Die bunte online-welt “von unten”

Unbelievable, but true. I am finally part of the colourful online world (NZ English, for the Americans amoung you ), although sitting upside down on the other side of the planet. This is my 20th day in Auckland, and much has happened during that time. I want to give you a little overview of what is going on down here.

After travelling for ‘one or two’ weeks throughout the US and A and having awesome times on the East Coast, in Houston and on the West Coast, it is time for me to get my life back on the working track. I spent the first couple of days walking around town and getting to know places while trying to memorize to first look right and then left when crossing a street. My first impression of New Zealand was great, I talked to many locals and had the chance to go to a rare concert on Waiheke Island (Hauraki Gulf) given by Monique Rhodes. It was so far out of the city that hardly any tourists had found their way there, making it a unique local Islander’s experience. After the first, I would again say ‘one or two’ New Zealand beers and an awesome performance, a local took me to a bar in Surfdale before taking the last ferry back into Auckland at 12:40am.

Spending six days in a hostel with clothes, laptop and all of stuff is definitely enough! That’s why I started to look for appartments and houses after a few days (I needed some time to find out which neighbourhoods I wouldn’t want to live in). The first one was a hit, but only as far as the location goes… 20m to the Pacific beaches, bus stops around the corner, shopping centre close by… BUT, the flatmate was, as diplomatic as can be, a ‘little different’. It took me about five seconds to figure that I would finish the tea he had offered me and head back to town to look for alternatives. It turned out, it wouldn’t be the last time to meet him…

Two days and multiple appointments later, I called Tony. Tony lives with his wife and his son (16 years old) at 14 Kaupa St., Meadowbank, Auckland. After talking to him on the phone, I decided to take the last train and drive to his place to have a look, not the worst decision I have so far made.

It turns out Tony lives in a very nice house only 3 minutes from the trainstation where the trains will take me downtown within 8 minutes and to my research facilities within 4 minutes.

It turns out, Tony has a nice room for me that, most importantly, Sabrina will be able to move in with me when she arrives in the VERY beginning of May.

It turns out, I will have my own bathroom, a place to parc my (future) car, my own fridge and lots of other fun things I can use with them, including a new home theatre system with automatic screen and projector.

To sum it up, an awesome place to stay. And not too expensive either, at least as soon as Sabrina has arrived to share the rent (450€ per month for the two of us). When I arrived, a French couple was living in the room I would move into. They have left last weekend since they started a different job a little further south and I could move into ‘my new room’.

To start with, I needed a new bed and a desk that I both bought on trademe, the NZ equivalent of ebay. I am also very happy to call myself the owner of a 1997 Nissan Prairie, an awesome van. I have already transported three bikes inside, three persons, a mattress, the bedframe and the slats at once. Almost feels like the ‘Joker’ except it’s not red nor does it have a VW sign up front

Last Monday, I also started to work at the Yacht Research Unit… Good stuff, and my motivation is increasing day by day. I reviewed and studied a lot of aerodynamic background that we didn’t learn in Stuttgart and I am starting to get the picture in which direction my project will be aiming. Yet, I have to take some pictures at the Twisted Flow Wind Tunnel with an America’s Cup boat model installed that we test on a daily basis.

On my first weekend with a car, Julien (from Belgium), Lief (from Sweden) and I went on two one day trips to the West Coast (Tasman Sea) and the East Coast (Pacific Coast). The weather is perfect for the outdoors although the sun is a little too strong during the day. Even SPF30 doesn’t protect you from sunburns, only long sleeves will help! Temperatures usually go up to 23°C (74F) during the day and down to 17°C (62F) during the night.

It is a little hard to get things done during the weekdays, as most shops (except for the big grocery stores) close at around 5pm or 6pm the latest. The atmosphere at work and in the general public is very relaxed, and the people are very interested in foreigners and very helpful. It has happened to me twice when I was walking along the street looking at a street map that people stopped for me asking if I were alright or needed some help to find the way. Robert from Auckland saved me from walking through the rain and gave me some very helpful tips on how to get along in this new city. After meeting at a boat club in South Auckland and talking for a while, he offered me to drive me to the next train station. During our conversation, he told me about his trip around the world and we got into a really nice chat. In general, people seem to be very open minded and they always greet you when you’re hiking or walking in parcs. I very much like that.

Before I write too much, I want to post some first pictures I have taken during my first days. As you can all imagine, I have taken -once again- ‘one or two’ pictures of which I will post some of the best.

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon and please feel free to comment and comment and comment…

Hei konā rā

Timm