Katja Globetrotting

thoughts of a 90 year old (found on facebook)

2013-04-19T09:31:00.000+02:00

This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!! Make sure you read to the end!!!!!!

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio .

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 42 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short – enjoy it..

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.

9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

10. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

11. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

12. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

13. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it...

14 Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

15. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

16. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

17. It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.

18. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

20. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

21. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

22. The most important sex organ is the brain.

23. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

24. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

25. Always choose life.

26. Forgive but don’t forget.

27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

30. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does..

31. Believe in miracles.

32. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

33. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

34. Your children get only one childhood.

35. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

36. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

37. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

38. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have not what you need.

39. The best is yet to come...

40. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

41. Yield.

42. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

hike to Ben Lomond peak, Queenstown (28.02.2012)

2012-03-27T23:01:00.004+02:00

Alright, over the past few months I had been rather lazy and motivation to do any kind of hikes was lacking. But then I felt the urge to climb a mountain and when those urges arise you do best not to resist them!

Ben Lomond stands 1747m high and is the peak visitors can see left to the Gondola, when looking up from the township. In case you have too much energy or time you can attempt the climb right from the bottom (vertical rise 450m) but neither applied to me. I rather enjoyed the ride up in one of the many gondola cars, enjoying the view over Queenstown. Some of my workmates have done the walk previously and asking for their advice and opinion I received responses that varied from "that's a walk in the park" right to "you'll be crawling up there on all fours!". Very helpful, right?!

The first section up to Ben Lomond Saddle I managed to reach in 2 hours and I was quite proud of myself. The hike was steep and tiresome (as I said before I've been out of practise for a while) and I had to pause for air often. In hindsight I think that wasn't a bad thing since I had enough time to enjoy the beautiful view over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu opening up in front of me. Every now and then I had to pinch myself when a loony ran past me up the steep mountain. I will never understand those people!

When I reached the saddle I had to skip my well deserved break since I couldn't find a place to sit and continued my climb up the peak. The first part looked comparatively easy and with my own field-tested routine (look down, do a few steps, force yourself to breathe and whatever you do, do not look up!) I made good progress up the mountain and thought myself close the summit. Unfortunately what I assumed to be the peak was only a massive ledge and after you make your way around it it becomes worse. Bloody steep, path disappearing every now and then, and huge boulders and chunks of chist that are too big to just climb them (my legs are just not long enough to do that!). So here you have it, in some parts I ended up on all fours! Twice I was thinking about turning back because I had enough but then my pride stopped me and I thought I'll never hear the end of it. So I kept going; crawling, puffing and swearing and praying for an end. When I finally arrived the summit after 1.5 hours with shaking knees, I was so incredibly proud of myself. I love this feeling!

The view is incredibly beautiful and awe-inspiring. To one side you have Queenstown, Frankton and Lake Wakatipu and to the other side you look right into the Southern Alps with it's hundreds and thousands of mountain peaks and nothing inbetween but more mountains, valleys and a few lakes here and there. I couldn't get enough of it!

It is well know that the way down is worse than the way up and I always like to challenge that comment. But they are right. I had to be so careful not to slip and fall that I didn't take in anything from the surroundings and halfway down to the saddle my knees seemed to be in a wobble contest (can't say which one won but they both wobbled at their best). After 6 hours I finally arrived back at the Gondola, where I treated myself with a piece of chocolate cake before heading back to the hostel and having a long shower. I was dead tired and slept like a baby that night!

The track is well worth doing, but I recommend to only attemp the hike in good weather. I would have been devastated if I hadn't been able to see through thick clouds and fog.
Enjoy!

short trip to Melbourne (January 2012)

2012-03-13T11:13:00.010+01:00

Since leaving Melbourne in May 2009, I have always wanted to come back one day for at least a visit. This resolution finally came true late January this year when I accepted a detour via a flight to and an overnight stay in Christchurch, before flying to Australia. The same happened on the way back when I spend a very uncomfortable and cold night at Christchurch airport, laying on the floor and trying to get some sleep (which didn't happen, in case you were admiring my ability to adapt to those inconvenient conditions).

I arrived on a Tuesday morning and had to leave Sunday evening. Enough time to re-explore my old home. First though I had to get used to the heat. When I left Milford a few days previous to my arrival in Melbourne, the thermometer didn't show more than 15 centigrade -now I had to cope with almost 40!

The days I spend with a mixture of sightseeing and catching up with old friends from New Zealand. The condition of my skin (there is no beating around the bush here, it was white!) was taken into account as well and so I spend plenty of time in the sun. Most times unintended while sightseeing (which isn't always pleasant and can sometimes turn into an annoyance) and at other times voluntarily on one of the many lawns. Let me assure you, the sunbathing was always done carefully and in compliance with my wellbeing (well, when you could fry eggs on your skin it's definitely too hot and time to leave the sun!). I didn't get too much of a sunburn except for those parts of your body you reach with difficulty when applying sunlotion.

There are some things I didn't get around to doing when I lived in Melbourne and I tried to do a few of those during my short visit. A visit to the nightmarket at the Queen Victoria Market is one of those missed events. Well, an event it was, a memorable one too but I can't say I need to see that chaos again. Hundreds of people tried to make their way through the aisles of the market and thousands lined up for food, blocking the way for everyone else. I was hoping for exotic cuisine from foreign countries I've never tasted before but the queues were far too long for my liking and so I ended up eating - have a guess..........- eating a German sausage with Sauerkraut and mustard because they worked efficient enough to keep the waiting to a minimum ;-). That evening was quite a disappointment to be honest and so I went back to the hostel to grab my camera gear and do what I had done the previous nights - night photography. I had developed a liking for that kind of photography while I lived in Melbourne and so it was nice coming back to my old domain.

I was also looking forward to doing a wine tasting tour with my German friend Katrin, who had arrived in Melbourne during my stay (after a trip through the outback). Although I had made a booking weeks earlier we never made it to the Yarra Valley. Long story short: We had booked with operator A but never saw any of their busses. Nobody came around looking for anyone and so after a while I checked my mobile, saw that somebody had tried to contact me, called back and found out that it was A, trying to find me. Unfortunately the driver had left because he couldn't find us and now he's too far out the city to return for us. I learnt that I shouldn't have looked for operator A since they have sub-contracted operator B who should have contacted me 48 hours prior to the trip advising of the situation. None of that had happened and so I hadn't bothered approaching buses of operator B because I didn't know we were supposed to go with them. What a screwed up situation! I asked for a refund and was told to leave my email address (which they already had from my booking...) and the manager would get in touch with me. Guess what, he never did and my follow up emails were all ignored. They left me no choice but to contact my bank and ask to retrieve my money from the operator's bank account. It took a while but they managed in the end and I've got my money back. Operator A (which is Autopia Tours) has still not bothered to contact me so I assume they haven't even noticed the money went missing. I am quite disappointed with their customer service. This is not the way you handle a situation like this. Sure, things didn't go the way they were supposed to that day but good customer service doesn't show when everything is going alright but when you have to deal with unusual events.

By the way, during my stay, the Australian Open were in full swing just a few yards away in various venues around the city. I didn't make it to one of the events but I joined hundreds of people at Fed Square, watching parts of the matches on the big screen. I guess during the Australian Open every Melbournian becomes a tennis coach and expert and knows a thing or two to say about what's happening. Since I don't know much about tennis and the rules I found that quite helpful at times.

It was awesome being back in Melbourne and I hope it won't be the last time in that wonderful, vibrant and exciting city. I'll be back, I promise!

update December 2011

2011-12-12T09:37:00.000+01:00

And here they are again, pangs of remorse for not writing more often. But why bore you with wish-wash of pointless stuff that interests nobody.

Nevertheless, a few of my thoughts:

New Zealand has won the Rugby World Cup 2011 and frankly I am glad it's all over. At times it was pathetic and boring to watch. Most kiwis have never seen serious threats deriving from the other teams and that made it even worse as the media was celebrating the All Blacks as winners before the whole thing had even started. That would have ended in embarassement and mutual depression nationwide so I am just happy for the All Blacks to have defeated the French (in a rather boring match).

John Key is the old/new Prime Minister of New Zealand and although I don't agree with a some of his policies, I still prefer seeing him on top instead of Labour's Phil Goff.

