Contemplation

I keep telling myself that it doesn't matter

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 04:42:14 GMT

But if it doesn't...

...then what does?

Living with your life on your back

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:33:46 GMT

Good day everyone!
I'm in an awfully good mood today, and I've got quite a few reasons to be. The only one that's relevant to this particular space-update, is that I've just received another message from one of my "traveling buddies" from New Zealand. A fantastic reminder of a fantastic time. Thought it was about time for me to FINALLY write about that last and most amazing month down there, ey? I'm very sorry to have kept it waiting for as long as I have, but just bear with me okay? ;) Before I even start writing all of this, I'd like to warn you that this is probably gonna be a very long story... Of course, by the time you're reading this, you'd probably already have scrolled fown to see just how big it is. Then why am I even typing this? 'Not a clue. Not a clue...
Oh, I know! I just wanted to remind you that I don't EXPECT any of you to read this. It's for those of you that really care, are plane curious, enjoy reading, or are just really bored ;P I've already said this several times before but the main reason that I keep this blog updated, is for myself. Just don't feel obliged to read this (:

SO! Where to start the documentation of this lifechanging journey? The beginning, might be a good idea. My last update from New Zealand was the one I wrote about Rhythm&Vines, the first festival in the world to see the sunrise in 2008. Yes, what an amazing week that was... I wrote that update just a few days before I finished my internship at KIWA. Seems like a good place to start, yes? It may already be quite a while ago, but I remember all of it as if happened yesterday. Or two days, at most ;)
Well, enough with the introduction - let's get this ball rolling, shall we? You might remember me going on and on about all the plans I'd made, now let me tell you how the all worked out.

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Friday, 18th of January... This had been a day I'd been looking forward to for a very long time. It was my last day working at KIWA Productions, and this was an occasion worth celebrating. In fact, I was gonna be celebrating it that very evening with the Kings of Leon in Wellington! Little more than a week after Rhythm&Vines, it was time for another concert. And another one, AND another one!! Kings of Leon that Friday, The National on Tuesday, and Big Day Out the Friday after that!! One big week of celebration... I said my goodbyes to Dee, Lincoln, Jacob & Daniel, since I wouldn't see them for more than a month, and took the bus over to Wellington. Lincoln had given me his old backback, which was a bit more practical than my suitcase on wheels, but a backpack this heavy really took some getting used to; the effect of gravity of 20 extra kilograms on your back tends to have its effect on your balance... Just for the record, I'm used to having people on my back and neck, but they usually get climb back down to solid ground after 5 or 10 minutes. This backpack was gonna be a 5th (or 6th? :P) limb of my body for the next 40 days, so I'd better get used to it.

I still remember that bus ride over to Wellington as if it happened yesterday, when in fact it's a good 3 months ago already...! It's incredible. I really miss that place, I really do. Being back home has been great and all, but. Well, a major difference is that when you're away, you get this certain image in your head of what home was like, or rather what you THINK home was like when you left. The way you want it to be. This provides you with a certain kind of freedom of interpreting your life back home, which I think is a big part of the beauty of travel. You're leading a second life somewhere far away from home, where you know you can afford to try all kinds of new things. Because even if it DOES go wrong, you'll always have your life back home to fall back on. You've already succeeded back there, and you can rebuild so much in this new place, only WITH the knowledge of your old life. Call it a reincarnation of yourself, if you will.
While staring out of the window from my seat in that bus, admiring the wonderful New Zealand landscapes and shorelines while enjoying some good ol' Dave Matthews, you reflect on your "old life" back home and just sit there enjoying the moment. In some sort of trance, you realize what an amazing addition this is to your life as it already was, understanding the lack of boundaries of where you want your life to go. These bus trips can never last long enough if you ask me.

Arriving in Wellington somewhere in the early afternoon, I headed right down to the backpackers' where I was gonna be satying that night, dropped off my stuff and headed right back into the city. This was only my second time in "Welly", yet somehow I felt perfectly at home. I'd been here before to see the Black Seeds again, and after that FANTASTIC welcome Wellington gave me that weekend, the city just felt like a second home to me. I didn't feel like a tourist AT ALL anymore. After having reacquainted myself with the city, I headed over to the docks to do something I had to skip the last time I was there; I rented a pair of rollerblades and spent the next 3 hours skating all the way through Windy Wellington's harbour! It was fantastic, I hadn't rolled around on those things since I was 12! That's TEN YEARS, people. Now THAT'S getting in touch with your old life ;) I also rolled by the TSB Arena where the Kings of Leon were gonna be playing that night. It wasn't another 3 hours until they'd actually get onstage and there were already people waiting at the doors. Thought it might be time for me to grab me some dinner and get in line, so I did...

By the time I'd finished dinner and got my butt back to the venue, there was already a HUGE line waiting right there, it was ridiculous. But still, even in the line, the atmosphere was there: everyone in that line was in for some good, raw, live rock. Most of you reading this will know what this feels like, so it won't be mich of a surprise that it wasn't a problem at all to wait for about an hour surrounded by these people. My kind of people... I didn't know a single person in there when I headed over there, but somehow it always seems to be a mere matter of time until that changes miraculously. Especially after actually getting inside and waiting for the band, people walked up to me who recognized me from either Rhythm&Vines or even from Hawera! And, of course, people who just thought they'd make some "original" remark about my height; how could you ever grow tired of people asking you how tall you are.
Apart from some girl who threw up three times just to pass out right into her breakfast from last morning, the atmosphere in the crowd was fantastic. I can't tell you how much I'd missed times like these, it was a great reminder of my personal highlight of last year's Lowlands. It couldn't possibly have topped that particular experience, but it came pretty close! Third time to see these guys playing, but I honestly don't see how you could ever grow tired of witnessing it. Their support-act, Youth Group, made sure of this. Great stuff.
Once the gig was over, I went way to the back just to rehydrate and calm-the-hell-down with some other guys that I'd met up front while we were jumping shoulder-to-shoulder. We got to talking and I agreed to head into town with their group afterwards... This turned out to be quite a night, it was wild! A great group to be hangin'out with, though not all of them seemed as "intellectual" as the others. Still, I had some great conversations with them and other people we met at the clubs where we were at. And the best part was; I really felt "respected", you know? I remember one of these guys, Mike, bit older than I was, talking to one of his friends about me. How they met me at the concert and how much he enjoyed "listening to his stories". The sincerity (or the alcohol) in his voice really meant a lot to me at the time :)
They couldn't dance for much, but I remember this one guy that was grooving out next to me on the dance floor and he was copying all of my moves! Was pretty cool to see someone "learning" from you like that, but once he got them down it was fantastic: it was like I was dancing in a mirror. I reckon it must've looked pretty cool until the guy made pass at me! I'm not gonna state what he told me exactly, but he seemed quite fond of the fact that I was dancing with my shirt open... I couldn't believe my ears, hoping I misunderstood him due to the loud music. "WHAT?!" I replied, and he just backed off: "Never mind, never mind", as I re-buttoned my shirt while reconvincing myself of my "sexual preference". Gah.

I got back to my hostel at around 5 in the morning, sliiightly intoxicated. Normally you'd have to be checked out of the hostel by 10am, but this time around, I'd planned an extra day/night for recovery, and I'm GLAD that I did! Most of this day (or at least what was left of it) was spent relaxing on the beach and just chilling out. Enjoying some great fresh memories, organizing them and giving them a spot in my mind. In the evening I suddenly felt like watching a good movie and decided to head over to the cinema to see what was playing. I'd been wanting to check out I Am Legend and it was JUST what I needed! Blew me away. Fantastic. And a huge coincidence; after the movie I walked back down the stairs and ran into that Mike-guy from last night, with some others from that night. They seemed in even worse shape than I was, but it was great 't we got to say our goodbyes like that.

After that, it was on to Auckland for the next couple of gigs! That Monday, after ALMOST having missed my train to Auckland (those cabs everywhere CAN some in handy sometimes), I was rolling on a railroad straight through the center of the North Island. It felt pretty good to be back in a train again.. I hadn't expected this feeling at all, but being back in a train like this, it kinda felt like home, really. It didn't have those typical orange benches like the ones we have back here of course, but still - the train still feels like "my territory"! After all those bus- and planetrips, I could honestly say that.. I'd missed this :) I spent most of the trip reading and talking the people around me. I had an older couple of European South Africans behind me and I think I must've spent at least 2 hours talking to these people. The stories from that country are astounding: so different from what we're used to. So much chaos. Nowhere on the world have different cultures clashed as much as they have there, it's kinda sad. I stand by my opinion that we had no right to invade their country and force our Western lifestyle upon those people. But that's a different story!! I'll probably get a bit deeper into this subject once I've actually been there myself. A matter of time ;)

