Hong Kong, 23.10.2007

Hi,

Yesterday evening I arrived in Hong Kong. I took the taxi to my hotel which is on the edge of Kowloon, the main center of Hong Kong. Although my hotel is ok, the area is still 'developing'.:) The hotel is huge (more than 20 levels) and my room is on the 11th level. When entering the room, I was too afraid to look out the window. After a few minutes, I decided to go closer to the window: my feet and hands were on the ground...:))) God, it is SOOOO high! I decided to leave the curtains closed and took a look where the emergency exits are... I am not a fan of heights, but perhaps this is the only way to do it 'in the Hong Kong way': every building is here VERY BIG!

This morning, I suffered from the jetleg. I went to bed at 1am last night and was awake at 6am and could not sleep in anymore. It felt like the first days when I arrived in Sydney. So quite early, I had a continental breakfast in my hotel. Was really happy to see those sandwiches and coffee next to all those Asian food I really don't know! But the culture shock would not be inavoidable... All the people that I met from Hong Kong were like 'Hong Kong is very Western'. Well yes, the buildings are, but the mentality, the people are totally Asian! I saw police men armed with huge weapons on the streets. In the underground were SOOO many people so you had to push yourself in the metro! When I arrived in Tsim Sha Tsui, what is the main center, heaps of shops. Well, after Ebay there is Hong Kong: you find it all here as well! I got already 50 people started talking to me in order to sell. At the beginning I always reply with a laugh: 'No, thanks', than it is 'no' and than the third time: 'NO!!!". Lunch time was choosing between Asian food and the Scotish take-away 'McDonalds'. No fancy European thing here. I decided to take the Asian thing. First of all: food is here so cheap that I do not trust that it is very hygienically prepared... Anyway, I ordered some noodles with a Coke. I asked what meat was in it. It seems to be very long ago that this was a British colony cause the people here speak very badly English. The waiter did not understand so she got some help. I said:'Porc of Beef are fine, but no dog or cat please!'. I got an exceptional meal without cat or dog... I received a tea in advance. Apparently, that is how tradition in Hong Kong. I tried it, but then thought better not to drink it: you can not drink water from the tab neither, so it is better to be avoid problems!:)

After lunch I took the boat to Hong Kong Island: again huge buildings (but a little more modern) and more Western people are here in the streets, clearly working in finance. There were not so Western people in Tsim Sha Tsui, and if there were, they were American tourists. Prices in Hong Kong Island are also more 'modern'.:) Pedestrians walk here on the second levels of huge apartment buildings connected by tunnels... Very impressive to see all those people move and to see the constant traffic on the Ground. You can really smell the money here...

As you can understand: I find this very impressive and totally different from what I have seen before... But not everything is so nice: there is a lot of pollution in the air here. Some people are wearing masks. It is amazing how much I have to scratch my skin and also my eyes gets irritated when I do not wear sun glasses...

Time to go back to my eleventh level room, have a rest and then I can come back in the evening to explore Hong Kong by night... Tomorrow I want to go to Lantau Island to see a big Buddha and there should also be some typically traditional village...

Greetings from strange Hong Kong!

Ruben

Sydney, 16.10.2007

Hello!

On Friday morning I took the plane back to Sydney. It felt quite strange to be back in the town where I was living for about 7 months. I hanged around in the town and in the evening I went to the 'tradition' of the company I worked for:"the Friday drinks". I was very nice to catch up with my friends, to hear about what happened in the department I worked for and how everybody was doing. We planned to have a big leaving party next Friday. We will go to Palms: the eighties bar, which I think is the 'THING TO DO IN SYDNEY'.:) Even the boss will come with us.:)

On Saturday, a friend and I left for a 3-day trip to the Blue Mountains. We went to Jenolan Caves, the biggest caves in the world. Quite impressive... We were back around 4 p.m. on Monday. Because it is very warm in Sydney (about 30 degrees), feels good in comparason to Tasmania and New Zealand (!), I decided spontaneously to go to Bronte Beach. I quitely bought a '10-dollar swimming short' in China-town and took the bus. Lying on the beach, I started to think how good my trip through Australia and New Zealand was and how lucky I can be to be able to do this. Knowing that this is my last week in the South Pacific, it is time to prepare myself for my European come-back. It will be nice to see everybody again, to enjoy the culture and the good food we have in Europe (something that I really missed here), but I am definitely sure that I am going to miss Australia.

