Holey Moley!

killerpeaty

The helicopter trip was just my own fault. At the end of the day, it's just money, we did a lot of magic things so not going to be upset.

So as a break down if my holiday:
Day one: arrive, pleasantly surprised with the hotel room. Went for a walk in the rose gardens opposite, went to try to find the town center, got lost, got into an argument, went to bed without dinner.
Day two: woke up at 3am, get a great breakfast about 5 hours later. They had this creamy mushroom business, it's a delight. Walked to the museum, spent all day there. Saw a moari performance, learnt about volcanos, found out about how big those moa actually were. Oh and found out that obsidian is REAL! All this time, I thought it was just a video game thing. Didn't eat dinner. Bought my first tote bag.
Day three: went to Hobbiton and the glow worm caves. The driver was great, Hobbiton smells sweet! So they have little fires going all the time and in order to keep them going they are burning wood chips smothered in honey. Had lunch, apparently chicken and Brie and plum sauce is both very kiwi AND delicious. The glow worm caves were incredible, it felt so strange and magic. Two tote bags and no dinner.
Day four: Delicious breakfast again, flew down to Dunedin and went on a ghost walk. Apparently there is a school built where an insane asylum was, which itself was built on a grave yard. Strange little rooms but comfy.
Day five: walked around Dunedin looking at the architecture and the shops. Did actually manage a dinner here, Chinese, amazing. Two tote bags I believe.
Day six: get the bus to Queenstown, it's 5.5 hours. I slept, but mum enjoyed the scenery. This was the day with the weather. It was also our most expensive room so we had a view over the lake with like a wall of windows just watching the storm. It was great. No tote bags, no dinner.
Day seven: wander around the town, they have a statue of a man with a sheep, this was our meeting point. This was also the day I messed up the helicopter. However, did go on the jet boat which was great. Also managed to have dinner, venison which is apparently a kiwi common cuisine. Two tote bags.
Day eight: found a "good things shop" called Frank's corner, ate a pie. Went on a trip to a national park which was lovely and beautiful. Then went onto the sky gondola which was pretty. No dinner, no tote bag.
Day nine: fly up to auckland again. Had a mooch and looked through windows. Then had an Indian, delicious, and then weird ice cream at an American diner. No tote bags.
Day ten: finally managed to visit Central Auckland. Had a look around, very nice, but the cruise ships were gigantic. One tote bag.
Day eleven: start the flight home.

I believe that should be eight tote bags. I decided to collect them as I was going around. 

killerpeaty

It's been just over a week since I got back and I'm still in pain and very tired but I think this is normal for someone with fibro.

The card I used for NZ money was very easy to convert back and has been offset against my credit card which paid for all of our big trips. It's painfully high at the moment. 

I have been mainly working and sleeping this week. Today I have managed to do some cleaning and tidying. I have been resting to make sure I don't over do it for the last two hours so I need to get up and start the kitchen.

I have been back to making my octopus. It's a huge project stitch wise and I'm enjoying it a lot. I'm hopeful it'll come out nicely.

Also been very naughty and bought myself a humble bundle of crochet books. I have no defence, it is 23 books for £14.50. It includes 5 or so books I already wanted to try out. I prefer physical books but if I really like one of the books I will buy in physical.

Merlin's_Beard

I hope you feel better soon - you have done a lot of timezone switching in the past few weeks! Sounds like you had an amazing time and packed loads in.

killerpeaty

Merlin's_Beard said:

I hope you feel better soon - you have done a lot of timezone switching in the past few weeks! Sounds like you had an amazing time and packed loads in.

It was fabulous thank you! Just sad it's over honestly. I can see why people get the travelling bug.

I spoke to my colleague the other day and she said that she managed to pay off her mortgage before she got to 40. If I tried to do that I would have to pay off 30k a year. She said that it's the lack of holidays to fancy places and the timing. I'm so impressed with her.

Kitchen was not done yesterday and half done today. I'm working and getting wound up about juniors being deliberately useless.

I also really need to get some food in. I'm running out of time today though. Eek.

South_coast

I would prioritise food over work. You'll be even more wound up tomorrow if you're hungry. Hanger is definitely a real thing!

newgirly

Sounds like a fantastic trip kp you packed a lot in!  Hope you are feeling a bit better rested now 🙂

LadyWithAPlan

Sounds like an amazing trip you will remember forever 
I went with my mum to India 20odd years ago - she is fabulously still here but that was such a wonderful trip full of memories 
 Glad you have the tote bag memories as well I love buying useful trip reminders 

just take your time to rebalance then you can go raring off on your next goals again - be it mortgage OPs or planning the next trip .. maybe a little of both ? 

killerpeaty

LadyWithAPlan said:

Sounds like an amazing trip you will remember forever 
I went with my mum to India 20odd years ago - she is fabulously still here but that was such a wonderful trip full of memories 
 Glad you have the tote bag memories as well I love buying useful trip reminders 

just take your time to rebalance then you can go raring off on your next goals again - be it mortgage OPs or planning the next trip .. maybe a little of both ? 

I love that your mum loved it so much. What did you do there?

@sc I did not prioritise food. The very idea of getting dressed was putting me off. Lol

I've had a cold all week, feeling pretty horrible. Need to clean and do things but want to be in bed. Unfortunately fibro aches tends to combine with cold aches and makes everything pretty much a chore. I will endeavour to push through a bit. But not to the point of hating life itself.

I'll be back later with a Feb round up and seeing the (lack of) progress in Feb goals.

killerpeaty

killerpeaty said:

killerpeaty said:

Last part of Feb to-do
Sort out money! My credit card has taken a hammering so I need to pay off some before the month ends. Also need to get my NZ money back to UK money. -NZ money used to pay off part of my CC, sadly very high still.
Check surveys everyday- completely failed at this but did one this morning.
Self maintenance- teeth, hair and skin care need to be improved. The skin care needs to be at least twice a week I think and I need to use the night cream again. Also want to add at least 10 minutes of exercise each day. -lol not even a bit
2 hours of cpd - nope not this one either
No batch cooking or decluttering goals because I'm in a fair amount of pain and want to give myself the space to recover.

Not great this month sadly.

To-do March
Self care everyday of some kind.
Reduce the clutter in the living room
Check surveys everyday
Finish an abandoned project
4 hours of cpd (2 already completed)

killerpeaty

Sooooo finances: the good news is that I've cleared another 10k, this came in 5 months which is brilliant. Back when I first started tracking (2015) it took about 15 months (ignoring that I bought a £3k car in this time but also I spent larger amount for NZ in this time).

My investments and pensions have hit 50k, I'm very pleased. But ISA is higher than pensions and this probably needs addressing.

My investments/pensions/cash is catching up to my owned proportion of my flat which is pretty cool. The ultimate aim is for property to only make up 40% of my net worth.

Going to have to be careful with spending this month because my credit card is a bit... High.  It's only £500 away from the limit and it's a month until I pay it. Eek.