New season, new country!

I should probably begin by officially announcing the renaming of this blog. I decided that 5 years on from Doha, sarahsdohot was just not applicable anymore. After careful consideration about what the blog actually is and what it will continue to be, I proudly announce the new blog sarahgrubbvstheworld. The whole blog has moved to this address, so if you are ever missing me terribly, you can still access the last 5 years of my life from the internetting device of your choice via the new blog address. (Yes, I do owe some cred to the fab comic-cum-movie with a similar name, but it did really seem to fit. And if you haven't seen the movie or read the comic, I highly recommend doing so.) And now onto the update...

So as the Australian summer officially turns to autumn and the northern hemisphere thaws into spring, I started a new job in a new country all together. I have moved across the Tasman to Auckland, New Zealand to work as Operations Manager on the Ceremonies of the Rugby World Cup. I will be here at least until the end of October, so it is nice to have a place to be for a while.

I have a furnished 2 bedroom place pretty much right in the CBD of Auckland. It is just me so the spare room is available for travellers. Just make sure you book in! Here is a photo of the view from my pseudo-balcony.

Just gone sunset...I nearly missed it.

Over Easter, I headed back over to Melbourne for Isty and Celia's wedding. The wedding was on Easter Saturday, and it was beautiful. The weather held out and the ceremony itself was outside. We moved inside to the reception and had a lovely dinner and cool jazz tunes to entertain us throughout the night. The 2 of them are so perfectly matched! It is always so nice to see your friends so happy. They are off to Tassie and Paris for the honeymoon. Photos follow...

All Smiles...

Signing the Registry
The Doves Are Released
Mr and Mrs Istvan & Celia Marton
Cheeky groom's moves during the first dance

After the wedding, I spent the rest of the long weekend in Melbourne. I caught up with Rachelle and Steve. For Rachelle's birthday, we went to see Rock of Ages at the Comedy Theatre. It was fantastic. I suppose it really was for someone like me who grew up in the 80s in America, but the crowds are rocking out in Melbourne too! I haven't been able to get Can't Fight This Feeling and Oh Sherrie out of my head ever since. It is, of course, the story of small town girl living in a lonely world who meets a city boy born and raised in South Detroit when they both head to LA to make it big. I highly recommend it to anyone who is in Melbourne, will be or when it comes touring to any town near you! It is even going around the US I believe. We got little LED lighters to hold up as we felt appropriate! And if you manage to get to see it in Melbourne, be sure to say hello to the lovely Eloise Grace, Company Manager Extraordinaire...

Here is a promo video of the Melbourne season

I managed to squeeze in watching the usual Aussie Rules Football match up of Collingwood Vs Essendon on ANZAC day. Of course, Collingwood came away the winner so that was very exciting.
Even though work is already ramping up, I have managed to do a few things here in Auckland already. Melanie East has been here for over a month with me and Baldy arrived a couple of weeks ago. Melanie and I have already been to a Rugby match at the venue where the Ceremonies will be. It was the Blues vs the Waratahs. Unfortunately, the Waratahs got slammed, and I had no idea what was going on, but it was good to see the venue in action.

The Field
The silly mascots
The Hilarious Pyro Moment when they score a try...
Pano Shot of the whole Stadium - Eden Park

We also managed to get ourselves along to High Tea at the Langham in honour of Melanie's birthday. It was really cute and delicious. And we got to take a doggy bag to have whilst watching the Royal Wedding.

The Treats...this was for just 2 people!
Swans with Goats Cheese...yum
All of us together...can you tell I had just flown in that day?
The Birthday Lady

This past weekend Melanie and I managed to get out to Karekare Beach. I think we weren't very well prepared as I assumed we would just see the beach, walk around and grab breakfast at a cafe. The reality was we had to wade through water to get to the beach, there weren't any cafes in sight and it really was BYO food, water hiking shoes etc. But was it worth it!!! It was amazing. I think these photos speak for themselves, but hopefully there are only more to come in this beautiful place.

I loved the dark volcanic sand
Self portrait beachside
Rainforest Pano
Beach Pano....
Mel trudging through the stream to get to beach access...
Followed by me...
Maybe jeans weren't the best choice
My beach video clip moment...wet jeans and all
"Now I'm building...sandcastles in the sand...."

Overall, what I have seen has been very good so far. Hopefully more to come. We still need to head to the volcano in the bay, Devonport, Waiheke Island, up the Sky City Tower, down to Rotorua, Taupo, & Wellington and hopefully a big trip on the South Island at the end of it all. In the mean time, I did buy myself an Xbox 360 Kinect with Dance Central and Beatles Rockband, so hopefully that will be fun. I did love playing it in Minnesota. Work is busy but there is still time for a bit of weekend site seeing and Dance Central after dinner!
Hope everyone is well. Keep enjoying the adventures of Sarah vs the World. Because (according to the comic-cum-movie) 'every Pilgrim reaches the end of its Journey'. Not too sure where or when that is happening....
Lots of love,
Sarah xo