Siebring @ New Zealand

Stories of Judith and Bas

Sailing and Cape Reinga

Jan 25

Posted by Bas in English, Photos | 3 Comments

Sailing

One of the things to do in Paihia (and of course in other places in NZ) is to make a trip on a sailboat. And of course we did that. On our way we had mostly good weather (one small patch of rain clouds), we saw penguins and dolphins, beautiful island with beautiful beaches. We anchored at one of those islands, swam to shore, hikes a bit, went back and had an incredible lunch. Mike, our captain / cook / host did an amazing job. Apart from some bodyparts that were sunburnt after our trip, the photos will tell the story. It was amazing!

Next stage in our travel

After a day of hard labour (Judith worked until 01.30 am), with some breaks for groceries / ice creams / coffee, we continued our journey from Paihia to Cape Reinga, the northern most tip of the North Island of New Zealand. After a small hike to see some of the amazing views (including two ocean currents collide), we drove south again to Ahipara. Speaking of locations, I am planning on including some pictures with screengrabs from Googlemaps, to show you where we are and how we got there. Another item in my ToDo list. But travelling with beautiful weather to beautiful parts of this beautiful country is taking it’s time, especially if you take into consideration that I am applying to various teaching jobs in New Zealand.

About that applying that you’re talking about all the time, what’s up with that?

Well, as most of you guys know, or could now, if you read the “About” and “Aboot”of this website, our goal is to eventually stay in New Zealand for a year and for me (Bas) to get a teaching job. So far, a lot of processes are frustrated (NZQA is taking their sweet time assessing my qualifications, I don’t have a teaching license yet since the New Zealand Teacher Council wants the NZQA report, yada yada, and dare I say: yada) So at times this can be very unmotivational. However, writing a cover letter to apply for a job requires you to be on your happiest and most optimistic. So I haven’t sent out as many letters as I would have liked. But all of that motivation has changed. One of the letters I did send out, one that  I felt really good about, was apparently very good as well. This Friday I have my first job interview: I am short listed for a post as General Science and Physics teacher! Awesome! Purely awesome! We’ll keep you in the loop on how things go, but at Thursday night in Europe, around 9-10pm, and in Yellowknife around the clock of 1-2pm, keep your fingers crossed!

But for now, just enjoy the photos!

 

 

Photo Update

Jan 22

Posted by Bas in English, Photos | 2 Comments

Hi all!

There’s so much to tell, cause we’ve done a lot this past week. We hardly have time to write updates! :)

However, here’s a little blog update to keep you posted. I (Judith) am now (9.30 pm) typing this, while sitting outside on the patio of the hostel in Paihia (Northlands). There are about 10 people here, playing guitar, singing and drinking wine/beer. Very relaxed crowd! Great weather (+20 degrees Celsius). Having a great time. Today we went sailing. A photo update of that adventure will follow later this week, but here’s an update of the past few days.

The day after we went to Waiheke Island, Judith worked all day and Bas sent out another application. The next day (Wednesday) we took the ferry over to Mirjam and Marten (friends of a former colleague of Judith’s, who are living near Halfmoon Bay – in the Auckland suburbs). The provided us with a lot of information, since they’ve lived in New Zealand for 5 years now. They also generously showed us around their place and their ‘private beach’ across the street. Plus, we had dinner with them, before we headed back to the city centre by bus.

On Thursday we mostly stayed in the hostel to arrange stuff and give Bas’ leg some more rest, before heading out to Paihia on Friday. Friday morning we picked up our car. YES, we were VERY happy that our creditcard was working again, after calling with the ING bank at least 5 times over the past week to straigthen things out, because they totally messed up!! Thank god for Ginie, our very helpful call center lady! She deserves flowers! :)

So, there we were on Friday with our car, in downtown Auckland… scary stuff! Driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road for the first time of our lives, trying to get out of the city! Fortunately, TomTom was helping us out :) and I (Judith) did the rest.. the actual driving. Sweaty hands and trembling legs, but we made it to our first stop, just outside the city. We took it slow and kind of drove all day to get to Paihia (which can be done within 3 hours) with several nice stops (beautiful views) on the way. We arrived in Paihia, a fun beachtown, north of Auckland, around 5 pm. We were pleasantly surprised with the hostel here. A very cosy place and we have our own bathroom en-suite. And there is LOTS to do around here.

