Post No. 12 - I can see clearly now

I cannot believe that we will be here in 4 weeks time - eek!

So I got a picture for you all! A somewhat convuluted process but once we are there and taking our own pictures I am hoping it will get a little easier!

I went back to the opticians yesterday for a 2nd go at the whole contact lense thing. It went not bad! I managed to get them in quite easily and eventually after about 15 minutes I managed to get them out as well (I think it helped that I made sure my nails were really short this time so I couldn't scratch my eyeballs!) After a few more attempts, lots of eye watering and a few laughs I had those puppies in and out about 4 times so I was allowed to bring some away with me. I now have a 5 day trial and if I get on alright then I will actually be ALLOWED to buy some contact lenses! Woo-hoo - white water rafting here I come. (The log cabins don't look too bad either!)

Post No. 11 - Desperate for Desperate Housewives

How sad am I? When I realised on Wednesday that the football was going to overrun and they was no way on earth I was gonna be able to switch over to watch Desperate Housewives at 10pm I panicked!
I called a friend to check he was in and then preceded to run the 3 blocks to his house and up the 3 flights of stairs to his front door and made it just in time for the Herbal Essence advert right at the start.
Phew - close call but I made it!

I then had to walk through the centre of Glasgow back home after 11pm at night in the pouring rain but it was worth it!

I can't believe its the last lot next week. I can't wait for the next series....and I'm sure you can guess my next panic - do they have Desperate Housewives in NZ?

P.S I am still hunting for some pictures and hope to get some posted up at the weekend!

Post No. 10 - This time next month....

...we will be en route!

I can hardly believe it.

I keep wondering what it going to come along and burst the bubble (what an optimist I am!)

I am looking forward to NZ, I can't wait to go and experience thee travelling, the places, the people but I can't help feeling just a teeny-weeny bit scared!

Thank goodness the house has been sold, we have also now sold the car. I have practically finished my packing list.

Maybe that is why the panic is setting in (who am I kidding - the panic has been continuous since we came up with the idea but I have always been able to put it on the back burner until now) because there isn't that much left to do!

Well I will take some calming breaths and visualise beautiful NZ country side (I will go see if I can find a picture for you all!)

Post No. 9 Itinerary/Map of North Island

Once we are arrive in NZ we plan to tour around North Island. (We hope to get to South Island a bit later on)

We land in Auckland and will spend a few days there.

Next we head up for a tour of Northland before coming back to Auckland.

From here we head down the West Coast to Palmerston North.

Then from Palmy we go on a circle off the East Coast and middle of North Island.

We have worked out where we want to go and how we are going to get about. Now we are just looking forward to getting there and doing it!

Here's a map of North Island so you can make sense of our convuluted itinerary!



And what a wonderful example of all I learned the other day - in this post I have made use of turning words into links and I have managed to insert an image. I'll be a pro at this html stuff before you know it (even though I will be wearing glasses as opposed to contact lenses as I do it!)

Post No. 8a - I'm a contact lens failure

..so I figure, what with this exciting and adventurous life I will be leading in NZ complete with canoeing, kayaking, white water rafting, bungee jumping and sky diving (ok, maybe not the bungee or sky diving but I definetly want to try the others!) that I'm not gonna be able to see v.much if I lose my glasses in pursuit of an adrenaline filled experience (although considering I spend about 90% of my time at Alton Towers with my eyes shut maybe this isn't such a bad thing!)

Graeme wears contact lenses, Mum wears contact lenses, various other people I know/have known throughout my life have worn contact lenses - it can't be that much of a bother I tell myself. If all these people are still wearing them then there must be something going for them!

So I made myself an appointment for a Contact Lens Consultation. And it was this morning. But as I type this message I am not wearing contact lenses, no siree - I am still very much bespectacled.

Let me tell you what happened (as I am sure you are all riveted to your seats in anticipation of this sorry tale!)....appointment was for 11, and as we are now sans car we took the bus (what a novel experience that was - Glasgow buses really scare me - they stick 2 of them together with a big concentina thing in the middle. Half of the bus is down one street while the back of the bus is still like 3 miles away facing a completely different direction!)

Arrived at the Opticians surprisingly enough in one piece and on time and they took some details before I saw the optician herself. They decided to do an eye test and then she did that weird thing where they make you look straight ahead and they flash a light all over your eyes.

.......post continues at post no. 9b......

Post No. 8b - I am a Contact Lens Failure!

Then came the part where she put the contact lens in my eyes so I could see if they are for me or not. What a palava that is, I have been told I have an extremely strong blink reflex and you can imagine how hard it is to get a little bit of plastic over your eyeballs when both your eyes are shut. And then my eyes started streaming and I couldn't open them. I was extremely apologetic at this stage in the proceedings but she told me that some people are even worse (see that old saying - "remember there is someone always worse off then you" really can make you feel better about yourself!). Finally she got them in and I saw the world in a whole new light. It is pretty cool to be able to see stuff without seeing the frame of your glasses in your peripheral!.

So I got sent out the room to sit and see how I felt. I felt good, this is good, I can do this, I can wear these whilst belting down a big rushing river in a dinghy I say to myself. After a while she came along and just popped the little suckers right back out of my eyes and I hardly felt a thing.

Then came along the bit where I have to put the lenses in myself and take them out again before they will let me take them away. And this is where it all started going wrong. After about 20 attempts, dropping it on the floor twice, having to clean it 5 times I finally got the one in my right eye. Managed to get the one in my left eye on the 2nd attempt - woo-hoo! I am on a roll - this is for me, its easy I start to think.

Whilst my eyes were calming down and the streams of water slowed down I was talked through how to care for my lenses and not to eat them or rinse them under the tap, general things like that.

So I am happy - may take some getting used to but they are in, I can see.
But then I had to take them out and do you think I could do it? I am pretty sure you can guess thats a no! I was trying for about 20 minutes, was managing to get my finger in my eye to touch the lense but just couldn't pull it out. Turned out they had to get the optician back in and she just popped those little suckers right back out again.

So there you have it, a long and sorry tale and its not yet finished! I am to go back next week to try again!
If anyone has any helpful contact lens hints please post and let me know!

Post No. 7 - You Learn Something New Every Day!

And today I learnt how to make words links (huh? does that even make sense?) and how to edit my links on my sidebar.
So there you go - exciting stuff!

So can anyone suggest any links? Anyone got a blog they want me to link to on the proviso they link back to this one?

I suppose I should email people to let them know this is here so maybe, oneday, all these questions I keep asking aren't so rhetorical.

Maybe, one day, there will be living, breathing things reading this blog....when I say things, I'm not fussy - if a dog or a parrot takes a liking to my blog I will be chuffed....hmmmm perhaps I could do a mad competition - send in pictures of things reading my blog and I will pick the best one. The best one wins what? How 'bout the amazing accolade of being mentioned here!

Well I am sure I am scaring people off now...perhaps I should get Graeme to post - he might actually tell you stuff about NZ which is probably why you are here. If you are here at all, that is....

Right - that's it - I am emailing a few people to let them know this is here! If you are one of the people I have emailed please leave me a comment so I know that my non-sensical ramblings are being read.

Post Number 6 - If you've got this far....

...then you deserve a little treat

Remember the 80's? Or do you just think you do?

To see what you really do know visit:
www.yetanotherdot.com/asp/80s.html

P.S I know this is completely un-NZ adventure related but I feel guilty about not posting for ages and this is fun!