Outta da House!

Jan 8, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Updates

New Zealand is beautiful! It is magnificently green, you close your weary eyes, and the next moment it is all dry and brown. The green hills are rough now, setting into the beackground and the lanscape turns flat. It is getting green, the earth is rutted, the hills become finer. That scenery leaves me in pity of the travellers on the bus who just stare at their screens. To my cousins (you know who you are ;)): Imagine our sandpit along a stunning river, 2000x more beautiful and with a better view on wheatfields and our Wiehengebirge. That’s what it looked like in some parts! Though the bus doesn’t stop, it goes on. The most irregular thing I saw was the ice skating place in Taupo. It is summer and they just put an ice skating venue there! 😀

As we get closer to our destination, the city Rotorua which is known for its hot springs, you can actually see white smoke rising from the forest. At the last light of the day, we walk over to the hostel…

It is enough. I have spent a whole month in Wellington. The hostel, that still is my first accomodation here, became some sort of home to me. But it felt not quite like traveling, as nice as it has been there… I have grown very fond of Wellington, know myself around and got to know marvellous people. 🙂 I predominantly awaited my bag and haven’t seen a bit of it yet. Why hold on to your plan then? That’s why I decided to take a little trip in the North Island.

A most lovely Japanese girl which I got to know in Wellington works in a hostel in Rotorua, which I of course booked for the nights. We actually got there on the same bus and I was happy to have somebody who knows herself around here. 🙂

Rotorua smells of sulphur, sometimes more, sometimes less. I hope to get used to it soon… The wheather is different from Wellington. It is hot and feels like summer. Wellington is always windy, it hardly gets properly warm. I have had breakfast, sit in the curtilage of the quirky hostel now and the cat rests next to me. Cats are funny beasts. Sometimes they scratch, sometimes they beg for attention, then they have enough of your care…

It feels like traveling now, save to say. You are not bound to a place anymore, you can move freely. And only because you got to change your way of thinking.

The Last Days Here

Dec 31, 2014 | Photos, The Great Journey, Updates

Don’t you worry. I only mean the last days of the great year of 2014.

With 2 good friends out of the hostel I have seen much in the past days. From a very thorough visit at the Te Papa over an impressive and informative tour through the government buildings to the botanic gardens of Wellington to a climb of Mount Victoria by night. The nightly panorama of a town is a spectacular view! (Sadly no photos came out of this time…)

Some impressions for you:

In New Zealand they use quatratic screwheads!!

For mom: A picture that has me in it.

Whom did I tell to remember this picture? Here it is, I was THERE! 🙂

Inside the botanic garden there a wondrous things to see…

The rose garden is stunning!! 😀

I will return for sure!

After almost a month I am able to say some profound words regarding the weather… 🙂
Here in Wellington (there are big differences inbetween regions) it is always windy, around 20 degrees and it doesn’t rain often. The sun is very strong and you have to take the precautions seriously. But for every weather condition you can find a suitable program. Especially the Te Papa is a museum that you don’t have to suss out in one day, but to come back to many times…

Please feel free to contact me. I don’t have the chance to just dial you mobile- or land line and call you or text you via Whatsapp. You have my mail address… 😉
I wish you all a happy new year and all the best until we write, hear or see each other. 😀

Up the Hill we go!

Dec 16, 2014 | Photos, The Great Journey, Trips, Updates

The university is just a few hundred meters away from here. So half an hour should suffice.
What I didn’t take into my calculation, that it is a few hundred meters beeline and without the elevation…

Soon I quickly climbed upwards stairs and paths and the sweat started going the opposite direction. After repeatedly asking for the way and some more meters on the university grounds I finally arrived at the music school. The concert had just begun, but I wasn’t the only one who didn’t make it. After waiting for the first intermission we slipped into the concert room and found ourselves amongst an audience just about twice as many as the cellists in front of us.

It was wonderful. The cello is quite a fine instrument… After some classical pieces anyone bringing a cello had the chance to join and play Christmas songs together. Anyone would sing along, but I haven’t had as many english Christmases yet as to know the words …
It was a small fraction of home again. A little journey to all Christmas parties of the past. Music is more than just noise.