I have been to Fly My Pretties in Dunedin late October and going to the concert was a dream come true. Seeing that I have missed them so many times for various reasons, I just had to book the tickets as soon as they became available. I won't bore you with superlatives and I am only going to say that this wasn't my last Fly My Pretties concert!

Milford Sound is still the same (and always will be) and we are having our share of brainless tourists doing stupid things, asking ridiculous questions and complaining about the weather. I know what you are thinking, it can't be that bad. Alright, here we go. The other day a three year old child fell into the water because its parents didn't think it was important enough to watch the little one wandering about outside at the Discovery Centre (a floating structure, surrounded by water!). One of the staff had to jump in the water for rescue. People walking onto a busy road (State Highway 94) to take pictures and people serving themselves hot drinks while out on the Tasman Sea with 3 metre swells. And with all those stupid questions I could fill an entire book ("When will the dolphins come out, roughly?", "How far above sea level are we?", "What's the name of the lake?", "How did you get the boats through the tunnel?"). I have heard them so many times I can't even laugh anymore.

Not much longer and I'll be going to Melbourne for a short visit. Melbourne has been my home for 12 months and it's always going to have a special place in my heart. I am looking forward to going over in January although it will take me a few flights and overnight stays at Christchurch airport to get there and back. But I know the pain and the wait will be worth it!

timeout in Europe (June and July 2011)

2011-09-04T00:30:00.015+02:00

It feels like yesterday when I got back to Milford after 2.5 years of absence and travelling Australia and Canada. And yet, it was last October. 10 months and an eventful summer season have passed and I have been away on a holiday in Europe for a little over 5 weeks. I have spent time with my family and more important, with my gorgeous nephew, have travelled to London, Amsterdam, Rome and Paris and have done several day trips in Germany with my parents, too.

I have been to London twice before and I always love coming back to this wonderful city with all its history, busy locals, crazy traffic and tourists en masse. 3 days and nights I enjoyed the sightseeing, walked my feet silly, observed random people in the underground trains (a very interesting thing to do do pass some time!) and asked myself how London will cope with even more tourists and spectators during the Summer Olympics next year. Truth to be told, although I am quite used to a city being packed with people, I have a feeling that London will be worse than Vancouver, just for the fact that the Summer Olympics are much bigger than the Winter Games. I am still quite jealous though not to be part of the Summer Olympics, especially since a few of my former workmates from Vancouver are now part of the London Organizing Team. But I can't have it all. Good luck to London and I hope (and I am quite confident) that you can pull it off! One of the things I hadn't done before on my previous London trips was a visit to Windsor Castle outside of London. I took the train and enjoyed leaving the busy city behind me. There were still heaps of tourists of course but by far not as many as in London and so it was a good timeout.

One of my London highlights was catching up with my friend Catherine, who I worked with in Vancouver for VANOC and we have also travelled to the Canadian Rockies together. When you travel around as much as I do, it is always great, seeing your old friends because goodbyes at most times are for good, which is one of the sad parts of an unsettled life like mine.

Amsterdam was my next destination and I only spend 2 nights in this extraordinary city. My old Fraserway buddies Diane and Emilie gave me a surprising welcome at the airport and took me into town. I don't think they realized but that was the best thing they could have done for me. Except for when I am flying home, nobody ever picks me up from the airport and so it is comforting to know this time you don't have to worry about how to get into town and to your accommodation. Just sit back, relax and talk about the good old times in Vancouver. Time was precious and so we did as much sightseeing as we could on that same day of my arrival. We went on a boat cruise through the canals of Amsterdam (best way to explore Amsterdam!), went for delicious dinner in a Spanish tapas bar and afterwards headed to the famous Anne Frank House, where Anne and her family where hiding from the Nazis during World War II. Although very interesting to see, the tour was rather painful because there were far too many people. Like a duck family we all walked in line behind each other, from room to room, throwing a glance at the exhibition items before following the others into the next room. There was no time to just stop and reflect on what you were seeing at that particular moment. The house was done up nicely although no furniture was to be seen. That had been Anne Frank's dad request when he approved the museum. The book shelf was there though, that used to hide the steep staircase up to the Annex. We climbed the stairs and it's a good reminder of the way those houses in Amsterdam are built. Very slim and high and most times the stairs are too narrow to get any bulky items up the stairs.

On the second day we caught up with Agnes, another friend from Vancouver, who had come all the way from further outside Amsterdam to have dinner with us. It was great seeing her too and I am more than grateful that she made all that effort to see me! Dankjewel Agnes!

Third stop was Rome and I was particularly looking forward to visiting the Italian capital due to its rich history and famous sights. When I first arrived in Rome, I struggled getting my bearings since it was so much bigger than Amsterdam (and yet, so much smaller than London or Paris). When I went for a walk first, I got lost and stumbled across one of the papal churches only by accident. For the second and third day I bought a ticket for one of the many open bus tours and that helped the whole sightseeing thing a lot. Just hop on the bus and decide where you want to get off. The weather was great and my tan must have improved by 200% during those days although I am not really a fan of heat and sweating all day. But better still than the winter temperatures in New Zealand. If you think London is filled with tourists, than think again. Rome is overcrowded with tourists to an extend that it becomes frustrating and annoying especially when you have to line up for hours to see the Colosseum or the Vatican. As mentioned before, it was hot and there is hardly any shade that could protect you from the merciless sun. My advice to any Rome visitors; whenever possible try to purchase your tickets in advance (sometimes possible by buying tickets at other attractions) or try to go with a group. There is always an extra line up for pre-purchased tickets, Rome card holders and groups and those queues are usually pretty short. My biggest disappointment was the Sistine Chapel. To be honest due to time restraints I travelled as a philistine, not taking much time for art or museums and that’s the reason why it pissed me off having to walk through the Vatican Museum for hours, in line with what felt like ten thousand of other tourists, going to see every single painting and statue in the museum when all I wanted was to see the Sistine Chapel with the famous fresco of Michelangelo. I had another frustrating moment at the sight of the famous Trevi Fountain with literally hundreds of people in front of it, ruining every shot. I took three shots and left, not even taking in this masterpiece of a fountain! I was also very close to losing my temper with the many intrusive street vendors trying to sell hats, sun umbrellas, silk scarfs and other useless stuff. No matter how many times you have said no to them, there was always another vendor just seconds away who offered you the exact same stuff. And single blond women work as magnets for those street vendors, trust me!

My trip was nearing its end but I still had one destination to go: Paris! Far too late I realized that I had not planned enough time for Paris and so had to skip the trip to Versailles as this would have been too crazy time wise. I arrived in Paris late due to my flight leaving late and then the train from the airport to the city had problems too. I don’t even know what happened to the train since I didn’t understand the French announcement. Welcome to France! The same day of my arrival I ventured out to take some night shots and I ended up at the Eifel Tower. Quite impressive that tower! For my only day in Paris I bought a ticket for an open bus tour, expecting a timesaving and effective sightseeing program (as we Germans do). But I didn’t take into account the inability of the French to organize something as easy as selling bus tickets. Everywhere I have been so far, there are heaps of street vendors, selling those tickets on the street in order to make the whole jump on the bus process quick and easy. Well, not in Paris. The only way to buy your ticket is on the bus and when you take the first bus in the morning, you spend at least 10-15 minutes at every stop, waiting for all those tourists to buy their tickets as they get on. After more than an hour and having seen not even half of the tour, I decided to leave the bus, and explore Paris on foot. I walked down to the Louvre, which is an impressive building! Unfortunately again, I didn’t have time for the inside and took pictures only. Later that day I came back for some great night shots. Montmartre and Sacre- Coeur where bustling with people as well and those idiots decided to sit on the stairs infront of the church, which made it nearly impossible for other people to get through. Well done! I always said, tourists are stupid and brainless and this trip has done nothing to change my opinion.

I wouldn’t have thought that flights from Paris are so expensive but getting back to Germany on a plane was out of question. Instead I took the train and travelled on the fast ICE most times. The German railway services surprised me with on-board-service from Paris to Frankfurt and a train attendant’s toe-curling English that made me shiver. When I got home I needed a few days to recover from the tight schedule and enjoyed some time with my parents. I also caught up with a few friends from school, that I hadn’t seen for many years and the day that I flew out again we also visited my brother and his family again so I had the chance to say goodbye to my nephew Henry. That little fella will be missed dearly and I wish I could spend more time with him. But then again, I can’t have it all, that’s life.

