Jumping off the Auckland Sky Tower (Bucket List)

What a magical feeling, knowing that I have not only completed something on my bucket list but I have jumped off the Auckland sky tower. This morning I was full of nerves, excitement, fear and uneasiness; now full of amazement that I have completed the jump.

Heading toward the Sky tower, I wasn’t that nervous but it was there, I felt somewhat calm. It wasn’t until I was in the jumping gear, and in the elevator the nerves finally hit, heading all the way up to 650ft (192m) just to have yourself jump off all the way down, I was determined to stop my fear of heights and do something that I would never do normally, and this was extremely outside my comfort zone! At the top in the jumping lounge the view out was nice, but the look down felt threatening.

After the few in front it was my turn to jump and getting myself to the edge was hard and even though I knew I was strapped in tightly with my harness and the actual bungee, I felt as though something horrible could happen. Once I was holding the sides seconds before I jump and I feel my heart racing fast, I was scared to look down and I was scared to jump; so when I was told to jump I thought I was going to freeze but I just felt myself jumping like my mind was a few seconds behind the moment and then there was the fall, something new, something frightening, yet quite exquisite.  The landing wasn’t so gracious at all but I was glad I had my feet on solid ground. I was so shocked that I had done it.

It had been a thrilling event, now that it was over and out of the jumpsuit and harness and had been given the chance to head up to the observation lounges, which was something else but going up the elevator the second time wasn’t as bad, up at the top observation deck, it was nice just to look over Auckland, the view was simply superb.

Now the event is over and I am never going to forget this amazing opportunity that I was given, it was something tat I thought I could never do, but now that I know I can do that, nothing can stop me now…..

Update - 18/11.15

Hello my dearies,

YES! I am the worst at updating this blog of mine but it is one that I do plan to update more frequently in the weeks to come. But where am I up to, I have completed, 17 books out of 80, so that is definitely something I am very proud of, I am currently reading the complete stories of Sherlock Holmes all 1408 pages of it in written order.I am currently roughly 480 pages in. 

I would have started earlier, but found myself distracted by one or two other books not on my reading list. But the end of year id approaching and plans are getting into place for more books from the reading list to be done, and the same is to be said about the bucket list that is one that I have found myself lacking in doing, it is something to bring me back out of the shadows of my mind and into the light of who I could be. As much as I enlighten my mind with books,

I must enlighten my soul with new and unknown wonders and push my soul and spirit to my limit. We all have monsters that stop us from exploring ourselves and the world; I do not want the monsters to win. So there are plans that are in the making and plans as they say must be followed!!!

Prepare for the adventure of a lifetime!!!!!

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

Just finished reading, and to be honest it was a nice read, interesting however in certain parts it dragged. The story line was thought out and in parts thought it was suicide like it was told In the media or a murder like it actually was. The Cuckoo's Calling is a must read!

The Harry Potter Series by J.K.Rowling (Reading List)

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone

Reading the start of the series again for the thousandth time never stops astounding me, just the magic and innocence of it all. Rereading it, with Harry who hasn’t a clue of the world yet and still has a lot to look forward to.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Every time I read the Chamber of Secrets, all I think of is Dobby and how much Lockhart was a douche and why In the Order of the Phoenix did he not think of the chamber for the meetings after all it would have set the mood.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This is the one year Harry didn’t have to fight Voldemort, but found something close to a family he could get with Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Every time I read Prisoner of Azkaban, I get so angry at how they act about Sirius and how he will never be a cleared man as we know all know he is an innocent man and know the Peter Pettigrew is still alive and was living as scabbers, but I also note that there Rowling gives us obvious clues, for example the lifespan of scabbers and how Hermione’s cat going after it more than other rats. I am always glad that we have been given Sirius Black he was always a fabulous drama queen.

