The Rose in the Lily Pond

Never before have I cowered into my friend's shoulder at absolute disgust of what was on screen. 24 teenagers forced to fight until the death, with only one sole survivor. It is all televised in a twisted combination of Bear Grylls’ “Man vs Wild”, “Big Brother” and warfare. Set in the future but not that far from the present, Suzanne Collins, author of the bestselling novels that the movies are based off, tells how she came up with the story line. She was channel surfing and on the one hand the likes of Jersey Shore, or Big Brother, or dear I say our own crappy reality show (that is funded by the STATE no less) The GC was on, and then on the other hand there was war. In her tired state, these two concepts blurred into the story that is now The Hunger Games. In this future world, there are 12 districts, and a class system that ranks district 1 as the richest, and district 12 as the poorest. Katniss Everdeen played by Jenifer Lawrence, comes from the poverty stricken d

After two years of travelling the world, Queen’s Ferry Hotel was the perfect place to come home to. It was full of travellers, and it felt like I was still on an adventure. Kiwis were the minority, and around me were Americans, Canadians, Scots, Brazilians, Irish, English, Swedes and many more. Just like when you travel, you form such tight bonds with people, because it’s not a job, it’s a family and a lifestyle and I will never forget it!     So let’s raise our glasses one last time: Cheers Queen’s Ferry, here’s to all the memories with all weird and wonderful people! Two Mysterious Australians: Two Australians walk into a bar. Two bartenders mischievously look at each other. Bridget was the other bar tender, she was from Boston, she would buy people a drink if they told her a joke she hadn’t heard, and every time ‘Tiny Dancer’ comes on I think of her. This night isn’t one to remember because of mysterious Australians, it’s one to remember because of mi