So, there it is, dunno why it took me so long but I guess I just needed to sit down and think about what I was going to say.

Have a good one,

Katja

waiting to go home

2011-06-13T00:24:00.003+02:00

I am finally in holiday mode and currently in Queenstown, waiting to board my plane to Auckland in a few hours time. Problem is, that a few days ago a volcano in Chile decided to spew its ash and thanks to the roaring fourty's powerful winds, the ash has arrived in New Zealand. That has resulted in many flights between Australia and New Zealand being cancelled and this morning all major airlines have cancelled numerous flights. Not so Air New Zealand and that's the guys I am flying with. So fingers crossed. If all goes well and according to plan I will arrive in Frankfurt tomorrow evening, after a few-hours-stopover in Hongkong.

Plans I have many for my time in Germany. Of course I'll be trying to spend as much time as possible with my bundle of joy little Henry but I have also organized a trip through some very exciting European metropolises. I will spend some time in London, Amsterdam (and NO, I am not going for the pot!), Rome and Paris and I am so looking forward to going to all those places.

A few friends have implied wanting to catch up with me and of course the rest of my family wants to see me back home every now and then, too. Looks like I won't be relaxing much at all during the next few weeks, but I never really intended to anyway.

So again, fingers crossed I'll be able to leave New Zealand today and then see you back in good old Germany!

P.S. By the way, I've been a busy bee last night uploading heaps of new pictures onto my picture blog. Please check it out here.

Mt. Cook roadtrip (30.04.-3.5.2011)

2011-05-11T22:23:00.000+02:00

My camera has been suffering from serious neglect and I also needed to get back on the road. Good timing because my friend Katrin was about to leave Christchurch via Mt. Cook and Queenstown and so we decided to catch up and meet halfway. I had hired a car from Queenstown and left for Lake Tekapo on a beautiful, sunny and warm Indian summer Saturday, allowing for various photo stops along the way. After I had reached Lake Tekapo I found Katrin sunbathing on a park bench overlooking the lake - what a great idea! We got rid of her luggage, organized fish & chips for lunch and continued sunbathing. Later we headed off for a photo shot at the church of the good sheppard and also at the Mt. John Observatory - right in time for sunset and a beautiful display of different colours. At the YHA hostel I later cooked dinner and encountered the same old questions: 1. Why do backpackers only eat pasta? 2. Why is recycling so challenging for some people? 3. Is it too much to ask for to turn off the stove when finished cooking?
Sunday came and we left for Mt. Cook (not without the mandatory stop at Lake Pukaki of course). Although a few clouds had found their way into the sky it was still warm and sunny and the clouds are quite a nice feature in pictures anyway. We stopped numerous times on the way to Mt. Cook Village as Mt. Aoraki overlooms every other mountain and mountain range in the area. Breathtaking as usual and we understand how lucky we were to actually see the mountain as it usually shyly hides behind the clouds. In the village we took a short walk into the Hooker Valley before making ourselves at home at the YHA hostel and spending a quite night with a bottle of wine.
I couldn't wait for monday as I had booked a tour with the Glacier Explorers. My second tour it proved to be and I was looking forward to seeing how things had changed. The walk across the moon like landscape down to the Tasman Lake was intriguing. Here a few facts about the Tasman glacier and lake: The glacier is the biggest in New Zealand with 27km these days. 18 thousand years ago, its lengths was 100km. In 1973 the Tasman Lake began to form as the Glacier continued its retreat. In 2009, the lake measured 2km at its widest point, 6.5km at its longest point and 200m deep at its deepest point. It started raining during the tour and it felt like temperatures were dropping too. That might as well have been the windchill, as the boot sped over the lake to allow for different views. Most of the icebergs broke off the Tasman Glacier during the February Christchurch earthquake that was felt in the Southern Alps as well. The guides kept their distance to the Glacier itself due to the fact that only 10% of an iceberg are visible above the water and nobody knows how far the 90% underneath the water are extending out into the lake. As icebergs melt (sunlight, warmer water that surrounds them) they continually try to keep the same ratio and that makes their movement unpredictable. I loved doing that tour again and I might as well be back in the future for a third trip!
We had to get back to Queenstown on the same day and so we said our goodbyes to Mt. Cook Village. When we got back into Queenstown a few hours later, it was almost time for sunset and we got rid of the car, went shopping and had yummy pizza before making ourselves comfortable in the hostel. The next day we headed back into Milford and Katrin stayed with me for a few days to relax and befriend a few sandflies. Mission accomplished I would say!

the season so far...

2011-04-20T20:55:00.004+02:00

Oh boy, the summer season is nearing its end. And what a season it’s been! The crew this year has been far from perfect and easy to work with (and that’s the most polite way I can express my feelings), it’s been much quieter than I remember from previous seasons and time has been flying extremely fast. There have been many reasons for Milford being quieter than usual and two of them have been the earthquake in Christchurch in February and the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March. People are recovering from those tragic events and have other things than travelling in mind. The media has broadcasted an image of a broken and devastated Christchurch and a country in ruin and that has put many people off travelling.

Christchurch is the gateway to the south island of New Zealand and yes, a lot of infrastructure in the city has been destroyed and there are less hotel beds available than usual. The CBD is still cordoned off and nobody is allowed inside, for different reasons like cleaning up, making sure nobody gets hurt from unstable buildings etc. New Zealand is popular with self catering tourists who travel the country in motorhomes and there are less of those available as well, as many of them are being used as alternative accommodation for the thousands of families who have lost their housing during the earthquake. Unfortunately Christchurch has lost the Rugby World Cup to other cities in the south island as well, due to the facts I have stated above. That’s a major psychological blow and it will take Canterbury a long time to recover from it. Nevertheless, life is going on and the city is being rebuild – slowly but with lots of passion and thought as to how to make Christchurch a safer place in the future.

Milford businesses are suffering from declining tourist numbers but we are more than optimistic that next year’s summer season will see an increase in numbers again, as we’re still the number one tourist destination in New Zealand!

So, what have I been up to this season, people may ask. I have been on a few missions, starting off with the Catlins late last year, Stewart Island, Queenstown/Arrowtown/Wanaka/Kinloch and just recently Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula. To be honest, I have been either too busy or too lazy (or a combination of both) to write a story for the last two trips, but you’ll be able to enjoy the photos on picasa. I loved the Otago Peninsula for the wildlife and the many photo opportunities but with those opportunities come the painful pleasure of going through hundreds of albatross shots to choose the best ones.

Early this week Milford has celebrated its annual End of the Season Ball to farewell those people that will leave us at the end of this season. As every year, staff numbers will drop at the end of may from around 160-200 in summer to 50-60 in winter. Although, this winter is going to be a little bit different as there is a lot of construction work going on in Milford to improve the flood protection of the village and therefore we have quite a big number of construction staff staying with us over the winter.

And there is good news for my friends in Europe and esp. in Germany. After a lot of thought and research for alternative holiday destinations during our winter season I have decided to fly home to Germany in June to see my family and spend heaps of quality time with my little darling nephew Henry. And if possible I will try to travel Europe, so look out for me, I might pop up on your doorsteps….

Stewart Island (23.01.-27.01.2011)

2011-02-03T18:52:00.006+01:00

When my friends Tina and Frank from back home asked me whether or not I was interested to come to Stewart Island with them, I didn’t have to think long. I have been to Stewart Island twice already but there’s no harm in visiting this beautiful place for a third time. In order to save some time we had decided to take advantage of Stewart Island Flights and took a 20 minute sightseeing flight over to the island. The weather was gorgeous and so were the views especially when approaching the island. Like last time with Tina and Frank we had booked the Rose Cottage and when we arrived there after a steep but short climb up the hilly road, I was instantly hit by memories. Everything looked the same as in 2007 and the interior hadn’t changed at all. I moved into my little room and chaos took over. With no hooks or wardrobe everything ends up on the floor and that’s where it would stay for the next few days.

