Life the universe and everything in between


Tot Ziens Nederland!
May 14, 2008, 9:00 pm
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Wow what a blast. What can i say. Ive had THE most amazing time here in Holland. Ive met beautiful people beautiful places and had beautiful experiences. I only hope that i return in a few months for this was truely a awesome trip and there is much more to be do and time to be spent with the wonderful people ive had around me. Pieter took me to a very flash resturant last night by the name of Boreas ive never seen or tasted such divine food. It was like Science and design infused in this equisite aray of flavours you can just not imagine. Im really struggling to describe our meals, everything was so inventive and so delicious the texture, flavours technique and time put in to such a incredible sight and taste was just incredible. What a special night i will not ever forget…. and at 150 Euro i should hope not!

The last ten days have been so hot and so enjoyable, visiting lakes that once were frozen when i arrived here. Biking with Anna to the A3 which is a huge lake and many thousands of dutch and belgium people visit and soak up the sun in the summer months. Relaxing with family in the garden sharing laughs and eating and talking amongst eachother, het was zoooooo Gezellig !! Its been so special…..  yeh.. im pretty speach-less now, but its home time for now, mum is where its at. Thunderstoms today so it seem like im taking the good weather with me.

Tot ziens Nederlands (see you later Holland)

love Nina

 

nina going for a swim in the Sahara  The Sahara lake  27degrees  the Sahara

yip... thats my lense cap you got there cheeky!  leuk kindje  Sarah en Ik

lekker wandel in de bosen  \  \

There have been extensions tot he family, dill, basil, chives, taragon etc       Pieter and Sarah       Pieter at the Sahara lake reserve in Lomel belguim 5km form home      Pieter and I before going to dinner

 



In the summer time

Hey all

Well the weather has been delightfully warm here, infact the the most sun Hollands had in the first weeks of may! The 70 hour average has been busted by the 130 hours we have had in the last week.  so as you can see theres been alot of outdoor doing as 20-4 drgrees has been a nice temperature to be getting out ad about. I joined pieter as he starts his fitness sceme back up. i was his refreshments assistant as he ran 16km in 1hour 10mins. Had some nice photo oppotunities on the way too as you can see… With all the sunshine, we’ve recently had a brief wizz around the yard on one of Franks 4 kids motorbikes got a deal on, picniced out in the sunshine and had a BBQ at Franks with Pieters other brother & Anna ( his sister). This weather has been is a real treat before I head back to New Zealand its been super cool to be out and about in the sunshine, as i seem to be following winter around the globe. As for work; I have been assured I remain first choice of the position I applied for and as it is not currently vacant I have a primary need and want to be with my mum and be there for her until the vacancy frees up for me. Taking life as it happens.

Nin’s

 

Off on a 16km bike ride with pieter while he runs     Stream 13km through the run. border Netherlands/Belgium     6km through pieters run. Canal in Belgium     Stretching time      2 day old filly

What a meadow! about 12 km through pieters run  2min energy boosting banana eating rest. Canal in belgium  Sweet sweet fresh grass

Me on my Oma fiets   smaklijk eten!!   Picnicing at home. with my brand new 1euro retro find in a Belgium garage sale!

)        Picnic lunch on the lawn       Pita toasting       Pieters creation with New Zealand Lamb rack.

BBQing in Franks back yard  LEKKER! bbq feast! felafel and all  Anna & Pieter

Pieters dips, guacamole, Tzatziki and dutch style cocktail sauce  10.30 and still going.... Goodtimes!  the Pigeon nest.



Eindhoven’s International riding event
May 4, 2008, 6:01 pm
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Show Jumping and Dressage Event

Pieter & I headed to an international three day equine event in Eindhoven on friday, I spent most of the day drooling at stunning horses and swearing in oath to myself that i will be back into my riding in the next ten years. So quote me now haha!

 

1.35m division  Spanish and Netherlands rider  Speed kills

1.50 high, 300meter course, 57 seconds to complete  1.35m round  This guy had some strange ideas on how to get his horse onthe bit... didnt see him compete. nice horse though!

This guy was seriously wrestling with his horse around the course! good time though  the dressage arena. absolutley STUNNING  Are you bored yet pieter? Nope! \

The Extended Trot  1.50m division show jumping  clipping a pole  Spanish rider



Koning Dag in Amsterdam
 

 

 

Queens Day!

