Jyske Bank? knock knock, anybody there!!!! get the money over here so i can buy my own car, this is killing me.
How long time do you need, how much more have you planned just suddenly to remember that needs to be done?!?!!? Whats the holdup!?
With that said, sigh.........
Its no fun driving shotgun with another driver who has a completely different job and life. It just dosent work, today it took 2 hours to get home, it would have been faster to walk :S Its frustraiting no to have the freedom of going whereever you want whenever you want. And the only thing holding me back is the money transfer from Denmark to New Zealand, have found the car that im going to buy just waiting for the ability to pay for it.
Hope it comes within this week otherwise Im getting crazy :S
Showing posts with label Auckland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Auckland. Show all posts
Monday, 12 October 2009
Saturday, 10 October 2009
In and on water!
A bit delayed but here it is!
Saturday 3rd of October we went to Goat Island in order to dive in the marine reserve up there.
We started out from Auckland at 9 am in the morning. We had been warned by Markus(cant make the symbol needed here because Im using German windows on a English computer so whats written on the keyboard is in many cases a cruel lie which only leads to spelling errors) landlord that we should turn off the highway at Orewa in order to avoid paying for the last bit of the highway, we did so and Im glad we did because the scenery driving on twisty roads on the coast is just perfect for a weekend trip, even on a rainy and cloudy saturday as this was.
We got up there and found that we were the only humans, but after some time jumping from stone to stone at the water we decided to follow a sign leading up a small hill to a private house and get some snorkeling equipment. When we got up there we first had to avoid a cow which were transfered from one field to another and didnt seem happy about it, after some explosive brething from the cow it went on and we all survived. We got our wetsuits, swimfeets, snorkel and diving glasses and were ready. We asked for some tips and where to swim in order to get the most from the money we had paid($25 per man), we also got told that we were 22 days ahead of season and that was the reason why it was so empty. We went back to the car in order to change to our bathingshorts and the wetsuit. By the time we were ready some more people had come to the parking lot in order to enjoy the view over the ocean and on Goat Island.
We went in the water and ...lets face it... 22 day colder than preffered :D but it was okay in the beginning it was quite cold for the top of the head, but after a bit swimming around the wetsuit started to work and everything was fine. Markus had a underwater camera so there will be some pictures to be uploaded as well as soon as i get my hands on them.
On the way back from Goat Island we discovered that the Golf 3 we were driving had run out of fuel and we had to find a petrol station quick, and it is in such situations you get to know how hard it is to find one outside of the city. We made a tactic break and ate some Fish n Chips and asked for the next petrol station. I was quite far back on the road from which we came in the first place so we had to drive carefully, we ended up holding up a guy in his Pickup truck with a boat on a trailer on the back, BUT we managed and thats the most important part.
After refuelling we decided to go to Waiwera hot pools to get heated properly. We swam around in a pool which was 28 degress and it was quite pleasent, we then tried the waterslides, the movie pool and decided to explore what the "lava pool" was. It turned out to be a 48 degree hot pool where you have no chance of getting in unless your skin is dead or have lost the ability to feel when things are hot. so we chose to get in its little sister which was only 38. After 10 minutes of doing abselutely nothing we felt weak because of the heat and decided to head back to the movie pool and relax a bit before we again left for Auckland.
No body had any plans for dinner so we stopped at Pizza Hut in Auckland and ordered some pizzas, and - sigh, how bad can you do a pizza.....? never going back there, in Pizza Huts defence: I have had some good pizzas there before, but this one was ruined.
Sunday:
On sunday we were invited to come sailing with markus(symbol missing again) landlord on his 10 meter boat. The weather wasnt that good but we decided to go to the habor and prepar the ship in case it got better. It got dry and we went out, we had a few showers on the way but the mood was high and the speed of the wind was good. Its quite an experience going on water with a ship designed to sail with an angle of 37(the max we hitted that day) without tipping over.
We sailed past devonport and the northeren end and did a 180degree turn in order to sail under the harbor bridge, and on our way back it was time for a sailing snack, a Carlsberg. After sailing under the harbor brigde we took down the sails and went on engnine power into a harbor where the rich people have parked their ships. We went in and did a round looking at the big ships, on the pictures youll be able to see some pretty amazing stuff.
We ended the day by having a big dinner at Markus(symbol) house with smoked chicken, lamb and mint sauce, roasted potatos, pumpkin, sweet tomatos, carrots and a lot more. Had a great time basically!
on the last few pictures youll be able to see the capability of dealing with fog on the windscreen of Thorstens Golf 3, the pictures are after 25 minutes of driving with full blast on the heater
Saturday 3rd of October we went to Goat Island in order to dive in the marine reserve up there.
We started out from Auckland at 9 am in the morning. We had been warned by Markus(cant make the symbol needed here because Im using German windows on a English computer so whats written on the keyboard is in many cases a cruel lie which only leads to spelling errors) landlord that we should turn off the highway at Orewa in order to avoid paying for the last bit of the highway, we did so and Im glad we did because the scenery driving on twisty roads on the coast is just perfect for a weekend trip, even on a rainy and cloudy saturday as this was.
We got up there and found that we were the only humans, but after some time jumping from stone to stone at the water we decided to follow a sign leading up a small hill to a private house and get some snorkeling equipment. When we got up there we first had to avoid a cow which were transfered from one field to another and didnt seem happy about it, after some explosive brething from the cow it went on and we all survived. We got our wetsuits, swimfeets, snorkel and diving glasses and were ready. We asked for some tips and where to swim in order to get the most from the money we had paid($25 per man), we also got told that we were 22 days ahead of season and that was the reason why it was so empty. We went back to the car in order to change to our bathingshorts and the wetsuit. By the time we were ready some more people had come to the parking lot in order to enjoy the view over the ocean and on Goat Island.
