I recently read a fantastic blog post that is all about doing exactly what YOU want to do on YOUR trip!! There is so much information out there that at times it can be hard to know what it is that you want out of your travels.. but remember.. just because someone else says "you simply cannot leave the country without doing xxx" doesn't mean that is the case for you! 

When you plan to go on a trip, big or small, and you go through all that effort of saving heaps of money... why not get out of it what it is that YOU want? It's your money, your time, your memories. 
Click here to read the blog post by Beverly - Pack Your Passport 
 
"...was the first time I have seen a live musical comedy act complete their show with all 10,000 guests on their feet in appreciation, admiration and hysterical laughter!" 

Flight of the Conchords LIVE
Vector Arena, Auckland City
01 July 2012 

The evening began with comedy pieces from American Arj Barker, known as the indifferent friend Dave in the HBO series Flight of the Conchords. He revved up some New Zealand pride with the audience as he complimented the kiwi way of life and softly bad mouthed the Amercian. His act was short, sweet and did exactly as it was meant to, got the audience ready to "rock the party".

After a 15 minute intermission, all 10,000 fans at Vector Arena were in their seats, drinks and snacks in hand, ready to laugh all night with their favourite tv characters. Jemaine and Bret began the show with a short "technical difficulty", generating more anticipation throughout the crowd as they could be heard, but not yet seen. Their opening song was an entertaining "Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor", delivered in full robot costume and followed by an engaging banter regarding the literal and metaphorical meaning behind the lyrics. After a slight costume change; (they swiveled their robot masks around), they were onto an upbeat and energetic "The Humans Are Dead".

Jemaine and Bret truly delivered for all guests in attendance. Their breaks were non-existent, they interacted with the audience every chance they got, and all banter inbetween songs was in full tv show character that had the audience in stitches. They even brought in "Nigel" their one-person orchestra who turned out to be a crowd favourite. For 2+ hours it was pure Flight of the Conchords quality entertainment. At the end of the show it was obvious the crowd was satisfied as this was the first time I have seen a live musical comedy act complete their show with all 10,000 guests on their feet in appreciation, admiration and hysterical laughter!

A job well done boys!

Written by: Deanna Deacon
 
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view from our hotel room, 9th floor in the Best Western on Victoria Street
 
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Photo from Figgy - hwy near Sicamous, BC
What I'm thinking about
This morning I woke up to a photo sent from my old roomie Figgy showcasing massive flooding on the highway near Sicamous in the interior of BC. The photo was terrifying. I hope that mother nature decides to wrap up the explosion of water soon so there are limited damages and life can go back to normal.  
Click here for an online report that I found.

What I'm talking about
All over Facebook there have been posts about a "Tough Mudder" competition that just happened in Whistler, BC. All I could see was that everyone was "gearing up for an extreme challenge" and that there were a LOT of muddy photos. So, curiosity overcame me and I googled it. Tough Mudder is said to be "probably the toughest event on the planet". Just look at their official video :-O       
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Brett & Jermaine
What I'm excited about
Every night my roomies and I have been watching at least one episode of Flight of the Conchords in preparation for our wonderful adventure to Auckland to see them perform live, in 6 SLEEPS!!! This will be such a treat as it is a fun roadtrip, an event out with our new roomies AND a live concert! BooYah!! I cannot wait!!  Flight of the Conchords is hilarious. I have no idea what they will be doing live.. perhaps just some of their songs and entertaining banter inbetween. Will Murray be there?  Who knows. But I'm exciiiiited!! It is only 6 sleeps away! SIX SLEEPS! Woohoo!!!

What I am photographing
Luke and I have begun a coin jar... also known as Paradise Falls - a jar we put all of our change into in hopes that the coins will begin to recreate themselves and generate more (or that we forget about it and eventually are happily surprise with how much money is actually in there). Paradise Falls works! My friends Sam and Devin proved it last year! And so.. we are dedicating our Paradise Falls Coin Jar to their arrival in New Zealand! That is 6 months away... I hope we can break $100!!!
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Just a few coins now... but just wait for 6 months down the road!!
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What I am trying
Last night I was browsing the Women's Health website and a headline got me... "Yoga Poses That Put You To Sleep". I'm not sure if its the 12 hours of sleep for four months straight, or the increased use of my laptop in the evening, or perhaps that I usually don't have any need to get up early (ahhh, funemployment), but I have been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately. So, I thought I'd give it a go. No changes last night, but I'm going to keep on it for at least a week and see if it works for me. If nothing else, the fourth pose was much more challenging than I thought it would be, so that's got to be good right!?

My current laptop backdrop:

What are YOUR what's?
 
After many failed attempts and many discussions about whether or not it would be worth the money, Luke and I successfully got ourselves a pair of tickets to see Flight of the Conchords LIVE in Auckland!! NEXT WEEKEND! 

We told ourselves ages ago that if there was one awesome thing we could do in New Zealand (besides seeing all the rad scenery) that was unique to New Zealand, was to watch Flight of the Conchords LIVE in New Zealand. 

I remember sitting on Luke's couch in Victoria, watching FOTC and then all attempting to perfect the challenging New Zealand accent because they made it look so cool!!
I...can't...wait!!!
 

May 7th, 2012

Star #1 - Today we are off on a new adventure. We will be travelling from Tauranga up to Auckland to spend the evening with friends, then over to the Coromandel Peninsula tomorrow. Today we say goodbye to our wonderful wwoof hosts and move on to the next part of our journey... another wwoof host! We have had such a wonderful experience here in Tauranga, and have already decided we will be back! This family lives in such a community lifestyle that it's irresistable. Goodbye to our Tauranga wwoof family... for now.
Star #2 - Looking back a few days, I had an absolutely wonderful birthday! Thank you to so many of you that I spoke to or wrote with! It was a great day filled with relaxation, sunshine, a lovely pedicure, birthday beers, beautiful flowers and a delicious lasagna dinner with cake!!
I felt, and still feel, so spoiled! I love it :-)
Star #3 - Recently I have helped our wwoof host with a new website that she has created for her new company. She "let me free" on it and I was engrossed for hours! I forgot how much I enjoy online marketing and fiddling about on a website! It such is nice to see a finished product and be proud of you work!!
Our next wwoofing adventure will be at a personal development retreat centre so it will definitely be a different experience. (likely no kids waking us up at 6:30am!! but also no kitty cats to cuddle) My wish is that we enter the new location with open minds and embark on yet another fantastic journey in our little New Zealand world!


My Birthday Bonanaza Fun!!