new zealand.

have u been to karamea?

no but i'm sure it's worth visiting, the west coast is lovely.

nope. i've hardly travelled at all within nz - only been to the south island once (lol timaru, fondly known as tima-vegas), and haven't really spent more than a day in any city apart from auckland, and wellington/taranaki (the 2 places i lived). kinda embarrassing when ppl ask me about nz and i don't really know anything!

<3u both anyway and will keep asking questions

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081114080524AARco2T

i will help if i can, i've been to (and lived in) a lot of places in both islands.

all (well both) of the sandbox nz women married americans but we may not be a representative sample for statistical purposes.

I only spent time on the north island (though did get to see a whole lot of it), never made it to the south.

ive seen all three lord of the rings movies in the extended edition, so im able to answer all questions as well

i've always thought of it as "zealland" like everyone is very zealous and everything they do is done with aplomb

h, i think our sandbox new zealanders prove that your theory is spot on

i know a lot about new zealand based on the fact that i did a report on it in 5th grade. and if anyone needs a papier-mâché kiwi, i have experience and would be happy to help.

i did a report about maryland in fifth grade and look what happened to me

it must mean i'm moving to new zealand

my sister's 4-5th grade teacher was new zealish but she was a bitch so my parents moved me to a new school before i would have had her and i never forgave them not because i wanted a bitch of a teacher but because my bff was there and i didn't get to see her as much but it's ok bc in 5th grade she moved to england anyway. my friend, not the teacher.

fyi: at the end of the first LOTR movie, when that one guy is in the water drowning and then you see the hand reaching in to grab him and it's just big hand-in-the-water filling the screen - that is my friend's hand! he was the hand double for the hobbits.

fyi i have also seen more than half of the episodes of "flight of the conchords" so im an expert on nz expatriates as well

i'm homesick ;_;

does this make you feel better

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41749000/jpg/_41749082_haka_allblacks416.jpg

thanks for all your help guys, you will be an invaluable resource, i can tell

does that mean we get to make a papier-mâché kiwi after work tonight?!!!!!

i'll get the balloons. will you please by a newspaper? pretty sure we have enough flour.

wtf

you've never done papier-mâché, have you.

god no

they dont have papier mache in antarctica

hot and dry for the next week, so perfect time to do papier-mâché kiwis. u don't want them getting all moldy/mossy.

Jergins, I pity you and your macheless life.

yall http://www.papiermache.co.uk/images/documents/t-apmr-mf/icon.jpg my thread so i guess we're even

time to revive this thread, just in case jergins needs it in an emergency

:) thx dear. get there oct 10 or so

i am here to help.

jergz is it a holiday or are you there indefinitely

because we are gonna probably (hopefully!!) be there in april

!! are you, i should try to be there then too.

yeah, we have very loose plans to be on our honeymoon in april - we're having a wedding ceremony with family in chicago, my parents are coming out for it, and then we hope to head back to nz afterwards for a couple of weeks. but it kinda depends on our work situation at that time. we won't be able to make definite plans till the new year, i think, but i will let you know!!

will u guys please try some NZ crumpets while you are there? you must have with hot hot hot, crunchy brown on both sides, smothered in butter and GOLDEN SYRUP.

absofuckinglutely

we go there tomorrow btw

smothered in butter

oh oh i remember something else:

mallowpuffs!! (biscuits)

they come in several different flavours - get the plain ones or the caramel ones or the double chocolate ones

and black knight licorice (if u like licorice)

and red licorice (it's slightly different to US red licorice - it's raspberry flavoured rather than cherry or strawberry)

and don't forget to eat some MEAT PIES!!

hi from christchurch it's lovely here

perky nana obtained

tried to eat at the burmese but they were full for the night. went to a dark wood italian place on latimer square. we got way too much food mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

but what did you THINK of the perky nana

oh and don't forget to drink some L&P - it's DELICIOUS

and custard squares

and lamingtons

holy shit all this nz food i took for granted when i lived there ;_:

i'm so glad you like christchurch, it was my (and f.'s) last home in nz, we met there, and i can never decide whether i'm more attached to it or wellington, i would live in either.

i've been eyeing lamingtons all week. what the heck are they?

