A typical kiwi thing to do

Hi all,

Yesterday, I met up with Grant for dinner. We went to get delicious take away fish and chips and ate by the harbour. This is, apparently, a typical kiwi thing to do. The weather was great and it was very relaxing just sitting by the harbour while chatting away and eating tasty food. I used the opportunity to take a few pictures for you guys, so here goes:

And today for the second time I saw a beautiful bird in the park right by the apartment building. The first time I saw it, it flew away once I took out my camera (read iPhone, which is what I take all of my pictures with...) But this time I got it on camera:

Discovering Maori artists

Herewith two songs of two different Maori artists, the quality of sound and video aren't that great, sorry about that :-/

I hope you enjoy it :D

Tiki Taane - Always on my mind

Maisey Rika - Repeat Offender

Mount Wellington

About a week ago, Me and Grant went to drop of Cian nearby Mt Wellington, so we used the opportunity to actually go check out Mt Wellington (it's one of these "hills" similar to Mt. Eden), it was very windy but very sunny too. We climbed up, walked around the crater while enjoying the different views:

And then decided it was time for a nap, so we lied down on one of the flanks of the crater where we were protected from the wind and enjoyed the quietness of the hill, the softness of the grass and the warmth of the sun while admiring the nice blue sky (yes, life is really hard in New Zealand :D):

Grant had a short spiritual moment before leaving Mt. Wellington:

We went to pick up Cian and had a look around a newly built pound:

This was my first time seeing black swans:

And some New Zealand bird whose name I forgot :-/  :

Sorry, I don't have much more to say. I've been having fun since then, of course, but it was mainly everyday stuff. Watching movies and going for drinks. Dan (I met him in Korea with AD) had to do a photo shoot for a uni assignment so AD and me acted as his models, that was quite fun and interesting to do :-)
We watched a few French movies (Les Choristes and Intouchables) which was a lot of fun. And we went for Belgian lunch with Belgian beer at the Belgian beer cafe, that was fun too! I hope
to post some new things soon enough. Bye

Devonport

AD and I went to Devonport. We took the ferry there in the late afternoon and walked around. It was very nice and AD brought his good camera so I have quite a few nice pictures to show you:

Picture on the Ferry towards Devonport:

View of Auckland's CBD from the ferry:

On Devonport:

AD let me take a picture of him with his amazing Camera :p

View of Auckland from the ferry on the way back:

 It was a great day. I'll have to go back and see some more of Devonport :-)

I bought a guitar!!!

Hi guys,

quick post to show off my new guitar.

Herewith a video of AD playing it:

Doesn't it sound pretty? Now I just need to learn some more songs to play on it :p

Found a room for rent

I found a room for rent in the same building, same floor and same hallway as where Cian and AD live :p It's fun because we get to hang out together. We have dinner together once in a while and watch movies. It's simple, but it's cheap and it's right in the center! The building we all live in is the old railway station, which is very nice :-) Herewith some pictures of the building and my room:

The main hall, this is the entrance of the building (you enter from the right of this picture):

The old railway station from the outside:

The common area, there are loads of sofa's where everyone can hag out here:

My room, it's small, but there is a lot of light:

That's it guys. Nothing much really, but now you'll be able to picture what I'm talking about when I mention home.

Making a trailer

AD had to make a trailer as an assignment for uni, so he had, Grant, Cian and me star in it. It was fun to do. Herewith one quick picture of the making of in AD and Cian's apartment and the trailer:

The actual trailer:

Herewith a link to AD's youtube page: RedArchDesigns as well. Check it out if you have time, it's fun to see.

