So far so good

Ok, na NZ sva dober teden in če pomislim, kaj vse sva v tem času že uredila, bi rekla, da sva tukaj že vsaj en mesec. Najpomembnejši pridobitvi sta novi telefonski številki iiin: stanovanje! No, pravzaprav je studio oziroma praktično je hotelska soba, ampak bo pa čisto najina. Vsaj za naslednje tri mesece. Če sem čisto natančna se bova vselila 30. decembra. In kje naju najdete? V centru Aucklanda v hotelu Quadrant. V 14. nadstropju. Ne, ni bila samo najina številka 14 razlog, da sva se odločila za to stanovanje, veliko prispevata tudi pogled na morje in neposredna bližina parka.

Ok, so we’ve been here for a good week and if I think how many things we did in this time, I would say that we’ve been here at least for a month. The most important achievements are new mobile numbers and: an apartment! Well, actually it’s a studio, practically it’s a hotel room, but it will be entirely ours. For at least next three months. If I am completely precise we will move in on the 30^th of December. And where can you find us? In Auckland, in the Quadrant Hotel. On the 14^th floor. No, we didn’t choose this place only because of our number 14, two big reasons are also ocean view and a park right next to the hotel.

 Do zdaj sva po Aucklandu hodila samo peš. Največ sva v enem dnevu prehodila 14 kilometrov. (Ne, to ni razgled iz najinega bodočega doma, ta še pride.)

Until now we were walking the streets of Auckland only by feet. The longest distance which we did in one day was 14 kilometers. (No, this is not a view from our future home, those pictures are coming soon.)

Edini prevoz, ki ga uporabljava je trajekt, smer Devonport-Auckland in kontra.
The only ride which we are using is the ferry, direction Devonport-Auckland and vice versa.

Do vselitve ostajava v Devonportu in paziva dom  družine pri kateri bivava, saj bodo njeni člani preostanek leta preživeli pri sorodnikih v Wellingtonu. Da so kiviji prijazni sem verjetno že omenila in tudi gesta najinih gostiteljev - da so nama ponudili svojo hišo, čeprav se poznamo šele en teden -, veliko pove o njihovi dobrosrčnosti. Ta se je že nekajkrat potrdila tudi v mestu; Auckland ni tako velik, da bi se lahko izgubil, ampak če si ''new in town'', včasih pač moraš stopiti na zemljevid, a ne dobiš priložnosti, da bi uporabil svoje orientacijske sposobnosti, saj v manj kot v minuti nekdo pristopi k tebi in ti pokaže luč.

Until then we are staying in Devonport and we’re looking after the house of our hosts, because they will spent the rest of the year in Wellington. I think I already mentioned that kiwis are kind and also the gesture  of our hosts (that they offered us their home, although we met only a week ago) shows how good-hearted they are. This has proofed a couple of times also in the city; Auckland is not so big, that one could get lost, but if you are new in town, sometimes you have to grab a map, although you don’t get the chance to use your orientation skills because in less than a minute someone will approach and show you the way.

Devonport sva v enem tednu kar dobro spoznala in ga vzljubila.
In one week we fell in love with Devonport.

Tudi midva bova imela božič kot se spodobi. Pod jelko naju že čaka darilo. :)
We will also have Christmas like we should. A gift for us is already waiting. :)

Kiviji pa ne izstopajo le zaradi prijaznosti. Imajo nenavadno navado o kateri sem sicer že slišala, ampak ko to vidiš na lastne oči, si ne moreš pomagati, da ne bi izvlekel iz žepa mobi in to čudo slikal. Več o tem in še čem pa v spodnjih slikah.

But kiwis do not stand out only because of their kindness. They have an unusual habit of which I have heard about, but once I saw this in reality, I just had to take a photo of it.

No, o tem govorim. :) In medtem, ko so nekateri bosonogi, drugi zmrzujemo v zimskih bundah. Čeprav je poletje.

This is what I'm talking about. :) And while some people are barefoot, the others are freezing in winter jackets. Although it's summer.

Prijaznost na vsakem koraku. Kakšna so že opozorila pred našimi supermarketi? ''Max. dovoljen čas parkiranja 90 min.'' Spodaj pa slika pajka.