jaffa question: are they a darker orange than the darrel lea ones, a bit bigger, and found in bulk bins at the convenience market?

they are squares of sponge cake dipped in a thin chocolate or raspberry syrup, rolled in coconut, and filled with whipped cream, i hope you succumb.

today i ate a bag of licorice bullets that my mother gave me and then i felt ill but now i've recovered. xp

no they are smaller, though there used to and might still be giant jaffas. jaffas is a brand name so when you see them you will know.

we eyed sc0rp10 books tonight, tomorrow's conspiracy is set to happen

squares of sponge cake dipped in a thin chocolate or raspberry syrup, rolled in coconut, and filled with whipped cream

i am in

breakfast, decided

lol at sc0rp10 books conspiracy, today i acted it out for my parents, i gripped my bag of bullets and waved it lxy-style at an imaginary man behind a counter.

i am going to buy a black beret for the event

<3

i will email you his real name as a backup.

i remember it, darling.

can't wait!

he is pretty tricky btw, he might pretend to not react at all, he has a streak of stubborn inscrutability.

saturday more staredown it will be then!

i feel like a spy. it might be kind of perfect if he doesn't react.

he is trouble<3

this smallest in the universe but very cool hotel room is also making me feel like a spy, and the fact that jergins and i are on our iphones, while plotting tomorrow's intrigue.

i am pretending the delivery of the bullets is the true reason for my trip, the rest is just cover.

this all sounds v v INTRIGUING!!!!

one thing about eating anything in nz that contains 'whipped cream': it is REAL whipped cream, like, actual cream whipped with a beater in a bowl and then applied to the food object. not this weird from-a-can stuff you get in the US.

that stuff isnt "weird"

your weird

f u

i want all this new zealish candies!

"fake whip cream" forever and always plz

f u max!!!!

i forgot: while you're in the biscuit aisle at the supermarket, try some toffee pops too

just sent a txt to one of the boys at nicolini's, telling him to treat you nice if you come in for dinner

thanks. i will stop by

operation sc0rp10 bullet a resounding success

we didn't say a word, just dropped the stuff. he opened and closed his mouth as he read "p**** n*** is a sneak". as we left i turned around to see him laughing.

lololol <3<3<3 you both to death

it was brilliant good fun, thank you, e., for giving us a goal.

i took a pix of the stuff before leaving the hotel, will get it off my phone and send it asap.

xoxoxoxxxxxxxxxxoooo!!!

lxy with the superspy outfit: crazy big hair, black sunglasses, black coat, little black dress (at 11 am on a saturday morning!!)

<3<3<3 the spy who loved trouble

he would have loved that, you know. i wonder if he will tell my sister. he might not because then he'd have to share the bullets and also he might not because he is an accomplished sneak so he might use silence to try and flush me out.

i wish i was in christchurch with you.

and my new boots, i really felt like emma peel!

he may never say anything, just to drive you fucking crazy. the question is what will be your next move if he does nothing?

oops xo

i mean xp

well truthfully also i mean xo

mostly i mean xo

i wish so too, darlingest

hey lxy have u notice yet how FUCKING EXPENSIVE clothes and shoes and jewelry is in nz??

i wish i could be in welli with u when u get there ;_;

i've only been to chch once, it was a drive by, i was a little drunk

i was visiting from the wonderful town of timaru

also: u just missed a 4.8 quake in welli

i'm not saying a word unless he does. xp

ruby, i am eating a box of cadbury roses chocolates that was a gift from my mother to f. at this very minute, he doesn't like them so he gave them to me, every time i unwrap one i meditate upon how you probably would like it and then i wolf it down.

oooh i love roses!! except there are always way more duds than classics, i.e. the lemon ones and the turkish delight and the strawberry ones. i like the caramel ones and the vienna fudge. but they're probably all different now, i haven't them in years and years.

when we go to nz next year we're taking just empty suitcases, no clothes, and we're bringing back 100kg of food

pineapple lumps!!!

there are a few duds especially the lemon ones but the square caramels and the oval caramellos are as good as ever.