I had initially planned to stay with my aunt&uncle up there in Auckland, but I hadn't been able to get a hold of them in time. But since they lived way out of the city, and my concerts were way in the center, I figured it would be better for the both of us to find and book a hostel somewhere in the city. However, finding one proved to be a bit more of a challenge than I initially had anticipated. With Big Day Out coming up this Friday, almost EVERY hostel I found was booked way up to they maximum capacity. Remember this was Auckland, a city inhabiting HALF of NZ's total population. A city counting well over 2 million people, with NO available hostels at all..?!?! No way, man! No way. After some intense searching, I finally managed to find this great place, right next to the Sky Tower. And a cheaper one at that: $18 NZD per night, which would account for about €9 per night! Perfect!
Still, nothing could've given me an idea of what I was in for over at that hostel. It was fantastic; it was like spending a full month with a group of friends I'd known for months. With Big Day Out coming up that Friday, more than HALF of the people staying there were all going to the festival. It was a fantastic bunch of people; all different kinds of people from all different places around the world. I had two roommates, Ross & Jim from England, which were little younger than I was (although little Ross looked like a bloody 12-year-old :P). I got along with these two from the very minute I walked into my room and I spent every next day of my week in Auckland with these follows, including Big Day Out itself. I could on about this single week for about an hour, but I'll just let the pictures do the talking. I'm not sure how much longer this update will become, but if you scroll down to the bottom of it, you should see the photo's down there. Provided that I haven't forgotten to add them...
The part that I still want to explain in detail, is that very last day in Auckland. I had reserved one extra day in Auckland after BDO for "physical and mental recovery", just like I'd done back in Welly, and apparently most people at the hostel had done the same. This last day/night together turned out to be almost as good as BDO itself..! See, what happened is... On that last night, our whole BDO-group was hanging out together on the balcony one last time. The manager let us stay up there until 1am, rather than the normal 10pm. So he was already cutting us some slack, but when the time actually came, none of us were really prepared to call it a night, so we decided to hit the town instead. But rather than going to some random pub, we all just went ahead and bought our own beer and took this to the nearest park. We didn't even have any music or whatever, yet we sat there for hours! The police even came by because apparently we weren't allowed to drink in that particular park, but they were real easy on us, really kind, and we even got a big group photo with'm :P I'll add that photo to the rest, it's fantastic :D You can see the cop way on the right, be sure to check it out! They told us to leave, but they just left after we told them that we would. ...We never really got out of that park until another 2 hours later :P But would you just look at that photo for a minute?! I mean, we've got some Germans in there, Englishmen, some tall Dutch guy, Canadians, Aussie's, a few actual Kiwi's and... Just look at those facial expressions! Look at the absolute joy in those faces! Isn't that what it's all about? It's one of my best memories of the whole trip and I'm so, so glad that we got it photographed like that. And that's not even the whole group!

That next Sunday morning, that whole little "family" we had going on parted ways again, and we barely even got to say our goodbyes. We had to be checked out by 11am, and with the lack of sleep from the last night, most of us seemed to have some trouble getting up... Some just didn't, and decided to stay one more day, just for the sake of sleeping in. Would've been well worth it, but I had a flight to catch that afternoon! Off to the South Island at last... My hunger for live music had been well fed, and now it was time for me to get right down to nature! Into The Wild. I'd managed to get a hold of my uncle the day before, and had agreed to meet up them in the park. Albert Park, which I'd grown so utterly fond of. There's something about those "mid-urban parks", I don't know. It's where everyone goes to get away from the suburban city chaos, which creates a certain kind of atmosphere, and a sense of unity with everyone there. I haven't found a better reading spot in Auckland, than this certain tree in this particular park. I read my books in there, but to oppose some recent rumours, I DID NOT spend the night in any of those trees!
Anyhow, I was real glad to still get to see my uncle & aunt again during my second stay in Auckland. I hadn't seen them since I headed down to Hawera, just a week after arriving in New Zealand. It was great to catch up, while enjoying a warm, sunny, little picnic in the park. Also, they said they were willing to drive me over to the airport to catch my flight, giving us a few extra hours to enjoy in the park.
The thing was, though... We got so carried away talking, that we completely lost track of time. My flight left at 5 o'clock, and we headed over there at about 4. I was sure that it wouldn't be much of a problem, until I heard how far it was: 35 kilometers?! They had been keeping a close eye on the time but it turned out that, due to a little misunderstanding, they though that I had to CHECK IN at 5pm, when my flight would actually be LEAVING at that time! When they found out, they started stressing about how we'd never make it in time and all that, and... Well, to be honest with you, I just couldn't be bothered to worry about it :P A major lack of sleep, combined with the satisfaction of a fantastic festiva-.. of a fantastic WEEK, made sure of it that I just sat there, going "Aahh, whatever man, it'll be fiiine".
BUT! No it won't :D We arrived at the Domestic Terminal at about 10 to 5, dragged my equipment over to check-in, just to find out that the plane was already boarded. I had managed to catch every bus and train in New Zealand so far, but it just would've been unnatural if I didn't miss SOMETHING, SOMEWHERE along the trip, right? :P

Thankfully, the Air New Zealand staff was very helpful to reschedule my flight for me. It did cost me a little extra, but I still couldn't care... After that last week, nothing could go wrong anymore anyway. I could tell that the woman that was helping me quite enjoyed my state of mind, since most people in line got all fussy about it. And here was this huge, tired, satisfied hippie with this big grin on his face going "Aahh, sure, whatever, take your time". People often tell me I don't worry as much as I should sometimes, but this is a habit I'm most proud of ;)
I couldn't get a flight for that same day anymore, but got the first flight on the next day instead. 10am... I called my uncle about how it all went, he seemed to feel a bit guilty but I eventually managed to convince him that it was my responsibility. After talking things through, I decided it would probably be the easiest for the both of us if I just found a hostel somewhere near the airport. He didn't mind picking me up, on the contrary, but I was a bit reluctant to accept any help at this time. I worked my way into this situation, and I'll get my way right back out again. I could just imagine how my mother would've responded to this, I sortof felt the need to prove that it really wasn't that big of a deal.
So I went to check for hostels in the area but they were all relatively expensive. Still ridiculously low for Dutch standards, but I still didn't feel like paying for it. But then, someone suggested that I could always wait in the internation terminal, which doesn't close overnight..! This sounded perfect! I don't know about you guys, but I'm one of those people that loves airports. I still head over to Schiphol from time to time just to suck up the atmosphere. So I headed back to the International Terminal which I hadn't seen since my arrival in New Zealand. It felt good. I went through the whole building in search of a nice spot to relax for a bit. Read my book, listen some music, sleep a little... Didn't take me long to find a perfect spot for this: some corner way in the corner on the top floor, poorly lit, with some huge windows providing a fantastic view over the runway. No one else there and, best of all, it was free! What else could a man wish for. Well, a bed would've been nice, but the benches weren't half bad, really :) I couldn't help but feel like Tom Hanks in The Terminal, have you seen that movie? You're hereby invited to come watch it at my place!
Some of you might not believe me on this one, but I really did quite enjoy myself that night! In fact, I'm GLAD that I missed my flight that day, looking back at it now.

That morning I witnessed another hectic day at the airport, slowly picking up it's usual pace. Hundreds of people arriving and leaving home, welcomed or dropped off by family or friends, crying and laughing.. See, that's what I like about airports so much; they always look so formal and tidy, yet it's still always filled with emotions all around you. It's just one of those places where you're always "confronted" with the fact that every person around you has a whole life of their own going on. Their own little world, which is often a lot more similar to our own than most of us would like to admit. It's something that's so easy to neglect, allowing you to keep your eyes fixed on your own life. Life provides more than enough distractions for you to ignore the bigger picture. Because every one of us has to re-invent life and its environment. It seems so unnecessary sometimes, that that cycle keeps being repeated over and over again. But since both life and its environment is constantly changing, I suppose it would be only natural for us to keep being reacquainted with it over and over. Or is that the very cause for it to change in the first place? Are we just trying to adapt to our own changes? That would be what we refer to as "evolution", I guess..? But still, how are we ever gonna get somewhere if we can't even adapt to eachother?
To me, an airport is just one of those places where you look up from the road your walking on, and to look around you. Where you see the bigger picture of where we, the human race as a whole, is heading - or at least attempt to figure it out. A moment of contemplation.

Just as I was about to discover the reason to our existence, a quick glance at the clock revealed that it was about time for me to check in already! Time flies when you're figuring out the reason of life. I packed up my stuff again, and off we went! Into the air, into the clouds, and hopefully not into any tall buildings.

I got off in Christchurch, where I hopped right onto my next flight to Invercargill; the very bottom of the South Island. New Zealand's asshole XD I had been looking forward to see the South Island ever since I arrived, and finally... Finally, I was there.
I was picked up in Invercargill by Lincoln's father, Michael. He lived there in Invercargill and I was initially gonna be spending 2 nights there at his house. Since that first night was spent in Auckland's International Terminal, this was now reduced to a single night, forcing me to cancel my plans for Curio Bay and its "petrified forest".. (vandaar dus, Iris! I'M SORRY, okay?!) But despite my short stay, they were really kind to me while I was there (: The guy was a grandfather already, but he was about the same age as my dad.. A real interesting man, it was. I had some pretty intense discussions with the man that night after dinner, about all sorts of things. About marriage, kids, human history, human "breeds"... We didn't quite agree on a few things about these subjects and I'm telling you, the guy was TWICE as stubborn than I was! And that's saying something! Nonetheless, I enjoyed those discussions, I really did. Our opinions might've been completely different at some points, but I respect that man.

