The Pierces

I still love this song:

but if you want a more country-tinged comedy song from them about male impotence (and who doesn't? I hear you cry), head over here for 'Giddy Up'.

Jason Mraz

I've loved this song for so long! I can't believe he's FINALLY putting it out as a single, and also on his new album. Yay!

Katy Perry

UR So Gay - Katy Perry

At first I thought this was going to be very annoying in that gay=stupid way that seems to be so popular now, and that I was going to have to rant about it. But turns out, she really means gay. And anyone who starts a song with, "I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf" is ok by me.

There's also a great song called 'I Kissed A Girl' (no, not that one) on her MySpace. Check her out!

Things I covet - part 1

so cute! but sadly so NOT budget :(

pain and misery... ah, a return to the PhD

Well, despite still needing afternoon naps more often than not, and being unable to sleep past 6.30am, things are starting to feel a little more normal.

I've had a reasonably productive PhD morning - although immersing myself back in all the harshest abuse narratives for one of my chapters was perhaps not the gentlest re-introduction I might have had. Still, once it's done, it's done. Am going to try and have a first draft of this chapter by Friday, so those 6.30am starts may not be a bad thing.

Face-blindness

Theme stolen from Rachel's blog - but I am fascinated by this condition and had never heard of it before today. Explained here.

Back home

Will upload loads of pictures soon, and write a bit about the last few days. Here's one picture I particularly like for now though. How nice of the bird to fly in at just the right moment!

Not too exhausted. Did loads of sleeping yesterday, and I think I know where/who I am...

bridge climb pics

I know these look like those pictures where the people have been superimposed on the view... but I promise they are not. Besides, who would choose to wear these stupid outfits?

climber!

This is the smile of someone who just woke up after having climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge last night!

The climb was awesome. A little scary at the beginning, but then fine - not strenous at all. The views were incredible. It was sunny when we went up, then we saw the sun set - actually saw it drop, which takes about 5 minutes and which I've never seen like that before - and then on the way back the amazing city night lights. Fantastic. Takes about 3 and a half hours in all. Very impressive. I will post pics when I can.

I guess koalas *could* be cuter

it's just not obvious how...

she talks to the animals

and pets them...

and feeds them...

pun-tastic

what is it with Sydney and puns?!!

Iron & Wine

We're off to see Iron & Wine tonight at Sydney University's Manning Bar. Should be good. I've seen him before - at the Borderline, supporting Rosie Thomas - and am looking forward to a full set.

Here's the closer from the new album 'The Shepherd Dog':

Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth

Enjoy

Zoo keeper says...

Sadly I didn't take enough pictures of these signs. My favourite was the one warning you not to put your finger in the cage, which had a picture of a small child with blood spurting from its hand. Nice :)

me in the 8am Sydney heat

that's a ray of sun across me, not a white bit, FYI :)

a couple of pictures from wellington zoo

I'll add more, but it takes about 10 mins to upload one picture!

giraffe (obvs):

Malayan Sun Bear (because it has an orangey sun-thing on its chest):

MacCallum Pool, Cremorne Point

This is a five minute walk from where we're staying, and was a great place for a swim yesterday. I've stolen these pictures, as it only seems to be my own the internet doesn't like!

the internet hates me

and will not upload my pictures, even though it is uploading Alice's. So you will have to wait to see one-legged kiwis, stoner meerkats, malayan sun bears and the like.

In the lounge, waiting for the flight to Sydney to be called. Is it wrong that every time I hear 'Sydney', I want to say 'Bristow'?

I have read NO books at all. But I have watched ten or so episodes of the first season of Heroes. I like it! Christopher Eccleston just turned up!

duh

Stupidly, I have brought my computer and my camera to the cafe, but not the lead that connects them, so there will be no photo update today.

Alice has been off exploring the south island, and Sandra and I have just been hanging out, playing backgammon and whatnot. The zoo was fun (pictures of Tiki, the one-legged kiwi to follow), and Jackson Street Fiesta in Petone last night too. Today's my last day in New Zealand, so I think it's going to be a reasonably quiet one, ending with dinner in Sandra's favourite Thai restaurant, hopefully with one of those vineyard purchases... :)

I think there is wifi in the place we're staying in Sydney so expect more regular updates if so.

Journalistic interlude

Anyone who wants to read the Sarah Waters interview I did can find it here.

Sandra found a mountain she did not want to climb... :)

vineyards of goodness:

photo time

I'm in a fabulous cafe called Caffiend (it's so good, I don't even mind the pun), drinking a huge latte in a bowl and eating a savoury muffin. Yum.

you too can enjoy my sunburn! 

we're going to the zoo... today

Hot and sunny in Wellington - yay!

