No cruise...

My 10-day Island Fiesta cruise that was supposed to depart from Auckland on April 15has been cancelled. Why? Because 'a custom made part for one of the Pacific Sun's two engines needs to be installed'. I received three phone calls from three different people this morning with the same disappointing news. When I checked my emails this afternoon, I also found a letter from P&O Cruises in my inbox, in which they 'apologise for the inconvenience and frustration this unavoidable cancellation will no doubt create for you'. Yeah, well, thanks. I guess this cruise just wasn't meant to be. Luckily, I didn't spend much money on high-heel shoes and a dress for the formal evenings on board. And even better: my $4 shoes (!) have turned out to be fantastic dancing shoes (for salsa), so I'll surely continue to wear them. And the little black dress (LBD)I bought? Well, most Aucklanders wear shorts, T-shirts and jandals all year round. They don't dress up much, so next time I crave some attention, I'll just wear my LBD! Just kidding. Most of you know that I wouldn't dare. No Martin, not even after a few beers...;-) The dress may come in handy if I do manage to find an office job. Who knows, perhaps a job in Auckland IS meant to be.

Have a good day and a great weekend!

Adventure Tours - the end

Last time, I said I'd finish my Adventure Tours bus tour story, but it didn't end with the Doubtful Sound overnight cruise...

On Thursday, January 14, we left Doubtful Sound around midday and drove through the Otago region, making several stops along the way to take in the beautiful surroundings - and to take pictures, of course. At the end of the afternoon, we arrived in Naseby, another of Kerry's favourite places. With the memories of Makarora still fresh in my head, I had a feeling Naseby wasn't going to be one of my favourite places... Naseby is a town - although 'town' is a big word for such a small place - with approximately 200 inhabitants. It used to be a lot bigger, but a lot of people have left. The reason that it still exists, is because it has an indoorcurling rink. I'd never heard of curling before, but it turned out that Fabian was a curling professional! Fabian had curled in his home country Switzerland for more than 18 years. Wow! Those who wanted, could give curling a go. I had no idea what it was, so I thought I'd give it a try. Well, it was fun, but it was mainly bloody cold!

After curling, we went to Naseby's only hostel-slash-restaurant-slash-pub. Fabian, Martin, Marianne and I shared a room together for the last time. Marianne and I slept in a bunk bed and the guys had a single bed each. We had dinner with the whole group at one long table. It was fun to eat like that. We were like one big, happy family! After dinner, Marianne and I went for a walk. 'Don't get lost!', Kerry shouted jokingly after us. Getting lost in Naseby was pretty much impossible. There was hardly anything there! Marianne and I couldn't get over the fact how old, old-fashioned and even fake the whole town looked. We felt like we were on a 1960's film set. It was so surreal! Many houses looked like they were made of carton. It was super quiet as well, as if everybody had left after a day of filming. Really bizarre. When we arrived back at the hostel, the fire in the fire place was on, because it was quite cold. Marianne and I ordered a drink at the bar (and paid an old-fashioned price for it!), I threw a few darts and then we went to bed. It was going to be an active day the next day.

The next day, on January 15, it was my birthday! I received birthday wishes and gifts during breakfast, instantly giving me a birthday girl-feel. Thanks, guys! We left around 9.00 am to do one of my favourite activities: cycling! There were bikes and helmets waiting for us. Kerry directed us in the direction of the Otago Rail Track (now a bicycle track) and off we went. It took a couple of hours to finish the track, but it was nice weather and the scenery was beautiful, so it was good fun. The afternoon was spent in the bus, reaching Christchurch early evening. Christchurch marked the end of the bus tour for most of us. A lot of people flew back to Auckland the next day or to other destinations. Five people were going back to Auckland by bus, which would take them two days. Marianne and I had decided to spend an extra day and night in Christchurch and would fly back on Sunday. All in all, it was time to say goodbye - but not before we had one last meal together. Because it was my birthday, I could select a restaurant and I chose The Two Fat Indians. Not everybody joined, but we were still with a big group. I liked the food and I felt honoured that the group did this for me. They even paid for my meal! But that wasn't all: after dinner, we went to a bar, because they knew I wanted to dance. I didn't dance much, but I appreciated their gesture. Everybody had a drink and we all toasted to my birthday. Martin asked if I'd already made a birthday wish. When I told him I hadn't, because I didn't have a candle, he immediately left, only to appear minutes later with a burning candle in his hands. 'You can make a wish now', he said with a smile. And so I did. Shortly after midnight, everybody except Marianne left. They all had to get up early the next day, either to catch a plane or for the bus. A lot of hugs and kisses were exchanged and I thanked everybody for making my birthday special. Marianne and I went for a short walk and then we went back to the hostel. We had to share our room with a Japanese girl, who was asleep when we arrived. The next day, we moved to a hotel, so we'd get at least one night of good sleep before we flew back to Auckland. Unfortunately, it was raining in Christchurch on Saturday. Marianne and I were both tired, and we decided to go our own ways after we'd gone for a walk in the morning. We met up at dinner time, returned to the hotel, packed our bags and flew back to Auckland on Sunday, January 17.