That next morning, I was dropped off at the Invercargill Visitor's center where I'd catch my bus down to Bluff, where the ferry would pick me up and take me right down to Stewart Island. This is an island just a few kilometers South off the coast of New Zealand's South Island. It's about the size of our province Zeeland, only difference being that it's inhabited by... Well, barely 400 people. It's got one little village and that's it! The rest of the island is just this vast, native, untouched forest. Now, just for the record, here in the Netherlands, almost every single bit of forest we have is planted by us. It's all been taken down at one point or another, until we finally got to a point where we finally realized its value. You don't know what you've got until you miss it.
This makes Stewart Island some sort of treehugger-paradise. Real, raw nature... This is what I came to New Zealand for. I couldn't wait. Lincoln's dad had warned me about the ferry, he was almost certain that I'd throw up somewhere along the way but, thankfully, the contents of my stomache stayed right where it's supposed to be.
I'd been hoping for some clear weather upon my arrival, to get that "magical" first impression of the island, y'know? Unfortunately it remained as grey as a Dutch winter day, but with those clouds making their way over the mountaintops, it might even have looked better than it would have on a sunny day. The island looked amazing and I couldn't wait to get on my way. All I had left to do was to get some food supplies for the next couple of days but, unexpextedly, this is where the more serious troubles started...

I knew the population on Stewart Island was small, but I never expected them NOT TO HAVE an ATM down there..? They didn't have a bank or anything..! But, no worries, I still have my credit card :) This thing had proven ESSENTIAL on my travels so far and had never let me down. Until now.
See, until then, I had always just signed for every payment I made using my credit card. Didn't need a PIN-number or anything. However, down on Stewart Island, they didn't support this possibility either. You could pay electronically, but it just kept insisting on a PIN number that I didn't have! The people at the store let me call my bank about the issue and thank God they were available - it being past midnight back in the Netherlands. They told me that I SHOULD have a PIN number for that credit card and that they could request a new one but this would require me to identify myself at the bank. In the Netherlands. Fucked up... After that, the manager of the store advised me to try their main hotel, said that maybe they could help me. That's where people usually went to withdraw some cash. But this had the same result! The woman seemed understanding at let me use their phone to try and call my bank again. The guy that was helping me out this time was really helpful, he understood my situation very well and tried everything in his power to try and help me, he went to his teamleader, then to his boss, but none of them could help...

And that's when the panic started creeping in. Here I was, on an island, for 5 days, with no money. Well that was the worst part; I did háve the money, I just couldn't access it! I hate to admit it, but I cried in anger and desperation while talking on the phone... What was I supposed to do?! I had already booked and payed for the ferry trip back, but what was I going to live off for the next FIVE DAYS?! What the HELL was I gonna do?!?!
I tried to pull myself together after that phonecall before bringing back the phone, but I think the hotel manager picked up on it right away. She was really kind and told me that she'd been in a similar situation once, over in Australia. She had a few suggestions, but after ruling out any other possibilities, she offered to lend me some money for those few days I was on the island. I could just transfer the money back to her account afterwards..! She had to offer this 3 times before I accepted, but you wouldn't believe the overwhelming sense of relief that followed.

So, after a long struggle with reality, I could finally make my escape from it. Away from our modern day society, from everything and everyone, just to throw yourself into the unknown. On your own! A few people responded quite surprised when I told them I was gonna be doing these walks all by myself, but I wouldnt've had it any other way.

And it was everything I hoped it could be.

Once again, I'd have to refer you to the photo's I made to give you but a fraction of an idea of what it was like, but it was fan-tastic. Waking up in the middle of a rainforest, with such a vast abundance of life around you. So much life, yet not a single human being. I had the whole thing to myself! It's a different sense of freedom, one that I hadn't ever felt before.
It might've been a little wet, but that's just part of the fun. I was fully prepared for a bit of rain, but even when it was dry I couldn't resist running through those tempting looking puddles along the track. Even the mud, which you'd normally try to avoid whenever possible... After a while, you even start appreciating the sound of suction it makes when you pull your boots back out of it :P If you're reading this right now, just try and imagine that sound, we all know what it sounds like :P Good stuff... Good stuff.
One of my most pleasant memories from this particular trip was on the second day. It had been softly raining most of the afternoon, and I really felt fantastic - both mentally and physically. Once you get that feeling in your legs and you've had those 25 kilograms on your back for a while, you don't even feel the weight anymore, it just becomes a part of your body. And with that warmed up feeling in your legs, you feel like you could walk non-stop for hours, days, even weeks. Jack Johnson is always perfect music to play in the rain, and there I was singing along with "Banana Pancakes" on the top of my lungs, 'cause there was noone around to hear me anyway!
"Oh can't you see that it's just raaii-niing. Aaiin't no need to oouutsiide..."

Time flew by, and before I knew it, I was already on the ferry back to Bluff..! Exhausted but satisfied, I was on my way back to civilization. Heading back there, just to get away all over again! I would rest when I got back home. Upon arriving back in Bluff, I'd booked a bus taking me from there right up to Te Anau: the main gateway to Fiordland National Park. There, I had a few hours to take care of a few preperations, took a water taxi over Lake Te Anau, where I commenced the Kepler Track... A hike that still stands as one of the highlights of my whole trip through New Zealand.
That watertaxi dropped me off on a small beach, almost INSTANTLY changing into a HUGE forest after the first couple of meters. I couldn't believe my eyes..! I've never seen a forest like this one before, it was magical. Almost everything was covered with green, be it from moss, leaves or algae. It looked magical! Seriously, you'd swear that any one of those trees could just get up at any given moment to run off and destroy Isengard :P
Fiordland is known for its humidity, getting a few meters of rain each year. 2 out of 3 days is just constant rain... Yet during those 4 days that I was there, I felt a total of FOUR raindrops! In fact, I got sunburned again :D Whoopie. I had dropped off my tent and some other stuff in a locker somewhere, getting rid of any unnecessary weight. The Kepler Track crosses a few mountains, the highest one of which (Mt Luxmore) is a good 1,472 metres high. And trust me when I tell you that you don't want to be carrying those 25 kilo's up that high. Instead, I'd be staying in the three huts built along the track - also saving you the trouble of putting up and breaking down your tent every day ;) Bit more expensive, but worth every penny. And the best part that I later found out, was that every hut seemingly came with its own little extra's. The Luxmore Hut had some really impressive caves just 10 minutes off the track, which I explored with a fellow Dutchman (still wearing his last Lowlands wristband :D!!) and a few Germans. The second, the Iris Burn Hut had this fantastic waterfall nearby. And the last, the Moturau hut, was right next to Lake Manapouri, giving you the opportunity to go for a swim after a long day's walk! And you can really use one, knowing that none of the huts have showering facilities (duh). All the creeks and rivers I found so far (quite a few) were all freezing cold, even too cold for you feet, but the lake was about 20 degrees when I got there! I'd been making jokes about going for a swim in there, so imagine my surprise... Best swim I've had in a very. very. long time. Not with the horribly salty water I found/tasted on most beaches. OOHHH and the sunset that evening..!!!! My GOD! Remind me to put a link to that photo here, it must've been the most magical sunset I've ever seen in my life. I'm being serious here, just wait until you see that photo...

On the last day, when I found my way back to Te Anau, looked up the restaurant I'd picked out from my "travel bible" (I wanted my first dinner to be "special" :P) and ate so much so fast that my stomache hurt and couldn't even finish up my dessert. Never before has dessert been a problem for me, and it's completely against my principles to leave my plate unfinished, but this time I really couldn't do it...
Once I'd recovered I headed straight to my hostel, one that I chose because my waiter told me that they had a spa... A spa, jacuzzi, hot tub, whatever you want to call it. The girl at the counter felt my pain and just handed me the keys to the spa for free. I dragged myself over there, absolutely exhausted, dove in there, and I'm telling you: I couldn't move. I couldn't move for two hours straight - the hot water just relaxed every single muscle in my body. Every single one, except for my heart maybe. Although I don't know, maybe that one too :P ULTIMATE relaxation! The only thing I had to worry about was keeping my head above water, which was quite a task at this point, trust me.

My last full day there in Te Anau was spent at the amazing Doubtful Sound. A cruise that lasted almost the entire day. Together with the Milford Sound, these two make up what probably is the most popular destination for tourists in New Zealand. And I'm sure you'll see why, when you see the photo's... See for yourself!

