Musical Monday

Hi everyone :)

It is Monday and I hope all of you have missed our 'Musical Monday's' just as much as I have. I have had a lot of time to listen to music, old or new over the last couple of weeks since I spent a lot of time on planes and at airports as regular readers might know :) If you didn't you should definitely check out my New Zealand posts because there are some seriously beautiful pictures featured!

So here goes my travel playlist :

Dear Darling - Olly Murs 

Hall Of Fame - The Script

If You could See Me now - The Script

Feel the Love - Rudimental

Hope you enjoy :)

x

J.

That Thing about People and Planes

Hi everyone :)

The lack of post during the last couple of days was due to the fact that I was on my way home :) Time spend on planes again :)

And there are some things about people on planes that I don't get. This one is just the beginning really but is the one that probably make me look weird at people and be jealous at the same time. 

So here it goes:

I don't get that people get on planes looking like they just stepped of the run way. And I'm not talking about 1 hour flight but 12 hours from Hong Kong to Auckland. 

I have nothing against people who get on a plane looking all dolled up and everything when they are just gonna be on it for an hour but 12? That has to be pushing your luck. 

I mean I am realistic enough to wear sweatpants and a big jumper on a plane and also always bring a scarf because lets be honest it gets freezing up there, right? Or am I just such a whimperer? I might be :)

And besides you want to be comfortable if you are going to be cramped into a plane with another 300 ish other people. 

I know for a fact that I would not be able to get comfortable in a tight dress and heels. I mean I don't think about how I look if I sit a certain way on the plane but if you wear a dress you have to think about how your gonna look before you even move. 

Now lets move on to make-up. Why would you want to get of the plane looking like a clown because you mascara is now spread all around your eyes and you might even have an imprint of your eye on your hand? I'm sure the person picking you up will appreciate if you look like a ghost or a retard that has no idea how to wear make-up. Very much so :D

So why do it? 

Everyone on the plane knows that you wont look great after 12 hours on it and so do the people picking them up.

I am sure you get more weird looks for wearing make-up all over your face then for actually looking like you just have been on a plane for 12 hours. Because lets be honest: You have been :D

I will keep looking at people weirdly if the step onto a plane dressed like they are going on a date. You are not people and even if you meet the love of your life on a plane: They will still look like shit, so why not return the favor? At least that way if you meet again you will both be surprised how good the other person actually looks :D

But then there is the occasional person that gets on a plane looking amazing and gets off the plane looking like they just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Those are the women that I wanna jump at and shake and scream: WHYYYYYYY. Because simply put that is not fair. I get of a plane and look like I did not care about my appearance at all and probably smell like I wasn't allowed to shower for a week. Okay I might be over exaggerating but you get the idea. 

So how is it fair that there are women that this does not seem to happen to? How can someone look so flawless stepping out of a plane? Whoever knows the answer to that: It is you obligation to share it with the rest of us poor humans!

On another note: I am home safe. Just in case anyone was interested :D

x

J.

This post was supposed to go up on Friday don't ask me why that didn't work. I was in a whole of Jetlag ever since I arrived back in Germany on Thursday. And it got worse over the weekend and I got sick as well but I am fine again and have now actually arrive in Germany  timezone wise and all :) So sorry for the delay and all the waiting guys. I am back with regular daily posts now :)

The Things I love/miss about New Zealand V

Hi everyone :)

We went on another road trip this week around the bays in Wellington. There are some great beaches around here and we just went exploring for a bit. 

And this is what we found:

This is the view from Ataturk Memorial Park. It has a very interesting history behind it, which you can read about here if your are interested :)

first person aside from me and my parents that you are getting to see here. Be nice people :D

From the memorial we made our way around the bays, slowly reaching Breaker Bay which we hadn't been to in one and a half years. 

When I was still living in New Zealand we used to go there quite a lot and took some very beautiful pictures there.

Paua Shell

Breaker Bay is a great place if you actually want to sunbathe in Wellingten because it is very sheltered. Quite often it will be a really sunny day in New Zealand's capital but there is a cold breeze so a place that is not windy is perfect :)

Gandalf is back in New Zealand everyone, brace yourselves :D

and here we have THE picture of the post :D there just is no way around it!