Well, what is there on the island you might ask. The only town on the island is Oban so let’s call it the capital. Locals have everything they need; the general store that has fresh bread and eggs twice a week; a post office and the mail/newspapers coming in early in the morning on the first flight over from Invercargill; South Sea Hotel that serves as Hotel and Pub/ Restaurant; a café that sells handmade jewellery made from fishing gear; a takeaway; glowing sky clothing shop (and it all started out on Steward Island!); the red shed aka the Tourist Information Centre; DOC Information Centre that is especially important to all those people coming to Stewart Island to hike (either Rakiura Track or one of the Circuits); the fernery gift shop; a police station; a rugby field (unfortunately Stewart Island residents struggle putting teams together for regular matches, but one of the regulars is the annual Maori vs Pakeha match), a Presbyterian church, the church hill restaurant, quite a few lodges and cottages to accommodate all those visitors; even a YHA and many many boats. There are only a few kilometres of sealed road and a few cars that need to have a valid warrant before coming over to the island. Recently they even started offering a wee rental service for tourist tired of walking all those hills. The hills require a bit of an effort to climb but there are no other ways and so people have learned to live with them. Locals without a car mostly own bikes (can’t see where that helps because you still need to put a lot of effort in getting up there, but nevermind) or motorbikes.

As I said, Oban isn’t big at all but in order to see all the different places, bays and ‘attractions’ you need to walk a lot as they are all located at different ends of town. Or you head down to the red shed and either book the Village & Bay Tours or the taxi service, which also takes you to the most popular places. I did the first and although I had seen all those places before, I really enjoyed the tour for all the information I received from our informative guide Kylie. The insight into local life was priceless! We also did the Patterson Inlet Cruise with Stewart Island Experience on a rainy day because we wouldn’t want to spend all day walking in the rain. Again, the information we received were highly appreciated as you normally don’t get that kind of information and insight from a travel guide. We also stopped on Ulva Island, the bird sanctuary for a short guided walk. That walk wouldn’t have been enough for us as we like to explore things and take pictures, so luckily we had been to the island 2 days before and had spent almost 6 hours with watching birds and enjoying the sun at West End Beach.

My highlight of this trip was definitely the kiwi spotting tour we had booked for one evening. I had never been able to see kiwis in the wild and had only seen them in a nocturnal house and that needed changing! We booked BRAVO ADVENTURE CRUISES who have been operating for more than 20 years with an amazing success rate. In the last 2 years there was no single day without at least one kiwi to be seen on their tours! Before we left the boat and headed into the night we received some useful information about kiwis, grabbed torches and filed behind the guide on our walk through the bush. It was pitch black and completely silent as nobody dared to speak. After about 15 to 20 minutes we saw the first kiwi searching for food and I stood in awe watching the bird. She knew we were there but didn’t feel hassled and stayed. Most New Zealanders have never seen a kiwi bird in their life and probably won’t. And here I was, looking at one! After a while we left her alone and kept on going, down to Ocean Beach. The kiwis love to come out to the beach because they feed on the little sand hoppers that appear in big numbers at night time (maybe even at daytime, I don’t know actually) and so we didn’t need to walk long before we saw the second kiwi. It was a female again (they have a longer beak that’s also curved) and she also was busy searching the sand. Our guide Greg had warned us to look out for sea lions that like to hang out on the beach and that he would not want us to run into them in the dark. Fair enough I’d say! He carried a long stick to be able to defend us in an emergency but luckily there were no sea lions tonight. Later on we saw a male kiwi, that was disturbed by someone in the group couching and he ran away hastily. But on the way back we saw him again so he must have come back to his spot immediately after we had left. Time is flying when you are having fun and I assume that most of us could have easily spent some more time on the beach but we needed to head back. At 12am we arrived back at the boat and with no vision at all but his radar the skipper took us back to the wharf.

As I said before, that tour was the highlight of my Stewart Island trip and I can’t believe I haven’t done that before! When I come back to the Island, I will be back on Ocean Beach!
After 5 days on the island we flew back to Invercargill and headed straight back into Milford Sound as I needed to get back to work for the next day. Tina and Frank stayed overnight and joined a cruise the next day before they left Milford and continued to enjoy their holidays in their motorhome; off to new adventures!

my Top 5 of 2010

2011-01-01T06:47:00.007+01:00

I hope everybody has had a wonderful christmas time and a great start into 2011. My holidays were quite unspectacular. I was lucky enough to be off over christmas but I stayed in Milford anyway to be here for our annual community christmas dinner/party. It was raining for 4 days straight and so there wasn't much to do for me accept for having looong sleep ins, cleaning my room and watch a lot of movies. New Years I was working and I had a BBQ invitation from one of our skippers. It was 8 of us and we enjoyed a few drinks, sausages and mince paddies and a good laugh about this and that. I didn't get much sleep last night but at least I wasn't hangover like some of my workmates which I wasn't too happy about (party hard, work hard!)

In retrospective I'd like to share my Top 5 of special moments and events of 2010 with you.
1. Seeing my little nephew Henry for the first time and holding him was very special to me and I was looking forward to that moment a lot when I was still back in Vancouver. Right now I am not too sure when I can see him again but I hope it won't be too long.

2. Being part of and experiencing the 2010 Olympic Wintergames in Vancouver and Whistler is something I will never forget. I have experienced the Wintergames in all aspects possible; first working for VANOC recruiting the Games' Volunteers, then ensuring everybody's safety while working for Contemporary Security Canada and later volunteering for the Paralympics in Whistler. I don't want to miss any of those special moments and most dear to me is seeing the dress rehersal for the opening ceremony. It couldn't have gotten any better than that!

3. Being back in New Zealand and Milford Sound and cruising the fjord again after being absent for the last 2.5 years. Back on the boat it really hit home that I am back where I belong and where I feel content and home. Permanent Residency is my goal and I won't leave Milford before I managed to get that stamp in my passport!

4. Being able to travel the Canadian Rockies and take all those beautiful pictures of lakes, mountains, frozen waterfalls, tons of snow and heaps of other stuff was great. For the first time ever I snowshoed, tried hiking with crampons and saw footprints of bears. I realized that sometimes I am as brainless as all the other tourists I always complain about; reaching Lake Louise I was a little bit disappointed to see it frozen because I was so looking forward to taking pictures of mountains reflecting in the lake; it had never crossed my mind that in the middle of winter a lake could be frozen (to all fairness, that would not happen in New Zealand....) !

5. Last but not least, I finally saw Niagara Falls. As one of Canada's icons the Falls should be on everybody's list and although I wasn't really happy with the hype in Niagara (the casinos, bars, loud music, carrousels etc) I really enjoyed the Falls. Powerful, pure and definitely wet (as I experienced myself)

Have a wonderful 2011, may you come closer to implementing your dreams and plans for your future.

Catlins roadtrip

2010-12-12T00:04:00.006+01:00

My first New Zealand adventure after arriving back in the country was long overdue, therefor I hired a car and went off to explore the Catlins. This was not my first trip down south as I have been there many years ago but no harm in visiting again, right?!

Day 1 of my trip and I picked up my Budget rental car in Queenstown, made my way down to Invercargill with a few photo stops inbetween (now that I finally got the chance to stop wherever I wanted!). Shopping, sightseeing and collecting information regarding the Catlins took quite some time and when I finally headed off on the Southern Scenic Route it was late afternoon. Time to put a few miles behind me! At early evening I arrived at Curio Bay's Lazy Dolphin Backpacker, had dinner and went to see the penguins at the fortified forrest (the fossilised remains of an ancient forest). Patience is of the essence and many tourists frankly lack the patience for wildlife viewing, hence the beach was almost empty by the time the Yellow-Eyed-Penguins (hoiho) finally came on shore. A bit clumsy and anxious, the penguins who had remained in the nests, walked down to the shore to welcome their parents/partners. The arriving penguins were busy cleaning their feathers and checking whether or not the coast was clear. I stayed until it was completely dark and left them to their own devices, giving them the chance to settle into their homes.

Day 2 and I headed to Slope Point, the South Island's southernmost point. It was just past 10am but temperatures were on the rise and it should be getting even hotter! Waipapa Point was my next destination and it is one of my favourites in the Catlins. In the last few years it has been developed to a major tourist spot with a proper landscaped carpark and toilets. I found three sea lions doing different things; snoozing, chasing flies away by throwing sand on their bodies and taking a refreshing swim. I needed refreshing myself as temperatures were high up and so my short sleeve top made way for the sleeveless top, thongs replaced sneakers and my body saw some sunlotion. My feet also experienced sea water again, which they haven't in a very long time!

