For those in GMT+1 it still takes a couple of hours before 2006 is officially over and the year 2007 starts, for those a couple of hours ahead it might already be 2007 and for those a couple of hours behind it takes a little longer.
A lot happened since the last update, I've moved back to The Netherlands and well, the rest is very pleasant but not really important for all of you ;-P
I just want to take the opportunity to to wish you all a very good 2007 and make all the best of it!
Cheers,
Murf
Well, basically to whom it might ever concern. (Who is still reading this log anyway?) Really a lot has changed since we both came back home. I (Murf) had exactly 2 jobs, and am now working as a helpdesk employee at a small ISP in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Nicky is studying Interior Design in Utrecht and is back with her old boyfriend Wijnand.
But the main reason why I write yet another entry is that on april 1st I'm emigrating, to Ireland. To work as a InfoVista consultant and basically do what I like most, travelling around and working with computers and people. For that reason I've written some articles in English on my normally dutch weblog and I'll continue writing some articles in English and some in Dutch on that log. So for those interested, feel free to have a look at my old personal log, YadaYadaYada.nl.
Grtz,
Murf
1 June 2005
AO7829 Sydney (10.15) - Den pasar (14.30) 6.15 min flight
1 Juli 2005
CX784 Den Pasar (16.00) - Hong Kong (20.45) 4.45 min flight
2 Juli 2005
CX271 Hong Kong (00.05) - Amsterdam (06.40) 12.35 min flight
Everybody happy?
Nicky has just finished uploading a shitload of new pictures... For all of you interested, they're at their regular location: http://gallery.somewheresouth.net/. Or in this case, more precise, in the april album.
CYA!
Murf & Nicky
Lot's off stuf I forgot to tell in our roundtrip from Cairns-Cookie-P.D.-Cairns. Now uploaded in the little piece underneath the story. Next to that also a lot op April photo's. And the big update will be round about in 2 days, because we are to lazy today ;-)
Almost everytime Nicky and I are somewhere where they guess which country we're coming from their guess is a somewhat strange one. As they almost always estimate me as being 21 instead of 27 (which I got quite used to and might not be that surprising if you see me), they think judging by our accent that we're Canadian. THAT is a little surpising, none of us has ever been in Canada, nor has spoken with any Canadians. The closest I ever got was the Great Lake District, Northern Michigan, USA. Though both speaking english on a regular basis since september/october last year (2004) and pretending to our accent not directly adressable as Dutch it's a bit strange that it's judged as Canadian. Aparently they don't notice the fact that I have to search for words now and then and make minor mistakes nor do they notice my use of aussie-words and minor aussie accents. Not that it really matters, better being mistaken for a Canadian then for an American or Englishman over here but no matter how you turn it, it remains a quite funny fact...
Ok ok, entry... as a thing I grew quite jused to I entry everytime when I am behind a computer. With just one problem right now... The bunch of text below this piece... I could just copy it and post it for a second time, but that would be a bit useless. So next time I will just pull out a fight to see who can have the computer first and also has the right to write something here. Because having double stories would be a bit useless.
Love Nicky
Today I leave to my uncle and aunt which is about 10 hours north from sydney. They don't have internet so it will be a bit quiet. I will be bach 30st of December. And then I will update my stories and pictures as soon as possible. Just notice that in that amount of time, I probably won't be able to read email. Or answering it. And next to that, that somewheresouth won't be updated by me. Perhaps by Murf will update but that is something I don't know.
Love to you all.
Have a nice Christmas!!
Nicky
Well, today I finally got my flight-tickets.
After a few weeks of arranging lots of things today was the day I could go to my travel agency to pick up the last nessecairy part for traveling to Australia. Next to me zillions of documents, flight tickets, travel insurance, international drivers licence, foreign money (AUD & SGD), vouchers (for my Singapore citytrip), flight schemes, passport, vaccination certificate and last but definetely not least, my Working Holiday Visum. All scanned and ready to burn on a small cd so I have a credit-card sized copy of all important stuff.
