Sweet as bro

After a week of living my life on the road with hardly any reach of internet and mobile I made it to Queenstown. Queenstown, in the south of the South Island of New Zealand is known for the spot celebrity's like Brad Pitt go to in july or august to ski.
It's a nice town at the lake Wakatipu between stunning mountains. But before I tell you more about Queenstown, let me tell you what I've done before arriving here.
After Rotorua (bubbling mud) we stopped at a town called: Waitomo. Waitomo is known for it's Glow worm Caves.

The caves itself weren't reallyt spectacular, I would even say the Caves of Hannes in Belgium or more beautiful. But the actual part where you see the Glow worms is pretty cool. It looks like stars at the ceiling.
After our 'cave-stop' we drove to Taupo to spend the night.
Taupo has a lake that is bigger than Singapore! It was stunning to see the sun set.
After Taupo we drove to Wellington which is in the south of the North Island. I stayed at a friends place and it was nice to catch up.
Wellington is an artsy town with a harbour and very windy.
In the morning I took the ferry to Picton where a new Magicbus driver was gonna pick us up to drive to Nelson.
Before arriving in Nelson we stopped at Marlborough Sounds. No, not the sigarette brand but a winery where I get to taste some white wines they produce.
In Nelson you can go to the famous national park: Abel Tasman. Unfortunately I had no time to stay in Nelson so the next day I got on the bus again to see the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and end up in Greymouth.
But before arriving in Greymoutn our bus broke down. That day there were at least 60% Dutch people on board.
Now, I don't have anything against Dutchies but if there is more than 2 and a bus broke down, you can imangine they all start to sing Holland songs about busses and stuff. Ugh... Glad I got to Greymouth :)
After a short night in Greymouth we drove on to Franz Josef. An alpine village with glaciers and snowy mountain tops.
I signed up for a heli-hike, a helicopter flight to the top of the mountain to walk one of the glaciers.

Unfortunately it started raining pretty bad and the heli flight was cancelled. Instead I joined the rest of the group to do a half day hike on the glaciers.
It was cool to walk the ice in boots with cramptons but it never stopped raining so at the end of the day I was soaking wet. Even my underwear and my camera were wet.
Luckily I could revive my camera thank to a blowdryer. n
Nevertheless, walking on ice was fun!
After a bad sleep (all wet clothes in the room = wet moisty air) we got up early to end the day in Queenstown where I arrived last night.
Before arriving here we stopped at Lake Matheson, better known as 'Mirror lake'and a short stop in beautiful Wanaka, with a lake that looks like a blue ocean.
And yesterday: I arrived in Queenstown. A 'city' in New Zealand terms. Queenstown looks a bit like a little ski village in Austria but feels a bit like Spain. Nice restaurants, shops and bars. Lots of bars, makes me think of Lloret de mar a little with all the English people here getting drunk as fast as they can.
Tomorrow I'll go to Milford Sound. Described as the 8th wonder in the world...

As you can see I'm having a great time and I'm seeing so many beautiful things. To much to put down in words. So I'm gonna post some pictures on my facebook soon. A picture can tell more than a thousand words right ;)

PS: 'Sweet as' is a term all New Zealand people use. You could translate is as: 'No problem' or 'No worries'

Kia Ora

Kia Ora means hello in Maori.

I know, It's been a week since I updated my blog. But then again, I have more stories to tell you now :)

Let's see, last week, my friend Marianka and I went to China Town in Sydney on February 14 to get our minds of Valentine and to get into the Chinese New Year.
There was a lot of noise going on. People slamming on drums, dragons fighting in the streets, streetmarkets coloured in red and gold.
There was even a stage where they did some Chinese performances like lampion-dancing.
After our 'Chinese' day we had dinner in Kirribilli at Bangkok Sidewalk. A good thai place. We went back to the hostel to fix ourselfs a drink and watched the fireworks from the terrace.

The next day I had to leave beautiful Sydney, which had become my second home, to fly to Auckland, New Zealand.

On the third day of my trip I met a lady on a bus in Sydney, she lived in Hamilton New Zealand and had given me her address to come and stay with here if I would visit the north island.
So I did. I booked a ticket to Auckland and called the lady, whose name is Gail to let her know I'd be coming over.
On Monday I flew into Auckland. After the securtity checks (have you ever been arrested? what is the purpose of your trip? Do you carry any food like meat or fruit on you?) I got another stamp in my passport :)
Gail and her husband Michael were there to pick me up and after driving 1h20 we arrived at their gorgeous home in Hamilton.
The closest neighbours they have are 150 meters away. They grow grapes, tomatoes, potatoes, herbs, ... A real country house, or as it's called here: a farm.
I spend 3 dayes in Hamilton and got to experience the hospitality of New Zealand people.
I also got to experience sleeping in my own room in a double bed again :)

Today, Friday, I hopped on the Magicbus that will take me all the way down to Queensland and all the way up again to Auckland to fly to Melbourne on March 10.
We stopped in a town called Mattamatta, better known as Hobbiton. Where they filmed Lord of the Rings.