oh jergz if u are gonna be spending a significant amount of time in welli, there is this way cool place u should explore at night: it's an old dental nurse school or dorm or something, way up on top of mt. vic. not sure what's there now, but about 8yrs ago it was being rented out as like 'apartments' (more like big big bedrooms). the whole place is really creepy but awesome. i was briefly dating a guy who lived up there, the wing he lived in was like a hospital ward.

lemon chocolate is the

WHOOPS

the worst

talking about welli makes my eyes tear up, i've been getting a bit of wrenching in my belly whenever i think about home lately

poor ruby, i know that feeling very well.

i will give wellington a kiss for you, ruby, and leave a present on your behalf, the nature of which is to be revealed at a later time

@rubyxp: not so expensive compared to aus, though, it seems really cheap to me. exchange rate is much better for us, too

ha
i will check out that hilltop creepy place, thanks for the tip. will probably be in wellington a month or three. why would i leave when december promises a date with the whole Estela family, incl F.

how weird could it be for mr. sc0rp10, if he recognizes me. it was only moments. i'll not talk the next time, either.

OOOMG, the potential for xmas intrigue is killing me. i might have to sell some worldly belongings and sneak back to further the intrigue!

drove through the southern alps today. it had snowed yesterday but today was sunny and the white shone like the whitest white. we got out and took pictures and said wow a lot.

now we're in greymouth, 'the biggest city on the west coast' lol. this country is amazing. i like how lxy keeps saying 'WE DROVE ACROSS THE COUNTRY TODAY'

we did! we drove across an entire fucking country! and i said "holy shit" the whole time, because it's so beautiful!

<#<#<#333 nz!

so beautiful

so much better than au

are there a lot of sheep?

i'm happy you both love my country, i do. xp

hey y'all i registered here to say how excellent it was to meet lxy & jergins & estela this week. i love nz too, have fun there guys and drink some CCL&P it is delicious and probably good for you.

l&p really is amazing. good for preventing car sickness too.

i'm so happy you love nz!! <3 <3 <3 the old cliche about not knowing what you have to till it's gone is so true :(

lxy: i thought shopping is aus was CHEAP! it was when i visited there a few years ago.

do you think you'll get to visit new plymouth/taranaki? i recommend it: you can drive up the mountain and go for a nice walk! view is amazing.

haha hi everybody

@harbl: yep, lots!
@estela: thank you, yes, i love it a lottttalot!
@jabba: so great to meet you, too, thanks for such being a lovely host (along with sic and pato). come visit any time (sandbox, seattle). i <3 sydney.
@ruby: (i almost called you rugby lol) yeah, aus is exp compared to the us and the nz. not that i've done tons of shopping, mind you, so maybe actual goods are cheaper? dunno. anyway, it's okay because i'm very happy to spend my $ in a different neighborhood.

xox on to the next thing!

<3 you all,
lxy

aw, it is <3warming to see you having such a splendid time!

so did u guys throw the ring in mount doom or

real enzed jaffas acquired, at last!

and l&p!

licorice&piss

nothing from p**** n*** so far.

did u like l&p???

can you guys stop speaking in code plz

nz code. u been away too long

l&p kinda nast

i just read that out to f. and he laughed hollowly.

all of a sudden we have wifi in the middle of nowhere btw

karamea isn't really a town. morelike a place.

had the worst dinner of the trip tonight

what did you eat and how was it garnished.

pasta garnished with onions and salmon. salad garnished with olives and kiwis. a gardenburger made of potatoes. drinks where ginger ale replaced soda&lime. disaster all around

not olives, grapes! with tomatoes and peppers! disaster all the way around.

i kinda liked l&p, i hope f. doesn't think less of me for it

if he does i will do a moonlight flit.

that dinner sounds horrible but not surprising.

welcome to the sandbox, jabba hands.

i don't like or understand a mixture of pasta and fish. it's ok with shrimp or mussels or clams but not fish.

salmon does well with pasta!

i wouldn't want like, trout pasta, though.

that meal sounds terrible, i am so sorry.

l&p kinda nast

― jergins

wtf

crackers to try: meal mates
cookies to try: griffin's chocolate chippies
<3<3<3

ice creams to try: jelly tips; tip top orange chocolate chip ice cream; tip top hokey pokey ice cream; tip top boysenberry ice cream

also: rocky road ice creams (the ones on a stick), either flavour

nz has such better junk food than the US, doesn't it?

