Okay, so I’m starting to freak out a little bit now. First I set a limit for the plane tickets -  that I didn’t think I would be able to get - now I have them for less than my budgeted amount, and I’m seriously thinking about going to Nelson to take a random girl out for dinner – what the heck!

I called my sister (who is flatting with the girl), and Kate’s response was “...that would be so awesome and funny, but it will totally intensify your friendship. It might make things awkward.” She had a point. Then I called Kate's fiancé Chris and asked him what he thought. He said, “Get on a plane and go! If nothing else, it will be a great story.” So with that, I decided to call the lady and tell her I’m calling her bluff and that I’m going to turn up and take her out for dinner.

I don’t normally get nervous but I was calling a random woman who I hardly know at ALL, and I had no idea how she would take this phone call. She answered the phone and I explained that I was calling her bluff and was coming to Nelson to take her out for dinner. I told her that my Granny and cousins are all there in Nelson and I'd like to see them as well - so I had three great reasons to visit Nelson.

She laughed at the idea, told me I was crazy, laughed some more, and agreed to go out for dinner on Friday night- if I went. She couldn't do anything that night (remember this is Thursday) because she had a ‘daddy-date’. (Side note to all men: never get inbetween a girl and her Dad. It’s a bad idea for SO many reasons).

We finished our conversation and I headed back to the office. To be honest, I was expecting her to get off the phone, talk to a mate, and freak out. My thoughts went: “...any moment now I’ll get a txt saying that she's actually a bit freaked out and maybe I shouldn't come because she doesn’t know me well enough…” I would have understood if she had done that – let's be honest here, it was a crazy idea to fly to another city and take a girl who I’ve never met before out for dinner. But to my surprise, that didn’t happen. In fact, when I got back to the office I got a txt that said she would be finished with her daddy-date by 8, and if I was in Nelson we could do desert and wine afterwards. Ohhh how happy I was! I laughed at the whole situation and jumped online to book tickets.

The next few hours went like a blur. Booked tickets: 4pm. Went home to pack my bag: 5pm. Got on the plane: 6pm. Landed/picked up: 7:30pm. Coffee with cousins: 8pm. Lady picked me up: 8:30pm.

Ideally I would have preferred to pick her up, but I didn’t have a car, and I also didn’t know the city or her location. So I was happy for her to pick me up this time.

[To be continued...]