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.

24 hours of Auckland weather.

I like to remind people back home that while they were enjoying (I use that term loosely) the April snow, I was getting sun burnt on the beach.

Unfortunately I have to take the highs with the lows and today we have been given that torrential rain we were promised. Not that that second picture really looks that wet. Trust me, it's pouring.

So after another unexpected hiatus I'm back. I would love to tell you how I have been so busy with life that writing my blog has been the last thing on my mind.

The sad reality is that my internet time has been consumed with far more trivial activities such as reading other people's blogs, whose lives will always be exponentially cooler than mine. 

Or pinning things I will never make or own, feeling that the mere pinning of a craft or recipe will make me creative or a Michelin star chef. 

Or Facebook stalking that cute guy and wondering whether that girl I went to high school with has popped out her eleventh sprog yet.

I may have been exaggerating about one of those things.

I'll leave you guessing about which one.

TONIGHT.

Day 3 in Wellington. and tonight I am seeing one of my favourite, favourite, favourite bands ever, Death Cab For Cutie.

Can you imagine how heart broken I was to discover the stupid iPod update had deleted their while discography and that I now only have a couple of DCFC songs on my iPod. Heartbroken to the max.

Thankfully I own a physical copy of each album. Yay for supporting artists.

This is one of my favourite songs, I love this version from the John Byrd EP and I love their cover of Brand New Love. The only thing that bothers me about this recording is the idiot who shouts 'I think you should play Lack of Color!' I cringe every time I hear it.

Enjoy.

BLUES!

Who'da thunk it? Me watching another rugby game. I seriously thought I'd had my taste of rugby with the world cup and I was quite satisfied that I'd had my lifetime fix of enjoying sports. But when offered a $20 ticket, I jumped at the chance. It was Blues vs Crusaders. Auckland versus Canterbury.

I will admit at one point I was more interested in the Mexican wave that made it all the way round the stadium three times before people lost interest and realised we were actually there to watch rugby.

My choice in team to support of based solely on the clothes available to me in my wardrobe. Blue won. Speaking of which, I own too many blue clothes. I also own too many clothes but that's a whole different chapter. Serena, bless her heart, was a lone wolf as a crusaders fan. But she was the best fan there. She confided in me that she may well have been wearing red but she was a crip at heart. I took that as code for "I'm really a Blues fan".

If you're interested, the Blues lost and it rained. :( Serena celebrated her team's victory in her own special way on Travis' shoulders.

Wellington, Part Deux

At the time of this blog post going live, I am on an airplane on my way to Wellywood with Sarah. Yep, that's right, I've finally discovered how to schedule blog posts correctly.

It's all very exciting because tonight we are seeing Bon Iver, live. And on Wednesday we're seeing Death Cab For Cutie. I think I am dying a little bit from too much excitement. 

IT'S GONNA BE IMMENSE.

We're hittin' up the capital for four days, so who knows what we'll get up to. Might drop our mate Peter Jackson or go on the hunt for some hobbits. Who knows?

10 bucks says that you thought Auckland was the capital...

Here's a video of Bon Iver to give you a taste of what you wish you were experiencing tonight along with Sarah and I. If you're pressed for time begin the video at 1:30, you won't regret it. If you have time, watch all their take away shows for La Blogotheque, you will fall in love.