My backpack is already almost fully packed so is my in-flight-backpack. Saturday I will close the door of my appartement for the last time in more then 7 months, leaving it to a Hungarian and a Japanse student who will rent it for the time I'm gone.
Really the only thing which I have to think of is creating a nice MP3 cd for my 1-week travel through the west of the Netherlands. Probably with some good rock music on it, pumping out of my car stereo on saturday so loud that they can hear it in Oldenzaal, 25Km's away from Enschede.
Well, that's it for now, maybe I'll write something the very last week I'm here, for now I'll simply have another beer. To celebrate that I'm ready to go.
Cheers M'tes!
Nice a holiday down under. Everybody is exited. Yes! Go for it! The only trouble is how do you get the money? After a lot of saving and some back up from some family. (especially my mom and dad) Arranged. I will get out this adventure with some debts, but I can live with it. They are long term and will be paid of eventually. And especially when you didn’t want to, you find yourself a last minute boyfriend. Which seems a lot of trouble. I can tell you it is. I miss him very much and it hurts everyday. There isn’t a day I check how many days to go till he is here. But on the other hand he is been a great support. Just like a lot of other people at home. But I have my money and sit down under. Your bottom on a white beach, bleu sea. Nothing to complain about? Well I can tell you reality is hard. The missing is hard on moments when you have nothing to do. You would give a lot for just a little hug from one of your best friends or someone of your family. Yes, I do have family over here as well. But it is different. They have a complete different view on you. And distances are long. And especially when Mel and jeroen are out of the house it is silent. And when people at home going to hard times and you can't be there. I thought a job would solve. Which it did. Don’t think I just said I would quit. I am not a quitter. It took a long time to admit to myself that it wasn’t a job I could handle. And it leaves me with almost no opportunity for work in the next month. Because who wants to employ a girl of 18 with almost no job experience and a month left to work? Yes I could lie about experience but I am a very honest person. I can’t and would fail in an instant. So I am just sending out my resume again and hope to see some response. But I already gave up hope. What to do in Sydney without spending to much money? No idea, today I just pulled open my creativity jar. Just started with writing, drawing and designing I will start running again. But from my condition is nothing left, so I have to start from nothing which isn’t a nice idea. As you see I feel pretty lonely an lost at the moment. I would love to go home and just hug and be loved at home. But this is part of a learning proces… But I can tell you it’s hard. And it doesn’t feel good. It feels cruel….
Hey everyone,
Usually I write a little piece about what I did the last few days. I have to do that right now as well. And also hang out my laundry, do the dishes and all that kind of stuff. But I am sitting at the balcony with this sweet notebook on my lap with 20 degrees. And I notice something; I am cold….
This should sound really odd in Holland where it is 5 degrees at this moment. It is going to be probably a really cold winter and I am here in summer temperatures and I am cold. So here a little piece about some strange stuff that is cold down under mentality. Winter in Australia is 15 degrees. And that is really cold for all the locals. They celibrate summer the first of december. So I am still here in spring. I had 2 days this week of 30-35 degrees. I can tell you that I was melting. But now the temperature is down again to 20 degrees. I am cold. Walking here in long trousers and a longsleeve. Ok the sky is clouded and no sun to be seen but still. Another thing here is that their sundown takes only 15 minutes. In Holland it takes a long time and you have enough time between the sun setting down and leaving. At this point between 8 and 8.15 the sun is gone. 8.15 it is pitch black outside. The more I go south it should take shorter and shorter. I am curious.
What else is strange here. (or actually different from the Dutch way of doing) Of course the english languages. As a Dutch person you shouldn’t have to much problems with that. Although after a week you are really tiered. Because you constantly thinking which words you have to use. After 2 weeks you are willing to die to find someone you can talk dutch with. Just for a few sentences. After 3 weeks (or a little bit more) you find yourself thinking english. After that nothing is a problem any more. (Just perhaps the limit of your own vocabulairy) One big hint; speak english even if you have a dutch traveller with you. It saves you a lot of switching between languages. And you learn to know the english languages much faster.
