The dashboard on my MacBook tells me that the wind speed has reached 63 km per hour within the last ten minutes, which can only mean one thing. I’ve made it to Wellington. I’m here to study at Massey University’s College of Creative Arts, and work towards a Bachelor of Design (Hons!) over four years. Making the move from small town Nelson to the big city hasn’t been half as stressful as I had planned, and student life is, as yet, living up to its expectations.

Orientation week has gone well - only a few early mornings so far - and I’m getting used to the idea of budgeting my (hard-earned!) money. I’ve been eating noodles and drinking celebratory flat-warming Lindauer, which is likely to be the most expensive drink I will have until the four years of my degree course is up. Since Sunday I’ve been mapping out my internal sat-nav, raiding the Salvation Army store for teaspoons and making the most of spare time watching season one of The OC on the laptop.

Courses start next week, with my first lecture at 10.00am on Monday morning, followed by tutorials and classes throughout the week. I’ve been told about the importance of getting assignments well underway before their due date and to plan ahead, but for now it seems hard to think about anything but the chocolate brownies that have just come out of the oven - courtesy of my flat-mate Libby.