As much as I enjoyed Te Anau so far, I'd seen all the places that I really wanted to see. And with less than 3 weeks to go, it was time to pick up the pace and hit the road again. On to Queenstown: Tourist Capital of New Zealand. This whole city somehow breathed internationalism, it had me wondering how many people around me were actually FROM NZ. I heard many great things about this city from people I'd met along the way, but... Me personally, I can't stand that whole commercialized tourism atmosphere. Of course you can't leave New Zealand without having bungyjumped and I'll admit that I really WAS quite eager to check this out, so I decided that I would just do the jump, get that over with, then get the hell back outta there.
When I got back home, one of the first questions people usually asked me was "So how was the bungyjump?!". Some of them seemed a bit disappointed when told them that: That it wasn't quite as much of a rush than I hoped it would be..! I don't know. I thought you'd get that wind blowing in your face aaalllll the way down, but it really doesn't feel all that far. It's kinda like diving off the higher diving board, only the point of actually jumping is uhmm... A bit harder ;) You could choose from 3 different jump-sites; I just stuck with the classic Kawarau bridge, where "first bungyjump ever was made by AJ Hackett, founder of the company" bla bla bla. Commercial tourism crap. The reason I chose that one, was that this was the only one that offered you the "submerge" option, letting you touch the water, or even dive right into it.
All in all, yeah it was cool, but I'm not sure if it's worth the NZD$160/€80 you pay for it. And then they even have the guts to charge you ANOTHER $45 for the damn photo's!! Me? I managed to get them for free. Hah. And I must admit, I AM quite proud of them (:

I'll spare you the story about my weird roommates in Queenstown... Yes, instead, I'll just move right on to the next day, where my journey began with Flyingkiwi! Man, did I enjoy this. Flyingkiwi is/was a tourbus-agency that I'd booked a few months in advance, because I didn't want to be doing the whole trip alone. Of course, you always meet plenty of people along the way, but. You hang with these people for maybe a few days and then you never see them again. And I'm really glad that I did book this trip because it was so much more than I'd initially expected it to be.
Because you see, the thing about Flyingkiwi, was their whole laid-back-ness. It wasn't just a tour-bus, it was more like a backpacker-bus. A big mobile home. They carried bicycles, tents, a portable kitchen, a small library and best of all: a fruitbox! All the fruit you could eat, right there at your disposal. Apricots, peaches, oranges, apples, prunes, bananas, pears... Everything. Great stuff.

You might be wondering what I was complaining about earlyer: first I'm whining about not wanting to travel in groups, and here I am joining a whole group of other tourists! What the hell man?
Truth be told, I was a bit hesitant about this at first, as well. But this really was a lot easier, cheaper and most of all, more social. I really wanted to give this a chance and I must say that it worked out perfectly. I'd be spending a full week with this group, going from Queenstown way through the rugged West Coast, up to Picton: the most Northern part of the South Island.
And I've gotta tell ya, it really WAS a fantastic journey! Along the way, we stopped at all the places that I really wanted to see, like the Glaciers, the Pancake Rocks, Abal Tasman National Park, and some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. And quite a few spots that I never would've found by myself but were amazing anyway. Not just the "typical" tourist spots. A whole range of places where we set up camp were relatively small towns which most of us had never even heard of. Which most KIWI's had never even heard of! Our guide & driver really knew what they were doing. Genuine South Islanders, proud of their country and more than happy to show it around. But they didn't make everything sound TOO interesting as you would expect from most tours. Nothing too formal, that's what I liked about them. Buncha douchebags, that's what they were :P Nga & Brad... We had some great times with those two.

It's funny though, I only spent about a week with those people. And just like with our group back in Auckland, you grow so close with the people you travel with. Most of them already knew eachother since they were doing the tour through the whole country for a full month. I was just hitching along with them, but I felt sorry to leave them again, even after a mere week. Every night, after along day of exploring this wonderful country together, we set up camp somewhere, every day had a different cooking group which would take care of dinner and cleanup, and usually spend the rest of the night talking around a campfire or gas-light. It creates a bond, y'know? Everyone in the group had their own typical characteristics, culture and background, all those differences united in harmony. It took me a while to get all the names down, but I got along with most of them perfectly fine. Especially two of them; Rachel & Sarah. Definitely my two favorite people on the tour. The three of us explored most of the tour together. They had the idea to come down here to the Netherlands some time for either Pinkpop or Lowlands, that would be fantastic..!! The same with Ross & Jim from Big Day Out by the way, I don't think I've seen the last from them just yet, either. It's fantastic, all those new international contacts :)

When my part of the tour ended in Picton, I said my goodbyes to everyone from Flyingkiwi as they got on the boat to Wellington. I wouldn't be heading back up there until a few days later. I had some other plans first: one last hike here on the South Island before I head back up to the North Island for my two final concerts. The end of my trip was approaching fast... I couldn't grasp the idea at first but, since this was my LAST WEEK already, you start realizing that these will be your last few moments in this country. What was home going to be like after this? How could home ever live up to this country's beauty? How would my friends back home be doing? And my family..? ...Would my grandfather be watching over me right now?
I decided just to stay focused on this last week that I had left here in this country, and that's exactly what I did. Time for the Queen Charlotte Track this time!

After having traveled in a group like that for a while, it was a bit weird to be heading back out on my own again. Weird, but nice nonetheless. But before I went back into the New Zealand wilderness again, it would be a good idea to get some supplies first. For which one would require money! The financial issues had been partially resolved by now, since I'd been able to get my money from my normal Dutch account so far, but I was already past my monthly budget. With a few Euro's remaining on my own account, my credit card was all I could fall back on. BUT! Won't you believe it, after the issues we had in Stewart Island, the damn thing had been BLOCKED because I tried a wrong PIN-code 3 times. Here we go again...
Thanksfully, Dee still owed me some grocery-money so, after a few calls, money was on the way. 100 NZ dollars (50 Euro's) should be enough for a week, right? Just a shame that I wouldn't actually RECEIVE the money until the next morning... Where should I stay tonight..?

I went by a few holiday parks if they wouldn't mind me staying there and paying afterwards but once I found out their rates, I just luaghed in their face and walked back out again. 16 dollars for a bloody patch of land for one night... Hah. No thanks.
One the the best things about New Zealand, is that there's nature everywhere. Even in bigger cities. I decided I'd just look up a bikker forest somewhere and set up my tent there, whether it was allowed or not. I didn't find out about the fine you'd have to pay if they caught you doing this until a few months later, but what're the odds of that anyway. I went to the nearest forest I could find but, with this forest on a hill, it turned out to be pretty hard to find an EVEN patch of land without trees on it. With the sun already setting, I really had to make haste if I still wanted to see anything to put up my tent. Eventually I found a decent spot somewhere just off the main path, hidden within the trees, but not really even. It had to do.
Spending the night there on that spot was kinda weird, waking up 3 times that night because I slided down halfway through my tent again, but knowing that it was free made it all worthwhile ;) I felt fantastic that next morning. Who needs hostels or holiday parks? This was a completely different kind of traveling, and it felt fantastic. Like a nomad. It changes your whole outlook on the value of money, both in a good- and bad way. I won't get into it too far right now, but you don't realize the meaning of its value until you've lived like this once. It also gives a certain kind of respect for homeless people. I'd spoken with a few of them back in Auckland, and I don't know HOW they do it...
Seriously, next time that a homeless guy walks up to you and you've got some free time, try talking to the guy for a bit. Some of them have some fascinating stories about how they ended up at this point of their lives.

That morning I packed up my tent not long after waking up, before people went on their morning jogging-sessions. Those Kiwi's are real earlybirds ;) Besides, you can forget sleeping in on a 10 degree angle :P Since my dinner from yesterday consisted of 2 apples and an orange that I took with me from the bus, I was really hungry for some breakfast. So the first thing I did was to see if my money had arrived yet and YESSS!! We were safe! Alriight. Let's get this show on the road.
I bought all the essentials I needed for my trip, including this delicious looking Bacon&Cheese-loaf that was on special that morning. I was gonna save that for the trip, yes I was. After enjoying an amazing breakfast on the beach, I went to look for a way to get to Ship Cove. The starting point to the Queen Charlotte Track, only reachable by boat. Cheapest way to get there cost me $45, which was A LOT more than I had anticipated! I mean geez, if you're supposed to live off $100 that week, I really had to watch my expenses with utmost care. Bt this was gonna be my last trek through the South Island! My last trek through NEW ZEALAND! No way was I gonna cancel this. "Screw it", I thought. "Let's do this".

And I'm so glad that I did. It was quite a challenge, but all the more rewarding. The mail boat took me all the way through Queen Charlotte Sound, dropping off mail orders along the way. A few people actually lived on these desolated islands. I was the only guy on the boat that got off there at Ship Cove, some people on the boat seemed a bit surprised, asking me if I was sure about doing this :P "Yes I am, sir", I responded. "Yes I am. Trust me, you've nothing to worry about". And off we went. Back on the tracks!
The walk was fantastic, offering just enough variation from the other walks I'd done so far. Unfortunately, the start didn't quite go as I'd hoped... I had barely been walking for an hour when I came across this sideroad leading to a waterfall up ahead. So I dropped my bag and went to check it out, just to discover that it barely had any water all falling down at all, because of the drought they'd been having. Oh well. So I run back down to resume the track, when I found this little bastard Weka going through all my stuff! What the hell?! My nectarines! No!
I ran to my bag, scared off the annoysome bird to find that it'd pecked through almost every one of my nectarines..! Son of a bitch! I washed them all and ate them on the spot, but I needed those things for the rest of the track... Damnit. "And hey, where's that Bacon&Cheese-loaf anyw-... O God", I thought to myself. "He didn't-...". Oohh yes he diiiid! That bastard!! It took my whole bacon&cheese loaf, I'd been SAVING that thing!!! It VANISHED without a single trace. Not a single crumb was to be found anywhere, I was... Ik was met stomheid geslagen. Niet te geloven.

Now with a slight lack of food, I had to pick up the pace and do the whole track in 3 DAYS instead of 4, which meant that I had to walk 20 to 30 kilometers per day.. This is why this track was such a challenge for me, but I made it eventually! It a tough journey, but I made it. And how. The only way to tell you why, would be the photo's.. :)
At the end of the track, I still had to find a way to get back to Picton, which still was a good 20 kilometers. After having walked this far I wouldn't have minded to walk that little bit further, but there's no fun walking by the wayside. So I just kept walking, only this time with my thumb in the air. Within an hour I was in a campervan heading back toward Picton, eastwardbound.