oh and spearmint leaves and milk bottles (lollies)

meql mates: great
perky nana: ugh

already had meal mates and milk bottles!

wtf is up with "bottles and teeth"?????

pineapple lumps also gross

nelson is cold and not that exciting. the drive from karamea to westport today, and the drive from westport to nelson: WOW

wellington tomorrow. excited

more like mealgreats

they are my lifetime favourite crackers. i've eaten most of a packet today that my mother brought me, we were probably eating them simultaneously, hungry geists chomping in zeit.

lonely chompers just thinking baout crackers.

bye bye, south island, you have been lovely <3<3<3

north island, here we come hurray!!

nelson to picton, OMG, have you ever seen such pretty water!

new zealand is ridiculously good looking, it is the stet of countries.

<3!

ruby i walked by a store that made me think of you: eyeball kicks. do you know it?

also, please advise: where shall i find these buttered crumpets?

you buy crumpets at the grocery store, they will be with the bread. you toast them until they are browned lightly on both side and crunchy around the edges, and then you put on enough butter for it to drip out the bottom of them onto your plate, and then you add a thin layer of golden syrup (also from the grocery store).

i have never actually been into eyeball kicks! not sure what your ~style~ is but i have a feeling that you might like frutti: it's up the top end of cuba st, about a block before fidel's (a great little cafe that you'll probably like too)

estela otm

ah ok well... no toaster nor oven in our hotel

i think i saw frutti, will let you know. <3 cuba.

i asked a girl on the ferry, what's kumara? she was a bit taken aback so i said, meat? vegetable? ah, said she, it's a vegetable, like a potato. found out today in te papa it's a SWEET potato!

sideways rain on accounta the wind btw. nasty day , feels like home

w___ington, w___ington: the same but different

time to act like a tourist: cab + room service, get outta these wet clothes

i think kumara is still really different from sweet potato: i've only had sweet potato fries, but they definitely tasted a lot different. i think kumara is way way nicer! especially roasted until it caramelises a little.

what did u think of te papa? i think it's such an ugly building!

but frank kitts park is pretty!

which hotel are u staying at?

at the mercure, top of cuba street, webb and willis

te papa good bcz it's free, liked the earthquake stuff and the stuff about land clearing (lxy was right, let's put that on the record). the building is a little...muscular? doesn't maybe fit with the city that well.

te papa staff unis soooo ugly

i think it's also really, really dated-looking too. it's only about 10yrs old, but it looks so blah. the museum used to be in a beautiful old building that now houses massey university (go down webb st, turn left onto taranaki and then right onto whatever the next st is and you'll see it).

you are also staying a 2min walk from the house estela and i both lived it, and a 15min walk from the last house i lived at! if the weather's good i recommend going for a wander up aro st, it's super pretty.

if you want a really great view of the city:
1. take teh cable car to the top
2. catch the 20 or 22 or 23 bus up to the uni, go to the library and go to the top floor (you don't need student id or anything to get into the library)

heading toward the cable car now, found bagels and wifi on the way, a treat!

i was thinking about the gardens at the top of the cable car and i don't have a single undisgraceful memory of being in them.

now i do, i was demure there one tulip sunday, i strolled around looking at the tulips with my older friend p., i was confessing to things and he was tsking. i mainly learned the joy of tsking from him, he is a champion tsker. also he has this fantastic suspicious facial expression which he uses whenever i say something nice to him.

<3 your tskmaster

for posting later: sitting outside minibar, dribking more rums than expected cuz we arrived too rarly to dine @ nicplinis, catchinh fleeting moments ofwifo from the airport bus, chainsmoking andt listening to american oldies which i normally hate but somehow they sound so good here ~2 oopsie lol typos <3

nicolini's!!! <3 <3 <3

i like nicolini's too.

did u end up eating at nicolini's??? i had something very special set up for you, but either you didn't go or you didn't name-drop me!

we went for sure--really lovely!--but didn't namedrop. shy like that.

oops

wellington is really rainy, like rainier than seattle huh

hah

i feel @ home though

:)

well, you'll just have to go back again, and make sure you say 'justine says hi!' so that you get your special treat!!!

yes, i like to laugh at these californians who cry like babies every time it DRIZZLES for more than a few minutes. WELLINGTONIANS EAT RAINSTORMS FOR BREAKFAST, YOU PUSSIES.