Kindness on every corner. The warnings in front of our supermarkets are saying something like this: "Maximally 90 minutes of parking is allowed." 

Za konec pa še pohutukawa, novozelandsko božično drevo, v polnem razcvetu ...

This is pohutukawa, NZ Christmas tree ...

... in sledi, ki jih po nevihti pusti.

... and its marks after a storm.

Normalne stvari tu spodaj / Normal things down here

Video 3 v 1. Najprej si oglejte spodnji video, potem pa vam razkrijem vse skrivnosti. POZOR: mogoče je boljše, da zvočnike nastavite malo tišje.

Video 3 in 1. First, look at the following video and then I will reveal you all the secrets. Careful: maybe it would be better if you volume down the speakers.

Torej. To kar slišite so ogromne pošasti. Ne, saj ne. Je pa kar močan in mrzel veter. To je verjetno eden najbolj vetrovnih dni v zadnjih...letih? Takrat sem imel na sebi praktično vsa možna oblačila, a vseeno se ta čas (kot lahko vidite na posnetku) nekateri napol goli brezskrbno guncajo na gugalnici. To je še ena od zabavnih lastnosti domačinov. Tudi najina gostiteljica Anne je rekla ''saj samo malo piha, drugače je kar toplo''. Ja, mogoče, če si iz Arktike. Med vetrovnim pohajkovanjem sva naletela na še nekaj bosonogih in napol golih osebkov, tako da sva bila verjetno midva tista ta čudna, ampak to tukaj nikogar ne moti, kar je le še ena od prednosti Nove Zelandije.

Torej zakaj se posnetek imenuje 3 v 1? Prva stvar je ta veter, druga oblačenje domačinov in tretja, najbolj pomembna je klopca, ki jo lahko vidite na posnetku. No, ta klopca je dejansko pošast. Ne, saj ni. Gre za neko veliko simboliko. Ko sva izvedela kje bova bivala prvi teden, sva si na Google maps pogledala, kje to bo. Najino oko je tudi uzrlo dotično klopco in rekla sva, da ko jo bova lahko videla v živo, bo to pomenilo, da nama je končno uspelo in sva dosegla enega najinih velikih ciljev, prispela sva na Novo Zelandijo.

To dokazuje tudi bančna kartica, ki sva jo jo uspela dobiti. Upam, da se številke tekočega računa vidijo dovolj dobro, da boste lahko nakazovali prostovoljne prispevke. Hvala že vnaprej in to za kar 12 ur.

So, what you can hear are huge monsters. No, not really. What you hear is a rather strong and cold wind. This was probably one of the windiest days in a couple of...years? I think at that time I had almost all possible clothes on me, but still there were some people (as you can see in the video) who were carelessly rocking on a swing. This is one of the funny qualities about the locals. Also our hostess Anne said “it’s just a little bit windy, otherwise it’s warm”. Yes, maybe, if you’re from the Arctic. While we were walking around during this wind, we saw some other barefoot and half naked people, so probably we were the strange ones, but here nobody cares about how you look, which is another positive thing about New Zealand.

And why is this video called 3 in 1? The first reason is this wind, the second are the locals and their clothes, and the third thing, the most important one is the bench, which you can see on the video. This bench is actually a monster. No, not really. There is a great symbolic behind it. When we found out where we’ll be staying for the first week in NZ, we immediately looked it on the Google maps, where we also saw this bench. We said to each other that our goal (coming here) will be achieved when we will see this bench in real life.

A proof that we are really here is also our new bank account. I hope numbers on this card are visible enough so you can make a donation. I would like to thank you in advance, 12 hours in advance.

 To tukaj spodaj pa je prava pošast!

Now this is a real monster!

Na sliki spodaj je prikazan primeren prostor za počitek. Ker ga midva nisva potrebovala, sem ga samo slikal.

On the picture below you can see a perfect spot to relax. Because we didn't need one, I only took a photo of it.

To na sliki sva midva.

This is us.

Takole izgledajo priprave na najin naslednji dan, počivala bova potem, kasneje, vendar ne na klopci, ki je prikazana zgoraj.

This is how our preparation for the next day look like.

