on the raod again...

ok, so finally a post that shouldt be as long as the others... =) IVE LEFT HOKITIKA!!! awesome, aye?! although i actually planned to leave on saturday there were complications: i needed a new key for my car. the key i had only worked on the egnition but not on the doors and boot... so i couldnt lock my car for a couple of days... but since i was only in hoki - no big deal!!! so yeah, they had to order (or something like it) a new key from christchurch, which didnt arrive in time for my original plans, etc. exhausting, aye?! anyways, i still had a fun weekend with friends: watching pirates (its so awesome!), having a few beers and watching the rugby league final (during which i kinda fell asleep)... =) MONDAY finally came and i got my key (later than expected!) and i was off... the goodbye wasnt that hard since i think im gonna come back in one or two months when ill go over arthurs pass from christchurch... but still it was a goodbye, and for those people who know me: you know its not easy for me... =)F.Y.I. (for your information) i probably wont be able to post photos on this blog for ages, cos either the internet is too slow, or the actual computer is locked away from the screen so i cant attach a usb cable for the camera...
anyways, the drive from hokitika to franz josef (where i am now) was absolutely stunning. lots of turns in the road but it felt awesome being the driver!!! =) i love driving - on the left is not such a big deal!!! on the more straight bits of the road i also listened to the pirates soundtrack - what more would i want! =) i bought this tape i can attach to my ipod, which has been the best investment so far!!! hmmm, yeah, i got here, to my first backpacker! =) theres a bathroom and even a kitchen in our dorm. im sharing it with two other girls... and just for your information: traveling alone really isnt such a big deal: the two of them were doing it most of the time and then just met a couple of days ago...
i also enjoyed this 3-walk i took today. though alone i was just happy and content - i mean, im in nz!!! and though its been raining basically ever since i got to hoki, it doesnt really bother me, cos im going to wanaka and queestown this week - where there actually is some summer weather... =)thats it for the first part...i know most of you wouldnt enjoy it yet - but i absolutely love it!!!

gorgeous tramp!!!

