Category Archives: Travel

My time in London is coming to an end

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Hello,

I haven’t written on here for a very long time. I have been in London now for just over 6 months. I have just over 4 weeks left before my visa expires, so I’ll probably be heading back to New Zealand for a wee while. Not too long though; just long enough to get a visa for the next place I’m going to.

I saw The Dark Knight (the new Batman movie) last night. It was very good. It was also very expensive, £15.20. Booking online incurs a £0.70 surcharge. But, seeing that the cinema was packed, and it was the second day of its release, it was a good investment.

I am going to start applying for jobs, again (one in particular, today) so now the blog gets back in business in case someone who reads my CV Googles me. Or Live Searches me. I could give further examples, but I won’t. So, just like last time I wrote in here, most of the posts are probably going to be me trying to write interesting technical pieces to make employers think… I mean realise… that I am awesome!

That’s all from me for now.

Observations at Auckland Airport

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Hello. I am at the airport. I am actually on the last flight out of Auckland tonight, to Singapore. What have I observed? Well, British people tend to look at other travellers’ passports and then strike up conversations with fellow countrymen. They don’t just talk to random New Zealanders. You kind of expect that sort of fellowship amongst New Zealanders travelling, because there are so few of us.

What else have I observed? Airlines are now pretty strict when it comes to luggage allowances, including the weight of cabin baggage. Which is a pity when you’ve put all the high density stuff in your cabin bag which fits the dimensions. That’s one thing that’s good about easyJet – there’s no weight limit for cabin baggage.

I tried to call Vodafone because I got a bill for next month but I had already cancelled the account. But they said call back tomorrow at 8. Tomorrow at 8 I will be on a plane somewhere between Auckland and Singapore. So that is a pain.

What else? Internet is very expensive here. But I am just using up the data allowance on my phone connection (that hasn’t been cancelled).

I haven’t yet found a power point to recharge my computer with. I haven’t actually been looking very hard though.

Everything is closing now. The bars, the BK, the Whitcoulls. And I will too. I will go and watch TV or something. Bye.

My trip to Ronchamp

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Cathedral in Ronchamp, originally uploaded by Arun Stephens.

I have decided, every now and then, to choose a photo I have taken and write a little bit about it.

Back in February, I went to visit one of my friends who lived in Belfort, France. We went on a day trip with one of her friends to this small town (about half an hour away by train) called Ronchamp. It is the smallest French town I have even been in. And it’s famous for its Cathedral.

We weren’t sure how to get there. But there was a sign pointing up a road. We had no idea what it looked like. We had no idea how far up the road it was. It was up a hill, too. But we came to see the Cathedral, so we went up the road. We did come to a small abandoned church-like structure, and thought “is this it?” but a the odd car or tractor continued driving past us so we figured there must be more further on.

Anyway, we eventually got to the cathedral. It was very strange looking. Not church looking. It looked like somewhere that the Smurfs would live. But it was a church.

We stayed at the church, visited the gift shop, and took photos. And then went back down the road into town.

I bought the nicest pain au chocolat I had ever had. It was nice. I recommend it. Maybe I will go back there one day.

There was also a museum. I was interested in what it was, but I can’t remember. So perhaps it wasn’t that interesting after all. The others didn’t want to go.

We walked around the town, and then went back to the train station. Directly opposite the station was an Ed supermarket. I went there and bought some Kit Kats, I think. And maybe some of those “Monster Munch” chips. Maybe. I can’t quite remember. It doesn’t really matter because it doesn’t add to the story.

Then we came home.

The end.

Mont Blanc

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This is the view from the top of l’Aiguille du Midi above Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.

Mont Blanc

Somewhere in that photo is Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe. It looks like a painting. Everything was so white. And the air (at 3800m) was so thin I was having trouble catching my breath. Even walking one set of stairs became difficult.

Nouvelle Star 2

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(I wrote this in my hotel room on Word. It hasn’t been published before 14/03/07.)

Right, I’ve got all that I needed to get done. In only 40 minutes too, that’s pretty good. Actually I didn’t have much to do, just get that photo printed (they have kiosks everywhere that do that – it took a while to find though) and I found a photocopier. So 0,40€ later, I have everything done. It was actually 0,50€ because the photo machine didn’t give change. I already had some ID photos so that was lucky. Otherwise the total would have been a whopping 4,50€!

I’m not sure whether I should order breakfast here in the morning. I guess I kind of have to. No other choice. Plus it comes with a paper. I can get it for 6:30 and then head downstairs. How exciting.

Right, now I’m going to try and find me some dinner. I do hope that I’ll be able to see a bit of Marseille tomorrow but I’m not counting on it. I don’t even know what time I’ll be able to get home. We’ll see.

Nouvelle Star 1

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(I wrote this in my hotel room on Word. It hasn’t been published before 14/03/07.)

Hello. I have chosen something pretty big to open my blog with. I am sitting in a hotel room in Marseille. At the moment, hundreds of wannabe French popstars are downstairs. It’s 5:22pm by the way. Quite late in the day. Why am I here in Marseille? Because it’s the auditions for Nouvelle Star! And what is Nouvelle Star, I hear many of you ask? It’s French Idol. I wanted to make an impact on French culture, and this is the way I’m going to do it.

Tomorrow morning, at 8:00am, I am supposed to turn up downstairs and sing my heart out. I’m supposed to bring ID and a photocopy and an ID photo and a normal photo. Of course I am stupid and forgot to bring any of those. Well, I do have ID. But no copy. And no photo. So I am going to go out in a few minutes and find a photocopier and a photo printing place. It’s 5:24. I’m not hopeful. Actually the hotel probably has a photocopier come to think of it. And possibly a business centre for printing. Anyway I am off to do that.