This time I took my camera as I knew there would be much to see. In fact, I wished for less than I actually got to see. I went to the (inner-)town belt in order to climb up Mount Victoria.

Yeah, it was even steeper as it looks. 🙂

Some times I went on about how quickly you can get ‘into the mountains’ in the areas of the Black Forest. But back then I haven’t been in Wellington. As Wellington doesn’t only offer hills closeby, it even offers great views after just some little steps.

First I went off the beach promenade direction upwards. The small wormed alleyway was leading its way along some houses. Haven’t I told somebody sometime that I love those overgrown, quirky houses? There are many of them. No ancient buildings as you see in Germany, but never seeming less comfortable.

It smelled wonderfully of some kind of blossoms…

Then this phenomenon appeared for the first time. Up the stairs, up the stairs, but then you see nothing. A few steps later the picture gets complete: It is going downhill after. It’s a nice effect to end a stairclimb like that with the sun shining right at you.

A few meters further I left the street and went into the bush.

Then again, this phenomenon. This time I didn’t get a street to see, but a meadow with some posh people enjoying the late afternoon. From here you could see a dazzling panorama of Wellington already.

I wanted to go even further up. After listening to a bird that first uttered hollow noises, then whistled and screeched (interesting combination) my way led through strangely familiar scenery.

Without thinking long I remembered the fact that the first scenes of The Lord of the Rings were shot here. And it looked exactly like it. Fascinating. It would have been too much to look out for Hobbits though…

Another clearance, another meadow, again a stunning panorama.

Then, after a few more stony steeps this phenomenon appeared once more. Only this time it wasn’t the next summit I saw, but a car. It was the parking lot of the Mount Victoria Lookout.

And there I stood. On top.

A panorama with extra sun and a glimpse of Wellington.

My camera is so able!

Right now I am sitting in Miramar (it is basically next to the Wellington Airport) and just process a special experience.
I got in contact with a family from one of the Wellington Suburbs that is looking for an Au Pair. The mom works only 200m from my hostel, so we met there and had an interview. This one was quite different from the one back then on Skype, and that was just like I hoped it would be.

Now hopes are high for me taking care of a household and 3 kids from April next year…
But we will see what the current Au Pair has to say. Yet it all sounds very nice.

In Miramar they have a neat cinema which holds a restaurant as neat. My stomach holds the breakfast special, there is music fitting the style of the cinema, the cute baby smiles at me over its mom’s shoulders and the room vibrates slightly due to the bass of the movie above.

Outside there is gistening sunshine and it is a good day!

Wirmeschel Paflotzki

Dec 11, 2014 | Photos, The Great Journey, Updates

A term from the old days at home.

It can be translated to sailors’ pasta, but what’s beyond is near magic. The recipe I’m talking about is a basic combination of mince, onion, pasta and some well-aimed dashes out of the spice shaker. It holds an undisputed place on our menu at home. It seems mum once cooked 30 tons of it and just takes out some when needed: It always tastes as delicious as ever! 😉

And this dish has the honor to be my very first, (proud children’s look), very self cooked meal.

In the morning I went to the scenic waterfront in order to skype my parents. That way I got firm hold of the cooking instructions as well.

Then off to the shops, got it all and off to the stove. (Attention, Insider Joke upcoming. Those are necessary to lighten up at least one person’s day.)
I just quickly realised one thing (thick accent): “Oh no they left off the 10W40!”
So back to the supermarket to get the sunflower oil. 🙂

Some more or less magical moments later I combined pasta and meat and onion and..found myself in front of a huge heaping of Wirmeschel Paflotzki.

I took a spoon for testing and suddenly felt so close to the familiar cuisine. That was just it. It was a success!

That’s what yummy looks like. 🙂

But what to do with a family sized portion of pasta? Easy: You invite your roommates Sylvie and Pietro! And it tastes soo good to all of us!
The leftovers I fried in the evening and thus for one day I wasn’t only fed but a little bit at home as well.

Italian Pietro and French Sylvie, my witnesses.

Photos of Wellington

Dec 9, 2014 | Photos, The Great Journey

I took my camera and went out into the sun. The last days I walked the streets for some times, partly to buy things, partly to find points of interest, partly to get to know Wellington.