ALSO: i wanted to recommend certain things on the menu! tell me what you had, i'm dying to know.

i had the special, it was lamb tortellini. also, the garlic bread, which was excellent, so drippy cheesy. lxy had umm what's it called? like if you took them out of context you'd think burritos, but with just cheese inside. what the fuck are those called? and we had two glasses of the cheeeeeap champagne. lxy was drunk (already, from minibar next door). we sat in the back cuz the front was filled up. luckily they had the heaters on. our server was an (aged) male model lookin dude, very polite. i had a moment in the bathroom where i was like 'damn i bet justine has been in here a million times, and through these rooms a million times, how weird.' deep thought i know, but it was a moment of connection for whatever that's worth. we looked for the guy you used to get in fights with but didn't identify him.

Cannelloni?

oooh the lamb tortellini is the fagotini - i actually hate it, it's too gingery!! the cannelloni is probably the most boring thing on the menu in terms of ingredients, but it's one of my faves.

the bathrooms for men are so scummy! they're the grossest things ever!!

i wonder if this 'aged male model' was toni... toni, the boss, is bald and quite big. but i hear they have a french dude working their so maybe it was him.

yeah, it was tripping me out to think about you there :) 8 yrs i worked for those guys, i know that place inside out.

ya, canneloni. it was good. and yes, i was dddrrruuunnnkkk. seemed appropriate as an homage to estela's days as a wellington rotter.

i tried to go into the men's (couldn't find the women's) and the waiter said oh luv that's the gents you don't want to go in there! cute.

our waiter wasn't big, didn't seem french though. also not that aging, i don't think. but remember, i was drunk so what do i know?

why o why did i not bring home all of the mealmates? i want them.

it was just that he wasn't 17 anymore, that's all.

it's raining, i'm soaked. new zealand.

what i did bring home: jaffas, fake darrell lea jaffas, fake sold in bulk jaffas (ojays), chocolate bullets

theoretically i brought extra to take to people at work but LOL that's never happened before! i get home and want to keep them all for myself!

xp oh hi!

it's raining like a motherfucker in seawa so welcome home, us.

ruby, there was also a girl waitperson who sang and whistled along to the corny italian songs. i made note of her.

was it like at macaroni grill when they would have the waiters sing arias and stuff to get bigger tips?

pretty much

there was??!

you've never even been to macaroni grill!!

nope, and i didn't hear any girl singing at ruby's restaurant either.

lol they've been playing the same like 6 CDs for 10yrs now, i know all the words by <3

i hope one of them is not
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_47h8lRGDYcM/SPeirm5ZfDI/AAAAAAAAAwY/Z_xsmoEo_Xo/s320/BocelliRomanzaAlbumCover.jpg

nah but jergz was there a really depressing opera cd playing?

the front room has one of those frank sinatra itsapizzapie albums on high rotation

ya it was one of those

god courtenay place brings out some yahoos doesn't it

not a fan of it myself. one time i was walking home late at night after work, and it was a big rugby night, some huge dude grabbed me round the waist as i was crossing at courtenay/tory sts and lifted me several feet off the ground. total stranger. i demanded that he put me down, so he dropped me. fucking asshole. just about put my teeth through my lip.

oh jergz you might like a bar called 'hotel' - if you are heading towards tory st from nicolini's, turn left onto tory and then left down a dodgy alleyway behind burgerking and you will see a little door and a little sign. it's really nice and super fancy.

will check it out

lxy i don't think you heard the girl humming because you had your own 'i'm drunk, so drunk' tune in your head

decidedly so. sometimes remaining upright makes a lot of internal racket.

i bet i would like the bar called hotel. something super fancy that you get to by going down a dodgy alley is tops in my book.

okay wellington on a sunny day is aces

it's one of my favourite places in the world when it's sunny. did you know, there are a lot of walking tracks throughout the city, you should be able to get maps from the city council (parks and recreation), it is a really wonderful aspect of wellington, i salute the town planners for their green belt vision. the walk out to the seal colony at owhiro bay is also really worth doing, i'm not sure when the seals are there but i went in about november and they were there, lounging about, earning my approval.

