11:05:00
Sydney, Surf Camp & Nya Zeeland
Hej, hallå!
Det här inlägget, och förmodligen nästa med, kommer läggas upp lite annorlunda och vara mer ett dag-till-dag-inlägg och smockade med bilder. Så nu kör vi:
7-13 Nov: Det här var sista veckan i Sydney, alltså även sista jobbveckan. Det var lite otydligt hur mycket jag skulle få jobba, men till slut blev det nästan som en vanlig vecka. Jag jobbade 34h varav 5h på söndagen var voluntärt utan betalning, då jag så gärna ville vara på jobbet så mycket som möjligt även sista dagen innan vi lämnade. Det har varit mycket skratt men det blev även en del tårar, speciellt sista dagen... och flera dagar efter, kan fortfarande bli tårögd ibland; saknar allt och alla så...
14-18 Nov: Men på måndagen efter var det dags för Surf Camp i Seven Mile Beach. Det var en del vind men inget regn, blöta våtdräket och brända fötter & händer då jag glömde den lilla detaljen att smörja dem första dagen. Utöver det, och min stukade fot som även orsakat ett dåligt knä och som gjorde att jag inte kunde surfa de sista dagarna, var allt toppen! En av dagarna gick jag på yogalektion istället för en surflektion. Det var god mat varje dag, varav det var kängurukött minst två gånger, trevliga människor och härliga och roliga coacher.
18-19 Nov: När vi återvände till Sydney för en natt, hade vi inte bokat något vandrarhem, så det blev en utenatt för oss. Men vid 3-4 tiden blev det för kallt och vi alla flyttade in "inomhus" till World Square shopping center istället. Jag fick se The Gardens en gång till och de var så snälla och lät oss ha våra väskor i deras förvaringsrum för dagen. Flyget till Christchurch i Nya Zeeland gick 19:30, så vi spenderade dagen med att fixa med lite "pappersarbete" och småsaker som inte blivit av tidigare och tog sedan en taxi till flygplatsen. 
20 Nov: Klockan 0:30 anlände vi i Christchurch och jag passade på att skypa med familjen, då vi ändå skulle spendera natten på den kalla flygplatsen, där jag somnade vid 4 för att sedan bli väckt vid 6. När dagen äntligen kom så tog vi en taxi till ett vandrarhem där jag och Felicia spenderade natten och vi fick även ha vårt bagage där under dagen då det var för tidigt att checka in. Vi gick rundor i Christchurch; gick på museum och jag och Andrea sov i den botaniska trädgården medan Saga och Felicia gick runt i den. Saga och Andrea åkte sedan tillbaka till flygplatsen... trodde jag. När Felicia skulle gå på bio den kvällen hade jag följe med henne till Burger King och satte mig där för att äta. Gissa vilka jag ser där; Andrea och Saga!
21 Nov: På morgonen tog jag och Felicia bussen till Jucy där vi mötte upp Saga och Andrea för att ÄNTLIGEN hämta upp vår bil. Vi fick en liten, gul Hyundai och körde sedan tillbaka till flygplatsen för att plocka upp Ghia. Det visade sig att Ghias bagage inte följt med hela vägen, troligen på grund av för lite bytestid mellan flygen i Dubai. Vi bestämde oss ändå för att ta oss till Greymouth på andra sidan genom Sydalperna och få väskan skickad till det vandrarhem vi skulle bo på där. Vi stannade vid Arthur's Pass på vägen och gick i massa, massa backar och trappor upp till The Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall, och sedan ner för alla backar och trappor igen. När vi anlände till vandrarhemmet checkade vi in i rummet som hette Monkey och som vi hade helt själva bortsett från en person, men väskan hade inte kommit fram än som lovat, och inte heller dagen efter.
20 Nov: Klockan 0:30 anlände vi i Christchurch och jag passade på att skypa med familjen, då vi ändå skulle spendera natten på den kalla flygplatsen, där jag somnade vid 4 för att sedan bli väckt vid 6. När dagen äntligen kom så tog vi en taxi till ett vandrarhem där jag och Felicia spenderade natten och vi fick även ha vårt bagage där under dagen då det var för tidigt att checka in. Vi gick rundor i Christchurch; gick på museum och jag och Andrea sov i den botaniska trädgården medan Saga och Felicia gick runt i den. Saga och Andrea åkte sedan tillbaka till flygplatsen... trodde jag. När Felicia skulle gå på bio den kvällen hade jag följe med henne till Burger King och satte mig där för att äta. Gissa vilka jag ser där; Andrea och Saga!
