Goodbye friends of Hamilton

Rob the English drinker, me the crazy German, Char the psychologist, Jen the disaster manager, IRD Paul (I know he hates that) or our quiz master, Rob the English teacher and Alan the tree cutting Scott

Zurueck in Sydney

Die Heimat ist nicht mehr weit. Ich bin ihr immerhin schon 2000 km naeher gekommen und jetzt in Sydney gelandet. Nachdem ich letzten Montag meinen letzten Arbeitstag in Hamilton hatte und meine Nachfolgerin im Hostel etwas eingelernt habe, bin ich am Dienstag dann erstmal hoch nach Auckland mit dem Bus und dann runter nach Christchurch mit dem Flugzeug. In Christchurch habe ich mich im selben Hostel eingecheckt, welches mein erstes Hostel nach meiner Ankunft vor mehr als 9 Monaten war, Foley Towers. Fuer mich immer noch das beste Hostel in ganz Neuseeland. Und wie es der Zufall so will traf ich dort Luci und Mat, welche ich bereits damals dort traf. Die Welt ist klein, vor allem in Neuseeland. Auch sie flogen am Donnerstag raus aus Neuseeland, aber fuer sie ging es nach Malaysia; reisen hoert niemals auf.

Mit den beiden bin ich dann am Abend noch ein letztes Bier trinken gegangen und habe im Pub wieder jemanden getroffen, die ich vor 6 Monaten in Nelson traf. Total verrueckt.

Donnerstag morgen um 6 war mein Flug raus aus NZ und nachdem der Pilot uns verkuendet hat, dass es keine Turbulenzen geben wird wurden wir beim Start erstmal kraeftig von ploetzlichen Windboen durchgeschuettelt. Danach fuehlt man sich dann erstmal schoen lebendig. Beim Landeanflug auf Sydney wurde ich dann mit Feist aus dem Kabinenradio begruesst. Ein kleines Willkommensgeschenk, war es doch genau die Band, die ich als letzte noch in Sydney kennengelernt habe. Das Wetter in Sydney war wie im Reisefuehrer: blauer Himmel, strahlender Sonnenschein und um einiges waermer als in NZ.

Das erste was ich gemacht habe, nachdem ich ein Hostel gefunden und eingescheckt habe, war mir nen neuen Haarschnitt verpassen, nen Flat White kaufen und auf der Crown Street rumgammeln. Hat sich natuerlich nichts veraendert. Und der Kaffee schmeckt tatsaechlich besser als in Neuseeland.

Da ich erst am 12. von hier weg fliege habe ich mir gedacht, ich koennte noch ein bisschen rumreisen vertragen und werde daher jetzt mein letztes Geld in Melbourne verbraten. Da war ich noch nicht und soll auch schoen sein. Ich werde heute abend mit dem Zug starten und dann 11 Stunden spaeter dort ankommen. Damit werde ich zwar hundemuede sein, spare aber eine Nacht. Das ist ein Plan!
Bis demnaechst meine Freunde...

Taupo and Tongariro

Last weekend I got a little bit of time to go traveling again. I went together with Paul and Charlotte to do the Tongariro Crossing again. I went there already a few months ago but the weather was miserable (see here) so now I hoped to have better conditions. But we have winter here and winter means a lot of rain and even snow. The weather forecast was not really promising with rain and snow and even a heavy weather warning on Saturday. So our plan was to drive down to Lake Taupo on Saturday afternoon and visit the hot springs there. We stay for one night in Taupo and on Sunday morning we will decide what to do.

Lake Taupo is the largest lake in NZ. The lake is basically a huge crater filled with water. It says that a volcano like this was responsible for the extinction of the dinosauriers. The latest larger eruption was about 180 AD. The ash clouds turned the sky red over Rome and China. The volcano is still active.

Lake Taupo with Mt Ruapehu covered in snow in the background.

We arrived in Taupo at about 4pm. After we checked into the hostel we went straight to the hot pools before it is getting dark. The pools are actually several small hot water streams with little water falls ending in the big Waikato River. So you can stay in the hot water and when you feel it's getting too hot you just have a swim in the river. But since it is winter here this river is freezing cold so nothing for bad hearts. And the best of all is that it is for free!