Before finding my accommodation for the night I paid a visit to McLean Falls, Lake Wilkie and the beautiful Florence Hill Lookout. Following a recommendation of a friend, I stayed the night in Papatowai's Hilltop Accommodation and I loved it! Tranquil, up on a hill (who would have guessed, seing the name....) and surrounded by countless sheep, I spent a relaxing evening processing my pictures and getting started on my blog (the German one that is).

Day 3 started off with a waterfall again, this time the famous Purakaunui Falls. It was already hot and I was glad for the shade provided by the forest. Next destination was Jacks Bay and the Blowhole. It didn't blow at all but the scenery was awesome and I worked on my tan (without having much to do). While climbing the hill up to the lookout, I was watched by inquisitive sheep who usually don't get much of a change during the day. Back on the beach, my feet took a bath in the water and I watched sea lions what looked like fighting. After a while I figured they were actually mating. After a few pictures I left them alone and headed further to Nugget Point, one of the Catlins main attractions. At nearby Kaka Point I ignored the beach and forest walk, enjoyed fish & chips for lunch and had to say goodbye to the Catlins as I needed to be back in Invercargill for the night. I arrived there in the early evening and went to see the new Harry Potter movie. Great flick!

Day 4 came and I had to say goodbye to my wee Toyota. My workmate Sara (born and bred Invercargiller) gave me a lift back to Milford and we were greeted by sunshine and hot temperatures. The summer had finally arrived in Milford!!!

back in Kiwiland

2010-11-04T19:15:00.001+01:00

Oopsy daisy, I guess I owe you an update about my wherabouts and doings. After having worked for Fraserway RV in Vancouver over the summer with fantastic workmates who I will miss dearly, I have left Canada in mid September to fly home. Still in Vancouver I had already started the process of getting all my paperwork ready for New Zealand immigration in order to apply for a work permit straight away once I would be back in Germany. Heaps of money I have spent for my medical, blood test and chest x-ray and luckely I have received all my results just a few days before I left the country. Back in Germany I was able to send the paperwork on its way to the embassy in Berlin and then I played the waiting game. I have very much enjoyed being back home and especially seing my little nephew Henry who I fell in love with in a heartbeat. My brother and his family don't live close to my parents house so I was trully thankful for every chance to see Henry and spend as much time with him as possible. He is a little more than 4 months now and a real charmer!

It took a bit more than 2 weeks for my visa and I was faced with the challenging task of finding an affordable flight on very short notice. With some help from a lovely friend I booked a flight Frankfurt-Osaka-Auckland-Queenstown and left Germany on October 13th. I can't describe how heartbreaking it was saying goodbye to my little Henry, knowing I won't see him again for a very long time and next time we'll meet he probably won't remember me. What a shame!

Two days later I finally arrived in New Zealand and was in for a little shock! Lufthansa had lost or forgotten to transfer my luggage in Osaka and left Air New Zealand to deal with the aftermaths. What was good for me in the end because those guys did an awesome job couriering my luggage down to Milford Sound in a record time. Only 2 days later I had my stuff!
Most of you probably already know that I am back in Milford Sound enjoying Fiordland and work on the boats. I have no idea how long I'll be here for, making plans isn't one of my strenghts (anymore) and so I'll see what the future might bring. For now I am more than happy to be back in New Zealand and that is all that matters!

Paralympics in Whistler and a whole new experience

2010-07-11T05:13:00.002+02:00

The thing that really strikes me about anada is the people's willingness to dedicate their time to a good purpose and volunteer for all sorts of things. When I worked for VANOC and interviewed all those people and heard their stories and volunteer history I was deeply impressed. That would not happen back home to such an extend since people are too busy working their paid job to earn a living.

I was determined to do my share as well and since my security job finished with the Olympics I was available for a new adventure. While still working for VANOC, I had signed myself up as a volunteer and scored a position in the Whistler Athlete's Village in resident services. I felt very priviliged as I was entitled to sleep in the village, too; next door to all the Paralympic athletes and delegates.

The pace of live and work was so much different up here than back in Vancouver during the Olympics and I first struggled to adjust to not having much to do, just sitting around being approachable to volunteers and athletes and trying to make everyone's stay at the village at comfortable as possible. But you get used to it very quickly and I enjoyed the winter time with my fellow volunteer budies. We were seen reating artwork in the snow, starting snowball fights with everyone rossing our path, exploring the village and using the athlete's video lounge to watch DVDs ourselves. Almost everyday we made it into Whistler to explore the township, go shopping, go for a coffee, see the Paralympic elebrations, see competitions and the victory eremonies and much more. I loved being up there for about 3 weeks and get to see Whistler from a different point of view most tourists and visitors won't get to see. I also tried my luck skiing with my friend Kate but we are no ski bunnies, that's for sure. It took us ages to actually get off the mountain again safely and when I had finally made it back into Whistler township I wouldn't wanna touch skis again!

To finish off our Paralympic experience, we watched the closing eremony in the Amsterdam pub in Whistler as we couldn't get any tickets for the event. The athlete's parade passed right outside the pub before entering the stadium to commence the show. What a great way of saying goodbye to the world. Once the show was over we were all just sitting there in disbelief. No way our efforts to organize the Olympics and Paralympics had come to an end! A relief but also a scary idea. What comes next?!?!

the Olympics in Vancouver

2010-03-11T19:48:00.011+01:00

Ooops, I think I promised what I wasn't able to fulfil. Or has anyone seen my regular updates on the Winter Games? I haven't....

The Games are over and I finally find some time to write about it. Vancouver has been crazy over the last 3 weeks and so was work at BC Place. Many things didn't work out the way I or others wanted them to be and I guess venue management would have liked to see some things working out differently but hey, life's a bitch and you have to deal with issues as they arise. Overall I enjoyed the experience of working at the busiest Olympic venue although sometimes I would have wished to see less people standing infront of our portals. At the very busy days we've put through people for 3 hockey games and a victory ceremony what adds up to about 75,000 people daily. The day of the closing ceremony was a crazy one too with 20,000 for the gold medal hockey game and 60,000 for the ceremony. Not the best place to be if you feel threatend by masses of people.

Unfortunately I haven't had many days off during the Winter Games and therefor haven't seen many competitions, life events or special Olympic events. I managed to get into the German Fan Fest once to have the German beer and bratwurst, especially delivered from Thuringia, the region I am coming from. Queues have been the most common thing in downtown Vancouver and people queued for different things: food and even more likely for drinks, access to trains, access to venues, entertainment, pins, entry into the Olympic Superstore, exit from venues, to have pictures taken with the mascots, to use the washrooms etc. There were people everywhere and my way home from BC Place to the West End was a struggle at most times, having to fight through the masses in Yaletown (life site) and at Granville and Robson street (party zone).

Thanks to my former VANOC employment I had scored a ticket to see the Dress Rehearsal of the opening ceremony and while I sat there it really hit home: The Olympic Games are about to start and I am where everything is happening. A crazy feeling! The real opening ceremony I watched with a few VANOC colleagues on TV. It was awesome and despite all the critique a great show and effort to entertain the world! Another event I was lucky to see live was one of the many victory ceremonies. Lucky for me: Germany's ladies had won bronze and silver at the women's bobsleigh. Unlucky for me, the medal ceremony took place in Whistler and we watched it on a big screen. Bugger! The main reason for attending the show where the Sterophonics who had a hard time firing up the mainly Canadian crowd that had never heard of them.

My friend Kate and I went to Whistler to see the bobsleigh and that was kind of risky for me because I had not been able to get any tickets for the event as supposedly it was sold out. I took a chance anyway because I just needed to be there! And guess what, I easily got a ticket for just 45 bucks. Having thought long about whether or not to buy tickets online for 300 bucks I was stocked! We were watching the 4 man bobsleigh Heat 3 and 4 and found some people to cheer with us and group an international crowd; English, German, Canadian, Scotish and Korean. We did well! Heat 3 we watched from the tribune at the start and made our way down to the finish line later to watch Heat 4. Unfortunately and for some very strange reason everybody else seemed to have the same idea what made it difficult for us finding a good spot. Nevermind! The only thing that mattered was Andre Lange and his team winning the silver medal and making my hometown Suhl proud (where Andre Lange lives)!