We went in the water and ...lets face it... 22 day colder than preffered :D but it was okay in the beginning it was quite cold for the top of the head, but after a bit swimming around the wetsuit started to work and everything was fine. Markus had a underwater camera so there will be some pictures to be uploaded as well as soon as i get my hands on them.
On the way back from Goat Island we discovered that the Golf 3 we were driving had run out of fuel and we had to find a petrol station quick, and it is in such situations you get to know how hard it is to find one outside of the city. We made a tactic break and ate some Fish n Chips and asked for the next petrol station. I was quite far back on the road from which we came in the first place so we had to drive carefully, we ended up holding up a guy in his Pickup truck with a boat on a trailer on the back, BUT we managed and thats the most important part.
After refuelling we decided to go to Waiwera hot pools to get heated properly. We swam around in a pool which was 28 degress and it was quite pleasent, we then tried the waterslides, the movie pool and decided to explore what the "lava pool" was. It turned out to be a 48 degree hot pool where you have no chance of getting in unless your skin is dead or have lost the ability to feel when things are hot. so we chose to get in its little sister which was only 38. After 10 minutes of doing abselutely nothing we felt weak because of the heat and decided to head back to the movie pool and relax a bit before we again left for Auckland.
No body had any plans for dinner so we stopped at Pizza Hut in Auckland and ordered some pizzas, and - sigh, how bad can you do a pizza.....? never going back there, in Pizza Huts defence: I have had some good pizzas there before, but this one was ruined.
Sunday:
On sunday we were invited to come sailing with markus(symbol missing again) landlord on his 10 meter boat. The weather wasnt that good but we decided to go to the habor and prepar the ship in case it got better. It got dry and we went out, we had a few showers on the way but the mood was high and the speed of the wind was good. Its quite an experience going on water with a ship designed to sail with an angle of 37(the max we hitted that day) without tipping over.
We sailed past devonport and the northeren end and did a 180degree turn in order to sail under the harbor bridge, and on our way back it was time for a sailing snack, a Carlsberg. After sailing under the harbor brigde we took down the sails and went on engnine power into a harbor where the rich people have parked their ships. We went in and did a round looking at the big ships, on the pictures youll be able to see some pretty amazing stuff.
We ended the day by having a big dinner at Markus(symbol) house with smoked chicken, lamb and mint sauce, roasted potatos, pumpkin, sweet tomatos, carrots and a lot more. Had a great time basically!
on the last few pictures youll be able to see the capability of dealing with fog on the windscreen of Thorstens Golf 3, the pictures are after 25 minutes of driving with full blast on the heater
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Status!
Well mz situation. How to put it? think that the easiest way is to put it on a 1 - 10 scale, and the answer will be a BIG 7 and as soon as i get my car (hopefully during next week) it will hit a clear 9! and then theres only to wait for the summer to hit hard!
Well the spring is here, and its nice and mild but the weather changes exceptionel fast and it would be great if it would be more stable and sunny.
Im currently located in the suburb named Mt Wellington so Im close to work which is quite handy with the amount of cars which are on the roads in rush hour.
Finally organised a cheap laptop so Im able to upload pictures and keep the blog updated.
FACTS ABOUT AUCKLAND HAS BEEN UPDATED AND RENAMED FACTS ABOUT NEW ZEALAND
Well the spring is here, and its nice and mild but the weather changes exceptionel fast and it would be great if it would be more stable and sunny.
Im currently located in the suburb named Mt Wellington so Im close to work which is quite handy with the amount of cars which are on the roads in rush hour.
Finally organised a cheap laptop so Im able to upload pictures and keep the blog updated.
FACTS ABOUT AUCKLAND HAS BEEN UPDATED AND RENAMED FACTS ABOUT NEW ZEALAND
Picture update
Heres some pictures, Im currently having a few problems/dont-know-how-to-do-what-I-want with the pictures.
To the right there will from now be running different slideshows with different pictures, but from now it will be a big show with 256 pictures which are all that i have uploaded so far. More to follow shortly.
All pictures in their respective albums can be found under:
http://picasaweb.google.com/KEriksen1
To the right there will from now be running different slideshows with different pictures, but from now it will be a big show with 256 pictures which are all that i have uploaded so far. More to follow shortly.
All pictures in their respective albums can be found under:
http://picasaweb.google.com/KEriksen1
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Oktoberfest downunder - Black water rafting - All blacks vs Wallabies
Yup thats the menu if you want a full loaded, unforgettable weekend!
We started off friday going to Oktoberfest organised by German businnes assosiation and sponsored by BMW so it ment free entry and food for us.
On the invitation it said that we should come dressed smart and casual but when the most of the people to the party are 40+ in fancy pressed pants and jackets you get the feeling of beeing underdressed when youre standing in a pair of diesel trousers and a shirt. But we were able to say prost better than the guy on the stage so we won a bit back on that.
It was a great party, the whole night was good organised and there were German food and beer. After a few beers and a terrible shot of some kind of German spirit we entered the dancefloor and everybody were happy. The night ended after a visit to a disco downtown and yet more dancing.