Distances are long. And that is no joke. In Holland you are travelling an hour from Leiden till Utrecht. Over here you are finally in the city. (from where I live, Bondi Beach) And yes that is with public transport. But still. And you are not simply travelling by bus but also by train. Sydney has a big train network going in the city. And off course loads of busses.
And then on the streets. In Holland there is a lot of fuss most of the times when you are passing an approching pedestrian. (walking person) Over here it is left. (In holland mostly right) On the elevator. People who are in a hurry run on the right. People with more time stand still on the left. You want something to be done fast. That doesn’t work here. No worries. And don’t try to rush them up because it simply doesn’t work. There is no hurry. And you just need to accept it takes longer. Which is also the biggest hint in Australia. Look and accept. Take your time and accept.
Was that all. I don’t doubt that it isn’t but for the moment this is all I could think off. So will be continued ;-)
Today, running around cleaning to make the house renter-proof and talking tot my mom about my departure januari 1st I suddenly realized that it's only 10 weeks untill I'll take flight KL1773 to down-under. And that I have an awfull lot of things to do. I wrote almost 2 sides of paper with "things to do before I leave" and noted that I have to visit a shitload of friends an family. Suddenly what seemed so far away seems pretty close right now. Next week I'll have a roommate (I succeed in renting at least 1 of the rooms, still have one left though), november 6th a very good friend of mine comes over to have a drink, the 21st my dad will visit Enschede. Still 8 weekends left, but the gameplan is to leave Enschede on Christmas day to have one of the greatest but emotional Christmas/Newyear holliday's ever. 6 weekends left. In those 6 weekends I'll have to buy stuff for my trip, pack my backpack, make contracts with my mom (she takes care of everything when I'm away, together with a good friend living almost next-door), visit my grand-parents (possibly on Terschelling, 4 hours travveling from here), lend my car to a friend living on the other side of the country, and make sure that everything is prepared for my big trip. So I'll have some spare time, but I can assure you that suddenly lots of people like to come over because they might not see me for 8 months from then. I'll have a quite busy 10 weeks I presume...
But hey, beeing busy is not a bad thing for me. It eases the pain of missing her deeply. Well, at least I know why I'm doing this and who is waiting for me jan 5th, 06:30 on Sydney airport. To be honest, even if I didn't have had plans before I met Nicky (I was planning a year or 2 outside the Netherlands, beginning ~ summer 2005 or 2006), I'm sure that I would do exactly the same... I'd fly throuh hell and back for her if needed, compared to that Australia is just an easy trip. But that's something between Nicky and me possibly only we understand completely... (and even we don't)
I want everybody to tell that I really really mis them. Love u all very much!! I love al the mail that I receive. It helps me trough the rougher times. So be sure that everything is read. Not a word wil be forgotten. Thinking a lot of you all.
Lots of love
Nicky
Hi there! Within a few hours it seems that it is october 4th.
Since Nicky and I got together at 04-08-04 it means that we're happily in love for exactly 2 months right NOW! What started as something not too serious and only meant to have a good time together for a couple of weeks (with one leaving Holland for 10 months at the middle of september and the other planning to part for 1-2 years somewhere between fall 2005 and fall 2006 you're not talking about getting a serious relationship with anyone) turned out to be one of the most exiting and deepest relationships I've ever had. Yep, even after just 2 months where we've only had the chance to be together for 6 weeks I'm really deeply in love! Maybe it's the sparkles in her eyes. Maybe it's how she looks, talks and walks. Maybe it's something undescribable but completely overwhelming. I don't know but I know it's there and though I miss her deeply I'm very happy that at least I have someone to miss.
