Heading Home: From Amsterdam to Auckland

I left Amsterdam at 2pm on Sunday the 2nd of July, and arrived in Auckland at midday on Tuesday the 4th of July. The journey consisted of two long flights. The first was 11 1/2 hours from Amsterdam to Hong Kong where I was in transit. The second flight was 10 hours from Hong Kong to Auckland. I dont remember any of the flights being exciting, in fact they were fairly boring. I did not sleep at all on any of them, instead i enjoyed watching the on flight movies.

In Hong Kong I spent 14 hours in transit, from 7.30 in the morning until 9.30 at night. I was so confused when I arrived at the airport. I didnt know where to go, or what to do, and I spent the first hour getting lost in the huge airport! Its huge, and shaped like a aeroplane too. I ended up storing my luggage in the luggage department and signed up to go on a transit tour around Hong Kong city for a couple of hours. There were only five of us on the tour - a dutch man, an indian guy, a german guy, an australian lady and myself. We climbed on a lovely airconditioned bus, and Willie our tourguide, took us on a tour around the city, showing us spectacular sites - the longest bridge, the highest tower, an antiques market, and a temple. I was very tired by the end of it, and very bored. It was a waste of money, but a good waste of time. The aussie and myself got some lunch and looked around some shops, then headed back to the airport. For the rest of the afternoon and evening I signed myself into a travellers lounge to pass the time. I got myself a package where I could have a shower, a 2hr sleep in a really comfortable bed, use free internet and eat as much food from the buffet, and drink as many drinks from the fridge as I wanted. Some of the others from our tour also came into the lounge, so I had fun hanging out with them. It was sad when I had to depart them to go on my second flight. I honestly couldnt believe that I was only halfway home, and that I still had another 10 hours to go.

Arriving In Auckland was really exciting. For the 3hrs prior I was ready for landing, watching the plane make its way slowly across the screen in front of me. Landing in Auckland was very remniscent of Landing in Schiphol earlier in the year...Lots of grey cloud and freezing cold!!!But it was such a wonderful feeling to be on home soil. From Auckland I flew to Christchurch, where my sister Chris met me at the airport. Everything felt familiar. It felt like home.

Oh Europe, you were so exciting.
New Zealand, Ive missed you and its great to be home.

Ive been away too long,
and every day i missed you more,
You look like you did before, only prettier,
Everyday I love you more. - Racoon

Goodbye to Europe

Thursday morning was mums birthday, so it was sad to have to leave. I departed them at the train station and made my way to the airport. At the airport I spent a while lining up in the easyjet queue (who i usually fly with) and then at the last minute realised I was flying with another company. When I got into Schiphol Hannie was there to pick me up. I went back to her house for the night, and the next day i went for a walk with Hans around the area. It was such a lovely hot summers day. Later in the afternoon I took the train to Barendrecht where Ada met me. I was going to stay with them for the rest of the time in Holland. Ada has the best house, its apartment style and really cool and modern. For dinner Ada, Inge, Liesbeth, Marten and I went out to an indian restaurant for dinner in Rotterdam. On the saturday Liesbeth, Inge and I went to a dutch beach for the entire day. This was so great, the weather was fantastic and it was great to say that I went swimming in the dutch ocean on a hot sunny day, even if it was the day before I left. The beach was very crowded, the sand was hot and there were lots of topless women which once again made me feel uncomfortable. The sea was very warm, but very shallow with no waves, and there was lots of seaweed floating everywhere - perfect for seaweed wars! In the evening we all went around to Liesbeth and Martens apartment for a barbeque dinner, prepared earlier by Ada. It was such a fun night, we ate great food and sat out on the balcony until it got dark. Then I needed to go back and pack for the next day..which was so hard, i ended up leaving alot of gear behind for mum and dad to take back to New Zealand with them. Saturday night I couldnt sleep because I was so nervous and excited about going back home. On Sunday morning we went to church in Den Haag because Paul's son was getting baptised. It was a lovely service, but incredibly boring for me because the whole service was in dutch. Liesbeth, Marten and I busted a move early to get me to Schiphol in time. I said goodbye to them at the check in and made my way into the duty free shops. So this is it...Im heading home sweet home!!

