wildlife park, Aussie day

So last weekend we decided to do something, other then the usual.

About 30-40 minutes from town is the Northern Territory Wildlife Park . We had seen signs for it before, and it is right next to Berry Springs, where we had been before as well, but just never made it next door. We got there mid afternoon and for $20, we where put on the bus for our first stop, the Nocturnal exhibit. It was a very short bus ride and we could have walked it faster, but we arrived. It was a pretty good exhibit, but seriously, it seems like once you've seen one, you've seen them all. However, we did see a snake that had just shed its skin which I had never seen before. We then walked to our next exhibit, the Aquarium, and to get there we walked by a billabong, saw a fresh water croc, and some pretty, and big, birds. The aquarium was nothing special, but we still walked through it. And that was pretty much it. There was more of a walk around the park where we saw a manta ray, and we walked out to a bird viewing area, but saw no birds, lots of water, but no birds. And the flight deck where they let the park birds fly freely, had just closed.

All in all, it was alright, but I'd say its more of a "wild" walk then a "wildlife" park!!!! And of course it was stinkin hot out, so we got an ice cream and sat in the air con'd cafe before getting into the hot car to come home.

Tuesday Jan 26th was Australia Day. I was lucky enough to have the day off, but wasn't really feeling that great. Wasn't in the mood for socializing that much, so we passed on the bbq that we where invited to and took a ferry to Mandorah island. It was a cloudy day, and of course warm, and didn't even think to bring my sunscreen. Oops. The ferry ride was a 20 minute journey, and the hotel bar and restaurant that we went to (basically the only thing to do on the island and the only think to do) was a 5 minute walk from the dock. Rob had a few drinks, and we had a bite to eat. There was a live band playing which was pretty good, other then the fact that we couldn't hear each other it was so loud, and we were even outside.

The island had a amazing view of Perth, and it was a nice calm day out, so the water was beautiful. After a few drinks we decided to head back in, we where kinda getting bored. This when I realized how red I was getting. By the time I got home my chest was like a lobster. Oops. I forgot how little it takes to get tanned here, or burnt, and I have lost almost all my tan from Cuba and Bali that I was pretty much translucent white again. However my burn has turned into a nice tan, so no complaints :)

That evening we rented a couple of movies and just stayed in. By that point if we showed up to a bbq, we would have been the only sober people, and that is never that much fun!

9 days and counting

Its official, I handed in my 2 weeks notice today and have 9 shifts remaining :) :) :) and I couldn't be happier!

Rob's applied for his visa which shouldn't take longer then 2 weeks, and once I'm finished work we are gettin' the hell outta here! My last shift is on a Thursday (Feb 11) so I'm sure we'll have one last night out on the town on the Friday and head out sat or sun, depending on how far we want to drive on our way to Alice Springs and how drunk we get Friday night :)

Its kinda of interesting because I am feeling a bit sad about leaving, but if you would have asked me a week ago, I would have packed up and left in a minute. My last two shifts have been pretty good, I've worked with a good team leader and alright staff. BUT, I know this is what we need to do and considering I've been in Darwin for 7 months, yes, I need to move on and see the rest of this amazing country!

The weather is starting to get to me as well. As I was coming down the stairwell at work, I hit the second floor and could feel the humidity from outside! Too much for me thank you!

More about the weekend and Australia Day later!

Work lately....

So, the last few weeks of work have been, well, horrible.

My manager has left, as she was only covering for a year as the previous manager was on mat leave, and she is missed greatly!! Within a week of the returning manager arriving she has changed bed numbers around, and put all our heavy stroke patients into one room. And the previous week, she we was sick for 4 days.

Over the past month we have had a bunch of 'good' nurses leave -either moving interstate, or moving wards (units). And of course all the not so good nurses and bad nurses, are still here.

I would have to say that the nursing standards at the hospital, or at least this ward, have hit rock bottom. Not to mention the lack of communication between everyone. Pts get left in pain, drains don't get emptied, fluid restrictions don't get followed, and pts don't get washed, yes, it happens and it makes me ill. There are no ward rounds during the day so information doesn't get passed on to the nurses, and the nurses aren't able to address any issues with the doctors. Many times things get missed as they are mentioned in the notes by the MD's, but it doesn't get noticed till that evening, or that night when the notes are reviewed, and even sometimes not till the next day.

