This blogging business is getting pretty darn hard at the moment, life is moving at such a fast pace its been hard to take a step back to relfect and write anything down!
First things first...
Portias B'day - pretty full on weekend, took abit of planning and networking but I think I delivered... we started off on Thursday night at our place with some drinks then headed to the britomart for drinks at Tyler St. Garage... real cool swanky bar with a rooftop bar overlooking the port and huaraki gulf. I aranged for us to have some cocktails on entry and Portia's mates from Hamilton came up to see her aswell which was cool.
Next day we were hanging but had to get on with work and leave early so we could go to rotorua. I booked us in at a private room at The KiwiPacka, a little way out of the CBD. We went to Lava bar to meet up with Kerbie for some drinks on the house and catch up. Salty was in town aswell but 2 of his broken down Stray buses we passed on the way, sadly wernt haha.
Friday we got up bright and early for the best wake-me-up you can have... H2-0go (zorbing with water in it) We got 2 goes on it and again Ogo guys were awesome even at 9am in the morning! Next was Rainbow Springs nature park for some kiwi birds and erm other nature shit haha. Again portia knew nothing of where or what we were doing, just taking instructions from me... We then jumped on the Gondola to head up to the Luge we're I hate to say... she beat me... 3 times :/
I got my revenge though at mini-golf. We headed back into the CBD for lunch at a gourmet pizza place, was fucking mean... wish I could remember what it was called or where it was... problem with Rotorua is that all roads look the same!
We went back to the hostel to get our swimwear then drove out to Hells Gate geothermal spa for a relaxing mud bath. Rotorua doesnt disapoint with its smell of sulphur and it was particularly bad at Hells Gate!
Next stop was Bistro 1824 for dinner, the food was gorgeous, I think I went for the Lamb and Portias I cant remember but hers was amazing too.
The SOCIAL
being part of the nomads group means 1 thing... Industry partys! The Social is nomads attempt to have all nomads bar hosting an industry party on the same night with the same theme. The theme was christmas in july and it went off! The nerves before hand were unbearable, I felt sick. This was the first industry party I had to plan and it had to be perfect! Unfortunately my memory of it wasnt great haha
Auckland Jet Boat.
AJB, hosted a little get together as a thank you for the Industry as they have been going for over 6 months now. It was a cool little shindig on their float and a good chance to network around. AJB is 1 company I really wish the best for as there product comes highly recommend and at a price which doesnt hurt your wallet.
The Beer Pong Champs.
Now, this blog is kinda short for the length of time it spans because of this one event. I am so dead to the world right now, typing is making me feel ill haha.
This was the 1st event I've planned at The Camel off my own back with no budget and just a prayer to hope it goes well.... and it did!
we had 21 teams enter and each had 2 stabs at the tournament... in the main competition then losers competition. with cash prizes, bar tabs and travel prizes up for grabs, everyone had a good time.
We had 4 tables up in the camel, moved the pool table and brought in an awesome tournament. We did a good taking over the bar and the gave the KiwiPong guys some ideas to further their business.
Also, Me and Koon won. just thought I'd share that.
Now the fun stuff has been blogged, now the exciting future stuff. So with the recent riots in the UK and the state of the job market, I've put off moving back now. The original plan was for Portia to come with me and we live in Liverpool for a couple of years. Now the plan is, Travel to the UK to see everyone and use the journey back to travel abit more of the world. When we get back to Auckland, fingers crossed. We will have been granted with my Australian Visa.
I've been researching and watching videos and have my heart set on Melbourne. Now I always thought either Sydney or Brisbane (if i was to ever go to aussie) but because of the milder climate in Melbourne and just how sporting mad they are, I can't shake that idea. Obviously I have Portia to think of as she has family in Perth but it's just so far out that a trip to the east coast would have to be planned well in advance. So yeah, the plan is... holiday in Samoa. Fly to London, Fly to Spain, Fly to Auckland then come across to Aussie when my visa is granted
Friday, August 12, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
1 month on and fuck it's cold!
So again I've been real lax in writing my blog. I can't blame it on being too busy because my hours are beginning to get back to being around 40hrs and apart from seeing Portia on mondays and over the weekends I've still got thursday night to myself.
Right, now I've got to remember what I've been doing over the last month (checking facebook status's etc)
16th May.. me and portia became facebook official... really gay I've mentioned that but atleast I can refer back to it to make me look like a good boyfriend haha
I made some changes to the bar this month like bringing a jagermeister pool cloth (1 of only a few bars in nz with this pool cloth!) and a beer pong table for wednesday nights (which has gone down a fucking treat!)
19th May: NZ did the SuperHaka. This was a charity fundraiser to help the victims of the recent Christchurch earthquakes. The city has been harshly treated by mother nature in the past few months with 3,100 earthquakes... 125 over magnitude 4 and 14 over magnitude 5. They live constantly in fear of more to the effect of the February 22nd quake which devasted the city to rubble. The idea of the superhaka was to get people all over nz doing the same haka dedicated the people of chch and raise money. Nomads took a team down to Aotea square in Auckland to do it. It was freezing cold but we did our best! http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150628650755057&comments
May 20th. One of the highlights of the past month... Shake The Lake in Rotorua.
After the succcess of the past 2 boat parties in Auckland, Rotorua held one sponsored by Kaitiaki Rafting. Dribbles before his departure to Thailand organised a bus for everyone in Auckland to drive down friday. In true dribbles fashion he didn't organise it well as we had half a passenger list meaning we had to make a detour through south auckland before we found out, meaning we were just in time for the party. Get V.I.P (which infact was a v.i.p area at the back of the boat for just industry people with a free bar and feed. Saturday morning do a raft with kaitiaki. The party was awesome and State of Mind (one of NZ's premier drum and bass bands) was headlining. I'm not completely into my DnB but it was pretty good. Afterwards we had the V.I.P after party at Shaken Joe's but after a couple of beers we all headed to Lava Bar across from Base where we were staying. The bar manager bernie remembered me from Aucks (apartly I got him fucked up) and he made it my mission to mess me up. I rode his shots well taking them in my stride but I don;t remember leaving and woke up in a different room to one I checked into!