Well, why write this all down on SomewhereSouth and let the whole world know? Because I can not be in New Zealand to celebrate it with her and even can't call or SMS because her phone isn't working there. So basically this is a note to Nicky to tell her that I love her deeply and that I'll make it up with here as soon as I'm there. I hope you're all ok with that ;-) And off course letting the whole world know is quite funny. Someone yells it from the roofs and let at most 200 people know, another rents an airplane and let a message write in the air noticed by maybe 2000 people, I'll just fill both her and my weblog with a message and let the whole world know.
Just some useless facts and funny things
1; I am going to make the longest bungee jump in the world in New sealand!
2; The things in the wal were you can get you money out? they call them ATM here. (In holland we use that to say; at the moment)
3; I miss everybody in Holland very much!
4; I just got my first mail at my cousins adres
5; It was my pincode for my bankpass (which I don't have jet)
6; It just came by mail?!?!?
7; I still have a huge backpack to take with me :s
8; My mobile phone doesn't works in New Sealand
9; I like to make people jalous about the fact I got bleu water and white beaches
10; I fly tomorrow morning at 9.20 hours australia time
11; and than it will be a 10 hours differents with you guys
12; every city has a park or street named after Albert (my dad)
13; Auckland New Sealand has an Albert Park
14; I have now 4 diffrent kinds of money in my room
15; I luffff my boyfriend!!
(that's it for today)
Those were useless some useless facts
Well, it seems that I got my second really big present today... The first one was Nicky calling from down-under. The second was that checking the status of my Working Holiday Visum stated that it was GRANTED!
Applicant approved - you may now travel to Australia.
You do not require a label or stamp in your passport before you travel to Australia.
The visa terms and conditions, attached to this approval, can be accessed from the Application Status Page by selecting the Applicant Approved link.
That basically means that the Australian Embassy had approved my visum and has sent the neccecairy documents to me so that I can safely get my official visum at Sydney airport as soon as my airplane sets wheel on Australian ground. It also means that my 6-month trip is secured and that I can work as needed overseas. Damn good feeling and possibly one of my best birthday's ever.
Nicky! I love you and we'll gonna have a really great trip together!
I'll drink a Grolsch on that. (the beer originating from Enschede, my current hometown) Cheers!
Hello all from .nl and .au... Just a small note to let you know that I succesfully turned 27 last night, at Sydney and Enschede time. Pretty cool when your other half is in another timezone, you can celebrate your birthday 2 times within 24 hours ;-) (I've only celebrated it Australian time though, as I'm officially born at 7:15 am and was asleep at Dutch time then.) Anyway, just a small party with some close friends (still lying in my bed and all over the floor in my living room), enough booz to keep everyone happy and people who do understand the "American Party" idea. I've spent only a few euro's and still had a great party. Of course I miss Nicky like hell, having your birthday with just your "little" sister lying in your bed (she's 19! a year older than Nicky is...) is quite strange and somehow quite empty but at least I know it's only 98 days before I'll leave and that's what really counts for me. Breaking the 100-days barrier almost on your birthday feels pretty ok.
Well, the small note turned into a rather medium or large note... Has nothing to do with Nicky's trip off course but I thought as some of you would like to know me a little better before I see you down under it wouldn't be a strange thing to post some of my own things here on somewheresouth... (I do have my own weblog but it's in Dutch, quite difficult to understand for some of you...)
TTYL!
I need pictures of everybody!!!! so please send them to nicky@somewheresouth.net
and ps2 There are some photos online!!! see; http://gallery.somewheresouth.net/
the barbeque was fun, although I didn't ate to much. After that we stayed a long time with just some beer drinkin. the quys are still out. I'm going to sleep within not to long. After everybody (the ones here) have stopped stressing about how to re-inpack their backpacks. (tomorrow we have a hostel change...)