Last week I worked a set of 4 night shifts, and it was absolutely horrible. I was put in charge, which I was OK with, but there was a lot of shit that I had to deal with. I was working with an EN (aka LPN) which means assigning patients is a bit difficult, and with having one room FULL of heavy stroke patients even more difficult on nights, with only 4 staff. Luckily the first night we had 5 staff, the next 2 nights we had 4, and the last night I called to our nursing resource and got another staff member, which was a bit of a fight.

Anyways, I won't go into too much detail but to give you some idea of some of the things that are happening, here it goes.

I work with some of the laziest people ever. And rude. Yes, just down right rude. And working on an oncology ward, you need empathetic nurses. No eye contact is made, they talk so quietly you can hardly hear them, they leave stuff to get down for the next staff, and don't complete paperwork. This is just a few of the things that I can think of. And the worst, is that I hear it from the patients as well. I should NEVER have to hear complaints from pts, but it happens, a lot. It makes it really difficult to go into work worrying about what crap I'm going to have to deal with, or who I am going to be taking over from and God-forbid who I'm going to be working with. The worst is, there are so few 'good' nurses (and I consider myself a good nurse) left that none of us hardly get to work together. We see each other at handover, but that's it.

Another thing that's driving me up the wall, is all the negativity on the ward, even from 'decent' nurses. There is this one nurse, who isn't that bad. But all I here is all the stuff he has to do during the shift, and he has to do this, and that, and this wasn't done, and that wasn't done. Yes, I know that we get stuck with a lot of crap to do that wasn't done, but lets try and be a 'little' bit positive and help each other out and get through this shift. He is one of those people that likes the attention and "whoa oh is me", and I can't stand people like that. A couple weeks ago I had to work next to him and he completely drained me of my energy, I left the ward feeling completely mentally exhausted, just from listening to him rant and rave all night. Ugh. I can only take so much.

Another thing that I think is so sad, and ridiculous, and should NOT be happening at any hospital, is the lack of testing and f/u that gets done with pts. The other night we had a lady that was very, very sick, and could have gone into septic shock at ANY point, did not have an operation to drain a pocket of pus because she was not put on the operating room list. WHAT???????? How can that be happening. Sadly she is indigenous and they don't quite understand the health care system so its easy for "them" (health care professionals) to explain some nonsense bullshit as an excuse. I tell ya, if that was me, I'd be suing.

During the last set of night shifts, as charge nurse, we go through all the notes and update the handover sheet as to what's been done and needs to be done. How many times have I seen doctors write, "chase echo report", or "chase xray report", or chase lab results, blah blah blah. Its just as excuse to not look it up and do it yourself and leave it for the next person. OR, I've had doctors come in on a night shift to review a patient, and they write in the notes, leave and don't say anything to the nurses. I had a MD write a stat order for insulin in the notes, and it was missed for 2 hours as he didn't tell anyone about it!! I said something to him that night because it was just ridiculous. It goes back to the whole communication issue that is non existent. Last week we had a pt that needed a medication changed to a different route (instead of a tablet, we needed a different dissolvable tablet) and it didn't get done for at least 2 days - not sure it has even been changed?

Seriously the list goes on, and if Rob had his visa all figured out (just waiting on some work, or someway to cheat) I'd have already handed in my resignation. I kinda feel bad leaving as I know I am an asset to the ward, but I just can't take it anymore. All I think about it work, before I go to sleep, and when I wake up in the morning, and sometimes I dream about it. I have a sore back and neck, and am just not myself. I don't think that I've ever hated a job this much. Not good for my mental well-being. I've actually turned down 2 overtime shifts this stretch of days off as I'm not going to stress myself even more for just a bit more money. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have some idea what's in our future, and I will be handing in my notice, the sooner the better.

Around the world 2.88 times

While sitting at the Sydney airport, bored out of my mind, I decided to figure out just how much time I spend in these damn airports as well as how many kilometers I have flown. First I figured out the past year, then the previous year as I had done a bunch of traveling as well.

