Proof that the consultancy life isn't all flash hotels and Michelin-starred dinners, I have here evidence of my rather unusual breakfast at the inimitable Leeson Bridge House, Dublin. On the plus side, they do cook your toast to order, and offer both "white" and "brown" varieties.
Apologies for the lack of bloggery lately. The past fortnight has been a bit mental to say the least, to the point where there've been several evenings when I've not even opened the laptop (unheard of in our house). So, here we are, at the end of the Easter weekend and rather than watch Hollyoaks, I'm getting back into it.
Following on from the last post, the review went well, salary bumped up a bit and more training on the way. Feedback from colleagues was excellent, some constructive feedback but on the whole a reasonably pleasant experience. So on the work front, I'm happy.
Two weeks left to go on the seemingly interminable Irish project, and although I know I've said that before, it looks like I will actually be off it on April 4th. Looks like I'll be onto a number of things following that date, one of which might be the Irish thing but I can manage a couple of days a week I reckon.
That said, they're squeezing what they can out of me whilst I'm still full time, going to Dublin tomorrow evening, coming back Wednesday night and going again next week. Bah.
In other news, the Kiwi made hot cross buns on Friday, and they were brilliant! Here they are... very impressed with her I am.
It's been five long years, but this one's finally finished. There's still something of a mountain to climb, but this is a bit of a milestone for me nonetheless.
We are having a glass of (relatively inexpensive) wine to mark the occasion. I have my annual review tomorrow too, which could be interesting. More on that later...
Much as I really enjoyed our recent holiday and everything, sun, food, wine, friends, plans blah blah blah, how brilliant has it been to get back in my kitchen this weekend? Yesterday was spent mostly in a pub in town watching the rugby (boo) and eating rubbish but brilliant pub food. Today, I was feeling the need to get back into the cooking thing.
So, following a morning spent sharpening knives and plotting, harissa roast chicken, patatas bravas and purple sprouting broccoli turned up on the dinner table. Simple, but oh. my. god. how good. The only challenge remaining, apart from the industrial-sized clean up job to be done, is what to do with the small vat of bravas sauce we have left over. Superb cheese from Neal's Yard, too; Cropwell Bishop Stilton and Lancashire Poacher - both impulse buys on the way back from Monmouth on Friday afternoon.
Two other things of note before the week starts again:
1. This is an infallible and brilliant recipe. So much so that I managed to make it this afternoon without the Kiwi noticing.
2. The new Goldfrapp album, Seventh Tree, is brilliant. I have it as MP3, but it's well worth £7.99 - don't steal music, kids. Eagerly awaiting the next Elbow album, too...
And so back to earth with something of a thud. The flight back wasn't too bad, all things considered, but it was still 24 hours in the air and two in Hong Kong getting continual electric shocks from the luggage trolley and marvelling at their rather groovy new airport. Monday, returning at 1400ish, was a bit of a challenge, and Tuesday was just plain weird. I'm almost back to normal, I think.
So, work. Although Kathryn's earlier and highly perceptive comment about my apparent work/life balance does strike something of a chord with me, I'm going to give you all a quick work update nonetheless, as I'm sure you're all simply dying to know what the latest is in the ongoing saga.
The plan, as I think I might have mentioned, was for me to roll off the Irish thing upon going on hols, and to be onto something new on my return. This spectacularly hasn't happened, and as such I'm stuck in this role until the start of next month, whilst the project manager goes on holiday himself. I'm feeling pretty sanguine about it though, it's another month of billable work which means the whole of this quarter will be, and so hello bonus. Which is nice.
To be honest, the past three weeks have reoriented the Kiwi and myself a fair bit. With the prospect of moving to NZ now a firm reality, priorities have shifted towards making plans, saving cash and (in my case) working out what to do with the mountain of debt left over from my misspent youth that I'm still shovelling through. We're also keeping an eye on the Auckland housing market (slowly slipping... fingers crossed for a monumental crash) and the exchange rate (currently in my favour, not that great for sending pounds over though).
So, work-wise the remainder of this year will be centred around reading worthy work-related books (have just hit Amazon up for a load of very dull but probably useful books), not spending any money at all and getting some relevant training out of work before I leave. Oh, and trying to get a new job in a city 20,000km+ away without actually being there.