Side note

Once I start reading Harry Potter nothing else matters and it is when I get to the Goblet of Fire, the fire in my soul burns for the series more than life itself and it is here where I feel the most excitement and love of the series, but it also pains me to know that death comes to often from now on.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The year Voldemort returns, and the year war starts even if the Ministry denies everything. One of the parts I have found the saddest and always will is when Harry finds out about Neville’s parents and how it puts a little perspective on Neville, that he is as lost as harry.  Then there is Cedric who was should of comeback as victor of the tournament but was killed by Voldemort and to have people deny that Voldemort was back as to say his death meant nothing, it was heart-breaking, he should have been the hero. 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Looking back on the Order of the Phoenix, I had always considered it my favourite out of the series, but now I find pain. Harry finds himself in a way absent from everyone else and unsure of how to deal with the death of Cedric and being left without information and everyone else not telling him much, even Sirius. Harry also had to deal with the abuse from awful Umbridge, fellow students, the government and the ridicule from the daily prophet, how is a 15 year old supposed to cope.

Then there is Sirius… the man who was locked up for twelve years (even though an innocent man) and two years on the run and then cooped up in a house he hated from his cruel and horrendous childhood, and then to give harry (the only real family he had left other the Lupin) to not open the present that meant they could talk more often without too much risk and then only to be killed in front of Harry and Lupin (who know have all his close friends, who were like his family dead), and not only to mention that he died according to the wizarding world a guilty man and that the world was never told of his innocence, and that only a selected few new of his innocence. I will never be over the death of Sirius Black.

Then there is Snape who was always my favourite character, seeing how he was treated by the marauders was horrible and unfair, yes I will admit he was not in any right to call Lilly a mudblood, but he was treated unfairly by them, and I feel in this part of the book is where his undercover work for the order began, as there were people who knew he was a former death-eater like Mr Malfoy and even Umbridge knew that the two were connected and Mr Malfoy had given a nice word on Snape to her and I do believe the Snape has a good side but is being exploited for the his mistakes and his bitterness.

It is only now that I feel a lot of sadness when I read Harry Potter and the Order of the phoenix, but I think it is the fact I gain a lot of emotions and that it speaks to me on a spiritual level that it is my favourite book even through the sadness and even when I am trying to hold back the tears.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The world now knows that Voldemort is back, and things aren’t going well for the ministry and for the Order, and Harry is still coping with the death of Sirius, and is going back to school, but not till his mission with Dumbledore.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is where the whole wizarding world changes and for the reader, for all the books we have believed that as long as there is Dumbledore, everything will be fine, but we find that even with Dumbledore there nothing is the same. Then unexpectedly we find Snape kills Dumbledore (even if Dumbledore knew and told Snape to kill him, so that he can help bring Voldemort down from the inside (and that we don’t know this till the next book when we find out that Snape was never Voldemort’s, but Lily’s)) the death of Dumbledore hits home like we all have lost someone dear. The wizarding world is never going to be the same again.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It all ends here, the final part of the series. Lord Voldemort reigns supreme and only Harry can stop it; The Deathly Hallows is one where death must came and we all must live with the loss of all we love and hold true, and must realize that those we did not trust can be trusted again and old judgements must die and in the end, all will be well.

The Series Overall

The Harry Potter Series is the thing that got me into reading and is one that I will love passionately till the day I die. The characters and emotion are as real to me as flesh and blood. I have cried and wept with Harry and his friends as much as I have cheered with him through his entire journey. Harry Potter will be with us always..… Until the very end……

Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant (Reading List)

What a personal triumph! I am never one to not like a book on philosophy or even a book at all, but this took all of my might to finish, but then again, with books I am a completest.

Books And Me

As a kid I loved reading and going to the library, I would always forget to take the books back, I just wanted them for myself, now reading is still as important as it was then maybe a little more important today than then.

The book that hooked me on books the most was Harry Potter without it yes I would have probably still liked reading but Harry Potter gave me a life that I thought wasn’t possible, one where I could escape fight battles, it taught me that sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do, and to fight for what you believe in, and people and governments can be corrupt and evil so don’t always believe what you’re told and sometimes a random act of kindness can make someone’s days and the world right.