I am going to take the bus to Australia's capital Canberra now. According to my Aussie friends, Canberra is 'VERY boring'. It seems like every Aussie hates his capital because it reminds them of obligatory school trips to this 'Boring Town'. I must admit that it is quite strange for a country with such a 'Beach Culture' to chose a town as capital which is even not on the Coast. And all this, just as an answer to the rivalty between Melbourne and Sydney. Although knowing this, I will try to put myself in the bus totally objective and check it all out myself. Will be back in Sydney on Thursday. On Monday, I will take the plane to Hong Kong. Before taking the plane to London and Brussels, I will get out of the plane for 2 full days Hong Kong. I met heaps of people of Hong Kong on my travels to tell me what to do, where to go and where NOT to go! So being well prepared, I am quite excited about what I can expect from this part of China...

Take care, Ruben

Hobart, 11.10.2007

Hi there,



After my stay in New Zealand, I needed to get used again to the fact that people here say ‘mate’ instead of ‘bro’.:) After having arrived on Friday, I went to the supermarket and all of a sudden, in the supermarket:”Hey Ruben”… I thought:”Who do I know in Hobart???”. Well, it was a woman who I met in Darwin. We were on the same trip to Kakadu. That was funny! We talked about an hour and she said about 3 times:”If I can do something for you, just tell me!”. So I replied:”Actually, yes, there is something… Can I do my washing at your place?”. That was great: she invited me for doing the washing and a cup of tea in the Saturday afternoon! I went there with my whole backpack and her garden was FULL of my clothes!!!:)



On Saturday morning I went to the world-famous ‘Salamanca market’ in Hobart. On Sunday, I wanted to climb up Mount Wellington. Hobart is situated on the foot of that Mount. I helped out a French couple in the bus (they had some communication problems with the bus driver) and that was how I got to know 2 nice French from Lyon. They moved to New Caledonia (Nouvelle Caledonie) 3 years ago. They wanted to climb the same mountain. In the bus was another girl from the Netherlands. The only one who was prepared very well cause she had a map with her.:) So we decided to climb that Mount together. It was a tough walk with a lot of beautiful view over Hobart. And just 5 minutes before arriving on the top, it started to snow!!! Those French were very excited about that cause they hadn’t seen snow in 3 years. I found it ‘freezing’… On the top were plenty of people totally relaxed, because they had driven in the car up the mountain… We were climbing for 2 hours and arrived there totally red and sweating!!! But we were the tough ones!!! We had picknick on the top and in the evening, we decided to have dinner together! Really great day.



On Monday, I went to Wineglass Bay on Tassie’s Eastcoast. On Tuesday, I did another day trip to Mount Field national park… To see more snow and some typical Tasmanian animals like the Tasmanian devils and Wombats. In the evening, I wanted to burn a CD and who did I meet in the internet pub? Richard, a Welsh guy who was working in the same department in Sydney as me! He and his wife asked me to go for a beer… In the pub, there was another guy, Shaun, from the England who I met on my trip and stayed in the same dorm as me.He joined us. 1 beer became 10 beers for Richard and Shaun and 6 for me. Result: Richard and Shaun were totally fine and I was half drunk. Bloody UK people!:) But it was a great night.:)



Yesterday, I visited Port Arthur, one of world most famous prisons in the world… Really impressive. Port Arthur is situated on a peninsula and for instance the corridor with the mainland was controlled by a ‘dog line’: about 25 dogs were put in a line so not a single prisoner could pass by. No wonder that in about 50 years, only 10 prisoners managed to escape from that hell! Moreover the bus driver was a very funny man, who happened to know a lot about… Belgium. He knew more than the bloody clichés like Belgian chocolates and beers. He knew for instance the name of our King, that ‘French fries’ were invented in Belgium, and that Plastic Bertrand (who had a number 1 song in Australia) was Belgian, not French. I found that quite impressive. But Shaun, who was on this trip a few days before, told me in the evening that he must see the list of participants the evening before and has a ‘list of interesting things’ per country. That is how he prepares his journeys. Can be true… Whatever, it was a funny broke!:)



I am enjoying my last day in Tasmania…



Take care, Ruben

Queenstown, 04.10.2007

Hello,
I have spent my last day in New Zealand today. I went to the 'Paris of New Zealand': Akaroa... A French village in New Zealand... I left in the bus as of Christchurch... It was meant to be a total French day for me: the bus company was called the 'French connection', the interior of the bus was: red seats and the rest was in blue and white... After 80km we could see the first part of Akaroa, called 'Duchauville'... I wonder how those New Zealand people pronounce that...
What happened? In 1838, there was a French captain, Monsieur Langlois, who found the Akaroa Bay very good for settlement. He went to Paris and came back with a ship full of French in order to settle in NZ and claim the land for France... However, when they arrived in 1840, they find out that the British had already gained control over whole New Zealand. They negociated with the British and they had 2 options: stay under British rule or go to Tahiti, a French colony. They decided to stay... I can understand why, because the bay is VERY beautiful!
Today, 167 years later, the inhabitants are still VERY proud of their French origine and you can see the French flag everywhere. Most streetnames are still in French and you can hear a lot of French in the streets as well... But that is just because this is a 'must-do' for all French tourists here!:)
Tomorrow, I will take the plane to Tasmania...:)
Take care, Ruben