So, this is what I have come up with.

First, for 2008:

- I have flown 45, 964 km's

- Spent approx 5, 090 minutes in the air, which is 85 hours and 23 minutes, or 3.53 days.

- Been through 20 security checks (not that many as I flew a lot of domestic flights and didn't have to go through security flying Yellowknife to Kugluktuk)

- 38 Flights in total which = 76 takeoffs and landings.

Furthest distance was Kugluktuk to Maui - 6, 840 km's

Shortest distance was Kugluktuk to Edmonton - 1, 591 km's

For 2009:

- Total distance is 69, 162km's

- Approx 5, 514 minutes in the air, 92 hours and 3 minutes, or 3.83 days

- Been through security 20+ times

- 25 flights in total, OR 50 takeoffs and landings

Furthest distance was Darwin to Cuba - 18704 km's

Shortest distance was Launceston to Melbourne 445 km's

IN TOTAL:

Total distance traveled 115, 126 km's - which is 2.88 times around the world!

Time in the air 10, 604 minutes, or 177 hours and 53 minutes, or 7.36 days!!

53 Flights in total, (well, 54 if you include my skydive) 126 landings and takeoffs.

in 21 different city's.

I tried to figure out how long I've spent in airports, but couldn't remember layover times, but all I can tell ya, is its a long freakin' time!

I've had a small Swiss army knife taken off my going through security (Yellowknife) - oops, forgot I had it in my bag. But I've also gotten through security (Brisbane) with the same knife, again, forgetting that it was in my bag. I've been 'selected' once to have a full body search at the Yellowknife security, and have had my bag swiped multiple times for bomb explosives - all which have passed, phew :) Never been denied boarding, but was asked to be quiet on a flight from Yellowknife to Edmonton once.... the 2 shots and 2 beer prior to takeoff had nothing to do with it :)

I'm pretty sure I could say the safety speech from heart as I've heard it that many times, and to be honest, I'm not really that sick of airplane food - to be honest, I don't mind it. Although, so many of my domestic flights I don't even get food, and I refuse to pay $3.50 for a bottle of water and $8 for pringles and a mini chocolate bar, or whatever you get with it.

And to think that I've spent over a week just on a plane in the past two years is just freaky! Thank goodness there where no snakes on the plane :) heehee

car update and Pt. escort

Just got back from picking up the car after a service job. I was a bit nervous as to the damage it was going to have on my bank account, however, it turned out to be not bad, $393 in total!

Oil was changed, everything was checked, he fixed some discs that was causing the car to shake when I braked, he cleaned out the air con filter so now it doesn't overflow onto the floor of the passenger side and he fixed the key issue!!! WOOHOO!

He said there was a spring at the base of the barrel that was stuck causing the key to lock, he unstuck it, put it in the correct position, and voila, it works!! I must admit I was a little nervous as to what the bill was going to be and very relieved to the final outcome!

A bit of a funny story though, after I picked up the car I had to stop at the mall to get a key cut (Rob lost his, oops!) and when I got back into my car, I tried to start it, and it wouldn't turn over!! I was like, what, are you kidding me? I tried again and still no luck. I was using the key that we had been using to lock the doors, so I tried the key that was stuck in the ignition, and it turned over no problem! The key used to lock the doors is actually a Toyota key that has been re-cut (I believe the previous owner had to get this done when she was having problems with the ignition) and it must be slightly different so it wouldn't start the car! Yet both keys will lock it. Let me tell ya I was pretty relieved when the second key got it going! LOL

So now my beautiful chariot is ready for the long road trip down south - whenever it is that we leave :)

Now for the story of my patient escort I had to do on the weekend. I worked Friday, evening shift, and after returning from dinner I found out that one of my patients had to be sent to Adelaide ASAP for immediate brain surgery - as Darwin does not have a neurosurgeon. As it was last minute it was near impossible to get someone in to do the escort, and an RN was needed as he had a high risk of seizing and a possibility of a brain hemorrhage. Of course I had dollar signs in my eyes and said I would do the escort as long as they could find someone to cover my shift on Saturday. The escort was more important and they would have a longer time to find someone to cover my shift, so I was given the OK to go. It was a bit of a crazy shift, trying to get my head around having to leave in a few hours, as well as make sure my 5 other patients where settled.

