great nz commercials

here are a few new zealand commercials that we've been enjoying, in case you're in the mood for some youtube time.
1. spin the wheel - nz must take its driving very seriously, as we've spotted numerous dramatic commercials that end with something like "buckle up, new zealand drivers" or "stay safe: always look before turning".
2. 33% faster joke getting guy - a commercial for the beer company export 33. not sure if this is the one i was looking for, as there's no sound on these computers, but the youtube users think this one's pretty funny, too...
3. make it light and bubbly - this one, for cadbury bubbly chocolate, makes you want to pull out the exercise ball that's been hiding in your closet for the last few years and bounce around to the beat of this ad's infectious/irritating song.
4. you're so beautiful - this one's not a commercial, but we've been discovering the flight of the conchords (a tv comedy about a kiwi parody band trying to make it in new york) and this song, especially the line "you're so beautiful...you could be a waitress", induced much laughing and many tears even on its second watch.

in other news, we've set a date for leaving nelson and have booked bus tickets to help ourselves enforce this deadline. we'll be leaving on friday the 13th (uh-oh) and will follow the abel tasman-heaphy-wangapeka plan laid out a few blog posts ago. our guilt at having lingered so long was assuaged by an offer from anthony and steph, the bug's owners, to manage the hostel next weekend while they're out of town, so we'll be moving on up from bathrooms to bookings for a few days and are plenty excited about the opportunity.

generally the job seems pretty straightforward, but an irritating personality or two can make things interesting. we're just hoping that the american frat boy with the surfer dude voice (think crush the turtle from finding nemo) moves on in the next day or two. he's been here before, but when he returned yesterday from a trip to queenstown proclaiming that "it's such an awesome party city! everybody's just there to party hard!" and bragging about the amount of alcohol consumed on the bus ride there, we immediately crossed queenstown off of our list...and wrote him off as well. he embodies the american tourist stereotype that makes us want to claim canada as our homeland.

well, i've got some great movies (chariots of fire, the piano, wit - $1 each for a week!) calling my name and a few people waiting to use the internet, so i'd better move along. have a wonderful week!

-rachel