The day after we left Auckland at around 10 am in order to get to Waitomo where we have booked a "Black Abyss" tour. We started out on the highway which is normal surface but then suddenly the road turns into something reminding of tarmac with a extra layer of stone ontop, its not bumpy but its noisy and quite annoying. We managed and we left the mainroad in order to do a shortcut through a countryside, and what a scenery. Eventhough it rained from time to time we managed to get some great pictures of what must be the greenest grass on earth and sheeps and cows of course.
We got to the place where our tour would take place an hour earlier than expected so we went for lunch and a cave museum to make the time go by and prepare for 5 hours underground.
At 2pm we got Rubberized in wetsuits and helmets, we were ready to go, but first we needed to have some training in lowering our selves into the cave. It proved to be funnier than expected, Markus S the oldest one of us also known as Opa/Grandpa(not only his age qualifies him to that title but will be explained later) had some great one-liners which made the whole team roll on the ground laughing. We got strapped on to a rope going downwards for 37 meters through a small crack where you at times wasnt sure if you would come through. The whole team of 7 people mangede their way to the buttom of the cave and we started walking and saw lots of stone formations and fossils. We then came to a point where we had to go on a "flying fox" in total darkness where the only light were from an animal called "glowworms" which makes a neon green dot on the wall. After the glide we had a small tea break and had a piece of cake, then it was time to get in the water. We pulled ourselves upsteam via a rope and turned off the lights on our helmets, we then got towed by the guide all the way back while lying on our rubber tire watching glowworms.
After the glowworms we began our tour through the caves which got us through small and large passages and different obstacles. We ended up climbing 2 waterfalls and after 5 hours without daylight we finally got out in light again.
GREAT EXPERIENCE would defently do it again if any one is up for a extra tour :)
After we got out of our rubber suits we drove to Hamilton which is the nearest city to watch the All blacks(NZ) playing against wallabies (AUS). It was a great game of rugby with the result of 33 - 6 to New Zealand so the atmosphere in the bar we found were great, people jumping, shouting and just celebrating.
After the match we left Hamilton, or tried to. It wasnt planned that we wanted to go there so we had not prepared any maps and signs isnt a thing that the kiwis do much in so we were a bit lost but finally we found our way out and we drove home to Auckland.
Today sunday we slept long and afterwards we decided to make a quiet day of driving a bit to the north and have a look at the wineyards near Auckland. Afterwards we drove to Muriwai beach where we had a look at the surfers and some birds with yellow haircut :D Great view and okay waves for the surfers, and lucky for us the weather went from okay to great so the jackets were left behind in the car and we went in short sleeves on the rocks.
We started off friday going to Oktoberfest organised by German businnes assosiation and sponsored by BMW so it ment free entry and food for us.
On the invitation it said that we should come dressed smart and casual but when the most of the people to the party are 40+ in fancy pressed pants and jackets you get the feeling of beeing underdressed when youre standing in a pair of diesel trousers and a shirt. But we were able to say prost better than the guy on the stage so we won a bit back on that.
It was a great party, the whole night was good organised and there were German food and beer. After a few beers and a terrible shot of some kind of German spirit we entered the dancefloor and everybody were happy. The night ended after a visit to a disco downtown and yet more dancing.
The day after we left Auckland at around 10 am in order to get to Waitomo where we have booked a "Black Abyss" tour. We started out on the highway which is normal surface but then suddenly the road turns into something reminding of tarmac with a extra layer of stone ontop, its not bumpy but its noisy and quite annoying. We managed and we left the mainroad in order to do a shortcut through a countryside, and what a scenery. Eventhough it rained from time to time we managed to get some great pictures of what must be the greenest grass on earth and sheeps and cows of course.
We got to the place where our tour would take place an hour earlier than expected so we went for lunch and a cave museum to make the time go by and prepare for 5 hours underground.
At 2pm we got Rubberized in wetsuits and helmets, we were ready to go, but first we needed to have some training in lowering our selves into the cave. It proved to be funnier than expected, Markus S the oldest one of us also known as Opa/Grandpa(not only his age qualifies him to that title but will be explained later) had some great one-liners which made the whole team roll on the ground laughing. We got strapped on to a rope going downwards for 37 meters through a small crack where you at times wasnt sure if you would come through. The whole team of 7 people mangede their way to the buttom of the cave and we started walking and saw lots of stone formations and fossils. We then came to a point where we had to go on a "flying fox" in total darkness where the only light were from an animal called "glowworms" which makes a neon green dot on the wall. After the glide we had a small tea break and had a piece of cake, then it was time to get in the water. We pulled ourselves upsteam via a rope and turned off the lights on our helmets, we then got towed by the guide all the way back while lying on our rubber tire watching glowworms.
After the glowworms we began our tour through the caves which got us through small and large passages and different obstacles. We ended up climbing 2 waterfalls and after 5 hours without daylight we finally got out in light again.
GREAT EXPERIENCE would defently do it again if any one is up for a extra tour :)
After we got out of our rubber suits we drove to Hamilton which is the nearest city to watch the All blacks(NZ) playing against wallabies (AUS). It was a great game of rugby with the result of 33 - 6 to New Zealand so the atmosphere in the bar we found were great, people jumping, shouting and just celebrating.
After the match we left Hamilton, or tried to. It wasnt planned that we wanted to go there so we had not prepared any maps and signs isnt a thing that the kiwis do much in so we were a bit lost but finally we found our way out and we drove home to Auckland.
Today sunday we slept long and afterwards we decided to make a quiet day of driving a bit to the north and have a look at the wineyards near Auckland. Afterwards we drove to Muriwai beach where we had a look at the surfers and some birds with yellow haircut :D Great view and okay waves for the surfers, and lucky for us the weather went from okay to great so the jackets were left behind in the car and we went in short sleeves on the rocks.
