AK05 - www.ak05.co.nz

The opening ceremony got under way yesterday for Auckland's AK05 festival. The two hour show was fantastic: music, film, theatre and art from all different cultures, giving a taste of what's to come over the next couple weeks. I thought I'd put an entry in here for you guys to have a read of; I was really impressed by the whole thing. Below is an excerpt from the website www.ak05.co.nz and gives an overview of what it's about. If any of you are going to be in Auckland over the festival time, go and check it out.

"Auckland's next Festival is set for the summer of 2005. From 25 February to 13 March, AK05's breath-taking new programme will celebrate the best, the most, the sum of Asia Pacific's first city. AK05 event is certain to boost Auckland's profile on the international Festival circuit and confirm its reputation as one of this hemisphere's leading arts and cultural centres.
The Auckland Festival is about:
- a celebration of the cultures and essence of Auckland
- a presentation of quality artistic events
- a broad programme of ticketed and free events, New Zealand and international performers, appealing to Auckland's many audiences
- an emphasis on commercial viability of events through substantial investment from corporate, private and public sources"

Yono capisico Italiano! My top friend Petra with a barmy I-tie.

The Irish girls! (and Cody..) On a cruise for Joanne's (right) birthday, who was cool enough to remove her sunglasses for the photo.

That reservoir is lovely isn't it?

Another lunch break in sunny Sydney: me and the sumptuous Claire at our favourite hostel cafe. Anyone for dessert?

The deadly duo from one night in Rome..

Coogee housemates Debbie, Alex, Lisa and Katie........ in Thailand! Sun, sand and sea cospire to bring out the best in the ladies it seems.

Nimbin is the "green capital" of Australia, and I'm not talking about the background shrubbery.... A picture of the lovely Austrian girls we spent a few days with in Byron Bay and Sydney.

That cheeky smile makes this lawyer an illicit solicitor. And for those of you who live near me in England: the lovely Michelle here was in Waverton for a year. Another rendition of "it's a small, small world" is required.

Come on Debs, bring your mates.

Ah, the dorm roomies, John and Danny wiz zee Sveedish girls. Ja.

Debbie (right) in Auckland. I met her in my hostel lift, but a month ago I was living with her in Sydney!

Oh and I love that look of lust from that guy in the back. Three guesses what he's thinking?

I love girls, girls, girls, girls....

Let's face it: the female of the species is more deadly than the male. And we love them dearly, so let's have a goose with a few pictures of my friends I've made over the past six months.

I've also decided that living in hostels, whilst fun and easy, can get a bit tiring. So I'm moving in to an apartment in Auckland city centre with a Scottish mate of mine - finally a place where I can leave my clothes lying around and watch TV.

I've had two weeks of work now; incredibly easy job albeit rather mundane. I've had a few good calls in only five days on the phone though. One of them was a Mr. David Platt calling up to tell me he was moving to Dennis Taylor road. I thought he was having a laugh. Nice goal against Belgium David, let me know how you get on with the snooker.

I'll leave you with the ladies for the moment - I've got that Friday feeling after working all week , so it's time to win a pool competition. In a bit, kids.

Internet killed the radio star? Of course not! Steve (left) our radio conoisseur has been neither airbrushed form history nor was he absent from our trek of Rangitoto Island. I simply forgot to upload this photo - my apologies Steve! Oh, and guys, zoom in and check out Steve's cap: Jessop's own. Ah, the nostalgia.

Here's the Auckland skyline, with the prominent Skytower featuring, taken from Rangitoto Island. Pretty good weather for the hike. There's no shops or anything on the island; that's a picture of the distance we'd have to swim if we missed the last ferry. Good thing I had a watch and a timetable.

Give it up for the shoes which are cheaper than my socks, and cheaper than a rump steak I bought the other day. Yep, it's the $9 footwear. I don't get girls in these.

Well, there's pool competitions most nights at the Globe Bar. This is a picture of me, after another loss, again.... I never learn, I'm going back for more. Give me the punishment.