Mount Eden and Cornwall park

Once again, Grant contacted me and asked me if I wanted to see some more of Auckland. I accepted of course. So Grant, Texas and me went on a ride in Auckland. I haven't mentioned Texas yet, but I'd already met her several times by then since she is Grant's good friend. Her real name is Amy, but Amy is a very popular name here (I already know 3 Amy's here), so they all end up having a nickname. The Amy I'm talking about here is from Texas, so everyone calls her Texas. The three of us went to Mount Eden, one of the highest hills (former volcanoes) in Auckland and enjoyed an amazing view of Auckland. It was very windy and chilly up the hill, so we walked around the crater and then went straight back to the car. After that, we went to Cornwall Park and One Tree Hill. The one tree was cut off, so now it's known as "No Tree Hill" even though the official name is still One Tree Hill. Herewith some pictures:

Mt. Eden's crater:

Views of Auckland from Mt. Eden:

Mt. Eden's crater seen from the lower side of the crater:

Cornwall park and a sheep (surprising he, finding a sheep in NZ :p)

View from One Tree Hill in Cornwall park:

And what do we see if you zoom in? Look closely... Someone wrote my name in the grass, it was there when we arrived :-)

Cornwall park and view of Auckland:

After all that hard work, driving around in a car, going from one mount to the other, we decided we deserved some Ice Cream, it was delicious:

I'll leave it to this for now. But back to posting soon :-)

The Domain and base FM

On my second day in Auckland, AD, Cian (two of the three guys I was staying with), Grant and me went to the Domain. The domain is this huge and beautiful park in Auckland where the museum of Auckland is situated. I haven't been to the museum yet, but I very much want to go there since I heard it is definitely worth it. 

The museum of Auckland:

 Grant playing around in the park:

The weather was amazing, a real summer day, so we had some take away food which we ate somewhere with a great view of the port of Auckland. The guys played some soccer and we sat and talked while sunbathing.

My first weeks in Auckland, I mostly spent some time with all the new people I had met. We went to have dinner or lunch together or just hung around at home, talking or watching movies. There was not one day in which I was not invited over for lunch, dinner or drinks. People are very welcoming here, it's amazing. 

Grant D-jays every Saturday afternoon, from 12:00 until 14:00, for base FM, a small local radio. One day, while texting me, he told me he was D-jaying for the radio, even though it was not Saturday, so I tuned in while writing some cover letters. I texted him back to let him know I was listening and liked the music, next thing I know, I hear "Shout out to Chloe" coming from the radio. After that, I recorded some announces in French, Dutch, German and Spanish for his show (Afternoon delight) and the next Saturday he invited me over to hang out at the radio station while he had his show. It was a lot of fun!

Grant at base FM (the radio station):

Base FM:

Base FM:

Arriving to New Zealand

Hi guys,

As promised, after Japan, I started a blog about New Zealand. My trip from Tokyo to Auckland must have been one of the easiest in my entire life, even though it might have been the longest. My flight was leaving at around 20h30 from Narita to first land at around 6h30 in Australia (Gold Coast), so after boarding the plane, and eating the dinner I bought in the airport, I closed my eyes and listened to music. I never completely fell asleep, but I managed to rest enough to be ok when we arrived in Australia. I enjoyed the beautiful sunrise from the plane right before landing:

Sorry, the quality is not very good, but it gives you an idea of what I'm talking about.

After having quickly passed the security I had breakfast in the airport, bought Europe to New Zealand adaptors and got ready to board the plane to New Zealand. That flight only lasted 3 hours and passed by really quickly as well. I tried to rest again, because even if I was ok, I was getting a little tired and I was worried about the NZ customs because they are famous for being quite strict. After landing in New Zealand I was probably one of the first non NZ or AU to pass through the security check so it went fast and without any problems. They checked my visa and passport and then let me through. My luggage was already waiting for me when I got to the luggage collection so I picked it up, went through customs in a flash and that was that. I was free to enter the country :-) After buying a NZ phonecard I bought my shuttle ticket to go to Auckland and called the friend I was going to stay with to let him know I was on my way. The apartment was only at a 10 minutes walk from where the shuttle dropped me off. We dropped my luggages, I took a shower and rested for a little bit and the we met with another friend, Grant, who took us on a small ride along the coast to show me around. Herewith some pictures:

After the ride, the three of us went to have dinner:fish and chips, by the port. It was delicious! We went for another short ride of Auckland by night before heading back to the apartment where I was happy to go to bed.

So yes, that was my first half day in Auckland, New Zealand.

I'll try to post more stuff soon, since I've already been here for almost 3 weeks now.

Bye