Why I hate flying.

Beside feeling that flying is the most unnatural form of transportation and constantly fearing we're just going to fall out of the sky the thing I hate most about flying is sitting next to the person who seems to think my stomach is their personal elbow rest.

Woah. That was a long sentence. But seriously?!

It's hit me like a tonne of bricks.

I'm actually leaving. Like, I'm leaving New Zealand and I don't know when I'm gonna see it again.

My flight leaves in eleven and a half hours. I'll be back home in the UK in less than 48 hours.

To say one is on the verge of a break down would be an understatement.

I can't sleep.

On a lighter note, this is what I did this weekend. More details to follow.

"The follies which a man regrets most, in his life, are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity."

- Helen Rowland, A Guide to Men. 

Bootycamp.

For the past four weeks, on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturday, the view in my mirror has looked something like this at 5:30 in the morning.

Minus the smiling.

No smiling allowed at 5:30am.

The reason I show you this picture is not because I want you to see me without make up. 

But rather because I want you to see my sweet t-shirt with my name on it.

I've never had an article of clothing with my name on it.

Mostly because I never joined a sports team. 

And because I have an uncommon name they never sell tacky merchandise with my name brandished across it in souvenir shops. This was very traumatising as a child.

Those who haven't had the wonderful pleasure of hearing me complain or brag about something I did in boot  camp were probably unaware I was engaging in regular exercise. Don't worry, I would never have expected it of myself either.

But I've made it 4 weeks and I've finally completed my bootcamp.

Those four weeks were hard work and I'm actually proud of myself. It may not have been a big deal to some, but to me the improvement I've felt in myself is priceless.

No, I didn't lose any weight. I put it on.

Don't know if that's how it's supposed to work...

But in the first and last session we did a fitness test.

It involved doing as many push ups and sit ups as you could and then running 2.4km.

I couldn't do any push ups at the beginning.

And four weeks on, I still can't do any. But I'm getting there...

With the sit ups I improved by 80. And I managed to shave a minute off my running time. 

Go me. 

Katniss Everbean

If you haven't already seen or read The Hunger Games and don't have the time, you should watch this.

Even if you've read/seen it you should still watch this.

They manage to do in 11 minutes what took Hollywood two and half hours.

Supplies!!

On Thursday night Maureen picked me up after I finished work.

I thought we were going for a nice catch up over dinner.

I was right about the dinner and catch up. I was wrong about it being just me and Maureen.

At La Porchetta were the YSA from my ward and I had no idea they were going to be there. I should probably have been suspicious when Maureen confirmed with me three times that we were definitely still on for dinner.

We had, I believe the phrase is, a mean as feed.

You can never go wrong with pizza and pasta.

After dinner we went to the Wynyard Quarter on the waterfront and were really mature on the playground.

Maureen announced she would buy ice cream for whoever completed the assault course she just made up the quickest. 

There is a video of me doing it but all you need to know is I bought my own ice cream.

via PassiveAggressiveNotes.com

I keep changing the font I use on this blog. 

I just can't find one I like.

Suggestions welcome.

All I know is, I hate comic sans. 

So awesome.

Yesterday I was walking through the supermarket car park with Matthew and Sienna.

My mind was a little preoccupied with ensuring the kids didn't get run over and trying to remember whether I actually had the shopping list of mince and cucumber memorised or if there was something I was forgetting. 

Matthew pipes up.

"Marianne?"

"Yeah?"

"Is the Easter Bunny real?"

"No."

Without thinking I just flat out told him that EB didn't exist. 

Guilt begins to set in and I begin to brain storm how I can back out of this one. 

Thankfully his response was: "I didn't think it was. I told the people at school and they don't believe me. They say he's real."

I obviously didn't upset him too much as he made me a treasure map today to find two notes he'd written for me. 

The funny part is he asked me how to spell awesome. And Marianne. So I was a bit suspicious.

Sienna wrote me a note too.

I'm gonna miss these kids.

I have learned that even landlocked lovers yearn for the sea like navy men.

I'm going to miss this feeling.

I'm going to miss combing the beach and throwing star fish back.

I'm sad I missed my opportunity to go paddle boarding.

I'm going to miss my long walks on the beach.

I'm going to miss doing my impersonation of a beached whale with it's nose stuck in a book.

It's my best trick yet.

Over Easter I went to Waiheke with the family.

We were blessed with beautiful weather. And every day involved a trip to the beach.

I leave this beautiful country in just 10 days and I realise now how accustomed I have become to living near water. I can get the beach whenever I want and it's an opportunity I just haven't taken full advantage of.

In 10 days I will no longer be able to walk 20 minutes and get to a beach.

I won't be able to drive down through Cox's Bay and see the sun reflecting off the beautiful blue water.

I won't be able to drive across the Harbour Bridge, looking at the city skyline reflecting in the harbour. It's one of my favourite views. And every Thursday night when I'm driving home from Institute I have to force myself to concentrate on the road instead of staring at the city.

It breaks my heart that in just 10 days the closest I'm going to get to a body of water is the bath.

WELLINGTRON.

