Wrong Side of Le'Road

Finally got my New Zealand drivers license! Yay!

And it was 30 NZD cheaper than I had expected, which is always great!

I only have a temporary one, and the official one will be sent in the mail, which means that I'll have three different drivers licenses! Not all that bad I'll have to admit, but yes I know, there a few of you out there who have more, and more exotic ones too!

Main reasons for me wanting to get the NZ one is so I don't have to carry around my passport around anymore. It'll make identification a lot easier.

And want to hear something really weird? On all of the web pages that I've checked out when it comes to having an international drivers license, it has to be translated by some authorized agency for it to be fully accepted. And you know what, I don't have any translations or international drivers license, and yet I'm getting accepted left, right and center!

Anyway, I'm not complaining. I saved money on not having to have anything translated, but it does make you wonder.

Scored my student ID the other day as well, and that granted me access to the university gym, which is quite impressive! A lot of options on how to keep oneself fit.

And speaking of keeping oneself fit, I have walked more than 10 km everyday or every other day since I've gotten here. Summary of all that work? Dunedin has a shit ton of hills. It's nuts, but I still love it!

Don't have a lot to say today...besides all my walking and sorting out small errands, not a lot is happening.

Hopefully soon enough though!

Slow Roast or a Quick Nuke

Life has slowed down a fair bit for myself, due to my lack of respect to the sun down here.

As some of you may know, the ozone down here doesn't really exist. It's more of an urban legend you could say. And we all know (hopefully) that the ozone is kind of a big thing for us people down here on Earth.

If you don't know what the ozone does, and why we need it, I'll let you Google it.

When I first landed, and I was waiting for a mate of mine to pick me up from my hotel, I was sitting in the sun for about 10-15 minutes (during sunset) and it got me nice and red. A nice warm up for my pasty Scandinavian skin.

That wasn't enough though! I went on a walk the other day down to the beach and checked out the local walking route. I was nice and red afterwards, because I came down with a slight case of retardation and didn't use any sunscreen (FYI, locals use a minimum of 30 SPF) on this little adventure of mine.

Next day, I did the same thing, and boy was I burnt up nicely. I want to put up some funny Gordon Ramsey memes, but some of you may find it offensive, so, I'll just let you Google some of those yourself.

Any who, because of that, I've been trying to avoid the sun like the plague. I could put on some sunscreen, but the damage is done. With that my days have been going by quite slowly.

Fret not! On my second outing of turning myself into a crispy human, I checked out some different lodging options. Where I'm living right now is pretty mint, except for the fact that a) it takes an over an hour to walk down town; b) the bus goes every 30 minutes; c) it stops going into town around 18.00. Besides that, it's pretty good. Oh, internet is a bit shoddy, but I'm not here to surf the inter-mer-nets, so I can't complain all too much about it.

What did my little excursion find on my little outing? Basically, the student living standard down here is VERY different from back home. I mean...it is pretty shit.

This is comparing it to Sweden, so you need to take that into consideration. Sadly, I didn't take any photos of the places, but I went to a newly renovated house, and well...I couldn't tell that it had been renovated. It was done on a shoestring budget for sure.

I'm not going to go into all too much detail about the 3 locations, but I will give you this:

Option 1: A bit outside of town (approx 30 minute walk), cheap base rent, would have to share the flat with four other people, room is decently sized.

Option 2: Also a bit outside of town (approx 20 minute walk), debatable base rent, share with one other guy, big room, and flat is in good condition.

Option 3: Same area as 2 (like 30 meters away), smaller room, two floors, one bathroom, and 3 other tenants.

All of these have their pros and cons, as does everything, but I went with Option 2 for multiple reasons. I met the guy who I would be sharing it with, and talked for about an hour. We both got along with each other, and we have a few common interests. It was bromantic, or something like that. Also, he works for the landlord of the building, meaning he can't be a complete dick, he has too much responsibility, and has good deal going on to go and fuck it up. He's four years old than me, and he's done with all the partying, so I don't have to worry about him wanting to go and drink every night, and causing a ruckus. The area that the flat is located is a pretty quiet one, so that's also pretty comforting.

All of this does come with a premium, but nothing too extravagant. I'm not going to be talking numbers, because that's none of your business! :P

And also, rooms are disappearing quick right now, so my options are pretty limited.

As of next week, I'll be moving into the flat, and getting settled in over there! Woohoo!!!

Student life, here I come!!! YEAH!!!

Next week is going to be good as well: will have my bank account setup, and most likely my drivers license as well. But most importantly, my skin will be better, so I'll be able to go outside again, without too much worry of over cooking.

Also, my laptop is acting up more and more, so I might be leaving it in for service, hence the lack of possible entries within the next couple of days.

Cool beans guys!

Talk to you soon!