went out towards oriental bay yesterday in the wind and rain, it was very striking

that's the thing about wellingtonians: we know how to appreciate nice weather! as soon as the sun cracks the clouds, there's a shitload of ppl down at the lolbeach at oriental bay (3 ft of sand and they call it a beach).

if you're hiring a car, i also recommend driving out to to lighthouse and seal colony at palliser bay (i think that's where it is, i'm not sure) - it's one of the most beautiful places i've ever been to, and pretty isolated. just a small fishing town out there. the seals are amazing, so playful and willing to perform. if you walk out beyond where the road deadends, there is a low wall of rocks stacked up by some local tribe a couple of hundred years ago. you look out to the water on your right, and on your left is a series of huge, steep, breathtaking cliffs - you climb up through them and find the most pure waterfalls and swimming holes.

i will do some research and see if i can find the exact spot. an ex took me out there - which has unfortunately tainted that place for me forever - and i'm not sure how to get there or the exact location.

here's the lighthouse:

http://www.teara.govt.nz/files/p12041enz.jpg

http://www.newzealandphotography.co.nz/image-galleries/image-gallery-26.php

oooh i want to go to there

for ruby

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2498/4025041670_c131287907_m.jpg

>_<

<3

actually, more like ^_^

lolz i hope they didn't seat you at the super rickety table, it's a serious health hazard and has been that way for years because those italians are too lazy/cheap to get it fixed

i want to go to that lighthouse!!

all of the tables were super rickety

i have a bad photo of me at nicolini's.

blame the table. the chair was probably rickety too!

the courtyard floor is totally fucked up and uneven, and the tables... well... the big big round ones are a big wooden table attached to one of those smaller round tables, except the the thingees holding them together are kind of busted so if you're ever seated at one of those, don't even think about pulling on it, because the whole thing will come crashing off. the little wooden square table for two is completely and utterly fucked up. that's the super dodgy one. don't sneeze if you're seated there or it will tip over.

and yes, the chairs are all fucked up. and uncomfortable as all hell. never understood how people could sit there for more than 45mins.

haha, we did sit at a little wooden table for two. i didn't experience any tipping over that wasn't attributable to my drunk. maybe between the table and me we created a sort of white noise of wobbliness.

i brought a bag of jaffas to work for sharing. they were very popular.

wobbliness=character

a short play from two saturdays ago.

cast: fiancee, sneak.

location:home. the sneak has just arrived home from work.

fiancee: hello, how many licorice bullets are left? you are a sneak who cannot be trusted, i think you have been eating them all! you keep saying they are yours, but they are ours! estela gave them to us!

sneak (airily): no she didn't, they were for me and the jaffas are yours, it's just that i kindly share them with you even though i don't have to, but anyway it doesn't matter how many i've eaten because i received a mysterious new stash today.

fiancee and sneak: ???lol

sneak: they must have been a couple of australians.

we wondered if we should have spoken, whether our accents would have really turned things upside down

they were pleased to learn you were nonsense lovers from seattle.

is there cliffs notes for that play

oh, :) !

it takes a true sneak to get a fresh stash out of thin air on bullets confrontation day.

that is awesome!!!

yes, every single bit of it is.

does that store have a security camera? how i wish there were a shaky, grainy film of the event, taken from the ceiling corner behind the counter.

i'm going to new zealand, on friday!!!!!

aw3some. which city are you flying into?

auckland. only going for the weekend, my friends are getting married up in the bay of islands. i've been there before - it was nice!

48 hours till i go to the airport!!!!!!!!!

i am going to eat:
lots of BLTs
roast lamb with mint sauce
lamb chops with mint sauce
custard squares
raspberry lamingtons
chocolate lamingtons
cream-filled long doughnuts
eclairs
mince and cheese pies
bridge pies
potato top pies
lots of marmite and butter on slices of vogels

and you're going to bring jaffas for me, right? pretty pretty pretty please?