I got my itinerary from the Nursing Coordinator, departure was at 0135, I had to get the pt all ready as well as photocopy any relevant information so I was to come in early - around 2315. Of course I didn't get off work till nearly 2200 so I had just an hour at home to pack, and relax.

Now, to backtrack a bit - my pt, a very lovely 62 year old man, who had not been on a holiday in over 10 years, was actually pretty excited about this trip - even though it was to have brain surgery. We gave him a drug to prevent seizures, and of course, he had to have a reaction to it. Not the typical rash and hives that you are thinking though. His included: Difficulty focusing, unsteady gait (which he already had due to his tumor pressing up against his cerebellum to the point where he can not walk and requires a wheelchair), slurred speech and slowed thinking. He actually feel out of his wheelchair an hour before I was to go home and get ready. He looked and sounded, well, drunk! He did also have a beer that he was allotted with supper as well as he is a smoker - which did not help the situation. He also had the laughs and could hardly finish his sentence without laughing and giggling. I actually had him reviewed by the on call doctor before we left just to make sure he was still safe to travel! Boy was I up for a challenging trip!

I had everything ready to go and off we where to the airport at 0000. He was slightly better by the time we left, he was actually standing and transferring better which made my life a hell of a lot easier. We flew Jetstar to Adelaide and they where very accommodating, getting us a wheelchair as well as seating us in row 2. Its amazing what a uniform and a badge can do :) We pre-boarded - the first time I've ever had to do that, and he thankfully was able to walk from the edge of the plane to his seat with assistance by me and the flight attendant. He was still giggly and would not stop talking!! I thought that once we where off and in the air - with the cabin lights off, he would settle and maybe sleep a bit. But, nope, he had another side effect of the medication - insomnia! Great. Not that I really had planned on sleeping, but this made it even more difficult to relax. AND, he was insistent that he work on his crossword - but that did not work so well as he couldn't focus and get produce any of the answers. They where all on the tip of his tongue, poor guy! It was a 3 and a half hour flight and was so relieved when we landed. He was much better by the time we landed, but still was very talkative. We landed just after 6 am, and I had been up for nearly 24 hours, the last think I wanted to do was talk - but I listened well and nodded my head :)

We arrived at the hospital at 7:15 - right during shift change, awesome, but it didn't take long to get him through. By this point as well, the giddiness was pretty much gone and his gait was much, much better - thank-goodness! After a brief handover and a goodbye to my patient. I caught a cab to my hotel. I arrived by 8am, and after a quick bite to eat, I was down to sleep for a few hours - as I had to catch a flight back at 1500. It took me forever to fall asleep and was awoken by the cleaning lady at 1030, and of course woke up at noon in a panic that my alarm didn't go off. I got up at about 1300 and caught a cab back to the airport. Unfortunately I couldn't get a direct flight back so had to route through Sydney. It was a quick hour and a half flight to Sydney, I stepped outside the airport but there wasn't much to see, just a car park - the airport is pretty massive. I went back in and had a couple drinks. The drinks cost me over $8 each (I had 2) and was a little taken back, but then realized I was making double time to sit on a plane, so I didn't care much :) I got paid from the time I arrived at the Darwin hospital till I got to my accommodation in Adelaide, and from the time I left the hotel in Adelaide till I got back to the hospital in Darwin. Not bad.

I got back just before 2300 and Rob came and picked me up. I was exhausted and wasn't looking forward to waking up the next day for a morning shift. I finally fell asleep after midnight sometime and dragged my arse out of bed at 0630. But to my surprise when I arrived at work, I was actually granted a travel day and got to turn around and go back to bed!! I couldn't have been happier! And of course when I did get back I was too awake and couldn't go back to sleep. I was up for a bit then eventually did get tired and slept for a couple more hours.