Since we have a car now, it’s easier to get around and to get groceries and such, so Bas has been cooking good stuff over the last couple of days. On Saturday, we went to the Waitangi National Reserve, where the Treaty was signed, which signifies the ‘birth’ of the country. A very interesting and historically important place. See the pictures below.

I guess, this is it for now. Time for another glass of wine and some fun with new friends (a lot of Dutchies by the way – not what we expected).

Cheers mate and till next time!

Kia Ora!

Jan 16

Posted by Bas in Photos | 5 Comments

Saturday January 14, 2012, Judith and yours truly arrived in New Zealand. Our plane did land just ahead of schedule on Auckland International Airport. During the flight from Hong Kong to Auckland we met Yvonne, a Scottish lady that we had some nice conversation with. She was travelling with her dad to New Zealand and their hotel was just around the corner from our hostel. We decided to share a cab, which brought down the costs considerably. She still owes us a drink though, which we’ll most probably will get, considering we walked into her two days later as well. We exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses and went our separate ways. The rest of Saturday we spent walking through Auckland (further than we planned initially), doing some groceries and finally: sleeping. After nearly 36 hours of travelling (door to door) and pushing it until the evening in Auckland, we were exhausted and went cold out for almost 11 hours.

The next day, Sunday January 15, we did some more exploring through Auckland, some more groceries, but we also spent quite some time online (Judith did watch “Wie is de mol?”). We also spent quite some time sorting out financial problems, that we encountered on Saturday, in Hong Kong and Auckland. Eventhough Judith’s credit card is valid untilthe  end of February, it shows up expired. Since English speaking countries thrive on credit cards, this will cause (is causing) quite some problems, for which we were (and are) finding work arounds. It is a pain, especially talking to customer service employers and having to explain your problem over and over again, telling them “I know your system is telling you it is still valid, but all ATMs, shop owners, even the internet tells us it is expired. Get it working!” This drama is still going on, hopefully we can soon report it is solved.

Not being too annoyed or brought down, we spent the next day, Monday January 16, at Waiheke island. This little paradise was truly amazing! We took the “Taste of Waiheke Tour”, which brought us to three vineyards and one estate that produces olive oil. Slightly inebriated, we dipped our feet into the sea at Little Oneroa beach and walked back to the island’s largest town, Oneroa, and had a fabulous dinner. After that, it was time to head back to the ferry and go back to the main land, to our hostel. Being exhausted and in pain (Judith had a sore eye and Bas had a painful leg) we tucked in early again and slept for a good 10 hours, only being woken for a short time by a drunk lady that was thrown out of the hostel and gave away a great show. It reminded us of the good old times in Yellowknife, with the Gold Range Bar and the Raven Pub across the street.

The next day, after having bought a Vodem from Vodafone to ensure we have internet during our trip, we headed to the doctor. Bas’ leg was still sore and the situation had worsened over the last 3 days. So, for the first time since 2009, I found myself in a doctor’s office. Nothing really serious, no trombosis from the long flight, but a nasty infection that needed to be treated with antibiotics, to make sure it would not spread and cause a fever. A costly visit, that fortunately, yet undoubtedly, will be covered by our (travel) insurance. After that visit, we bought a prepaid cellphone (e-mail us for the number), did some groceries and headed back to the hostel. The rest of the day we spent working (Judith) and applying / writing blogs (Bas). My leg needs some rest for the upcoming 2-3 days, so we will go out and see things, yet careful.

And of course: pictures! Enjoy! Cheers!

