Sometimes you don’t realise how privileged and how fortunate you are. When you’re travelling the world you see the moste amazing things and you realise you’re lucky that you are able to do this.

When you’re doing an internship in a country, it’s different. Sometimes you forget that you’re even at the other side of the world. You are just living your life.

But sometimes it’s good to stand still and reflect. Yesterday was such a moment. I was talking to my roommates and somehow we came on the topic family and that my grandma is already in her 90′s and alive and kicking! No alzheimer, no nasty desease. Just a little bit deaf (aren’t we all) and also walking doesn’t go so well as in her 20′s but besides that she can conquer the world.

And she will if she has too. She’s a feisty, little lady that tells me what she thinks: “Jessica go get a boyfriend”, (yeah, i’m working on that one) or visit here more and is always curious about my adventures around the world (Yeah, grandma the next letter is coming up. I’m working on it!).

And that reminds me how lucky I am to live in the right age where we are able to travel and see the world and do some amazing things. Yesterday I read about the world oldest backpacker. A 95 year old backpacker who still sleeps in hostels and is carrying his own backpack. Wow!

Anyway….what I wanted to say is that I have a lot of respect for my grandma. She’s still alive and kicking and I hope I could grow old like she is doing and I hope she will be with us for a long, long time.

Paradise exists in many forms. Some people find their ultimate paradise in Spain or France and for other people their ultimate paradise is cycling through Europe or Asia. But what is paradise? I think it’s for everyone totally different and for me a very hard choice.

I had an amazing time in South Thailand, it looked literally like a “Bounty” Island, but tramping through the Himalaya also felt like paradis to me (despite the fact I almost died upthere but New Zealand and Australia are also paradise to me.

For me Western Australia was a real paradise. Desserted beaches, amazing culture and beautiful big national parks. So if you’re looking for something else than Spain or Greece, I would really like to recommend Western Australia. The photo’s I choose where taken at Penguin Island near Rockingham. One of the outer suburbs of Perth. It took 1,5 hour to get up there but it was so worth it.

After we had a lovely dinner in the hostel in Christchurch, the weekend wasn’t over yet. We had a whole day in front of us. That’s what makes me really happy

Around 09.30 I arrived in the hostel. Tonio was finishing his breakfast but Teresa was nowhere to be found. We were sitting by the window, where we looked out on the campervan of Teresa and there is only one way to find out where she is. Tonio opened the window and bonked on the campervan:”Teresa, are you there?”. After a minute the door slided open and a still sleepy Teresa popped her head out of the campervan:”Shit! Am I late? I set the alarm!” An half hour later, after we gathered some food together (bread, cookies and chips from Teresa and ham and cheese from Tonio) we were finally on our way. We were going with my rental car, the best option. Teresa’s campervan has only two frontseats and the rest was a big bed. The car Tonio had didn’t had a lot of power and we didn’t want to push the car up the mountain.

We went on our way. After a lot of discussing last night we finally decided to go to the Diamond Harbour. No to far (because my plane was leaving at 6pm) and that gaves us also time to relax and offcourse to drink some coffee. French people and their coffee. You’d better not get between them.

The first stop was Lyttleton. A small fisherstown that was build against a clif. There was not much to do in Lyttleton so we decided to drive up the mountain to get a good view and off course make lots of photo’s. Wow!! It was here amazing and after a short time we found a perfect spot to take some pictures. A beautiful view over the town.

After some driving we realised it was already 11am. What a coincidence….we came across a beautifull cafe “She Chocolat”. Coffeetime!! The cafe was on top of a hill, the sun was shining and we had a amazing view. It was just perfect and we enjoyed our delicious coffee. I ordered a Mochaccino with hazelnut and chocolate and even my teaspoon was from pure chocolate. The best Mochaccino ever!!

After that we drove to the Diamond Harbour, a little harbour but not really special and not a perfect place to lunch. I said to her:”We are backpackers, we don’t need any help!” but still Teresa asked for a nice beach where we could have our lunch. Oke, maybe she was right and so we went to Purau Bay. A beach with an amazing view.Wow! With a view over the ocean and the mountains. I try to make pictures but sometimes it’s so beautiful you can’t even capture it on camera. You just had be there!

We had a lovely lunch untill, Milli the dog came to interupt us. Still wet from the ocean, we had to throw her fir apple, so she could try and catch it. Again, again and again…..

