Birthday Week 🎉

Monday 8th - Sunday 14th May 2017

The boys were still pretty tired from the weekend so we had a chilled start to the week. But with my birthday and Mother's Day coming up I had plenty planned! Although, saying that, we've spent most of the week making some awesome forts!

It was Julia's birthday on Tuesday, so we all went back to Koji for sushi to celebrate. There's quite a few au Pair birthdays over the next week or so which is pretty strange! I met Marion and Anka, two other au pairs that aren't doing it through Au Pair link. It's pretty cool to meet up with the girls, especially as they all know what Au Pair life is like, we share funny stories and give each other ideas for activities and, most importantly, arrange play dates!

Cushla came for her second visit on Thursday, and brought a castle defender kit with her which the boys love! You build a castle and then use a catapult to shoot knights at it to knock it down. There are also numbers on some of the items so you can play it more competitively, but right now they just like knocking it down!

That evening, Fie, Mara, Fabienne and I met Cushla at coffee culture for our monthly au Pair catch up. As au Pair link is having its 10th anniversary, Cushla bought us all hot chocolates which was amazing! So then, as a start to my birthday treats, I got the hot chocolate cake, basically marshmallow on the top, layer of chocolate cake, layer of chocolate mousse and a bottom layer of chocolate cake. Safe to say it was delicious!

I was pretty lucky that the boys didn't wake me up mega early on my birthday, as I'm pretty sure they were way more excited than me! Darragh was waiting for me in the lounge and then as soon as I got up he went and got everyone else to come so I could open my presents! They got me some chocolates and biscuits as well as a passport cover and luggage tag to remind me of New Zealand when I'm off on my travels, which was super thoughtful!

I also got a few cards from family back home which was really lovely - always nice to know that people are thinking of you on your birthday, even if they are in the other side of the world! Dad and Nickie also surprised me with flowers, chocolate and a bear from a local florist! Was a total surprise did not expect it at all!

Wade took the day off today, and Mary went to pick up Cillian from Kindergarten and then Wade took him upstairs to watch a movie so I had an extra few hours chill time which was awesome! I finally got round to finishing Martin Chuzzlwit - just in time for it to go back to the library! 

After he school run, I made some Mother's Day cards and presents with the boys before making another huge fort surprise surprise! We got an Indian takeaway for dinner, my choice! Mary had made me a white chocolate tim tam and Baileys cheesecake and oh my god it was amazing!

 I then spent the evening chilling with a few beers and watching blind spot so all in all a pretty good day! 

Mary and Wade let me stay in one of the motel units so I could have a lie in the next morning which was a brilliant treat! So nice to not hear the kids fighting over what to play with or watch at 7am! We had a big fry up breakfast Saturday morning and then I pretty much just read for the rest of the day! In the evening, Marion picked me up and we went to Mara's to watch a few movies. 

Sunday again was pretty much a chill out day as well. It was Mother's Day and I had forgotten I had all the cards and bits in my room so I forced myself out of bed at 9 so that the kids could give their presents to Mary. I went to coffee culture with Marion after breakfast as she was driving through Timaru anyway! In the evening I went for a walk with Mary and Cillian but other than that I didn't do a whole lot this weekend! 

Dunedin - The Big Tiki

Monday 20th February - Tuesday 21st February 2017

I was sad to leave Queenstown this morning, it is truly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. Hopefully I'll be able to get a job here, but if not I'll be back to do a swing (and maybe a bungy if someone bullies me into it!). We also said goodbye to a few more of our Contiki fam sadly.

When we arrived at Dunedin, we had a few hours to use up before going out for he evening. So we had a wander and, much to my excitement, there was a Cadbury factory! I immediately booked on to the factory tour for the following morning... it only worked it to be around £13 so I couldn't resist!! Kirsten and I shared a galaxy cake and I got a hot chocolate - honestly the nicest hot chocolate I have ever had in my life!

We then went to find Kathleen and Emma, who we expected to find with a pint of beer at a bar somewhere. Instead we found them with a tasting rack of 6 half pints! They had also been talking to two American couples who had come here on a cruise. It was so hot and I ended up burning a bit typically!

After gathering at the hotel, we all got the coach up to Speights brewery for the brewery tour. The tour guide cut it short so we could have more time at the bar... not that I'm complaining at all! I tasted all the beers and poured my first (half) pint successfully!

Following this we had a group meal at the alehouse. I had tomato soup then a chicken salad and it was one of the most delicious meals I had had in a while.

As I didn't want to spend more money on going out, me and some of the others went back to the hotel. Some of us went back to a room to play heads up and drinking games, but after a while Asha, Ashna, Tayla and I decided to go back to the room to watch Insidious. I've seen it before so spent most of the time scaring Tayla haha.

The following morning it was time for my Cadbury factory tour! Tash and I were the only ones who wanted to do it so we had quite a small group which meant more chocolate! In the chocolate tasting room I waaayyy over did it with white chocolate so spent most of the tour feeling super sick... it was so worth it though! We saw how most of the chocolate they made at that factory was made, and more importantly got free samples along the way!

After getting on the coach, Hayley and Ricky spent a few minutes trying to locate the student house that six sixty started out in. 'White lines, blue skies' by six sixty is our day song, so we listen to it every time we get in the coach in the morning, so it was a special stop for our group!

Our final stop in Dunedin was to the world's steepest residential street: Baldwin street. It was a right trek getting to the top and the views weren't even that good but I guess we can say we've done it now!