Crossing the Border: Cerbere to Barcelona

Cerbere

On the east coast of France, dipping its feet in the mediterranean ocean, lies Cerbere, a small french seaside town on the france and spain border. We arrived on the saturday, only to find all accomodation 'booked out' due to a festival on that week. Trying their luck, mum and dad walked up to a hotel, sitting on the edge of a cliff. Fortunately they had one room left, with a balcony and a milliondollar view.
The first plan was to hit the beach - the hotel had its own path down to a private beach. We spent the afternoon sunbathing. Come 4pm we wandered down the road to the centre where the festival was starting up with some traditional dancing and singing. It turned out to be a choral festival. The dancing was hilarious, it reminded me of the folk dancing we used to do at primary school. For dinner we had pizza on the beach - and observed backpackers trying to find accomodation for theirselves. There was a choral concert in the evening that we watched. Fun at first, but after 3hrs I was definetly over it.I had a sore bottom, and was cold and restless.
On sunday we slept in, then spent the majority of the day just relazxing on the beach..sunbathing, reading, eating, drinking and swimming. Its a dream come true to be swimming in the mediterranean. There was a cool raft to swim out to, and the water was very warm and very bouyant. Its hard to believe that Im over here getting sunburnt and swimming in the ocean in the middle of june, while its winter back in New Zealand.

Barcelona
On monday we left the hotel very early and took a train over the border into spain. We stopped at Port Bou for an hour, then continued onwards to Barcelona. The train trip started out incredibly boring, but then we striked up some conversation with two american girls in the seats next to us. Arriving in Barcelona was just as I had imagined it. Its a beautiful city, but very busy!And hot! We rested in a park, the missioned to find our hotel - which turned out to be in a great location- close to both the city and the beaches.It was only a 10 minute walk to the beach, we had to weave our way through the masses of teenagers coming back from the beach. There are 7 or so beaches going down the coast. The beaches are very european - lots of beach umbrellas, deckchairs and topless sunbathers! We walked down the beachside then made our way up past the zoo, then through the Parc de la Ciutadella, and through downtown - peeping in the windows of some amazing clothing shops. We headed towards La Rambla (the main street) looking for somewhere to eat a meal. La Rambla is very busy with lots of entertainers - breakdancers and human statues. We finally ended up somewhere back near the hotel for another 3 course meal.

On tuesday morning, we headed down to the food market on La Rambla. The market was amazing, jam packed with everything edible - lollies, nuts, fruit, veges, meat, cheese, bread, and living seafood! Some people were giving away free drinks which was nice. We bought some food and found a nice park to eat it in. I was by now very over the bread and cheese diet. On the way we had passed Gaudis gothic cathedral, but we were not allowed inside because mum and I were wearing inappropriate clothing. We walked up to La Sagrada Familia - Gaudis famous (huge) cathedral which was never completed - and I doubt if it will ever be completed. I got a ticket to enter and take a look around. There was really unusual architechture. The funnest part was climbing to the top of the spires for a fantastic panoramic view of the city. For dinner we had the worst doner kebabs on the beach - they nearly gave me food poisoning.

Today was a very uneventful day that im not even going to bother writing about it. We spent the majority of the day in the internet cafe because mum and dad were trying to find accomodation for next week. Tomorrow Im leaving the parents to head back to Holland for a few days before flying back to New Zealand. It is sad, yet a relief to be leaving the parents. Ive had such a fun time going around france and spain with them, but It will be nice to be more independant again. So Ill say goodbye to Barcelona. Ive really enjoyed Barcelona, I definetly think Ill be back here one day.