Long time no writing - Thin version
Well it has been some time since i last wrote in here. First of all i had to leave Novotel because I only had one week there, and in the motel where I moved was no computers on which i could go online.
But in the meantime i've found a place to live, its in Mt. Wellington and close to work so its quite nice, since i havnt found a car yet.It has proven to be a bigger task than expected to find the right car for me, but on the other hand also hard since i cant get online and search for a car due to the lack of laptop and its hard to get around in the city to visit the different car yards, but i've had my fun, been driving everything from 1,3 rotoary RX-8 to 5,7 litre american V8. Actually found a nice RX-8 had a nice blue color with some good matching rims but after we hoisted it at BMW and had a look under the car it came clear that it would be a deathtrap for both me and my wallet so the deal got called off.
The past 20 days has gone by so fast, so many things have happend. First of all is Thorsten and I no longer the only interns, Markus S and Markus N have joined us so now were 1 danish guy and 3 germans (20.000 kms in flight isn't enough to get away i suppose :P)
Well I'll give it my best to explain every move I have made the past 20 days, but might update the post if something suddenly comes to mind, unfortunately I havn't made any notes in my moleskin so have to put my memory to the test.
I started work! DAMN its nice to get going again, the days began to go a bit long, eventhough right now this evening i would like to declare monday for public holiday, I'm just devastated from the things we did this weekend (which will be written in a single post and not this one) and should be sleeping instead of writing here. But due to a few messages both in E-mail and on facebook I'm feeling forced to write a small update on the situation.
Well work is always priotised first so lets start there. Different, no other words. Last time i started a new place was 1 year ago in Germany and my backpack was only filled with what seemed to be bread and water, and my language skills were honestly not good, but i somehow managed and over 1 year I got some nice stuff in my backpack so I was ready this time,and wow what a difference, first of all I was able to understand every word that were thrown at me and everybody are just as friendly as the people you meet on the street as stated earlier in this blog, maybe just a bit more which makes everything easier.
I got a days time to do some reading in the files and get to know everybody.
After 2 days low pressure the train of work started rolling, I got busy learning the accounting assitents job because she would be gone on holiday in the week we just went through and i had to cover for her while she was gone. I must admit that when you are trying to balance incash and you suddenly find that you are out by 3 cents its getting annoying because you know there is only one person to blame and thats the guy sitting 40 cm away from the computer screen, your self. So its better to do it a bit slower but right the first time because its taking too long time locating and 3 cent error and correcting it. Anyway I did my mistakes and learned from it and now its Sunday evening and both me and the bank statemenst survived the past 5 days.
I've also been on my first dealer stock check, now thats a good way of earning money. Driving a nice car to a dealer and whatching cars while getting paied. Thats a brilliant combo and with the weather that we are having at the moment its just a treat to the eye.
Beside my "normal" position in Accounting & Operation I'm also sitting in the reception every thursday 3 times a day during the receptionists breaks. Thats a challange, one thing is to understand english, a complete different thing is to understand english with a kiwi accent and through a telephone and the first few calls was a bit frustrating because i didnt know who to send the person who called through to because I wasnt 100% sure of whom of my colleagues is doing what, but its a good exercise for both learning english but also names of the colleagues.
Devonpornt - date: 5 & 6. August
We started out the 3 of us,Thorsten, Markus S and I. we took the ferry across the harbor to Devonport where there are a few cannons made to keep the russians away, quite odd to think about that New Zealand feared the russians comming, its just seems too far away. But never the less there is a comprehensive system of underground buildings for ammunition and i think accommondation for the operating personnel. We spent the whole day in Devonport and we tried out a new sport which seemed to be quite famous there. On the top of the hill there were pieces of moving boxes and we grabbed a piece and slammed our lazy behinds on it and started going downwards on the slope, it prooved to be a fast, but bumpy way of getting from the top to the buttom, the only thing you had to remember was to hold on to your piece of box otherwise you'll end up having some nasty green spots on your pants. We found a nice place to sit, i personally found a cannonc and jumped on that in order to enjoy a breautiful sunset. It was a great day where I suddenly got the idea of starting fishing a bit again, which then led to that we have planned many barbeques over the summer.
Auckland - date 12 & 13. august
The weather was nice so we went to Mission Bay for a walk and enjoyed the scenery of the kiwis taking their boats for a "drive?"(sail? what is it called when youre taking your boat on the water) After some time it got a bit more cloudy so we went for a nearby aquarium named Kelly Tarlton's. Kelly Tarlton was the man inventing the underwater acryl passage that you would find in allmost any aquarium wherever you go. We saw penguins and all sorts of fish and underwater life + we were just in time to watch the Stingrays getting fed.
There will be more from this weekend but somehow I not able to remember what it was, have to go through my camera i think.
Other than that I cna inform that I'm currently active bidder on laptops so i can get a Photo album running. I'll get back as soon as possible and see if its possible to have daily updates or at least when something remarkeble happends. As stated earlier this post will be updated because its a bit thin, I admit that but its better than 20 days silence.
But in the meantime i've found a place to live, its in Mt. Wellington and close to work so its quite nice, since i havnt found a car yet.It has proven to be a bigger task than expected to find the right car for me, but on the other hand also hard since i cant get online and search for a car due to the lack of laptop and its hard to get around in the city to visit the different car yards, but i've had my fun, been driving everything from 1,3 rotoary RX-8 to 5,7 litre american V8. Actually found a nice RX-8 had a nice blue color with some good matching rims but after we hoisted it at BMW and had a look under the car it came clear that it would be a deathtrap for both me and my wallet so the deal got called off.
