Kia ora from Aetearoa !!!! I'm back in the land of the long white cloud ! And cloudy it was....It poured down yesterday morning on the busride from the airport to Auckland Central Backpackers ….But still had some stunning views on the Auckland/Manukau harbour and the ocean on the busride into town anyway (this time I knew where to get out of the bus, so no double rounds this time ;-) and I just couldn't stop a big grin appearing on my face. This might become my "home" country. Weird feeling, but it also felt kinda good.

Had 3 smooth fligths, and I preferred my 2 stopovers at Heathrow and Los Angeles over the 6 hour one in Los Angeles last year. I actually start to like the whole 'flying in an airplane-thingy' ! I could actually feel the plane "float"in the air during the landing procedure (when they almost stop the engines), and I suddenly realised why people want to become a pilot. The feeling of really flying was great (yeah, I know, bit late to realise that a plane actually flies, haha, surprise surprise) !!!! Just 3 minutes of turbulence on the whole trip, and no clammy hands anymore. Well, OK, taking off at Amsterdam was a bit scary (just a tiny little bit) after a year without any flights, but during the next take-offs the butterflies in my stomach were gone. And landing is the cool part ! I filmed the whole landing at London, check the video if I'm able to upload it. So cool to fly through all those clouds and suddenly see the whole world becoming bigger again.

My flight from Amsterdam to London was really short, just 40 minutes in the air . Bought a drink at Heathrow and I didn't have to collect my bags, so I just went to the gate for the next flight. London to Los Angeles was 11 an hour flight, but you get loads of foods and drinks, and I love the Air NZ entertainment system. Watched a documentary about the NZ SAS, about the selection course, really impressive, and I missed my army job already... I solved the Rubiks cube, well, with the downloaded solution at hand... And you can check out where the plane is in 3D on your videoscreen at all times, really cool. The pilot was a great tourguide: we had to look to the right and we could see a Canadian airplane overtaking us not that far away, we could almost wave to the passengers !

It took me about half an hour to collect my luggage at LA and get through customs again, so no complaints about the Americans at all. They actually said: "Goedendag"to me !!! The good thing about the flight from LA to Auckland is that it is a nightflight, so you're expected to sleep, and time just goes faster that way. It's almost 13 hours, and my legs started to hurt from sitting down that long, but the stiffness from the Airborne march was all gone as soon as I landed in Auckland. I still kinda limped on Heathrow and LAX, haha, but I succeeded in walking the 25 k instead of the 15 on saturday. At 10 k I got a sore foot again, but I think that's the point my body started to make endorphines as well...one big natural high.Well, something like that, as long as you keep walking you're fine. But it did hurt to get out of the car after the drive back to the base. Like all your muscles are shortened by 10 cm...Anyway, marching was a great way to relax the day before flying out, and a great way to "end"my military reserves career (for now). Hooked on walking now I suppose...

At NZ customs I got a stamp in my passport...and they did something funny, they actually wrote "Permit to WORK" in my paspport instead of Permit to visit !!! Mmm, well it's not my fault, and I don't think it's actually legal for me to work only because they made a mistake at customs . I guess they check with immigration when you start working anyway ,and I explicitly applied for a visitor visa at their office. But it might be a good sign ! Too bad it's not America, I could sue immigration for making a mistake, and force them to give me Residency to make it up (",) !

After arriving at the hostel I just chilled till I could check in, took a shower and went for a stroll down Queenstreet. Had some great views at Viaduct Harbour....can't wait to get out of the big city already. Bought some drinks and ate some chicken noodle soup at a foodcourt for just 7 dollars. I wasn't really hungry, and started to crash down. The funny thing bout jetlag is that you think you're feeling allright and then suddenly it hits you. Fell asleep at 8 pm. I've got 2 Danish girls in the room who were suffering from jetlag as well, so we all went to bed the same time. And I feel much better now !

En voor de nieuwsgierigen onder ons (in Dutch): heb al contact gehad met mijn favoriete Kiwi, kon het natuurlijk toch niet laten om te sms-en dat ik weer terug ben ;-)))). Hij is net zaterdag vertrokken uit Auckland, is nu in Rotorua. Hebben elkaar dus net gemist. Hij is over ongeveer 2,5 week weer hier, als ze hem niet weer meer dan 1 rondje Zuid laten doen.Ben benieuwd.

So I'm just gonna take it easy in Auckland for now. Get over the jetlag ,do some sightseeing, apply for jobs, check the local newspapers, contact job agencies etcetera. And I haven't been up North yet, so I can always do that with Stray when the citylife starts to freak me out. Or head to Raglan to chill and surf. The most scary thought is that I get bored in a few weeks/days because I don't have a job. So it might be a good idea to do some homework in Auckland (contact employers, apply for jobs), then do some travelling (maybe another Stray tour) and then start volunteering at OPC in Turangi (outdoorcentre) while networking and applying for jobs. I'm really looking forward to having some kind of "home", just a steady place for a while. We'll see....

It's such a weird feeling to be here again. Happy to be back, curious what's gonna happen and what I'm gonna do, and slightly nervous because I haven't planned anything. I can actually do whatever I want. Scary !!!!But really, travelling to the other side of the world is NOT a big deal at all. I absolutely prefer this over all the busrides to Austria last winter. But being here is scary......haha. But after last nights sleep I feel way more relaxed. Just gonna take it easy, I've got nothing to proof. Go with the flow......Look after you all, hope to hear from you all soon ! Love, Marlikiwi