Sunday morning we were supposed to be doing a kaitiaki raft but this wasn't organised so we went for a walk down to the lake for a feed while we waited to find out. We ended up doing an OGO zorb which was fucking cool!
On the way back to Aucks, me and Ganna started drinking on the bus which got Digger our driver in the mood. Once we got back into Aucks, me and him hit up globe before heading to the drivers flat in Nomads and getting on the piss hard! last thing I remember was doing champagne bombs and chatting shit to strangers!
27TH May I headed down to Hamilton with Portia for her friends 21st birthday at the old boys club across the road from the rugby ground. It was good to meet all her friends and my beers were all free so winner winner haha. We headed into town afterwards but silly me forgot his I.D so we could only go to House where she used to work and this really nice cocktail bar next to it. It had a very mediteranian feel to it and the cocktails were top notch like.
On the sunday we decided to head out of the CBD as we tend to just end up going to mission bay or staying in all weekend usually. We drove to one tree hill. The history behind this is that a pahutakawa tree stood at the summit of the 182m volcanic peak. European settlers cut down the tree and since has been replaced with a pine tree. Maori activists twice cut down the tree to draw attention to the government. since then a monument has been put in it's place. The park surrounding it was beautiful so we took a walk round there and then drove upto the summit overlooking Auckland across Manukau harbour and just seeing Waitamata harbour.
since then most of my time has been spent in work and at weekends spending time with Portia and trying to go out and do stuff.
Friday just gone was my first big test as bar manager. I had my first party to plan, promo and host. It was a 70's party for the Interns. Not a full on industry party and only a week after Mingle at Globe but we promoed the event well and drew in a good crowd from 8pm til around 2am. Making more money in one night than we did for the whole of the week just gone.
Saturday we all went out to Avondale to watch Jason play ice hockey for his team. It was real cool to see the game played live from up in the bar and afterwards we went round to Marcs house in Eden Terrace for his house warming. Me and portia were still feeling it from the night before so we left early.
Monday night I spent the night at home instead of my usual visit down to Waiuku to spend the night with her. It was Ed Browns leaving meal (it pains me to write this to be honest) Him and Jenna are leaving for OZ for 7 weeks but he doesn't know if he'll be back and none of us expect him too even though we would love him to come back. We had a 2-4-1 meals at bluestone corner room and towers of beers on a tab. The food was excellent and it was a good turn out aswell. Ed will be sorely missed by everyone including myself. I've learnt from my time here that you create strong relationships quickly with certain people but you also learn to let them go quickly aswell. But. There are always a few people who you will always be fond of (certain people that spring to mind for me that have already left are.. Sharon, Tuema, John Tu'inufukuafe, Jack, Gerry and now Ed) Ever since working at Fusion, me and him have been close friends. We've shared many a good party exchanging jagerbombs and some great laughs aswell. I don't know how the bar crawl will do without his dedication and love for it.
On a brighter note though, I had a visitor come in and see me at the bar today.. Bethyn. She's back from ChCh for a little bit as there still hasnt been enough snow fall to open the ski slopes there!
Me and Portia are going well, we have our odd arguements and disagreements like any couple does but we know to talk about things now rather than letting them boil up.
It's her birthday this weekend so we're going out on Thursday in Auckland and then heading down to Rotorua where I have a suprise for her (I didn't want to say where we were going but she's driving so I have to!)
Right, now I've got to remember what I've been doing over the last month (checking facebook status's etc)
16th May.. me and portia became facebook official... really gay I've mentioned that but atleast I can refer back to it to make me look like a good boyfriend haha
I made some changes to the bar this month like bringing a jagermeister pool cloth (1 of only a few bars in nz with this pool cloth!) and a beer pong table for wednesday nights (which has gone down a fucking treat!)
19th May: NZ did the SuperHaka. This was a charity fundraiser to help the victims of the recent Christchurch earthquakes. The city has been harshly treated by mother nature in the past few months with 3,100 earthquakes... 125 over magnitude 4 and 14 over magnitude 5. They live constantly in fear of more to the effect of the February 22nd quake which devasted the city to rubble. The idea of the superhaka was to get people all over nz doing the same haka dedicated the people of chch and raise money. Nomads took a team down to Aotea square in Auckland to do it. It was freezing cold but we did our best! http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150628650755057&comments
May 20th. One of the highlights of the past month... Shake The Lake in Rotorua.
After the succcess of the past 2 boat parties in Auckland, Rotorua held one sponsored by Kaitiaki Rafting. Dribbles before his departure to Thailand organised a bus for everyone in Auckland to drive down friday. In true dribbles fashion he didn't organise it well as we had half a passenger list meaning we had to make a detour through south auckland before we found out, meaning we were just in time for the party. Get V.I.P (which infact was a v.i.p area at the back of the boat for just industry people with a free bar and feed. Saturday morning do a raft with kaitiaki. The party was awesome and State of Mind (one of NZ's premier drum and bass bands) was headlining. I'm not completely into my DnB but it was pretty good. Afterwards we had the V.I.P after party at Shaken Joe's but after a couple of beers we all headed to Lava Bar across from Base where we were staying. The bar manager bernie remembered me from Aucks (apartly I got him fucked up) and he made it my mission to mess me up. I rode his shots well taking them in my stride but I don;t remember leaving and woke up in a different room to one I checked into!
Sunday morning we were supposed to be doing a kaitiaki raft but this wasn't organised so we went for a walk down to the lake for a feed while we waited to find out. We ended up doing an OGO zorb which was fucking cool!
On the way back to Aucks, me and Ganna started drinking on the bus which got Digger our driver in the mood. Once we got back into Aucks, me and him hit up globe before heading to the drivers flat in Nomads and getting on the piss hard! last thing I remember was doing champagne bombs and chatting shit to strangers!