The past 20 days has gone by so fast, so many things have happend. First of all is Thorsten and I no longer the only interns, Markus S and Markus N have joined us so now were 1 danish guy and 3 germans (20.000 kms in flight isn't enough to get away i suppose :P)
Well I'll give it my best to explain every move I have made the past 20 days, but might update the post if something suddenly comes to mind, unfortunately I havn't made any notes in my moleskin so have to put my memory to the test.
I started work! DAMN its nice to get going again, the days began to go a bit long, eventhough right now this evening i would like to declare monday for public holiday, I'm just devastated from the things we did this weekend (which will be written in a single post and not this one) and should be sleeping instead of writing here. But due to a few messages both in E-mail and on facebook I'm feeling forced to write a small update on the situation.
Well work is always priotised first so lets start there. Different, no other words. Last time i started a new place was 1 year ago in Germany and my backpack was only filled with what seemed to be bread and water, and my language skills were honestly not good, but i somehow managed and over 1 year I got some nice stuff in my backpack so I was ready this time,and wow what a difference, first of all I was able to understand every word that were thrown at me and everybody are just as friendly as the people you meet on the street as stated earlier in this blog, maybe just a bit more which makes everything easier.
I got a days time to do some reading in the files and get to know everybody.
After 2 days low pressure the train of work started rolling, I got busy learning the accounting assitents job because she would be gone on holiday in the week we just went through and i had to cover for her while she was gone. I must admit that when you are trying to balance incash and you suddenly find that you are out by 3 cents its getting annoying because you know there is only one person to blame and thats the guy sitting 40 cm away from the computer screen, your self. So its better to do it a bit slower but right the first time because its taking too long time locating and 3 cent error and correcting it. Anyway I did my mistakes and learned from it and now its Sunday evening and both me and the bank statemenst survived the past 5 days.
I've also been on my first dealer stock check, now thats a good way of earning money. Driving a nice car to a dealer and whatching cars while getting paied. Thats a brilliant combo and with the weather that we are having at the moment its just a treat to the eye.
Beside my "normal" position in Accounting & Operation I'm also sitting in the reception every thursday 3 times a day during the receptionists breaks. Thats a challange, one thing is to understand english, a complete different thing is to understand english with a kiwi accent and through a telephone and the first few calls was a bit frustrating because i didnt know who to send the person who called through to because I wasnt 100% sure of whom of my colleagues is doing what, but its a good exercise for both learning english but also names of the colleagues.
Devonpornt - date: 5 & 6. August
We started out the 3 of us,Thorsten, Markus S and I. we took the ferry across the harbor to Devonport where there are a few cannons made to keep the russians away, quite odd to think about that New Zealand feared the russians comming, its just seems too far away. But never the less there is a comprehensive system of underground buildings for ammunition and i think accommondation for the operating personnel. We spent the whole day in Devonport and we tried out a new sport which seemed to be quite famous there. On the top of the hill there were pieces of moving boxes and we grabbed a piece and slammed our lazy behinds on it and started going downwards on the slope, it prooved to be a fast, but bumpy way of getting from the top to the buttom, the only thing you had to remember was to hold on to your piece of box otherwise you'll end up having some nasty green spots on your pants. We found a nice place to sit, i personally found a cannonc and jumped on that in order to enjoy a breautiful sunset. It was a great day where I suddenly got the idea of starting fishing a bit again, which then led to that we have planned many barbeques over the summer.
Auckland - date 12 & 13. august
The weather was nice so we went to Mission Bay for a walk and enjoyed the scenery of the kiwis taking their boats for a "drive?"(sail? what is it called when youre taking your boat on the water) After some time it got a bit more cloudy so we went for a nearby aquarium named Kelly Tarlton's. Kelly Tarlton was the man inventing the underwater acryl passage that you would find in allmost any aquarium wherever you go. We saw penguins and all sorts of fish and underwater life + we were just in time to watch the Stingrays getting fed.
There will be more from this weekend but somehow I not able to remember what it was, have to go through my camera i think.
Other than that I cna inform that I'm currently active bidder on laptops so i can get a Photo album running. I'll get back as soon as possible and see if its possible to have daily updates or at least when something remarkeble happends. As stated earlier this post will be updated because its a bit thin, I admit that but its better than 20 days silence.
Monday, 31 August 2009
Silence before the storm!
Its here, the last day before im starting in my new position at BMW New Zealand.
Just bought 2 new shirts and a tie to fresh up the wardrobe a bit. Lots of thoughts is running through my mind and I'm not sure which direction to go on cars, because I'm such a huge car fan I dont know what part of me to satisfy. I could buy a cool car and be a happy driver but have no money what so ever to buy anoter tie or i could gamle on the car a see what i could find to a very low cost, the fear is only I'm gonna hate both it and myself for buying it. Nomatter what i choose it has to wait a bit.
Viewed my last flat yesterday in Parnell and it was great sneaking in on a 2nd place of those I've been viewing the past few days. I'm now to call the number one one my list which is located in Ponsonby to check if they want me living there after having met me, and i hope its gonna work out because then I'm in a house with 5 other and they seemed so far as a happy, social mix.
I'm totally blank right now so think I'm to leave this net cafe after writing a few more mails.