So that was my lovely weekend and I start nights this week. Off Saturday morning so I think a piss-up will be in order Saturday night, drinks on me :)

Oh yeah, I made my first cheesecake... well, it was from a box, but I made it, and it turned out good :) Rob even had two pieces of it last night!!

Up next: the extraordinary amount of kilometers I have flown over the past 2 years - yes I was bored at the airport and this is how I passed the time :)

561-803

You might be wondering what these 6 digits are - can ya guess????

Its the license plate to my new car!!!!!

Yes, its true, I finally broke down and bought a car. Rob and I have been tossing around the idea of a car for quite some time now, and have even looked at a few, but nothing really seemed to grasp us. Plus cars up here in the NT seem to be pretty expensive. For a decent car your looking at about $3000, and I am always hesitant buying used cars, especially from strangers.

Well, earlier last week, I was in my bosses office having a chat, (a good one, it was her last day of work) and I mentioned that I was ready to leave Darwin, that Rob and I have been pretty bored and not having a car isn't helping the situation. That is when she said that she hasn't been able to GIVE her car away!! She was leaving the territory on Sunday and still hadn't sold it. The more we chatted, the more I became intrigued, and she would sell it to me for $500, 5 minutes later she was down to $300..... I gave her $400!

After our skydive Saturday my boss came over so Rob and I could see the car. Now its not the most eye catching car, but I really could care less what it looks like. Its a green 1998 Mitsubishi Magna - a massive car, which is just what we need, in fact, Rob can lay in the trunk of it, and I'm sure I could get in there next to him! 138 000km on it, both highway and city driving, a V6 engine - vroom vroom!! AC, power steering, power locks, and fairly new tires. Now of course its not prefect, the AC doesn't work the best, and it leaks on the floor on the passenger side - nothing a towel on the floor can't fix, the paint has faded - from the extreme sun/temperatures, quite a few dents and nicks, and the key is currently stuck in the ignition. She's had a locksmith come and look at it (a 24 year old punk I was told), he got the key out, put a new barrel in, and when she took it to work, she once again couldn't get the key out! Rob knows a guy at work that is a locksmith and he is going to look at it, and I have since bought a steering wheel lock and I also drape a towel over the wheel - so the steering wheel doesn't get hot ;) I also have a separate key to lock it from the outside so even if someone did get in, they would only go in circles :)

I am taking it in to get serviced on Monday as I need to get the registration renewed by the end of March and each car needs to "pass". As well as it needs an oil change and a general service anyways. A "rego check" here lasts 6 weeks, so I will just renew it before we leave the territory on the last possible day. I'm hoping there is not too much wrong with it, but even if it costs me $1000 to fix up, I only paid $400 for it, so I can't complain!

My boss has taken the car to Broome and back without any problems, and because its such a big car, we can fit everything in that we will need! We will probably get a swag each so we can camp on our travels, and if need be, I'm sure we can sleep IN the car. Even if the car only gets us to Adelaide, it has SO been worth the money already, and its only been 4 days :)

I bought the car that day (right after our skydive, so it was a pretty exciting day!) and we where both so excited to have a car and not have to worry about taking the bus anymore! I'm not constantly checking the time when I'm grocery shopping, we can go see a movie in the evening, and heck, we can even order pizza and GO PICK IT UP!!!!

"cause I'm freeeee fallin'!"

Yuppers, 7000ft in 45 seconds @ 200km/hr, and what a rush!!!!!!

It has been touch and go with trying to get our sky dive in, we tried once last weekend but the weather was too crap - wind and rain. But today, the clouds where high, and we where off to do our skydive. When I did wake up this morning, I was still even hesitant about the skydive as it was cloudy and overcast, but I didn't get a phone call from the tandem master Ash, so it was still on! We got picked up at the hospital, and Ash was there, as well as someone that just finished a jump, and we headed to the airport. On our information sheet we where told that we would get a 20 minute introduction, which turned out to be more like 5 minutes!!! We where pretty much told to keep our head back, hips out and feet up when we jumped out of the plane, and to keep our feet up when we landed!!! Um, ok!
It was the smallest plane EVER that we got into, and I couldn't believe we could fit 5 people in the plane (including the pilot of course) but we did. There was only one seat, and sitting on the floor next to the pilot was Pete with Rob sitting in front of him, and behind the pilot was Ash with me in front of him - I got to look out the back of the plane :) (kinda funny, but Pete is actually a med student at the hospital! I haven't seen him before, but now that I know him I'm sure I'll be seeing him again!!)

