MAJOR BLOG UPDATE! V1.2

Dear family, friends, acquittances, colleagues, vague friends, random people, who I do not know, who for no good reason read my blog to stalk or spy on me, and Hessel,

It's been quite a long time ago I wrote something on this blog, about 2 months actually. Originally I planned to be a bit artistic on this blog; write poems, make up stupid top 10 list, write more poems, upload some nice pictures and not talk about my actual journey ;) but unfortunately I did not get to do these things. I absolutely did not write anything since I left Auckland, I did not have any ideas about what to write or to post, nor did I have time and internet at the same time, so nothing happend. Until now. So here it is: two months of Pim travelling in New Zealand, very briefly.

My journey began in Auckland, which is the most mundane city ever. There is very little excitement in Auckland. Other than a few parks and the occasional café's there is no really nice places to relax. Therefore I was quite happy to leave the city. I started travelling with a bus company called Stray Travels, which is supposed to be a hop-on, hop-off bus (more about that later). Stray took me to Hahei, Raglan, Waitomo, Rotorua, Lake Aniwhenua, Taupo, Whakaroa, National Park (yes there is a town called like that), Wellington and Marahau. During this time I met a lot of cool people from different parts of Europe, with whom I had a lot of fun.

We hiked, went swimming, watched stars at the beach and got up early to see sunrises, in Hahei. We saw glowworms in the Waitomo glowworm caves, went to the rotten egg smelling volcanic pools of Wai-o-Tapu (Wai-o-Tapu is Maori for holy springs; literally; springs of holiness), we experience the modern Maori culture in Lake Aniwhenua. We saw blue ducks at the Blue Duck Station (a sanctuary for the almost extinct blue duck (whio in Maori)), walked the Tongariro Crossing and went to the pub in Wellington.

From Wellington we took the ferry to the South Island and headed on to Marahau, Abel Tasman. Here I decided to stay longer and let my friends leave me behind. I wanted to see several cool places around Abel Tasman such as the Split Apple Rock, Te Waikoropupu springs, Farewell Spit, Collingwood and many other things. However unfortunately my only way of transportation was the Stray bus, which only goes one way and not to the places I wanted to go.

This made me realise that I could not decided where I wanted to go if I wanted to go somewhere else. I was stuck in a touristic world, a smartly designed business, where a bus drives you to your next destination everyday and almost forces you to book activities and accommodation with them, so they can make money of of you. You can hop-off, meaning you leave all your friends , you cannot book different accommodation without being a 'lone-wolf' on the bus and because everyone is doing all these 'great' activities for 'exclusive low Stray' prices you book them too (Stray offers you sea-kayaking for 70 dollars in Marahau, where as there is actually a company where you can hire kayaks for 55 dollars).

I was quite bummed I fell into this money trap. In total I spent about 600 euros on the actual bus pass and 200 euros on way to expensive activities (Skippy, if you are reading this; nothing on you. you where an amazing bus driver and I had a hell of good time with you). On hindsight buying the Stray pass was more of a impulsive act of group pressure and fear of buying a car. While we are on the topic:

My next move was to buy a car. I bought my car in Marahau for about 500 euros. It's a nissan bluebird arx from the year 1992 (yes it's 7 years older than me). With this car I drove all the way down the West Coast to Queenstown, where I caught up with my friends from the Stray bus. The West Coast is the most beautiful scenic route I have ever seen. It's a rough drive, with on your left side the Southern Alps and on your right side a wild sea. I stayed in Queenstown for two nights, spending a little time with my friends, however I got sick of the city in less then five hours and after those two nights I left for Te Anau. Unfortunately, in Queenstown, my camera got stolen. Luckily I had most pictures already sent to my phone (don't worry, at one point they will be uploaded, say 8 months?).

When I arrived in Te Anau I went straight to a place called Barnyard Backpackers. Here I have been staying for the last month, doing voluntary work at the property in exchange for accommodation. In this time nothing much happened really. Briefly: went to Milford Sound, on the way my car broke down, went back to Te Anau, got my car fixed, did a few hikes, worked a lot and finally wrote something on my blog.

So now we are up to date, what's next?

Tomorrow I will leave Te Anau and see the South Coast. After that I will go up to Makarora where I will be assisting in building a house and thus making money for a month. After that I do not really know what I am going to do. It's getting quite cold here on the south Island, but going up is quite expensive and the North Island is not as impressive. I might just buy some extra sweaters and enjoy a bit of winter fun in New Zealand. Who know's.

Anyhow long story short: stuff happened.

Greetings from the other side of the world!

P.S. I envy you, dutch peeps, with your nice and warm March...

Something usefull?

Oi Mates!

Wanna go to New Zealand? Of course you do! Are you going to New Zealand? Probably not! That's why I present to you: The Totally Unexpected For Most People Not Useful But Yet Maybe Entertaining And Quite Obvious Top Ten Things To Bring When In New Zealand.

10. A bottle of water; Seems obvious, eh? No it ain't! For example: You take the plane, arrive in New Zealand. You haven't had a drink for days and you are dying for some nice fresh water. You make yourself to the nearest water deposit, take a sip and realize: Gross! Chlorine... Not even a little bit. It taste like drinking from a dutch swimming pool, disgusting! Buy your bottles of water! Way better.