I guess it comes handy every now and then having worked for VANOC and having friends who still work there...... or maybe I just got lucky. Either way, I was more than pleased when Kate rang me letting me know she got tickets for the closing ceremony and she wanted me to join her. So after work I quickly made my way home and this time it wasn't a struggle at all. The streets were deserted as everybody was home or somewhere to watch the gold medal hockey game between Canada and the USA. The scene had changed dramatically when I walked back to BC Place to get to the closing ceremony; Canada had won their most important gold medal and Vancouver was on fire! Cheering people everywhere, singing O Canada, waving their flags, high fiving strangers, stopping cars and doing other crazy stuff.

Watching the closing ceremony was another highlight of the Games, to bid farewell the athletes, handing over the torch to the Russians for Sochi 2014 and especially the concert at the end with heaps of Canadian bands.

The last few months have been a great experience; organizing the Olympic Games while working for VANOC and recruiting many of our fantastic volunteers; securing the Games with my security work at BC Place and now the fun continues while I am volunteering in Whistler for the Paralympics. I couldn't have asked for more when I arrived in anada and I would have never even dreamed of being involved in the Games in so many different ways.

9 days to go to the Olympic Winter Games!

2010-02-04T02:39:00.007+01:00

So sorry for neglecting my English blog, but the last few weeks have been a rollercoaster for me. Long story very short, work has been totally crazy after we have returned from the new years break and because recruiting is still in process I worked between 50 to 70 hours a week. VANOC is now on Operational Time and that means working 6 days a week from 7am to 7pm (there's supposed to be a shift system to avoid people working more than 10 hours a day, but it didn't really work for me, I still worked 12 hours to get everything done). Anyway, three days ago I had the pleasure of looking at the MOC, VANOC's Operations Centre with representatives from each function in and ouside of VANOC. The MOC responds to everything happening in regards to the Games and whenever there's a crisis or something that needs to be dealt with (competition delays or postponements, snow issues, traffic problems etc) the MOC is reacting accordingly. There's also the TOC, the Technical Operations Centre with I don't know how many computers monitoring EVERYTHING. Also the Helpdesks, Timing and Scoring for the competitions and computer geeks are located there.

Last Saturday I had my job specific training at the Pacific Coliseum, where we had the chance to practice with X-Ray machines, wands and mags and get the teams to work together for the first time as so far every function of the team has had their own trainings. This time, Screeners, X-Ray Operators and Supervisors for the first time worked and practised together what they have learned before in their training sessions. From my point of view it was far from perfect, but there is heaps of time to practise during quiter hours at work and to get up to speed with the whole process.

Today I attended my venue familiarization at BC Place / Canada Hockey Place, which is my assignment for the Games. An impressive venue and I am quite excited about being stationed here. To give you a quick overview about the upcoming events, Canada Hockey Place will host all Men Hockey Matches and all Hockey Medal Matches (Men and Women). BC Place is the venue for the opening and closing ceremony for the Olympics and the opening ceremony for the Paralympics, also all victory ceremonies at the end of the competition days. A busy place not only with all the athletes, spectators and media but also the 9500 people strong workforce team including 950 GSS security people (that's me) and 500 police officers from all around Canada.

Compared to Whistler, Vancouver will be reasonable quite during the Paralympics as most of the competitions will take place in Whistler and only the sledge hockey will be hosted in Vancouver. For me that means that I won't be needed for the Paralympics. First of course I was disappointed, had I counted with more shifts to work to earn more money, but hey, that's life. You should always have a back up plan and that fell into place quickly. In no time had I registered to volunteer for the Paralympics in Whistler, had assigned myself a job in the Athletes Village and organized a bed to stay as well - one of the many bonuses of working for VANOC. I am particularly excited about this opportunity for many different reasons; the chance to finally see Whistler, to stay there for more than just a few days/nights and being able to work alongside many of my fantastic VANOC colleagues; can't wait for this awesome experience!

And more news to come. After having worked so hard over the last few months I think I deserve a break and boost of motivation to start my new job in April (it's all wrapped up and papers signed) so I will go on a road trip with two good friends from work. We are thinking of hiring a car, driving to Calgary, Banff and Jasper National Parks, back to Vancouver in 2 weeks. I am so looking forward to seeing the Canadian Rockies and I guess my camera will be happy too, to be taken out of the closet and being used again!

Alright, that's it for now, enough news and information to take in. I try to give as many updates during the Olympics as possible but I have no idea how busy or tired I will be. But let's start it off with loads of good intentions!

Let the Games begin!!!
Katja :))

merry x-mas and a happy new year!

2009-12-24T04:41:00.004+01:00

"Remember, if Christmas isn't found in your heart, you won't find it under a tree." (Charlotte Carpenter)

To all my lovely friends out there; I wish you a merry x-mas and hope you are having a wonderful time with your family and/or friends. For the new year I hope you get the chance to make most of your dreams come true, find time to make new friends, to pursue new goals, find time for yourself and your favourite past time activities and maybe some time to travel and see different places.

I am truly blessed to have all of you as my friends and I hope I can arrange to see most of yous in 2010 in one way or the other!

Enjoy yourselves and Take Care!

Katja

working fulltime!

2009-12-01T06:23:00.004+01:00

There is finally good news; being patient paid off and I was offered fulltime employment by adecco, still working for VANOC, doing exactly the same thing that I have done over the last few weeks part time. I am working in the Volunteer Recruitment Centre, doing my outmost hiring Volunteers for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2010.

Against the background of the Winter Games many people came to Vancouver in the hope of finding work, as it is expected that thousands of people will be needed for the preparation and realisation of the Games. While this is true for the amount of people needed, job seekers had to realize quickly most of the Olympic workforce is made up of volunteers. People passionate about the Winter Games, about helping out at a big scale event like the Olympics, people who want to represent Canada, being part of a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity, people who want to meet people from all over the world and quite a few hockey enthusiasts who signed up just to get close to their hockey team! VANOC (who organizes the Olympic and Paralympic Games) is hoping to sign up 25,000 volunteers to make both Games happen and a full success for British Columbia and Canada.

If you happen to have applied to volunteer during the Games, chances are high we'll be contacting you soon (or have already done so recently) as we are dealing with applicants from all over the world. Just today I was talking to people in Germany, the UK, Australia und New Zealand.

I must say I have been more than lucky to have scored a paid job during Olympics time and to be working in the security sector, to make the Games safe for everyone. Just now many employers have realized they need more staff for Games time, as many coffee shops, bars and restaurants are now hiring. So, Vancouver needs Baristas........

Last week I have witnessed first hand a film shoot in downtown Vancouver. What made it so interesting was the fact they were obviously shooting a scene in Germany's Frankfurt as they had replaced all the licence plates with German plates and had even made the effort to change the decals of an urban bus to make it look German (well, the destination sign in the front did it all, by saying: Kaiserstraße). They were shooting parts of a car-race-scene but it took them to long to wind up again the camera to its position up on the roof of a tower building and so I left the scene. Still an interesting experience and I hope I'll see more of it while I am in town!

stocking up on tissues, vitamines and panadol

2009-11-18T04:26:00.005+01:00

The Vancouver weather is really going to get me. In fact, it already got me - right yesterday. Having spent just another day in the rain I came home with a running nose and head ache which over night developed into a flu and all that comes with it: sinus and nose blocked, aches everywhere and feeling tired all day.

I finally managed to score a temporary job with adecco, signing me up for a job with VANOC, which today I had to cancel as it isn't advisable to go to work being sick. Right now there's kind of a panic about H1N1 here in British Columbia so nobody wants to have sick employers turning up at work. So I didn't and stayed in bed.

As mentioned earlier, weather is a bitch and out of 7 days it's raining 6. Whenever I get the chance to leave the house with my camera, I definitely do to take some shots and to avoid going insane. I also at least once a week meet up with a few Germans for coffee, breakfast or a drink and a bit of fun.

