Driving days

For the next two days I hired a car and took a drive north, just a day trip, coming back to Auckland for night. As my first destination I chose Waitakere Ranges, a regional parkland west from Auckland. I had a big desire to drive on those narrow and winding roads of New Zealand. Once I got out of the city and to a proper country roads I was really enjoying my time. There's nothing better than a open, winding road ahead of you, great weather with stunning scenery and good music from radio. At first I drove to Piha, then thru Karekare and onto a narrow detour around the area and last but not least, I drove to Whatipu. To get to the end of road in Whatipu I had to drive for the last 4,5km on narrow gravel road that was hugging the mountains, what an amazing small stretch of road.

After Whatipu it was time head back towards Auckland and my hostel. On the next day I decided to start heading towards north from Auckland, this time driving to bit further away. As my first stop I drove to Devonport just to get a feeling from the place. Actually, it would have been quicker to go there with a ferry.. I had a brekkie at Devonport and started heading towards north on State Highway 1. Pretty boring strech of road, just a motorway. I skipped the toll road section - would have been only $2.20 - and drove thru Orewa to get out of motorway. After joining SH1 the road was back to a 'normal' two-lane road, now I could enjoy driving again. Even thou being one of the main highways, SH1 was still quite winding at places but yet again, so are pretty much all the roads in New Zealand. Or at least, that's what I've been told. I drove to Omaha Beach since fella from car rental told me it was a gorgeous beach. Well, not really.. After Omaha I headed towards Leigh and was aiming to Wellsford via Pakiri drivin again on a narrow, winding gravel road that was hugging a mountain. What a stretch of road again, maybe even slightly better than the one in Whatipu.

At times, scenery reminded me of Scotland. Just take few specific trees out from the view and you had a similar backdrop like in Highlands. I felt so good, even thou started to get a bit hungry and tired of driving. I still had about 2hrs to get back to Auckland and I was thinking how am I gonna survive this.. It all changed when I had a brief snack at Wellsford and decided to take State Highway 16 via Helensville back to Auckland. Was that a great drive, climbing up to the top of the world and then winding road down hugging the coast line. I was really enjoying the drive again, what a feeling.

Back to Auckland for night and I returned my car the next morning.

Auckland - City of Sails

Just a few weeks ago I decided to make New Zealand as my next destination. I chose Auckland as the city from where I would start my exploration. It was kinda strange 'losing' 3hrs when flying from Australia to New Zealand. I got thru customs more or less easy in NZ but in OZ it might have been a different matter.. Back when I arrived to Brisbane, I visited immigration office to double-check what would be my last day that I'd have to leave Australia. Then, officer told me that 25th would be okay, but.. ..since I arrived to OZ on 24th I should have departed it as well on 24th.. Well, it was only a matter of one day and the officer was laid-back. Like I mentioned, got thru NZ customs without any hassle and all I had to do was to show my hiking boots and that was it.. Felt a bit lazy gettin a bus - well, actually walkin that 1,5km from bus stop to my hostel - so took a taxi and what an expensive trip that was.. ..NZD89.. After ditching my bags to room I took a wee walk to downtown and headed for a pint. It's always interesting to walk on a new city without a map..

On the next mornin I got up about 9ish and headed for a better walk to downtown. This time I could actually see something and had my camera with me as well. But man, was I freezing..! Surely it was +20degrees or somethin but spending that much time in Queensland & Brisbane was takin it's toll. Had my jeans on and even a pull-over shirt as well but still felt chilly. 'How am I gonna get used to this weather'.. Even had to wear socks..

On first impression city felt nice, slightly busier than Brisbane even thou being smaller. I saw quite a few similar brands like in Australia but also some new ones. Reckon I took about 5hrs just strolling around downtown area and trying to find some nice shots with my camera. As usual, the first day I just concentrate on CBD, not bothered exploring further.