27TH May I headed down to Hamilton with Portia for her friends 21st birthday at the old boys club across the road from the rugby ground. It was good to meet all her friends and my beers were all free so winner winner haha. We headed into town afterwards but silly me forgot his I.D so we could only go to House where she used to work and this really nice cocktail bar next to it. It had a very mediteranian feel to it and the cocktails were top notch like.
On the sunday we decided to head out of the CBD as we tend to just end up going to mission bay or staying in all weekend usually. We drove to one tree hill. The history behind this is that a pahutakawa tree stood at the summit of the 182m volcanic peak. European settlers cut down the tree and since has been replaced with a pine tree. Maori activists twice cut down the tree to draw attention to the government. since then a monument has been put in it's place. The park surrounding it was beautiful so we took a walk round there and then drove upto the summit overlooking Auckland across Manukau harbour and just seeing Waitamata harbour.
since then most of my time has been spent in work and at weekends spending time with Portia and trying to go out and do stuff.
Friday just gone was my first big test as bar manager. I had my first party to plan, promo and host. It was a 70's party for the Interns. Not a full on industry party and only a week after Mingle at Globe but we promoed the event well and drew in a good crowd from 8pm til around 2am. Making more money in one night than we did for the whole of the week just gone.
Saturday we all went out to Avondale to watch Jason play ice hockey for his team. It was real cool to see the game played live from up in the bar and afterwards we went round to Marcs house in Eden Terrace for his house warming. Me and portia were still feeling it from the night before so we left early.
Monday night I spent the night at home instead of my usual visit down to Waiuku to spend the night with her. It was Ed Browns leaving meal (it pains me to write this to be honest) Him and Jenna are leaving for OZ for 7 weeks but he doesn't know if he'll be back and none of us expect him too even though we would love him to come back. We had a 2-4-1 meals at bluestone corner room and towers of beers on a tab. The food was excellent and it was a good turn out aswell. Ed will be sorely missed by everyone including myself. I've learnt from my time here that you create strong relationships quickly with certain people but you also learn to let them go quickly aswell. But. There are always a few people who you will always be fond of (certain people that spring to mind for me that have already left are.. Sharon, Tuema, John Tu'inufukuafe, Jack, Gerry and now Ed) Ever since working at Fusion, me and him have been close friends. We've shared many a good party exchanging jagerbombs and some great laughs aswell. I don't know how the bar crawl will do without his dedication and love for it.
On a brighter note though, I had a visitor come in and see me at the bar today.. Bethyn. She's back from ChCh for a little bit as there still hasnt been enough snow fall to open the ski slopes there!
Me and Portia are going well, we have our odd arguements and disagreements like any couple does but we know to talk about things now rather than letting them boil up.
It's her birthday this weekend so we're going out on Thursday in Auckland and then heading down to Rotorua where I have a suprise for her (I didn't want to say where we were going but she's driving so I have to!)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
loving life
the past 2 weeks have been pretty sweet! me and Portia are now officially together and I couldn't be happier, the jobs going well and im starting to get used to the role I'm now in. A fair bit has happened in the past 2 weeks, but I've been quite mild I reckon... especially compared to previous weeks where it's been a non stop party.
I've spent most of the time moving into my place in Parnell and I actually feel really settled there, In Zest I never felt like it was my home but I do here.
Most of my time off has been spent with Portia. We went out to Mission Bay one evening to get some fish and chips on the beach front and then had some ice cream, it's wierd that we've only really just started going on dates... completely the wrong way around haha. I don't see her as much 'cos she is living in South Auckland but we both get weekends off which is cool. The Frenzi crawl stopped for a couple of weeks but for one of them we had the 'Stray-mazing race' which was quality! It was another travel industry night and we all had to dress up as stops on the stray bus. Me, Mel, Mark, JD and Lauren got some sky dive suits from SkyDive Taupo and went out as them, while the rest of the Nomads lot went as Park rangers. It was free booze at the stray office then a time trialed kryptic clue race round the CBD. All the clues were poems and the last line was the clue. 1st was something like "a street fit for a king, where you can go to hear the world sing"... Queen St. and Globe Bar. We had to do a shot of vodka on entry then to gain our next clue had to throw jandals into a bucket. It was so funny watching about 80 people legging it up and down Queen St. dressed up and tackling eachother to get their first! 2nd clue was something to do with an animals humps which was obviously the fat camel. We got their and had to do a conga around the pool table chugging a glass of wine... easy! not many people did and had to forfeits ranging from legging it up to the 6th to doing a striptease on the pool table. 3rd clue was something to do with a moari tree which we nailed straight away... Puhutukawa Bar. We had to a jagerbomb on entry then a wheelbarrow race up the street. Next bar was something to do with a century ago and was 1885 where the party was held. No1 had our I.D so we came 2nd cos we had to wait outside but got in eventually and greeted with a frozen mojito on entry then free heineken and pinot gris all. I don't remember much apart from the park rangers coming in half an hour after cos Hoey had sent them to the ice bar haha.
At the weekend it was Ed's birthday so we all went to the zoo were pretty much everyone except me and portia was tripping on acid, funny to watch like. we got so much banter though cos this was the first time we were noticeable together in public, i did warn her she would get it if she was me haha It was a good day but we were knackred so when everyone else went to the park for NZ's legal marujuana spoking day, we had a nana nap! That night we all went round to ed's for a little party but left early to see Hannah Montana off at the camel.
Pub crawl was back on on thursday but yeah fucked if i can really remember it. We went to Bungalow 8 2nd where we kept ordering these fancy cinammon flamed shots, pretty cool bar like. 3rd was forte and globe 4th. don't know how i got home but I pissed myself a little bit in the queue for the toilet at either forte or globe haha.