I've been in Auckland since then. Ihad dinner withMarianne, Martin, Jack & Kirsten on January 18. Marianne and Jack & Kirsten flew back to the Netherlands and the U.K. respectively on January 19. Martin stayed in Auckland until January 21 and we did a few touristy things together before he went back to Scotland. Since Martin's departure, not much has happened, but I'm still enjoying my stay in what is considered by some 'the most beautiful country in the world'!

Have a great day!

New photos!

Hi everyone,

I've added more pictures to my New Zealand Adventure Tours bus tour photo range. Enjoy!

Carola

Adventure Tours - Doubtful Sound

This month's issue of New Zealand magazine Mindfood comes with a free winter hair guide. Winter?!? Oh no! The shops have been filled with winter boots, winter coats and woollen jumpers for a while now. I don't like the sight of all the dark colours and thick fabrics at all... Luckily, winter hasn't arrived yet, but autumn certainly has. Even though the leaves aren't falling, the temperature has noticeably dropped. Brrr! I can't really complain, though. Last Saturday, there was a lot of wind and rain, but yesterday was a nice sunny day. The temperature rarely drops below zero here in Auckland and if it does, at least, there are heaters and people to keep me warm (unlike China), so I think I'll be fine!

Now, let's finish my Adventure Tours story. Last time, I promised I'd tell you about my encounter with a dolphin, so here we go...

On Wednesday, January 13, we (= 18 people + driver Kerry) left Queenstown in the morning and went for a short drive to a dock where two boats were waiting for us. We stored our luggage in the bus, because we were only allowed a daypack on board the Doubtful Sound cruise boat. We weren't there yet, though. First, we went on a small boat for about an hour and then we had to go into a bus. The bus took us to the Doubtful Sound cruise boat, driving through breath-taking scenery. When we stepped onto the cruise boat, we were welcomed by the friendly crew and shown to our huts at the bottom of the boat. The huts were small and narrow, with two bunk beds in them and a curtain instead of a door. Marianne and I decided to give Fabian and Martin another chance and asked if they wanted to share a hut with us. I had to promise Fabian not to set my alarm clock (!) and then they both agreed. We dumped our backpacks in our hut and went to the upper deck for a drink and a welcome speech. It had started to rain, but the planned kayak trip was still going ahead. Marianne and I changed into our bathing suits and lined up for a kayak. Apart from our group, there were a lot of other people on board and many of them decided to go kayaking, so we were with a big group. Two members of the crew accompanied us, one at the front of the group and one of the back. And guess where I was? At the very back. I couldn't make my kayak move at all! I felt so embarrassed. Helen, the crew member, had to stay with me, because I was way behind the others. She was happily chatting along and hardly paddling at all, while I was struggling to go forward. It must have looked hilarious, but at that time, I didn't really think it was funny. My right arm still hurt from the previous kayaking trip, it was pouring with rain and I couldn't make my kayak go in the right direction. I was trying to focus on paddling correctly and listening to Helen at the same time (I didn't want to come across rude by not responding to what she was saying). When Helen said:'Look, there are dolphins!', I looked up and stared at the distance. I didn't see any dolphins, so I turned my head towards Helen and asked:'Where?' - only to realize with freight that I was staring at one! Aaaaaah! The dolphin was right in front me and it scared me, haha! It looked cute, sweet and beautiful, but I just didn't expect it to be so close. That was a real pinch me-moment!

I managed to make it back to the boat. Since I was already wet,I decided to go for a swim with a few others. Because it was raining, it was quite cold, but once I was in the water, it was okay. I had to get out of the water at some point, though... I was shivering when I climbed on board and headed straight for the showers, but of course, they were all occupied by other swimmers (I'm never the first, am I?). Martin, who had been in the water as well, grabbed a hair dryer when he saw meand aimed the hot air at me. Nice! I felt a lot better after the shower. After all the water activities, it was time for dinner. The food was absolutely superb and they had a lot to eat for me as well. Yumm! After dinner, one of the crew members presented a slide show about New Zealand's flora and fauna. Was very interesting. Around 10 pm, it was time for bed.

