Goodbye Auckland

So, Gigi and I went our separate ways earlier today, she did wait for me apparently, but she wasn't in front of the store we agreed to meet by. Either way, she didn't waste her day, but went to Waiheke as well and went on a wine tour. She had her fun it seems, so that's all good.
We met up at ACB around 18:00 and went out for bubble tea, Gigi doesn't like it. So after drinking a liter of tea, we went back, Gigi wanted to take a quick nap, and I should wake her up shortly. 40 minutes later I was hungry . But she didn't want to leave. So, McD for me, then back and into bed. Guess it's the best, since we're flying with Nazi Airlines... Ahem... Jetstar, tomorrow.
Jetstar provides you with a 30 minute timeframe to check in and board their airplane, if you're late, you miss your flight. On top of that they have a whole bunch of other regulations, word on the street is (that'll be backpackers and other NZ people I've talked to and mentioned the name Jetstar), that they're horrible. It get's you from A to B, nothing else. The Ryanair of new Zealand so to say. I'm looking forward to see how it actually goes though.
Tomorrow we're getting up early and then heading to the airport. Then I'll take Gigi to her train towards Masterton, and I myself will go meet with Nathan at Creative HQ (the place I'll be working). He'll take me to Robyn's and I'll start working on the 2nd. So I guess this marks the end of my vacation. :(

So far!

A day in Auckland

So to start the day off, was me. Even though I went to bed last, I was the first one to wake up after a stunning 6 hours of sleep. Most importantly, I feel fresh. A real bed after so long feels really great.
Gigi eventually woke up and we headed to the ferries, but first I had to stop and get a SIM for my phone, so after getting a sandwhich I went into the mall while Gigi headed back Queen's street to look at some girl stuff.
I said I's be back 9:50, i didn't get there until 9:52 however so I waited 3 more minutes for Gigi. She didn't show up however. So I figured she was a smart girl and went on the boat already. So I went down there, got a ticket and stepped aboard, hoping to find my travelmate somewhere. Nope, she wasn't on the boat. So I went to Waiheke Island myself.
Since the boat came in every hour I decided to stroll up the hill towards Church Bay while waiting for the next one to see if Gigi would catch that boat, she didn't. Either way:
The Island is amazing! A wonderful sight and a true display of the paradise that New Zealand is. I'm sure the NZ expert would have some comments here but bear in mind that this is my first day and honestly, everything is amazing!
I've attaches a few pictures and once I have the chance and get off McD wifi I will upload more.
As you may be able to see, there are no signs or other tourists on my path. This is because I didn't want to do any of the advertised tours, which were strictly wine and restaurant tours, and I didn't bring my bathing suit either. So I asked the guy behind the counter in the terminal what to do, and he pointed me along the beach, up the hill and down the other side. So I went, look at the pictures, it's gorgeous.

From AKL to Auckland City

Right now I'm about to go to sleep at ACB, Auckland Central Backpackers. The place is ok, reminds me of the Jugendherberge (plural) I visited in Germany while I was a student at Østerskov Efterskole. Crappy showers, crowded rooms and extremely polite service.

But let's get back to where I last left you:
Gigi and I got out of AKL, Auckland Airport, after walking through another security point with Chinese people everywhere. I don't know what's wrong with them, but they come across as very unpolite in their behavior. The group in front of us, decided that it would more practical to take their bags off their carts, realizing that they had to run them through the X-ray 1 by 1 while having their passports and customs declarations checked. So 2 people did that while the woman was left to deal with the police officer. They continued (without their passports and all of the luggage) to the X-ray and left the cart blocking the line for everyone else. When the officer yelled at them to get their attention, the younger man quickly replied: "Yes yes, X-ray" and wandered off before the officer got to react. A college caught them and took them all aside to make space for Gigi and I.

After that, we went outside a had a breath of fresh air (first since leaving Amsterdam), and yes, literally fresh air, that stuff doesn't exist in China. Much like New York it's dry and polluted, smelly if you want.
I tries to get a SIM for my phone, but apparently I have to go to "real" store to get a Micro-SIM for my iPhone 4S. So that'll have to wait until tomorrow (today by the time this is posted).
Gigi and I then took the bus to Auckland central. It took me some time to realize we were in the wrong side of the road, probably because I'm so exhausted after the trip. On that note, I'll enjoy the landscape tomorrow as well.
When we got to Downtown, we checked in at ACB, I showered and we went outside to walk around the city and find some WiFi (thank god for McDonalds!).
Gigi went back to bed I wanted to find some Bubble Tea. Being so close to China there had to be a tea house somewhere. I found (Thank you Siri!), went there and had a cup. Now I'm back here.

Stay tuned for tomorrows post, Gigi doesn't know it yet but we're going to Waiheke Island as Clare (my supervisor from IBA) suggested. Supposedly it's really beautiful there.

