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. 😀

Match!

Dec 21, 2014 | The Great Journey, Updates

You find this headline on almost every other Au Pair blog.
It means a crucial step: Host Family and Au Pair have come together.

We met on Saturday. On a playground in Wellington. They all came. Mother, father, the 3 kids. I got along well with the parents right away, quickly bonded with the little ones and soon got warm with them.
We talked much with the parents, played with the kids and it was wonderful.

On this day I would decide over my place to stay and thus over a full year of my life. That had me going nervous beforehand, but after talking with the current Au Pair there was no reason against the family and the gettogether wasn’t bad at all…

They have two girls aged 5 and 10 and a boy who is almost 8 years old. The youngest was a little more reserved, but the older two were rather engaging and wanted to know many things. They are well used to get new Au Pairs, you could tell…

Did I mention the New Zealanders are sporty? As all kids came with their scooters. And in the skate park they showed tremendous skill with those, especially the boy…

The family lives in a suburb of Wellington, about 10 minutes away from the city centre. Wellington is a beautiful place and by far not the worst point to go travel the North Island. Besides, I have contacted a little amateur stage and might indulge in my most loved hobby even here.

That’s what my plan looks like now: First wait for my bag staying at the hostel. Then buy a car in the South Island and complete my 3 months of work in order to extend the (already issued) Working Holiday Visa and to generally paint the South Island. From April I can come to the family and work and live there for a year and see the North Island in its details.

So it happened. I have a family.

But that’s only one in many accomplishments of the past days…
For example, I did my own laundry for the first time of my life. (insert cliche applause here) Even nothing changed color or shrinked (I didn’t try on everything though). 🙂

My roommates changed into real native english speakers now (her canadian, him english) and we get along perfectly. They are responsible for following fitment that lives with us:

Yes, he IS beautiful! 🙂

My first christmas far from home I will so spent in the hostel with international flair, sunshine and a barbeque on christmas eve..
And it was a great honour to serve my lovely roommates with the 3rd self cooked meal. (still counting yet :P)

Waldis Pasta, as we call it at home, are the bomb! (when I look at it, the hunger for it arises once more)

One day I felt the winds of liberty paired with a craving for shrimps. So I went and fried together some utterly delicious (I always measure by the familiar cuisine at home) Garlic-Lime-Shrimp-Pasta. That is fun, tastes well, you are fed AND you are satisfied with yourself and the world around. Win-win-win-win! 😀

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.

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…