That Friday I took Portia to Mexicali for a meal then to The comedy club to watch the late and live show. Its NZ comedy month so there were some shit hot acts like Ben Hurley Mc'ing and Pete Johansson finishing the evening. such a good evening and I can't wait to go back again! The saturday we just vegatated at my place watching movies then on Sunday she took me to Takapuna for the markets but we missed it so we had a little walk round and bought some stuff for my room then she treated me to a new pair of jeans and a shirt... winner, winner, chicken dinner! how did I get this lucky hey?
Apart from that there hasnt been too much news except for my general managers cert.
I had my interview on Tuesday and passed it but they have to oppose my application because my Visa paperwork isnt clear enough. the next step is a public hearing in wellington in january but I can operate under the title of Temporary Bar Manager until then. They said all I have to do is email them once I've got a work permit or extension then they will withdraw their opposition or email them when I'm leaving the country and my application will be withdrew. Confusing but atleast I'm legal now haha
I've spent most of the time moving into my place in Parnell and I actually feel really settled there, In Zest I never felt like it was my home but I do here.
Most of my time off has been spent with Portia. We went out to Mission Bay one evening to get some fish and chips on the beach front and then had some ice cream, it's wierd that we've only really just started going on dates... completely the wrong way around haha. I don't see her as much 'cos she is living in South Auckland but we both get weekends off which is cool. The Frenzi crawl stopped for a couple of weeks but for one of them we had the 'Stray-mazing race' which was quality! It was another travel industry night and we all had to dress up as stops on the stray bus. Me, Mel, Mark, JD and Lauren got some sky dive suits from SkyDive Taupo and went out as them, while the rest of the Nomads lot went as Park rangers. It was free booze at the stray office then a time trialed kryptic clue race round the CBD. All the clues were poems and the last line was the clue. 1st was something like "a street fit for a king, where you can go to hear the world sing"... Queen St. and Globe Bar. We had to do a shot of vodka on entry then to gain our next clue had to throw jandals into a bucket. It was so funny watching about 80 people legging it up and down Queen St. dressed up and tackling eachother to get their first! 2nd clue was something to do with an animals humps which was obviously the fat camel. We got their and had to do a conga around the pool table chugging a glass of wine... easy! not many people did and had to forfeits ranging from legging it up to the 6th to doing a striptease on the pool table. 3rd clue was something to do with a moari tree which we nailed straight away... Puhutukawa Bar. We had to a jagerbomb on entry then a wheelbarrow race up the street. Next bar was something to do with a century ago and was 1885 where the party was held. No1 had our I.D so we came 2nd cos we had to wait outside but got in eventually and greeted with a frozen mojito on entry then free heineken and pinot gris all. I don't remember much apart from the park rangers coming in half an hour after cos Hoey had sent them to the ice bar haha.
At the weekend it was Ed's birthday so we all went to the zoo were pretty much everyone except me and portia was tripping on acid, funny to watch like. we got so much banter though cos this was the first time we were noticeable together in public, i did warn her she would get it if she was me haha It was a good day but we were knackred so when everyone else went to the park for NZ's legal marujuana spoking day, we had a nana nap! That night we all went round to ed's for a little party but left early to see Hannah Montana off at the camel.
Pub crawl was back on on thursday but yeah fucked if i can really remember it. We went to Bungalow 8 2nd where we kept ordering these fancy cinammon flamed shots, pretty cool bar like. 3rd was forte and globe 4th. don't know how i got home but I pissed myself a little bit in the queue for the toilet at either forte or globe haha.
That Friday I took Portia to Mexicali for a meal then to The comedy club to watch the late and live show. Its NZ comedy month so there were some shit hot acts like Ben Hurley Mc'ing and Pete Johansson finishing the evening. such a good evening and I can't wait to go back again! The saturday we just vegatated at my place watching movies then on Sunday she took me to Takapuna for the markets but we missed it so we had a little walk round and bought some stuff for my room then she treated me to a new pair of jeans and a shirt... winner, winner, chicken dinner! how did I get this lucky hey?
Apart from that there hasnt been too much news except for my general managers cert.
I had my interview on Tuesday and passed it but they have to oppose my application because my Visa paperwork isnt clear enough. the next step is a public hearing in wellington in january but I can operate under the title of Temporary Bar Manager until then. They said all I have to do is email them once I've got a work permit or extension then they will withdraw their opposition or email them when I'm leaving the country and my application will be withdrew. Confusing but atleast I'm legal now haha
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
A lot can happen in 2 weeks
Just finished another long shift at the bar,a good 11 hours tonight though.
The business and numbers side of the job I am still struggling to keep up with which isn't helped by the 1970's till we are using but I'm hoping I get to a point soon were I feel comfortable with it and can spend more time doing jobs outside the back office.
So yeah, how much can change in 2 weeks...
I was single, had Helen coming out from the UK to be with me. Now I'm seeing a girl from NZ called Portia, it's not officially but might aswell be, we've spent pretty much every night together and are doing couply stuff.
I was living in the hostel. I now have an ensuite room at Menz's place which is far bigger than the room I was living in at Zest.
The last 2 weeks has been a careful balance of getting used to managing a bar and trying to stay relatively sober so I'm in a good frame of mind the next day, moving to a new house and a social life which never seems to slow down.
Last Friday it was Rak's 30th birthday and all the boys (Raks, myself, Marc, Mark from Frienz, Ed Brown, Sam, Jason, Josh (who decided to suprise us all by coming back from Canada for a few weeks), Eddie and a few from Frienz who I don't know that well. We all had a few drinks at Frienz before getting a taxi to Bolliwood which is in NZ's top 5 Indian resaurants. Eddie was completely and utterly smashed at the meal which at first was amusing but soon turned into an embarassment but we love him for it. So not too long after ordering a table of sambuca shots, shouting oi sweetheart at the waitresses, telling the barman who to make his drinks and just being loud. He got told he had to eat his meal outside, Eddie bless him, couldn't remember if he could come inside to use the toilet so being a man of the world he just went on a car bonnet... parked right outside the restaurant. Apart from that the meal was amazing and I would definately go back there (http://www.bolliwood.co.nz/)
After the meal we jumped into a taxi and headed back to Frienz to meet up with the girls and get ready to go out. We were drinking on the roof and this is when Katy introduced me and Portia, I fancied her straight away but I havn't really been fussed as I thought Helen was coming out here. We all walked down to Snapdragon on the Viaduct just before it closed. It was here that I sat Charlotte from Frienz down because I was told that she was crying because I denied sleeping with her, now I was under the impression we were trying to keep it secret so thats why I did. We were talking most of the night really, including when we went to Danny Doolans. This is the point that I was taken by suprise. I had barely spoke to Portia but she had asked Katy about me and was it worth going for. Next minute i'm going back to the hostel with her and she ends up staying the night. As usual for me the rumors are rife and everyones making a big deal out of it, something I've had to get used to here and can only apologize if girls don't like all the talk.
