New photos

Hi there,

I've added a new photo album with photos of my visit to Prague in September and I've added photos to the album 'New Zealand, Dec. 2, 2009 - Aug. 30, 2010'. You have to scroll down to be able to see the newest photos.

I hope you like them!

Cheers,
Carola

Photos of Vanuatu

Hello everyone,

I've added photos of my holiday in Vanuatu. Go check them out!

Carola

PS: I'm back in Holland.

Vanuatu

In exactly 5 weeks I'll be back in Holland. Aaaaah! Time flies when you're having fun!

I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends again, but other than that, I'd rather stay in New Zealand. New Zealand is spacious and has beautiful beaches and beautiful weather (even in winter!). The people - and life in general - are a lot more relaxed than in the Netherlands (especially compared to Amsterdam....). 'Once back in Holland, daily life will scream at you again', as Anique accurately put it. Exactly. And that's the part I'm not looking forward to...

I still don't know what I'm going to do upon my return. Well, I hope to be able to sleep after my 24 hour journey (yikes!) and spend time with family and friends. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to work (although, money would be nice...), study or travel again (a trip around the world in the opposite direction?) when I'm back. Luckily, I still have time to think about my options. I've decided to regard my return to Amsterdam as a New Adventure. I'll just have to wait and see what life in Amsterdam will bring me. ‘Go with the flow' - if there's one thing I've learned from this trip, it's that!

Before I leave New Zealand (hopefully not for good), I'm going to spend a week on Efate Island, one of Vanuatu's 82 islands in the South Pacific Ocean. A week in Vanuatu - I hope it'll be as bliss as it sounds!

My last day in the office will be on August 10. I'll be in Vanuatu from August 16 - 23 and I'll be flying back to Amsterdam on August 30 (arriving on August 31). The end of my year abroad is drawing near, but I'm still enjoying my time on the other side of the world. You don't believe me? Take a look at the photos that I've added to the photo album 'New Zealand, Dec. 2, 2009 - present' and see for yourself! (You have to scroll down for the new photos.)

Thank you for all your emails, postcards, letters and gifts and thank you for reading my blog stories. I hope we'll stay in touch when I'm back in Holland!

Take care,
Carola

Amsterdam (in 't Nederlands + in English)

(Naar beneden scrollen voor de Nederlandse versie. / Scroll down for the Dutch version.)

Dear all,

In case you were wondering: I'm still alive

, still in Auckland (New Zealand),still living with Peter & Margaret and still working as a Personal Assistant 5 days a week. Work, accommodation and location will all remain the same until August 10. From August 11 onward, I'll be unemployed and hopefully, I'll be spending some time on a Pacific Island before I return to Amsterdam on August 30. Yes, I'll be going back to the Netherlands. I have to, unfortunately. On August 30, I'll fly from Auckland to Amsterdam with a 2 hour stopover in Los Angeles. On August 31, I'll land at Schiphol airport.

I'm sad that my around-the-world trip will be ending soon. I was just starting to get the hang of it! ;-) At the same time, I realise that I still have more than two months to enjoy New Zealand - although, it's a lot less enjoyable now that it's winter (too cold for me!). I intend to enjoy the rest of my time abroad as much as possible and I know I'll be taking heaps of wonderful memories with me when I fly back to the other side of the world.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hallo allemaal,

Voor het geval jullie het je afvroegen: ik leef nog

, ik ben nog steeds in Auckland (Nieuw-Zeeland), ik woon nog steeds bij Peter & Margaret in huis en ik werk nog steeds 5 dagen per week als Personal Assistant. T/m 10 augustus zullen mijn woonplaats, woonomgeving en werk niet veranderen. Vanaf 11 augustus ben ik echter werkeloos. Op 30 augustus vlieg ik terug naar Amsterdam (helaas kan ik niet in Nieuw-Zeeland blijven... L), maar ik wil heel graag voor mijn vertrek een weekje naar een tropisch eiland. Op 30 augustus vlieg ik van Auckland naar Amsterdam via Los Angeles (in LA heb ik twee uur de tijd om over te stappen). Op 31 augustus kom ik aan op Schiphol.

Ik vind het heel erg jammer dat het einde van mijn wereldreis in zicht is. Ik begon juist de smaak te pakken te krijgen! ;-) Tegelijkertijd realiseer ik me dat ik nog ruim 2 maanden van Nieuw-Zeeland kan genieten - hoewel, genieten? Het is hier nu winter en dat is een stuk minder aangenaam (veel te koud voor mij!). Ik ben van plan om nog zoveel mogelijk van mijn verblijf in het buitenland te genieten. Wanneer ik terug vlieg naar de andere kant van de wereld, weet ik één ding heel zeker: ik neem bergen mooie herinneringen mee.

