Moving On

After Tokyo where I spent the last couple of days checking more contemporary architecture and spending good times with sweet Marieke (picture above) I have taken a flight to New Zealand. I landed in Auckland early in the morning, and a very nice guy that I met in the plane, gave me a ride to the centre of Auckland (after having arranged a hotel at the airport because my flight to Melbourne was leaving quite early the next morning). There he drove me around in his car to see some of the centre and give a me a sort of little tour. I will be back there in a couple of months so this little preview turned out really nice. We had a great breakfast/lunch somewhere and then I took of into the city centre.

It was dark and rainy (yes, on this side of the world, at these lattitudes, it is actually winter time people). And Auckland doesnt seem to be a very pretty city (although the bad wheather must have emphasized that). The impression that I got from it was also that it is a rather quiet city. But there were many interesting things (nice bars and restaurants, some interesting older and newer buildings, and tons of amazing postcards of the surroundings) that kind of make me look forward to travelling that amazing country. There are only 4 million people living in this huge country, of which 1 million live in Auckland and about another million live in Wellington+Christchurch. So... it must be really really empty out there in the wild.

I had great (amazing) dinner in a nice small pub there, amazing seafood, maybe even fresher then the Japanese seafood...

The next morning I hopped on a plane to Melbourne, where winter has brought even cooler temperatures. Dennis, a friend a have met in Delft a couple of years ago when he was studying there for a semester after I came back from Barcelona, picked me up from the airport with his 1973 Alfa-Romeo sportscar! He was there with a friend with whom he lives together and went out to surf that (cold sunday) morning. It was really really REALLY great seeing Dennis again. We have been spending all afternoon chatting and walking around Melbourne, and in the evening we have gone out for dinner together with his friend and housemate Math and another friend and housemate (girl) named Marrain and Dennis' grilfriend Emmily, that I've met before in Delft aswell. It was really nice, AND good food! First evening in Australia I have already Kangaroo! Very nice! Love Australia alreay!

More to come soon.