And now I'm in Rotorua. A town where you can smell the sulphur from the natural Thermal spa's. See the water and even the mud bubbling from the heat.
Tomorrow I'll check out Taupo and get to Wellington, the southern part of the Northern island. Where I need to take the ferry to the South island (logic no? :)
As I'm writing this on the terrace of my hostel in New Zealand watching the sunset. It's hard to imagine I'm almost 20.000 km from home.

Home... Yet another thing that's hard to define. I mean, if home is where the beer Stella is, I might as well move in anywhere in the world :)
When you travel like I do, you learn to live on your own square meter. You don't really miss the material things back home.(as long as they take my credit card that is:)
Still, there is a difference between a tourist and a traveller.
I consider myself a traveller. Someone who is eager to feel, breath and taste the places I go to. I wanna blend in and truly experience a city or a town as it is.
While a tourist is someone who will take his/her two weeks of vacation, travel to a place, go and see as many 'touristy' things as possible, takes pictures and then fly back home to tell people how beautiful the Opera House is or big Uluru is.
And that's just fine, but I wanna know more... I wanna get lost in a city and find myself in a part of town I wouldn't discover if I had stayed on the 'tourist-track'

But, whatever kind of traveller you are, go and see places even if it is in your own country. You'd be amazed with what you see, discover and learn...

The name is Bond, Bondi Beach.

Bondi beach, only 40 minutes by bus from Sydney.
From the hot city to a refreshing breeze on the white beach in Bondi.
On Thursday, it was 32°C, so definately weather to go to the beach.
Marianka and I grabbed our bikini, thongs, sunscreen and a bottle of water and off we went.

Bondi is a very nice beach with strong current for surfers.

On Friday it was even warmer, 33°C and very humid. We wandered around the city and went to China town were the New Years celebration already begun.
It's the year of the tiger.
When we were back in the hostel to cook dinner (yes cook :) there were some humid showers outside. Very welcoming.
After dinner and a bottle of champagne we were tipsy and getting ready to check out the Sydney 'after work' nightlife.
First stop: the Establishment. A nice bar with a lot of men in suits. A typical after work place to blow off steam from work.
Second place we went to was the Argyle. It has two floors and the music is a mix between some old and some new popsongs.
The toilets were a little weird. The doors are in glass, not see through of course and men and women used the same area.
Anyway, it was a cool place too. Nice thing here is there is no smoking anywhere inside. So you don't smell like a sigarette after a night out.

Today I'm changing hostels again for two more nights because on Monday I'm flying to New Zealand for 3 weeks!

Anyway, got to go, celebrating Chinese New Year, the olympics, summer, Saturday night (any excuse is good to celebrate)...

Sun and the city

I know I haven't been blogging the last couple of days, but I have been living the Aussie life. Which is: beach, BBQ, sun, yoga,...
After a couple days of pouring rain, and changing hostels again, the sun finally came out. And it is HOT!

I went to Manly beach yesterday with Marianka, a Canadian girl I met at the hostel last week.
She is so fun. We discovered we both love sex and the city and yoga, so I found the younger (22) version of me :)

I love Sydney, I'm getting really comfortable here. Maybe too comfortable, so I decided I need to continue my travel before I settle in here.
I booked a plane ticket to Auckland on Feb 15. Will travel New Zealand for 3 weeks, than fly into Melbourne for a couple of days followed by Adelaide (a city that is known for churches and serial killers)

As you know I turned 30 last December. And like anyone turning 30, you think about your life and you do something crazy.

I love yoga and ever since I started doing it I have been thinking of putting the 'Ohm' sign of yoga on my body.
Now was the perfect opportunity. The 'OHM' sign looks a bit like 30 and resembles what I want from life.
So, I went and got the tatoo I've been thinking about for a couple of months now. Yes It was pretty painful, but it was worth it.
I won't tell you where it is, but I will post a picture of it:

Tonight I cooked for myself for the first time. I figure you have two choices, you can keep ignoring your fear, or you could face it and might end up with a lot of dirty dishes :)
I conquered my fear of cooking in front of other people. I'm so proud of myself. I know it may sound stupid to you , but for those who know  me pretty well, I hate cooking, especially in front of other people.
So yes, I cooked! Wasn't the best food, but it was eatable :)

Tomorrow I'm gonna check out Bondi-beach, need to work on my tan. Will put up some beachpictures soon!

