Windy in Wellington

Dec 6, 2014 | The Great Journey, Updates

Just when you’ve gotten used to the life on a plane, it is over and you are..there.
Flying is not bad at all, I have to say as a conclusion. I never felt unsafe, landing and starting is a little more special than the rest and the food is alright given the circumstances. On my last flight (from Melbourne to Wellington I flew with Qantas, not with Emirates) I even got a Lindor chocolate. That made me happy! 🙂
After a last safety control and a short wait at the baggage claim I was standing there. At the Wellington airport with a visitor visa in my pocket.

Middle of Middle Earth is written on the outside of the airport.

Wellington welcomes me kind and sunny. After the bus took me into the city I walked off towards the church that’s next to my hostel. I even managed to find it, though I couldn’t have guessed that it was kinda the wrong church. 😀 I asked some people for the way and went on. As I was getting more and more unsure about my way I asked some more people. As revealed later, they were Klaus and Jennifer. Klaus is from Germany and lives for a couple of years in New Zealand now with Jennifer. When I was asking them about the way they offered to drive me there. There I was. One that is lost in a foreign city. One that has just had a two days long flight. One that is this far away from home for the first time. So we put my baggage into the car that was parked a few steps further and they drove me (some way actually) to the hostel. Until now I can’t quite believe it, especially on my first day and maybe you could notice. Here goes a BIG Thank You to you guys as without your help I couldn’t get to the finest part that soon. To the SLEEP!
I reported at the reception of the hostel, received the keys and shortly after that I found myself inside the room. I have to admit that considering the little hours of sleep and some excitement of the last days I was quite well. On the outside! Wisely I decided to hit the sheets right on the spot. My roommate is a lovely Taiwanese girl. She has two washbags hanging on the bed and then I am happy to be a boy. 😛
I arrived between the sheets and slept. I recalculated: Approx. 16 hours. :):) That’s why I am wide awake right now, as it should be. So I have (hopefully) cured the Jetlag with sleep…

This morning I rose, showered and went out. In Wellington it is 16 degrees and it is windy. They told me in Wellington it is always windy and this is quite calm. I might find out eventually. 🙂 I went to the waterfront, too and just looked at the city. Without my camera for now, but with open eyes. I still can’t grasp where I am. I will visit the national museum ‘Te Papa’, I have decided spontaneously. Maybe I’ll get some clarity there. 😀

On the little tour I got myself a travel adapter and a bottle of L&P. That is the national beverage of the Kiwis. “World famous in New Zealand” says the other side. 😉

Melbourne Airport

Dec 4, 2014 | The Great Journey, Updates

Dark night at mine, bright day at yours.
I’m sitting in Melbourne at my gate. All alone, as the boarding is still 6 hours away. And when it is 4 o’clock at night at yours, then I will already wander through a December afternoon in Wellington…

To be honest, I don’t really know what to write. There was nothing tooo special yet. Cause you already prepared for the general hassle of a long flight. 🙂 Until now everything went well, no calamity or sorrow. Only the jetlag worries me. I mean, who is wide awake at 4 o’clock at night under normal circumstances? 😀

Actually in this post I wanted to show you the nightsky I mentioned earlier… 🙂

“…and the black fell back further and further!”

The next post I will publish when there’s more to tell. And that might most possibly be when I am in New Zealand…

Breakfast above the Indian Ocean

Dec 4, 2014 | The Great Journey, Updates

WI-FI on the plane is some fine invention. Actually it is your profit. 😉

After security controls, passport checks and one step after the other parted me from my parents I boarded the plane towards Dubai. My first serious flight… I don’t have much comparison, but it is all alright, no worries…

I don’t want to go on about flying as there is much to come yet… Only this: The composition of LEDs and small holes in the plane’s ceiling makes for a marvellous nightsky (never as nice as yours, Resa) and let’s the landing appear a little less frightning…

In Dubai there was some time for admiring the airport itself. I mean, who would expect a waterfall a 100 metres wide INSIDE each terminal? 😀 Besides, there was something for chocolate lovers…

World record in Dubai. The biggest chocolate structure. (the competition probably melted already)

I just had breakfast. My my, the fruit was delicious!

The morbid, longish thing is a croissant.

Soon we land in Kuala Lumpur. From there it is Melbourne and after a short stop-over Wellington.

And those planes can shake quite a deal. I only know that from railways, where such movement makes a lot more sense… But as long as the stewardesses don’t sit there pale and eyes wide open, you needn’t worry.

The Last Goodbye

Dec 3, 2014 | Before The Great Journey, Thoughts

Alarm clock. The Last Goodbye by Billy Boyd.

The mood is set. The last morning, the last breakfast, the last drive on German streets.

My bag is packed. I know that well, as I finished filling it only before midnight. The last day was chaotic. Caused by a chain of unfortunate events my actual travel bag will go on the adventure of flying alone. Meanwhile I got a (pretty flash looking) substitution bag. But that one has already vanished in the guts of the airport. So the actual bag will be sent to the first hostel I will stay at for the first days in Wellington. All cool, not as nice, but cool… 😀

My (transitional) travel gear

My last diary entry at home was mostly made out of a list of people I met yesterday. Who I held tight. Who I like.
I didn’t make it to see everybody and didn’t manage to see everybody in person. But with a little more time I wouldn’t want to miss out on that. To drink a few coffees more and to let the hugs last a little longer.
I think the most intense parting has been the one from my Audi (the one from my parents is yet to come) as I will not see him again…

My parents…

Instead this morning my heart has been warmed considerably looking at the long absence in front. I will miss you all!!

Now I am sitting at the airport. Opposite my parents. My stomach digests fastfood. The final moments could be shared better than with a display in the middle, but they will read this significant post as well.

Slowly it gets to me, how incomprehensible all this is. I will get on that plane in a minute and..Goodbye.
I am GONE.

This entry I decide to end with a cliffhanger. More details I will tell you in 50 hours of traveling…

Fact: From this day on I won’t be contactable on my smartphone anymore. No Whatsapp, no push notifications, no ongoing reachability. (In New Zealand I will still have a phone number, but only for the classic SMS and phonecalls. 🙂 )
This is an experiment I am looking forward to. My emails, Facebook and the blog I will still be able to access. Just not ALWAYS. 😉

The Separation

Nov 29, 2014 | Before The Great Journey, Updates

It is a colorful collage made out of colorful images, when I think about the last days.
Whether you take a walk with good friends, push a Golf for the last 200 meters cause the rope snapped, whether you have to wrap your arms around people again and again because the stage play is over indefinitely, spend a few last days with your parents at the Baltic Sea, whether you drive through the early darkening Germany to see relatives once more…

Chilly autumn at the Baltic Sea

It is the last laughing fits together, the loving wishes you exchanged finally, the written words that you read over and over again, the wonderful recollection of the past days, the feeling of hugs from people that are yet close to you. That’s what memories should look like.

The last duties are being carried out, the last partings planned and gotten over with, the last points crossed off of my list…
Look at that: My Audi had a milestone today. 😉

Even a long awaited event by many was the removal of my ‘stage hairdo’. 😉
Noone should be spared from this, given that this is the longest my hair ever got and hopefully never gets again. 😀

So one thing after the other has to go. Until I will be on the plane ultimately, preparation and goodbyes won’t cease.