Pa še ena zabavna štorija za na konec. Ko sva želela obiskati enega od okoliških vrhov (nadmorska višina 84 m) se nama je na poti pridružil prijazen domačin in med pogovorom naju je opozoril, da se sedaj bližamo nevarnemu okolišu, saj smo na oglasni deski zagledali spodnjo sliko.

I will end this post with another funny story. When we were on our way to a local peek, a very kind local guy joined us and while we were talking, he warned us that we are approaching a dangerous area, because we passed the notice below.

''Relax, take it easy''

To so Nejčeve besede, ki jih slišim vsaj 2-krat na dan, ko začnem preveč polnit najin urnik z željam, kaj vse si morava ogledati, kaj vse morava še urediti … ''Stop, relax,'' zlij se z okolico. :) Pa še prav ima, tukaj bova celo leto in ni potrebe, da hitiva. A sva kljub temu že v treh dneh obkljukala dve večji formalnosti, ki sta pogoj, da sploh lahko začneva delat, in sicer sva si v desetih minutah kar na pošti uredila davčno številko in odprla sva bančna računa - to bi bilo sicer brez priporočila najine gostiteljice težko urediti tako hitro, ker nimava stalnega naslova. No, ampak najpomembnejša must do-ja sta za nama, kar je zelo pomembno, ker se bližajo prazniki, ko se vse zapre, ljudje zbežijo iz mesta in edino, kar človeku preostane, če želi v tem obdobju karkoli urediti, je, da počaka novo leto. Ampak tukaj čaka še malo dlje kot v Sloveniji; najina gostiteljica nama je zaupala, da podjetje, v katerem dela, začne ponovno poslovati šele 19. januarja. Ne, ni jim hudo.

These are the words which I hear from Nejc at least two times per day when I start filling our schedule too much with wishes of things which we have to see, things we have to do ... ''Stop, relax,'' just melt in. And he’s right, we’ll be here one year and there is no need for rushing. However, in three days since we’ve been here we already checked two major formalities, two conditions, if we want to work: our IRD number and we opened a bank account – without the recommendation of our hostess this would take some more time, because we don’t have a permanent address. But all the important “must do” are done which is rather important because the holiday is coming when everything shuts down, people run from the city and the only thing you can do in this time is to wait until next year. Although here one must wait a little longer than in Slovenia; the company in which our hostess is working will not start to operate before the 19^th of January. Not bad at all.

Sky Tower in mesto jader
Sky Tower and City of Sails

Danes je sobota in tukaj sva četrti dan. Celotno pot do sem bom opisala tako: za zjokat naporna, ampak poplačana takoj, ko sem zagledala novozelandska tla. Vlažne oči so me opozorile na to, da se mi je izpolnila dolgotrajna želja in to je bil res neopisljiv občutek sreče.

Today is Saturday and we’ve been here the fourth day. I will describe the entire way to here with these words: demanding as hell, but rewarded as soon as I saw the NZ ground. Wet eyes warned me that a big wish of mine came true and that was really an indescribable feeling of joy.

XXL Santa na glavni ulici, Queen St
XXL Santa on main street, Queen St

Do končnega cilja, hiše najinih gostiteljev v Devonportu, sva prišla v sredo v večernih urah in ker je bila tema, nisva vedela, kakšen pravljični razgled naju bo čakal naslednje jutro. 150 metrov stran od hiše se razteza peščena obala in nedaleč stran na morju se vidijo vulkanski otočki. Noro lepo. Samo mesto je očarljivo, butično, z majhnimi obcestnimi kavarnicami, knjigarnami, pekarnami ... in povsod prijazni ljudje, ki ti vsakič ustavijo na prehodu za pešce. Ker pri nas se moraš skoraj vreči pod avto, da ustavi.

We came to our final destination, house of our hosts in Devonport, on Wednesday evening and because it was already dark outside we didn’t know what kind of view we will have the next morning. 150 metres away from the house lies a sandy beach and from the ocean are rising volcanic islands. Just breathtaking. The city itself is charming, it has many little coffee shops, book shops and bakeries ... and kind people everywhere who always stop their car when you want to cross the road. In Slovenia one must almost throw himself in front of the car to get across the street.