Have a good start into the week and don't forget to look out for the small beautiful things in life :) I bet you can find some. 

x

J.

The Things I miss/love about New Zealand IV

Hi everyone :)

I'm starting to wonder if this greeting gets a little old... let me know? 

So far I have been enjoying myself like a little kid in a candy shop on this trip and to be quite honest I'm already thinking about coming back again. Maybe next year? I will have to ask what my bank account thinks about this though :D

On Sunday me and my friend decided that it would be nice to go on a little road trip because the weather was fairly nice and the drive to Martinborough gives you a beautiful view over the scenery as you drive through the Rimutakas (it's a mountain range that separates Wellington from the Wairarapa). It is a gorgeous journey on a sunny day which sadly it wasn't, at least not on our way to Martinborough :D

this is the weather when we left Welington

Not that glorious but at least it was not raining yet. I say yet because literally as soon as we were to far gone to turn around it started :D

By the time we got to Martinborough the weather had turned from okay to completely grey and it was cold. So we only really went for lunch and walked around the town center, which kinda just looks like a big round about haha. 

I love these colonial style houses that they have in new Zealand

This shop was to cute and I love the bike idea instead of a boring old sign on the door that says: open!

If anyone knows what this means let me know. We could not figure it out :D And no it is not above the entrance to a car park. Behind this door actually is a pub garden :)

After we sat inside, had lunch and felt slightly warmer our brains seemed to be able to come up with one creative answer though. 

We thought that this sign means that you can park your husband at the pub while you go shopping? Reasonable idea? Any other thoughts? 

note the giraffe on the drink. Makes the long even longer ;)

This picture just shows how practical New Zealander's are, growing beetroot and parsley in a park instead of flowers. Yeah I don't get it to be honest :D

On our way back the weather decided to be typical New Zealand and was amazing, so we actually did get to see a bit of the Rimutaka's. Obviously I can't withhold those pictures as the view was incredible. And I'm kind of running out of words to do it justice. Just look at the pictures and see for yourself.

the Rimutaka Hill Road gives you an amazing view over the hills but I feel sick every time I go up or down.

this is New Zealand at it's best

If you are a fan of nature and you ever get the chance to go to New Zealand I'm telling you that you are a complete idiot if you don't do it.

what would a blog post be without at least one picture of me doing childish stuff

x

J.

The Things I love/miss about New Zealand III

Hi everyone and welcome back :)

 I have been getting better again with updating you guys. Probably because today is not the best of days :) It is pretty cold and windy and grey but nevertheless a day that I really enjoyed. If not for meeting up with Stace for coffee then for getting more New Zealand food that I have missed :D

There just are some things that you can get here that you can't in Germany and they have been missed let me tell you that. Things like chocolate and smoothies and crêpes and other stuff.

I have made a list of the things I was able to have already but there are more to come, if I actually manage to eat them all :D

And if you ever get the chance to come to Wellington you should definitely try all of these things :)

First of are the things I bought when I went grocery shopping on the second day of my stay here.

This might seem a bit strange to people but yes I did by porridge :D Uncle Toby's is the best because it not just is porridge but you can get it with different tastes. My favourite is the one with cinnamon it is heavenly and I know that I am quite possibly the only person who can get this excited for porridge :)

The fruit sticks things are probably as childish but they are quite simply something that you get attached to as an AuPair. No matter how old the kids are that you look after they will all be loving these fruit stick things. So whenever you go to the park with them or somewhere that is not the house you will take these fruit things along. If your kids then get hungry you have something for them to eat but it also works on yourselves. I have no idea how many of these I actually ate during my year in New Zealand but I would agree on a lot.

And of course who could forget about the chocolate. I am not the biggest fan of the chocolate over here but the green one is really good. I like after eight but it`s taste is a bit strong and the bubbly mint chocolate is just a tiny bit sweeter. As for the peanut butter chocolate I can only say that you have to try it. This chocolate is literally the best chocolate in the world. It is dark and filled with creamy peanut butter, delicious.

Another thing that I have been craving really bad for a whole year is these amazing shakes from Wendy's. They are amazing and there really isn't much else to say :D

Oh and here comes probably the only healthy thing that I have sorely missed.