:( i'm not going to be able to be there where you are, j. i was really hoping i would but i've got shingles and my father has never had chickenpox so i can't visit him until it clears up since my shingles could give him chickenpox, and he is due to have cancer surgery in a few weeks so i have to be super cautious. i hope you have a wonderful time, you will love being home, i always do. don't forget about meal mates and rj's licorice logs.

smoove is this your first time back since you left? if so, wow. glad you're getting a chance to get back there. i wonder if you'll feel like a different person! or even a little bit american?

two nights ago i dreamt me and lxy were in picton and i said LET'S GET IN THE CAR, WE'RE GOING TO DUNEDIN NOW what does this dream mean

ohhh estela i wish you could be there too! but another time it'll have to be... maybe seattle in the future?!

lxy, email me sometime over the next two weeks to remind me about the jaffas and i will def bring you some!

jergy-jergz this IS my first time back - it's been almost 2 years!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am super excited, it's gonna be totally weird and totally awesome to be there with jordan, walking down the same streets in welly that i used to walk down thinking about him and wishing he was there. i can't wait to show him around, and introduce him to all my friends! we're having a small party at nic0lini's with all my friends, one of my oldest and dearest friends is making the trip down from auckland for it, and my little sis (who couldn't make it here for our wedding) is coming to it as well. and i've missed my mad surrogate italian family soooooooooo much, i can't wait to squeeze them all!!!

also estela i am so sorry about your shingles and your dad :( i hope his treatment goes really well.

smoove can i has some kind of awesome candy?
i have something i have to mail you that i've had since december oopsie!

i hope you two have the best trip ever!!!!!!

hahahaha i still have the tiny present we were supposed to mail to you! but it is a 'seattle thing' so it might just make you sad now ;_;

my folks brought over 5kg of lollies/biscuits/licorice/cream eggs and we ate it all within 10 days

hopefully we will eat so much shit while we're there that we won't be tempted to eat the presents we bring home for you guys

i am here!!!!!!!!!!!

but fuck nz internet tbh. we're paying 30 a day for LIMITED usage and it is so dang slow and cuts in and out continuously.

i get spam emails from a store in nz called "hallenstein's" every day. please tell them to stop when you get a chance

Star of our current production is new zealish. Got a vm from the embassy inviting him to come be honored and it made me think of j&j <3

hi guys! we are fuckin exhausted and having a relaxing eve in our hotel room. harbz, hallensteins is a gross and cheap menswear store here. i will personallly stop by tomorrow and tell them to leave you alone.

jergz & lx: did you visit the karori wildlife sanctuary while you were here? i never went the whole 10yrs i lived here but we went yesterday and it is really beautiful. we saw a TUATARA!

our kiwi star stopped by will call tonight and he is DREAMY just fyi.

hi ruby i am so glad u having a good time in nz. we didn't go to the sanctuary, mostly walked around town. glad to hear ytth is into hiking possibilities. we drove out to the end of the heapy track and i def had some WOWS WHAT would it be like 2 start this? i think abt nz a lot: green like here but different. the other side of a coin, you kmow the value it's just another way to look @ the value. and it's upside down.
me and lx were doing the reminisce y-day and thought back to this funny old man bar in greymouth, soccer scarves in every corner, rugby on tv, a fkin sunset outside, over the river. lx got salty fries and i got whiskey and 7-up yuck and then we walked alomg the river and both thought (confirmed later) 'damn no one knows where we are, this is A PLACE.' across the street was a building that said BANK OF NEW ZEALAND but the ppl had whited it out also it said A NEW LAND. fuckin great ajd there you have it, new zealand. have fun and post pix!

skimming this i read 'salty eyes' not salty fries

chances are i got salty eyes at some point

sultry eyes at the bookstore point.

ruby, i texted you on saturday but you probably don't have your phone on. but i wanted to wish you a happy party and a happy trip. i'm glad ytth likes nz, i thought he would. i was really going to try to get to your party, it would have worked out well with seeing my father, had i not got these stupid shingles. which aren't very bad at all, i've been lucky, but i can't risk giving him chicken pox when his immune system is already suppressed. maybe next time you're there it will work out! <3<3<3

<3 <3 <3!!! i didn't get yr text estela but thanks!