Milli was the dog of an older man, who lives here for 6 months and the other 6 months he lives in the UK. After our lunch we were invited for thee, he was just living up the road. He had a lot of stories….and soon it was 3pm. We had to get back because it was time for me to catch my flight. Actually I didn’t wanted to go. It was so beautiful here and I would miss my friends….

Around 4pm we arrived in Christchurch and said goodbye but we promised to meet again. Quick to the east of the city to pick up my collague, Nathalie, but it was a disaster. Trafficjams everywhere and they were working on the road and I couldn’t find my collague. After a few phonecalls we decided to go seperatly to the airport, if we wanted to catch our flight. In the end I returned our car and when I arrived they were already anouncing that the check in was closed. But I was lucky I could check in. So off we went, back to Auckland.

The next day I was back at work again while my friends decided to swim with dolphins in a beautiful area called Akaroa. Life isn’t fair sometimes…

Jeeh. A new frifotos. Last week I skipped Frifotos because I was in Christchurch but this week i’m all here. The theme this time is flowers. Damm, choices and choices. I have a lot of pictures of flowers and every picture has another meaning, another memory. Still I had to make a choice out of the maybe hundreds of flower photos. Somehow flowers never gettin bored.

Diwali Festival in Nepal, lots of flower

Diwali was very special. The festival of flowers and lights and I have many precious memories from this festival. We were invited by Hari to celebrate Diwali in Nepal. Unfortantely Hari past away not long ago. Hari R.I.P. A extraordinary man who welcomed us in his home and where we celebrated Diwali with his family.

The flowers at Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Angkor Wat. Worldfamous. After 3 days of tempels, tempels and more tempels we finally reached the famous Angkor Wat tempels. It’s always strange when you know something so good from a photo and than you see it actually in real live. It’s so weird but so special and one of llimy dreams to come true and the lillies make it very special.

Lonesome rose in Parnell Gardens, Auckland (New Zealand)

It was the end of summer but a few roses don’t give up in the Parnell Rose Gardens, like this beautiul pink / white rose. This photo reminded me about the beautiful day. We went to the gardens and enjoyed the sun near a beautiful little lake, looked around in Parnell Village and at an wonderfull lunch at the French Market in Parnell, Auckland.

A businesstrip. You might think boring. No way! Not in New Zealand. I was going with my colleague, Natalie to the event Sensational Selwyn. A region near Christchurch. This event is being held because a lot of people lost their homes because of the earthquakes in Christchurch and that’s why they’re now looking for homes in Selwyn, a region not far from Christchurch.

We were staying outside the centre of christchurch, but as my friend Tonio said:”You don’t wanna live here”. You can feel the atmosphere of the people who have lost there homes and the deserted city. Thousands of people lost their homes. It’s weird to be in Christchurch. A city without city centre, a city without a soul. The video below show some footage of the actual earthquake:

A lot of old buildings collapsed and despite the fact that some buildings are being used again, a big part of the city is still closed off. A lot of organisations and people have left the city and trying to build up a life somewhere else. A lot has happened in Christchurch but besides that Christchurch has a lot to offer outside of the city. Because a restaurant or hotel is hard to find here…..

But first the event on saturday and sunday. On fridaynight I stayed with Natalie (my collague) because the next morning our flight left at 6.00 in the morning. So we had to get up at 4.00 at night/morning. Around 8.00 we arrived in Christchurch. Fuck! It’s cold! Around 10 or 15 degrees. I’m not used to that anymore. Quickly pick up the car and score some breakfast. I texted Tonio (the next day we decided to have lunch together) that it was freaking cold. I got back:“Yes, cold and dead…welcome to Christchurch!!” He is working since two weeks in Christchurch and has the most horrible jobs (like “emptying chicken, factory work, or working for a moving company) and wants to leave Christchurch soon.

Around 12 the event starts on saturday and in the evening we’ll go early to bed. We are both pretty tired. On sunday i’ll have lunch with Tonio. Around the area of the event there’s not much. A lot of new houses and two supermarkets but that’s about it. But Google is always there for me and apperantly there’s a amazing cafe in the middle of a industry area. It was more a restaurant but it was busy and we had fun. We did some fancy stone grilling. I had tiger prawns and Tonio angus beef. It was very good and fun and I was happy to see my friends again.

Travel is never the same not even when you’re doing a internship on the other side of the world. Living in another country with another culture always comes with surprises. Even in New Zealand. A country that has a lot of simmiliarities with the Netherlands. Except the weather is nicer and the people are nicer!