Last night in Picton. As a level 2 Nomad, I found a better spot to set up my tent this time. A little beach with its own bathroom, with a fantastic view over Picton. I still wasn't allowed to set up my tent here, but. The hell with it. It was too late to take any pictures so I'm afraid that I couldn't show you the view that night, but I sat there for hours. Watching the ferry arrive and leave again, carrying hundreds of lights throught the Queen Charlotte Sounds, was a surreal sight. An amazing last night on the South Island. I sat there thinking about everything this last month had done for me, all the people I'd met, the things I'd seen, the festivals and concerts, the Weka that stole my bread... I smiled and realized: "We're almost there...", as I fell asleep to the sound of the waves crushing into the beach.

The horn of the 9 o'clock ferry woke me up that next morning, as a reminder for my last few hours here on the South Island. When I unzipped the front of my tent, the tears welled up in my eyes as I saw that ferry leave Picton under the brightest rainbow I'd ever seen. The photo hardly shows its real beauty, but it's the best I can give you. I felt like the luckyest guy on earth to be sitting there, on the other side of the world. I was probably the only person in the world that could see that rainbow, as the people in the city itself couldn't see it (due to the angle in which the light is broken). It was like the South Island was saying goodbye to me. Goodbye... <:)
Thinking of the plane I missed back in Auckland, I headed straight for the Ferry terminal, checking in 3 hours in advance. Normally I hate waiting, but I couldn't afford to miss it this time. Explosions in the Sky would be playing in Wellington that night, and I don't know WHAT I would've done if I missed it. Heads would've rolled, mark my words!

I clomb aboard the ferry with the weirdest feeling in my stomache... I couldn't figure out what was causing it until I got up to the deck. These memories really took me by surprise, as they took me back to the ferry from Terschelling 8 months ago...
I'd managed to fend off these memories and their corresponding feelings relatively well these last couple of months, but suddenly everything was right back in my face. Trying to forget about Elise had worked out fairly well for me so far but, here on this boat, I could almost feel her sleeping head on my left shoulder as I stared out into the sea trying to figure out what to do. I was right back there. I remembered how happy I was that summer. All those things we'd done together. That certain look in her eyes she got sometimes that I liked so much. What her body felt like... "I wonder how she's doing", I thought.
All those thoughts, memories and feelings crashed and burned when I remembered why I told myself to stop thinking about it. When I felt that anger boil back up again, I grabbed my iPod and looked up Weezer's "Perfect Situation" again, heard the ferry's horn go off as it set out into Cook Strait. Back to Wellington.

The closer we got to Wellington, the more excited I got. That night, I'd FINALLY get to see Explosions in the Sky again! Finally. Since I spent most of this last month sleeping in my tent, I rarely got the opportunity to charge my iPod. This, leading to a MAJOR lack of music! I'd gotten so hungry for music lately, a good concert was just what I needed.
However, I didn't have a place to stay that night either. I couldn't care about it that at the time, but finding a spot in a city the size of Wellington would prove to be quite a challenge. The first thing I'd try was to spend the night at the backpackers' where I had always stayed sofar. The owner was sure to recognize me... They had this little campground in the back, I'm sure they'd let me set up my tent there just for one night?
But when I got there, the woner wasn't around, having put some bimbo in charge who couldn't allow it :S "He'll be back in the morning", she said. Yeah, that'll help ¬_¬ So I walked back out, went around the building over to that little campground and just put up my tent. If the owner wasn't around anyway, then who's gonna mind, right? With my tent up, I went into the back of the hostel, took my first shower in TWO WEEKS and laughed on my way back out. "Thanks a lot," I thought, "I'm off to my concert!".

The gig just blew my mind. It litterly blew every worry in my mind, but still leaving my eardrums intact, thankfully :P I'd played their music a LOT on those Great Walks this last month, and I visualized myself traversing those mountains to the music. Thought of my whole trip to New Zealand, the whole experience, everything flashed by as I cried of happiness. It was perfect...
In a small venue such as that one (San Francisco Bath House - about 400 people, I think?), the band even got in with the crowd after the gig. I'd been talking to this girl for about an hour after the gig, and just as we were on our way out I snuck up on Munaf & Michael from the back, put my hand on Munaf's shoulder and said "Annnnd I'll see you guys in three months in Amsterdam!!", to which he said "How tall are you?".
Hahahaha, no, just kidding. I had a great little talk with those two and even got to congratulate Eluvium on his fantastic performance. Very modest bunch of guys, and I think/hope they'll remember me next month in Amsterdam AND Groningen ;) We'll see about that.
When I got back to the campground that night, slightly relieved that my tent was still there, I went to brush my teeth to go straight to bed. But with no phone and an iPod with a dead battery, I had no way of telling the time. Now, OR next morning. And I needed to catch the 9 o'clock bus that next morning or I'd have a real problem... So I asked some guy that was still messing about in his car what time it was, not knowing that I'd be spending the next 2 hours in there with him and his girlfriend XD I already recognized that look in his eyes and my suspicion was confirmed when they passed down a joint to me. Yup. Hippies. Apparantly they were at the gig as well that night and especially the guy seemed to've enjoyed it as much as I had. What a night... What a night. I kept on laughing about their funny Irish accents throughout the whole night, it was fantastic :P I can still hear them fighting about the weirdest things. They offered me to come along with them after hearing about my "adventures" but, "Thanks man, but I'm on my last week here already...".

I slept through most of the ride to Hawera that next morning. The driver even recognized me when I got on the bus :P Nice guy. The trip over there takes about 5 hours, but some sleep always helps to speed things up a little bit; I was there before I knew it. My last day in Hawera...
They picked me up from the bus, which was 45 minutes late, but I really enjoyed seeing everyone again. I can honestly say that I'd missed them, Jacob most of all. I wasn't sure if he'd even recognize me anymore but... Well, I guess I should've known better ;) Incredible how much he'd grown in that single month. Dee had organized a little farewell dinner for me with the whole family, Dee's parents and Lincoln's parents. They were all too eager to find out about my travels 'nd spent most of the evening catching up on everything. Most of my NIGHT however, was spent catching up on WORK. This had been piling up since I left and I must say that I quite enjoyed the thought that I was somewhat "needed" here in Hawera ;) Only this time, I was payed for my work! $25 dollars an hour... Not too shabby, ey? And I could use the money, too.
That last morning there, we said our goodbyes, but I had and still have the feeling that I'll be seeing them again. I'm so curious to see what those kids will grow up to be like. I promised Dee they could stay with me whenever they were to come over to the Netherlands when they're my age. That should be interesting.
They also gave me a little farewell-present..! Turned out to be a Jade necklace! The one I'm wearing right now. I was só happy with this thng. I'd already wanted one of those, but you're not "allowed" to buy them for yourself. You're only supposed to receive them as a gift. That Ross I'd met told me that he'd even called up his mom, asking her to transfar some money to him, as a gift, with which he could then buy one of them in form of a gift from his mother :P I had already given up hope on getting one for myself, but. Well, surprise :D

I felt sorry to leave them but, as I said before, I wouldn't be the last time. Dee drove me over to the Airport with the kids, where I'd get on the plane back to Auckland in order to be on time for my concert that night. Interpol! My farewell concert... And the first and last concert I'd ever attend on flip-flops! What on earth was I thinking? :P
Another great night, although the atmosphere in the crowd was not as intense as it was with EitS 2 days ago. Still, it was an appropriate farewell to... To Auckland, to New Zealand and... And to valentine's day? :P No. No, let's just stick to those first two.

My last couple of days in Auckland were spent catching up with my uncle and aunt, who were really helpful with everything. When my time was up, they brought me to the airport once again, on time, saw me off to the gates, and that was that... Almost six months had past since I arrived there on that airport, felt like two weeks. I just couldn't believe it was time to go. That day, I made a promise to myself . A promise that I'd return here one day. It's been a fantastic demonstration of what life has to offer, and there's LOTS MORE where that came from! Where to next? Time will tell... But I'm itching to head back out there.

Some people turn to God to show their gratitude, some people would turn to whoever might've made it possible. Me, I thank *life. I thank life for existing.

And I turn to you, to thank you for reading this long, long update :P Give yourself a hand. Thanks for ~~reading~~ caring. Really :)

Fork in the Road

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:14:52 GMT

Good morning to who ever felt like reading this,

This is the first time I've ever started writing an update so early in the morning, and it's not even weekend.. It's about 9am right now and I should be heading to school in about 3 hours, but I've already decided that I won't be going today. It's just one of those mornings...

I'm not down or depressed or anything, don't get me wrong. It's just one of those 'contemplative mornings' where you wake up as a stranger to your own life and start thinking about your current situation and where it is the hell you think you're going. Y'ever have those mornings?
I've been back home for over a month already and I still haven't even written anything about my last month down in New Zealand. Still, I just felt like writing down some thoughts. Be it here on my space, or in an email to a few friends. And I'll just take a full day to do so, while popping all the bubbles in the isolation plastic of my ordered CD's that arrived yesterday.
Don't worry though, I'll definitely be writing down my adventures ;) I won't give you a date for this anymore though, I've already broken the last 4 deadlines I gave myself... I should know myself better than that. You guys probably do by now.