i dont even really know where to start... last weekend harmony and sione (former host brother and his girlfriend who hes got a son with - they are expecting another child in january!!!)came over from christchurch and we did things like going to lake kaniere and other stuff... on sunday evening kerstin and i went to the hokitika pool where all exchange students from school were having dinner and fun swimming and fooling around. mrs simpson was kind enough to invite me despite the fact that im no longer an exchange student... that evening was just so much fun, seriously!!! there was this thing in the pool which is kinda hard to describe: its a rubber thingy blown up with air and its kinda like a course (parcours) where you have to find your way through without falling down (just freekin look at the picture!)... =)anyways, sunday night was real fun! then later on we (kerstin and i) had to start packing for our three-day tramp and thanks to my awesome equipment from switzerland (thanks mum!!!) i was pretty much sorted out without much supply from school... so we got started on monday morning when everyone was in high spirits... we took the outdoor ed bus and drove for like 20 minutes till we got out. at the beginning it was pretty easy because it basically was just flat terrain. it got harder later on but it was still nothing compared to the tramp i did 3 years ago, which was simply painful! unlike on the tramp 3 years ago, we were also lucky with the weather... apart from a few hours of rain the weather was awesome throughout those 3 days (especially for the west coast standard)... it was an absolutely beautiful tramp! though easier than ive already experienced it still was a challenge... youre not really aware of the weight on your shoulders until you take off your backpack: after taking it off (its got the cooking gear, all clothes, the food, the tent and other gear in it) you feel like flying!!! anyways, i was so happy walking through the nz bush, being in the company of cool people and just enjoying the scenery... i mean - look at the picutes!!! isnt it beautiful... i couldnt stop making photos and i often risked getting the camera wet when we crossed a river or creek, but i just coulnt help it... by the way: i love crossing rivers... the waters freekin freezing and you can hardly feel your legs afterwards (especially if its deep) but its pure fun and really gives you a thrill!!! hmm, i really have to get on with my story, aye?! im only on the first day!!! =) after four hours of walking plus a few breaks and lunch break we finally arrived at the grassy flat hut and we were all just content... some us (the freeks) went swimming in one particularly cold part of the river... i cant give you a number, but it was just pure pain swimming in there and unlike the others it took me hours to get warm again. so we slept in the hut except for kerstin: she wanted to be in the real tramping mood and slept in the tent... the next day was really hard tramp because it was very steep and we never got a break from that one! but when we arrived on top of a saddle mr burnes (the teacher) told us that that was it and that he didnt really expect us to get up there in like 70 minutes... so we basically returned then although some of us (including me!) were actually really keen on continuing... but since we couldnt go on by ourselves we descended... back at the hut it wasnt really clear if we could stay for another day because one of the japanese girls was really sick and had stayed at the hut that morning... one option was to head home on the same day - another was getting her down with a helicopter... =) but she really wanted to stay though she felt really bad... i was happy though, cos i really wanted to stay!!! cos now i can truthfully say that ive been on an exhausting three-day tramp!!! =) after lunch on tuesday about five of us and mr burnes played capture the flag: there was a stick in the middle of the terrain (quite near to the hut) and everyones goal was to get the stick without being seen by the superviser (at the hut)... which basically ment that we were crawling around in dirt and swamps for like an hour untill we were all too tired... apart from capture the flag we also played cards all the time... anyways, that night (tuesday on wednesday) wasnt that great cos one of the guys was snoring so loudly!!! but when mr burnes kicked him a few times i finally got some peace... =)hmmm, and then the next day was basically the same as before: we got up, made ouselves breakfast and got ready... ah, right: the boys on this tramp werent really smart... they only had half the food they needed with them so me and a few others had to give them some of our supplies to make them survive the day... anyways, on our last day (yesterday) we got back on the same route so it took us about 4 hours again plus we had to go a bit slower (for the japanese girl)... one of the last things ive got to tell: kerstin and i (shes a great lotr fan too, remember?!) were at this point on the track when i stopped and pointed out that this place looked like the spot where the hobbits fall on the road (before the nazgul comes)... so we staged this photo and made it look like in the movie as much as we could... =) plus we made a photo of the moment when the hobbits crouch under the tree root while the nazgul is looking for them... if you havent seen the lord of the rings just forget about this comment!!! =)
hmm, i think thats all for the moment... im probably hitting the road in 2 days... wish me luck!!!

wicked!

ok, so i think the last thing i told you guys about was dinner on monday night (indian!!!) which was to die for! anyways, on tuesday there was such an awesome surprise: litia (my former host sister >photo) came for a visit and stayed the night. we had lots of fun and since i didnt expect to see her at all during my stay i was so glad she came and she was awesome like always!!! hmmm, on wednesday i finally met mrs simpson (she was responsible for us exchange students) and we had lunch yesterday to catch up on things... was really nice. in general i met heaps of people this week who finally remembered me and were thrilled to see me... ah, yeah, the most important event on wednesday was - of course - that i went to three different garages (all there are in hoki) and at the last one they phoned some guy who apparently had a car for sale for 800 nz dollars... so i came back in the afternoon (and had to wait an hour) till a guy came with that car... i said YES like right away... I ACTUALLY BOUGHT MY FIRST CAR ON THURSDAY (ONLY 14 DAYS AFTER I GOT MY LICENCE!!!)... and since then ive already done the stupid paper work in terms of change of ownership and registration etc.... done. =) i of course immediately went for a ride after i bought it and in like half an hour it (only =) happened once that after i turn i actually went on the right side... but there wasnt anyone in sight plus it was a country road!!! another lovely surprise has been my host nephew: hes staying with us at the moment and hes gorgeous! hes 3 years old and the last time i saw him he was only one - so thats been a lovely experience... this weekend (tonight, in fact) his parents are alo coming over from christchurch... so i get so see the whole family again, which i didnt expect, awesome!!! and another awesome thing (sorry for using that word so often, but it just is!!!) is that mrs simpson asked me if i wanted to go on a three-day tramp with the exchange students from school next week... YES, of couse!!! duh! ive already met most of them anyway... so there will be pretty awesome pics on this blog next week from the beautiful nz bush... ive got like most of the gear i need and i just have to buy the food for those three days... itll be so freekin awesome!!! cant really get over it - im so excited!!! hmmm, other than that theres not really much to tell except that im getting a bit nervous and excited about the fact that ill be hitting the road in a week (by my self!) and ive decided to head south first to cover the glaciers, milford sound and of course queenstown... i think im done now... sorry if it was more annoying than informative to read this post... =)

take care
jules

this is aweome!!!