Me and Portia arranged to meet up the night after at Ed's place for another little party for rak's 30th. I was too knackered after work so I just went straight back to the hostel and passed out.
Tuesday I moved into Menz's place but only for a short time 'cos I had work later. The place is real nice. It's got 3 floors, the 1st is the garage and my room. the 2nd is the living room, kitchen and a small outside decking. 3rd floor is the master bedroom, another which Gaz is in and a bathroom.
Wednesday me and Portia met up after work as we had been speaking to eachother pretty much non stop on facebook. We went down to Forte, only place I knew that we wouldnt really be seen and its still fairly cheap. We left and went back to mine where she stayed the night. Again we arranged to meet up once I had finished work and we just watched movies and talked at mine all night. Friday was the same but Saturday she went back to Hamilton for the night to see some friends. I took this opportunity to go and get smashed at the camel for my first official weekend in charge... I was home at midnight... go hard or go home, or in my case, go hard and then stumble home with a kebab!
Sunday was a mare of a day as I had all the end of month reports to do which I found out I have done wrong anyway!
Poria has just moved back into her dads place in South Auckland so I havn't seen her for a couple of nights but lucky me, she's bringing me dinner to work tomorrow night, aswell as a new bed (gaz sold mine... dick!) and a TV! She is pretty awesome, buys me breakfast, drives me around everywhere and puts up with my dry sarcastic humor. Let's just try not to fuck this one up hey haha
The business and numbers side of the job I am still struggling to keep up with which isn't helped by the 1970's till we are using but I'm hoping I get to a point soon were I feel comfortable with it and can spend more time doing jobs outside the back office.
So yeah, how much can change in 2 weeks...
I was single, had Helen coming out from the UK to be with me. Now I'm seeing a girl from NZ called Portia, it's not officially but might aswell be, we've spent pretty much every night together and are doing couply stuff.
I was living in the hostel. I now have an ensuite room at Menz's place which is far bigger than the room I was living in at Zest.
The last 2 weeks has been a careful balance of getting used to managing a bar and trying to stay relatively sober so I'm in a good frame of mind the next day, moving to a new house and a social life which never seems to slow down.
Last Friday it was Rak's 30th birthday and all the boys (Raks, myself, Marc, Mark from Frienz, Ed Brown, Sam, Jason, Josh (who decided to suprise us all by coming back from Canada for a few weeks), Eddie and a few from Frienz who I don't know that well. We all had a few drinks at Frienz before getting a taxi to Bolliwood which is in NZ's top 5 Indian resaurants. Eddie was completely and utterly smashed at the meal which at first was amusing but soon turned into an embarassment but we love him for it. So not too long after ordering a table of sambuca shots, shouting oi sweetheart at the waitresses, telling the barman who to make his drinks and just being loud. He got told he had to eat his meal outside, Eddie bless him, couldn't remember if he could come inside to use the toilet so being a man of the world he just went on a car bonnet... parked right outside the restaurant. Apart from that the meal was amazing and I would definately go back there (http://www.bolliwood.co.nz/)
After the meal we jumped into a taxi and headed back to Frienz to meet up with the girls and get ready to go out. We were drinking on the roof and this is when Katy introduced me and Portia, I fancied her straight away but I havn't really been fussed as I thought Helen was coming out here. We all walked down to Snapdragon on the Viaduct just before it closed. It was here that I sat Charlotte from Frienz down because I was told that she was crying because I denied sleeping with her, now I was under the impression we were trying to keep it secret so thats why I did. We were talking most of the night really, including when we went to Danny Doolans. This is the point that I was taken by suprise. I had barely spoke to Portia but she had asked Katy about me and was it worth going for. Next minute i'm going back to the hostel with her and she ends up staying the night. As usual for me the rumors are rife and everyones making a big deal out of it, something I've had to get used to here and can only apologize if girls don't like all the talk.
Me and Portia arranged to meet up the night after at Ed's place for another little party for rak's 30th. I was too knackered after work so I just went straight back to the hostel and passed out.
Tuesday I moved into Menz's place but only for a short time 'cos I had work later. The place is real nice. It's got 3 floors, the 1st is the garage and my room. the 2nd is the living room, kitchen and a small outside decking. 3rd floor is the master bedroom, another which Gaz is in and a bathroom.
Wednesday me and Portia met up after work as we had been speaking to eachother pretty much non stop on facebook. We went down to Forte, only place I knew that we wouldnt really be seen and its still fairly cheap. We left and went back to mine where she stayed the night. Again we arranged to meet up once I had finished work and we just watched movies and talked at mine all night. Friday was the same but Saturday she went back to Hamilton for the night to see some friends. I took this opportunity to go and get smashed at the camel for my first official weekend in charge... I was home at midnight... go hard or go home, or in my case, go hard and then stumble home with a kebab!
Sunday was a mare of a day as I had all the end of month reports to do which I found out I have done wrong anyway!