well, we had quite an adventure:

i got food poisoning the day of our wedding party, so i was pretty subdued and couldn't eat anything, but i rallied despite the fact that i had a mega crying fit about 20mins before we had to be at the restaurant bc i felt so ill. loved seeing my friends, didn't really get to talk to a few of them, felt totally bummed that it really wasn't the 'party' i had anticipated.

all my friends and my italians loved loved loved jordan (of course!).

went to new plymouth and:
went up the mountain (jordan totally tripped out on the scenery)
went to the dinky little observatory i loved as a kid, but they're no longer running the planetarium which was basically my most favourite thing in the world HOWEVER afterwards we were outside and HOLY SHIT we saw this incredibly bright and beautiful 'shooting star' plus two less extravagant ones
it rained and thundered and lightning'd like CRAZY the last 3 days we were there - we went for this drive along the 'forgotten world highway' which was incredibly beautiful - through this isolated gorge and then to this amazing huge waterfall (the highest or second highest in the nth island depending on which book you check)
i ate too much lamb and basically had stomach issues the whole time we were in nz, i forgot that i no longer eat much meat, let alone meat fat, and it kind of did me in. then i caught an annoying cold with a terrible scratchy cough

jordan got v v good at his maori pronunciation

we fed the ducks at pukekura park and i was sad to see the koi fish and the swans are gone, and they tore down a big part of the zoo.

and we climbed paritutu rock which was quite the challenge - can't believe we used to literally scamper up there as kids, i was just about dead when we got to the top.

ATTENTION LXY: i have jaffas for you!!! we didn't end up bringing back much stuff for ourselves, we were pretty junkfooded-out by the time we left.

and lastly: had the worst plane ride of my life, in fact the one of the worst experiences of my life, coming back to the US. we hit turbulence after about an hour, which then lasted for another 4 hours - really really bad turbulence, i was nauseous for most of the flight. jordan doesn't fly well due to a serious accident a few years back, so you can imagine that this situation really raised his anxiety levels pretty high.

and really lastly this time: by day 10 i was ready to come 'home'.

oh, i want to go to new zealand! the ladies on america's next top model traveled there, and i realized how gorgeous it is! if you guys plan a hiking trip there, i may stow away in your suitcase (hah! like i'd fit!).

so glad you guys had such a lovely trip (minus the food poisoning). but i am also glad you are back in our world, even if i don't even get to hang out with you.

tza i wasn't sure what to get you, as i don't want to bust up your NN lifestyle BUT i do have two pineapple lump bars if you're interested!!

"please let her say no," smoove prayed fervently.

i am going to eat:
lots of BLTs
roast lamb with mint sauce
lamb chops with mint sauce
custard squares
raspberry lamingtons
chocolate lamingtons
cream-filled long doughnuts
eclairs
mince and cheese pies
bridge pies
potato top pies
lots of marmite and butter on slices of vogels

ruby i emailed you my address so you can just pop those jaffas right into the mail tomorrow.

thank you very very much my dear xox <3, lxy.

i posted the jaffas to lxy and pineapple lumps to tza TODAY

RUBY!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!! <3<3<3<3

(i cast a magic spell to help facilitate: it was comprised of eating the last 6 jaffas from the bag jergins gave me. and i even let him have one. magic.)

was gonna send you 4 bags but ytth only let me send 3

oh ytth.

well, i can hardly criticize a man who did the thing i would do.

thanks again, ruby. it's awesome of you!

did you know he brought home 14 king sized blocks of whitaker's chocolate

i have to hide them and dole them out over the next 2 years

rubyredddddd, you've made my heart sing:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3381/4625039140_5d0691d715.jpg

thank you so much for the <3<3<3 candy!

<3 you are totally welcome. we would have brought back more, but thanks to ytth losing his wallet right before we left for the airport, we only had 4 mins for our supermarket stop.

thanking you for pineapple lumps!

some day i want to try a perky nana why bc it sounds intersting.

thx 4 jaffas i enjoying them

perky nanas are better than pineapple lumps, actually! and tbh pineapple lump bars aren't that good bc the chocolate to pineapple ratio isn't high enough. next time i will bring you perky nanas!!

i forgot to tell you guys that when we were at the observatory i totally lol'd at the astronomer dude referring to uranus as URanus, obv putting the stress on the first syllable to make it sound less snickery. i still snickered tho.