Well after a late evening out on Queens night in Eindhoven showcasing some very famous DJs we took off the next day to Amsterdam for the heart of the celebrations to check out what all the fuss was about.

 

Heading in, through all the bargin stalls etc etc  Heading in to the hot spots  )

Tulips! must be spring, summers on the way! More rides in the Dam area Rides in the Dam 

Band singing fromt he windowsills  rotating arm  Another cool crowd and sounds 

seconds before the police arrived Where ever you are PARTY! Another good posey was with this Dj perched up in a window playing cool beats 

party boats A very Cranking DJ boat! \

a quiet spot to munch some lunch Camel racing/betting! woohoo! Ex pron star stage DJ

Hmmm.. what defined muscels you have...  Entertainment while the DJ plays on Gala games in the Dam

one of the cool djs at our favourite hangout for the day A wicked line up of diverse Djs we found  Danciing to some wicked sounds

National colour ORANGE!! Party boats in the kanals Vocals to drum and bass beats

 



My day today…
April 20, 2008, 6:38 pm
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Well i had intensions not to write copious amounts of insignificant ramble in this blog and remain to posting only ‘worthy’ subjects. Yes it is true; I dont find it necessary for every Tom ,Dick and Harry to know how I got about my every day. However I’ll make an allowance for today 🙂

Today I went along with Pieters parents for our usual sunday walk . The weather was surprisingly and pleasently warm and spring is now very evident in every sense of the word. What you hear, smell, see and taste. I could count at least 8 different bird calls in the 2 hours we walked, You could smell fresh grass and new flowers. The sun was hot and shining strongly, everythng was a shade of crisp healthy green and unfortunatly for me i hadnt really been witnessing it all untill 3/4 of the way through the walk. At times during these last few days I’ve been struggling to stop my exessive thinking and today had its moments. Its highly frustrating at times, however i like to think ive become alot more conscious of it and the method in obtaining a calm, quiet mind. Anyways it didnt matter for long, after lunch I simply relaxed in the sun and had nothing to think about but the warm rays of light shining down on me. It was so good i fell to sleep with my book open, chapter unread and a rosey face. Dinner outside in the evennig sunlight was a nice event, the Holland i have experienced so far has been rather… chilly and indoors alot of the time. But im sure if im round for the whole summer i could be in for the complete opposite 🙂



Back in the A’dam
April 16, 2008, 4:46 pm
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Some days are better than others, thats just the way it is we take the highs with the lows and go with the flow. At this very moment I am writing this post from Amsterdams central library in an aray of satisfied feelings. Today I have achieved 3 things. First and formost I sucessfully survived an interview with 180 ‘s production manager and director aswell as impressing and establishing a good first impression and promising position! Secondly I managed to locate, meet and befriend a potential dutch flatmate. And last but not least, I managed to leave the flat in such a good mood I walked the opposite way to that which I intended and after 25 minutes and blisters forming from my new shoes I realised I was a little lost!

So all in all a very productive day I must say, and it isn’t over yet Im off to stay with on of my potential work collegues tonight and I am also still yet to make contact back home with my mum after her big interview today aswell.

Tot ziens!



Rainbows End; eat my shorts! Walabi World kicks ass!
April 6, 2008, 6:37 pm
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This trip to one of Hollands biggest theme parks was triggered by a very sudden occurance to return home, however things have simmered down and i am remaining on this side of the globe once again. We didnt take alot of photos for we were simply enjoying the time there together but it was an exordinary day! It was the first day the park was back open after the winter season and being a friday it was totally dead. possibly 100 poeple in the whole park. This However was incredibly awesome! you could almost always swap seats and stay on the ride! I think in total we went on a roller coaster at least 18 times along with all the othe Wicked rides on top of that ! there was a Magic Castle that you sat in and you or the room rotated that was buzzy. Four mammoth roller coasters, and smaller ones including “The wild wild west” which at a glance looked rather mundain and lacking in gravitational thrills that involved going upside down. However it turned out to be the most hilarious rides and we went on it 5 times. Its 5 sets of pin head turns at tree top level made a MEAN game of corners and seriously gave you the expectation of riding straight off the tracks and plumeting tot he ground below. This was then followed by a series of small humps/bumps which were so abrupt and stomach lurching -quickly followed by another sweeping last minute pin head rench to the right. Highly entertaining and addictive despite the ride actually putting my back out of place on the first round! 🙂 There were some crazy spinning, twirling, entwining typical theme park rides that were smaller and stand alone but were very impressive and usually the ones that made you feel sick and dizzle afterwards. Then there was a huge tower of terror like thing. That gave a quick thrill, free falling from about 150m with the straping in process taking longer than the actual ride. Took it 4 times anyways 🙂 There was a skydive structure which cost but there was all th usuals, dodgem cars, log flume, ferris wheel, merry-go-round, go carts blah blah blah. yeah these photos dont do it alot of justice 🙂 Awesome day though.

