Today I went to the university library of Auckland to find some information on New-Zealand bumblebees. It was very fun and I got to see all these old journals (mostly New Zealand journal of science and technology). I copied some articles and read them in the park, while watching the bumblebees flie by in their constant journey for food. It appears there are 3 species which have been succesfully introduced: Bombus terrestris, B. ruderatus and B. subterraneus, all of which have the typical black/yellow/white colour patern, although it differs slightly between them. The most comon species is the B. terrestris or earth bumblebee (grote aardhommel), and it has a very remarcable story to tell. This species will hibernate for about 3 months in Belgium and England during the winter and has its whole colony cycle fine tuned to that. Here in New Zealand however, conditions or different and there is no need for the queen to go into hibernation. Probably temperatures are more favourable and more food is available during the winter years. This doesn't mean that fertilised queens can go on immediately to start a nest, they have to wait one or two months for warmer conditions, but they don't wait underground. The better weather also brings confusion to the queens, as the few hot days in the winter will often fool them into starting a nest prematurly, thus failin almost certainly. The other two species do hibernate, ruderatus for about two months and subterraneus for about 5 months. It's very interesting to see that these creatures/organisms (hihi) can survive in conditions to which they are not at all adapted to. This literature was all very old (1954-) and I think I had heard about 4 different species existing in New-Zealand, so it might be possible that another kind has been established. I'm thinking of having another go on rearing my own bumblebees in an artificial nest and will look into some local literature about the subject soon.
Later today I met up with couchsurfers Danitsja and Daniel, and we went to the Belgian Beer Cafe downtown (not the one where I will be working). We had a nice conversation about traveling and all the adventures that come with it, and about New-Zealand. We may go to the Ringitoto island tomorow and climb the vulcano together and I also invited them to come along to the ultimate frisbee tournament in Takapuna on sunday.
It has been a good day :-)
donderdag 30 augustus 2007
woensdag 29 augustus 2007
Job hunting - part 2
The last couple of day I've been more active in finding a job and it starts to show results.
I've enrolled in an employment agency called Kelly services, which provides anybody that wants to with the most crappy jobs, but I'm almost sure I can find work that way. I've also enrolled in an employmet agency that offers farm work, complete with transport, accomodation and training. I'm really keen on doing some of that, so I'll sure do that in the future. But for now, I found something better... I can do a test shift monday in the Belgian Beer Cafe, which is just a 15 minute ride with the bike from here. Pretty ideal, no? It's a chain of bars, they have 40 all over the world and they import almost everything from Beglium, ranging from their beer to their decoration. The strange thing is that their stella artois is not imported, but is brewed here in New-Zealand (and tastes completely different). I think I can live with that :-)
So, it's all beginning to fall in place and next week I'll be working.
take that, all you unemployed lazy bastards ;-)
I've enrolled in an employment agency called Kelly services, which provides anybody that wants to with the most crappy jobs, but I'm almost sure I can find work that way. I've also enrolled in an employmet agency that offers farm work, complete with transport, accomodation and training. I'm really keen on doing some of that, so I'll sure do that in the future. But for now, I found something better... I can do a test shift monday in the Belgian Beer Cafe, which is just a 15 minute ride with the bike from here. Pretty ideal, no? It's a chain of bars, they have 40 all over the world and they import almost everything from Beglium, ranging from their beer to their decoration. The strange thing is that their stella artois is not imported, but is brewed here in New-Zealand (and tastes completely different). I think I can live with that :-)
So, it's all beginning to fall in place and next week I'll be working.
take that, all you unemployed lazy bastards ;-)
Who the f*ck is blocking my moon?
To whom it may concern...
To all of you who were walking in the sun in Belgium at around noon yesterday, know that you were steeling the light from MY moon! I've got picture proof!
dinsdag 28 augustus 2007
Telephone
got me a telephone: +642102548081 that costst 0.252 euro/min with skype
the home phone here is +6499402711 and that costs 0.017 euro/min with skype
Calling on the home phone would only work after 6 pm mostly, because I'm mostly out during the day
the home phone here is +6499402711 and that costs 0.017 euro/min with skype
Calling on the home phone would only work after 6 pm mostly, because I'm mostly out during the day
maandag 27 augustus 2007
prijzen in Nieuw-Zeeland
Een post in het Nederlands, moet kunnen...
Ik dacht dat Nieuw-Zeeland een duur land was, maar dat moet enigzins genuanceerd worden:
wat is duur?
- sigaretten: $10 voor een pakje, $19 voor 30g (!) tabak
- koffie
- bier
- uit eten of drinken gaan
wat is goedkoop?