Getting Settled In

Moving to a new place, let alone new country, isn't as straight forward as you would think it is - or cheap!

I have a little list of what I need/want to setup while I'm down here: bank account, SIM card, driver's license, and forklift license.

All of these are important for me to earn some money while I'm down here, but like I said, it's not as straight forward as I would like (mind you though, what "troubles" arise, are negligible).

Bank Account
I had a bank account the last time I was here, but shut it down when I left the country. I figured it would be a simple, "Hey guys! I'm back! Let's open up this dusty old account, eh? Whad'ya say?" 

Well, it almost is like that, except I need to verify that I live where I live with a letter from the bank. Mind blown. Catch 22. Grey matter everywhere. Ok, I'm exaggerating! They're simply going to send me a letter to the address I'm living on, and then that will be a form of proof of residency. Once I receive that, I'll bring it with me to the bank, and be on my merry to using my old account.

SIM Card
No dramas here. I just messed up and asked for a nano card, when I need a micro. Want my phone number? Sure! It's 021-XXX-XXXX

For 29 NZD a month, I get: 1GB data, 4G, 200 minutes to both NZ and Oz phone numbers, and unlimited txt to NZ and Oz phone numbers. That's an alright deal by my standards! And the coverage is pretty good nation wide! FYI, it's Vodafone prepaid. I should ask for sponsorship if I right about them on my blog right? ;)

Driver's License
Everything was going smoothly converting my Swedish license to a NZ one, but then when I had to do an eye test (which was extremely basic, sitting on their counter top), I failed. Not terribly, but just not good. 

I'll try and draw you a picture of the device they have there (they said it's very basic, and doesn't set the standard). It looks like one the pieces you see in museums where you can look down into and see some old microscopic fossil, but when you look into it, you see numbers on the right, and 3 columns of letters (each column has 4-5 letters, don't remember) to the left. How did I fail, you ask? I only saw two columns. It's because of my astigmatism that I only saw two, and it doesn't disrupt my daily life.

So, now I need to get an eye exam done! YEAH!!!

Sigh...anyway, I see this as a security investment, in the sense that with this I won't have to carry around my passport as ID. And it'll help me pass off as local more. I don't have the accent, but I didn't have one either when I was working in Australia on a Navy base, and I could move around with out an escort, because I had my Australian drivers license! Mwuahahahhaha!!! I actually slept in my car while at the base actually. Easy access to a shower and toilet. Oh, and free food! Good times.

Forklift License
Here's my favorite! I have to redo the courses/tests!!! Woohoo!!! My 10+ years of driving experience, and multiple licenses doesn't mean jack!

This is an investment. Having a forklift license has helped me score a lot of well paying jobs, and that's all I'm looking for right now: money to fund my fun/life while down here. So, I'll just have to suck it up, and do it. Hopefully I'll be able to only do the tests, so I don't have to redo EVERYTHING.

First world problems, but serious student budget problems.

______________

All in all, it's not bad. I walked to and from town today, which was about 45 minutes both ways, and I did it in shorts and a t-shirt. So, yeah, at least I have that going for me!

Green Kids

Here I am, down in Dunedin, after an incredibly long trip.

I left Sweden Friday the 16^th of January, and it's now the 19^th. Daaaaamn is all I have to say.

And verdict? It's bloody long!

Here's the run down:

So, I saw it as me moving down here, and not just visiting for a short period of time, so I packed a bit differently that what I would usually do. I packed my life down in approximately 180L (split between 3 bags, one of which is a carry on) and a bike box.

I had 40kg (30kg to check in, and 10kg for carry on) to work with, and I knew that I would be going over the weight limit, without really trying actually. Having weighed the majority of my stuff at my parents house, I was about 5kgs shy of the 30kg. Meaning I would maybe have to pay 5kg in overweight. And having called Cathay Pacific about it, I would have to pay 60 USD/kg of overweight luggage. Sweet.

I hadn't weighed my bike, but I guessed I would be paying for an extra 5-7kg.

Oh, how I was wrong! Was 14kg overweight! The woman behind the counter did the math in her head, and said it was 12kg, but I corrected her and said it was actually 14kg, but I would love it if she typed in 12kg. She typed in 10kg instead.

Hell yeah! That is 600 USD, which is a lot of money, but you have to consider what I was paying for:

1. My bike will be with me all the way, so no having to ship it via a courier for an unknown sum, which can be high, since I don't have a contract with them.
2. My beautiful girlfriend wouldn't have to drag it back into her car, and ship it off whenever she had the time.
3. Buying a new bike of the same caliber, along with other equipment I stowed away for 600 USD is NOT going to be happening anytime soon. Unless of course it's a stolen bike, which I'm not all that interested in doing.

So, you see, I could quantify and justify paying the overweight fee.

However, it didn't work out as I had planned. As I'm writing this, I don't know where my bike is.

