Castle Hill

Time flies when you are having fun!! So just a brief post about 3 weeks ago when I went bouldering at Castle Hill with Hamish, Amy, Steve, Michelle, Belinda and Patrick. Bouldering is climbing without a rope (I can read my sisters and my mums mind now: 'and WHY would you do that, you fool?').

Basically it is climbing but you stay low at the ground and you focus a lot on your technique: so you don't really climb high up, but more short climbs while someone can still catch you if you fall. Which I did of course, and I cut my hands open. I managed to do some great stuff and got stuck at the end at this rock which just did not agree with me...damn. Have to go back.

Truly a great sunday: Steve, Michelle and Belinda were hilarous (one picture Steve is helping Michelle...as good boyfriends do!) and especially Hamish -and yes also Patrick- were in great form. Im such a beginner...But hey, they might be better rock climbers, I'm better at climbing trees and houses...

Cass Saddle / Lagoon Saddle

The other weekend New Zealand had a long weekend (three days off!) so Berit and I decided to make the most of it and head out of town for a overnight tramping trip. The day before we left the weather was horrible which made me feel like cooking which resulted in a culinaire feast on the tramp itself. Berit nor I ever had a home made 3 course meal while tramping and I think some of the people in the hut were very surprised too to say the least (if not jealous...!) Especially when I took out the bottle of wine (ok ok, for this occasion in a plastic bottle to keep the weight down)

The trip was in one word superb. Since it was really bad weather the day before, we had heaps of snow and it was freezing on the first day and almost summer on the second day. The rivers were quite high, so we got to practise our rivercrossing skills...The track was very diverse (forrest, tussock, riverbeds etc) and I was in great company: Berit and I had some good chats and great laughs.

But I guess pictures say it all...And considering that the sun was too bright to see what pictures you were taking I think we did pretty good!

Wednesday-Walkies

I have been raving about the fact that Christchurch is so close to the hills, Port Hills to be exact, but it's time for some visual help to understand why I love it that much.


One initiative which is definitely worth mentioning is Wednesday Walkies. The mother of a friend of my friend Michelle organises a 2 hour walk every Wednesday (that explains the name!) around the Port Hills. We gather at 7 PM and every week I get to see a new part of the hills. Most of the people in this group are my parents age, except Michelle, Steve, Michelle's flatmates Amy and Hamish and I. But don't be fooled: we sometimes have to run to keep up and while the 'older' bunch is cheerfully chatting and laughing away during the hike, we are often gasping for air and focussing on the walk...I have never met such fit people!

Last week we went to Diamond Harbour and I have taken some pictures of the bay, Lyttelton harbour, the sunset (yes, we hike with a head torch!) and one of the beautiful dogs which accompany us along the trip.


Have I told you lately that I'm in love with New Zealand? Well, I am. Deeply. Very much. And I think New Zealand loves me too...

Marloes...

Sometimes you meet people who stick to you and you cannot get rid off. After my year in Ireland I played soccer at university again and I met Marloes. We were both in the first team: We got on, we weren't the best friends, just nice and casual.

After working a year at CINOP, I asked Marloes to do some work as a freelancer for one of my projects. She was good, she loved the work and the company so she decided to do an internship there. She applied for a position at a different team and she got in. Good stuff.
We got to know each other much better then. We had the odd trainride together, we biked together, we gossiped about certain people (oh what's his name again, my biggest allergy?), we giggled and eventually we even did this massive new project together at this very religuous school where we had to wear skirts. For those who don't know Marloes (or me for that matter)...Marloes and I don't do skirts....we are soccer girls, we do a lot, but not skirts...The first time we had to wear skirts I think we were both very shy and afraid to come across people we knew...

Anyhow, all this makes Marloes great, but there is another thing that makes Marloes special. During my final year at CINOP we did a course together about competencies and skills (we mainly did that course so we could teach it ourselves later on). As a final assignment we had to think about our own workfuture and what we would like to change and of course how. I did my presentation about my struggle with balance between work and life. At the end of that presentation Marloes got emotional and upset because although I was quite honest about me not having a balance, Marloes reckoned I was not honest enough. I can still see her pointing at me and saying that getting home at 8 or 9PM and switching on my computer to do some more work is not normal...

It sounds rediculous now, but I needed Marloes to say that and I am absolutely grateful that she did. Time has passed and I have noticed while I was travelling last year that Marloes was getting busier and busier at work and I was starting to get worried that she would do the same as me (which I think she was doing a bit...)Needless to say that I am damn proud of her that she quit her job too, to become a VSO volunteer in Nigeria. Check out her blog if you are curious.