- levensmiddelen
- cds
- schoenen
- kappers
De basisregel schijnt te zijn: alles wat slecht voor je is kost hier meer dan in Belgie (geen juist accent op dit toetsenbord), noodzakelijke dingen zijn hier goedkoper, soms veel goedkoper. De lonen liggen hier ook een pak lager. Voor sommige jobs word je hier slechts $11/u betaald, dus waarschijnlijk zal ik op de luxe producten moeten besparen als ik hier een jaar wil overleven, maar dat kan ik wel aan.
Ik dacht dat Nieuw-Zeeland een duur land was, maar dat moet enigzins genuanceerd worden:
wat is duur?
- sigaretten: $10 voor een pakje, $19 voor 30g (!) tabak
- koffie
- bier
- uit eten of drinken gaan
wat is goedkoop?
- levensmiddelen
- cds
- schoenen
- kappers
De basisregel schijnt te zijn: alles wat slecht voor je is kost hier meer dan in Belgie (geen juist accent op dit toetsenbord), noodzakelijke dingen zijn hier goedkoper, soms veel goedkoper. De lonen liggen hier ook een pak lager. Voor sommige jobs word je hier slechts $11/u betaald, dus waarschijnlijk zal ik op de luxe producten moeten besparen als ik hier een jaar wil overleven, maar dat kan ik wel aan.
zaterdag 25 augustus 2007
Looking for a job?!
The last couple of days I have started to look for a job.
At first I went to the city center of Auckland to register in some employement agencies. This city is so fucking big and busy that it took me a while to get used to it. So I first went to the park and slept for a while ;-) After that I looked up the adresses of the agencies in the yellow pages and visited some. Guys in suits, me in T-shirt... a no-go. So I just walked around the city and went into some bars and backpackers to ask if they needed staff. I didn't have any luck with that either, although some asked me to leave my details. Later I went to the wicked van hiring company, who had emailed me to say they might need somebody in august, but same thing there. I kinda gave up for that day and just hung around in the city some more. Man, have they got record stores here. I found about the complete collection of Dylan & Zappa most albums at just $7, jouwzaaa. That night Jesse came over, another couchsurfing friend of Paul, who stayed here a couple of months ago. A great guy, he 's been traveling for a couple of years non-stop, and working where he can. He 's now renting an apartement in the city and had just bought an awesome van.
The next day I went to the Belgian Beer Cafe in Takapuna, close to where I'm staying. I filled in an application form and added a letter of recommendation, stating that I was a real beer lover, I wonder if that 'll work out in my advantage. They had a surprising choice of beers, from stella, over Leffe and Orval to Gouden Carolus, nnnnnnice. It was bloody expensive though, I payed $ 10.5 for a Duvel. That night I got high as a bird and had a very nice talk with Paul. I still find it surprising how nice this guy is to me and I'm sure he's going to stay a friend for life.
Today I mostly relaxed (as if I didn't do that on the other days :). We went to the swimming pool in the afternoon and I had a sauna and hot-tub.
For those who didn't get that already, I love it here! I give myself another two weeks or so to find a job, and I'm fairly confident I'll find something by then.
greetings to all you earth monkeys
At first I went to the city center of Auckland to register in some employement agencies. This city is so fucking big and busy that it took me a while to get used to it. So I first went to the park and slept for a while ;-) After that I looked up the adresses of the agencies in the yellow pages and visited some. Guys in suits, me in T-shirt... a no-go. So I just walked around the city and went into some bars and backpackers to ask if they needed staff. I didn't have any luck with that either, although some asked me to leave my details. Later I went to the wicked van hiring company, who had emailed me to say they might need somebody in august, but same thing there. I kinda gave up for that day and just hung around in the city some more. Man, have they got record stores here. I found about the complete collection of Dylan & Zappa most albums at just $7, jouwzaaa. That night Jesse came over, another couchsurfing friend of Paul, who stayed here a couple of months ago. A great guy, he 's been traveling for a couple of years non-stop, and working where he can. He 's now renting an apartement in the city and had just bought an awesome van.
The next day I went to the Belgian Beer Cafe in Takapuna, close to where I'm staying. I filled in an application form and added a letter of recommendation, stating that I was a real beer lover, I wonder if that 'll work out in my advantage. They had a surprising choice of beers, from stella, over Leffe and Orval to Gouden Carolus, nnnnnnice. It was bloody expensive though, I payed $ 10.5 for a Duvel. That night I got high as a bird and had a very nice talk with Paul. I still find it surprising how nice this guy is to me and I'm sure he's going to stay a friend for life.