But until now I haven’t had my camera with my nor did I have such beautiful sunshine at hand. 🙂

Why don’t you just come along:

Wellington has more of small shops than bigger ones

There’s always room for trees and green areas. Well, Wellington is not AS big as there wouldn’t fit any of that…

The “Beehive” is the government buildung. It might be true to its meaning. 😉

You can walk freely on the governemnt grounds. Everything is nice and groomed, a pleasure to the eyes.

As I said. 😀

Shopping here is a little different from home. At least at the smaller supermarket I went to yet… You put your stuff into the basket, proceed to the checkout area and wait in a distance until on of the counters is vacant. Then you put your basket on top of the counter, the lovely madam scans everything after uttering ‘Hi, how are you?’ (I still don’t know what to answer to that, really) she packs it all into bags for you. One word about the selection: There is toast for 1 Dollar!! (and backpackers buy it)

Mt. Victoria in the background

The national museum ‘Te Papa’ is huge.

Especially on the waterfront you see many runners. Everyone is running in Wellington, astounding.

View of the sea, the city behind the back.

Why don’t we standardize those symbols?

As I walked on the pavement today (“today”, “yesterday” and “tomorrow” has a broken meaning anyway, I think :D), with sunscreen factor 70 just to mention it, I encountered an odd picture which I can only describe here as I didn’t carry my camera.
A section of the way was being fenced off by the workers using a handheld STOP sign. So you stop. Then a small digger left the building and when everything was safe again, the sign was turned and GO. I was told that they even use this technique to replace mobile traffic lights on roadworks. That is how the Kiwis are, but I will surely see all of this myself one day…

A different version of our “Weserspucker”…

The green is outstandingly intense and pure, no matter what plant you look at.

The national museum ‘Te Papa’ might just be the coolest attraction around. It is free, you can walk in and out as you please and there is looots to see. You can learn anything about New Zealand here. And there is free WiFi. 🙂 In general there is free WiFi all around the city…

Inspiring words inside Te Papa.

The city as seen from the looking terrace on top of the museum.

Those who like to build scaffolding will like this picture. 😉

At the hostel I sleep in a three-people-bedroom (single bed above double bed) and the lovely Taiwanese girl (who shared her first cooking with me (which was really nice (I hope Google will translate this correctly to Chinese))) turned into a french-italian backpacker couple. Loving people, full of advice and experience and providing the cutest accent mixture ever! 😀 😀

It must be Christmas.

Cuba Street is on of the most beautiful streets for shopping here. Very traditional and
nice to look at as a whole. Many buskers throughout the day complete the mood.

The famous sculpture on Cuba Street. It’s something. 🙂

And you can speak English for the whole day. Even some Germans I met at the hostel spoke only English with me. And all the cinemas show movies in their purest original language. That’s how I pictured it! 😀

Visit at the Zoo

Aug 4, 2014 | Before The Great Journey, Photos, Trips

I know I’ve been quiet for some time now… Sometimes there’s just not enough big things going on that are worth writing about. The search for a family is progressing slowly, you have to have much patience for Kiwis are somewhat spontaneous.

But lately I’ve been to the zoo once again.
The origin of this traditional venture lies when Granny’s and Granddad’s grandchildren #1 and #2 (I am No. 2 btw 😀 ) were about 5-7 years old and needn’t nappies anymore…
Every other year this is a great day. How should it be different, at the zoo? 🙂
With years passing, more and more grandchildren joined and eventually their parents as well. And that’s quite necessary to keep that crowd contained. A family trip is a solid concept for visiting the zoo…

This time I took my camera and would like to share some impressions with you:

The saying ‘eyes bigger than stomach’ not only fits us humans. 🙂

Donkeys might just be the saddest animals in any zoo…

Attention ladies: Only giraffes have eyelashes more beautiful! ;D

Some people are justifiably called bears. (In a positive sense of course. 🙂 )

The Flamingoes are the first animals you see at the entrance. Have always been for 15 years. You don’t expect anything else. But when you think closely about those animals: When sleeping one of the everlasting stilts disappears somewhere inside their bodies; they have considerably huge beaks; they are pinkish to red in color; they have loong, extremely flexible, cuddly-fluffy necks…
But that’s all perfectly normal, they’re just flamingoes…