Oh yes oh yes. This is Annabel, who we loving nicknamed "Sideshow" for obvious reasons. Her hair defies gravity and she is not only the most boring person I know but quite possibly the worst looking and the scariest stalker. Get in there Mike, she wants you!

Carsten, Mike, me and the chef prodigy Mark - a night out at the Globe Bar.

The boys after the six hour gruelling walk around the island - we were pretty happy to have finished it. Notice Mike (left) has his bumcheek slightly off the ground. His fart was perfect timing in getting a laugh out of us for the shot.

Rangitoto Island, just off Auckland Central's shores, is completely volcanic; its lava caves are impressive.

Ah, the frisbee guru - give it up for Caaaarsten. Look at him caress the underside of his tool. The touch of a master.

days of walks, of work, of bargains and of frisbee

Hello again my friends,

It's actually been quite eventful. My good friend Carsten I met in Thailand made it over from his travels around New Zealand to Auckland before flying out to Bangkok on Valentine's Day. Was great to see him, I actually got off my backside to do a few constructive things, like a walk around the nearby Rangitoto Island. Some more fantastic scenery (I'll get some pictures up) and great views of the Auckland skyline from its summit. The walk was pretty hard going though, I'm rather unfit - at one point I remember struggling with my fellow hiking virgins, as Great Dane Carsten powerwalked his way up the incline. I need to sort it out really.

I was surprised I didn't hit anyone at Albert Park when Carsten was teaching me his frisbee moves. I got better but he's the guru - top game though.

For those of you who know the goodness of MBNA Bank back in sunny Chester, well, my job is quite similar to that really. The place and people are great though, and I'm having a decent time there, it's only been a couple days so I can't have grown to hate it just yet.

And finally, days of bargains. One has to wonder what the problem is when these kinds of bargains come up. I bought some shoes for work, and being the cheap backpacker I am, I went on the hunt for the dirtiest, cheapest, most plasticy shoes I could find. And, boys and girls, I'm sure I did it. I parted with an amazing *nine* New Zealand dollars, roughly equating to £3.50, for my lovely footwear. Who is the arab with the bargaining skills?

things are looking up..financially

So I was rudely awoken by a woman from a recruitment agency at 9:00 a.m. In fact, I was having such a good sleep and was so annoyed that she woke me up that I said I'd call her back later. Then I realised that perhaps wasn't the best start to hooking me up with a job I sorely, sorely need.

Called her back and she had a decent job for me - I'm hopefully working at G.E. Financial Services (http://www.ge.com/nzl/en/) close to the harbour in Auckland which I am pleased about. 40 hours a week with decent money, oh and holiday pay or something - might end up working here for three months after all. I've got an appointment with the recruitment bird tomorrow and I guess she'll tell me if I've definitely got the job; I'll let you know how it all goes. But it's looking good kids, looking good.

Here's a nice story about the Welsh: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050208/80/fbzpn.html - have a read, they really are tres random..

Another fire show picture, this time from Byron Bay in Australia. Just for good measure.

A picture to remember to mohawk by - it's gone now! I'll get another one when my hair's back I think. But for now it's gone from mohawk to no-hawk. I need a job though; nobody would employ with that stupid thing on my head.

Another crazy busker, this time a Canadian skater. This is him jumping through his "Death Star" - more credit for timing please.

Mike! This guy introduced me to the funnies traveller's book I've seen called "Phaic Tan" - I'll have to buy it when I get a job. Have a read of some of it's excerpts at http://www.jetlagtravel.com/phaic_tan - it's hilarious.

The classic: an ugly busker gets an attractive girl for a helper. To be fair, if I were a busker, and of course even half as attractive as I am now, I'd do the same. Zoom in on the bowling ball and the plate, then comment on my impeccable timing please.

James the Scottish busker. While I was trying to figure out how he was doing his tricks, the girls I was with kept eyeing up Philip, the event organiser (back).

Tokyo Joe and Alabama Dan! He only beat me once at pool, I was too good.