Today I mostly relaxed (as if I didn't do that on the other days :). We went to the swimming pool in the afternoon and I had a sauna and hot-tub.
For those who didn't get that already, I love it here! I give myself another two weeks or so to find a job, and I'm fairly confident I'll find something by then.
greetings to all you earth monkeys
woensdag 22 augustus 2007
An exhausting journey
I woke up on sunday with one of the heaviest hangovers I have had in my entire life. Luckily the party had been worth it so I didn 't mind cleaning up the mess like a zombie ;-)
I managed to get on the plane on time, and without forgetting too many things (except my New Zealand guides and my iPod). The first flight, to London, was easy. It only took one hour and on the airport I found a "quiet sitting area" with great relax chairs, where I listened to the yellow shark. The next flight would take me to Sydney, with a stop in Bangkok (o ja Laurens, ik kon het niet laten van even langs Thailand te gaan voor u). This was no ordinary plane, this was a superior machine. The boeing 767 was enormeous and had private television screens for everyone. You could select a movie, or television series, listen to a pretty big collection of cds or play some games against the computer or other passengers. All this kept me entertained for a couple of hours, and I even managed to get half an hour of sleep before me neighbour woke me up (in a true VH-like style ;0) for diner. The arrival in Bangkok had something surreal. There were huge pictures of the King everywhere and he was depicted as a god, with kind of a ray of light coming out of his head. Next to it the text "long live the king". We all had to get off the plain. and take all our hand lugage with us. The batards took my two bottles of leffe that I had brought for Paul...
We had to wait for quiete a while before they would leave us back in the plane. When they finally did, I felt so shitty that I was allmost considering not to. The flight to Sydney would take another 9 hours and the company was not as nice as the last flight (an Aussie with a terrible accent who had taken a sleeping pill). I stayed awake for the whole flight and was feeling very nauseous. I kept telling myself that I would never engage in such a long travel in one time again. But, I survived, and even caught the plane to Auckland in Sydney. On that plane I read the friend's book some of you made for me, and it got to me. The fatigue had dimished my emotional resistance and I cried like a baby for a couple of minutes. Not because I was sad to leave, but because I realised I have some pretty damn good friends, thanks you all!!!!!!
In Auckland, all went well with the visa and customs and after a couple of minutes I had all my stuff and went to the exit. Paul found me there, and he drove me to his home, but not after first showing me around in the neighbourhood. He's a great guy, and made me feel very welcome, even made me forget about the damn planes. Now I've just had a rest, and I'm feeling much better.
more to follow soon!!!
I managed to get on the plane on time, and without forgetting too many things (except my New Zealand guides and my iPod). The first flight, to London, was easy. It only took one hour and on the airport I found a "quiet sitting area" with great relax chairs, where I listened to the yellow shark. The next flight would take me to Sydney, with a stop in Bangkok (o ja Laurens, ik kon het niet laten van even langs Thailand te gaan voor u). This was no ordinary plane, this was a superior machine. The boeing 767 was enormeous and had private television screens for everyone. You could select a movie, or television series, listen to a pretty big collection of cds or play some games against the computer or other passengers. All this kept me entertained for a couple of hours, and I even managed to get half an hour of sleep before me neighbour woke me up (in a true VH-like style ;0) for diner. The arrival in Bangkok had something surreal. There were huge pictures of the King everywhere and he was depicted as a god, with kind of a ray of light coming out of his head. Next to it the text "long live the king". We all had to get off the plain. and take all our hand lugage with us. The batards took my two bottles of leffe that I had brought for Paul...
We had to wait for quiete a while before they would leave us back in the plane. When they finally did, I felt so shitty that I was allmost considering not to. The flight to Sydney would take another 9 hours and the company was not as nice as the last flight (an Aussie with a terrible accent who had taken a sleeping pill). I stayed awake for the whole flight and was feeling very nauseous. I kept telling myself that I would never engage in such a long travel in one time again. But, I survived, and even caught the plane to Auckland in Sydney. On that plane I read the friend's book some of you made for me, and it got to me. The fatigue had dimished my emotional resistance and I cried like a baby for a couple of minutes. Not because I was sad to leave, but because I realised I have some pretty damn good friends, thanks you all!!!!!!
In Auckland, all went well with the visa and customs and after a couple of minutes I had all my stuff and went to the exit. Paul found me there, and he drove me to his home, but not after first showing me around in the neighbourhood. He's a great guy, and made me feel very welcome, even made me forget about the damn planes. Now I've just had a rest, and I'm feeling much better.
more to follow soon!!!
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