Movie Evenings

So this last week we've all realised how little time we have with each other so every night this week me and Anna have gone round to Hanne's to spend the evening with her, Tiffany and Centaine

 Centaine has an amazing selection of Disney DVDs so we've been spending the evenings reminiscing and watching out favourite childhood films! Anastaia was a winter - we spent half the film singing alone! The best bit was Anna knows the songs in Swedish, and Hanne in Flemish so when we were all singing along there were there different languages going on

we baked a ton of cookies which were scrumptious 

 Another night we shared dinner together - we had soup for starter and then risotto for main!

 We went along to Hamilton Night Market since I only have one more Saturday left here! How crazy is that?? We all stocked up on yummy asian food, I got a giant Churro, and some vegetable dumplings, Hanne got japanese 'balls' and some canadian chips, Anna got a massage and some curry and Centaine got a fancy Japanese crepe which was a masterpiece!

 Me and Anna split a traditional Hangi - it's buried underground with traditional native branches and cooked for wish hours. I had the vegetables and Anna got the meat. Oh and we had it with 'fried bread' which was slightly sweet and is traditional too. It was surprisingly yummy and I'm glad I got to try it!

 Hanne left me with this beautiful photo from one night!

 And then last night was a particularly cold one and George popped around. We were laughing that Anna looked homeless with her hat and blanket it. Not that George looked much better!

Also Facebook translate changed Hanne's status, from Centaine to JOHN! Needless to say we've been calling her John ever since. We've also booked a meal for when Anna and Hanne get back to say goodbye! Trying to make the most of everything, despite having to spend days in the library getting my essays done!

Autumn Update

Been meaning to do a post like this for a while but I just keep forgetting/run out of time to put it together. So it's just a random ramble about bits and pieces that have happened recently - the sort of stuff that doesn't warrant it's own blog post but deserves a little mention

 Golden Kiwis, I know I'm raved about them to mum, but the world needs to know about these golden treats, I'm pretty sure me and Anna are surviving off these as they're really hard (read impossible) to find in europe, but they are 1000x better than your average boring green kiwi. They're mainly grown here in New Zealand and they seem to be a bit of a New Zealand Secret - they're delicious!

 It also seems like all the fruit trees around Orchard Park are finally coming into fruit so every chance I get I've been pottering around the trees picking some fresh fruit. There's something weirdly satisfying about picking your own fruit!

 So far we've had feijoas a plenty, and now the oranges and lemons are ripening! We also have some lime bushes and some grapefruit trees that i can't wait to ripen!

 I took these photos a week or so ago when they cherry trees were in blossom, we've officially reached the golden leaf stage now though. Which is incredibly beautiful, everywhere you look there's a scattering of orange, red and gold leaves

 The other night me Anna and Hanne decided to have a taco night! It was super easy and delicious to make before watching the Spectacular Now which is one of hanne's favourite films

 Love these two girls!

And then last night us three and tiffany went to see the Fault in our Stars. I read the book in a day so I'd read it before I watched the film and it was very, very emotional! I defy anyone to watch it and now cry! Afterwards we were all feeling a little 'fragile' so we went to Hamilton Night market, which is almost exclusively food! I got some churros, which were yummy, Anna got some thai food, Hanne this crazy spud spinner, and tiffany form steamed pork buns.

While there we realised we would only be able to go once more together, since Anna and hanne are off to Tonga soon for a week -I have an exam so I can't go :'(. I'm definitely not a fan off all these 'lasts'!. I've had my LAST EVER lecture in New Zealand, my last ever Orchard Park meeting, and everything else seems to have an expiry, only 3 more weeks until I leave Waikato Uni!

Girly Nights

I've been meaning to add in a few photos from my time in Orchard as although I do spend a lot of my time in a library reading some archaic theoretical books, I try to make sure I do something fun in between! Me, Anna (Swedish Anna) and Hanne (Belgium) have gotten into the habit of meeting up every week or so to do something small and just catch up. We've made risotto together and baked cookies, but most of the time we just bring snacks and watch a film together and occasionally I remember to take some photos!

 Risotto Dinner with the Girls!

It was so delicious!

I promise I did actually do some of the work and didn't just stand around taking photos

Pre-dinner snacks!

 The weekend after we got down to some baking!

Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Sugar Cookies!

Then we finally figured out the self timer!

And last Friday me, Anna, Alyssa, Ariel, Ash, Hanne and Yuka went out to a post restaurant to treat ourselves to dinner and it was divine! We also shared a sticky date pudding and the fig and honey ice cream was to die for! Just a super quick ramble to keep you in the loop of things down under

Mt Maunganui

I had the most amazing day at the beach! Everyone from Orchard Park who was going on the trip gathered together before heading over to the bus - we were running late as we had to wait for people but needles to say, it's New Zealand, so the bus was running late itself!

The journey there was pretty smooth although quite a few of us weren't feeling too great towards the end - however the view when we got off the bus was so worth feeling nauseated!

Hanne, Me, Anna and Alyssa 

(Anna's photo)

It was the perfect day at the beach - the water was crystal clear, the sand soft and golden, the sky was the perfect blue, and it was an ideal 38degrees! 

I think the day was made even sweeter by the fact we'd only paid $5 for the bus there and back, and they threw in free snacks, and a lunch of fish and chips!

Yuka and Ash 

 Sunning ourselves after a swim! (Yuka's photos)

Once we got back to the uni we were told momento was offering us free food as well! So we all sat down and bought ourselves a pint of the locally made plum cider (which was yummy) so we watched the sun set while sipping our ice cold drinks over the lake listening to an amazing DJ (Yuka went up to ask where he normally DJs and we're definitely going to be going to electric soon!)