Ah and the good news is, I passed my BST exam with 85% what officially makes me a security worker now! Boo-ha!

hitting the books again

2009-10-20T05:10:00.004+02:00

I know it's been a bit silent around here lately but there is not much to write about. For the last few days I have been attending a BST (Basic Security Training) course in order to obtain a security licence. Interesting on the one hand for the opportunity to increase my English vocabulary and get to know some security related stuff but boring on the other hand as we've been talking about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the difference between criminal and civil law, all sorts of offences and terms like actus reus and mens rea, when to apply force and how much of it; when the use of deadly force is allowed and how to respond to offenders in the right way so the use of force isn't necessary at all.

As I said, it's all quite interesting to a certain extend but after speaking about the whole issue for more than 16 hours (4 training sessions with each lasting 4 hours) I feel like I need to steady myself so not to fall asleep. Doesn't help much having the lessons in the evening and naturally being tired. Anyway, a few more lessons to attend and an exam this friday I need to sit and pass to get the security licence without I wouldn't be allowed to work as a supervisor at the Olympic Games. I am not too worried about the test as it will be a multiple choice test but the biggest challenge so far has been the officialese I must get used to. But I'll manage.

And once I've secured the licence there's a different world opening up to me with job opportunities like bouncer for a night club, security guard or private investigator. I heard you laughing! But you may have noticed I am not taking the whole thing too serious myself so who knows what happens next. Just had a thought though.... when's the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, 2011? I should send my application...

greetings from Vancouver!

short trip to Vancouver Island

2009-10-12T07:21:00.009+02:00

Three cities, a total driving distance of 550 kms and two ferry rides each close to two hours and all that in not more than 4 days? You call that ambitious? Yes, that’s me!

My friend Amy, that I’ve met during my travels in New Zealand, lives and studies in Nanaimo and that made a visit to Vancouver Island (where Nanaimo is located) a must. We only had the Saturday as she had to work on Sunday and I made my way to Vancouver Island the conventional way, on board a BC Ferry, leaving Vancouver from Horsehoe Bay, approx. one hour north of Vancouver. The ferry ride only takes about one hour and forty minutes and you can either enjoy the views of the main land mountains, the declining skyline of Vancouver and lots of water or you line up at the buffet for an intake of calories.

After Amy had picked me up at the ferry terminal we dropped off my backpack and picked up her boyfriend Neil and sightseeing in Nanaimo started. It was more a photo session as Neil and I are both passionate photographers and Amy patiently followed the whole procedure. I can now claim I’ve seen Nanaimo’s beautiful waterfront with various little fishing boats, many inukshuk built of stones found nearby and Lantzville Beach that was particularly beautiful at sunset as all the taken pictures proof.

Next day Amy dropped me off at the Greyhound bus depot where I caught the bus to Tofino situated at Vancouver Island’s west coast that strongly reminded me of New Zealand’s south island and especially the Milford Road that I’d taken so many times to get to Milford Sound. High mountains covered my thick forest and beautiful lakes alongside the curvy and steep road, in need of some maintenance every now and then. Tofino is a laid back surfer’s paradise township at the end of the road. Whoever makes it here came for a reason: It might be the tranquillity of the many beaches, hiking or watching wildlife (whales, bears, birds).

Next morning I was back on the road with Greyhound. To make the whole trip a bit faster I changed buses in Port Alberni and boarded an Express Bus to Victoria, the provincial capital of British Columbia what saved me more than an hour. When I had arrived in Victoria I straight away set off to explore the city and to fill the memory card in my camera. Golden hour at Victoria’s picturesque Waterfront proved successful and I left with quite a few good shots.

Knowing the HI standards I was quite disappointed of the HI hostel in Victoria and I was wondering about two big dorms connected with each other (one room was a walk through), hardly any power points (where to plug in your laptop, camera chargers etc?) and just one light for the whole room making it a challenge late in the evening when everybody is going to bed at different times. Definitely not my port of call next time I’ll be in Victoria!
Early Tuesday morning I took the bus to Swartz Bay where the ferry would leave to go back to Vancouver. This time it would be going to Tsawwassen, what is about one hour south of Vancouver. Due to some problems with other ferries, my vessel had been delayed what made us miss the bus back into the city by approx. 15 minutes and a wait of another hour for the next bus. Back in Vancouver I caught up with Angela, my new flatmate, for a key hand over and I had officially moved in to my new place!

some good news

2009-10-08T04:20:00.002+02:00

There’s some good news I need to tell you about. First I’ll be moving into a flat, finally leaving hostel life behind. My intention was not to look for a flat before I had found a job (just to be sure it will be a job in Vancouver and not somewhere else) but one particularly morning with smashing doors and chatty roommates at 7am I made a decision that I had to get out of there, for my own peace of mind. I’ve checked the ads online, found one that interested me and rang up; two hours later I had inspected the flat and in the evening I received the call that I can move in. The location is great and exactly where I had hoped to live – near Stanley Park and just 2 minutes away from the beach English Bay, rent is a bargain and the girl I’ll be sharing with is Mexican and seems to be very nice. That will also be good for my Spanish as now I have somebody to talk to and practise what I’ve learned! I am still on Vancouver Island but as soon as I’m back I’ll be moving and reunite with my suitcase that has already spent a few nights there by itself.

There’s more news to come. I’ll be part of the Olympics 2010! Not as a competitor (Christ no!) but responsible for the security checks at entrance gates. There’ll be screeners checking tickets and X-Ray Operators checking baggage for dangerous items and there’ll also be Supervisors to make sure they do a good job and that will be me. Only for the duration of the Olympics though but still for almost 3 months with a fantastic pay and also paid training that will commence for myself in a few days. I am looking forward the challenge this new position presents, to working with all these people of different nationalities, and also the one in a lifetime opportunity of being part of such a worldwide event. Having scored that job I feel much better about the current job situation that is everything but easy not only in Vancouver but all over the country. I think finding a job that is flexible with hours is now my first priority and I don’t care if it will be a shop assistant selling jeans or newspapers (although I’d prefer the newspapers as I am not very much interested in fashion). I may get a response from one or the other hotel that I’ve applied with later in a few months closer to the Olympics but I am not sure if I can squeeze them into the schedule then.

getting to know Vancouver

2009-09-26T00:35:00.008+02:00

For the last few days I've been settling into Vancouver life and I want to share with you what I've been up to. Top priority is getting to know the city, of course, and so I've done the tourist stuff like

- walking around Stanley Park (the circuit is 9km and it takes about 2-2.5 hours to walk around the city park along the sea dam);
- been to Harbour Centre and took the elevator up to the lookout (impressive views esp. after sunset) and the elevator ride is fun, too (the funny feeling inside your stomach is mandatory);
- done two tours organized by the hostel I am staying with right now and got to see Canadian rainforest, a big suspension bridge some people were too afraid to enter (I wasn't!), and a Salmon hatchery (you get to watch the salmon jumping upstream - poor bastards!);
- been whale watching on a 5 hour long tour that took me to U.S. territory as whales have dual citizenship and they don't care if being in Canadian or American waters - I saw heaps of fins, one or two spy hops and very rarely fluke clapping but had a great time anyway;
- been up Grouse Mountain, 'the peak of Vancouver' with fantastic city vistas, Grizzly Bears in a refuge centre, paragliding for the adventurous (sorry, nothing for me), an entertaining lumberjack show and a sunburn that came as a surprise (well, not really, but I need an excuse for not having any sun lotion with me...);

I also had one or two days where I haven't done much at all except sitting in the hostel, doing online research for jobs, emailing applications, keeping my blog updated and working on my many pictures I've taken during the last few days. I've also managed to open a bank account what took surprisingly little time (only 20 minutes) compared to Melbourne where I've spent almost 2 hours in the bank (!) and I also have a cell phone number now what works quite different to New Zealand or Australia. Down under you just go for a stroll and find heaps of mobile shops selling you all kinds of sim cards but in Canada you actually need to look for them. Buying a prepaid sim card is more expensive than having a contract and so I've signed one for 12 months.

