OFF WE GO AGAIN

whoa it has been a while since i last posted
i wonder if anybody still reading this?.... besides you, Jenny.

either way,
better just pick up where i left off:
so we ended up staying in Blenheim for about 3.5 weeks... which is the longest that i have been in any one place since i left kingston mid-January.
and apparently it was the best time ever
there isn't that much to actually WRITE about it... mostly i did very low-key things; worked, watch TV, played PS2, worked, went for walks along the river and up a big hill thing, worked, drank Tui, played pool (i still suck), worked, ate other peoples' fabulour cooking/baking, did laundry (FOR FREE!!!), shopped at the warehouse (NZ's Wal-Mart), spent a lotta time at New World (the grocery store), worked, and basically just took 'er easy.

Grape picking is definetly one of my favourite jobs ever;
it payed pretty well, it was outside, there was ZERO responsability involved, i didn't have to talk to any whiney customers/clients, i got to listen to my ipod all day, i got a tan, and basically it was kinda fun. (cept on bad days when it was too sunny and hot, or the grapes were rotten and stinky and made me gag hardcore)

i got the car fixed and it doesn't shake anymore.
it still smells like burning and makes a horrible grinding/honking noise when you turn, but IT DOESN'T SHAKE! woot woot.

we made some great friends too... not sure what to say since some of them might be reading this (Andy- go away) and that would be awkward. but we lived and worked with cool people and it was really nice to settle down in one place and actually get to know people.

i miss blenheim, but also i am stoked about the rest of our trip -
since we left blenheim a couple days ago, we've explored Golden Bay and Cape Farewell pretty thouroughly but then, sadly, my huge awesome fantastic kayaking plans have been sacked due to crazy rain. so we are in Nelson now. gonna wait out the rain then do some hiking in the Able Tasman National Park and hopefully some kayaking around Kaiteriteri (quite possibly the most gorgeous place in the world... but not when it's cold and raining)

ok so i hate people who whine about the weather.

so i will stop now

i don't really have much else to say
i could babble about blenheim all day, but the truth is - part of the reason that i loved it was for it's normalcy... and that's not exactly blog-worthy.

i hope that everybody who just went through exams didn't have an absolutely horrible time and that you are all looking forward to, and enjoying the beginning of, your summer!

CLEVERLY DISGUISED AS A HAPPY GRAPE PICKER

yup
i have a job now
me and mim are grape pickers
it's pretty straight forward
we have these things called "snips"
which are very sharp scissors
and we cut grapes off of vines and try not to cut our own fingers off
and we listen to our ipods
and sometimes we play our own version of Twenty Questions
which is called: Infinity Questions
a great game
cept it makes me frustrated and angry a lot so sometimes mim refuses to play anymore
it's all very intense

we live in Blenheim... which is basically a hole surrounded by vinyards... not so cool... but we are working all day so that is fine

and today we got a flat tire on the way home from work
and it was raining
and we were driving three strangers home from work
so this guy named "Austin" (american, yes) helped us to change it
or perhaps i should say that we helped him
as you all know, i am really not in to gender stereotyping and the like, but when it comes to things like flat tires, power tools and big trucks, if there is a boy around, then girls: you best just step aside and offer snacks

but anyways

the car also needs new "plugs" because there is something wrong with two of the "cylinders"
as you can tell by my well places quotation marks, i know stinkall about cars
but i do know where the mechanic lives and i will be droppin it off there in a coupla hours
woot woot
hopefully it will make it

it shakes like crazy when you turn it on
sometimes it shakes to the beat of the music that we are playing
those are happy times

anyways
work is actually not so bad
except for sometimes when it is insanely hot and we are hungry and thirsty and we are being rushed and we cut our own fingers
that is uncool
but the rest of the time it is nice to be workin outside and it's nice to have the least amount of responsability possible while still being paid
and we live in a hostel that is sortof just a house with a whole bunch of other vinyard workers (some who work for the same company as us) and so that is snazzy cause they are fun people
harvest season ends pretty soon though
so then we will be back on the road (hopefully) and off to explore the South Island and hopefully have enough money to not have to find more work again

but we'll see

i don't have much else to say
we've mostly just been working lately
and eating peanut butter and jan
and some snazzy carrot/orange/chickpea salad thing that mim made and that, by all normal logical calculations, should have tasted like poo but actually it was the most amazing salad i've ever had
mim should be on iron chef

perhaps someday there will be a competition that involves nascar driving AND iron chefing.... mim would CLEAN UP.

right thats it
glad you all enjoyed the "pig" so much

koh - it's definetly gonna be my desktop background when i get home too
(MILLIONS of pictures of beautiful scenery, fun times, great drives, mountains, sunsets, sunrises and all the wonders of the world, ONE picture of an ugly pig... and the PIG wins that desktop competition)

i have nothing else to say
see ya