Ruben in Newzealand - Akaroa

Queenstown, 01.10.2007 English

Hi,

I am still in Queenstown, and made a trip to Milford Sound in Fiordland today. I am totally excited about what I have seen over there: it is a combination of the mountains of Switzerland, the beautiful fiords of Norway, the greeness of Ireland, the lakes of Scotland, the forests of Finland,... I love this place!!!

I want to live there... There is just 1 problem: there do not live people!!:)

Take care, Ruben

Ruben in New Zealand - Milford Sound

Pictures, 28.09.2007

Ruben in New Zealand

Greymouth, 28.09.2007 English

Hi there,
First of all, thanks heaps for the birthday wishes. It was quite strange to celebrate my birthday on the other half of this planet, so I will never forget it. It was special...
I left Kiwi capital Wellington and headed towards Picton on the South Island. I really liked the Marlborough Sounds: beautiful islands and peninsula's on the South Island coast. And I met - for the first time on my trip - some Belgians... From Gent!!! We went for a beer and discussed the actual crisis in Belgium. They were very much in favour of keeping Belgium. Then I moved on to Kaikoura where I almost got attacked by a seal!!! Luckily there was a Dutch tourist who warned me that there was a seal in the bush. I hadn't seen the seal at all. I would have continued walking just 20 cm from him...:) After 2 days Kaikoura, I took the train further to Christchurch. I was sitting on a table in the train with 3 tourists from the USA. They made the perfect journey in New Zealand... They visited 2 days Auckland, 3 days Wellington and 2 days Christchurch. I said:"Isn't it strange to visit just towns in New Zealand...? I would just visit the landscapes in the countryside.". They said:"Yes, you are fully right. We didn't know that this was such a beautiful country...".:)))) Well prepared Americans, but they were funny and offered me to 'help them drink their bottles of wine'.:) I even got a free invitation to Philadelphia, where one of them is running a bed and breakfast! Arrived in the evening in Christchurch, I stayed in a hostel in the neighbourhood of the railway station, because I had the train again the day afterwards in the morning. I wanted to grap some take away food. I had to choose between 10 Chinese restaurants and... 1 Afghan restaurant... I thought that that last one would definitely be 'the challenge', so I wanted to try that Afghan food. I entered the restaurant and the guy behind the bar welcomed me with 'hey brother'... He wanted to know where I was from. I said:'Belgium'. 'Belgium,..., wasn't that a part of Russia, I mean the Sovjet Union'... After explaining to him that that was not the case, he offered me something extra... Typical Afghan, he said. I don't know what I have been eating, but it was good...:) The day afterwards, I left Christchurch for the Tranzalpine Train. That is definitely the most beautiful train journey in the world. There was a compartment in the train with no windows... A viewing cabin to make pictures. It was freezing up in the mountains in that part of the train! And mind the tunnels if you are hanging out of the train as I did sometimes...:) Arriving in Greymounth, I met a German again that I had already met before and we decided to travel together for a few days. He was also heading to Franz Joseph. In Franz Joseph, I decided to take part in the Franz Joseph Glacier walk. A full day climbing the ice of that mountain... I met there for the second time Belgians! From Antwerp this time, on their honeymoon... And the same question: What do know/think about the crisis in Belgium? Now a totally other story: they were definitely in favour of the end of Belgium and they said: 'if the Walloons want Brussels, they can get it. And Antwerp becomes then the capital of Flandres!' Whatever, I loved the accent of that Belgian, whoops Flemish, couple. They had that typical Antwerp accent, that stayed with me the whole day and gave me some kind a nostalgic time when I was living in Antwerp...:) The funny thing about NZ is that I am meeting all the time the same people on the bus. Sometimes they are a bit ahead of me, but then I am catching them up later or the other way around. We start to become a very nice group of friends... Very international: there is Alice, a nice French girl who wants to go to Australia afterwards and certainly visit Alice Springs (just because of the name!!!), Carlos from Portugal who is going to stay in Christchurch later on because he has job as football trainer, Heike from Germany who is collecting sand and is sending monsters home from every beach (this is no joke!!!), Machteld from Holland with whom I am always discussing 'the correct Dutch', Jane from London who is always laughing with my coffee adittion (and my coffee machine in my backpack) and finally there is Filippo from Bresil, who is real name is 'Macho'.:) I have been celebrating my birthday with them. Was really cool!:) Definitely time to leave you now...
Take care! Hug from New Zealand! Ruben

Wellington, 20.09.2007 English

Hi there!:)

I am in downtown Kiwi capital Wellington today!