There's not much else to tell you and I am focusing on finding a job and a flat in either Vancouver or in one of the many ski resorts for the coming winter season. Hostel life starts to bore me as I don't like having the same conversations every two days (where are you from?, what are you doing here?, how long are you staying for?), I hate sharing toilet and shower with dozens of other people and the 3 Japanese girls in my room are lovely but don't speak much English. Free wireless internet is an awesome complementary and so I get to do all the stuff that you usually don't have enough time to do when you travel (like writing this blog).

next stop Vancouver

2009-09-18T01:12:00.006+02:00

My last night in Germany I haven't spend at home but at my friends place near Frankfurt. I've known Tina from my travels through New Zealand and we've been in contact ever since. She dropped me off at the airport and when I saw her driving away my nervousness -that I had lacked over the last few days - suddenly appeared. As luck would have it I've also met a former travel companion from New Zealand, while I was strolling along the airport. It's a small world we are living in!

Soon I learned that the scheduled departure for my flight to London Heathrow had been moved from 11.20am to 12.15am clock. Reason being the heavy fog in London that had delayed departures from across the ditch. I've already feared the worst and when we finally arrived in London, I ran for my life. Delay was with me wherever I went: passport control (in transit!), re-screening of luggage and people over people. With the final boarding call I arrived at the gate and boarded my flight to Vancouver.

I had two seats for myself during the nearly 10 hours flight to Vancouver and so I made myself comfortable. As I had hoped for the entertainment system was truly awesome and I had the chance to view four current films: Wolverine (I've seen it before but hey, it's Hugh Jackman!), Terminator Salvation, Hangover and The Proposal. I would have loved to sleep but I couldn't as it was bright throughout the entire flight and hence my eyes stayed open.

The view from the window was worth it though and I saw many icebergs floating in the water, not sure if it was Greenland or East Canada. As we flew over the Rocky Mountains, I was blown away and so were the last doubts. I will like this country! The Rockies are stunning and I took heaps of pictures to prove it. After landing, I had the Immigration Service to finally approve my work visa. The Work and Holiday visa had been granted to me already by the embassy in Berlin but somehow the Immigration Officer on the ground speaks the last word. I had to answer many questions about my stay in Canada, my plans, friends or acquaintances, etc., and in the end it turned out that I did not have a bank statement to prove any existing funds to support my stay (bloody hell, I had just forgotten to print it off!). The officer kept me in suspense for quite a while before he issued the work visa. After 30 minutes I was done at immigration and my suitcase went round in circles all by itself.

The airport shuttle took me downtown, dropped me off quite some distance from the hostel what made me dragging my heavy suitcase along Vancouver downtown while looking for my hostel. After checking in, I've just showered quickly, bought food, and went straight to bed because I wouldn't be going anywhere else today!

staying at my brothers place and visiting Rothenburg o.d. Tauber

2009-09-18T01:11:00.007+02:00

My last days in Germany had been quite busy; so many things I still had to do and other stuff that needed to be taken care off. But I wouldn't miss the chance of a photo safari in Rothenburg o.b. Tauber, where my brother is working and so I packed my bag to visit him and his girlfriend. Together we would be going home for the weekend to have a last gathering of the family for the next year or so.

My brother lives in the idyllic Vestenbergsgreuth and due to a tea factory in town there is always a light scent of herbal tea filling the air. Every day he commutes to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, where I arrived by train one nice afternoon to explore the city. What I did not know and was positively surprised by, was the city wall, which is fully accessible, and so I was running around the entire city - in stages of course. All buildings inside the city wall are historic old houses painted beautifully and fondly taken care off by their owners. Although, to be quite honest, if I lived there I did not want my house right next to the wall, having tourists taking pictures of my beautifully landscaped garden, plus deckchairs, plus me sunbathing. But anyway.

Rothenburg is very popular amongst tourists from all over the world and quite often I caught something other than German, mostly American English and Japanese. This goes so far that I was addressed in English while buying my fridge magnets in the souvenir shop, probably because no German buys souvenirs in their own country. The Christmas Museum (yes it does exist!) was full of kitsch and the Americans in the shop loved it, as they do! I even paid the 4 euros to get me into the museum itself, which is about the historical development of Christmas, where the custom of the Christmas tree came from (of course from Germany!) how and where the different tree decorations were created, when and where the first Christmas greeting cards where printed and much more. After all this information, I will see this Christmas, perhaps with different eyes.

The Crime Museum was recommended to me by different people and so of course I went out there. It's not only an exhibition that shows torture instruments and equipment for the execution of the body as there is more to see in the museum (it gives a comprehensive insight into laws and punishments of the past 1000 years) but the torture stuff definitely is an eye catcher. Anyone planning a visit to this museum, should bring a lot of time, because all items are described in detail and it takes time to read all the displays in the basement and two additional floors.

Last but not least I climbed the tower of the Town Hall for an exclusive view over the town. And that turned out to be a true adventure! While I was climbing the spiral staircase into the attic it became increasingly tight and narrow. I'm not a big person but even I had to constantly be careful not to push my head at the roof. The staircase was getting steeper and I had to haul myself up the handrail. When I almost reached the top I saw the little cashiers (you pay two Euros) and I felt sorry for her: She does that every day at least once but what happens when nature calls her? I paid my 2 euro, chuckled to myself, climbed the last few yards and then had to get on all fours to climb outside through a small opening that looked almost like a doggy door! The views are amazing but there isn't much space up there. So you waddle after the person infront of you once he finished taking pictures and if you're lucky the person next to him also just finished taking pictures and you eventually make it back down the tower.

If you ever make it to Rothenburg you have to try the local "snowballs", a shortcrust pastry, which looks like snowballs of course. Topped with either cinnamon or other delicious glaze of chocolate, vanilla, caramel, etc and they also come in different sizes if you are afraid of a big sugar rush.

I was very glad that I have squeezed the visit to Rothenburg into my tight schedule as the town is worth a visit and I also had some time with my brother and his girl friend before heading off to Canada.

Gruetzi mitanand.....

2009-09-07T22:19:00.009+02:00

..... and that simply means "Good day" in that lovely Swiss German that I hardly understand.

Before I"ll be heading off to Canada I had another mission on my mind. I kept my word that I gave to my long time school friend Claudia to visit her in Switzerland, where she is living now with her boyfriend. She is working on her diploma thesis at the moment so time is short but she still did some extra work beforehand to find some spare time for me - so lovely of her!

I boarded a train to get to Switzerland and it took me about 7 1/2 hours and two unperceived border crossings (Austria and Switzerland) and when Claudia picked me up from the train station she smirked at me and said I had just slipped past the customs officers. Customs officers? Honestly I haven't even seen them so how could I have slipped past? Their fault anyway I would say! Nothing serious as they usually know who they are looking for (have they been tipped off or do people look suspicious when they smuggle stuff??). Anyway, it was good to see Claudia again and we had a lot to talk about, what we've done in different locations (while shopping, on her balcony having a cup of coffee or while going for a short walk through 'Wildhaus' - the little township where she is living).

The next day we had to change plans (what was to go for a hike in the mountains) as it was too cloudy and grey and so we made our way to Chur, the oldest township in Switzerland. Chur had been constantly populated for the last 5000 years but is even older than that. Quite impressive hey? Especially for you folks down under ;-)! Back in Wildhaus we caught up with two of their friends and had an entertaining dinner in one of the many restaurants of Wildhaus. These friends are from Berlin and I loved to hear that hearty Berlin idiom again.

Sunday came and my train would leave in the early afternoon. Claudia had decided she no longer can fight her bad conscience so she had to keep working on her thesis. So her boyfriend showed me around. The weather was adorable and so we took one of the many cablecars to get up the mountains where we had a fantastic view into the Swiss Alps. We hired scooters to take us downhill and that was exeptionally loud thanks to the squeaking brakes but nevertheless fun! He also showed me a waterfall that would have been very pretty if it had carried water but for some time now it's been dry.

Back at base both had convinced me to stay a day longer as weather was too good not to utilize it for another walk and so Claudia's boyfriend and I headed off again up another mountain by the help of a cablecar. From there we started walking back to Wildhaus and as we had heaps of time at hand we stoped a few times for a bite to eat and a coffee. Back in Wildhaus we again caught up with one of their friends and played minigolf what I haven't been doing for many years. Of course I lost but I did so honourably ;-).

Monday came and it was time to say goodbye and catch a train back to Germany. Again I've spend around 7 hours at the train trying to kill some time by .... doing nothing. Not an easy task. But I managed!