So what's up?
Well - being back home has been... It's been pretty weird, really. Of course there's the last remaining bit of winter that I had to get used to, coming from summer's peak in New Zealand, but that's the least of my worries. I was expecting to get this big nostalgic feeling when I'd see all these places again, like our orange-benched trains, Amersfoort Central Station, Wolvega... But it didn't happen at all! Arriving in my old room here, that's when I finally felt it. Playing my music on my good old surround sound system really struck something. Finally I could say... "I've missed this place" :)
However, it's the people that really make home feel like home. It's been fantastic being back in my old "social circles". I must admit, being back home had been a slight disappointment, up until my homecoming party and that Saturday night, the day after that. A perfect reminder of what my "old life" was like. Of what home was like. And it felt good :) The only difference was that it now felt like a starting point. A starting point to build from.

Since I've been back home, I've felt this strong urge to... To DO something more with where I'm going. I'm not longer satisfied with "just being". I suppose we all want this, and I guess I always have, but. What I'm saying is... My ideals are clear to me now. I know where I want to go and the only question now, is how to get there.
I guess I'm just getting impatient, but lately I can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm not doing enough with my life.

This morning, I woke up on Pearl Jam's "Given To Fly". This seems to've become one of my favorite traveling songs, it's one of those songs that I'd always like to play while staring out the driving bus' window. I couldn't tell you what this feels like... On the move, off to wherever, with the memories of an amazing Pearl Jam concert with some of your best friends around you. Never have I felt more "on-track" than I have back then, in both senses of the word.
...God, I miss New Zealand.

I want to dedicate my life to living. I want to live my life alive. I've seen a mere fraction of what life has to offer, and it's something worth striving for. To say the least.
In my relatively young life, I've found only three things that can deliver this "sense of living". Live music, travel and - forgive me for sounding so cliché - love... Since this last one never seems to've worked out for me, I've decided to stick with the two that actually make sense. The ones that you can control.

Right now, the only thing that's standing in my way is... Well, in order to properly focus on those two, you'd need - why does everything always come down to this - money! And for that, one would need a job. And for that, one would need an education. And that's where I am right now. And for that education, I'd need patience. Just a little more, we're almost there. In the mean time, I'll have my concerts and festivals to get me through ;)

After that, it's time for the next step: getting a job..! Getting a job. I'd already made up my mind about this at first, but I'm getting some doubts: maybe it would be a better idea to continue my education first? Once I've acquired my diploma for this education that I'm working on right now, I could take it one level higher to what we call HBO, which WOULD make quite a difference in my future paycheck, giving you more opportunities. But... I don't know, a THIRD diploma? 3 more years..? I'd be 25 :x
And then we still have option number three, which is really a combination of the two: get a job and save some money to continue my education abroad! I have yet to look into that, it seems perfect.

It's a really tough decision to make, because after all, it'll affect the rest of my whole life..! This morning, I sorta felt stuck here, I don't know... I should know better, I know. It's easy to lose your sense of control on your situation, but I suppose it's a part of growing up to learn to take some bloody initiative and taking these things in your own hands. You'll never get full control, but you can do the best you can to try and "steer" things your way, disregarding the bumps and holes in the ground.

As I said before: I guess I'm getting impatient. I suppose I shouldn't be too eager to hit the gas. But hey, can you blame me? ;) I've had the most amazing year, having seen the best of all 3 of those aspects of my life I mentioned earlier: the concerts and festivals, combined with my trip to NZ, and... Well, most of you would've read about my summer before I left.
I guess I shouldn't complain. We always want more. And knowing that I've merely seen a fraction of how it could be - Yeah, maybe I should be impatient ;)

You know what, I think I WILL go to school! I have a diploma to obtain. I'll eat my breakfast with that fork in the road.

Take care everyone!

Currently playing: Eddie Vedder - Hard Sun (Into The Wild Soundtrack)

One in a Million

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:26:54 GMT

Hello everyone,

I should already be in bed by now, but I still have a few things I want to write down... This is probably gonna be another late night. But since I'm a bit short on time at the moment, I'd have no other choice but to do it right here and now.
Because those of you who still remember my last update would know what I'm talking about: my time here in Hawera is almost up already! Can you believe it? Because I sure can't. Less than 900 left, here in New Zealand. Tomorrow will be my last day of internship, leaving me with a few hours to clean up my caravan and pack my stuff for my upcoming trip, and then it's off to Wellington that very next morning! Where the fun really begins... I'll be celebrating my freedom with the Kings of Leon, and things will only get better from there on... I can't. fuckin'. wait. I'm actually getting a bit nervous, I didn't think I would be! I haven't felt this nervous since I got on my plane here. ;) Nonetheless, I think I'm really gonna miss this place, and this family...

But let's not get too far ahead of myself. I'll start off with wishing everyone back home a fantastic 2008.
I hope your New Year's Eve was at least as great as mine! Although I kinda doubt it - as mine was pretty hard to surpass ;) Seriously, I would not be exaggerating if I told you that this one has been the very best that I've ever witnessed! Well maybe not "ever", just until now - I still hope to be able to surpass this one, at some point in my life ;) I won't write down such a huge detailed review of the entire festival like I did with my first Lowlands or Pinkpop, but I really need to write down some of the bigger things that happened; I think it's safe to say that I'll never forget it.

The first thing that would need explaining is that the actual New Year's Eve festival, Rhythm & Vines, only lasted 24 hours. 12pm to 12pm. The surrounding campsite however, opened on the 27th and didn't close until the 2nd of January. Meaning I've been up in Gisborne for exactly a week's time. And what a week that's been!
Now, Gisborne is New Zealand's most Eastern city and with that, it's one of the first cities in the world to see the sunrise. On top of that, it also sees the most sunlight of the whole country. What better place to celebrate the New Year? I was one of the first people in the world to enter 2008 this year! And if I was to go down to Hawaiï for next year's New Year's Eve, my 2008 would have lasted exactly 366 days - a day longer... Quite a funny thought, isn't it. Could even reach 367 in a leap year ;)

Anyway... The whole trip just started off perfectly. I was gonna be spending my first night in Taupo, because 340km is quite a distance to be traveling in one day. I'd booked to go parasailing that afternoon and was quite looking forward to this, but I'm afraid this got cancelled due to the weather... Quite a shame really, because the weather really did look quite good! ...If it wasn't for that big hailstorm that followed. :x A bit of a disappointment, but this was fully compensated in the evening! I got to see the Black Seeds yet again! I've already seen them twice, but they still managed to blow me away yet again! AMAZING show! This was the first of their New Years tour, and with this, I was also one of the first to hear some of their new songs. GREAT stuff, the guys back home would've loved it..
I met a few fellow-Europeans at this gig who'd never even heard of the Black Seeds, but I was proud to tell'm I'd already seen them twice and that they were in for quite a surprise... I actually felt proud of "my guys". They absolutely loved it.
But here's the best part!! After the gig I managed to work my way backstage and had a good word with Daniel and the rest of the whole band, do you believe that?! :D Even shared a pipe with them all. I had a blast... They really seemed to appreciate my presence there that night, and even let me in on a little inside information: they're coming back to Amsterdam this year! Hahaaa :D
So yeah, guys? If you're reading this; we're going!!

A great start of a great week... That next day I took the bus to Rotorua, spent about 2 hours there and had my lunch in a tree in the park (yes Hannes, in a tree!). Was quite funny too, some Dutch people walked and one of them goes: "Ey kijk, 'zit een gast in die boom" - "Wat?" - " 'Gast zit in een boom!". Letterlijk wat ze zeiden! :P Keken wel even vreemd op toen ik reageerde "En lekker dat't zit!". Lachen man.
From there on, it was on to Gisborne. The bus was already packed with other Rhythm&Vines-attendees, which made for a great atmosphere in the bus. 3 hours later we arrived at our destination and I already made my first festival-buddies. Me and two girls I met on the bus worked our way to the main campsite, but these girls were real stereotypical women: terrible sense of direction and WAY overpacked! Helped them out with both of these issues but they were on a different campsite... Ow well!

After that, I went to my own campsite, set up my tent, and moved right on to the festival area, where the Opening Ceremony was taking place! I was quite eager to try out my newfound photography-knowledge to get some good concert-shots. And I did, but... Well, one the most important things I've learned about photography, is that experience comes first. I don't want to let those photo's cost me my experience of the gigs, y'know? Or whatever you're shooting - enjoy it first, photo's come afterwards. I've already decided that I'm not gonna be taking any photo's of bands that I really like. Even when you leave the camera in your backpack - you feel... Almost handicapped! You take up almost twice as much space with that thing on your back, and you can forget jumping!
I always see this certain friend of mine taking photo's at many of the same gigs where I go to. Cosmo Vloedbeld. My respect for this man has doubled, ever since I tried concert photography. Especially when you're in a jumping, moshing, crowd-surfing or beer-throwing crowd... It's a nightmare!

