That was the week that was

It's catch up time! I can finally tell you all about the crazy week in which I finished working at Orewa College, had a final weekend of shenanigans with the Blazing Squad, went to see the Foo Fighters, returned furniture to their original owners, got furniture back from others, packed up our house in Devonport into a two tonne truck, drove for six and a half hours to Taranaki, in the Mini, in some of the worst rain this country's ever seen, went straight to a job interview, and finished up actually getting the job. 

Make the man some EGGS!

Lets start at the end of the OC. Cracking final week; chilled as only the Hibiscus Coast knows how, with lessons at the beach every day. It was a strange feeling clearing my desk, but I'm kinda getting used to it, having now left four posts in the last three years. We had the obligatory shared morning erm, breakfast, which was a great way to finish with the PE Dept. Great food (Macca's scrambled eggs got a lot of positive reviews. - Apparently, the secret is a touch of curry powder!), great chat and a load of hilarity with the Secret Santa. They also gave me some really cool stationary from my favourite stationary shop - Kikki K - as a leaving present. Very thoughtful gift and something to help me remember the OC crew everyday throughout 2012. All students finished on the Thursday and the following day was the last official day of school for staff. Once again, I was given a lesson in how Kiwi schools look after their staff. We had to be in our assembly hall for 9am at which point we were greeted by the SMT giving out glasses of bubbles. (Yes, free!) We were then treated to a crazy morning of leaving presentations, retirement stories, silly awards presented by two teachers in some risqué fancy dress, whole-school secret Santas, songs (including a number by the SMT!), while we all got stuck into more fizz and a full cooked breakfast.

By lunchtime, it was time to hit the bars of Takapuna for a pub crawl! The girls in my department had made up a list of boozers with drink penalties in each of them so we worked our way along Hurstmere Road for the remainder of the day. I'm pleased to say, me and Rachel were the last ones standing having made it all the way to the final establishment, the Takapuna Bar by about 11pm. Hard. Core.

Really, I should have gone home at this point, but its not the end of term unless you meet up with the Blazing Squad AKA Renee, Cat and Sarah who were by this point, you guessed it, in Florrie's dancing to Cliff Richard songs. Carnage till 1am. Despite the sore heads the following day, it was still brilliant to hang out, just the four of us, all day in Renee's house. [Bed].

Next up was the always-talked-about-but-never-really-got-around-to-it trip to Rainbow's End with the Blazers. Rainbow's End is billed as New Zealand's Premier Theme Park. Think less of say, Alton Towers and Thorpe Park and turn your imagination more to the likes of M&Ds, or Wonderwest World. (I actually just googled Wonderwest World and its now a Haven Holiday Camp with no sign of the old theme park/carnival that used to operate there). Rainbow's End has one rollercoaster, built in 1986 called the Coca-Cola Roller. Glasgow Garden Festival, anyone? Anyway, much hilarity was had, ripping the place to shreds whilst still screaming and giggling like teenagers for most of the day. I'm delighted to say I've been there, done that. :)

Joy as another Mini is behind us on the Motorway

You can either go into Rainbow's End or have three shots of Jager. 

After what was clearly a very social few days it was time to get down to the business of moving house. With Iain coming up to Auckland on the Tuesday, and us having only a small window of time to fill the truck and get back to the Naki, I spent the majority of the weekend boxing everything before he arrived. So it was out with the boxes, tape, labels, newspaper bubblewrap, and down to packing the house...again. Yawn. 

The Foo Fighters have always been one of the big bands I wanted to see live so I was beside myself with excitement when they announced they were playing Auckland and and amazed that I actually managed to get tickets for the gig. A squad of us got together, got a hold of a school minibus, persuaded someone to be the designated driver for the night and off we went to see one of the biggest bands on the planet. 

It was an outdoor venue - Western Springs Park - and the stage was at the bottom of a curved, steep hill creating a natural amphitheatre. 

Pretty impressive to be honest but in the interests of health and safety (or probably more like making more $$$), a huge fence was erected half way up the park and you could only get to the front if you had a special wristband on. Fair dos, but after Tenacious D finished their set, black tarpaulin was hung from the fences, forcing us higher up the hill in order to see the stage. It actually felt like we had paid money to go and watch other people at a Foos gig. 

Mr. Grohl and his crew played a good set but it was all just a bit of a let down. I suppose that tends to be the case when you build something up for so long. Would still go see them again, but only if we were guaranteed to be right in the mixer. 

So you can tell from the Foo Fighters photos, it was a rather damp night in Auckland. This was actually the start of a weather front which came in from the Tasman, dumping a unbelievable amount of rain across the whole country resulting in landslips in various places. We were packing the truck between downpours on Wednesday and by the Thursday morning it was a  deluge. As I had teed up a 2.30pm interview in Stratford we knew we had to get on the road early so off we went; me in the Mini and Iain in the truck at 6.20am. By the time I got onto the Auckland Harbour Bridge at 6.30am, Minerva's windows were steamed up so badly, and her little de-mister was proving so hopeless, that I had both windows down to try and see. This  meant I got soaked from A) the rain and B) spray from the HGVs overtaking me. Mental. It took us six and a half hours to get to New Plymouth and by the time I arrived at our new house, I looked like an extra from an 80s power ballad video. A twenty minute turnaround followed by another forty minutes in the car to the interview and I think I was just running on adrenaline. Great preparation, eh? By the time I got home I was completely exhausted, and, with the interview post-mortem running around my mind, and time ticking on with no call from the school, I thought I had blown it, and I was gutted. But, you all know the outcome and I couldn't be happier. Thanks to those of you who have been in touch to congratulate me. It's a great opportunity and I'm very excited about starting. 

So that was the week that was. And what a week indeed!

Lorna. :)