Just bought 2 new shirts and a tie to fresh up the wardrobe a bit. Lots of thoughts is running through my mind and I'm not sure which direction to go on cars, because I'm such a huge car fan I dont know what part of me to satisfy. I could buy a cool car and be a happy driver but have no money what so ever to buy anoter tie or i could gamle on the car a see what i could find to a very low cost, the fear is only I'm gonna hate both it and myself for buying it. Nomatter what i choose it has to wait a bit.
Viewed my last flat yesterday in Parnell and it was great sneaking in on a 2nd place of those I've been viewing the past few days. I'm now to call the number one one my list which is located in Ponsonby to check if they want me living there after having met me, and i hope its gonna work out because then I'm in a house with 5 other and they seemed so far as a happy, social mix.
I'm totally blank right now so think I'm to leave this net cafe after writing a few more mails.
Sunday, 30 August 2009
WROOOOM !!! :D:D
What a great day, went with the train to Westfield in order to attend a Car auction, but i never found it because i got busy with a whole road just with used cars. Thats the best hobby ever. Just walking in and then the salesperson comes to help you and you demand something there just isn't on this island, a manual, and to make it harder you ask for a manual german car.
It was so nice just to be on the lookout so you could meet their dirty tricks without having the money in your pocket. But i had quite a nice walk up and down the street watching everything from a neon yellow Suzuki Swift to Nissan Skyline and street going rally cars Impreza and Evolution Lancer. Some of the cars had some very interesting dents at the door. I'm not quite sure how to get a dent on the B-pillar of the car they must have been molesting their fingers in the door in order to get dents and missing paint there.
But there is a few things i don't understand: e.g. why do they advertise that the car just arrived in NZ ? thats just saying that they weren't able to get the fat burger eating american out of the truck until now and on the same sign it says that the truck was made back in 2002.
But it was great and i got some good offers in and got to know the market a bit better.
Just a quick update, gotta catch the train and make my 3rd successful ride with public transportation. Have my hopefully last view of flat in 90 minutes in Parnell.
FACT #11 ADDED!
Good Morning to you in Europe!
Facts about New Zealand
This will be a post which will grow over time to hold a overview of the facts. There will be a small message in the other posts saying if i have added a new fact.
FACTS ABOUT AUCKLAND:
#01: The letter "e" is pronounced "ie"
#02: There is not a single motor-powered vehicle which cant fit a pair of 19" rims (Pictures will prove)
#03: You have to walk like you are walking in water to you knees in order to avoid uneven parts of the sidewalk.
#04: if you only got 4 cylinders in your car you need to make it louder with a "Big-Bore exhaust system"
#05: Spoilers has to be on every car doesn't matter if its a MPV or a WRX STI SPEC-R Ex-rally car.
#06: Holden Commodore cant have more electric equipment than a Commedore 64
#07: Everything in TV is interrupted by commercials with only one exception: RUGBY.
#08: Even after 20,000 km of flight I didn't manage to escape The Body Shop.
#09: EVERYONE are VERY helpful. (I LIKE)
#10: There are only 2 types of houses; 1. Those which are of concrete and glass, 2. Those who are build entirely out of wood.
#11: The banknotes are made of rubber.
#12: If the speed limit is 100 on the highway there are two types of drivers: the ones going 80 and the ones going 109.
#12: If the speed limit is 100 on the highway there are two types of drivers: the ones going 80 and the ones going 109.
Rugby > Soccer!
What a nice evening to end a lazy day. I took a taxi to the city center and met with Torsten, grabbed a subway sandwich and went searching for the best bar possible for the big game: South Africa vs. Australia.
After being in one watching Canterbury drive their truck directly over Wellington we decided to find another. We found a disco and asked the bouncer if he could recommend anything and we therefore ended up in a place called "the right truck". It was a great place, big screens showing one mach and then screens at the end of every table where it was possible to watch whatever you wanted to. We joined 2 local guys and we had a nice talk and they tried to explain the rules of rugby and the difference between the rugby in NZ and the rugby in australia, i think i got it now :)
after a few Heineken and their friends we went to the disco nearby where we met the bouncer earlier. It was a quite good place you could hang in the bar, dance on the floor, relax in the couches or play a game of pool/billiard.
The night went on and i think it was about 2 in the morning we took a taxi back to the hotel in order to be fit for another day of viewing flats.
Saturday, 29 August 2009
Long sleep
Today i decided to have a nice long sleep because I was having the day off, with no appointments in the city to view flats.
I woke up at 5am and thought to my self "pfft....." turned off the TV (hast got a sleep timer on the remote control, in order to make room for a "Yes i would like to buy adult content" button) and went on sleeping. The next time i woke up was at 2pm and then a few minutes later it knocked the door, the room service would like to come clean my room, so i decided to tell them that they could go 5 minutes earlier today and skip my room because I've had planed to take a long time getting out of bed and into the shower. I succeeded at 3pm i was dressed and ready to make my first experience with local transport in NZ, i went down to the local train station which is 100 meters away from the hotel and discovered that i just missed the train. I therefore went to McD to buy a cappucino to strengthen on after this minor defeat. I got back and started searching for somewhere i could buy a ticked for the fare. There wasn't any, to my luck there was a man whom i could ask, and he told me that i had to buy it on the train. Fair enough i thought and started waiting the 8 minutes I had to according to the schedule. After 3 minutes the man came back to me and asked which direction i was going, and i told him that i were heading northbound to city center, he thought a bit and then went away. 30 secounds after he came back and told me that the train wouldn't depart in one hour. Unfortunately he were right, i had been reading the time table for Monday - Friday. So i went back to the hotel to find a taxi. Lucky me there was one available, BUT he was busy on his phone and didn't have time taking me to the city.
