Seriously - has it really been almost a month since my last post?! Bloody Nora! Well, what can i say? Not much has happened in this past month (well, nothing i can post just yet anyway )

I'm settling down ok, bit tricky at first, but i'm slowly easing my way back into kiwi life. One thing that has caught my attention is how slow and laid back things are here. I mean, I thought the island was slow, but sheesh, you guys are the hare to our turtle! For example, i went to the bank the other day as my ATM card still hadn't arrived. Was supposed to get to me 5-7 working days but it's now been 18 working days. So, i call up the bank on the phone, i'm asked for my access number and pin, so i oblige, only to find out that the code i use for online banking is not the same as for telephone banking, and after pressing 2 for this and 4 for that and several 3's later, i finally manage to speak to a real human being. I tell them of my problem with the ATM card, very apologetic they are, cancel it and tell me i must go to my branch to order a new one, can't possibly do it over the phone. Now this might not seem like a problem to you, but when you're stuck in the country with no car and your nearest branch is probably a good days walk away, i'm not exactly a happy camper. Anyhoo, thankfully mother allows me the loan of her car for the day and off I go to the bank. Now because the Kiwibank is just a small bank, it shares itself with the post office (this should've been my first warning!) so I queue up and when i finally get to the teller, i ask to order a new card "oh you'll need to make an appointment, we can fit you in in about 3 days time" - WHAT? why the heck do i need to do that and why so long? the teller looks at me blankly and replies "because you do" i ask why and again i get "because you do". I can see i'm dealing with an intellectual here. So again i ask why and this time she says "because it's the rule", at this point i ask to speak to her teacher manager. After long conversations he fits me in and we order a new card - apparently because it's a different computer, that's why i needed to make an appointment! sheesh! So, a couple of days later i check my account online - the bastards have only gone and charged me $5.00 for a replacement card, for the card i never even received in the first bloody place! So on the phone i go again - i'll spare you the boring conversation, needless to say my $5.00 is getting credited back

In other news, i'm off to the auctions this week to buy myself a car. The car my sister was going to lend me has seriously deadly brakes which cannot seem to be fixed, bummer really, could see myself driving a Range Rover! Never mind. I went to the auctions last week to see how it all works, and you can get some cracking cars at a really cheap price. Most of them are 2nd hand imports from Japan, but because they dont' drive their cars all that often, the mileage is pretty low and cars last much longer over here than in Europe because of the decent weather (nice dig that i thought lol). So i'll let you know how i get on with the bidding - should be fun.

Exciting news about my mate Sweet Cheeks - aka Jane - gutted i missed it on the telly, but i've managed to catch some clips on the GMTV website - hope she's having the time of her life. I myself have managed to lose 1½ stone since i got home. Think it's the hot weather and all i seem to do is eat fruit, and if you eat enough, it's a natural laxative LOL - nice!

Anyway, if you're reading this, you're probably bored by now - so i'll sign off and not leave it so long next time.