Victoria Park

In Auckland? Od Devonporta je 10 minut vožnje s trajektom do tega urbanega središča z 2 milijona prebivalcev. Mešanica modernih nebotičnikov in starih opečnatih hiš naju ni pustila hladnih. Ulice so polne ljudi iz vsega sveta in ravno to mešanje različnih kultur ustvarja v mestu razgibano klimo. V četrtek sva cel dan dihala aucklandski zrak, se potepala po ulicah, a ogled mestnih znamenitosti naju še čaka. Kot sem že zgoraj napisala – nikamor se nama ne mudi, a vseeno misliva na jutri. Naslednji korak, ki naju čaka, je služba (Nejc že pošilja prošnje) in stanovanje.

And Auckland? The ferry from Devonport brings you to this urban centre in 10 minutes. The blend of modern skyscrapers and old brick houses didn’t leave us cold. The streets are full of people from all over the world and this is also one of the reasons that this city is so interesting and lively. On Thursday we were all day breathing Auckland air, roaming the streets, but the sightseeing is still ahead of us. Like I already said – we are not in a hurry, but we’re anyway thinking about tomorrow. The next step which we will take is finding a job and an apartment.

Gor, dol, gor, dol. Nekatere ulice v Aucklandu so precej strme.
Up and down, up and down. Some streets in Auckland can be really steep.

Še to: čeprav je tukaj uradno poletje, še ni pravih poletnih temperatur. Vreme je pravzaprav zelo čudno – malo oblačno, malo dežuje, potem nekaj sonca – bolj spominja na muhasto aprilsko vreme. Ampak naju sploh ne moti. Če si srečen, te očitno tudi dež ne more zmotiti. :)

One more thing: although it’s officially summer, we don’t have the real summer temperatures yet. The weather is actually very strange – cloudy, rainy, sunny – it’s more like in April when it gets really flighty. But we don’t mind this at all, because if you are happy nothing can get in your way, not even rain.

Še bloki so pisani.

Pogled na Auckland iz Devonporta

A sight on Auckland from Devonport

Peščena plaža v bližini najinega domovanja

Sandy beach near our home

Razgled iz kuhinje :)

Kitchen view :)

11.000 km od doma / 11.000 km from home

Torej, nisva še na drugem koncu sveta, a vseeno že tako daleč, da si ne moremo pomahati. Od 8.12., od okoli 9h sva že sama v širnem svetu. Sedaj, tukaj v Taipeju ne veva točno kateri dan je, niti koliko je ura, a veva, da sva v letalu preživela 12 ur. In kakšna je statistka na osebo? Trije filmi, kosilo, večerja, dve kavi, tableta proti budnosti in nepozabna dogodivščina: sprehodi do toalet, rekreacija in pol.

So, we are not on the other side of the world yet, but still so far we can’t wave. Since 8.12. from around 9 am we are already all alone in the wide world. Here in Taipei we don’t know which day is it actually or what is the time, all we know is that we spent 12 hours on the airplane. And what is the statistics per person? Three movies, lunch, dinner, two coffees, sleeping pill and unforgettable adventure: a walk to the toilet.

Letališče v Taipeju
Airport in Taipei

Izpolnila sva tudi že prvi obrazec, da nimava ebole, čeprav po takem letu ravno ne moreš dajati zdravega vtisa. No, vseeno lahko zapustiva letališče in se prosto gibljeva po državi.

We also checked our first form and confirmed we don’t have ebola although after such a long flight one can’t exactly look very healthy. However, we can leave airport and move freely around country.

Prva kava in jutranje čtivo

First coffee and morning reading

Ker imava do naslednjega leta še 14 ur, se bova podala še na popoldansko dogodivščino, kjer bova poleg Taipeja obiskala še  4. najvišjo stavbo na svetu, Taipei 101.

We have 14 hours until our next flight so by then we will visit the capital of Taiwan and the 4^th highest building in the world, Taipei 101.

Taipei 101, 509 m

Deževen dan, zelo običajen dan v Taipeju.

Rainy day, very common day in Taipei.

Skulptura Roberta Indiane, ki stoji pred zgradbo Taipei 101.

Robert Indiana Love sculpture in front of Taipei 101