[Reuben]

INTERNETS amy, you will spend much time there. Also, the Gym.

Things also change when you get a car, and start making friends. Suddenly you'll find yourself fixing the tiny niggling things, because you have the time and money to, and then going out and exploring the surrounding region.

Photography is also another outlet to spend time with, You def need to pick up a 450+D

Here's some pics i took while you were at work.

[Alfred]

I can make a meet in dunners

[Shale]

DUNNERS MEET FTW. Just quietly.

Mat, Dunners is less hillbilly and more misplaced townie They think they're a city, but they're not quite. Whangamata is hillbilly

Reubs, a camera is definitely on my to-do list. Has been for a long time, and soon disposable income will happen for the first time since 2009. It's definitely the lack of a car that's hurting the most right now, the buses here are truly god-awful for a city this size so it's a 40 minute walk in either direction should I want to do anything. STILL... gym card should be here later today or tomorrow, and there is a spa with my name on it.

Several things that are awesome, however:

1) It's after 9pm currently and the sun is still blazing. Only just ducked down behind my hill. (Note I say NOTHING about it still being warm)

2) While the buses suck, they are cheap. $1.90 to town! If they ever come.

3) I've got a room, a gym membership, the nicest shower I've had in years, a theatre, a spa and a sauna at my disposal for $200/w - on top of the hill, where sun hits all day long. In Auckland, you'd have to add at minimum a hundy if not double for the same.

4) OMG OTAGO FRUIT. OMG OMG OMG.

5) [ this space reserved for comment about deserted SI roads ]

All in all, going a bit stir crazy here. FFFF.

[Oscar]

The bus system isn't THAT bad. Some of the routes are pretty fucked up and the timetable can be a bit odd. My GF used to live on Crown St, which isn't far from you. The bus that runs by your place is regular and usually on time. The early close mentality is something I don't see going away any time soon, but for good reason. Having retail open past 8pm is rather pointless here. Only The Warehouse and supermarkets are open after 8, and realistically that's more than enough. I remember when things used to close a lot earlier though. It is super quiet right now while the bulk of the students aren't here. You just wait for when they do return in full force though. You'll be sitting in the corner sucking your thumb crying for your mother.

Otago students are feral to say the least.

[matdaymon]

Whangamata is a village. Population 5,000. Also you'll find my village has pretty much everything open on a sunday

Still I'd contemplate moving to the SI if I could get a job in my field down there. I like hillbilly-ness and quiet.
How is there coffee?
Awaits answer to #5.. want EPIC bike roadie down there

[DacerX]

SI is nice to live in, that why i never moved back to the NI

[Reuben]

South Island is fucking ace. Easily warmer than Auckland here in central during summer. Then in winter, SNOW. then there's the deserted alpine roads, and FANTASTIC scenery.

Only thing lacking is warm water. The beach at Dunedin is nearly as cold as lake wakatipu... Not cool.

And amy, you'll be able to get a reprieve from the closed at 8/weekends thing when you visit QT. Tourist town = closed at arse crack of dawn for an hour or two. The restaurants still close their kitchens at 9 though, but usually have bars that wont close till like 4am. But it's a rather bizarre thing to get used to having a restaurant close before the sun has even gone down... Places like ferg and hells wont close till 4am ish though, and there's more than one 24h dairy.

[DCVR]

Oscar, on 16 January 2012 - 9:33 PM, said:

Otago students are feral to say the least.

agree ............another upside to living in the south is the amount of BC and BF5's down there!!

[Oscar]

Oh yeah, should I clean out my garage (and dust off the spare parts) for when Frankie arrives?

Or shall I go from mrfixit/fuckit to rabid automotive vulture? Does that depend on how much shit blows up on the way down?

[Shale]

She should be fine I'm replacing most things before she leaves.