Weekends away...no 3!

Veronica's 30th....

Veronica is one of my friends with whom I go biking and climbing: I don't see her much at all, but she is really good company to be with. So, she turned 30 and instead of organising a party, she organised a weekend away. Excellent!

Veronica booked a bach and about 30 people came out to play. Since her boyfriend Charlie is a rediculous good mountainbiker (Veronica is not too bad either!) they took most of us out on some cool tracks. Loved it. Again. Also discovered that the 'oh so modest' Patrick is quite capable of biking too (he is better at it than me!). So he is busted and he will be dragged onto the mountains more often. Before you think he was modest in saying he wasn't good enough...No, he is just lazy and he fooled me by saying he couldn't do it. Oooh, does he probably wish he didn't show his skills...loser. My revenge will be sweet...


While driving to the bach I was complaining to Patrick that I love having so many outdoor friends in NZ but that I miss the dancing, clubbing and wicked friends from home sometimes (you can fill in the names yourself!). I only been dancing once here...

And as if everybody heard me say that: we had a superb party in the evening!! Everybody made some food, loads of drinks were drunk, happy chats were held and some excellent dancing was shown. My crazy dancing needs were fulfilled!

I love dancing. I can never have enough of it. Nice to see some kiwi's here love it too... ;-)

[all pictures taken by Patrick: they show the 'gezelligheid' don't they...Is there an English word for 'gezelligheid'...Don't know]

Weekends away...no 2!

Easter weekend was in charge by Steve. Steve and his sister have bought a property of land up on the North Island, 3 hours north from Wellington, and as he calls it, it is 'in the wop-wops'. Meaning: in the middle of nothing. We drove over and took the ferry: lovely trip on it self!


He (and family and Michelle) have built their own little cabin. Absolutely amazing if you think of the fact that they had never done it before. It is really nice and cosy. No electricity, no running water. But an improvised fridge, hot shower (yes!) and toilets with excellent views. ;-)

This is our natural fridge!

Anyway, back to the property. Main purpose of the land is to have native trees and enjoy nature.


The area which is still a paddock at the moment is going to be converted into a forestry patch. Sort of their retirement fund...If the non-native goats won't eat it...


Plants will be planted shortly, but before that fencing needed to be done. Or better said: old fencing needed to be removed so new and hopefully better ones will be put in. Our job was to help out with the fencing. Pretty tough job, especially since some of the old posts just refused to come out. Nasty buggers...


We also came over to shoot goats: goats are a pest in NZ (they are non-native: bloody European brought them over...) and eat everything they can get their teeth into. Unfortunately we tried to find some, but we didn't. So we shot some pieces of wood... Night time was used to play games, eat and sleep. Which I did a lot. I had one of those weekends again: sleep as much as I can...lovely!


It was lovely to see Steve's place but it did make me realise that having a property like it, is not as romantic as it first seems. It's a lot of work (especially because they live so far away), you have to be quite knowledgeable and it costs a lot of money...Maybe I will stick to my dream of renovating a little country side house...to get a wee little head start!


Speaking of sticking: loads of stick insects (wandelende tak!) live with Steve on the land...Pretty cool

[all pictures taken by Patrick, except the 2nd!]

Weekends away...no 1!

It is not just NZ that is fantastic, it is also the way of living which is really appealing in NZ! An example. If you would have asked me back home to go on a girls weekend I would have said 'yes, sure' but I would have thought 'ugh, as long as it is not too much girly stuff like shopping and doing nails/make-up and the lot'

When somebody asks me here to go on a girls weekend, Im saying 'hell yeah, great!' because here it means biking, hiking, exercise and getting sweaty and dirty. Of course the giggles, nice food, wine and girls talk is part of it too...

