I arrived past midnight in Auckland, and then woke up nice and early the next day to grab a coach down to Rotorua. I had this big smile on my face, the sun was pouring through the windows and I was sun bathing in the rays and cruising along taking in the greenness of the sights…. and slumped exhausted across two seats. Sort of tired from everything.. you know?

New Zealand is known by the Maori (local people) as the land of the long white cloud and there was not a cloud to be seen the entire time. There’s a pervading smell of bad eggs in Rotorua – it’s actually the sulphur from all the bubbling pools, mud and geothermal activity in the area. It’s everywhere, steam, bubbling mud, and hot ground and streams (sulphur smelling) trickling into the lake. I was super lucky (again) when I picked up my rental car, not only did the lovely lady let me take it early, I got a VW Polo (Golf) – it’s got a pretty decent engine for a small car. Her husband was telling me, “It’s got treptronic” “What?”"Triptronic”   Basically it means the car can be shifted from auto to sports (manual mode). It’s a nifty piece of technology, which sadly I didn’t test out, but Rototrua has some great windy and smooth roads for driving. So happy..

Kitted out in a great car, weather was sunny, went for a Maori Cultural evening and dinner where I feasted on the most delicious and fresh seafood (oysters! mussels! prawns!), chicken, pork, lamb, bread, sweet potato cooked in volcanic steam, buffet salad, desert, soup…possibly the best seafood chowder I have ever had, finishing off the night watching geysers in the night with a cup of hot chocolate. I was happy. Full of food and super happy. Haka was good too, you may have seen it from Rugby. The Rugby World Cup is in Auckland in 2 weeks, all of Auckland is going mad for it – here’s the Haka

The next morning, the weather was still perfect to walk in the redwood forest – I found it amazing with blue (because of the volcanic silica in the water) lakes and huge redwood trees. Hopped in the car to find the “Hidden Valley” , which is this place where the BBC filmed some shots from “Walking with the dinosaurs” – it might not have lived up  to the hype (after building it up in my head) and the main publicity shot was actually taken from a geothermic cave pool where we weren’t allowed to go into. The pool was also a lot smaller than they made it look… so I hopped over the barrier and took a look. All I can say is that the pool is nice, with very clear warm water. I know this because the water is so clear I put one foot into it. There are signs everywhere not to wander off the path, there are a lot of bubbling pools, heat and sulphur. Definitely not something you’d see everywhere.

Rotorua is gorgeous, there’s just this violent volcanic feeling about it, the oversized forests, the Maori culture, yet gentle with the green rolling hills and the friendly people and the honey. New Zealand honey is DELICIOUS by the way. I fully regretted not having check in luggage. I am going to hunt down Kiwi honey now, it was so… just… amazing. Just amazing honey. I am still thinking about that honey ice cream.

Back in Auckland that evening, I was surprised by a Taiwanese Night Market in the Town Square, lots of food stalls and yum Chinese food, games, drinks. The next day I was off to Rangitoto, an island off Auckland, which was, you guessed it, formed by a volcanic eruption. It was a really quick trip overall, I didn’t get to go to the volcanic spa in Rotorua because I ran out of time, I didn’t get to go to Queenstown either (which apparently got 15 inches of snow the week before). But I love New Zealand, will definitely be back for more!

Hope all’s well where you are,

Shi.

Went to Hanging Rock, which is this rocky outcrop with lots of spaces, cracks, gaps to play with In essence, just like a bunch of giant’s boulders sticking out of the ground. You can climb over (ignoring the signs all around telling you not to climb on the rocks) or under – which is a surprise on its own. Underneath there are some amazing mossy chambers, pierced by shafts of daylight, under the rocks. Climbing on the rocks are fun, but some rocks just become sheer drops down … and down and down… There were lots of families out today, a disproportionate number were extended Indian families – I noticed the same thing when I visited the waterfalls outside of Sydney, must be a cultural thing.

But even when it gets hectic, there are a lot of nice and high rocks to climb and sit on the top of, to enjoy the view and the sun. And between the climbing, a lot of silly moments, like when someone decided to test superglue on shoes still attached to their owners – you can see the results in the photo collage.

