gym that's at the end of my street. It's the university gym for Massey university and its pretty awesome. Not nearly as cool as the PAC, but I'm loving going there. We got a free trial week and then a one month membership for... drum roll please... $10. Ya that's right. Elliot, the trainer at the gym, wasn't supposed to be giving out that promotion anymore, but he did it just for us. Thanks dude!
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I've been chillin with friends. I've been truckin on the house. I've been sight seeing a little bit. I've been trying not to hurt myself. And I've been have oodles of fun.
I think that about sums me up for now. I'll try to keep thinking of stories to post for you super cool kids back home.
Oh. Right. For some of you this will be news, but for others it will just be an update. Remember my mix up on the way from L.A. to Fiji? Having to by a return ticket... yes... jogging your memories?... hope so. Anyway. I'm thinking about going to Europe in August ish to travel with Steven and Kim and as such need to get rid of my return ticket that I'm not supposed to have. I'm pushing for Air Pacific (the guys that messed stuff up) to compensate me for the non refundable return ticket that I now don't need. I emailed them on April 15th to issue my complaint and yesterday April 29th I finally heard back from them. Well they sent me an email saying that they "acknowledge me email received on April 15th" and would be getting back to me once they had processed my request. So ya, not too sure what's happening there. But! If I do get some compensation, I'll be in Europe around August and probably home by Semptember. If I don't get compensation, I'll be in NZ til the cows come home, or the sheep come home I guess, or until whenever I feel like it.
Cool.
That's everything.
Love and miss you all.
Julia