We stayed there until it got dark and went back to the hostel to have dinner. Because it was raining in Taupo we decided not to do the Tongariro Crossing the next day but to go there and see what else we can do. So the night was free to go out and have fun in Taupo. Now this town is pretty small with about 10,000 people living here. But nevertheless the pub we went to was packed with people. They had live music outside and inside a dance floor and DJ. We had fun there till they kicked us out at 3 in morning. For us it was sure that we won't be able to do the crossing the next day.

We three woke up the next morning with a terrible hangover and the sun shine in our face. Unfortunatelly (for us) it was a beautiful day and we had the perfect conditions for the crossing. But it was too late to start this 6 hours walk. So we just went to the start of the track and walked it for one hour and turned back.

Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngaruahoe

Paul, Charlotte and me, tramping...
Again Mt Ngaruahoe. BTW this volcano (still active) is Mt Doom at the Lord Of The Rings movie. The trackAnd the last picture is again Mt Ruapehu. When I see this mountain I'm always reminded that I failed to climb it. This time even the road to the ski fields was closed for conventional cars because of ice and snow.
Our day was over and we started the 3 hours drive back to Hamilton.

Night in Hamilton

When I said before there is not much to do in Hamilton I forgot to mention that Hamilton is well known by party people. All pubs and clubs are centered around three streets and nearly everyone offers live music or has a DJ. So it doesn't take long to go from one pub to the next one and to the next and so on and at the end you went to 8 different pubs but walked all together just about 50 meters. The only bad thing is that everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) closes at 3 am. You can still go and get a DVD because they are open 24 hours. Sometimes you can't understand why it is here like that and in another town completely different. Maybe that is the reason that this place is so crowded in the night because everyone has to use this 3 to 4 hours before everything closes down.

Party people Joe, Paul and the king :). I know we look a little bit boring but that was the beginning.
And that was the end: Backpackers Casandra and Rob having fun...

Hamilton - Pictures

The first 24 picture film is now developed. The results are rather bad and I think the camera is just about to die. The pictures are either under- or overexposed or both. Then there is another quality loss because I have to scan them. But I tried to get the best results with a lot of manual adjustments.

First are some pics of the backpackers itself. This is what you see when you enter the hostel from the road.
The view from the backyard towards the street. On the left side is a nice little garden with an open fire place. Further to the left is my little 'shack' where I live (you can't see it on this photo). On this side of the hostel is the back entrance where you can enter via the terrace.
Here we have the terrace which is always warm and sunny. The hostel has a cat called Trevor who is usually sleeping at the terrace all day long. He is getting up only to change the place and to follow the sun.
The terrace is usually used by the smokers. Here a few German/Swiss guys who stayed for a couple of days/weeks.
And finally my little shack. The whole room has the size of a queen size mattress. It's not really big (especially in comparison to my previous flats I had) but it's my own little space and I don't have to share it with anyone else (would be funny if I had to).
That's our little office (actually everything in this hostel is little) but we use it only to check in some new arrivals. Usually when I'm on duty I'm cleaning anything which has to be cleaned like the kitchen, ashtrays, windows or the driveway.
A quick look in our kitchen. Unlike other backpackers it is a very small kitchen (as I said before) and has just one sink and stove. So when the hostel is full (24 people) it is possible that you have a queue in the kitchen waiting that someone is finished cooking. Which is not too bad because this way you meet people and have a chat with them.
This is our lounge/TV room. The two guys in the middle are Rob and Paul who stayed here before I started working. Each Wednesday we're all going together to the pub quiz and try to win the $150 bar tab. By the way we won it last week ;)
That's it of the hostel. The other attraction in Hamilton are the Hamilton Gardens. I went there two times now but wasn't that lucky with the weather so I've only two pictures. This is at the Chinese garden with view at the Waikato River.
The green house with 'Prickly Plants'.
That's it so far. To be honest I don't know what else I can tell or show of Hamilton. There is not really much to see or to do. Travellers usually stop here to go to the Waitomo Caves or to Raglan (surfing). But once you've seen the Gardens there nothing else of interest. So many people we get here at the hostel are either working or studying at the university. They stay usually as long as they found a flat or a share house.
If the weather is fine this weekends I want to go tramping with some other guys of the hostel. Then I will have some new stories to tell and hopefully some new pics.