The next day, after hardly having slept in my narrow bed and with three people snoring (!), I got up at 6 am. We were advised to get up at 6 am to watch the sunrise, but the sun was already up! That was a bit of a bummer, but the scenery made more than up for it.Doubtful Sound isabsolutely breath-taking. If you plan to go to New Zealand,I highly recommend you go on an overnight cruise in DoubtfulSound. It's stunning.

We cruised along on the boat while the captain provided us with information over the intercom. We saw sealions, seals, albatrosses and penguins. Amazing to seeanimals I only know from the zoo in the wild! Around noon, our cruise ended. We were picked up by a bus, toured through the beautiful mountains one last time, were dropped off at a dock to go into a smaller boat and after an hour on the water, we were back at our bus - with a lot of great memories.

I'll leave it at this for now. Don't want to get any more complaints that my stories are too long...

Adventure Tours - Queenstown

Hello everyone,

I'm still in Auckland, New Zealand and I've given up the hope of finding a job here. Instead, I've booked an Island Fiesta cruise (!), which will take me to Vanuatu, Noumea and some other exotic islands from April 15 - 25, and I've been doing a lot of dancing. My salsa teacher wants me to join her special team for dancing salsa on stage during special events, but I'm not so sure if I can commit to that, because I don't know how long I'm going to stay in New Zealand. Moreover, I don't really like being the centre of attention. Hmmm, sounds like a no to me... I've also been doing Zumba, flamenco, Broadway, Contemporary, Dance Fit Chair and Scottish Country Line Dancing. All heaps of fun! See, I'm so busy, I don't even have time to work!

Let's go back to Queenstown, where I was from January 10 - 13, 2010, and where I danced the night away on the first day of our arrival in the party capital of New Zealand...

When we arrived in Queenstown on Sunday, January 10, the prospect of not having to unpack and re-pack my suitcase for 3 days instantly put a smile on my face. Such bliss! The room that I shared with Marianne had two huge wardrobes, so one of the first things I did upon entering the room, was emptying my suitcase and putting all the contents on shelves and hangers. It felt really good not to have to live out of a suitcase for a while. I already told you that I had a good time on the dance floor that first night of our stay. I went to bed late and I woke up late the next day as well. The people who'd joined us in Christchurch - Gunilla & Lars from Sweden; Maria from Slowakia; David from England; Eilish from Australia; Gloria & Mariella from Austria (they were twins); and a blond girl from Australia whose name I've forgotten (sorry!) - were a little bit disappointed that we were going to spend 3 nights in the same place, but Marianne and I had been looking forward to it. Finally some time to relax and catch up on some much needed sleep!

It rained on Monday. I didn't wake up until 11.40 am, but because of the rain, I hadn't missed much. Some members of our group had done terrifying things while I was sleeping, like jumping out of planes or swinging on an elastic rope between two rocks. They told me their stories while I was having brunch. The pictures of theirrisky adventures looked impressive, but didn't persuade me to do the same - much to their surprise, hehe! Instead, Marianne and I opted for something boring: we went for a walk in the afternoon. We walked through the park and the botanical gardens (in the rain), we looked around the shops and we had dinner at a Korean restaurant. After dinner, we treated ourselves to a drink at Starbucks and that was it. Not very adventurous, but we both enjoyed it!

On Tuesday, the sun was shining. Hooray! We took a cable car up the mountain and went for a ride on a luge down the mountain (a luge is a tobogan on wheels). Because we didn't want to pay for a cable car ride down the mountain, we walked down. One of the staff members at the luge had told us it 'd take about 20 minutes to walk down the mountain and back into the city, but it took us about an hour and a half! Marianne wanted to have coffee at a certain coffee house that was recommended in one of her guide books. We'd been there on Monday, but it was closed when we arrived. Apparently, it was more of a breakfast and lunch place, because it was open from 7 am - 3 pm. Because the walk took much longer than expected, we were nearly too late again!We arrived at 2.50 pm and luckily, we could still order a cup of coffee. Mission accomplished!