These are really delicious and healthy smoothies. I usually have something with berries but they do all kinds of things. You should try one if you ever get the chance :)

And the last thing, that I could probably get in France as well if I wanted, is this:

Yes you heard right: It is crêpes. And really really really good ones which are also made by real French people. So if you ever crave a crêpe in Wellington this is the place to go and if you accept your crêpe with a merci they will be very happy :)

x

J.

The Things I love/miss about New Zealand II

Hi everyone :)

I thought I could make this a little series while I am here in New Zealand, since there really is a lot of things that I missed while I was in Germany.

One of these things being the beauty of this place. It is breathtaking!

I took a walk around Wellington yesterday because it was a glorious day and really warm as well. 

I walked along the Waterfront and passed some of my favourite spots in Wellington. The harbor as a great place for a walk on a beautiful day and I enjoyed every minute of my nearly 2 hour walk from Thorndon along the Waterfront to Oriental Bay.

Writers Walk

They have this thing called the 'Writer's Walk' along the waterfront, which basically is a lot of quotes from novels or poems on concrete slabs, like the one above. I have written all of these more then once but it never seems to get old :)

I have walked along the Waterfront so many times while I lived in Wellington but I still love it and am surprised by who different it looks depending on when you go. I have been there at night, while it was raining, in the morning, at sunset and in bright daylight. In the summer, in winter and with snow and it never looked the same. There is always new things to discover.

I don't know why it is but this walk never gets boring. If you look closely and pay attention to the small things you will never be able to see it all. There will be new things to spot each time.

So keep your eyes open for the beauty of this life because really it is the small things that make our life interesting. And I don't know if I could find it as easy as I do here in Augsburg, but I promised myself I would try and then maybe, just maybe I will not miss Wellington as much by the time I'm back in Germany.

x

J.

The Things I love/miss about New Zealand I

Hi everyone :)

There are many things I love about New Zealand but the one thing that really stands out is that Kiwis are just so much more chilled out then Europeans are. It is really refreshing. 

Like when I got redirected to Christchurch (read about that here) and met a really amazing people.

After we got off the plane we had to queue for about 2 hours till JetStar had provided all of us with accommodation and a flight back to Wellington the next day. 

While we were standing in line I got talking to the 2 women who were standing behind me. I mean we were all waiting so we might as well put our time to good use. 

And that is what I love about New Zealand: It is so easy to just talk to people and really get a conversation going. And everyone is so nice.

So it did not take long until we were talking about how we got into this situation and how I had been traveling for over 2 days and still hadn't made it to my final destination. 

We all got to stay at the same hotel and took a cab together. We kept chatting and found out we were all on the same flight back too Wellington as well. In the morning we had breakfast together and got on the same cab to the airport.

We had a really good time and thanks to those 2 our unexpected stay in Christchurch wasn't so bad after all. I mean we got to stay at a 4 star hotel :)

I stopped complaining about being redirected when I saw this bed :D

I took a shower before I went to bed and in the morning just because I loved the bathroom so much :D

When we finally arrived in Wellington, Stace and her partner gave me a lift into town and invited me to their gig on Friday. 

I had nothing better to do and they were such lovely people that I was more then happy to go. Also Stace had said she would put my name at the door so I wouldn't have to pay anything which made it even more convenient ;) 

And this being New Zealand I was not worried about going alone, because you always meet people in New Zealand. 

I would have never done that in Germany, too worried about being alone or standing awkwardly in the corner.

When I got there Stace introduced me to 'her' people and they took me in like a long lost friend. I enjoyed myself a lot that night meeting new people and even learning a bit of Maori. I wasn't very successful with it but it was a lot of fun nevertheless :D

The venue it was held at very conveniently was a place I had been to before for a gig last year. It is a great place for things like this.

The show that they put on was incredible. I loved the music but it was even better with the way they dressed and made it all freaky and stuff. I had such a good time. 
They are called Poppy Dust and you should really go check them out :)

So if you ever go to New Zealand and are worried about meeting new people you technically just have to stand at a bus stop alone long enough and you will meet someone :)

x

J.