Tonight I slept extremly well. It's nice to have a real bed again. The bar peple stumbed in half way the night. but drunken people can be funny. And they were sooooo funny! It didn't bothered me at all that they woke me... This morning we had a free breakfast at the hostel. It was especially funny when someone thought that the marmite was chocolate paste. After that we picked up and we ran all morning to finish all the paperwork. Except for the bankaccount which didn't had the forms that we needed to fill in. We had lunch in Hyde Park. Which is a large and beautifull piece of grreen. There are running around a lot of weird birds. (letterly) And funny trees. Because they have growing roots oout of branches. :s After lunch I decided that it would be wise to join a part of the group with an info talk about cars. That is a lot easier then to find out myself in Januari. After that we walked to the hostel and freshened a bit up. Then I decided to look for a Woolsworth. ( a really cheap spermarket), because I got a little info where it should be. I found it after a bit of searching and got a lunch for tomorrow. (We're doing the harbour cruise tomorrow, but without any lunch. And got some other supplies. And I'm now sitting in Hyde Park again. Just writed a card to my sweet boyfriend. (Which i hope be in time!) And writing a little story so far for today. Tonight we're having a barbeque.( how Australian) See you later alligator ;)
The flight from Hongkong to sydney takes about 8 and a half hours. Most of the time I was sleeping/dazzling. So when I arrived at 11.00 in Sydney I already had a normal sleepingpattern. Or at least for as could be. After my first steps in Sydney airport we needed to get through the douane. That weresome sweaty hands. Because in Australia they are really not easy with import. Al the foord for instance, needed to be checked before brought inl. My sweet wood is conviscated. :( Sorry Maaike, you didn't know. After that I picked up my visa and got my bag. I was glad that everything went ok. The organisation got uus in a small van with our soutcases. they gave us a quick look from the sydney harbour. (and the opera house!) After that we got to the hostel and got an information package. And the deal to be at 18.00 at the lobby. After a shower (there is a god ;) and got packed and wondered if someone would join me in to the city. There wasn't anybody, so I wondered off alone. Saw the Parks, the Church and a bit of the city. I bought over there my pre-paid card. (my phone was empty. so I finally could call my cousin. And yes Robert you were the first to sms. We talked for half an hour because she couldn't drop by. ( She lay with a hangover in bed ;) It became chilly in the park. (Only 17 degrees.) So I went to the hostel for some internet. 3 dollars for an hour. I checked my mail. (empty) and typed out my stories to you guys. When I finished I tryed to call my mum, which failed a bit. (But don't worry I know how it works now) At 18.00 we filled out wome forms with the group. And then we got diner at a nice place. We stayed afterdiner and drank some. Some people went to a bar, but I thought : I need my sleep for my jetlag, so I didn't went. Wo here I am, finally laying in a bed again. To go nicely to sleep.
Love
me
ps; A part of our group spotted Russel Crow today in the park....
The big things are done. My ticket, insurence and backpack are bought. Now the small things.. That are the things I fear most because they are easy to forget. But hey, I don't go to some third world country. So what is there to fear? I could buy all the forgotten things down under. But then again, with a budget as thin as ice... It is the easiest thing to have everything with you. But how do you pack a year of stuf that can only weigh 20 kilos? I don't know. But what I do know is that it will be the best time of my life!!! I really enjoying everything. Even the things to fear. I love to leave everything behind and just disappear for a long long year. I do know I'm going to miss everybody here. (as hell ;) But I also know it will be a experience which learns me a lot. So this is the way how a feel know. Tomorrow making shure that my room becomes crap free. Ow and I wil make a new post with when I will be where..
Ok, this is the official first post on SomewhereSouth.net
A few hours of installing, configuring and finetuning and the website is officially up 'n running. Sitestats are working already, made possible by the awstats utillity. Posts on this website will be in english as at least half of the people looking at this site are english-speaking. (/me waves to Nicky's family down under)
This weblog will be used by Nicky to write down her big after-highschool Australia/New-Sealand/Bali-adventure, hopefully followed by me around the beginning of januari 2005 to do the big adventure at least partly together...
Well, this is de point where I'll leave the writings to Nicky for a while and give myself a beer to celebrate the work done the last few days. A photo-gallery is almost ready to become live, mailinglist has still to be arranged, but first: BEER!