Back in Sydney

Maarten is wondering if he has been timewarped to a new era. After spending so much time in rural New Zealand, who can blame him?

Sydney skyline in the evening on a boat with lots of people who were having a bad hair day, it seemed.

The opera house never ceases to be amazing. And Maarten pointed out to me that it's made of tiles!

Manly beach, after which I had a mini glass of liquid chocolate at the famous 'chocolate by the bald man Max Brenner' - store. I tell you, ladies, that glass of chocolate was better than...

well, at least solid chocolate, let's leave it at that.

Roadtripping is so much fun! With the music on watching the scenery slide by screaming your lungs out.

Somewhere along the coast on the northern part of the north island.

Our rental car is called Mr. Happy.

I got soul but I'm not a soldier

Saturday was D-Day: the V Festival in Sydney. Maarten and I walked 45 minutes from the apt. to Centennial Park and arrived just as the first bands started playing on one of four stages. We had to throw away some food we had brought, but got to keep the bag of potato chips and not long thereafter we were lying in the sun, listening to Duffy singing her lungs out. After that we discovered the fine music by Elbow, and saw a little of Razorlight, but their singer appeared to be heavily under the influence of....something, and wasn't very good.

Then we grabbed a bite to eat, which took way longer than we wanted it to, but eventually we found ourselves at the front of the stage surrounded by Chinese people who were constantly making pictures of themselves. Oh well. Who cares if you're just a few metres from...Snow Patrol!!! Their performance was amazing, though the lead singer was so flabberghasted by the enormous crowd that he forgot his lines a number of times.

After Snow Patrol, The Killers were playing on the other stage, so we had to run through the thousands of other people trying to get there in the dark. We got halfway to the stage, I think we were about 15 minutes late, but they sang all the songs we wanted to hear when we were there. My travel-theme-song 'All these things I've done' was their last song and was just about a perfect moment.

All day the weather was perfect, the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, and the world was nothing but sun and good music.

Beautiful New Zealand

Life on the road

In two days, my road trip will end. I'm flying back to Sydney for the V Festival and will head for Bangkok not long after that. It's time to go home. When you start thinking: 'man, another tropical beach - what a bore!'; you know it's time. Some things have gotten easier, though. I know where everything is in my backpack now. It helps I lost a lot of stuff and threw some of it away.

I kind of like the morning hunt for coffee now. And the picknicks along the way. I know my list of questions when searching for a motel. I have grown accustomed to the motel soaps and shampoos. I know New Zealanders have no clue where the Netherlands are, but they do kind of know the area where Holland is. (They don't seem to be aware of their namesake, by the way.)

But I want my work back. I want my bed. I want to walk into a Albert Heyn. I want to drive on the right side of the road. I want my other shoes. I want to be able to pick up the phone. I want to be on a bike. I want to ride home from work and feel the cobble stones. I want a Dutch newspaper. I want bread and roti and fruit juice and cooked meals, even if I have to cook them myself.

Because otherwise I'll go crazy, eventually. Getting there already.

But man, am I lucky, or what?

Dolphins

What happens when the earth starts cooking

National park pictures

Amazing New Zealand

Having entered the final two weeks of my trip, I can look back on loads and loads of sights I've never seen before. New Zealand is my last country to visit and it has been a great discovery. Every day brought something new and beautiful. NZ is not a huge country, but it has a lot of different scenery, from forests to glaciers, to lakes and two oceans, mountains and meadows. Their are volcanoes as well, which is why you can find so many national parks that have loads of weird phenomena, such as Wai-o-tapu national park, with its blue lakes and steaming mud pools.

Most of the water inside these pools is so hot you can't even touch it. Walking around the parks is great, but a little eerie as well. Makes you think what's inside this planet better stay there.

New Zealand is a place for nature lovers, not for city people, like myself. I have seen most of the cities and towns in the North Island, and I tell you: it's all very dull and straightforward. The bright side is that even a city person loves the scenery in this country, because of its variety and splendour. But boy, do I long to see traffic jams and commuters and stuff!

Building a castle - and then destroying it