After that, Marianne went to a kiwi wildlife park. I wasn't in the mood for birds, so I went back to our room. Marianne and I met up for dinner again. We went to Hell, a chain of pizza restaurants. They served glutenfree and dairyfree pizzas there and since I hadn't had a pizza for a long time, I just had to try one. It was small, but delicious! After dinner, it was time to pack my suitcase. We were going on a boat trip the next day and we could only take a daypack on board, so everything else had to go in my suitcase. While I was struggling to decide what to put in my daypack and what to leave on shore, Martin texted me. He was playing'stupid games' and having 'a cuple of beers'with some people. Playing stupid games sounded much better than packing my suitcase, so I threw the last things in my suitcase and joined them. It was fun, but because we had to get up on time the next day, everybody left at midnight. It was time to say goodbye to Queenstown.

Next time, I'll tell you about my encounter with a dolphin. Have a great day!

Well done + no worries!

Hooray! I managed to pass my Excel test today! What a relief! I know it's not a guarantee I'll get a job now, but at least I won't have to go to Hudson anymore. Nice!

There seems to be confusion about where I am and how long I'll stay. Well, I'm still in New Zealand. My Adventure Tours bus tour was from December 26 until January 17, so everything I write about that, is old news. I've nearly finished writing about my bus adventures. Our 3-day stay in Queenstown was during the last week, so I only have a few days left to cover.

I've been in Auckland since January 17. I'm living with Peter and Margaret, a 60-year-old couple from New Zealand. Peter and Margaret have a son, Ben, and a daughter, Jaime. Ben is 30 and lives in Prague and Jaime is 29 and lives in Auckland. Peter and Margaret also have a cat called Chino. I have my own bedroom and my own bathroom in Peter and Margaret's house. It only takes 1 minute to walk to the beach and about 1.5 hours to walk to the city center, but it's still Auckland.

According to my flight ticket, I need to be back in Holland on September 4, 2010. According to my Working Holiday visa, I need to leave New Zealand on December 1, 2010. On March 5, 2010 (next week), I'll have been away for 6 months and I have no intention of going back to Holland anytime soon...I don't know if I'll stay in New Zealand or go somewhere else. Just keep reading my blog and you'll find out!

So what do I do here? Good question. I live Dido's dream:

I always thought that I'd love to live by the sea. Travel the world alone and live more simply.

My life is simple and I simply enjoy it! I sleep in; I take my time getting ready in the morning (it takes me about 2 to 2.5 hours to leave!); I go to City Dance 2 or 3 times a week for Zumba and flamenco classes; I have a massage once a week; I walk, read and write a lot; I go to IEP about 4 times a week to check my emails and apply for jobs online; and I used to go to Hudson 2 or 3 times a week to struggle with Excel. Like I said: very simple, no stress and no worries. Well, I'm not completely stress free, but I think I've changed quite a bit during the past6 months - for the better, I'd say.

Have a nice and stress free day!

Adventure Tours - part 5

Makarora. After Franz Josef, Makarora was our next destination. It's a town with 25 inhabitants (!) and one of Kerry's favourites. I do not understand why he liked it so much. I didn't like it at all! It was raining when we arrived, but that didn't stop some of us from going jet boating. They reasoned they were going to get wet anyway. Marianne and I didn't feel like it, so we decided to go for a walk - and get wet that way. The walk through the forest was fine, but it was just a bunch of trees with yet another waterfall... Someone told me before I left:'New Zealand is great - if you like landscapes and sheep'. He was so right! After our walk, it was dinner time. We all had dinner together at the gift shop - slash - bar - slash - restaurant - slash - reception. And it was still raining. And what do people in New Zealand do when it's raining? They get drunk. Some of our group were already tipsy before dinner and they happily helped themselves to more beer and wine during and after the meal. After dinner - oh horror! - it was time for karaoke. Karaoke is the only 'event' in Makarora, so the locals do it every night. Marianne and I watched while we enjoyed our gin-and-tonic without gin. After a while, the karaoke show started to turn into a peep show... Time to go to bed! Marianne and I went back to our chalet - a wooden hut in the shape of a triangle with four single beds in it. No bunk beds this time, thank God! We shared our chalet with Martin and Fabian, who were still singing, drinking and having fun when we left. Marianne and I must have been in bed for about an hour when Martin and Fabian showed up. They tried to be quiet, but Fabian was so drunk that he ended up on a pile of backpacks and clothes next to his bed when he tried to sit on it.... I was still awake and I turned around to see what was happening. Upon noticing that I was still awake, Fabian come over to me, sat down on my bed and started going off about my alarm clocks. 'I don't want you to set your alarm for tomorrow morning. Your alarm makes a horrible sound!' We'd had this conversation during dinner as well.... Grrr! I told him I wouldn't set my alarm - it was already set and hidden under my bed!!! - and that seemed to please him. At least, he left my bed, hehe! It was really cold that night and Martin saw that I was too cold to fall asleep, so he offered me his jumper. I gratefully accepted it and put it on over my two tops and sweater (!). Because I was still cold, he also offered me his duvet, but I refused it. How was he going to sleep if I had his duvet?!? Martin wouldn't hear of it and put his duvet on my bed. When I woke up the next morning, Martin was sleeping under his duvet. He told me he'd fallen asleep without it, but half way through the night, he'd woken up feeling cold....