After leaving Auckland and on the way to Rotorua, we stopped in Waitomo. We could do some 'Black water rafting'. I thought, that is fun: just sitting in a boat and some heavy water... Well, I can now tell you all that that is NOT the case. We had to wear a wet suit, a helmet and boots... We took all a tube with us and we entered into a cave. In the cave was a river and you jumped in the river and follow the flood actually. The water was ice cold, but because you are wearing that wet suit you do not freeze to death!:) It was totally fun. You do not feel your feet and fingers anymore after a while, but it was top adventure! And the funny thing was that I was the first so I basically had to do it first and the other ones you imitated me. Before jumping in the ice cold water, the instructor said:'You just let you fall in the water'... I felt how cold it was... It was ice water! I said:'Are you crazy? Well, tell to 3 and I jump...'. It was 100% fun!In Rotorua, I visited the thermals. That was so beautiful: boiling water is just coming out of the soil because of vulcano activity. I met a French girl and she recommended me to do a walk around the lake and up to the 'redwoods'. So I prepared a picknick and went the whole day 'hiking'. I was in the hostel again at 5pm and jumped straight into the hottub. OK, not a natural one, but the warm water was so relaxing... So I started to think...:"New Zealand is the country of 'I wanna have'... Since that I am here: I wanna have that beautiful New Zealand rugby T-shirt 'All backs', I wanna have a hottub in my garden, I wanna have a sheep (instead of a cat or dog now!)!? But one thing, we foreigners, can not buy in New Zealand. And that is the friendliness of the New Zealand population... Those people are so friendly. In the supermarket, in the bus, in the forest, EVERYWHERE, people just start talking to you "Hey bro, where you coming from? Do you like it here? etc."After Rotorua, I headed towards Taupo. We visited the wai-o-tapu national park with a lot of thermals! We arrived in Taupo at 3pm. I went immediately for a walk with Jane, a girl from London, I met on the bus. We walked for about 2 hours and then we started to look for a bus back into town... We saw that there was no bus anymore after 4pm... We had 2 options: walking back (again 2 hours) or hitch-hiking. We hitch-hiked and already the 3rd car took us into town. At night, we decided to go for '1 beer' with 2 Germans and 2 Canadians... I was in bed at 3am...:)This morning, we headed towards Kiwi-capital. We arrived here at lunch time. I wanted to stay here tomorrow as well, but there is no place left on the ferries for the 22nd. So I am leaving Wellington tomorrow in the afternoon. That is a pity, because I like this town and that means that I will have to spend the evening in a place called Picton on the South island. I heard that that place is not so 'waaaauwh', but I did already some sightseeing in Wellington today...

Saying goodbye now...BWR, Black Water Rubes!:)

PS: Belgium was in the news here. Apparently someone tried to sell Belgium via Ebay as a protest... Apparently we do not have a government yet 100 days after the elections... Am I going to see Belgium again in my life or am I going to return to the 'independant state of Flanders'???

Bay of Islands, 16.09.2007 English

Hi,

My first days in New Zealand are great! I am traveling around with the Magic bus in this magic country...

I spent my last 2 days in the Bay of Islands: islands, half-islands, hole in the rock,... a very beautiful scenary. In the bus I met a girl from the UK and a guy from Canada. An English, a Canadian and a Belgian... We had the best time together! At the beginning, the Canadian guy asked my name...I said:'Ruben'.- 'And your surename?'I answered:'Van de Poel'.- 'Van de Poel!? That sounds like a name of a rich diamand trader!'I don't know what is wrong with my surename, but apparently they just love it overseas...! I was never so into that 'surename thing', but dad, thanks for given me that surename. I just love it now! Aussies and Kiwi's find it exotic, fancy, lovely,...:) We had dinner together, had some drinks at the beach, and then we went to a pub to watch the rugby championships... New Zealand against Portugal. I still remember that New Zealand won and that was the beginning of a big celebration...:) Luckily the boat for the Bay of Islands took off at a respectful hour.:)

Tomorrow heading towards Rotorua... C U bro's!:) Ruben

Auckland, 14.09.2007 English

Hello Kiwi's, half-Kiwi's (Nathalie!?) and non-Kiwi's!