Marloes rocks!

Important stuff in life...

One of my best friends, Eefje, is doing her PhD in mediaval literature. I travelled with her the first time I was in NZ and I discovered then that she has an absolute fetish for gossip magazines. The really bad ones...She even read some stories to me while we were in bed...Is this important? No not at all, but I think it is hilarious that a literature researcher actually is addicted to gossip magazines...Can you see the paradox here? Anyway, besides all this, Eefje is also a famous actress in Belgium. At least she will be in the next 5 years. Why? Because I say so. You want proof? Well go to www.sinthome.be, click on 'kortfilm', and then click on Eefje (the angry woman: bottom row, in the middle - with the red earrings). Sorry, no subtitles for the monolingual people...

Less important but massively important to me personally are my teeth. I'm not sure whether you can comprehend what my teeth's well-being mean to me. I have been told that I am a 'cool' girl, I'm tough and Im a dare devil [I've been told...]. There is only one thing I am really really really -from the bottom of my heart- scared off and that is the dentist. Why? I don't know, because I am 28 and I never had anything done to my teeth: no braces, no fillings, no nothing. My teeth are fine.
But since I was a kid I would seriously stay awake for hours knowing that I had to go to the dentist the next month. I would have total stress moments knowing I had to go into the office and SMELL the dentist. I would seriously question every single move the dentist made to be sure I was prepared...for nothing in those 28 years. Was that dentist horrible then? I don't know, because he never did anything...

And this week the moment had arrived of which I have been utterly terrified for, for seriously YEARS and YEARS! I had a tooth ache and it needed to be fixed...So what do you do? Exactly, you ask every single person you know about their dentist: what is he/she like, will they be gentle, would you recommend them, why, why not....please help! So Nigel turned out to be the ultimate dentist (3 people praised him!) and today was the day.
Result: the tooth that was aching probably had a tiny hole 5 years ago and now turned into a massive one. Before you guys start screaming 'you should have gone to a dentist earlier!', I have. The last time was just before I started travelling and nobody picked it up...So now Mr. Nigel repaired that tooth and seriously, I feel so stupid, because get this: it did NOT hurt (ok ok with anesthetic of course). I have been terrified for something, crying myself to sleep since I was 5 (no jokes there) for something that is not a big deal?! For fuck sake, get a life Maaike...I know, I am pathetic. But thank God I found it out now, so I can happily live my life without that fear...

Or....maybe there is still a little bit of fear...My best friend Nigel may have repaired that tooth without any tears on my side, but...he is not sure whether it did not effect my nerves, so I might need a root canal treatment...

[oeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh] [that's you in the background]

Don't worry, it's ok. It's going to be horrible if needed, but Nigel and I go a long way back (8 hours to be precise) and I trust him completely. So, in 2 weeks time I will go back, I will have a filling done on the other side of my mouth (a filling: piece of cake!) and he will check the other one.

So like every Greek myth, I want to end this story with some wise words (In dutch 'het moraal van dit verhaal'). Please tell every 5 year old that going to the dentist is not scary and that getting a filling does not hurt. If only I knew back then what I know since today...

[and if you now think that my parents didn't tell me that...Of course they did, but I was too terrified to listen...]

Climbing!

In my last post I think I was raving about the quality of my life. Or better said, the fact that I actually have a life...So for those who are sceptical, some proof.

I mean, having more spare time in the hills sounds much better than 'flat country' So to give you a better idea, look at the picture on the left. I'm on the Port Hills (climbing), you can see Christchurch down below and you can see the snowy mountains in the back...Isn't it great?

Or here you can even see the ocean...Fantastic...The guys I'm climbing with are Volker (in black) and Tom (in red). Tom doesn't know that I secretly have a competition going on: whenever he can do a climb, I feel I have to be able to do it as well. Pathetic I know, but for some reason it gets me going better...

So far we are even...I think...Volker is much better, so I won't compete with him. Not on the picture is Ivor, who I actually know from home and he is doing an outdoor educator course at CPIT (my school...) so he taught me some lead climbing things. Funny thing is that we did it in English: our Dutch climbing vocabulary is just not available...