Big love x

Shi.

heya,

it’s been more than a month that I’ve been in melbourne and I still think that the weather in this city is crazy, it can be sunny in the morning, then suddenly misty and raining and grey… just like this Sunday :p

So this weekend was quite fun, actually it’s a long weekend because monday is the labor day holiday so the city of melbourne has a moomba festival! Basically shops, rides, and a parade on monday Also there was “affordable” trapeze lessons so I finally got to swing, grab the bars with my knees, swing back and catch on the other end! Soooo happy when I finally managed to do it! I was trying to go too quickly because I was worried I’d miss the bar – and instead this stuffed up the swing – so in trapeze it’s about the flow…. hm, there’s probably a life lesson in this

There was lots of live music also, some good indie/acoustic bands, silent disco, stuff for the young ones in the daytime, pet-a-reptile tent, waterski competition running all day, also one competition where people dress up as birds or flying machines to “fly” off a pier? ehhh I didn’t manage to wake up for that. I’m guessing that they flew (or fell with style) into the river.

We watched the festival fireworks on sunday night on the roof of some building – I’m reminiscing about the times watching fireworks with friends on the roof top, I wonder if everyone always sneaks up the fire escape to the water tank / flat roof of the building? I guess everyone has memories like that, which is why indie films try to duplicate those, haha.. But the fireworks were great, even more amazing view. And yes, some of us had a better view than most of us ( look at night view carefully :p )

And of course the monday parade! The only thing better than watching a parade is…. watching your friends, in funny costumes, doing funny things, on floats in the parade! Like wearing white shirts and trousers, pretending to chop a fake tree… HAHAHAHAHHAHAA

So, as I sit here feeling happy about making the trapeze catch.. I hope that you had a good weekend.

x

Shi.

Ok, so not everyone wears vintage “everything” in Melbourne, but one thing is for sure, Melbournians are immensely self-assured that in the national Australian stakes of “cultural coolness”, they rank up there. Culture is not the only thing cool about Melbourne, I’ve had the distinct displeasure of experiencing Melbourne’s infamous 4-seasons-in-a-day weather – on any given day it can be sunny in the morning, rain in the afternoon, windy in the evening… But of course anyone who’s lived in London can tell you it could be worse, because at least the sun comes out in Melbourne! If Australian cities were named by colors, then Perth would be a sun-bleached white, Sydney a glimmery sea blue and Melbourne a leafy green. It’s not just the domes and arches of the Victorian architecture, the abundant rolling lawns and old trees, but also, yes, its people – leggings are the order of the day, signature jewellery, hair piled in a loose buns high on women’s heads…can you tell that I’m intrigued by the je ne sais quoi of the Melbournians?

As for transport, Melbourne has a quaint tram system, which I think is great! Trams pass often with a happy ding dong ( not so good when I’m trying to sleep :p ) and through the main points in town, but a lot of locals cycle or skate (because they are cooler that way) I’m living on the edge of the CBD, Lygon Street (which is known as the main Italian cafes/restaurant street) and very close to the Melbourne cemetary – so, it’s work, eat, sleep…and then you’re dead? Or something like that.

So, I’m in Melbourne right now, job hunting and I’m hoping that this stay will be a little more permanent. 2011 will be an interesting year for sure. Big love to all of you who made 2010 bearable. My Australian number +6140XXXXXXX

Also happy chinese new year! I hope that this year of the rabbit finds you plenty of cash-filled red packets!

x

Shi

I have to be honest, my brain is, right now, shrunk to the size of a peanut – prognosis? Too much beach, sun, beach, fun… helllloooooo Perth Western Australia! The beaches here are amazingly beautiful, white sand, cool clear water… The routine is pretty much, rock up to the beach, spread out beach towel (in my case, cover myself with beach towel), jump into water, come out, dry out, do beach stuff, swim again, dry out, head home, head out again at night…

Perth isn’t a London or a Barcelona for the cultural activities or nightlife (depending on what your idea of nightlife is)…

But hey, it’s been pretty darned good. Have had some boys’ toys to play with, like:

Ducati : I thought I was going to die

Jetski: Much better, because I was driving ^^

Kitesurf: No board for me, I got dragged across the sand, haha..

I’ve been spending 50% time with Australians and 50% time with Europeans, I don’t even know how… there are a lot of Europeans here on working holiday visas, all trying to extend their stay with fruit picking or employer sponsored.. The beach bum lifestyle is pretty surreal, hey…

Now, I’m going to rest my brain, have leftover sausages from the Australia Day barbeque last night, drink plenty of fluids… and errrr… probably go to the beach later today to ummm… rest? Did I mention how beautiful the beaches are here?

see ya

Shi