9. A book; Yeah you didn't expect that did you? I don't like reading, especially not fiction. But when you find yourself in some weird place waiting for a bus to arrive and dying for something to do, you better have something to read. Ah hell! Anything will do! Even nutrition information on your bottle of water (see above) can be interesting. But ain't that a bit boring. After reading that for 129 times you might linger for something else... and that's why you bring a book.

8. A flashlight; You would't say it, but there is a day and night routine in New Zealand as well. It gets dark here a lot and when you are waiting on your long waiting bus and trying to read your book, it might be nice that there is actually light to be able to read. Also finding a toilet in a place you don't know the way in the middle of the night is not easy. Really it isn't. Trust me.

7. A camera; Woooh you don't say. Yes I do say so! Bring a god damn camera and bring a good one. There is more beauty in this country then there is stars in the universe. So take those pictures! But them on your facebook, whatsapp, instagram, snapchat or even put them on your pathetic traveling blog. This way all your "friends" can be jealous of you while you are alone in the wilderness and crying for help! Have fun!

6. A sweater; No not a fleece jack. A sweater! Way more comfy, easier to bring and usually more fashionable for all you numbnuts who are worrying about getting laid. No really if you want to get laid just stay at home and go to a party. Alcohol is way cheaper there, so most people get drunk quicker, which makes it easier for all those people worrying about their appearance to find the love they need, to immediately discard it the next morning! So buy a sweater!

5. Good flipflops; No no no, not those slippery swimming pool flipflops. You want strong flipflops! Manly flipflops! With a good grip. You will find yourself walking a lot. You will find yourself with a lot of blisters if you walk around in the same boots all day. And that's why you bring flipflops! Give your feet a day off! Please just do it.

4. A music box; you are waiting for the bus. It is late at night and you try get out your flashlight to read your book. Two problems: your flashlight is out of battery and you've already completed your book. Also you are with friends and being the social person you are, you want to create a good vibe. So what you do? You bring a music box! Slam on some music and start singing like it is your last night to sing (or don't whatever). But for real! Bring a god damn music box! It'll make your waiting experience a lot better! Because you will wait, a lot.

3. Peanut butter/Nutella; Ah there we are, the top three. You find yourself waking up, your stomach is screaming for food, however you don't have anything to eat. So as most people do, you go get some. You buy a loaf of bread and some nice cheese, eat half of it and figure it will be good for the next day. News flash! It won't. You don't have a fridge sillywilly. Should have brought Nutella/peanut butter. It's delicious, nutritious and will stay good forever (or for how long it takes you to eat it). Also it's good damn cheap and money is finite. So buy that spread! It's good! Trust me.

2. Sun protection; you leave your home country. Your mom will be like: Oooh good golly gosh it's sunny there, better take some sunscreen with you. You bring your beloved moms sunscreen and apply it. All good you might say? Well enjoy your Zoidberg (Zoidberg is a human-like lobster from Futurama(it's a show)) transformation for next week because New Zealand is poor if it comes down to Ozone. No really they spent it all. It's gone. No UV-protection. Your silly sunscreen has no power here, so you better buy some new stuff.

1. A POCKET KNIFE!; not just a pocket knife: A SWISS POCKET KNIFE! first of all: the Swiss; lovely people; love 'em! They are the best! The greatest (Trump quote).

On to the knife: for some reason you find yourself in the middle of a regional park on Waiheke Island where you are hiking and you get awfully lost. You are starving, but fortunatly you have brought your loaf of bread, you peanut butter and you 5 L jar of nutella. But wait, you need to get the heavenly spread on you bread, don't you? BOOM! POCKET KNIFE! get out your knife and spread that spread!

You find yourself reading a map, but for some god damn reason the travel companies put adverts all over your precious map. BOOM! POCKET KNIFE! get out those small scissor and but those ads out!

You find yourself without money at a jeweler. Your credit cards don't work because you are more bankrupt that ever. However you really want that diamond ring. BOOM! POCKET KNIFE! Go out and apply for a job! People with pocket knifes have a 294% higher change to get a job than people without!

That's it. No more. See ya later!

Kia Ora!

We just landed in Auckland. It was a heavy trip without much sleep and a heavy disability to eat. But we landed, so we are fine.

My first impressions so far:

Flying sucks. It's just like going into a room(the plane), not sleeping at all to after seven hours get out and enter a slighty different place(the airports, they all look the same).

Traveling with strangers is weird.

Some of them are nice

Some of them are not

Some of them are interesting

Some of them are not

Some of them are attractive

Some of them are not

Some of them are there

Some of them are not

Either way, you will have good conversation with all of them.

Why?

All of them are traveling

Stay tuned!

Better introduction (also profile)

Hello everyone!

Pim is the name! On the 17th of January I will be traveling to New Zealand. Here I will hopefully experience the most amazing, vast and beautiful nature on earth.

On this website you will be able to follow me on my journey. I will be uploading pictures, videos, and stories. You will also be able to see where I am and where I am going.

If you don't want to miss anything, you can apply for an automatic e-mail, which you get every time I upload something new. That way your inbox will be full of me! (It could be the case that these emails end up in your spam inbox)

Cheers loves!

Pim