So now I'm sitting here replying a few messages on Facebook, accepting Farmvile gifts and writing a blog so you back in Europe got a piece of reading to your morning coffee.
But I'm off to the city and a Saturday night relaxing beer.
REMBMER: It is Saturday now look at the right time table if you are going to travel with public transportation.
Yesterday.....
This is quite annoying, always have to write what i did yesterday. Its just impossible to get on one of the two computers here at the hotel when you want to, but thats racing.
Yesterday were a hectic day with flat views both in Ponsonby, City Center and Parnell and in order to save money and get to know the city we decided to walk. And by walking there is a few rules which apply and a few that i just learned yesterday.
Rule #1: The same rules which apply in traffic also applies on the sidewalk. Keep left and overtake right hand in this case.
Rule #2: (this one suprised me cause i though they were to trust in these situations) Never ask a women for directions its like asking a blind person what time it is. Its all guesses.
Rule #3: Dont suddenly break to take a picture of you and the great building behind you unless you pull a bit to the side.
Rule #4: (Only affects in NZ(according to my experience)) You may cross some road-crossings diagonal in city center.
Rule #5: Make sure your map has every road name on it and not just every 2nd.
I think if you're following these rules many things could be avoided.
Time saving: Combination of rule #2 and #5.
Increasing sidewalk flow: Combination of rule #1, #3 and #4
Avoiding crashes: Rule #3.
you can come up with more, but thats just a few i remember right now, my moleskin notebook is unfortunately in my room so a few details me be missing out.
My first flat-view was at 11 am on Victoria street and it was a great flat but there live a couple which I'm not so keen on to be honest. But it was a nice flat with a good layout for having a happy living in the city.
Then we walked to Parnell and Torsten had set us up with a girl to show her flat, but he wasn't able to read the girls text language and he decided not to ask me what "2moro" meant, resulted in us both standing at a door 24 hours too early. We then went for another flat in Parnell and on the way i decided a few Fish 'n' Chips would be good motivation so i found a nice local place and ordered a portion. A few minutes later it was ready, but it wasn't a "to go" so we needed to find a bench where we could eat it. Before eating the nice meal we had to see the flat in Parnell and it was a great flat unfortunately way too dirty in general. We then went out to find a bench and we found one in a rose garden, and ate the fish 'n' chips, they were GREAT !
I then had an appointment in City Center so we went there, it was a nice flat but way too small so we went downtown to see if we could find some more Fish 'n' Chips that could match the ones from Parnell, we failed, badly, but we got our stomach full and went on to Ponsonby.
I had a appointmen at 7:30 pm to view what should become the best flat by a mile. I have a few more viewings on Sunday but I think I have decided to go there.
After the view we went for a Heineken to end the day on a local bar in Ponsonby, the view of Auckland from Ponsonby was great it is located a bit higher than the city and there were lights everywhere you looked the bridge were lighted and that meant you could see every boat waiting for dawn in the harbor a great end to a long day.
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Thursday 27th of August
2nd day in Auckland and i woke up quite early due to some one calling me, I don't know the number, its local but i also know that only Torsten and my parents knows my new number so far. but never the less i had 4 missed calls and 5 SMS.
Right now we are both sitting in the reception looking up the internet for flats.
I'll get back later to write about the outcome!
First day in Auckland
I Landed and after some time i got through the strict securety, the biosecurity and the common passport check.
My taxi-driver was waiting for men and he were to take me on a holy journey.
We walked out of the airport and it was here that it came to my mind that i might not now anything about cars here, I couldn't recognize a single one, there was a Mercedes but have not seen the model before, it was like a VW minivan but different, and then there was all the Hondas, Fords and everything else which were either a model wich have stayed in USA or a car that I have seen in Europe but with a different name tag on it.
We drove on and i waited to see the first BMW, before that happend we had a talk about the taxi-drivers car which he had converted into LPG(gas). We went on talking losely about Auckland in general until we hit the subject "Language". We talked about how the people in scandinavian could understand each other when speaking slowly and how the different regions of India(where he was from) couldn't, and all of this lead the conversation on to the one and only, god himself. There is often spoken about that you have to know your receiver to be succesful on stage, and I think what the problem was in the taxi is that I'm not a believer, and then its hard to follow op on the input from him, not saying it wasn't exciting I just lost part of the conversation and became a listener. THE FIRST BMW AND THEN ITS AN X6, not bad. Then we went back to talk about Auckland and why it is build as it is.
I got to the hotel and the first problem was: how do i connect my self to the rest of the world. My mobile ran out of prepaid in Sidney and I have received a sms from a guy called Torsten who comes from Germany and also were to start at BMW NZ the following monday. So i had to get in contact with him so it would not be a solo evening in a foreign country.
I managed to get a few tips and tricks of survival in Auckland by the taxi driver and ran to the nearest Countdown supermarket to buy a prepaid sim-card.
I got in contact with him and we took a Taxi to the harbor to get a relaxing beer and enjoy ourselves. we then went on to find some place to eat and we found a place called Fox's Ale House after speaking to a local. We went inside and it was a nice Irish pub where we ordered 2 beers and 2 Radio sport burgers, and that was a burger with food in it and not the usual McD plastic. The cheese was brie, the bacon were tasty, there was an egg inside and rucola salad, just perfect end on the first day. Afterwards we had to go back to the hotel because I was about to fall asleep due to the traveling.
