Mrls - Marlies

So, for all you naggers out there who wanted to know what I am up to and for all who are not interested one single bit I have set up this blog. I already regretted this after half an hour, as I could not get the page to come out the way I wanted it to, but forget about it. Let's see how long I will be able to force myself to update it...

As most of you know I left Amsterdam just after Christmas and flew to Japan. In Tokyo I met up with Ilona and together we celebrated New Year's Eve dancing the night away at a party in the harbour. We went on a continuous shopping spree (you just have to give in to the consumerism, there is no resisting it) and did some cultural trips on the side.
After ten days I flew south towards the North Island of New Zealand where I am now residing in not so lovely Palmerston North. Still three months working on a research project at the HortResearch institute and then I am off to discover the rest of New Zealand...

From road kills, Uluru and (vegetarian) Walibi burgers to the Taipei 101
December 14th 2009 -» January 17th 2010

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Joined on: January 10th 2008
Last Login: December 29th 2009

Blog Entries: 7
Photos: 114

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Mrls, order by Date newest first.

By Mrls
May 19th 2008

There are not enough words to describe my adventures, but I tried to use as many as possible Oceania » New Zealand

Me on top of Avalanche Peak

And here is a VERY LONG account of my further travels on the South Island and the time up till now back on the North Island (my advice to everyone except my parents: just look at the pics). I already mentioned before that I stayed in Arthur’s Pass for two days. I did two day tracks there. One was Avalanche Peak, an 1100 m height difference to cover. It was a steep and rocky climb, but I managed it in about 2,5 hours. They had warned me for black ice (ice on the rocks you don’t notice, until you’re slipping down [View Full Entry]

Massive glacial valley with braiding river

Castle Hill Reserve (bouldering heaven) on the way to Christchurch

By Mrls
April 19th 2008

Last bit North Island and South Island so far Oceania » New Zealand » South Island

Cathedral Cove in The Coromandels

Sooo, After I traveled for another week on the North Island, visiting The Coromandels and Rotorua, I flew to Invercargill in the south tip of the South Island. Here I met up with Eva, a German girl I met through work at the institute, to travel by car through The Catlins and Otago Peninsula to Dunedin. The Catlins are very quiet and not touristy, which was a welcome change to Rotorua (a volcanic area which is nevertheless mindblowing). In The Catlins and on Otago Peninsula we saw loads of sea lions, fur seals, the rare yellow-eyed penguins and tatatarata: ALBATROSSES! What [View Full Entry]

Me at a sulphurous, green lake near Rotorua

By Mrls
March 24th 2008

Hiking through Mordor Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park

Hard and long days of field work at the beach with my colleagues

Hi everyone, Today I surprise you with an actual holiday story I would like to share. I can assure you not to be worried, there are no cut-and-paste bits from my proposal and no short lists. Nevertheless, I cannot promise it will entertain you. You have to find out for yourself... So... last week two colleagues and I did some field work at this beautiful dairy farm situated at an estuary near Auckland. We finished our work within two days and had one day left to go sight-seeing (fieldwork is such hard work). We visited some beautiful beaches north of Auckland [View Full Entry]

Karekare beach, north of Auckland (movie buffs: The Piano)

Felix and I just before we climbed Mt. Ngauruhoe

By Mrls
March 15th 2008

Presumed dead but still alive and kicking! Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Palmerston North

Palmerston North sunset

Hi all, Last night I was made ridiculous by dear, darling Felix and Stephanie, because I have not paid any attention to my blog since the entries on Japan. So, hereby I dedicate this entry to you guys! I am sitting at the comp at seven in the morning on a sunday as an attempt to climb back up from my devastating fall from your grace... This 'd better be appreciated... So now, what have I been up to lately, you wonder? Well, simply said work, work and more work (field work also counts as work, of course!) at the HortResearch [View Full Entry]

One of my many roommates (rip, I did not kill it)

By Mrls
January 20th 2008

Tokyo: Shop till you drop! - Part 1 Asia » Japan » Tokyo

Dior building

To prevent us from forgetting even the most subtle differences, Ilona and I drew up lists of the things that struck us most in Tokyo. List of cool things * Cool dress styles everywhere and people really take the effort to look nice ( you even come across traditional dress sometimes) * No ring tones or people on the phone in public * Amazing architecture * Very polite and shy people (sometimes so much so, that they ignore you when you ask them something, this should then be classified as UNcool) * Pachinka (illegal slot machines in halls where the noise [View Full Entry]

By Mrls
January 20th 2008

Tokyo: Shop till you drop! - Part 2 Asia » Japan » Tokyo

Oh so comfy tatami mats in our spacious room

After the list of cool things naturally follows the list of UNcool things in Tokyo. List of not so cool things * No garbage bins to be found in the entire city * Tatami mats suck! * Finding an ATM for international cards is virtually impossible * Tropical climates inside every building or metro or train etc. * Traveling by train is expensive * Almost no one understands English * Japanese green tea ice cream is bleh! (compared the Chinese version) * The ritual of paying is at first funny, but very soon gets on your nerves (just take the damn [View Full Entry]

By Mrls
January 20th 2008

And then some cultural stuff in Kyoto and Nikko Asia » Japan » Kyoto

Golden Pavilion

Now, we did not only go shopping... We also saw some cultural, uhm, stuff in Kyoto and Nikko. [View Full Entry]

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Blogs & Travel Journals