So 3 weeks ago Berit organised a 'girls only' weekend: we did an amazingly fun mountainbike track up Craigieburn Valley. I heard some nasty stories about it (I even bought a new bike helmet because of it...), but it turned out to be quite alright. The one hour uphill was pretty tough, but going downhill (the part I mostly not enjoy that much: yes Im a chicken!) was nice. Very nice. Im getting better at leaning back (meaning: sitting above your back wheel) and my balance is improving. Sure, I got off at some tricky spots (Im not that mad!), but I truly loved it!
The next day we did some orienteering (running a certain route while being guided by your compass). I have done some rogaining (sort of same thing but then you can decide the route and collect as many points as possible), but Clare, Rachel and I decided to team up. We were planning on MaXiMuM fun and no competition: we had fun, I did most of the running, but 3 teachers in one group....not a good idea, we ALL knew better. Ah well, we came 14th. And we had fun. Most of the time...;-)

As soon as Berit sorts out the pictures I will put them on!

Baby boom...

Friends and babies. Babies’ friends. Friends’ babies. Friendly babies… Very confusing from a distance, I can tell you that!

The time that your friends are starting to have babies while you cannot seem to fit anyone else but yourself in your life, is a bit strange. It has been lovely strange, especially if you are very close to your friends when they make this life changing decision. Before I went travelling, my time with Petra and Lex when they had Roos and Toon has been very mindblowing (never learned so much about babies!), very loving and emotional. I saw Petra almost every day; I reckon those 9 months preparation are not just for the parents-to-be but also for people around them. Seeing Petra ‘grow and glow’ made me part of that. It has been very very special.

Last year when I was travelling my friends Inge Judith and Fried were pregnant (yes, another one of my theories: you are both pregnant. Last time I checked you need man and woman to get pregnant. So there). When I was home in May I saw Inge Judith’s belly (6 months). Bit new, bit different, but yes, it fitted fine; I got used to it. Now that Sjoerd is born, it is very hard to imagine that Inge Judith and Fried are parents. I have never met Sjoerd, nor have I met Inge Judith and Fried as parents. Pictures and stories are great, fantastic and a must (hint), but they don’t give you the full image.

So now I get to the stage that friends are having babies without me seeing any phase of that. I know, I choose to live here, and I love it, but still. It is hard to imagine your (best) friends having those tiny little creatures which are cute…and more importantly… theirs. And it all happened in this last month…I wonder what was going on in Europe, 9 months ago…

So congratulations to Emma and Anthony; Irish friends I met in Australia in 2001 and whom I obviously saw much in Drogheda and Cork when I was living in Ireland. No more late nights drinking Guinness/Bulmers and dancing to Anthony’s Ska band…Little Luke will make sure they will get sleep deprivation though!

Then my friend Miranda and her husband Harro. Little did I know 5 years ago that while Miranda and I loved nice dinners after work and a few glasses of excellent wine, that Miranda’s quitting cigarettes actually meant that she wanted to get married and buy a house. Happy days for their family now they have Dante, their 3rd child…

Then last, but definitely not least: my best friends Catherine and Floor. Catherine and I went to uni together. We loved dancing, and beer, our bike rides to the beach (that damned tram behind me…), the tattoos (does it hurt….euh yeah), city girl versus country side girl, the festivals (Lowlands: first introduction to…Floor) and off to Australia together. They both took great care of me when I got back from Australia and I absolutely didn’t want to be in the Netherlands. So I know they will be great parents for little Jip who is now part of that sublime match.

So wauw, babies. It is honestly hard to imagine that while I go biking, climbing, running and snowboarding that my friends are taking care of their children. I wish I could just hop over to see them. Im sure I would 'click'.
And sorry (dad): I’m still not convinced that I should go back to Europe nor that I want children. Yes mum, I know you can put children on your back while you go hiking. And yes everybody, I’m sure I would be a great mum, but I had my share over Christmas…I love kids, especially because I can give them back to their parents…

And I heard more friends are expecting…joyful news!

bits and bobs...

I so don't like that expression, but nothing else came to mind when writing this post...