The way I see it, you can compare it with a child. New Zealand is like a small child. Pure and unaware of the angry world and trusts everything and everyone. The Netherlands is more the older child that has learned dat it’s not normal to talk to strangers and only trust someone when you really know them. Two different countries but for the moment i’ll choose the small child who believes in the world and trust everyone and everything, where you get invited by a stranger for a barbie (barbeque) and where you can stay the night at your collegaues house. It’s all good!

So it happened that I got a text from Brent, my manager at Recreate where I work one day in the week. He always picks me up in the city. It’s easier and cheaper because the office is in Onehunga, south Auckland and it would cost me 9 dollars everytime to go up there. Brent is a funny guy, almost fifty and really reminds me of my dad. Always active. He loves kayaking in his Wakka and when it’s sunny he goes in the weekend to Rangitot with his Wakka (10 kilometers). When he is not doing that, you’ll find him mountainbiking or running. I thought my father was one of the most active people that ever lived but there are even more worst cases. Brent is pretty relaxed and has the same lifestyle as me:” Work is fun, but there more fun things to do”. I don’t wanna say that everyone is like that. Look at my other manager (although he loves a beer) he’s pretty much married to his work.

Anyway, last week I got a text from Brent. If I wanted to go hiking on the northshore and after the hike his wife would make a lovely lunch. I wasn’t sure….but….we’re not in the Netherlands, right? Back home I probably wouldn’t go hike with my manager and everyone would thought it was weird, but it’s different here. Here, we trust eachother and Brent knew some good spots en the dog Jess also joined us, which was confusing from time to time. A dog with the same name. hihi.

It was a amazing hike. It took us about 2 hours and we walked through a Kauri Forrest where we ended on a desserted beach with a amazing view. After the hike we had a lovely lunch. His wife made a special quiche with a nice salad.

Did you ever do something you weren’t sure about?

Earthday bestaat al sinds de jaren 70 maar is vooral de laatste jaren erg bekend geworden. Earthday focust zich vooral op klimaatverandering, de laatste jaren een hot item. Veel mensen geloven in de klimaatverandering maar er zijn nog steeds veel mensen die dit maar flauwekul vinden maar als reiziger zie je de klimaat verandering duidelijk. Gletsjers die meters verschuiven, bergtoppen die geen sneeuw meer hebben en uitgedroogde rivieren zijn genoeg voorbeelden. Ik weet dat het voor onze wereldleiders moeilijk wordt gemaakt met de crisis maar het is goed dat er wordt gedacht aan ons pensioen maar als onze wereld straks uitgedroogd is, heb je weinig aan je pensioen. Dus kom in actie en begin bij jezelf! 22 april Earhtday 2012!

Uitgedroogde rivier vlakbij Ulan Bator, Mongolie

Easter. No idea what my plans where untill my manager Rebecca came to me:”Maybe a crazy idea, but if you want you can borrow my car for the weekend?”. You don’t say no to do that, right? So thursday night, Andrew brought me to Rebecca’s house to pick up the car and after some packing, I left fridaymorning for my big weekendtrip.

First problem. Get out of Auckland and with Andrew’s map that wouldn’t be a problem but I was not the only one who thought about escaping Auckland for the weekend. Most of the people where off to go to their ‘bach’ (holiday house) or just celebrate Easter with their family. Especially with this perfect weather. It was around 25 degrees and not one  cloud in the sky. Really nice and although they where talking about a weatherbomb, most people thought it would be really sunny this weekend. And that’s why it took me 2 hours to get out of Auckland, but the weather was nice and I enjoyed it. In albany, just outside Auckland, i wanted to visit pak ‘n save (a big discounter) but it was good friday so everything was closed, litterally everything…..

After five hours I finally arrived in Whangarei. First stop, the information centre to get a map of the city. I also tried to find a store that was open in Whangarei but the only thing I could find was the local gasstation. But I was lucky they had pasta sauce and even a gascan for my gascooker. Woehooee!!

Besides the local gasstation, Whangarei had a lot of other things to offer. The A.H. Reed Kauriforrest, waterfalls and caves with glowworms. The kauriforrest was really beautiful. Every time I walk in forrest here in New Zealand it always seems a mixture of normal forrest and a rainforrest, strange and beautifull at the same time and what turns out. You can walk from the kauriforrest to the waterfalls. About 30 minutes walk, what exactly 20 minutes. I don’t know how they measure these times, but i’ll bet they use the retirement association.