After breakfast, we left exciting Makarora (not!) to go to the adventure capital of the world: Queenstown. It's also known as New Zealand's party capital. I couldn't wait! On the way to Queenstown, we stopped in scenic Wanaka where we were given time off to wander around. Marianne and I went for a walk on a mountain, but on our way back, we got hopelessly lost - again! Luckily, I'd Kerry's mobile phone number with me, so I called him to tell him where we were - not at the place where we were supposed to be... Kerry, always happy and cheerful, said:'No worries, I'll come and pick you girls up'. Great, thanks! It had started raining as well, so we were happy when the bus arrived (with a few annoyed looking passengers...). We continued our journey to Queenstown. We were going to spend 3 nights in Queenstown and the accommodation included bunk beds... Marianne and I looked at each other and both moved our heads from left to right. Not again! We certainly didn't want any more drunks in our room. As soon as we arrived at the hostel, Marianne jumped out of the bus and marched to reception. It took a little bit of patience, but she managed to get us a room for two. Hooray! And what was even better: she let me sleep in the double bed! The group went for a bbq dinner, but because they didn't have anything for me to eat, I went to an Indian restaurant and had a meal there. Afterwards, I went back to where the others were. Kerry took us to a bar next door. There was a toga party going on, which meant that if you wrapped a white sheet around you, you got cheap beer andalso a discount on otheralcoholic beverages. I wasn't interested in the booze. I'd spotted a dance floor! I didn't care that I was the only one on the dance floor. I knew that once I started dancing, others would follow soon enough. I ended up dancing way past bedtime and I had heaps of fun! Most of the people left around midnight, but Kerry, Carl, Mark, Martin and I just went to another bar. I went to bed late (or early, hehe!) and I woke up late the next day as well. Queenstown was 'sweet as'! :-)

Talk to you later!

Adventure Tours - part 4

Kia Ora!

Peter and Margaret are back from their 2-week holiday in Australia. Margaret is still off this week, so she asked me if I wanted to go shopping with her. Sure, I love to shop! She took me to Sylvia Park, a huge mall with I don't know how many shops. She soon found out how much I love shopping: we shopped from 11.00 am until 6 pm... It was great! Margaret helped me buy some lovely items and they happened to be on sale as well. I was so sick and tired of having to wear the same clothes over and over again. I've been wearing the same outfits for nearly 6 months now and most of my tops and trousers didn't look so good anymore. Thanks to Margaret, I don't look sloppy anymore - and I feel a lot better too. I've managed to gain some weight, which was necessary, because my weight was dangerously low when I got back from my 23-day bus tour. No wonder I couldn't get up in the morning. Even opening my eyes was exhausting! The bus tour was heaps of fun, though. Please read on...

The next day (Jan. 4, 2010), the sun was shining and Abel Tasman National Park looked amazing. Martin tried to persuade me to go with the group, but I was determined to spend the day alone. Carl and Mark hadn't signed up for the group walk either. They didn't want to spend $46 for a walk that you could do alone as well. So, Carl, Mark and I went in one water taxi and the rest of the group went in another one. The group stayed in the water taxi for quite a while and they went seal spotting as well, but Carl, Mark and I were dropped off at a beach after 20 minutes and instructed to follow the tracks back to the campsite. Sweet as! I soon lost Carl and Mark and went my own way. I ended up walking for 8 hours (!), but I had a really good time. I was the last one to return at the campsite (I'm always the last one...). The others went to a burger place for dinner. Since they didn't have anything there that I could eat, I went back to the campsite and made myself a delicious tuna salad. We didn't do much after dinner. Marianne and I went to bed relatively early, but we ended up talking once we were in our not-so-comfy bunk beds, so by the time we fell asleep, it was late.