\ Huge awesome swinging spining thing and the ledgendary \ Magic house, crazy,spastic, unpredictable and painful ride on the right...

Two little Kids having a feed \ Yip, big smile for the camera up in the Ferris wheel with the tower of terror in sight behind me.

\ \ In the kids area, Pieter trying to convince me i should go on the ride so he can drench me with the water guns situated around the place

rotating box= nice way to upset the stomach, pieter wisely took a seat & observed the damage In amongst the action



Snow snow snow
March 25, 2008, 8:26 am
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Woke up this morning to a winter wonderland…  just thought id share it with you all. Falling snow really is stunning to watch.

  Tree tops from the house  0730am - good morning nina  View from the house

  Soccer green next to pieters house  off on a small snow adventure  the neighbours dog having a field day

                       Hoi from pieters car    Pieters home, and surrounding park/playground area    Snow and spring



Zeeland road trip

Hey people

Pieter and I had an awesome day road triping to the west of the Netherlands today to visit the province of Zeeland, and yes it is the area that New Zealand was named after. Its a delta area of islands and man made islands aswell as dams to stop the sea from flooding Holland. It was rather obvious from the top of the man made hils/storm walls that the houses were significantly lower than the sea, pretty interesting sight really! You will also be glad to know we didnt leave the house with out a kite and most importantly a frisbee!

Wow its a hill!! hmmm i wonder whats on the other side?! wow its the beach! Excellent place to play a spot of frisbee i think

Us two characters img_6950.jpg )

more pictures The kite that flew… for 10 seconds.. Another kite that flew Pieters sand angel

beachyness Soaking up the sun and salt air One of the sea dams

Driving across the dam Sea side the other side

on the man mad land/island the dam works off to the mainland Driving driving driving Nothing like a few Dutch “Stroopwaffles” to keep you going!

The layers of the beach the beach the piles



Falling in love with Amsterdam
March 6, 2008, 10:09 am
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Hello

Well ive been to Amsterdam, and yes i guess you could say it was almost love at first sight. Although i was there mainly for an interview and the meeting and making of contacts, Amsterdam gave me very warm welcoming. However this was not actually litterally the case. Infact on my first full day it hailed twice and then snow fell that evening while i was finding my way home. I was fortunate enough to be staying with Sachas brother Josh which was cool fun and i had the use of a bike whilst staying there. Apart from spending 3 hours in the Van Gogh Museum on one of my days i basically cycled the city exploring the streets. This was really enjoyable and im proud to say i never actually got lost in all the semi-cicling canals and roads! I met a few kiwis during my stay, a friend of Josh’s who had been here for 3yrs, as well as Stacey another kiwi who i finally met and will be making contact with in a week to make further interview arrangements in the agency she works within. and contacts shes put me on to. I guess to put it simply; I very could easily warm to the idea of living and working in Amsterdam! 🙂

Amsterdam Canal by morning light Amsterdamn buildings Canals, Canals, Canals!

Learning techology centre/museum “Nemo” View from the Aweomely trendy city library building. Delicious and view food from cafe floor here Nina in Dam Square

Main drag of the red light district Dam Square More off sunny happening Dam Square and some cool street dancers/

Bike and Amsterdam one can’t exist with out the other! Oooh look what i found Skip bin! A beautiful sight near VondelPark and the Museum Plien a flurry of Snow fell that day at 5pm too

One of two hail falls that fell from the heavens on what seemed to be a perfectly sunny day Good morning Amsterdam Typical sights as i explored the city by pedal

Museum Plein area Heiniken Brewery, which i did not pay a vist to but theres next time! “I am Nina” (at the Museum Plein area before heading off to the Van Gogh Museum near by)

) Busy little birds i found View from Josh’s apartment before i left