For the next day I had decided to take harbour cruise, a 1,5hr cruise around harbour and a brief stop at Rangitoto Island. I didn't took any photos from Rangitoto since I was gonna go there some other day for a hiking trip.

Bittersweet goodbyes

So, the day that I had been fearing, finally arrived.. ..time for me to depart Australia.. My employer was more than willing to sponsor me to stay here but immigration had different thoughts.

My time working for NQX was just absolutely brilliant, I've learnt so many new things from my industry and especially, doing some things in a different way what I'm used to.

Last few weeks have been more or less tough, my feelings going from one side to another, trying to figure out where from here, where should I head next. And, also the fact that all this came at a bit of a surprise, wasn't really prepared for this. But, what can you do, life must go on..

All in all, my year in Australia has been nothing short of amazing, all the places I've seen, all the people I've met, nothing can take this experience away from me. But now, unfortunately, it's time to move along towards new challenges. I wanna thank all those people who made this year so special for me. Alisa, Nick, Patrick & Sebastian from my hostel in Melbourne. Brett & Michelle for absolutely great week at farm. Heidi, Lola, Lou & Taavi for amazing road trip through Outback. Jack & Jenny for providing me home & work in Tablelands. All the other backpackers at Walkamin - Tiina, Eri, Stefano, Chelsea, Lee, Kristo just to mention few of them. Julius and his lovely girlfriend that I met in Eungella National Park. Janelle, Colin, Timo & Mandy from my hostel in Brisbane. My great housemates Dave & Neil, not forgetting our dog Ted. My Finnish mates in Brisbane - Jarkko, Harri, Perttu, Jenni, Kristiina, Mika & Elina, without you guys my time in here would have not been such a blast. All my workmates from NQX - Guy, Anthony, Dave, Ian, Kev, Russell and so many more who's names I just can't remember right now.. All the NQX staff - Bruce, Ray, Chris, Anthony, Phil, Linda, Lucy and again, so, so many more. Last but absolutely not least, my brilliant boss Wayne, I'm so grateful for you giving me a chance when so many others didn't. Apologies to everyone who's names I've forgotten.

I just can't put into words how great and memorable past year has been. Surely, one of the most eventful years that I've encountered so far in my brief time on this planet. Even thou I'm saying goodbyes now, it doesn't mean I wouldn't come back to this country. My aim is to do everything I can to get back here, sooner or later, in a way or another. Australia has left and everlasting mark in my heart.

What an amazing country.

Recapping

Happy New Year 2012!

Usually at the beginning of a new year we tend to look back what happened to us the previous year and how good or bad it was. Or, at least I do.. I'd have to admit that at least for me 2011 was quite an eventful year. It started waking up back in Finland from my friends sofa after a New Year's party, havin a hangover, obviously.. It seems that quite often our 1st of January usually starts with a hangover or even being more or less drunk still after a big nite.. In this post I'm doin a quick and brief look at what was my year 2011 like.

Pretty soon after New Year I found myself again behind the wheel of a truck, doin a few week stint drivin bulk powders around Scandinavia. Basically it was the same kind of job like had been doin the previous summer and autumn for Van Den Bosch Transport, a Dutch company. When February arrived, my Scottish friend that I met while workin at VDB visited Finland for a week. I'd remember it started as a joke but here he was, first time ever in Scandinavia. And he was lucky, it was a warm week.. Few nites out at my home town, saw an ice hockey game and even took a ferry cruise to Stockholm and had a chance to see the city for few hours while ferry was on shore. All in all, it was a nice week.

Like you might guess, soon after that I was truckin again, this time for a small, local company, drivin re-frigerated goods, mainly grocery deliveries. Quite a few weeks passed by and it was time get myself prepared for 'the big trip' to Down Under. For the week before I had flight to Australia I decided to take a mini-trip to Baltic and that's when I started this blog. Riga was a great experience and especially a KHL playoff game between Dynamo and Magnitogorsk was a thing to remember. The following weekend after my trip I had a wee farewell party and then it was time to embark for another journey, this time to the other side of the world.