As the Lonely Planet described, this is the Paris Hilton of the New Zealand waterfalls. One of the biggest and most beautiful and the one who doesn’t know Paris Hilton. Please crawl out from under you’re big rock ….;-)
It was a amazing waterfall and I have seen some beautiful ones in Thailand and Laos but this is definitely a top ten waterfall. Wow!

I didn’t go to the caves because time was running and enough caves to see with glowworms and I still needed to find a place to stay the night. I took a detour towards the coast with some amazing beaches and there she was, Sandy Bay! A surfbeach but where you also had the opportunity to pitch your tent and stay the night. It was a amazing place to spend the night!

First pitch my tent. I just bought a new, cheap tent for only 25 dollar (17 euro) but it works and pitching the tent was pretty eassy. After that i tryed to cook some dinner. I had a portable gascooker. Very easy to use, the only thing that you had to do was to put in the gascan……..

So I put the gascan in the gascooker and pressed lock. I heard a sissing sound……mmmmm……that doesn’t sound good. I put gascooker on…..swoossshh…a mayor flame.  I try to put out the gascooker and when that finally worked, I suddenly noticed that my hair was quit burned and my thumb had some burns. But hey, I have a lot of hair and the river and ocean were close by.

Ok, so the gascan didn’t work, so my dinner was a plain simple sandwich with jam but I enjoyed the beautiful view, the ocean and the amazing stars. Suddenly it started to rain. It rained really hard but lasted for only 5 minutes, like most of the showers here but it was dark so a good time to crawl in my tent and get to sleep. Tomorrow another day full of adventures…..

This week again another #Frifotos and the theme of this week is: time / clocks and this photo doesn’t look like either of them but this photo actually represents both time and clock. The Swan Bells / Belltower in Perth…..

Swan Bells, Perth (Australia)

This modern, weird thing is actually an belltower with the oldest clocks of Australia. It looks modern as hell but is one of the oldest things that Perth has to offer. Ok, maybe there are some more older things in Perth but this belltower is a sight to see and certaintly one of the main attractions of Perth. So if you’re around it’s defintely worth a visit.

Grotere kaart weergeven

Most of the people of New Zealand, live in Auckland and not without reason. Auckland is amazing! You never get bored. Not even when you’re on a budget and staying in Auckland. So here the 5 things you could do for free in Auckland

1. The Gallery of Modern Art / Auckland Museum

For culture you have to be in Auckland. Enough museums to visit and the Auckland Museum and The Gallery of Modern Art are even for free. The Auckland Musuem teaches you about the Maori’s, the history of New Zealand, even has a section about the amazing flora and fauna and information about vulcanoes with a real simulation room; how would it feel to experience a real earthquake. Pretty cool!

The Gallery of Modern Art is the opposite of the Auckland Museum and focusses more on experimental art. So if you like art with a sharp edge? Than you should certaintly go to the Gallery of Modern Art.

2. Visit one of the many vulcanoes that Auckland has to offer

Yes, Auckland has enough volcanoes to offer. Approximately around 50. So search for a vulcano near you and enjoy the view. Some top vulcanoes in Auckland are Mt Eden en One Tree Hill (U2 even wrote a song about this one). You have a beautiful view over the city and even at night it’s a nice sight to see with all the lights. And who doesn’t like lights, right!

3. Dive in the nature

Also the big city Auckland has a lot to offer when it comes to nature. Nature here in New Zealand is never far away. Go to Mission Bay to enjoy the sun and the ocean of to Waikere Ranges where you can enjoy a nice walk or a nice barbie (barbecue) with your friends. Lot of hikingtracks to keep you busy all year long.

4. Discover the harbour

The harbour has a lot to offer en there’s a lot to see. Enjoy the beautful blue waters and visit the information center of head for the Wynyard Quarter where you can see amazing, big, luxurious yachts en where there’s always something going on or just enjoy the new zealand cafe culture or just relax in the grass. Everything is possible in the harbour.

5. Visit one of the different markets that Auckland has to offer

The french market, the fishmarket, victoria market. Auckland has a lot of markets and all within reach.

What better way to spend a saturday? Especially the French Market in Parnell is worth to pay a visit. Try all the different free french foods. What more do you want?