I heard that it's in London, and is being sent over here ASAP. What happened do you ask?

Here's my theory:

When paying for the overweight, I did it through and company/agency called Menzies (big company), and to have all the payments approved and signed off, it had to be done by paper.

I kid you not. None of it was done electronically. None. I had a coupon like bundle of carbon copies of my receipt that I had to drop hand out at every connecting airport. They then tapped a few keys and said was everything was golden. No...no it isn't.

Mind you though, I'm okay with it, since I don't need my bike any time soon (i.e. I'm not going to be partaking in a race any time soon). I've simply boiled it down to first world problems. They're going to have it sent to where I am here in Dunedin, so no worries.

Or? I called them about an hour ago, asking what the current status with it is, and they said they would get back to me ten minutes after I called them. Like I said, that was an hour ago.

Come people!

Anyway, enough about that.

I want to talk about some other stuff that I experienced a bit prior and during my trip.

Prior

This is hands down the hardest “trip” I've done. Why? Well, as my friend Jimbo put it, my other trips, there was an approximate return date, this time, there's none. Fine, I'll be heading back in July for a wedding, but then after that, it's unknown. Scary stuff!

Why scary? Because I gave up a pretty sweet life, in an okay country. Sweden is a pretty sweet country in it's own right, but I have the hardest time in the winter, and it really gets at me, way too much. Also, the Swedish mentality. I'm not going to write about it, and if you're visiting Sweden, you won't see it, you need to live there to actually experience it.

Simply put: no. Just no.

How was my life sweet? I had a well paying job (although, boring at times), amazing friends, close to my family, and finally, leaving Sosa, my girlfriend.

I had a few dinners with some friends before I left, and I realized how lucky I am to have such amazing people in my life. People who accept me for who I am, and help me out whenever I need it.

However, the real nail in the proverbial coffin, was when I posted a question on Facebook who wanted to grab an afterwork beer with me. I expected the group to be around 5 people, we ended up being 19! It was incredible! I posted the question a Sunday, and the beers were to be the following the Wednesday.

Okay, so it's not the amazing if you consider the circumstances (me leaving and what not), but it meant a lot for me, and showed me how many people care about me.

Before Departure

As some of you know, I've moved around a fair bit in my life, so saying good-bye is relatively easy. Except for now, as I wrote above regarding my friends.

And now after having met my amazing Sosa, it as really hard. She's epic, simply put. Saying good-bye to her was hard. She got me to shed a tear or two when she placed her hand on my cheek (I love her hand there, it's very comforting for me, I don't know why). Man, it was rough.

I don't really know how to express it, or how much to express, but I'll say that it was one of the harder things I've had to do in my life. On the bright side, she'll be coming down to visit me in April, so I've got that to look forward to!

On the Plane

Last time I got on the plane to New Zealand, I was pumped. All thoughts of doubt disappeared once I was sitting on the plane. It was without a doubt the right thing to do.

This time around, it didn't happen exactly like that, and I believe it's a culmination of everything that I've written about so far.

I have no doubt that what I am doing is right, since I've needed change in quite a while. This will be good for me. Even if everything goes tits up, nothing is too late to change.

Another thing that I saw on the plane from London to Hong Kong was the landscape while flying over China. It was truly awesome. Not “awesome” like how it used today, I mean a true moment of awe. Here is a link for you to see where the plane was in this moment: http://goo.gl/maps/C01DF. As you'll see, it doesn't look like a whole lot, but if you have satellite view on, and zoomed out a bit, you'll see a kind of basin to the west of the pin and that's what inspired my awe. The lighting and colours were just incredible. All I could think about is what it would be like to be standing in the basin, looking around. The emptiness of it all, and the vast expanse surrounding oneself. What I found most intriguing were the dirt roads littering the basin, and wondering what they were used and how often they were used.

Any who...it was a beautiful moment for me.

I think I've written enough for now, so I'll leave you with this: I'm happy, I'm scared, I'm nervous, I'm alive and excited about the unknown!

Up'n'Up

This is it, this is the big day we've all been waiting for: I'm going to New Zealand. Again.

This time around though, as many of you may know, I'll be studying Arboriculture at Otago Polytechnic, unlike last time, it was to get away from it all (http://olliedoesnz.blogspot.com).

It's currently 06:55, and I need to be out of the door within two hours to start my epic 34+ hour trip to Auckland (Stockholm to London to Hong Kong to Auckland). It's Friday today, and I land on Sunday.

Hells bells it's going to be long! I'm in my most comfortable attire: sweat clothes. I usually have some for of dignity, but dignity won't keep me comfortable, hence the sweat clothes. Mind you though, they are clean, and not sweaty sweat clothes, so it's alright!

Any who, I'm just writing this short entry to get this shit show on the road!