Namasté,
Tania

I'm singing in the rain...

All night and day it has been raining in Sydney. It's funny because Australia is supposed to be the driest continent on the planet. Even in the bathroom there are posters asking you to think about saving water.
With the water that I have seen today, I think I could shower all week :)
It's still warm outside, but due to the constant rain you cannot go and do the things you wanna do. Like go the Bondi Beach, or go to the Hunter wine valley, or go see the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains.
Nope, when it rains, you are stuck. So what better thing to do than: shopping :)
Don't worry i can sustain myself pretty good. I just bought some new thongs (Australian word for flip flops) for 5$ and a waterproof mascara.

While walking down Pitt Street I discovered this very cute little bookstore with secondhand books. I instantly wanted to buy a dozen, untill I realized I cannot travel with all this extra weight.
So here 's what i'm gonna do. I'm gonna try to figure out what the cheapest way is to send some stuff to Belgium. That way I can shop a little more ;)

In the afernoon I got hungry so I went to a foodcourt to get a quick bite.
Some of the names are so funny. There was this Asian place called 'Pho Sure', a fish and chips place called 'Sea and the city' and a kebab place called 'A La Turko'
There was even an Italian place called Tonia's Kitchen :)
I went for the Indian place and got a vegetarian 'mild' curry dish.

Speaking about food, the things you can find in supermarkets here are just amazing. A lot of stuff from Asia and very cheap too. I would even dare to say I feel like cooking when I see all this. Yes, me, cooking :) I know, I even surprise myself!
All this talk about food makes me go hungry. I guess I'm gonna go and eat something.

Bye!!

No yesterdays on the road.

If you travel by yourself you learn a lot. Not just about who you are, but also what you're capable of.
I'm a person who is quite shy around strangers. I'm not like my mom who just starts to talk to anyone about anything.  Instead I'm a little introvert. To make contact with other people I don't know I have to make an effort, every single time.  Although it gets easier along the way, I still need to get over that awkward feeling.
I hear you thinking: than why travel by yourself
Well, lots of reasons. For one: most of my friends are married with children so they cannot join me on my crazy travel ideas. Two: it's expensive to fly here and travel. Three: not many people can take 6 months off.
But the most important reason for me is to learn from life, which to me is the best college you can find. Other cultures, a lot of nature and just you.
You, like you are today. Because when you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.

That said I'm in my new hostel, meeting new strangers :)   I'm in a six bed dorm and met two girls in my room who had just arrived  from Canada. Guess all the Canadians are escaping the winter.

Yesterday and today it has been raining a lot. It's still pretty hot outside (27°C) but with heavy rain. Since it's not beach weather I started to plan my next journey. I'm planning to stay in Sydney untill Feb 15 and then fly to Auckland (New Zealand)  Gotta go and see where the kiwi's come from right? :)
I am making this trip partly because of a commercial my brother sent me. It's recorded in New Zealand.



After seeing so much nature it will make you feel grounded again, I think.
I'll probably travel NZ for 2 or 3 weeks. Then fly to Adelaide, south Australia.
And than off to Perth :) :) :)

But for now I'm trying to stay dry in Sydney, and if that won't work, i'll just be dancing in the rain ;)

Celebrating a Canadian's 21st

Today is my last day at the YHA harbour. Too bad I can't stay here, since it's a really nice hostel in a great area.
This morning I did some laundry (I've been here for a week now) Hopefully my clothes will be dry in the morning when I pack to go to YHA Central.

I bought an internet key modem today for my laptop. Much easier to get online wherever I am (at least in the city's not in the outback)  than to wander to Mc Donalds (with very slow internet) or pay way too much in the hostels (wifi = 15$/day!)
The modem cost me 79$ and it comes with a prepaid card. I pay 29$ a month for 2 Gb.
Apparentely it comes with a free mailbox: tania.hendrickx@three.com.au :) Like I haven't got enough mailboxes already. Haha.

Yesterday, it was the birthday of one of the two Canadian girls in my room, Sarah. She turned 21. Still so young :)
She and her friend Jess have been travelling Australia for 3 months now. They told me it  was the best time ever and they are sad to go.
Tomorrow they will leave for Asia, visiting Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia... And after those two months they come to Europe for another 3 months.
They asked me if I wanted to come along to celebrate her birthday.