21 Nov: På morgonen tog jag och Felicia bussen till Jucy där vi mötte upp Saga och Andrea för att ÄNTLIGEN hämta upp vår bil. Vi fick en liten, gul Hyundai och körde sedan tillbaka till flygplatsen för att plocka upp Ghia. Det visade sig att Ghias bagage inte följt med hela vägen, troligen på grund av för lite bytestid mellan flygen i Dubai. Vi bestämde oss ändå för att ta oss till Greymouth på andra sidan genom Sydalperna och få väskan skickad till det vandrarhem vi skulle bo på där. Vi stannade vid Arthur's Pass på vägen och gick i massa, massa backar och trappor upp till The Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall, och sedan ner för alla backar och trappor igen. När vi anlände till vandrarhemmet checkade vi in i rummet som hette Monkey och som vi hade helt själva bortsett från en person, men väskan hade inte kommit fram än som lovat, och inte heller dagen efter.
22 Nov: Eftersom väskan ej kommit fram nu heller bestämde vi oss för att stanna en natt till, dels för att ge väskan en chans till men även för att det var ett riktigt schysst vandrarhem. Så denna heldag blev det en biltur till Punakaiki och The Pancake Rocks där vi gick bland bergen och klipporna. När vi återvände till vandrarhemmet fick vi planera hur vi skulle göra dem kommande dagarna, då Ghia fortfarande inte hade fått sitt bagage, som hon såklart gärna ville ha. Så vi beslöt oss för att Ghia skulle ta tåget genom Sydalperna tillbaka till Christchurch och plocka upp bagaget som vi visste var på flygplatsen där. Vi andra skulle ta en liten road trip i norra delen av den södra ön sålänge och sedan plocka upp Ghia i Christchurch om ett par-tre dagar igen.
23 Nov: Vi började denna dag med att tanka och sedan släppte vi av Ghia vid tågstationen för att sedan fortsätta norrut mot Motueka. Där spenderade vi natten på ett vandrarhem, där Andrea och Saga som inte sov där inte ens fick sätta foten på marken inom området, hårda bud. Väl där tog vi en promenad i den lilla staden ner till havet där vi tänkte vi kunde känna på vattnet, men det visade sig vara ett avlopp, riktigt synd. 
24 Nov: Vår nästa destination och främsta mål med road tripen i norra delen av södra ön var Abel Tasman, som låg precis norr om Motueka. Så vi bilade upp dit till byn Marahau, som låg vid viken Sandy Bay som längre ut blev Tasman Bay, och hann precis med att boka kajaker till nästa säkerhetsgenomgång som var om 10min; 8:30. Där kajakade vi runt i Abel Tasmans nationalpark, gick i land på en av de underbart fina stränderna, tog en promenad i den härliga skogen, åt lunch och paddlade sedan vidare för att vara tillbaka runt 15. Väl tillbaka passade vissa på att ta en välbehövd dusch och sen fortsatte resan längs kusten till Nelson, där natten spenderades och blev på så sätt bara ett stopp på vägen.
Hoppas ni gillade inlägget och ser fram emot nästa, då det säkert blir många fler bilder och äventyr! Vi hörs!
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Hi, Hello!
This blog post, and presumably the next one too, will look a little bit different as it will be more of a day to day post and crammed with photos. So here it goes:
7-13th Nov: This was the last week in Sydney, which also means the last week of work. It was a bit unclear how much I was going to work, but in the end it turned in to an almost normal week. I worked for 34h but 5 of those hours on Sunday were volunteer work without pay, as I wanted to be at work as much as possible even on the last day before leaving. We've laughed a lot, but also a few tears, especially on the last day... and days after; I still get tears in my eyes sometimes, I'm missing everything and everyone so...
14-18th Nov: But on the following Monday it was time for Surf Camp in Seven Mile Beach. It was a bit windy but no rain, wet wetsuits and burnt feet and hands as I may have forgotten to put sunscreen on them on the first day. Besides from that, and my sprained ankle that had also caused a bad knee causing me to not be able to surf the last few days, everything was great! I went on a yoga lesson instead of a surfing lesson one of the days. The food was good, with kangaroo meat at least twice, the people there were nice and the coaches were awesome and hilarious.