Poria has just moved back into her dads place in South Auckland so I havn't seen her for a couple of nights but lucky me, she's bringing me dinner to work tomorrow night, aswell as a new bed (gaz sold mine... dick!) and a TV! She is pretty awesome, buys me breakfast, drives me around everywhere and puts up with my dry sarcastic humor. Let's just try not to fuck this one up hey haha
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Day 1 as the boss
I don't know if it's me trying to save money or me really wanting to succeed as the bar manager but it's a public holiday and I'm sat in the office doing work on the promo posters and other bar stuff. A bit sad but to be honest there isn't an awful lot else to do with no money and I'm pretty much just waiting for Helen to get here so I have an excuse to do the touristy shit during the day. We all know that my social life is at night not day anyway!
You'd think that finally now I have a better job that life would be that little bit more simpler? wrong. Up until last night I thought that apart from trying to sort out Helen's flights for her, trying to find an apartment, I had everything sorted. I get how to run the bar now (a few things will crop up here and there that will probaly confuse me at some point). Well, I came down the bar last night for a quiet beer but bumped into Hoey, Menz and Kate who were out on the piss celebrating Menz's last day. Hoey took me to one side and told me that the group that own Nomads are pulling out of the building. I think this means that I'm not working for Nomads anymore and the hostel will now just be 'The Fat Camel'. He assures me I have a job but its confusing times as my contract (which I have yet to sign) is with Nomads.
Business has never been my strong point but I'm just going to watch my back and knuckle down to some work, get revenue and show that I'm a key player in this game!
Apart from that I had a great night. Ben popped into the bar who is now living in Albany so we went out on the piss and fuck was in a great mood last night, wouldnt suprise me if Ben slipped me something haha We ended up trekking all the way upto K' road as they were the only bars that were open. We also ended up going into a gay bar with his mate until stupid o'clock this morning! was a great laugh trying to get his gay mate and get hit on myself in the process... aparantly I have amazing eyes and a good sense of style about myself. Actually, as I'm abit ego orientated. I'm going to leave this entry on that. amazing eyes haha
You'd think that finally now I have a better job that life would be that little bit more simpler? wrong. Up until last night I thought that apart from trying to sort out Helen's flights for her, trying to find an apartment, I had everything sorted. I get how to run the bar now (a few things will crop up here and there that will probaly confuse me at some point). Well, I came down the bar last night for a quiet beer but bumped into Hoey, Menz and Kate who were out on the piss celebrating Menz's last day. Hoey took me to one side and told me that the group that own Nomads are pulling out of the building. I think this means that I'm not working for Nomads anymore and the hostel will now just be 'The Fat Camel'. He assures me I have a job but its confusing times as my contract (which I have yet to sign) is with Nomads.
Business has never been my strong point but I'm just going to watch my back and knuckle down to some work, get revenue and show that I'm a key player in this game!
Apart from that I had a great night. Ben popped into the bar who is now living in Albany so we went out on the piss and fuck was in a great mood last night, wouldnt suprise me if Ben slipped me something haha We ended up trekking all the way upto K' road as they were the only bars that were open. We also ended up going into a gay bar with his mate until stupid o'clock this morning! was a great laugh trying to get his gay mate and get hit on myself in the process... aparantly I have amazing eyes and a good sense of style about myself. Actually, as I'm abit ego orientated. I'm going to leave this entry on that. amazing eyes haha
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Promotion
Now i really have been getting slack at this blog stuff. To be honest I've been mega busy and when not working I've been either sleeping or making the most of the short time I have left partying. I've decided to save money and in August I'm going round NZ again with Helen. I dunno how much time I'm going to get off as about 2/3 weeks ago Menz got back from his holiday with his letter of resignation and the bucks been passed onto me. As of the 25th of April, I will be the new bar manager of The Camel Bar, this in part depends on if I can get the time off work to go travelling before the world cup in September. This is a new challenge that I am relishing and could be me settling down in NZ for a little while longer. If I sign the contract then unfortunately or fortunately, I'll be more sensible and less of the naked ste we all no. Now for Naked Ste stories...
1. Mummy, this is where you skip past this section... you will not want to be reading this.
So I went out on yet another pub crawl and got so drunk that I took a girl back to the hostel with me who to put it kindly wasn't my type and had a good 15 years on me. She stole my wallet whilst I passed out.
2. After this... the very next week. I went out again on the pub crawl but this time it had Sian (troy's sister) on it. Gossip had been huge within the industry that I took her to Waiheke Island for a date, this is true and unfortunately for her she is troy's sister so everyone knows her and also unluckily for her it was with me, who again... everyone knows. So out on the crawl we hooked up and everyone saw or found out within 5 minutes. I ended up taking her back to the hostel but before push came to shove I realised how much of a dickhead move this was as I am blatently smitten over Helen so I called it off. Safe to say she wasn't happy and left swiftly after. Ooops.
3. These 2 people who I can undoubtly say out everyone I've met since being out here are up there with my favourites. Sally and Aaron work on a super yacht which has been docked in Auckland for 3 months. They drink in the camel when they head into town and invited me onto their boat for a party before they leave for Tahiti. The food was cooked by Sally who is an amazing chef. All the booze was free and so was the food. The yacht is called the yanneke too and is insured for $7mil. with a nice little van gogh painting which is worth $2mil. After dropping my sunglasses in the water it was time to hit the town. Me and Aaron jumped in a taxi and headed for the camel. unfortunately it was shut but I knew Mikey, Joe, Grogan, Natalie etc where at Lenin bar so I headed off that way. After tipping the hot bartender a ridiculous amount she was pouring me pretty much straight bourbon with a little coke. I was very nicely drunk which led me to lose my wallet again and to top it off I epically fell down a flight of stairs, busting my bad hip again and pretty much fucking up my ligaments around my knee. nice.
I reckon that's it in terms of stories and this'll probaly do for another month now.
1. Mummy, this is where you skip past this section... you will not want to be reading this.
So I went out on yet another pub crawl and got so drunk that I took a girl back to the hostel with me who to put it kindly wasn't my type and had a good 15 years on me. She stole my wallet whilst I passed out.