P.S.: Is it mandatory for backpackers to snore? 3 of the 5 others in here do so. Including Gigi :p

Guangzhou

Our stay in Guangzhou was decent. Gigi and I met 3 friendly fellas, Nicki and Malene (Danes, who are going to Christchurch and travelling around NZ for 3 weeks), and Emma, a Swedish girl, living in Norway, who is also on vacation. They were nice to have with us so we didn't get lost alone :) Guangzhou, just like Beijing, has no airport staff with English skills.
After ending up outside the airport, we found our way back in and got to the right gate. I was so exhausted at that point that I went to sleep on the floor with my sleeping mask and earplugs, Gigi got down next to me and while I was fast asleep, two Chinese pilots apparently saw ud and decided to take a picture of the two westerners sleeping like a couple of homeless Chinese people, whaddyahknow?!
After an hours rest I got back up, Gigi brought me chocolate and cola <3 After this grand feast I went to brush teeth, and we were ready to board.
Like in Amsterdam we had our tickets changed so that we would sit next to eachother. Apparently the procedure for doing so is rather different here. The lady at the desk called someone, said what seemed like 10 words, pause, then wrote down our new seats with a yellow marker on our boarding passes. And said goodbye to us...
Now on the plane, getting ready to take off. 12 more hours in an airplane... Can't wait to check in at a hotel and get some damn sleep! And a shower.

Attached is a picture of the 3 friendly Scandinavians (a lovely sight in crowded China). From left: Nicki, Malene, Emma.

Flying with China Southern Airlines

Flying with China Southern has been a delight! It has been very positive! The staff is nice, the food is ok (it's always good when you depart from Amsterdam), and the free stuff is amazing. We all had a bag on our seat, in addition to the complimentary pillow and blanket, with a toothbrush, some toothpaste, earplugs and a sleeping mask.
The in-flight entertainment system in the Airbus A330 is amazing as well. The selection of movies and TV-shows was very chinese however, and movies were censored, China-style. I watched a movie where in one scene, a man is hanging on the edge of a cliff and the good guy then walks up him, and the next thin you see is a splash in the water.
I didn't understand anything that was being said over the speakers as the Chinese staff has limited English skills. Sadly.
Transfer and security in China is a story all by itself. More on that in a later post.
Back on the airplane, Gigi and I switched seat. The USB in the seat next to her worked so I'm borrowing his. 1/4 work, terrible.
The woman behind me began to rage when I tilted my seat back after dinner, which is allowed, so I turned around, looked at her and kindly asked her in a deep, loud voice: "Har du et problem eller hva?!" - There weren't any further issues after that.

Transferring in Beijing

Transferring in Beijing meant getting into a bus, exiting the boarding ramp through the emergency exit where a woman was telling Guangzhou and pointing at people's boarding passes. Now she wasn't there to begin with so of course she missed a few and we had to wait for the poor souls in the ice cold bus.
Then we were in for a 5 minute busride to a security checkpoint. 3 lines were open, one was reserved for Chinese VISA-holders which made total sense because the only people at this checkpoint were us transferring. So while the manager while was yelling something at the lady and running around confused asking for VISAs (none were found), the metal detector was bleeping at every single person walking through, forcing manual groping of everyone, delaying us a little bit more. Eventually we got through, after they took Gigi's lighter and a little kid's bouncing ball with light in (that shit is exported from China no?).
Then with bus back to the same airplane, same seats, same luxury, new staff.
Something amazing about the A330 btw, it includes USB for charging your precious cellphone. Just too bad the connection is loose and it doesn't work anyways.

Amsterdam!

We got safely through security and now waiting to board. We got here early so we even got to watch the G4S guys check out the security area. I was surprised at how thorpugh they were: Checked everything, the emergency fire hose, the paper rolls for printing new boarding passes and both sides of the glass wall (really?)...

We had our seats changed for free, courtesy of KLM, so we're a little closer at least.
This area is like chinatown. All advertisement is in chinese and then the dead faces staring at this tall white guy walking through the masses, pretty funny.

Looking forward to board and see what food we'll be served. Never flew with China Southern before.

Checking in: Billund Airport

So far so good. Got through security, the fastest in the world, it's literally faster than shopping in Fakta, and the cool thing is, they don't want you to stay longer than that. So, while Gigi (my travelmate going to New Zealand) grabs a snack, I'll just update you on the next few days:
Most of my time will be spend in the air, first with the delightful KLM crew towards Amsterdam and then their partner China Southern for the rest of the trip towards Auckland.
Gigi and I will stay in Auckland for 2 days before going to Wellington. We have yet to find out where we will be staying, but we are certain we will figure things out. If not, I've watche The Terminal and know some tricks about surviving in an airport.

If you want to contact me, you should use email, G+ or post a comment.

Lastly: Goodbye Denmark, I hope the socialists won't make it any worse before I return!

Preparations and stuff

A lot of people told me to keep them updated about my trip to New Zealand, and it's not that I don't want to, but I would prefer not telling the same story over and over again. So I decided to make a blog, and this is it. Here I will post at least once a week about what is going on "down there". I'll be sure to include some beautiful pictures of the landscape and maybe even myself - who knows.
I am not yet sure about internet connectivity, from what I've heard, New Zealand still suffer from dial-up modems and sad, sad pay-pr-MB solutions. But I will definitely find a way to put text on the internet.

Right now I'm just packing and getting ready to leave. Besides somewhere to stay in Auckland for 2 nights, everything should be settled for now.

Some other facts:
I will depart on the 28/1/2012 from Billund Airport (KL1348) to Amsterdam, continuing to Guangzhou (CZ346) and then on to Auckland (CZ305) with one stop in Beijing. According to schedule I'll be in Auckland on 30/1/2012.

There, Gigi and I will stay until the 1/2/2012 before we head on down to Wellington by plane, Gigi will head off to Masterton and I'll be checking in with my employer (Nathan) and get settled with my host (Robyn).

But for now, this will be it, look forward to it! I know I am!

Remember to bookmark this page or follow me on G+, I'll definitely be updating there as well.