With this in mind, I decided to "evacuate" my camera, halfway throughout the concert. Took it back to my tent, dropped it off, and as I was about to head back, I noticed my neighbors were playing Queens of the Stone Age! So I thought, what the heck, why not join them for a few minutes? And I'm so glad I did, they turned out to be a great bunch of guys. Quite generous with their beer that night, we really had a great time. I spent the rest of my whole week with these guys and they kindof reminded me of my guys back home, actually! Except for one of them, he just kept reminding me of "Billy the Kid" from The Green Mile. You know who I'm talking about! He talked almost the exact same way, especially when he was drunk :P Which happened to be the case on more than one occasion.
"Barbecuuueee! Me and yoouu. Stinky pinkyy, pew pew peeww..."
On the second day I mostly spend the day getting acquainted with everyone around. By the end of the day, half the bloody campsite knew me as "Jesus" or "André" (André the Giant). Oh, and "Lion Man" by some other group, because of my manes ;) I was a bit hesitant about going to a multi-day festival on my own, but I think that it was exactly this, that made this whole festival for me. If I'd gone with anyone I knew, then I probably would've stuck with them most of the time, but... No, being on my own really made it a completely different experience - in the best way possible!

The third day was almost even better than Rhythm&Vines itself... So many different experiences, met so many different kinds of people, in a city I've never been before, on the other side of the world. I had a good chat with some guys who turned out to be the security for the festivals over breakfast, then headed off to the beach and on to the city where I jumped off the railway bridge into the bright blue river. No better way to wake up in the morning. Dried up in the sun for an hour and followed the rails to a restaurant next to the harbour where I enjoyed a wonderful blueberry-banana-muffin with a banana smoothie on the patio overlooking the harbor while they were playing Jack Johnson on the speakers. Great summer music bringing up a few memories. After that I went up the hill just on the edge of the city, with an amazing view over the ocean and the city...
On my way back to the campsite, I followed the rails back to the beach past a hotel when I heard someone going "Hey sexeeeyyy!" from one of the balconies. "You got any juices you wanna put in us?!". I look up to where the sound is coming from and two girls on a balcony staring back at me. "Excúse me?!" I reply, surprised and confused.
"You wanna come up here?"
I couldn't believe my ears..! What the hell?! Most guys reading this right now would declare me insane for this, but...
"Tchah! Sorry, I don't think so.." I said, as I kept on walking.
I could barely finish that sentence or the other one already went "We're on room 308!".
"Look, why don't you go back inside, huh?"
"Why don't you go inside?"
(...WHAT?! XD)
"...Sorry, I'm just not like that okay? Just keep looking for someone a bit more shallow to pass by"
"There's four of us!" the second one persisted. I just waved my hand without turning around, following the railroad tracks. Confused... What the hell just happened?

It really got me thinking though... Most guys would never understand what the hell was the matter with me, turning down something like that, while most DECENT women wouldn't expect you to do any different. I was also a bit surprised by my own reaction - I loved the fact that these (let's be honest..) really attractive women invited me up there, but a part of me even almost felt... insulted..! Just how shallow do you think I am? Or am I just making too big of a deal out of this? Should love come with meaning?
I didn't get to think about it for too long; as I was strolling along the beach, back toward my campsite, I found two of my neighbors digging a big hole on the beach... Yeah, some 20-year-old guys digging a hole, hoping to fill it with water... I laughed at them at first, but it didn't take long before I was right next to them - digging for Hell, we didn't really know WHAT we were digging for! And the funny thing is, I really enjoyed it! I haven't dug a hole in over a decade, I think. I just felt good, and it was a nice activity to be doing while talking about all sorts of things. Of course I couldn't help but bring up what just had happened and at least one of them, Kelham, seemed to understand. I was really quite pleased with that... I've had that discussion with quite some people by now (about love and it's meaning, or the lack thereof) and not many people my age seem to know better.
After having dug for about an hour, the other two decided to go and buy some actual SHOVELS! For some real digging - they had some big plans with this hole, apparently :P Must say it felt pretty weird, standing in the hardware store looking for shovels and a big bucket with which we could fill the hole with water :P It was like we were buying some mature sandpit toys! But yeah, they went through with it :P Didn't get very long until we headed back to the campsite to finish the hole some other day. When I got back on the campsite, people started yelling "Jesus" already and of course I had to make a little round through the campsite ;) It was quite interesting to see all these different kinds of people that this festival attracted; you had the beer-drinkers, the hippies, the jocks, the hip-hop-gangsters & maori's, the travelers, the arrogant hot-chicks and... Well there were barely any people who were just there for the music, really..! Which can be a bit of a bad sign, if you ask me, but I found a few of them. The best part though, was that I somehow managed to appeal with all these different kinds of people! The rugby players seem to like me because of my height (Fuck, you're tall..!!), the hippies like me for the hair (Do you guys have emo's?), the gangsters like me because of my nationality (Amsterdam?! 'You smoke pot over there?!)... Even those arrogant "hot-chicks" seemed pretty interested, which was a bit of a surprise but that interest just wasn't mutual. Arrogance is one of the biggest turn-off's for me, but the strange thing is - the more of an uninterested dick I was toward them, the more questions they started asking :S

Some guys even built this pretty impressive tipi! Had to go have a word with these guys of course, and before I knew it I was sitting inside it with them and this turned out to be quite an interesting experience... Does anyone know what a "bucket" is? Just another one of those things that made this day so incredible; so many different kinds of influences, it was amazing. Eventually I decided just to walk back to the beach to try and process everything that'd happened in this one day. Rather lightheaded, I sat down near the hole we dug that afternoon and within 30 minutes I was staring at the most amazing sunset that I've seen in a long time...
And as I was sitting there, I saw all different kinds of people having a great time with that very hole that we'd been digging that afternoon. A father and his son were having some great fun with it, followed by 3 drunk guys who started running circles in it (looked pretty funny :P). Later a mother couldn't seem to get her son to willingly come out of that hole and... Aah, it was great. It really felt great to watch those different people have so much fun with... With that pointless hole we dug. I can still see those 3 guys running circles in it, with that amazing sunset behind them. They were really having a ball :P
It wasn';t until this moment that I really stood still about the fact that... I mean, here I was, on the other side of the world, about to finish off 2007 on a mid-summer night on a festival, right next to the beach, meeting so many people and... Just everything that'd happened that day - and still so many other things to look forward to. Couldn't help but feel so incredibly lucky... Lucky, and alive :)

The remaining days of the festival were spent in that same fashion; you get burned out of your tent, get back to life with the neighbors, jump off the railway bridge, have breakfast with a brownie and a banana smoothie (better combination), hanging out at the beach with who ever, and finish the day off with some bands playing! That's life, man!!
At this rate, it wasn't long until the 31st was already there. Rhythm&Vines itself was held at a different site, on a vineyeard. AMAZING venue! 4 stages hidden between some hills and vineyards... Really something else. I got there at about 5pm, and from 6 until midnight I... I danced my socks off, moshed my head off, broke up a fight between two guys in the moshpit, kissed some random girl whose name I didn't even know flat on the lips, witnessed my first "death circles", lost a tickle-fight against two other girls... And that was just ONE of the concerts: the Mint Chicks! I had a blast :D
Before midnight, I headed over to the "Forrest Stage", a new stage in the middle of a small forest. A lovely pine-smell and an amazing looking stage: they had like this big carpet hanging from a few trees as a ceiling... I saw two bands here: the Ben Throp Trio and Jakob, which had been my initial reason to even GO to R&V in the first place. That first band was a HUGE surprise, they were SO GOOD! And there was actually some decent room to dance - I LOVED that venue!!!
Jakob was going to be ending that stage and it was just amazing... Some of you might know how much I love Explosions in the Sky, this is like the New Zealand version of them. Was amazing live, and somewhere halfway through their gig, the sky just lit up with fireworks. Almost everyone was at the main stage at the main countdown and there were barely a hundred people left watching Jakob. JUST the people that really knew their music and really wanted to be there. MY kind of people! I couldn't have thought of a better place to be. (well, home maybe, but... Aahh you know what I mean!!) They had a bit of a speech when the fireworks started and they just resumed playing afterwards. I turned around and watched the fireworks through the trees, while still under the spell of that amazing music, it just felt perfect... Perfect. After the fireworks, as they were building up to one of their harder songs, I felt all memories and emotions from this last year building up with it and I just... I just lost it. The good and the bad; everything that'd happened with Elise this (that) year, the loss of my grandfather, my being here in New Zealand, Lowlands, Pinkpop, all the other concerts this year - everything just got blended into the music as I was absorbed in with it. It was wild.

Then, after the gig, some girl walked up to me asking if I "was that guy from last.fm who's... ...q... I don't know how to pronounce it". It was someone I'd spoken on last.fm and she recognized me from my avatar, apparently ;P Great surprise! I really love how internet is adding this whole new dimension to travel and meeting people. Last.fm has been invaluable to me here in New Zealand and I'm loving what it's done for me so far. I spent the rest of the night with that girl, Palay, dancing and talking... That's just what I was still missing about the whole thing, you know? I'd been meeting so many people, but actually getting to know someone... That's a different story. It really completed my whole R&V-experience... We eventually called it a night at about 5:30 in the morning, when her friends seemed pretty eager to go home ;P 'lotta people just fell asleep in the hammocks or in the grass by then. For me, the fatigue didn't really kick in until I was waiting for the bus in this huge line. No good looking sundawn that morning, I'm afraid, but that DID bring the advantage of just being able to get some sleep in the morning without being burned out of your tent again.
I spent that last day and night jsut cruising around Gisborne for a bit, for the last time. Say goodbye to the people at my lovely smoothie-restaurant, and to that amazing city. I also managed to shoot one of my best photo's yet on this night, I'll add them later! I'm SO proud of it! You'll see what I mean...
That night, as I was walking down that beach, I found some people about to make a good beach fire. They're forbidden, so I kinda missed that part, but hey... Last night in Gisborne for everyone... What're you gonna do? It was a perfect ending to a perfect week... A lot of people came to sit around the fire, music playing on some speakers that one of the people brought, even some old fireworks with it... I couldn't have wished for much more.