It as a 25 minute flight to reach 12000 feet, and it was the longest 25 minutes EVER!!! I didn't really feel that nervous, it didn't feel like I was actually going to jump out of a plane. I had a few butterflies on the ground and as we climbed, and I could feel my heart rate increasing and racing just before we left the plane. We where given goggles to wear and just as we hit 11500 feet we got "attached" to our tandem diver, the door opened and MAN was it cold!!! We where in a few clouds as well and you could feel ice crystals in the air for a split second when we jumped out. Rob went first, and just as they left I could here him say "oh fuck!" and off he went. Ash and I wobbled our way back to the door and I put a foot out, and then the other, grabbed onto my harness with dear life (I'm sure my knuckles where white), and we leaned forward, looking down at the ocean 12000 feet below. I can honestly say that the second I hung there looking down, I wasn't really that nervous, it was a weird feeling that I can't describe. It was loud with the plane and the wind, but at the same time serene and peaceful? If this makes sense at all?? Ash didn't give me any warning that we where jumping, it was just a smooth lean forward and a gentle fall out of the plane, no jumping out of that plane!! We tossed and flipped once before smoothing out, I got a tap on the shoulder to say I was ok to put my arms out, and down we went - 200km/hr. We where told it was a 45 second free fall, but it sure didn't feel like it, more like 15 seconds!! I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to breath - I always have my breath taken away on roller coasters or fast moving amusement park rides, but sky diving I had no problems breathing at all, nor did my stomach turn when we fell out of the plane. It was a disappointment that it wasn't all blue skies, but you could still see the amazing ocean, the beautiful coast line, and everything was so green from all the rain we've been getting!! Ash pulled the shoot at 5000ft and we came to a sudden slow down as we dangled from the pretty blue parachute for about 5 or 6 minutes before landing - which felt more like 3 or 4 minutes! The company we went with have hand held video camera's so the whole jump is on video, the free fall, and the parachute ride down, some of which I got to fly!!
And just like that we landed, very smoothly at Lee Point Beach. We where told that we would land on our bums, but it was more like half standing when we landed - no sandy bum for me :) We where given a certificate for our jump as well as a student parachute license :) This will be laminated and sent home so it doesn't get destroyed on my travels.
It was such a surreal experience and I still can't believe that I actually 'fell' out of a plane today! The company will put our video together with background music and we will get it in the mail, hopefully very shortly.

I pay a crap load of money for internet here as I pay for the amount that we use, so if I try and upload the video to facebook or here, I think I would be broke. I am going to mail it home and hopefully get my mom to upload then!
I highly recommend everyone to sky dive if they EVER get the chance, it truly is the thrill of a lifetime and I can't wait to skydive again!!!!

the ants have invaded again.....

So here I thought we where free and clear of ants, and then alas, they have found my cupboards!!! I don't think there was anyone in our unit for some time before we moved it, but I guess we smell too good as they have found us, and aren't leaving!

The other day I noticed a few ants in the cupboard, but didn't think much of it. The following day I saw more running up and down the dividers of the cupboards, and the next day it was a full on invasion!!! They had found a bag of dates that I had opened, they where closed back up, but it doesn't stop them. They also found a plate that was left in the sink and I followed them up the side of the sink, the side of the wall, across my cupboards and up the wall along the bathroom and I have no idea where they went from there. I had to throw away my dates as well as a bag of mixed muesli (granola) I had in the cupboard as they like anything sweet and they managed to get into the bags despite them being closed. I thought if I got rid of anything sweet and put anything remotely sweet that was opened, in the fridge, we would be free of them again. However they have found us, and I don't think it will be that easy to get rid of them. I left a plate in the sink today after lunch, and after a nap I found about 100 of them on the plate and a whole army marching there and back. I drowned most of them and saw the rest of them aborting the mission. Hah, damn ants!!!