 

I now have books everywhere, and I feel happier in a bookstore than a club, and more alive reading than doing those things you do when you’re drunk. Books have taught me to live life for myself not for others, that life can be both fair and unfair even at the same time and that the world is a vast and scary place but it is still so wonderful.

So here’s to the books I’ve read and to the books I will read and the most important thing that they will teach us which comes from Doctor Who from the Tenth Doctor: “You want weapons? We're in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world.”

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee, i believe is a great book yes a bit rushed and some parts a bit disconnected but it changes the views we have ourselves since To Kill A Mockingbird, it teaches us that change isn't as easy and doesn't come fast enough and the way we view people especially through the eyes of a child and through they way we perceive things to be, but to challenge one's way of thinking, and at the same time questioning the status-quo helps us grow and the more we are open to other ideas and options the more things will change in the long run we must first stop running from ourselves.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Reading List)

Written in the viewpoint of the two children of Atticus Finch, a lawyer defending an innocent man of color named Tom Robinson who is being prosecuted on a rape and assault of a young white woman  in the 1930’s where town views were not so kind towards those you were not of the ‘same cloth’. The story shows Atticus trying to teach his children against the prejudice of the town’s viewpoint and teach them the morality of their convictions and actions. Even with the loss of the case Atticus still allows his children to observe the brutal honesty of the conviction and death of Tom Robinson and it’s ripple effect it has on the Alabaman town of Maycomb .

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that over the years has sold over thirty millions copies and has been read by so many more. Atticus Finch since the books debut in 1960 has been the moral hero of the story and has given them a moral compass to be guided by and given us sense of the moral integrity that we must live by which shows through the way he speaks and acts, his actions follows his words and acts the same no matter where he was and who he was with and he explains this in one simple line to scout “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what”

With the recent news of a sequel ‘Go Set a Watchman’ which is based 20 years after the events of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has given the story an extra burst of life. I look forward to reading the sequel and to return to the town of May

comb.

To finish I leave you with quote from the book, but it holds true even in today’s world “but sometimes we have to make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down...”

Looking For Alaska by John Green (Reading List)

Seeking the great perhaps, something that Mile’s (Pudge) Is changing schools to seek out. Over the course of the story he finds something more than a great perhaps, he finds Alaska, someone who would came into your life and leave you wandering who you were before you met here, so the line ‘if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane’ fits and stood out true.

I never expected myself to relate completely with a character than what I did with Mile’s (Pudge) he wasn’t completely sure of himself at the beginning, but he knew himself to know he needed that change and sometimes that is what we all need is the change no matter what happens what we become out of it in the end is worth the journey and the mystery that awaits all of us.

I highly recommend reading Looking for Alaska, no matter what age you are. It is very well written, John Green has the ability to make you feel the happiness and the pain of the characters and he will find you begging for more.

The Starnge Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Reading List)

What a story! One that delves into split personality, one good and one evil. Within its short pages beams a truth about people as a whole and how well do we really know them?

The qualm of Dr Jekyll by end was something remarkable, it demonstrated that he as a person and as an man of intelligence somehow knew that he wasn’t right. But I believe the story also shows that ever so slightly that we ourselves have a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde within all of us.

Turning My Hair Blue (Bucket List)

Before I do this i must mention i am going to be using an 8 wash hair dye, as to why i am freaked out to having it permanent and i do not think when i go back too work after my time off they would appreciate blue hair. The reason i am "Freaked" is that i have a-lot of "What If's" which include, what if it turns out horrible, what if i look bad and will i be to embarrassed to let anyone see it. But even with these, the thing that's making me do this is to get me out of my comfort zone and dare to do something different.

Now that i have my hair is blue well a subtle blue but blue enough for people to notice it isn't as bad as i thought i would be and i am not worried about going outside at all and knowing that the fear was all in my head is great, but that is the point ofr fear, to be conquered.