I think I found the hipster capital of New Zealand. It's Wellington. Ponsonby gives it a good shot, but ultimately Auckland just hasn't got what it takes. It doesn't help that our reason for being in Wellington was the see Bon Iver and Death Cab for Cutie, and let's face it, that's pretty much like going to a hipster convention. Only my sister Becky will understand the significance of this.

On the flight down to Wellington we got a good view of Mount Taranaki. Wikipedia tells me it's one of the most symmetrical volcano cones in the world! Fancy that. Another fun fact direct from Wikipedia, it's the back drop for The Last Samurai. 

Fancy that!

According to Māori legend Taranaki used to live a bunch of other mountains in the centre of the North Island where he fell in love with Mount Pihanga. There was a fight between Taranaki and Mount Tongariro and Taranaki lost and fled to where he is today. When Taranaki is covered in clouds he is said to be mourning for his lost love and when there's a beautiful sunset, he's showing off. You can learn more by googling the legend and you'll probably realise how wrong I remembered the legend of Taranaki from my Kiwi bus driver.

After Sarah took some pictures for me I noticed that my camera was already running out of battery. Yeah, I forgot to charge it. And yeah, I forgot the charger. So the pictures were limited and confined to no flash. Still, I managed to get loads.

Once we settled in at the hostel we went off to explore. Last time I was in Wellington I didn't really think much of it, I liked it but I wasn't raving about it. It was good to see some more of the city and now I really quite like Wellington. Not because it's hipster central, but it's just a cool (and windy) city. Last time it was pretty rushed but this time we were able to take it slow and see much more.

I love all the street art in Wellington. Walking down the waterfront there is so much to see. I don't remember it last time I was there, so I don't know if it was all added for the RWC.

The first night was Bon Iver. It was beautiful. 

While getting a hot chocolate down Cuba St we spotted Dave Baxter from Avalanche City.

Then we saw him at the Te Papa museum the next day. I think he was following us.

We went to the Weta Cave, the museum for Weta Workshop - the place where they do special effects and props for loads of films like LOTR, Narnia, Tintin... the list is pretty long. It was a pretty cool little place, whether it was worth the bus trip out to I'm not sure.

You could however buy your own set of hand painted prosthetic Hobbit ears for a mere $52. Who can argue with that?!

We caught up with our mates Gollum and Lurtz while we were there. They say hey by the way.
[Thank you Sarah for the following pictures - I was saving my battery for DCFC]

We went up in the cable car and had a scenic walk back into the city through the botanical gardens and checked out the beehive while we were at it. There were also many a walk along the water front and various times of the day/night.

After some delicious Thai food it was time for the main event. I say this as if seeing Bon Iver was no biggie. Trust me, seeing Bon Iver was a big one in my concert going career, but this is Death Cab we're talking about. The band that I still get all fan girl about.

Like the fan girl I am, we were right at the front. Would have been perfect if it wasn't for all the 15 year old surrounding us. I could get on my high horse and probably rant about them but I realise I was probably just as bad when I first started going to gigs.

OK, want to know how truly pathetic I am?

I wrote the set list down. The logic was that I can make the playlist so I feel justified. If you're interested I've put it at the end of this blog post :)

At the airport the next day I ran into Elder Mau who is from my stake here in Auckland. It was transfer day so the place was full of missionarys. It was cool to catch up and a little bit strange at the same time.

On the flight I got to live my childhood dream to be an air hostess. Well, kinda. The woman asked me to look after the stuff. 

Here is Sarah's stealthy picture of me being a glamorous assistant.

Death Cab For Cutie - Wellington Town Hall - 29th Feburary

A Lack of Color

I Will Possess Your Heart

Crooked Teeth

We Laugh Indoors

Photobooth

Doors Unlocked and Open

Long Division

Grapevine Fires

Codes and Keys

What Sarah Said

I Will Follow You Into The Dark

Title Track

You Are A Tourist

The New Year

Company Calls

Soul Meets Body

Cath

We Looked Like Giants

Marching Bands of Manhattan

Home is a Fire

Title and Registration

A Movie Script Ending

Transatlanticism

Manne Dreams of Sushi.

On Saturday night Stacey hosted a Japanese night. I was looking forward to it because, well, it involved food. And good company. And when Stacey told me we were going to be making sushi I got rather excited.

I love sushi. Like, if I had to eat sushi for every meal for the rest of my life I think I'd be ok with that.

Despite my love for sushi I've never actually made my own and I've always wanted to. So with the help of Stacey I created the best tuna, cucumber and avocado sushi ever created. I'm being humble of course.

Let me just say I was a pro. I give Jiro Ono a run for his money. Coming soon to a movie theater near you: "Manne Dreams of Sushi"

Also on the menu Japanese curry, tempura and some coconut pudding-thing-that-looked-like-it-had-fish-eggs-in-it-but-didn't-and-tasted-delicious.

Afterwards we headed to the Pakuranga night market. There was so much delicious food there but unfortunately I was full beyond capacity already. And I had to stop myself buying a load of new jewelry. I keep going shopping which is a terrible thing as I know my baggage is already over weight and I haven't even started packing yet. So I go shopping and have to deprive myself of all these beautiful things and it's just not fair!

Stacey and I got hair wraps. Yep, we are 9 year old girls who have just got back from a week in Majorca. But I love it.