Credits for Daniel taking this beautiful picture of Wilson, a cavoodle owned by lovely Leeza. So a happy and sad ending yes.. that's right it means I'm leaving Kiwiland after 2.5 months. But first I would like to take you to my last 3 weeks that I spent here in NZ.

With my eyes still half closed I walked over to the bus station with my heavy bags at 6.30 in the morning in Nelson. I was going to Greymouth with the intercity bus and the plan was to get on the TranzAlpine train but guess what.. all the train rides were being suspended because of the virus. So plan b was to book a seat on the bus to get to Christchurch the next day but everything was fully booked.. and also the next 5 days after so I had to think of a plan c, to get out of Greymouth.

There I was still in bed, but there were already alot of things going through my head.

So a new adventure awaits.. the part of me travelling through both islands! Luciano and I went from Christchurch to a camping nearby the same day, but oh dear.. what were we hungry haha, we had our dinner ready at 9.30 / 10 or something and it felt like I could have eaten both his dish as well as mine 😅 The next day the actual road trip started with Luciano as a good tour guide. He already had been on this side of the south island, so it made sense that he led the way. I finally got to see Kaikoura and wow how beautiful that was.. the road to Kaikoura was right next to the beach and we got to see huge groups of dolphins in the far distance 🐬🐬 It was amazing! 

Together with Tait and his mum I went to Gore, a small 'city' (not sure if it is one as it is really small) to do some grocery shopping and just chill out. Tait's mum gave me a cappuccino, so I guess she already knows how to make me happy haha! This was the last weekend at the family and it brought up mixed feelings as on one hand you're happy to travel around the country and see the most amazing places in Kiwi land but also.. after a while I get attached to things and people really easily so it was weird to say goodbye. They gave me a present which meant alot to me, because it wasn't 'just' a present.. they gave me a rugby shirt of the All Blacks so they knew they gave me something that I wanted so badly. I will definitely miss them, but luckily enough we live in the 21st century so we can always video call, was what I was telling myself when it was time to leave. Yes.. talking about leaving..😅 I will come back to that later..

First of all I want to say that even though I'm many miles away from most of you, my thoughts and prayers are with those being affected by the corona virus. It's still not as bad here, so fingers crossed it stays that way and for all of us I hope it will be over soon.

During my horse riding trip in Cardrona I spoke to a girl from Wales and I asked her if it is worth it to go to Lake Tekapo, because the water in Queenstown is already pretty blue. She replied with 'yes, it is so bright that it will almost hurt your eyes'. I wasn't quite sure to believe her, but my curiosity was leading me the way. On my 3 hour car trip to Lake Tekapo I was pretty tired at the end of it (taking into account I had the interview with the Kiwi Birdlife Park that same day early in the morning) but then something caught my eye while I was driving.. wow that IS bright blue water! And the weather wasn't even that good that day but it looked so bright anyway! 

I know it's been a while 😅 The time flies by so quickly and I got something to do almost every day but that's a good thing I guess! :) Anyway two weeks ago I went to Invercargill for one night and I chose one night because of the weather (and money haha), but when I arrived there I was actually happy I only got one night because to be honest.. Invercargill isn't really one of the most beautiful cities I have seen so far haha. But of course I planned a whole trip for the Sunday to do by car and I will gladly talk you through it :)!

How cool .. I was invited by my NZ family to go and see a rugby game with the Southland and Fiji team playing 🏈 It already started off with something great, the Fiji team did their own haka! If you don't know what a haka is, I will give you a letter introduction to it. Mainly the All blacks team, the most famous team of NZ, is known for it's slightly intimidating and beautiful haka. According to google the haka was first performed in 1905 called the 'Ka Mate' haka. They said that Te Rauparaha or Ngāti Toa composed this Haka to mark his escape from death during an incident in 1810. The haka is a type of ancient Māori war dance traditionally used on the battlefield, as well as when groups came together in peace. Haka are a fierce display of tribe's pride, strength and unity. Action include violent foot stamping, tongue protrusions and rhythmic body slapping to accompany a loud chant. Chant means that you say a word or a phrase many times rhythmically and usually loud together in a group 😉

No, that's right.. those are not kiwis above here, just regular sparrows trying to steal my food when I was in the Albert Park in Auckland, those sneaky little birdies! 🐦 And I still haven't seen kiwis in the wild yet so that's not what I was referring to, my Kiwis are a Kiwi family living near Queenstown and they are lovely! I have a double bed upstairs in their house (and the room is huge too), I may use their car but most of all.. I'm really enjoying spending time with them. This way, you get to see NZ in such a different way as when you're travelling.

Hey everyone =)!

Guess what? I got my plane tickets for NZ :) To be honest, I'm nervous and excited at the same time. Of course, like most people have, your mind is full of worst case scenarios.. what if I miss my connected flight, what if I can't find my way to the hostel when I arrive or even worse.. what if I'm not even allowed to go into the country for some reason haha! But that's the first learning goal for me with this trip, learning to let go. Everything will eventually fall into place and there are a lot of good people that are willing to help you out, especially with all those sweet and welcoming kiwis. Anyway.. I will all keep you updated while I'm arranging everything for this trip. Have a nice weekend everyone!

I pressed the button saying 'apply for the visa now', then I realised if I will get this visa then it is real.. I will go to New Zealand on my own.After that, a few days later, I got an e-mail from the immigration in NZ that I needed to do a medical examination and a x-ray in Amsterdam.So on a Tuesday morning I went with my car to the train station and went by train to Amsterdam Central.