While I remember, on that documentary about Thailand, which was based around what the British Consulate did, there were a couple of items about saps who had gone to one or other of the beach parties, got carried away, left their bags lying around, and lost everything. Someone else met a girl, gave her his credit card details, and seemed surprised she had emptied his account!

Buses are packed with who leaving KK? Disenchanted ex fruit pickers with skin diseases?

You now have to pay to see fairweather/dicebox!!! www.girlamatic.com/series.php?name=dicebox&view=current

back at uni. all sunny and pleasent.

whilst at granny’s we went for a very posh meal at the “Baltic”. some sort of art gallery in gateshead, near the millennium bridge. the restaurant was at the top of the building and we would have a had a really spectacular views, but there happened to be a thunder storm at the time! Fairly tasteful, i had black pudding for starter and turbot for main.

Carla had some sort of cancerous growth and was in the vets for a while. she seems to have recovered as is quite lively and suchlike. albeit with various shaved areas.

D and M are driving back at the mo in the pest car. Dod says, go fruit-picking.

the place with the bloke was aranga holiday park. his friend turned out to be very nice, we hung out with him quite a bit.

i tried to download one of those matrix teaser things when i was at home but it was to long

hello. hone hoke is a rather plesent hostel nice place to chill out and all that, but it has to be said kerikeri is quite fantasticaly dull.
on the fruit picking front i have to say: not really. i’m not sure were you got you bizare fruit picker testemonial, but i am in constant contact with fruit pickers so i take what they say more seriously. it seems that picking the jolly old mandarins can be summed up thusly: it sucks. cold sick. through a short straw. everyone i have met at the momant had a romaticized view of fruit picking as no doubt you guys do, upon actually doing it they found harsh reality to be rather nasty. buses out of kerikeri are booked solid at the momant. to quote eric an english bloke who left a few days ago after 5 days picking, “its basical standing around in the rain, bored out of your skull tryig to pick a million manderins and catching wierd skin diseases.” weird skin diseases? i hear you query. yes indeedy. pal the girl he is travleing with had an unplesent alergic reaction and had rashes all over her body.the docter had to be called out twice. others report streaming nose, irritated eyes and headakes. someone said that the stuff that they use to spray on the fruit is banned in america, so it has to be pretty unplesent. to quote christian one of the many very nice german people here.: “i have quit becourse someday, i want to have chidren.”

as for me, well i wander around reading, not having the strength of will to draw.the foal weather makes everything a bit dull and depressing.so far it has chucked it down since i arrived intersperced with short breaks of sun.maybe i should potter around the bay of islands a bit.i feel only activity will stave of the madness ever present at the edges of my mind! neep! last night the german contingant were celerbrating the birthday of dipti who was 25. i was envited to the meal which was amazingly generous. very tasy.everyone is very freandly as usal.

the die is loaded.

julio