Of course! Along with us came a German girl, another Canadian girl I've met here and an English guy.
Before we left we played this drinking game called 'kings' You take a deck of cards & every card has a meaning and whatever it is, you are supposed to drink. :)
We all got a little tipsy and had heaps of fun. Good thing about this was we didn't had to buy many drinks afterwards in the bar we went to.
Alcohol is sooo expensive in Australia. It's because of the taxes here. A beer easily costs 5$ or more.
Anyway, we had a fun night and I told Sarah and Jess that if they would be in Belgium when I'm back in Belgium they are welcome to stay in Maarksem :)

The cool thing is, everyone here has a story. A different reason why they are travelling, what they left behind, what their plans are.
Speaking about plans, I'm looking into flights to New Zealand. Everyone who has been there says it is breathtaking. They say: Australia is beautiful but New Zealand is even more beautiful and laid back.
So I'm gonna book another week in Sydney and then, hopefully, i'm off to the land of the kiwi's :)

Tomorrow there is a BBQ on Bronte beach that i'm supposed to go to. But since there has been rain now and then I don't know if it's gonna happen.
And next week on my schedule: Bondi beach, Blue mountains (2 hours away from Sydney but beautiful), Manly beach, maybe a visit to Taronga zoo... Still lots to do!

And to you back home: keep warm!

x
Tania

Who's bat? :)

Yesterday evening I tried kangaroo meat for the first time. And to be honest, it was pretty good.
Not that i'm a big fan of red meat, but to choose between cow Bella or kangaroo Skippy, i'd go for Skippy :)
I know, I'm a memeber of Gaia, don't  worry, I'm not gonna eat every kangaroo in Australia.
Last night it rained all night. Tropical rain. Today it's very humid and hot. But hey, you don't hear me complaining since some people far away from here are still wearing warm sweaters and wintercoats.:)

This morning I got up at 6 a.m. That's right! Six in the morning to go to a free yoga class from 7:15 tot 8:15
It was an easy class but to start the day, just fine.

Yesterday I wandered around the city and ended up in the Botanic Gardens.
OMG, they are sooo beautiful. A lot of different plants and birds. Even bats!
I think they are called flying foxes.
At first it looks like some weird tree fruits, but then you realize it's hondreds of bats, sleeping / relaxing in the trees.
They are so cute. they have a face like a chiuaua and the wings like dracula.
I love them :)

I was supposed to go on a camping trip to Stockton beach this weekend but I cancelled it. Since I got sunburned I think it's wise not to go to the dunes where there is little shade.
Instead I'll meet up with a girl form the contiki group last year to go to a bbq on Saturday.
I'll be changeing hostels again on Friday, since this one is fully booked. I feel like a real Nomad :)
The hostel I'll be going to is YHA Central and has a swimmingpool on the roof. Nice...
I booked untill Monday.
Right now i'm looking into my options... Stay in Sydney? Go to New Zealand? I'm so indecisive, it's terrible & frustrating...
The man I'll share my life with is warned and should keep this in the back of his mind. Haha.

Anyway, got to go. I'm meeting Tracy for lunch. She moved here from London and is looking for a job.

Catch ya' later!

Back to school

The summer holiday for the students is over. Today is the first day of the new schoolyear in Australia.
Schoolyears here are from February 1st till the end of November with a small break in July-August (like we have around Christmas)
But, no school for me, nor work :)

Yesterday I moved into my new hostel. The YHA Harbour Hostel. So much better. It's clean and modern.
http://www.yha.com.au
I had one roommate, a girl named Joseline from the Phillipines. But she moved out this morning to go back to New Zealand. Just before I left two new girls from Canada moved in. All very nice people.

I forgot the sun here is soooo strong. My legs got burned really bad from only 15 minutes... I look like one of those white & red candy sticks :)
But I love the sun, the summer, the outside life. The only thing is, my hair... It gets so frizzy that I had to buy a hair straightener so I don't scare peoply with my 'Jacksons 5' hairdo. One other thing I miss is my moose...

I have lost some weight. I try to eat a lot with breakfast, and a snack (usually sushi) in the late afternoon. No dinners so far. But tonight I will have my first dinner since I'm in Australia. At the hostel they are making Pad Thai on the rooftop. A girl from the Thailand staff is cooking it and we get to learn how to make it too.
(Quite a challenge for me)  Meanwhile, I can get to know some new peoples as well.

So, my friends, next time I see you, I might try and cook you some  Pad Thai :)