2. After this... the very next week. I went out again on the pub crawl but this time it had Sian (troy's sister) on it. Gossip had been huge within the industry that I took her to Waiheke Island for a date, this is true and unfortunately for her she is troy's sister so everyone knows her and also unluckily for her it was with me, who again... everyone knows. So out on the crawl we hooked up and everyone saw or found out within 5 minutes. I ended up taking her back to the hostel but before push came to shove I realised how much of a dickhead move this was as I am blatently smitten over Helen so I called it off. Safe to say she wasn't happy and left swiftly after. Ooops.
3. These 2 people who I can undoubtly say out everyone I've met since being out here are up there with my favourites. Sally and Aaron work on a super yacht which has been docked in Auckland for 3 months. They drink in the camel when they head into town and invited me onto their boat for a party before they leave for Tahiti. The food was cooked by Sally who is an amazing chef. All the booze was free and so was the food. The yacht is called the yanneke too and is insured for $7mil. with a nice little van gogh painting which is worth $2mil. After dropping my sunglasses in the water it was time to hit the town. Me and Aaron jumped in a taxi and headed for the camel. unfortunately it was shut but I knew Mikey, Joe, Grogan, Natalie etc where at Lenin bar so I headed off that way. After tipping the hot bartender a ridiculous amount she was pouring me pretty much straight bourbon with a little coke. I was very nicely drunk which led me to lose my wallet again and to top it off I epically fell down a flight of stairs, busting my bad hip again and pretty much fucking up my ligaments around my knee. nice.
I reckon that's it in terms of stories and this'll probaly do for another month now.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Naked Ste's Paihia Adventure
I havn't posted in here for awhile but I've been a busy boy. Had a famil up to the bay of islands for free on behalf of Nomads hostels and Magic Bus NZ. Another 2 trips over to waiheke, one with 2 of the lads that I was with in the bay of islands and another with Troys sister Sian. We're getting to the end of summer so I'm trying to make the most of it now. What else, erm? I know run to mission bay every week which is about 10km to keep some sort of fitness. I've moved back into Nomads and probaly will be there for awhile as in May, a very good friend of mine back home, Helen, is thinking of coming out in May and Eddie's back in April so i'm going to wait until he's back to get a place and then hopefully Helen will move in and we can save up and go travelling round NZ together before the world cup, then its time for me to go home! Well I thought I might aswell just copy and paste the blog I left on Nomads website which was part of the deal for me to get it all for free, so here it is below. (if you want to see it with pictures and in all it's glory it's here (http://nomadshostels.com/backpackers-blog/naked-stes-naked-paihia-adventure/)
Now, Travelling can be very expensive at the best of times but there’s no reason why it should be. New Zealand is one of those places in the world where costs can mount, I know first hand from my bus tour around both Islands… I recall almost crawling back to Auckland on my hands and knees begging for a job at Nomads Auckland backpackers Hostel before I joined the Camel bar team at Nomads Fat Camel backpackers hostel and became Naked Ste.
With not much money to spare, but needing a well earned short holiday I jumped on a bus with Magic up to Paihia bright and early Monday morning at 7.35am. Our driver was Disco who hails from Wanaka in the South Island and despite Aucklands notoriously bad drivers, he safely got us across the harbour bridge and on our way to the Bay of Islands.
We weren’t blessed with great weather and this was pointed out to us when we had our first toilet and food stop just outside Warkworth at The Dome Cafe… mean as sandwiches by the way. This was a good time to get to know everyone from the bus and their travelling stories, there were travellers from all over the globe and most of them who’re just starting their travels. Paihia is definitely a good place to head to at the start and the Magic passes (Northland escape with Auckland to Paihia and back or Total Northland which also includes the Cape Reinga trip) are perfect.
booked into The Bay Adventurer backpackers hostel and managed to convince my fellow bus mates to do the same as well. It’s cheap ($25 for a 4 bed dorm) and almost like your living in a hotel so I can’t really big it up anymore except your missing out if you stay anywhere else! We arrived at mid day and spent our afternoon going the supermarket to stock up on our feed for the next 3 days. I don’t need to tell you backpackers how to live on a budget but pre-cooked sausages and 2 minute noodles are the way forward for sure. After lunch it was time to head on down to the beach to soak up the best weather New Zealand has to offer and do what I do best… watch the pretty girls walk by and instantly fall in love with them.
Whilst most people jumped on a boat and headed out into the bay to do some dolphin watching, me and the 2 guys in my room walked up to where The Treaty Grounds of Waitangi was formed. The treaty grounds are a must see and even if all the cultural heritage stuff doesn’t do it for you there are still some great views back to Paihia and along the bay to admire. I blagged that I was a NZ resident and therefore got in squat free but if your not as lucky as me then saying your on the coastal walk is another way in or failing that, just jumping through the exit is another.
You can spend a good few hours wandering around the treaty grounds taking in the war canoes, James Busby’s house (the guy who drew up the treaty) and the Waitangi maori meeting house. That night we put on our glad rags and went out for a couple of drinks, not many though as everywhere closes after 1am which keeps Paihia chilled out. I have to say… The Salty Bar did have karaoke on and Aerosmith was blasted out followed closely by Wet Wet Wet. $5 drinks can keep you going on a budget and everyone loves a bit of karaoke.
I got up early on the Wednesday and hired out a kayak for 6 hours costing me a tiny $40 for a tan and the freedom to get out in the bay and chill out on beaches you wouldnt usually get to visit, Motuarahi and Motu Maire are the easiest and closest to get to. There is also a cool as little forest up the river where its submerged in water, quite sureal meandering around tree tops and a top visit despite having to battle with the current and squeezing past a bridge. Shortly after dropping the kayaks off we watched down the front to grab some freshed caught fish and chips from Vinnies Takeaway. A good feed for 2 is 2 sausages, 2 fish, 1 fries and 2 drinks for $15, bargain! That night we stayed in town and popped along to Franks Cafe for a live set by a local musician and not the cheapest drinks in town but some kick ass pizza to munch on.