aaaahhh, dont even know where to start!!! since last week ive done heaps of stuff (not in the mornings, though, sleeps too precious)! during the day i just enjoyed walking around hoki - especially having walks at the beach... we go for walks with the dogs like every day and the smaller one (poppy) is even more annoying than the old one - chester - used to be!!! she scratches you like hell, licks your face and is driving me mad!!! the other ones cute, though... anyways, apart from walks in beatiful middleearth ive had lots of fun with kerstin, the new exchange student staying at jans. shes awesome!!! and this weekend shes had some friends coming over from greymouth. we went to the beach (i really cant get enough of that!), went to video eezys to get some movies, then went home to have tea (dinner for all non-kiwi folk) and watched the movies,,, ah yeah, right: we also went to see the glowworm cave... lots of fun!!! we were a bit loud while watching the movies so jan wasnt in such a great mood next day... but, yeah, we had pancakes for breakfast, so all hard feelings were gone after that!!! on saturday i went playing pool with chris (swiss friend) and his hostdad which was alright... and saturday night we went to some exchange students house where they were watching tristan and isolde - oh, god, i love that movie!!! even though there were mostly guys they didnt mind watching it... i was really surprised about that, cos its a pretty girly movie! anyways, afterwards we were playing singstar - wich of course was awesome and reminded me of the countless fun nights at cyrils... =) hmm, ok, and then sunday: i cant really remember that much, except that we went for a long walk at the beach and jan let ME drive there!!! so it was the first time i actually got to drive on the left side, awesome, aye???!!! we aslo had some lovely tea yesterday cos it was sunday... it was heaps to eat, but it was so good!!! anyways, one of the best things about kerstin is thats shes quite a match for me in terms of lotr (the lord of the rings for all you people whove got no idea!!!)... thats awesome, paradise!!! =) so we watched tt (the two towers last night)... left us quite happy on the couch... change of subject: so todays monday and im actually in westland highs library and writing this mail. im at school cos i actually wanted to go to a calculus class to see my old teacher and to ask him if i could come kayaking (hes an outdoor ed teacher as well) tomorrow, but hes sick - NICE!!! i really hope i can go, though, cos its awesome - seriously!!! oh, my god, i cant believe i nearly forgot to tell you like the best news ever: my swiss friend, chris, hes so sweet!!! he found me a car!!! i hope ill go for a test ride this week, would be great... the guy id be buying it from wants 1000 dollars for it... i assume theres some stuff i need to repair (ill just go to a garage =) but i so cant complain about 1000 dollars!!! im so freeked out, seriously... chris says the cars got a few dents in it, but as long as it works im happy!!! hmm... so ill give you news as soon as there is any... tonight were going to the indian restaurant ive been dreaming about for the last 2,5 years... im inviting the two (kerstin and jan) so thatll be great... and kerstin and me also want to see the sunset at the beach tonight... sunsets really are the most beatiful here in nz!!! =) cheers, i think im done for now... and thanks for your comments and interest. its great to see that my effort is actually worth it! =)
take care

Oi!

ok, for starters: ive got
my drivers licence!!!
i had the test like 2 days
before i left for nz, nice, aye?!
anyways... im finally in hoki
and enjoying every second of it...
but for the last 2 days
the most ive done is sleeping.
suppose ive still got a major
jetlag (12 hours time
difference!!!)
ive still got no clue
at all how im going to
get around in nz, but
still looking for a car.
the weathers rainy and windy
as always in hoki and the
temperatures probably around 15°
(inside as well!!!)
sorry, dont have anything
exciting to tell you about yet,
but here a few pics nonetheless:
they show:
- hoki from the plane
- me at the airport in zurich
at 5 am in the morning!!!
- the wee plane that took
me to hokitika
- a photo of me at the beach
during quite stormy weather...

cheers