And that ends the first day the only problem was to chose which of the two double beds I would sleep in :)
Living in 38,000 feet
For a starter my parents and me went to the airport after a whole weekend of cleaning to get some dinner before i went through the last security check, but almost everything was closed and it was hard to find any good places where we could eat. We went downstairs in terminal 1 and found a place where they served Bavarian food, Sushi and steaks. The food were good and there were plenty of it.
We went back up and I slipped through the last security waving good bye to my parents. The time before boarding the first plane from Munich to Dubai felt long, just wanted to get in my seat and take off to get a good nights sleep and begin the journey which was on the ticket very long.
Before i could get in my sear there was a wait for 3 passengers who didn't show up even after 20 minutes of calling their names + business and first class had favor over monkey class which i were to fly.
I got onto the plane and got my seat at a window in the back end of the plane which was okay, the first 15 minutes i struggled to get a support leaver in the back to fit my body size, Isucceeded and shortly after my "wingman" were beside me.
We started rolling and all of a sudden a lady offered me a white piece of linen and i was wondering what it was, but taken in consideration that I was in monkey class I accepted (it could be the only thing I'll have on the flight). It turned out to be a warm cleaning towel which i didn't know what to do with because we haven't seen the shadow of food yet.
We got in the air and I watched X-men Origins: Wolverine while eating and afterwards I just putted some music in my ears and fell asleep.
Win a Lamborghini Gallardo - Life is a lotto coupon :)
We landed in Dubai at 06:00 local time with the weather update saying it was 35 degrees celcious outside.
Inside the airport you got the feeling that the living in Dubai is a lottery. There was this "Duty free shop" which had a shop in the airport but also lots of stands where you could buy 200 coupons for 500 Dhs (Lokal money), I will post some pictures of what you could win and they include 1,000,000$ USD and also Lamborghini, Bentley and other luxury vehicles.
The airport itself is also amazing, the way it it looks both on the inside and the outside is just something you'll only find in Dubai.
I do not know if its me who have only been in europe but I found that hot water in the toilets were a bit too much. I mean, it isn't like its a party going to the toilet, and the feel of warm air coming upwards is just wrong. But with that said I think there is a Arabian Aero specialist in the restrooms in Dubai International Airport testing a new space-thruster or something like that.
I went about in Dubai until it was time to see the highlight of the Journey, the Airbus A380-800 and what a plane, even the seats in Economy were excellent, and that makes you wonder about how its like on First and Business class because the got to sit in silk to top it. I had a very good flight having the three seats next to me free and even though a Australian girl took the seat furthest away from me we still had the middle to place our legs and have a nice sleep.
The only two bad things I can say about the trip was shortly before landing in sidney alle the Australians began to use their parfumes in order to smell good when they land, and that isn't a dream coming true for us who have to fly on to New Zealand in the same plane. But we were lucky we also had to get off the plane and then it got cleaned in a hour before we went back on it.
Other than that, there were the announcements which always started in arab before going to english and I'm still convinced that the arabs got one or two more informations than us who didn't understand them.
After I have been traveling since Monday 22:35 GTM +1 and to Wednesday 12:00 GTM +12 I've met lots of people in the plane which you just do not meet on the bus or train, they are in some way more open minded and easier to talk to, maybe its because their ticket costs 1,000 euros and not 5, and maybe because they knew they were going to sit beside me for the next 20 hours straight.
The best bit of flying were the sunsets and sun rises from almost 11 km hight that is something different, you can see the curvature of the earth and the dark night turning into day or the other way around.
Ps. I've found a place to upload pictures I just need a computer where I can install google software. So be patient, got lots of pictures :)
Monday, 24 August 2009
Kick-Off: Aufwiedersehen <-> Kira Ora!
Now it cant wait any longer.
Would have been writing this kickoff on Friday because it was my last day in the office in Munich, Germany - but the day didn't go 100% as planned actually it were 200% better than i could imagine. Had a great farewell in the department with some great presents, at least i know that my new pen and moleskin book will be handy in the flight the next 3 days.
So with that said i just want to thanks my colleagues in Munich for a great year with some great experiences and learning's.
Well, last day in Munich and Europe for that matter in 12 months, kinda weird, today the world will get even smaller for me, I don't think i can get any further away, next step would be to cut me off electricity or water. But that's just a part of this great challenge, and I will come out on the other side stronger and more individual than ever before, so I'm looking forward to meet new people on the other side of the world, no matter if their water when they flush the toilet is running left round instead of the European right round. Just need to do some more dirty work in the apartment here in Munich, maybe i should call Discovery channel, they would have cleaned the all AND made a TV show about it. But then again think my mother finds more details to be cleaned than a whole TV crew(and yes I can write it because she will first be able to read this when I'm on the plane ;)).
Yesterday we took a half day off and went to Dachau to see the concentrationcamp, have been living in Munich for 12 months now and haven't seen it, so it was about time, and what an experience, the place is unfortunately enormous but in the same mystic way very fascinating(not that I'm a fan).
Well, my plane is leaving Munich 22:35 with its nose pointed in direction of Dubai where I will be staying for 3 hours approx. before my Airbus A-380 is ready to take me all the way to Auckland, New Zealand with only a short stop in Sidney where we are scheduled to unload some Crocodile-hunter-trainees.
I will get back in Dubai if its possible to get online.
Think i will end it here have to get back to cleaning the apartment :( and with that said I think I've found yet another of my weaknesses, it just isn't funny.
So stay tuned, hope i will be able to get online as soon as possible to write and post some pictures.
Aufwiedersehen!
Ps. I've been searching the web to find a place where i can make a online gallery so i can share my pictures with you through this blog and also with external links, if anyone knows about a site please write it to me in comments under this post.
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