Last weekend I was suppose to go hiking, but the weather messed it up. So I went mountainbiking instead with my new bike, accompanied by Michelle, Steve and Hamish. Really good fun. Of course, I wanted to keep up with the guys in front of me (I might get lost, you know...) so maybe I have done a few 'oh shit I'm going to hit that tree' screams. In silence of course, because I'm cool...But it was good. And yes, I forgot to take pictures...

The other week I went to a kiwi band 'the Shot Band' with 3 friends and I had one of those giggly girls nights. You laugh so much that you have to cry. Or pee your pants. Or both. But I only cried, honestly. Check their site (www.theshotband.co.nz) to listen to some songs. Bit folk or country, I don't know. But they were good. And funny...

And if you want to know what I have been doing the past Tuesdays, check this website out...It's hilarious! www.bugpolo.com

Working bee or fun bee...

It may surprise you all, but so far I am considering myself as a fun working bee, with still the emphasise on fun! However, I do have to apologise for the fact that I have absolutely neglected my blogger duties in the past months. In 'pre-travelling-for-year-Maaike' terminology that would have meant that I was working my ass off... The new and improved working Maaike is besides working also trying to have a nice social life (and so far with reasonable success! Can I have an applause?!)

Die Arbeit
I know everyone is dying to know how that is going. I mean, you only know the crazy-'oh so important'-no-time-for-fun-because-I-have-a-superduper-career-Maaike. Or perhaps that is the only person I know...Well, you can see: that was my biggest fear after travelling for a year and finding that new joyfull job again: would I dive into it again and loose track of the important fun things. Verdict after 6 weeks of work: work is really fun, I have great colleagues (who already offered to help me move!) and amazing (not to mention huge...) projects but so far no scary late nights! I had and will have a few business trips up to Auckland, I did some teaching already (really love that!), I'm doing some curriculum design, I'm getting my head around all the literacy and numeracy issues and I will be doing some courses. First one is about Maori culture and history. Fantastic!


The fun things
Where do I start? I'm climbing twice a week with different people. With Berit, with whom I introduced 'last climb with one arm', or with Julia, who forces me to climb the fire ladder on a time schedule or with Volker and Ivor who won't let me get down if I think I can't do a climb...
Val introduced me to Salsa dancing which I tried before in South America and absolutely sucked at...I'm still no good, but I like it that much that I will take lessons in a few weeks time!
And the good thing about Christchurch is that the hills are that close, so last week I went for a 2 hour hike up the hills after work! Great, no flat country can win that one...



My weekends have been filled with the outdoors (that's why I am here!!): I went snowboarding almost every weekend (see pictures) which results in the fact that I am now feeling confident enough to go down a blue one nicely (and a black one with hesitance and swearing...). But the other week I even went off piste (with Steve who basically said I was an absolute wooz if I didn't...Yes, I am a sucker for peer pressure (meaning: no one tells me I am too scared to do something!)

Then I went along with Berit on a girls weekend to Hanmer Springs where a normal 'girls weekend' would have been spend in the hotpools. We went mountainbiking instead: I absolutely loved it and I even wanted to go along with the advanced girls but they talked me out it...Since it was my first time, they reckoned it wasn't a smart idea. I totally agreed (after some persuasion of course). But I decided to buy a bike though, so I am a proud owner of an amazing fancy super bike (and that's about all I know about the bike...). So as soon as we have day light savings it's biking in the hills after work!


Anything else?
Well yes, some things (at work for instance!) were giving me more pleasure and energy than others. After some 'heart feeling' (here we go again...) I knew it was my house: it was too modern, not cosy, very boring and the guys were ok, but not fun. So putting 1 and 2 together I have decided to move in with Suzie who just bought an amazing nice character house: wooden floor, beautiful garden and just a superb house. Suzie likes mountainbiking too and apparently she is a reasonable surfer...I hope she can teach me a thing or two!
Anyhow, I moved last weekend in a record speed. It took me (and Jill and Julia: thanks!!) 2 hours to move my dear belongings (amazing how much you collect in 3 months...)...

What's next?
So, I will try to do my best in updating. Next time I will tell you more about the culture differences in work (the Dutch and being direct...my gosh, Im asking for trouble!), the fact that I'm by far the youngest at work and that people tell me about that one time they were in Ireland (and if I tell them I'm Dutch they don't know whether to laugh or say sorry...or just blink)
I promise to take some nice pictures of the house, my bike, 'my' hills...but the snow pictures will have to do for now!

Oh, and if this isn't convincing enough that you have to come and visit...I will throw in a treat next time. Not telling you what it is though just yet, and Eefje is NOT allowed to tell either!