Well! I have about 3.5 hours of sleep left right now, I should call it a night! 5:15am right now... Damn! It was worth it though :)

Just keep in mind; I'll be off the radar again from this upcoming FRIDAY, the 11th of JANUARY. I'll barely even be checking my email while I'm on the road, so... Well, wish me luck :) And I'll see everyone in about a month!! 22nd of February... Won't be long now! Time flies ;)

Good night everyone! Thanks for checking in on me.
~Cheers

Living Out Loud

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 13:10:13 GMT

Good day everyone!
55 days to go and exactly a month after my last update, I thought it'd be about time to write a new one. But the timing isn't the only reason that I'm writing this right now; I've actually got a few announcements to make! And, unlike these last two updates, it's good news! In fact, that's quite a bit of an understatement - it's fuckin'GREAT, that's what it is!!

Right, so what's the big deal?
Well, with the end of the year coming so close, so is the end of my internship... January 11th. And with my plane not leaving until the 16th of February, it means that my "month of freedom" is almost here as well! I'd actually already expected time to go this fast, so I started planning a bit early. Which is quite unlike me ;) (nog 'ns wat anders dan "Wuahhh, komt wel goed") I think it's also got something to do with the holidays drawing close... I must admit that I have been getting a little homesick from time to time, and especially the idea of being alone on Christmas was not a very pleasant thought. I'm sure you can imagine. Fortunately, I won't be! It seems that my host-family here was even expecting me to be there! An offer I couldn't refuse. I still can't believe their generosity...

But I've found that the perfect cure against this home-sick-ness, is planning! That's right; planning. It's the best reminder you can get, to remind you just what the hell you're doing down here on the other side of the world. Every time that I felt that feeling pop up (quite often on a Sunday-morning, I've noticed...), I just grabbed my "travel-bible" the Lonely Planet to look around and discover New Zealand, right from my kingsize bed. Does miracles, I tell you.
And there's a lot involved with that planning! More than you'd think. With such a vast country at your fingertips, the whole thing soon becomes a huge maze of... Of total awesomeness :P It's just so hard to decide on what you want to do, what you can do and what you've got time for. I've got about a full month for the whole South Island... A South Island may not sound like much, but please bear in mind that it's still almost 4 times the size of the Netherlands. (and only just over 1 million inhabitants - most people live here up North... So much for balance)

Right, so... What's the big deal?!
Hang on, man, I'm getting to it! Jesus.
The thing is, it didn't just stick to planning! After I'd made up my mind about everywhere that I wanted to go, I could move on to defining a route through the country, and from there on you set dates to the places... It's been quite a consuming task, but eventually figured out the perfect route. But here comes the best part:

Ladies and gentlemen - with pride I would like to announce that, as of yesterday, my FULL TRIP is completely booked and payed for!! Everything is taken care of, and all I have to do now is WAIT. Which isn't easy, trust me on that one ;) But it's a great feeling, it really is. Just knowing what I'm in for, it brings a certain kind of confidence. As far as transport is concerned, I'm fully covered. Way up until Amsterdam.
It's gonna be quite an expensive month for me, but I can already tell you that it's gonna be the most amazing month of my life. Up until now, that is. I still hope to exceed it even further in the future, of course ;) I know it sounds a bit rash, but just let me explain how I came to this conclusion. Let me explain my plans.

Have a good look at my route! I've spent a lot of time making that, explaining all the details and adding everything. It's a perfect way of showing you folks back home where I'll be going. It's also helped me get a perfect overview of everything. I'll explain it step by step... Please note that the placemarks on the left are not in the right order; they go by numbers. I'll explain in the right order.

It all starts right here in Hawera. It's the bright green pushpin.

Wellington (Kings of Leon)
Auckland (The National and Big Day Out)
(then way down to the South Island...)
Invercargill
The Catlins / Curio Bay
Invercargill
Stewart Island
Te Anau
Kepler Track
Te Anau
Queenstown (Bungyjump!)
Fox Glacier
Punakaiki (Pancake Rocks)
Abel Tasman National Park (Skydive!)
Picton
Queen Charlotte Track
Picton
(annnd back up to the North Island...)
Wellington (Explosions in the Sky)
Hawera (farewell-dinner with everyone)
Auckland (Interpol)

Instead of writing everything down here, you can just view a detailed description of every stop, just by clicking on the corresponding placemark! I've even added pictures and everything, I don't know a better way to share it with you guys - YET. Just wait 'til you see the photo's when I get back! Most of you seem to've quite enjoyed the photos that I made so far; you ain't seen nothin'yet! The best is yet to come ;)

But that's not all! Nooo, there's even more! This is all still a few weeks away, but... Well, you might already have noticed that smaller turquoise route - that's my Christmas holiday! That trip will start RIGHT after Christmas: this Wednesday (26th) I'll be heading off to Taupo for a day of Parasailing (:D) on the lake, and finish off the day with The Black Seeds - AGAIN! After that it's on to Gisborne, where the party REALLY gets started! I mentioned Rhythm & Vines in my last update - that's on New Year's Eve, but the campsite party starts on the 27th already... A full week of camping with 9000 other R&V-attendees - my kind of people... ;)
Gisborne actually had an earthquake just 2 days ago, by the way! Quite a big one too: a 6.8 on Richter, causing a few buildings to collapse but only a few people got hurt. It's been on the news throughout the world, but I don't think the Netherlands payed much attention to it. A few people from America and Canada emailed me afterwards to see if I was okay, very thoughtful.. :)
The Rhythm&Vines site states the following: "GISBORNE ROCKED WITH THE 6.8 EARTHQUAKE BUT RHYTHM & VINES WILL ROCK EVEN MORE...". Yeheaahh.

For planning purposes, I've put everything down in my calendar as well. Every concert, every activity, every trip, every bus, flight & ferry is in there. (Nee Ferry, jou bedoel ik niet) You can click any event for details. So now everyone back home can see exactly WHERE I'll be, and WHEN! It's perfect! Keep in mind that all times mentioned are in NZ's timezone ;)

If you have a good look at that calendar, you might notice a little extra... The very last part is already part of my planning for back home! Now, I know some of you will call me insane for this but... I'm gonna have a homecoming-concert! ...A FEW HOURS AFTER MY ARRIVAL!! XD
That's right! As you can see in that calendar of mine, I'll be arriving on Schiphol at 17:55. Let's say check-out would last about an hour, 10 minutes trainride to Amsterdam... En dan DIRECT DOOR NAAR DE MELKWEG!! Hahaaaa, I'm loving this... the Mad Caddies just happen to be playing in Amsterdam on the very evening after my arrival. It's gonna be a close call and I might even miss the start of the gig, but I don't care. There's no better way to celebrate my homecoming ;) I just have to figure out what I'm gonna do with my luggage, but I'm sure we'll figure something out.

So yeah, everyone who's planning to come pick me up is invited to this concert! :D It would mean SO MUCH to me to have some more friends there... One of my favorite gig-friends, Mat, is going either way and was even so kind to buy my ticket for me, but... Please join me! Even if you barely know the band, even if you don't go to concerts as often as I do, it's VERY accessible music and we'd just make it a night to remember :)

Whoever can't make it on that particular night, I would EXPECT you to be on my homecoming party! I've explained this before, I really want EVERYONE here! Y'hear me? EVERYONE! Both local and long-distance friends. My guys, the other 2 local hippie groups (inclusief Elise & Sebas..), my concert-friends, school friends, Marieke, Randolf, Emiel, Tienkamp, Daniëlle, Iteke, Zuriël... Renske&Daniël, ook jullie zijn nog uitgenodigd :) Bring a friend, het kan er allemaal wel bij! THIS IS GONNA BE BIG, PEOPLE! :D Nieuw Zeeland moet helaas vroeg of laat wel tot een eind komen, maar dat hoeft niet direct ook een eind aan de pret te betekenen ;)
Now, we already had a slight lack of chairs/space at my farewell-party, but I'm considering to do it in Scherpenzeel this time. People could even spend the night that way, especially people from longer distances. We'd just have to figure somethin'out for transport, OR just stuff it into my place anyway. We'll figure something out!

So mark it down! Friday, the 22nd of February. Keep that date free and do what ever you have to to make it there. I really hope to see you all then :)

That's it for now. I still had some other things I wanted to mention, but I'll save those for later. And don't forget; I'll be off the radar from December 26th until the 3rd of January. I'm still phone-less, so I'm afraid that I really wouldn't be able to call or be called :( I'm getting a new phone soon, but I don't think I'll have it by New Year's Eve... Just think of me around noon on the 31st - I'll already have entered 2008 ;)

I hope you all have a great Christmas and an even better 2008... 'm sorry I won't be able to celebrate it with any of you this time, but I'll be there for 2009. I promise :)

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From New Zealand