Working at J's Backpackers

The day usually starts at 8:15am. So I get up 10 minutes later. A quick look in the mirror to confirm the red and sleepy eyes as well as my hair going into all direction. I'm not looking too long because I fear to look like I'm 30. Especially in the morning when I went to bed at 10pm the night before. I take my toothbrush and leave my little "cottage" (it has the size of a queen size mattress) and walk over to the hostel. Because I don't have my own bathroom in my 1-bed-room-without-kitchen-and-toilet-apartment I have to cross the little garden to enter the hostel and to use a common backpackers bathroom. Thankfully I'm cleaning here every day so I can be sure that everything is really clean.

Usually I meet my boss Fiona somewhere in between bed and bathroom (always BEFORE I washed my face and straightened my hair) and we exchange the usual morning blah blah. Then it is time for my coffee and a few toasts before I start to make the beds of travellers who have left this morning. Once all beds are finished I put on my pink rubber gloves and start cleaning all 3 bathrooms and toilets. I start with the Cream Cleaner to clean the tiles in the shower, then I use the Spray-and-Wipe for the sink and the toilet gets a flush with disinfection. Finally I spray some odour neutraliser on the floor and then mop it. The bathroom is sparkling by now and believe me: you even would eat from behind the toilet.

By this time the bed sheets are washed and dried and I can start folding them together. I gained a new ability in this job which finally will resolve the problems of this world: the proper folding of fitted sheets (Spannbettbezug).

It is around 12 pm when I'm finished. It depends on Fiona's day plan if I'm working in the hostel and at what time I have to start. I didn't understand her system yet, it seems she decides by her gut feeling (English Level 5: Gefuehl im Bauch). If I'm working I'm responsible to take phone calls ("J's Backpackers, Thomas speaking" with a very happy voice) make bookings over the phone and to welcome new arrivals. In case some new people have arrived I explain them which rooms we have available and how much they are. If the think that's sweet they pay and I make a little hostel tour which includes explaining our distinguished recycling system, the coin-operated laundry and the "cozy" (because tiny) kitchen. If course I always mention the FREE tea and coffee. Then they get a quick look into our (sparkling clean) bathrooms before I show them their room. Usually I forget to tell them about our door code in case they come home late and no one is there anymore to open the door. Then they will ring the door bell at 4 am and Fiona might open the door for them. Never happened yet, I'm still working here.

That's more or less all I have to do. Of course I'm talking a lot with people, ask the typical traveller questions and I'm telling them my story where I usually start with NZ, otherwise it gets too long. As long as I'm not sick of doing this I think I found a really great and interesting job. I will upload some pictures when the film of my camera is full (just 12 are missing).

Maybe you feel like that this is exactly what you always wanted to do in your life? You can just apply everywhere here in NZ, without any previous experience. And get a certificate for folding fitted sheets.

Hamilton

After Rotorua we were quickly running out of money. So we went back to Wellington in order to find a job. My dream was to find something in a hostel so I can work with other backpackers. I applied for each hostel which provided a position in whole New Zealand and finally I found a job in Hamilton. So I jumped on a bus and went back north for more than 8 hours until I arrived here. Some of the attentive readers will have realised by now that the language has changed. For the others who didn't, this is English. Since Aline found a job in Wellington we arranged that from now on each of us has to write their Blog in English so we can still follow the life of each other. As a reminder Aline's Blog is http://neofrog.blog4ever.com.


Unfortunately we had only one digital camera together and worse it was not mine. The only camera I still own is Maris old Minolta analog camera. For people who don't know what this is, I have to buy a film, take pictures until the film is full (usually 24) then develop the pictures, wait until I can pick them up again, then scanning them and finally I will own a digital version. In other words it will take ages! So don't be desperated my dear friends and just have a look at Aline's Blog. You can also have a look at the homepage of the hostel: http://www.jsbackpackers.co.nz/facilities.html