The next day, we left Abel Tasman and drove to Hanmer Springs. On the way, we stopped for a walk and a picnic on the lake edge. We arrived in Hanmer Springs in the late afternoon. Martin, Fabian, Marianne and I had a cottage all to ourselves. What a luxury! We went for a soak in the hot pools with the whole group and afterwards, we had dinner at a restaurant. After dinner, Martin, Fabian, Marianne and I watched television together in the living room. I hadn't watched tv for months. I'm not a big tv fan, but I must admit that I did enjoy watching television that night. After watching Derren Brown and Little Britain U.S.A., we went to bed. Marianne and I shared a bedroom, Martin had his own room and Fabian had to sleep in the living room. The next morning, we had breakfast together at the dinner table. It almost felt like normal family life! Around 9.00 am, Kerry came to pick us up. We drove to Kaikoura, a town on the coast. Kaikoura is famous for its marine life. Marianne, Martin and I had signed up for a whale watching boat tour and that was absolutely amazing. We saw three gigantic sperm whales (sorry, can't help it, that's what they're called) and heaps of dolphins. The dolphins swam under the boat, next to the boat and they did flips. Absolutely stunning. I couldn't stop taking pictures and excitedly shouting:'Look! Over there! Look, there are more!'. Definitely a highlight of the tour.

After our visit to Kaikoura, we got back in the bus and drove to Christchurch. Christchurch is flat (no hills) and very English. We stayed at a hostel and Marianne, Fabian, Martin and I shared a room with two bunk beds. The bunk bed were very colourful, as if they belonged to a children's room. They were very noisy as well. Even breathing made them squeak! According to Marianne's information brochure, a journey on the Tranz Alpine Express train was part of the Adventure Tours bus tour. According to the information I'd received, it wasn't. We asked Kerry for some clarification and he said that the Tranz Alpine Express wasn't part of the Adventure Tours program, but, if we wanted, he could drop us off at the train station and pick us up on the other side. Of course, we'd have to pay for it ourselves as well. The Tranz Alpine Express runs from the east coast of the South Island to the west. Marianne didn't have to think long about Kerry's offer. We booked a ticket for the next day and then we went out for dinner with Martin and Fabian. We went to a Thai restaurant and when Fabian saw that you could bring your own wine (B.Y.O.), he immediately walked back to the hostel to get a bottle. Bring your own wine to a restaurant... Interesting New Zealand custom! After dinner, Fabian and I went for a walk and Martin and Marianne went back to the hostel. We all didn't go to bed late, because we had to get up early the next day. Marianne and I went to the west coast by train and the others went by bus. Marianne had hoped to take pictures of the beautiful scenery from the train. The train even stops and allows people to get off to take pictures, but when we went, it was raining. The bad weather was a bit disappointing, but we still enjoyed it. We had a lot more space in the train than we had in the bus! When we arrived on the east coast, Kerry was already waiting for us. He'd picked up 8 other people along the way, so the bus was pretty full. Marianne and I'd also lost our seats in the front of the bus. Luckily, we didn't have to drive very far. On our way to Franz Josef, we stopped at the Bushman centre where we saw real possums, stuffed animals and wacky people... It was a really weird experience. When we arrived in Franz Josef, it was still raining. We were led to our crappy hostel rooms (Fabian, Martin, Marianne and I shared a room again) and once everyone had dumper their belongings, we had dinner at the hostel restaurant. Everybody complained about the food afterwards. Oops! We didn't sleep very well either. The bunk beds were like a dog basket...

The next day was for ‘exploring this World Heritage area'. Franz Josef is famous for its glacier, which means there's a lot of snow and ice. Initially, I'd signed up for the half-day glacier walk, but when I saw a promotional video about it and the shoes I'd have to wear, I sort of panicked. I absolutely hate snow, cold and ice (I'm so happy I'm not in Holland this winter!), so why was going to pay a lot of money for something I knew I wouldn't like? I cancelled my glacier walk and I spent the day reading, writing and using the internet. Because it was raining, some activities got cancelled, so I wasn't the only one there. That night, we went to an Indian restaurant with the whole group (18 people). Good food and heaps of fun!

Hopefully, I'll be able to tell you more tomorrow. I've got to go now - I have to do an Excel course. I've been struggling with it for weeks, but I have to do it, otherwise, the recruitment agency won't accept me. The course is free and I do it in my own time, so even if I don't find work through this particular agency, at least I can say that I master Excel...

Have a nice day!