Against her better judgment, Sandra has agreed to take me to the zoo today. One of her friends works there and can get us in for free, which is very nice.

We've done so much since I last updated - wine tasting, seal watching, coastal driving etc. Not to mention river rafting, jetboating and the hot springs in Hanmer. The springs were super relaxing, and even the sulphur pools were very nice, once you get your head around the fact that you're sitting in something that smells of eggy drains. Supposed to be very good for you anyway. The wine tasting was also good. We even visited Cloudy Bay, where all the Pelorus everyone drank on my 30th birthday came from! Had some incredible nutty lamb linguine with blue cheese at a nearby vineyard too. 

It's been so excellent to spend lots of time with Sandra - backgammon has figured highly, and she has also introduced me to Radler's beer, which tastes of lemonade and is perfect for summer. I need to find it in the UK! It's made by Montieths. Any beer-seekers who come across it must let me know. Sandra's been cooking up a storm during our visit too, and last night made an excellent vegetarian sausage roll. Her mate Ange came over with brandy snap ice cream which also went down very well... I had to go to sleep about 10pm, which is still a bit lame and early, but I don't see the point in forcing an extra couple of hours at this stage, as it will just be harder when I go home. We'll see how it is when we move to Australia on Monday :)

more pictures

I actually saw about 30 dolphins, but it was so amazing that I couldn't bear to look away and get my camera. Alice caught this one - right at the end - but seeing all of them together playing and leaping was pretty incredible.

and some more pictures:

Backgammon Cat

Obviously appalled at my backgammon skills, Rosa decided to make the move for me...

then in a game of Geek versus Cat, it was anyone's guess...

Photos!

I'm writing this from Sandra's computer again, which means I can't upload photographs yet. I'm going to do my best to find an internet cafe today so that I can post them, as I have some really good ones - including one of a sign saying, 'Penguins Crossing' :)

We had an excellent day yesterday. The weather didn't look very promising in the morning, so we decided to go for a drive round the bay, which yielded some pretty spectacular views. It was super-windy when we got out of the car for a better look - so much so that I was leaning right back just to stay upright! Guess I know now why they call it 'windy Wellington'! After a bit more of a drive, we were heading towards Mount Victoria when we came across a festival in a bit of Wellington called Newtown. Never able to resist free music, funky stalls and festival food, we got out, and ended up spending the whole afternoon there. It was pretty great. We saw an excellent New Zealand band called the Phoenix Foundation. I'm going to try and pick up some CDs of theirs, so if I do, and also if I find a better internet connection somewhere, I'll upload a song so you can hear them. I also bought some funky jewellery, including some earrings made of silver and copper from a local designer.

In the evening, we just has time to run back and get changed before heading out to Sandra's parents' house for dinner. The food was excellent, and it was fun to meet her family, who all seemed really nice. We stayed awake until about 8.30pm and then had to leave. Probably got to bed about 9pm... which was a 2 and a half hour improvement on yesterday - it's getting better! I woke up around 1am for a while, but then went back to sleep until about 7.45am. Definitely feeling better (apart from the sunburn we all have from our impromptu lying in the sun festival activities yesterday).

Human again

We arrived in Wellington at about 9.45am yesterday, and Sandra was there to greet us, which was lovely. We arrived then, but unfortunately, our bags did not. So there was much waiting around until a courier finally brought them over to Sandra's place in Petone - which meant that we missed the queer festival we had been going to drop in on. It rained pretty heavily though, so that may not have been a bad thing.

Sandra's house is gorgeous, as is her cat, Rosa (full name: Rosa Parks Free Cat). Her house is a five minute walk to the sea, so we had a little paddle yesterday. Alice was keen to have a swim, but it was definitely not warm enough. Today's much the same - warm, but quite windy - not suntan weather (yet). I think we're going to go for a coastal drive to see some of pretty Wellington, and then have dinner with Sandra's family later.

Managed to stay awake until 6.30pm last night, which, seeing as we set off from home at 11.30am on Thursday, seemed quite impressive. I slept until 4.30am, and then was wide awake for a couple of hours. I watched the first episode of 'Heroes' on my iPod, and am now looking forward to seeing the rest. Went back to sleep until about 8am, and definitely feel more human today. Sandra made pancakes with walnuts and maple syrup for breakfast...mmm... It's really good to hang out with her again and talk about setting the world to rights. It's been three years since we could do that in person, which is really too long.

I've got pictures, but will have to wait for somewhere with wifi to upload them, as I'm writing this from Sandra's computer and not my laptop. More soon!