Me and the boy-os. Welsh guys I get on with, result!

One of Waiheke's beaches. The island itself is so laid back, with lanscape like that all over the place, you can't help but be totally chilled out all the time. I might buy about eight houses there with my sugar daddy's money.

Waiheke Island: I think you'll agree it looks pretty nice.

Who's that cool guy? And who's the idiot without a mohawk?

The Auckland skyline - they claim to live up to Sydney. I say don't be silly, Auckland.

How can you say no to the puppy! That's Zep, Marc's dog - first dog I've known who can't swim..

The great thing about living in Saudi was that all my mates have moved back home. I saw Petra in Italy and got to spend a lot of time with Marc in Australia - good to see you mate.

jobless joe and a few nz stories

A gifted person like myself? Jobless? Happens to the best of us, kids.

The first couple days were sluggish in cloudy Auckland, but I've had a great few days since I've been here. Adam and Adrian, a couple of cheeky Welsh guys, have been my source of entertainment for a good two or three days. We had a day at Waiheke Island, a short ferry ride from Auckland. They're not joking when they talk about New Zealand having fantasic scenery.

Met an American who wasn't from one of the major 'travelling states' like Florida or California - yep, Dan was from good old Alabama. What an eye-opener. He was a top lad but some of the stuff he was telling me was scary man. It went something like this (imagine our Dan is chatting to his mates back in Alabama about travelling):

Kevin: Hey Dan, you been dosie doe'in with Katrina again? Want another beer?
Dan: I'll have a beer sure. No more square dancin' with Katrina. I'm going to New Zealand in a few days.
Kevin: Hat damn, I seen all the world me, and I ain't never heard o' no New Zealand. I seen all fitty-six states o' this world I tell ya.
Dan: No Kevin, it's not in the States, it's the other side of the world.
Kevin: What you mean the other side o' the world?! This world goes all the way from San Fransisco to New York and all the goodness that's in between. That's all there is to it. Aaaaay, you been on that potato beer again Danny boy? You know daddy don't like that.
Dan: Never mind Kevin. And he's not our dad, that's Uncle Roger.

Or something like that. He pretty much told me that that's how they are. Very scary. And he also told me how his good friends were helping on the Bush campaign. Surprise surprise. But yea, Dan himself was a top guy and he taught me a thing or two about his place.

Went to a busking festival yesterday for four hours of low-lives making pennies through nearly killing themselves with swords, glass, fire and axes. It was actually great fun.

Well that's all to report for now. I'll just leave with you an example of how small the world really is. As I was updating my lovely website, a man old enough to be my father came and asked me a question about an email he didn't quite understand. It turned out his name was Yousif (my name in Arabic) who lives in Saudi Arabia and comes from Egypt. The chances of that happening are slim to none, but he was sitting here five minutes ago. Crazy.

bye bye brisbane - 'allo 'allo auckland!

'allo 'allo! what a bad tv series.

First of all, I have to say a big thanks to the Collins family for putting me up, and putting up with me, for so long. All together I spent about four weeks in Brisbane and I was with them for all of it - so thanks Geoff and Felicity! I'll get some pictures up of the Samford place soon.

I arrived in drizzly Auckland in the early evening, the weather too off-putting to have a decent explore just yet, so I'll make a day of it tomorrow. Oh, and job-searching is the order of the next coming days; I've applied to about a dozen places and heard back from two to hopefully schedule interviews and find out what the crack is with the $$$$. They'll pay me more than their normal staff, I have skills.

I'm staying at the Auckland Central Backpackers (www.acb.co.nz) - it's in the middle of the City and amazingly shares a building with Westpac. It doesn't get much better, what a cool name for a bank. So I'll be waltzing in the door, cantering to the counter and opening a bank account tomorrow.

Thanks also for the first comments on the blog go to Laura & Paul - glad you saw the funny side of the baby joke! And the rest of you, comments please!

Here's another joke: How do you get Pikachu on the bus? .......................... Poke-'im-on. Genius.