18-19th Nov: When we returned to Sydney for one night, we hadn't booked any hostel, so we had a night outside. But around 3-4am it got too cold so we moved "inside" to World Square shopping centre instead. I got to see The Gardens once more och and they were kind enough to let us keep the bags in their storage room for the day. The flight to Christchurch in New Zealand didn't leave until 7:30pm, so we spent the day taking care of some finale things and paperwork that we hadn't had time to deal with before, and took a cab to the airport.
20th Nov: At 12:30am we arrived at the airport in Christchurch and I took the time to Skype with the family, as we're gonna spend the night at the cold airport anyway, where I fell asleep at 4am only to be woken up at 6am. When the day finally came we took a cab to the hostel where me and Felicia were spending the night and we also stored our bagage there for the day as we couldn't check in so early. We strolled around in Christchurch; went to a museum and me and Andrea slept in the Botanic Garden while Saga and Felicia took a walk in it. Saga and Andrea layer returned to the airport... or so I thought. When Felicia were going to the cinema the evening a walked with her to Burger King and sat down to eat. Guess who I see there; Saga and Andrea!
21st Nov: In the morning me and Felicia took the bus to Jucy where we met up with Saga and Andrea to FINALLY pick up our car. We got a tiny, yellow Hyundai and then drove to pick up Ghia at the airport. It turned out that Ghia's baggage hadn't followed all the way, probably because of too short transfer time in between flights in Dubai. We still decided to go to the other side through the Southern Alps and have the bag sent to our hostel there. We stopped on our way there at Arthur's Pass and walked up lots and lots of hills and stairs to reach the Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall, and then down all those hills and stairs again. When we arrived at the hostel, we checked in to our room Monkey, that we had all to ourselves except for one other person. The bag hadn't arrived as promised that day or even the following.
This blog post, and presumably the next one too, will look a little bit different as it will be more of a day to day post and crammed with photos. So here it goes:
7-13th Nov: This was the last week in Sydney, which also means the last week of work. It was a bit unclear how much I was going to work, but in the end it turned in to an almost normal week. I worked for 34h but 5 of those hours on Sunday were volunteer work without pay, as I wanted to be at work as much as possible even on the last day before leaving. We've laughed a lot, but also a few tears, especially on the last day... and days after; I still get tears in my eyes sometimes, I'm missing everything and everyone so...
14-18th Nov: But on the following Monday it was time for Surf Camp in Seven Mile Beach. It was a bit windy but no rain, wet wetsuits and burnt feet and hands as I may have forgotten to put sunscreen on them on the first day. Besides from that, and my sprained ankle that had also caused a bad knee causing me to not be able to surf the last few days, everything was great! I went on a yoga lesson instead of a surfing lesson one of the days. The food was good, with kangaroo meat at least twice, the people there were nice and the coaches were awesome and hilarious.
18-19th Nov: When we returned to Sydney for one night, we hadn't booked any hostel, so we had a night outside. But around 3-4am it got too cold so we moved "inside" to World Square shopping centre instead. I got to see The Gardens once more och and they were kind enough to let us keep the bags in their storage room for the day. The flight to Christchurch in New Zealand didn't leave until 7:30pm, so we spent the day taking care of some finale things and paperwork that we hadn't had time to deal with before, and took a cab to the airport.
20th Nov: At 12:30am we arrived at the airport in Christchurch and I took the time to Skype with the family, as we're gonna spend the night at the cold airport anyway, where I fell asleep at 4am only to be woken up at 6am. When the day finally came we took a cab to the hostel where me and Felicia were spending the night and we also stored our bagage there for the day as we couldn't check in so early. We strolled around in Christchurch; went to a museum and me and Andrea slept in the Botanic Garden while Saga and Felicia took a walk in it. Saga and Andrea layer returned to the airport... or so I thought. When Felicia were going to the cinema the evening a walked with her to Burger King and sat down to eat. Guess who I see there; Saga and Andrea!
21st Nov: In the morning me and Felicia took the bus to Jucy where we met up with Saga and Andrea to FINALLY pick up our car. We got a tiny, yellow Hyundai and then drove to pick up Ghia at the airport. It turned out that Ghia's baggage hadn't followed all the way, probably because of too short transfer time in between flights in Dubai. We still decided to go to the other side through the Southern Alps and have the bag sent to our hostel there. We stopped on our way there at Arthur's Pass and walked up lots and lots of hills and stairs to reach the Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall, and then down all those hills and stairs again. When we arrived at the hostel, we checked in to our room Monkey, that we had all to ourselves except for one other person. The bag hadn't arrived as promised that day or even the following.