I've also promised myself that if at any point I don't use the gym at least twice a week, I'm cancelling my membership, as it's currently costing me around NZ$160 a month, which would pay for a sofa or something within a year, I'm sure. Although reading that, the irony of trading a gym membership in for a sofa isn't lost on me.
This could get interesting...
The past week's been a bit of a whirlwind, and internet connections have been few and far between (and, hopefully understandably, finding one hasn't exactly been high on my agenda), hence the lack of posting. Looking at the coming couple of days, this post won't get published until I'm home.
Anyway, this is the start of our last night in Auckland, and I'm in the Hilton apartments on the quayside typing this quickly whilst the Kiwi and her sister are off exploring. Apparently there's a wedding somewhere in the hotel and they've gone to do whatever women do when in the proximity of one of those.
Following the last post, the wedding was lovely, the rain didn't let up until the late evening, and the Sunday was brilliant sunshine all day. We even managed to wander down to the beach for a swim, and fired up the barbeque in the afternoon, and a perfect day was rounded off by some of the biggest mosquitos I've seen coming out of hiding and getting themselves a piece of me. Those bites have been with me now for almost a week.
On the Monday we drove down to Hamilton, stayed with the sister that night and then carried on down to Hawke's Bay to stay a night with Nana. This was ace for a number of reasons: the drive from Taupo to Hastings has to rate as one of the best in the world, Hawke's Bay is proper wine country so we stopped in at the Black Barn for some of their excellent Pinot Gris, and I discovered Napier, which styles itself 'The Art Deco City', and mostly lives up to the name, particularly up on Bluff Hill, one of the prettiest residential bits of New Zealand I've seen.
Wednesday meant the drive back up to Hamilton, and another night with the sister featuring visiting a friend for their birthday, then Thursday we were back up in Auckland in a hotel. That day we drove around, lots, getting a feel for what each of the 'burbs are like and picking up the property press. Depressing stuff alright, but at least some of it's within what we expect will be our price range, unlike London, where absolutely none of it is.
Last night, Friday, we drove up to the north shore and had a look at some of the beaches up there, warm seas and soft sandy beaches, gorgeous stuff and only 30 mins out of the city.We spent the night with M&G in Titirangi, to the south and west of the city, almost on the southern coast. My favourite suburb to date, it was originally built up by a largely hippie-ish community, who helpfully didn't completely clear the land to build on, which means each house is nestled in the bush and the whole place, despite being quite close in, feels very secluded and quiet. Big old houses too, and not generally that pricey - the downsides unfortunately are 5 minutes too far out of the city and possibly a bit too secluded for some. Lots of hills mean you have to pick your house carefully or you'll end up with one with no sun - not good.
Anyway, this evening we'll be spending with Kiwi No 3 and her chap. She's been in hospital this week, poor thing, having fallen off her bike about 5 weeks ago and cut her knee, which developed into an infection up her whole leg. Hopefully the surgery will have sorted it. Kiwi No 2 is staying here with us too. The past few weeks have been nonstop weddings / babies / houses so tonight will be a nice respite from it, none of us having any of the above.
So we're out on Waikehe Island, just off the east coast of Auckland, for the wedding of two friends of the Kiwi, which is tomorrow. We're staying out here in a house with a handful of friends, in a gorgeous house with views out over the bay to the north east (possibly) and everything's ace.
Tonight we were out in a local bar, with the predictable local band playing, who (for their first gig together, apparently) weren't bad at all. About half way through the evening they played Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' which, cheesy as it is (knowing how simple it is to play), I couldn't hold back the memory of Paul teaching me how to play that particular track, not least the fact that he'd got me into Pink Floyd in the first place, and that his David Gilmour impression was absolutely spot on.
I guess this sort of thing will happen.
It's stormy here, with blistering winds whipping through the trees, making the telegraph lines whine and moan and rattling the windows. Our house is right in the path of it, rendering our beautiful deck and barbeque area useless, but there's something about being in a house that feels like it's barely holding back the elements that does feel rather cosy somehow.
Here's hoping the weather clears for the wedding tomorrow, but somehow I suspect it might not... fingers crossed anyway.