Unfortunately Thursday we were up bright and early to head back to Auckland via some photo spots on the west coast. Rawene was a quick toilet stop, as was Opononui and Omapere. Tane Mahutu deep in the wilderness was the next stop, the 2nd biggest tree in the world and deeply rooted (excuse the pun) in Moari heritage. We eventually got back to Auckland mid afternoon as so my holiday was brought to an end.
A good cheap trip and there is definitely more cheap things to do in the Bay of Islands. Jumping on a ferry over to Russell is a good shout or enjoying one of Paihia and Waitangis breath taking walks up to lookout points or the waterfalls.
The trip wasn’t all fun and games though, on our second day a tragic event in New Zealands history occurred. A catostrophic 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the city of Christchurch and the county of Canterbury. As I am writing this, the death toll is still on the rise and at the moment stands at 115 with hundreds of people still missing. I have friends who were in Christchurch on this day and many who I knew were travelling the South Island on that day. Luckily, all were left unscathed but without accomodation and forced to rough it out in a park for a few nights. A big mention goes out to the families and friends of people who have lost loved ones, aswell as the citizens of Christchurch who have been affected by what prime minister John Key calls “New Zealand’s darkest day”.
Kia Kaha Christchurch.
Now, Travelling can be very expensive at the best of times but there’s no reason why it should be. New Zealand is one of those places in the world where costs can mount, I know first hand from my bus tour around both Islands… I recall almost crawling back to Auckland on my hands and knees begging for a job at Nomads Auckland backpackers Hostel before I joined the Camel bar team at Nomads Fat Camel backpackers hostel and became Naked Ste.
With not much money to spare, but needing a well earned short holiday I jumped on a bus with Magic up to Paihia bright and early Monday morning at 7.35am. Our driver was Disco who hails from Wanaka in the South Island and despite Aucklands notoriously bad drivers, he safely got us across the harbour bridge and on our way to the Bay of Islands.
We weren’t blessed with great weather and this was pointed out to us when we had our first toilet and food stop just outside Warkworth at The Dome Cafe… mean as sandwiches by the way. This was a good time to get to know everyone from the bus and their travelling stories, there were travellers from all over the globe and most of them who’re just starting their travels. Paihia is definitely a good place to head to at the start and the Magic passes (Northland escape with Auckland to Paihia and back or Total Northland which also includes the Cape Reinga trip) are perfect.
booked into The Bay Adventurer backpackers hostel and managed to convince my fellow bus mates to do the same as well. It’s cheap ($25 for a 4 bed dorm) and almost like your living in a hotel so I can’t really big it up anymore except your missing out if you stay anywhere else! We arrived at mid day and spent our afternoon going the supermarket to stock up on our feed for the next 3 days. I don’t need to tell you backpackers how to live on a budget but pre-cooked sausages and 2 minute noodles are the way forward for sure. After lunch it was time to head on down to the beach to soak up the best weather New Zealand has to offer and do what I do best… watch the pretty girls walk by and instantly fall in love with them.
Whilst most people jumped on a boat and headed out into the bay to do some dolphin watching, me and the 2 guys in my room walked up to where The Treaty Grounds of Waitangi was formed. The treaty grounds are a must see and even if all the cultural heritage stuff doesn’t do it for you there are still some great views back to Paihia and along the bay to admire. I blagged that I was a NZ resident and therefore got in squat free but if your not as lucky as me then saying your on the coastal walk is another way in or failing that, just jumping through the exit is another.
You can spend a good few hours wandering around the treaty grounds taking in the war canoes, James Busby’s house (the guy who drew up the treaty) and the Waitangi maori meeting house. That night we put on our glad rags and went out for a couple of drinks, not many though as everywhere closes after 1am which keeps Paihia chilled out. I have to say… The Salty Bar did have karaoke on and Aerosmith was blasted out followed closely by Wet Wet Wet. $5 drinks can keep you going on a budget and everyone loves a bit of karaoke.
I got up early on the Wednesday and hired out a kayak for 6 hours costing me a tiny $40 for a tan and the freedom to get out in the bay and chill out on beaches you wouldnt usually get to visit, Motuarahi and Motu Maire are the easiest and closest to get to. There is also a cool as little forest up the river where its submerged in water, quite sureal meandering around tree tops and a top visit despite having to battle with the current and squeezing past a bridge. Shortly after dropping the kayaks off we watched down the front to grab some freshed caught fish and chips from Vinnies Takeaway. A good feed for 2 is 2 sausages, 2 fish, 1 fries and 2 drinks for $15, bargain! That night we stayed in town and popped along to Franks Cafe for a live set by a local musician and not the cheapest drinks in town but some kick ass pizza to munch on.
Unfortunately Thursday we were up bright and early to head back to Auckland via some photo spots on the west coast. Rawene was a quick toilet stop, as was Opononui and Omapere. Tane Mahutu deep in the wilderness was the next stop, the 2nd biggest tree in the world and deeply rooted (excuse the pun) in Moari heritage. We eventually got back to Auckland mid afternoon as so my holiday was brought to an end.
A good cheap trip and there is definitely more cheap things to do in the Bay of Islands. Jumping on a ferry over to Russell is a good shout or enjoying one of Paihia and Waitangis breath taking walks up to lookout points or the waterfalls.
The trip wasn’t all fun and games though, on our second day a tragic event in New Zealands history occurred. A catostrophic 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the city of Christchurch and the county of Canterbury. As I am writing this, the death toll is still on the rise and at the moment stands at 115 with hundreds of people still missing. I have friends who were in Christchurch on this day and many who I knew were travelling the South Island on that day. Luckily, all were left unscathed but without accomodation and forced to rough it out in a park for a few nights. A big mention goes out to the families and friends of people who have lost loved ones, aswell as the citizens of Christchurch who have been affected by what prime minister John Key calls “New Zealand’s darkest day”.
Kia Kaha Christchurch.
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