Prettig weekend!

New photos!

Hi there,

I've added photos to the New Zealand Adventure Tours range (Dec. 26, 2009 - Jan. 17, 2010) and to the New Zealand Dec. 2, 2009 - present range.

I hope you can make time to have a look!

Napoleon!

Last night, I met Australian born, LA based celebrity makeup artist Napoleon Perdis! Aaaaaah! His name may not ring a bell to you, but apparently, he's BIG - in fame and in size! ;-) I'd entered a competition organized by Cleo magazine, but I'd no idea that I'd won until 20 minutes before my meeting with Napoleon... At 5.40 pm, I decided to check my personal email account before shutting down my computer at work. That's when I saw the email from Cleo magazine with a reminder for the meet & greet with Napoleon Perdis at 6 pm that same night. Oops! The original invitation must have ended up in my junk mail folder. I quickly printed out the reminder email with all the details, shut down my computer and hurried out of the office. I was expected at the Hilton Hotel in Auckland. I didn't exactly know where it was, but it turned out to be quite close to the office. When I arrived, I received a gift bag with the May issue of Cleo magazine, a book and a Napoleon Perdis lipstick. There were about 50 ladies in the meeting room, all anticipating Napoleon's visit. Of course, Napoleon arrived ‘fashionably late'. He was completely dressed in black, apart from his leopard print, pointy shoes (!). He had two models with him and after a word of welcome by Cleo's editor Shelley Ferguson (who looked beautiful), Napoleon informed us about the makeup he'd used on the models. Women in the audience could ask him questions as well. After an hour, time was up. Mr. Perdis' book 'Forever Flawless' was for sale and he signed it for you if you ‘picked up a copy' (they conveniently forgot to mention that ‘picking up a copy' cost $50!). I didn't buy the book. I was happy with my gift bag and with the unexpected pleasant end to a rather lonely day in the office.

Talk to you later!

News Flash

I've got a job! After months of 'far too much free time', as someone (enviously?) remarked, I'll be re-joining the work force on Monday, May 3. My working hours are from 8.30 am - 5.30 pm, Monday to Friday and the assignment is initially for 2 months(but could be longer). What I'm going to do? Well, this may come as a surprise to some of you, but er...I'll be taking over Amy's role as Executive Assistant at..... Exactly - the same company I worked for in Amsterdam! And you know what? I'm looking forward to it.

In Auckland,I'll be assistingoneconsultant (instead of three in Amsterdam) and my job will involve some receptionist duties as well. Since the Auckland office is small, I'll be alone in the office quite a lot. That's not something I'm looking forward to, but I'll have internet access, so please send me emails!

Happy & sunny Queen's Day to my blog readers in Holland and to everybody else: have a happy & sunny weekend!

All I Ever Wanted

Hi there,

I hope you all had a good Easter. I thought it would be nice to let you know what I've been doing lately - apart from sleeping, reading, walking, writing and dancing.

On March 31, I went to Waiheke Island. I hopped on a in downtown Auckland and 40 minutes later I hopped off on Waiheke Island. Waiheke is absolutely amazing. It has pristine beaches, stunning views, beautiful houses and a lot of vineyards. I walked all day, the first 2,5 hours with a guide and after that, I explored the island alone for a couple of hours. When I got back to Auckland, I felt exhausted, but also very relaxed and refreshed.

On April 3, I went to Devonport, together with Margaret. Devonport is a small town that lies on the other side of Auckland. It takes a 10-minute ferry ride to get there or a 20-minute drive, crossing the Harbour Bridge. Since I was with Margaret, we went by car. Devonport oozes old English grandeur. It's a really neat place and very different from downtown Auckland, but it's also pretty small. After a 10-minute stroll, Margaret and I had seen it all!

On April 11, I went to Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted Concert, which was heldat Auckland's Vector Arena, because I'd won two tickets. Cool! I gave the other ticket to Julie, my French Zumba teacher. Before the concert, Julie and I both didn't really know who Kelly Clarkson was or what kind of music she makes, but we sure do now! I recognized about half of her songs and I was even able to sing along with a few of them. Kelly didn't put up a huge show, but her voice was amazing enough to blow the (very young) audience away. The two supporting acts (one of which was Erik Hutchinson) were good as well. It was definitely a 'sweet as' evening!

Greetings from a windy and cold Auckland,
Carola