Last weekend Patrick and I headed up to Marlborough Sound because Glynn and Jayne were getting married. Proper wedding of about 4 days...pfieuw! I think we all had a great time because of the location, the people, the 'getting to know each other' and the happiness of a wedding in general. Of course! I spend most of my time doing hikes, going kayaking with millions of dolphins, chat with new lovely people, play volleyball and admittedly I also got dressed up like a girl. And we danced...lots!

Loads of pictures are taken, none of them are mine. Patrick has some nice ones on his blog (and none of those are his...) Have a look and enjoy.

Then, finally, this weekend was a lazy one. Yes. A weekend in Christchurch! I made some nice dinners for friends as a thank you for always picking me up by car for all those wednesday walkies. Gin and tonic master was in the house as well...mjummie.
We (Steve, Patrick and myself) did some biking the next day and on Sunday Patrick arranged my Christmas present: a picnic. Lovely if I may say so! Nice fresh bread, good champagne and he even scored some Dutch cheese!

And on a more geeky note: I could not get around it anymore...communication to Europe is seriously failing so...I bought a laptop. Which meant that Patrick did the proper research online (geek as he is...), we went into several shops (read: he chats with the sales person while I drink my smoothie quietly next to them and try not to look to puzzled) and at the end I was more than happy to get the card and pay. And the next step was very predictable and recognisable too....Patrick wanted to play...Looks familiar, doesn't it Sjoerd??

Don't get me wrong though: I love it that way. Get the stupid thing going the way I would like to and then I will use it. Whoever wants to play...be my guest. Next step Internet at home...what a mission...

Inland pack track

Two weeks ago we (a bunch of 8) took off for a nice beautiful (easy) hiking trip on the West Coast. The Inland Pack track. Sort of fairy tale scenery: secret side tracks, little and big caves, good weather, pitoresque camping site next to the river and a lot of hiking through the river itself. Good stuff.

Water from everywhere...where are the gnomes?

Funny water gnome...

Secret track...

Nice lunch spots...

Great food...and great people

Bums...and men doing the dishes...

Fantastic camping!

All pictures are taken by Berit: thanks!

Katrina has send me some excellent pictures of ice climbing from a few weeks ago. So I thought I would put them up to prove that I did it...(not that you can see it is me...but still) In all honesty it looks more scary on the picture than it really is...Let's say Katrina is a good action photographer!!

Ice climbing

In July 2008 I went on a hike with some friends and I made some really nice 'icy pictures'. During that freezing, snowy hike I learned that Paul and Bronwyn love ice climbing.



'Wauw' did I think back then. Since that time I've been dropping hints on how amazing that must be. I mean, ice climbing on a glacier: I have never been on a glacier before (when travelling around with Eefje last year, I saw it for the first time), let alone climb one...crampons, ice axes and just 'walk up' an ice wall...



So again, I was planning on having a cruizy weekend, but when Paul asked me whether I wanted to join them, I was totally excited to give it a go!



On Friday we took off to Franz Josef glacier, to climb it the next day. An hour walk to the glacier, and then an hour walking on the glacier to find that perfect first ice wall to climb. The walk itself was interesting enough: I love the ice (mind you: it is summer here!)



First climb was very interesting. Paul and Bronwyn explained to me what to do and off I went. First meter up was fine, and then adrenaline kicked in. Honestly? I haven't been that scared in a long time...I was just hammering those ice axes in, pulling myself up thinking '...must...get...up...there...'. Totally forgot about the technique, my feet, my hands etc: it was just purely using my arm power to get up.



Half way through I stopped to catch my breath and I thought about going down and never ever do it again or continue and do better next time. One guess what I did...However, not surprisingly that I was completely pumped when I finally reached the top.



Paul and Bronwyn must have giggled though...



So before the second climb I went through the technique again with Bronwyn and this time I absolutely loved it: it went great, I was thinking clearly and it was absolutely cool. I really liked it. When I got down, Bronwyn was smiling. Probably very satisfied.



No pictures of me climbing up the wall (will check with Katrina or Rebecca if they have any...)