I kiwi-ed yesterday my way to Kiwiland by plane.:) When I had to pass by the security control, there was a lady (It could have been my grandma), just in front of me and she had her beauty case in her hand luggage!? The poor grandma did not know that she was not allowed to take any liquids on board, so she lost half of her beauty case. It took 10 minutes before she got it all out. When she was passing by the metal detector afterwards, that thing was about to explore!? She was still wearing 15 rings, a belt with metal, etc. The security guy was totally annoyed and told us:"I am really sorry for this". The man behind me answered:"No worries mate, we are enjoying it!". I have to admit that it was funny. It was really not the lady you expect to have any terrorist connections. When it was finally my turn, the security guy asked me to take off my head. That lady found that it was 'pay back time', so she said to me:"There you go, you are not yet out of Australia!". But I got no tune in the detector, so it was easy for me to reply:"I don't think so, darling, New Zealand here I am!".:) But she was right: after arrival in Auckland, there were about 95% Aussies and Kiwi's in my plane who could pass like that. The remaining 5% was totally controlled. Had to open my backpack, get out my shoes for further inspection. Then there was a so called 'avocado' in my backpack. I had to look it up but did not know about an avocado. It turned out to be a piece of soap... That is how I got in contact with a Canadian girl. After we cried both 'YES' when we made it through the control, we started to laugh! I asked her how she was going to town. We decided to share a taxi (the only option) and that was good, because it was night fare. Saved 30 Kiwi-dollars!:) Today, I kiwi-ed around in Auckland. Visited e.g. the war memorial. I will leave tomorrow to the Bay of Islands. I wanted to stay 2 days in Auckland, but the town is not that big, so that makes me leaving tomorrow morning. Because a lot of you asked me what I am going to visit in Kiwi-land, I made following schedule (but it will be changed as I travel further)... 14/9: Auckland15-16/9: Bay of Islands17/9: To Rotorua18/9: Rotorua19/9: Taupo20/9: To Wellington21/9: Wellington22/9: To Picton by ferry and eventually further by train to Kaikoura (if possible)23/9: Kaikoura24/9: Kaikour to Christchurch25/9: Christchurch to Greymouth with the Transalpine (very famous train)26/9: Greymouth to Franz Jozef27/9: Glacier28/9: Franz Jozef to Queenstown29/9 - 1/10: 3 days Queenstown. Perhaps make a trip to Fiordland and will certainly do some extreme sports in Queenstown (thinking of sky diving... WAAAAUHHH!)2/10: Queenstown to Dunedin3/10: Dunedin to Tekapo4/10: Tekap to Christchurch5/10: THE END: LEAVING NEW ZEALAND!:( Now, I have to tell you, Aussies and Kiwi's, Germans and Belgians, French and Dutch, Italians and Luxembourgish, English and Israeli's, Latvians and Lithuanians (I hope I have all the nationalities this email is addressed to included in my mail now:) ) 1 thing: I am willing to answer all questions, except 1! That one will be:"Do you like New Zealand more than Australia, or do you like Australia more than New Zealand?". THAT QUESTION WILL NOT BE ANSWERED!:) Does someone know if New Zealand and Australia have the same company that produces their money??? Those notes and coins are so simular. I am always mixing them up! Nice greetings from Auckland! Ruben PS: I have no connection with my mobile. Vodafone Oz does not allow me to get Vodafone NZ. Bloody Vodafone!:)

Brisbane, 12.09.2007 English

I arrived in Brisbane today. Brissie is not too bad. A lot of backpackers warned me that Brisbane was boring and ugly... So my expectations were not too high. I must admit that I think that Brissie is a nice, trendy town... OK, it is not as good as Sydney or Darwin, but certainly better than Alice Springs and Adelaide! The days before, I was in Hervey Bay and visited Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. The highlight of Fraser Island for me was Lake McKenzie: a beautiful lake with pure white sand... Lovely.:))) The water was cold, but that was no barreer for me to swim in it.:) Tomorrow, I will leave Australia for 3 weeks and go to New Zealand. I have my flight to Auckland in the evening... Can't wait to go to Kiwiland!:) But hope that it will not be too cold. I am used to have at least 25 degrees all day!:) Now I have to go, cause my American girl friend, the one that I met in Cairns is waiting for me. We are going for a beer. C U, Ruben