It’s A Small World

It’s been a bit of a random but good week or so since the last update. We again got up early to go and watch the rugby, we weren’t too disappointed with the result because I really couldn’t have imagined that England would even reach the semi final or even get out of the group at one stage. The atmosphere was good again in the pub, there were even a handful of South Africans to add extra spice to things and again there were the usual dozen or so jealous Kiwis trying to rain on our parade. In the pub I got talking to a woman called Carol who is originally from Heaton but moved over here with her family about 11 years ago, her husband worked in NHS trusts in County Durham. It was strange to meet her because she just lived a few minutes from Chillingham Road, obviously long before I did, but it was such a random thing. She gave me her number and said if I ever needed a place to stay in Blenheim I should call in!

We went to the zoo at some point, I can’t remember when but it was pretty good, it didn’t have a great deal there but we were introduced to a one-legged kiwi and, if it wasn’t for a few panes of glass, Matt would have been savagely attacked by a lion! We walked into a kind of enclosure thing that had a viewing area and there was a lion quietly eating some large chunk of meat but as we all got closer to the glass panel the lion aggressively jumped towards Matt, it must have thought we were about to steal its dinner! Even though the glass was there it was still a crazy moment and the blood stained paw prints that were left smeared down the glass made us learn never to even stand within a thousand feet of a lion having its dinner.

Sometime over the weekend, I got into the lift at the hostel and got talking to a couple of girls where I noticed a familiar sounding accent, so I asked the common traveller question of “where are you from??”. They both replied with Newcastle, my eyes lit up and we got more specific. One of the girls was/is from Whitley Bay and the other from Morpeth but went to school at St Benet Biscops in Bedlington! We stalled the lift for as long as we could to talk about travelling and the North East before it made noises none of us were comfortable with so we had to let it go. They also mentioned they met a guy in Sydney who was from Blyth! Craziness.

Wednesday was Holly’s birthday so most of us went out for a meal to a place called One Red Dog and it was so good! For desert we had a chocolate fondue with marshmallow, kiwi fruit, bananas and pineapple, an interesting combination but good all the same! Earlier in the day, I climbed Mount Victoria with Holly, Keely and Brian and took a well earned rest on the lookout at the very top. It’s got such amazing views of the city and area, I’ll have to do it again but make sure I bring a camera!

I finally got a job and started that on Thursday. It’s for New Zealand Post (their equivalent of Royal Mail, I suppose) and it’s working on their Intranet. There’s about half a dozen or so people in the office, a mixture of Intranet and Internet guys and I get on with them really well, so I think I’ll enjoy being there. I’m on the 10th floor of the building and the views are also amazing, on one side is the Beehive and other government buildings with the mountains behind them and on the other side is the harbour and yet more mountains, I’ll have to get some photographs taken.

Last night I had yet another “small world experience” as I again got into the lift at the hostel and one of the guys in there picked up my accent and asked the question of origin and I replied with Ashington. I figured from his also North Eastern accent that he’d at least have heard of Ashington so that’s why I didn’t reply with my usual Northumberland/Newcastle response. Anyway, to my complete and utter surprise, I found myself talking to a fellow resident of Ashington!! We got more specific and the coincidences just kept on coming. Not only does he also live in Fallowfield (I can’t remember the exact estate he mentioned but he drinks at the Block and Tackle and that’s good enough for me) but friends/relatives of his live at numbers 2 and 29 Magnolia Drive!! That’s probably the most random lift experience I’ve ever had. I tried to meet him down in the bar later on but I couldn’t find him.

I think this week has shown that not only do we live in a very small world but it also proves that lifts are like magnets to Northumbrians.