Dying my hair blue was to overcome my own fears about myself and to do something out of my comfort zone, it might be a small thing but for me it was huge, It is fun to be blue!!

]

Auckland Museum (Bucket List)

Overall Experience

The Auckland Museum was and is such a beautiful place, the way that it has been set up with the historical past it holds, which ranges from early New Zealand history (including Māori history and Māori law) to the two world wars to the oceans and volcanic history and much more. It was an amazing experience.

Points of interest

The Holocaust Room

This was a room personally dedicated to the Holocaust with pieces personally donated to the museum so that others can remember and never forget what happened. It was a monument that touched my heart to see. To see photos of some who were lost and some who had survived the horrible ordeal that had immigrated to New Zealand after later on to start fresh. This room is a great way to remember and to make sure that it never happens again.

The Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 22 “Zero” and The Spitfire planes

Seeing such planes that have been used in battle restored to a great condition were absolutely exquisite and just being in their mere presence was breath-taking.

7A Puia Street

This was an interactive section to do with volcanic eruptions; it is what would happen if you were at home at Auckland’s waterfront if a new volcano erupted. The effects of a powerful eruption would also cause quakes and most likely a tsunami. It was a good interactive experience and one that shows the power of a volcano and provides the necessary measures one should take in such measures.

Visiting the Museum

The museum is located in the heart of the Auckland Domain in the Cities CBD/Parnell suburb and is a great place to visit and is free to Auckland residents and their tours are quite frequent. I highly recommend all to go. For More information visit http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/ 

Gone With The Wind by Margret Mitchell

Gone with the Wind by Margret Mitchell was written over 60 years ago  in 1936, and was written through the eyes of the slaveholder at the break of the American Civil War, it was based around Scarlet O'Hara who after certain events found herself a survivalist. Mitchell writes O’Hara as a woman who makes chooses and decisions to keep her home running and to keep the man she secretly loves and his family safe, however she marries three men, one being the beau Captain Rhett Butler who is the only man who sees her for what she really is and the cloak she hides behinds. Mitchell depicts the way society worked at the time of the war and the reconstruction brilliantly and shows that the line between true love and love lust is a thin one and that telling the difference at the wrong moment can be the worst mistake one can make. By the end after the anger, love and sadness you feel more for Scarlett and even more for Rhett but as it goes, tomorrow is another day

Shave For A Cure 2015

As some of you know, it is Shave For A Cure time and that means shaving your hair for cancer and This year i am getting involved with the cause along side my work at Farmers St Luke's Store.
I AM SHAVING FOR A CURE!!! all of my beautiful hair off. this is a cause close to my heart.The Shave event will happen at the front of the store tomorrow at noon and i just can't wait. this may not be on the bucket list but i do believe in helping out in a cause i believe in and this one of them i will help as much as i can . and they are looking for all of our support so if you can help The Leukemia and Blood Cancer Foundation please  Donate Here or in store at Farmers.

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche (Reading List Extra)

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche (Reading List Extra)

Ok, so this book isn’t on my reading list but it is one that I must review. It is a book that I would but the following disclaimer on: if you are easily offended, do not read, but even with saying that I feel as though those easily offended should read it as it would open the mind as it is a considered philosophy and has its place in sociology, and it is one to question ones beliefs and views on morality, religion and virtues and the way of life.  A book like this is very read to find, especially when it was written in the 1800’s and I feel is still as relevant today as it was back then.  I hope for those who do read this book will give it a chance to read it cover to cover and gain an open mind or if not a new perspective to their everyday lives.

Use a Fake Name at Starbucks for a Coffee (Bucket List)

Use a Fake Name at Starbucks for a Coffee (Bucket List)

For this one it was to get myself out of my shell and do something slightly outrageous and daring and yes I wanted it to do with something Doctor Who related for this one so I decided to use the name of the current companion. I must say I enjoy it every time I go to Starbucks, I always have a small giggle to myself.