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Siebring @ Canada goes Kiwi style

Jan 9

Posted by Bas in English | No Comments

As most of you guys know, we left Canada at the end of July 2011 after two beautiful years. We’ve been back home in The Netherlands for half a year now and our next trip is about to commence: it is going to take us to the other side of the world, to New Zealand. The goal: to do the same trick we’ve done in Canada: get a job, meet new friends, enjoy a life in a different country. Keep an eye out for updates, but for now: we’re busy as hell!

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July 16-19 photo update

Jul 19

Posted by Judith in Photos | 2 Comments

July 16 Antigonish – Pleasant Bay

July 17 Pleasant Bay – Bay St. Lawrence

July 18 Bay St. Lawrence – Port Hawkesbury

July 19 Port Hawkesbury – Halifax

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July 13-15 photo update

Jul 16

Posted by Judith in Photos | No Comments

July 13  Stanhope (P.E.I)

July 14 P.E.I

July 15 Stanhope (P.E.I) – Antigonish (Nova Scotia)

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July 9-12 photo update

Jul 13

Posted by Judith in Photos | 1 Comment

Overview of our trips in photos

Here are some pictures of the next few days of our eastcoast trip. More (text and picture) updates will follow! :)

July 9 Quebec City

July 10 Quebec City – Rimouski

July 11 Rimouski – St. Charles (New Brunswick)

July 12 St. Charles – Stanhope (P.E.I)

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July 5-8 photo update

Jul 9

Posted by Judith in Photos | 1 Comment

Overview of our trips in photos

Here are some pictures of the next few days of our eastcoast trip. More (text and picture) updates will follow! :)

July 5 Maitland – Sussex

July 6 Sussex – Grand Manan Island

July 7 Grand Manan Island – Harvey

July 8 Harvey – Quebec City

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Photos July 1-4 (Nova Scotia)

Jul 5

Posted by Judith in Photos | 2 Comments

OMG, 327 photos in 4 days…. this is quite the roadtrip! We selected the best of the best to share with our readers :)

Enjoy!

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4th of July – update

Jul 4

Posted by Judith in English | 1 Comment

Our two year stay in Yellowknife is over. Before heading back to the Netherlands, we are spending 3 more weeks in beautiful Canada. This time we’re exploring the east coast.

July 1 – Yellowknife – Halifax

After some frantic packing on Thursday (till 12.30 in the morning and after deciding to ship one extra box back home – which makes 4 boxes in total), we left Yellowknife on Friday morning July 1st at 6am in the morning. After a stop in Calgary as well as in Toronto, we landed safely in Halifax at 7.40pm. We got our suitcases quickly and were able to take the Airporter shuttle bus at 8pm to the hotel in Dartmouth (right across the water from Halifax). We had a room with a beautiful harbour view and were able to see the Canada Day fireworks from our window! It was strange to experience the darkness at 10pm again though!

July 2 – Halifax

we had a wonderful sleep and got up around 8am. We took the 9.30 ferry across the harbour to explore Halifax for the day. The weather was great (approx. 25 degrees Celsius). A quick summary of the day would be:
10 am: a visit to the old farmers’ market, where we had a late breakfast with coffee and some fresh baked goods.
11 am: we walked over the boardwalk to the new farmers’ market, near Pier 21.
12 am: we toured the Pier 21 museum. This is where new immigrants would enter Canada from the early 1900s to 1971. It was a very interesting historic place and a great multimedia presentation + guided tour were included.
Around 1.30 we decided to go for lunch at the farmers’ market (lots of good fresh food to be found). And we walked back to the Alexander Keith’s brewery, where we did a fun tour, which ended with a taste of beer (even Judith had half a glass of Keith’s Red!). Even though the alcohol made our legs feel a bit heavy, we decided to climb up the hill next, to pay a visit to the Citadel. An historic landmark! We spent 2 hours, of which one hour was a very good guided tour in the Citadel fortress. By then, it was already 6pm and it was definitely time to find a restaurant to get some dinner. To celebrate our first day of this wonderful trip, we decided to go to Salty’s upstairs, an upscale restaurant, where we had some good (sea)food! Yummy! At 8.15 we took the ferry back to our hotel, and after some coffee we did some more repacking (since we’ll be back in the same hotel at the end of our trip, we decided to leave 2 suitcases behind).