22nd Nov: Since the bag still hadn't arrived we decided to stay for another night, partly to give the bag another chance but also because the hostel was quite nice. So this full day was by taking a trip to Punakaiki and The Pancake Rocks, where we walked among the mountains and cliffs. When we returned to the hostel we had to figure out a plan for the next few days, as Ghia still didn't have her baggage, that she very much wanted to have of course. So we decided that Ghia would take the train back through the Southern Alps to Christchurch and pick up the baggage that we knew was at the airport there. The other four of us were to go on a road trip in the north part of the southern island in the meantime and then pick up Ghia in Christchurch in a couple of days.
23rd Nov: We started the day off by stopping for gas and then drop Ghia off at the train station to then continue north to Motueka. We spent the night there in a hostel that Saga and Andrea, who weren't sleeping there, weren't even allowed to step inside the gate, harsh. When we were there we went for a walk in the little town and down to the water. We thought would feel the water but it turned out to be an outlet, too bad.
24th Nov: Our next destination, and main goal with the road trip in the north part of the southern island, was Abel Tasman, which was just north of Motueka. So we took the car to a little town called Marahau, which was just by Sandy Bay, which turned into Tasman Bay further out. We were just able to book kayaks before the next safety review that was in 10min; 8:30am. We kayaked our way in Abel Tasman's national park, went ashore on one of the beautiful beaches, took a walk in the lovely forest, had lunch, continued to paddle some more and returned at 3pm. When we got back some of us took a much needed shower and we continued our trip along the coast to Nelson. We only spent the night there, so it was only a stop on the way.
25th Nov: The next day we headed straight for Christchurch, but because of the earthquake, that happened just a few days before we got to New Zealand, the road along the south coast through Kaikoura, together with the town, was destroyed and therefore closed. So we had to go across the country instead, but who's complaining about driving through more mountains? Before we could pick up Ghia, we had to drop by Jucy, where we had rented the car. We had had very low levels of oil, coolant... pretty muh everything and we had had it checked by several others as well. Instead of just filling everything up, we switched to a different car, a silver Nissan. At first I didn't like the car and had a bad feeling about it, but it was a little bit bigger and a much bigger trunk, meaning all five bags would fit in it at least. At last, around 4pm, we picked up Ghia and could finally start our road trip together for real!
23rd Nov: We started the day off by stopping for gas and then drop Ghia off at the train station to then continue north to Motueka. We spent the night there in a hostel that Saga and Andrea, who weren't sleeping there, weren't even allowed to step inside the gate, harsh. When we were there we went for a walk in the little town and down to the water. We thought would feel the water but it turned out to be an outlet, too bad.
24th Nov: Our next destination, and main goal with the road trip in the north part of the southern island, was Abel Tasman, which was just north of Motueka. So we took the car to a little town called Marahau, which was just by Sandy Bay, which turned into Tasman Bay further out. We were just able to book kayaks before the next safety review that was in 10min; 8:30am. We kayaked our way in Abel Tasman's national park, went ashore on one of the beautiful beaches, took a walk in the lovely forest, had lunch, continued to paddle some more and returned at 3pm. When we got back some of us took a much needed shower and we continued our trip along the coast to Nelson. We only spent the night there, so it was only a stop on the way.
25th Nov: The next day we headed straight for Christchurch, but because of the earthquake, that happened just a few days before we got to New Zealand, the road along the south coast through Kaikoura, together with the town, was destroyed and therefore closed. So we had to go across the country instead, but who's complaining about driving through more mountains? Before we could pick up Ghia, we had to drop by Jucy, where we had rented the car. We had had very low levels of oil, coolant... pretty muh everything and we had had it checked by several others as well. Instead of just filling everything up, we switched to a different car, a silver Nissan. At first I didn't like the car and had a bad feeling about it, but it was a little bit bigger and a much bigger trunk, meaning all five bags would fit in it at least. At last, around 4pm, we picked up Ghia and could finally start our road trip together for real!
Hope you liked the post and are looking forward to the next one, which I'm sure will be with more photos and adventures! See yay!