Grey Matters

So, I was conducting my usual work day getting up routine (which goes something along the lines of: Stay in bed until last possible moment - realise going to be late and panic - make coffee - leap into shower - dry, dress, wave brush at hair - gulp down coffee - run for bus) when all was thrown into disarray...

For those of you who have previously smirked humouringly at my 'I'm getting old' bemoaning, well, today I discovered my first bona fide ...grey hair...and it was not a joyous discovery! I say grey, but this thing is dazzlingly white - whiter than newly fallen snow, than purest milk, than...um...a very white thing (you get the picture) and not only that, but it has chosen to protrude in what can only be described as a jaunty manner across my forehead.

Which leaves me with the quandary of what to do next...do I pull it out, only to risk the myth that 2 will grow back in its place being true?? do I have to start buying 'covers grey naturally' hair dye?? should I just accept that I'm growing old (dis)gracefully?? Should I pay heed to P.G. Wodehouse?? Or should I just ignore it and stop over re-acting...?!

Shark Mobile

I did spot this in Auckland:



- the must have mode of transport for the discerning shark about town.

I'm back!

And indeed have been for nearly a week, but have also been manically busy combined with sleep deprived, which is not a complimentary combination to blogging...
New Zealand was absolutely amazing, and at some point I will get round to posting some photos and updates of what I got up to...

But for now its bath and bed as have just got back from working on X-Factor Live - NOT a pleasant experience!

PS to Steve - Sorry I missed last recycle collective, but if I'd turned up I would have been that embarrassing snoring person asleep in the corner! I promise faithfully to reclaim my groupy status at the next one!

whales!

its pouring with rain outside, so I have temporarily taken refuge in the local internet cafe...

I found my sea food last night, and have decided that when I'm old and rich I'm going to spend my days in Kaikoura eating seafood by the sea and drinking wine from the local vineyard, as it was all superb!

Went whale watching this morning, which was awesome - there is no guarantee you get to see whales, and they average 1 or 2 per trip generally, but we saw 3, and it was spectacular! Also went round the coast line and saw fur seals, and dusky dolphins - was a veritable sea-life fest!

Have got a few cool pics which I'll try to get up soon...

Moving South...

Left Auckland on Saturday morning, having had a splendid time and discovering the perfect bar - I'd heard of it as it was dubbed as doing 'the best gin & tonic in the city' and not only was this not a lie, but it was accompanied by an Edward Hopper'esque interior, cool music (zero 7, est, portishead, pat metheny, royksopp, etc), cute barmen, and prime position on crossroads for people watching - hurrah!

Had epic comedy of errors journey from Auckland to Wellington on the Tranzscenic train....we managed to be an hour behind schedule before we even left, due to the engine not having arrived from a nearby station...speed restriction were then enforced around 2 hours into our journey due to the heat, and then the engine decided to break down at the bottom of a mountain in the middle of nowhere - we were given the optimistic update that the engineer had located the problem but wasn't entirely sure he could fix it...20 mins later he managed and we were off again, arriving in Wellington a mere 2 hours behind schedule...

Now in England I'm sure this would all have elicited a stream of complaining, demands for refund, and genereal disgruntlement from all concerned...here on the other hand, there was not even a thought of a complaint form, everyone found it wildly amusing, was happily placated with a free cup of coffee and there was much laughter throughout....splendid! Oh, and the scenery was quite nice too!

I then spent the Waitangi weekend in Wellington with the winchursts before heading down to Kaikoura today (Thursday), where I've spent a very splendid afternoon on the beach, and am just about to go and devour lots of seafood!

Cat's Travels - 31st January to 2nd February

Well, I have arrived in (very) sunny New Zealand safe and sound, after a very smooth and, noy unpleasant, journey. The only slight mishap being a delay after landing in Singapore, wherby they couldn't get the door open to let us off the plane! This then meant I only had an hour between flights, which wasn't great, but hey!

Arrived in Auckland this afternoon and checked into my hostel, which is cool....had wander round town and went on a short boat trip to one of the island with some people I met in a coffee shop...decided to follow a scenic trail, which we somehow went wrong on and ended up at the island's water purification unit...doh!

Back at hostel now, having had food, and am heading to bar for a quick couple before an early night....no sign of jet lag yet tho - hurrah!