July 3 Halifax – Riverdale

we woke up at 7.30, called Jitze (Judith’s brother) for his 28th birthday, and checked out the hotel. We took the 8.30 Airport shuttle back to the airport. Not to go on a flight, but to pick up our rental car. After the necessary paperwork, we were able to drive away at 9.30. Our first stop was Tim Hortons, for our final preparations (and some necessary coffee fuel!). We were truly on our way around 9.45 am. We took the Lighthouse Trail down to Lunenburg, which was our first stop. We walked around a little and had lunch there with a great view. At 1pm we were on our way again. The roads were twisting and turning, so it took more time then we had expected, so when we got to Liverpool around 2.30pm, we decided it was time to take the highway instead, to be able to reach our destination – still quite a drive – in a reasonable time. We were going to stay with Ben’s parents. Ben is Dave’s partner, and Dave was one of Judith’s colleagues at Kellett. Keith and Gaylene’s hospitality was amazing! we arrived around 5.15 at their place, in the middle of nowhere. A true Novia Scotia experience. So beautiful! We were allowed to stay in their cabin on the lake. The most spectacular view and just a beautiful place. After some snacks on the porch, Keith and Gaylene prepared a delicious dinner for us, and we had a great time together. They went back to their home up the road around 9.30 and we went to bed, after planning our next day.

July 4 Riverdale – Maitland

We got up around 7.30 and had breakfast with fresh (still warm!) muffins, which Gaylene had dropped off at the cabin, before she went to her work. After that, Bas went fishing for an hour or so, and actually caught a couple of fish. Judith started typing up this blog post. Around 9.30 we went over to the main house, where we could take a shower, before heading out to our next destination. We arrived in Digby around 11am, we walked around for a bit and drove on to Annapolis Royal for another walk around the shore. we were very surprised to see Dawn Oman’s gallery right downtown in Annapolis. Dawn Oman is a Yellowknifian artist, who moved away last year. Apparently, she went to Annapolis! We told her we came from Yellowknife and actually had bought some of her art there last year. She was more than happy to have her picture taken with Judith. What a coincidence! Unfortunately, we didn’t have room in our luggage for more art, otherwise we would have shopped some more. Oh well…
After Annapolis Royal, we drove on to a nearby small town, Port Royal. We visited a reconstructed ‘habitation’, a small fortress settlement from the 17th century. Interesting! We still had some way to go, before reaching Maitland, and on the way we decided to make a few more stops and detours. First we stopped in Grand Pré. This was a place where the French had been deported by the British in the 17th century. Lots of history in these surroundings!  Finally we stopped in Noel Shore to look at the tide. Maitland was only about 10 more minutes further down the road. Our Bed & Breakfast room is wonderful. Cozy, luxurious and well-equipped. The owners are very friendly and we are immensly enjoying the view from our room and from the surrounding garden. It is just beautiful! You can see the famous tide right from the window. Gorgeous! When we arrived here just before 6pm, we hadn’t had dinner yet, and there’s not much nearby to go for dinner. Therefore, we drove to Truro, about half an hour from here. We looked for a restaurant that was mentioned in the Lonely Planet, but it was closed for the evening… fortunately we had a back-up plan; a Chinese restaurant we had just passed on the road. The food was delicious and plentiful (enough left-overs for lunch tomorrow for sure!). We were back at the B&B around 8.30 and sat outside for a bit with a coffee, before it got too dark and the mosquitos too bad… Now, it’s about 10pm and we’re going to get some sleep after posting this blog ;)

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