We are usually pretty good at cleaning up after we eat, but I don't always have time after lunch when I'm at work as I only get 30 minutes, but it looks like I am going to have to make an extra effort.

Here are the ants from my kitchen sink going home......

Hello rain!

Well, I think I can comfortably say we have entered the wet season!

It has rained every day since Jan 1st, with small amounts of rain during the last few days of 2009. Today we have barely seen the sun and cloudy, grey, rainy days are forecasted for the next week.....and we are currently on cyclone watch. Rob should have no problem, feeling at home with this weather, however I would rather have the snow!! haha

SO, there was no skydive today for us, and judging by the long range forecast, I don't think it will happen next weekend either, so we'll keep our fingers crossed for the following weekend :)

2010

Well, its finally happened, 2010 has arrived.

Its kinda weird because I remember about 10 or 11 years ago thinking, hmmmmm, I wonder what its going to be like in 2010, where will I be, what will I be doing? Will we be 'flying cars' and living in the "Jetson's" era?? I guess you could say I didn't REALLY think that we would be flying cars, but I would have never guessed that I would have done what I have done in the past 10 years to get to where I am today - and none of it I regret.

This New Years Eve was the FIRST time I have ever been to a bar. I have always gone to house parties, or worked, or even one year I was in bed! I guess not that much happened that year.

This year Rob and I decided that we would go out. One of the bars - "the Cav" that my friend works at was putting on a party, tickets where $120 and it was all you can drink with snacks all night. We decided to get a cheap room in town as we didn't want to have to to fight for a cab and had no idea what the taxi situation was going to be like, so we played it safe.

We started off at a bar called Wisdom as the Cav wasn't open yet, and had a jager bomb and a drink. As we are hanging out the DJ stopped between songs, and started a countdown, 10, 9, 8......1, Happy New Year!!! he yelled. I looked at Rob and was like ok, its only 8:30 but whatever, then he said, Happy New Year in New Zealand!

We headed to the Cav and met up with a couple friends, I also ran into a girl that I worked with so that was kind of nice. The free drinks included anything on tap and basic spirits. I'm still not liking beer and the only rum they had was Bundaburg rum - which tastes like tequila to me - ugh, so I drank Vodka all night. Not my first choice, but whatever, it was free. Oh yeah, and the champagne, was like cheap cider - as Rob put it. I was given a glass of the Champagne as we arrived and I had about 3 sips of it and that was it. And the food, was just warmed up finger food - most of which I was iffy on eating, and the food ended at 10:00pm.

The music included a one man band playing the guitar for the first couple of hours, then a DJ hit the floor and smashed it up. They gave away a few prizes - which included a total of three or four gift cards......and that was it. And the countdown, was just like the first one at the first bar. All of a sudden the DJ started to countdown from 10. No 5 minute warning to get a glass of champagne or even a 1 minute warning!!! Very different then what I am used to, but don't get me wrong - I still had a good time!!! Had a few shots through out the night, lots of dancing and good times!!! I have no idea what time we got home and was very sad when we had to check out at 10am - only because both Rob and I where a bit hungover and did NOT want to get out of bed!!!

New Years day in town was like a ghost town!!! I was very surprised - nothing was open and all we wanted was a full breakfast! We did find one place that was open and waited nearly 50 minutes to get food, plus we had to pay a holiday surcharge! Our bill was close to $50 for 2 breakfasts and two lemonades!!! ($9 for the lemonade!!!! AHHHH!!! Can you believe it?!!!) We where not all that impressed, especially when we missed our bus, had to take a longer bus to the mall, which made us miss our last bus to get to the hospital, so we sucked it up and walked home - with all out stuff, hungover, and of course was hot out :)

Today has been a much better day, and hopefully tomorrow will be even better as we are planning on going skydiving - granted the weather holds up :)

I hope everyone had a great New Years and I can't wait to see what 2010 brings as each years seems to get better and better!!!

Dancing with a friend - even though it looks I am either strangling her or going in for a smooch!!!