I had a long stopovers at London and Abu Dhabi but both of those we're planned. My first few days in Australia started with another unforgettable experience, seeing Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix live, what an amazing event. Few more weeks at Melbourne, including a great Easter week as a volunteer at farm in Mount Gambier, South Australia. Then it was finally time to start my first road trip that I had been planning for so long. 4 of us, campervan and thousands of kilometres of Australian highways ahead of us. What an amazing journey that was, drivin thru the Red Centre. I'll never forget those moments in glorious Australian Outback.

Finally, after 30days on the road, our journey ended in Cairns and it was time to look for work. Two weeks of hunting and I was on my way to Walkamin. My time at Walkamin didn't start so well but in the end I made it thru. And, I was truckin in Australia for the first time. Not properly, but still. That spell lasted for about 3,5months before it was time to move ahead again. My time in Walkamin was an experience but I wouldn't say that it was good nor bad, I'd say it was just a necessity to be able to move along. But, I did meet lots of new people in there, few of them I've seen afterwards here in Brisbane and hope to see them in the future as well.

After Walkamin, it was time to head down south and this time I had booked a campervan alone. That was somethin I had wanted to do, travel by myself to see which way I'd prefer, company or solo. Cairns to Brisbane took me 2 weeks. All in all, it was nice experience and I did saw few places where you couldn't get with public transport but I'm not sure, even to this date, was it worth the money that it took.. But, that's life and traveling. Another few weeks of job hunting and this time I landed a proper truckin job.

Like I mentioned, my year 2011 was quite an eventful year. Counting back, I've been in 7 different countries that year - Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, UK, UAE and Australia. I had plans to visit SE Asia in August but it never turned out nor did not plan to spend New Year in Thailand. But hey, that's life. My last few months here in Brisbane have been a bit mixed but I won't argue that I haven't enjoyed it. All in all, 2011 has been one of the most remarkable years - if not the most - in my life. All the things and places I've seen and visited, all the people that I have met along the way.. ..there's so much happened to me last year.. Maybe you wouldn't be able to write a whole book out of this year but at least a few chapters. How this all is to continue, that's still un-clear to me, I do have few options and wishes but only time will tell what 2012 is gonna be like.

Brisbane : First Impressions

So, 2wks gone by in Brisbane and what to tell.. Well, at first, the city really doesn't feel as big as it is. Even in CBD all you need to do is walk few blocks to the other way and you're almost alone. So far I've only explored CBD, South Bank and bit of Kangaroo Point & Fortitude Valley where I live at the moment. On the first weekend all I did was just relaxin in hostel. Well, Sunday was a big nite since was watchin Rugby World Cup final. Reckon that was the first time I was cheerin up for non-European team playin agaist European team.. Not that I really understand that much about the game itself but it was good match, like final is supposed to be.

One place that I really enjoy is City Botanical Gardens, this beautiful haven in the middle of the CBD next to river. So often I find myself just wondering there and soaking up the feeling. In that sense Brisbane feels a bit like Edinburgh where you got parks here and there. One thing that still takes time for me to get used to is seeing lizards in the middle of city.. If there's something that Edinburgh was missing it had to be the river. In here, the presence of Brisbane River calms me so much, reminds me of Turku and Aura River.

Mainly my time so far in Brisbane has consisted of job searching and exploring the city itself on foot while tryin to get some photos. On my first week I took a second trip to Australia Zoo - might do another entry about that later -  this time to see all the live shows but other than that, besides few interviews, I haven't really left the city centre. Just been walkin along the river bank and finding new places on a daily basis. Like I mentioned, I've enjoyed Botanical Gardens but also South Bank has been nice place to visit. I'm still yet to take any river cruises nor even just a city ferry but I'll get there, sooner or later. One thing that also interests me is doing Story Bridge climb, althou it is a bit dear..