THE INTERNAL - NEWSLETTER 40/04

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING…

… in 4 WEEKS!!! Granted it does not really feel like Christmas, but we already have advent season!!! Did you guys all lit a candle last Sunday for the first advent??? To be honest I did not, but hopefully I will do better next week… J 

Just to remind you of our traditions back home, have a look at the pictures:

GOOD BYE REBECCA

Rebecca left us on Tuesday! She just came back from her trip to the South Island and spent her last weekend with us in New Plymouth. There was a little party on Monday evening at her place – luckily without too many tears, but with enough pizza! 

Rebecca, we all enjoyed the time with you very much!!! Keep in touch and don’t forget to drink some Gluehwein for us!!!  

CHEERS CHRISTOPH

It has been a very sad week regarding our group since we had to say good bye as well to our lovely Austrian friend. However, some of us will be able to meet him again in January for a couple of days before his definite departure. We wish you an awesome time on the South Island! Have “heaps of fun” and take care on your trips in the mountains!!! See you again in 7 weeks!

Hope you will find some new friends with whom you can play cards with…

WHAT’S ON IN AUCKLAND

It is definitely a good time of the year for festivals and different events! There are a couple of things going on this week. Maybe we can go there together?!

Ponsonby Alive 2004 (27 Nov - 5 Dec) is a festival with nine days of live entertainment featuring a broad range of musical styles, from blues and jazz to hip hop and rock. In all, there are over forty performances in sixteen different venues. Visit www.ponsonby.org.nz/events.htm for full program. All events are free except the "Gluepot" Marquee Events, Tickets $25.

Those of you who are sold on horses should go and visit the Puhinui Three Day Event in Manukau (3 - 5 Dec). It is a competition for national and international riders (dressage, cross-country and show jumping) including a variety of entertainment & fun. Prizes still have to be announced. For more information visit www.3dayevent.co.nz.

On 4 Dec, 24 hours of Carnival on K Road is the ultimate celebration of Auckland's cultural and creative identity! That day K Road will be ablaze with festivities: markets; music; street theatre; sound systems; installations and themed cultural and creative quarters (Chinese Quarter, The Pacific Quarter, The Brazilian Quarter, Ethnic Food Karts). The climax of the day will be the amazing K Road Karnival Parade. Starting at 8.30pm from Queen St end of K Road, the parade will move slowly down the street like an enormous rolling carnival party on wheels. From Chinese Dragons to Hip Hop - you'll see Brazillian bands, Heavy Metallers, huge Indian and Pacific Island floats and genuine marching girls. See also www.kroadkarnival.co.nz

Also on Saturday 4 Dec you can go to the Auckland Rodeo in Carlaw Park. Cowboys, cowgirls, wild bucking horses and the spectacular bucking bulls will all be making their way to Carlaw Park in Parnell for the action packed evening show, e.g. world class bull rider Zack Brown. As well as the awesome man versus beast Rodeo events there will also be exciting entertainment including a live band, bar, mechanical bull competition, Free Style Motorcross Displays, dancers, trade and food stands and a children’s best dressed cowboy/girl competition. Prices are about $20, it starts at 5.30 pm.

TRIP TO PENINSULA OF MT. TARANAKI

On Friday afternoon we left for New Plymouth (of course again much later than wanted) and started to get down as fast as possible, passed the beautiful green hills with sheep and cows on them when suddenly we got stopped by the police… Robert must have been too lost in thought since he caught a speeding ticket ($80 for 11km/h!!!). He had a nice talk to the police officer and even asked him to take a picture, but for some reason he denied to strike a pose. Still, it was a great drive, enjoying the sunset and the view of the ocean. We were really impressed to see the silhouette of Mt. Taranaki in the dark since it was still all covered in snow!

Our hostel called The Missing Leg was very cosy, decorated with bikes all over the place and with a nice fireplace to warm up (sounds like it is winter…hey?!). This time we didn’t do a good job buying food for the weekend, because we had far too much cakes and cookies as well as pasta and sauce left over… well, I guess me and Diana should not be in charge of that again… J So we ate and drank all night through! Christoph tried his best in getting drunk on his last night with us, but since New Zealand beer is not really high percentage alcohol his attempt was not successful… Very unusually Robert was the first one in bed – maybe he already adapted himself to New Zealand’s alcohol consumption??? However, we had much fun together! On Saturday Robert, Christoph and Wulf went hiking around Mt. Taranaki. Although they didn’t go up high, the track was still covered all in snow which is abnormal for this time of the year. The others visited the lighthouse at Cape Egmont, had a wonderful walk (wasn’t it…??? J) through Puneiki – a Rhododendron garden – and then met at the Pukekura Park in New Plymouth.

On Sunday the weather was beautiful… thus we went to Lake Mangamahoe to get a nice view and picture of the volcano Mt. Taranaki. Unfortunately there was this stupid cloud that did not want to leave… we used the time of waiting to pick on the ducks! Then we stopped at Dawson’s Falls and the White Cliffs. The beach there was pretty amazing: all black volcano sand which was sparkling in the sun.

On our way home the guys turned out to already be addicted to Mc Donald!!! Although starving they preferred driving another hour instead of eating in a tavern… well, at least it tasted good! I thought it was a great weekend, but Diana’s favourite word to describe the weekend was “melancholy”!!! I don’t know why the sight of green hills and the snow-covered cone of Mt. Taranaki, the sound of the ocean or the fact of a sunny day can make someone feel melancholic – maybe I will find out the answer sometime?!  

THIS WEEKEND COMING UP

This weekend some of us were planning on going to Great Barrier Island (but since there are only three left we might cancel that… depending on the weather we can decide shortly before on Friday if we go or not), others want to stay in Auckland and another group sets off to Coromandel.

Well those of you who stay in Auckland, we can e.g. go to the festival or visit some of the attractions in Auckland (Museum, Zoo, Mt. Eden) together on Saturday?! There is the option of going on a trip close to Auckland on Sunday e.g. Shakespear Park or Piha beach?! Maybe we can watch Cruel Intentions 3 on Robert’s laptop sometimes this weekend as well?!

A little bit more expensive, but definitely much fun is canyoning in Blue Canyon. If someone comes up with any other idea please let me know and we can talk about it! Thanks…

NEXT WEEKEND SUGGESTIONS

To get a real impression of the Southern hemisphere’s sky we thought about spending a night open air on the beach in Coromandel. Hopefully the weather will be nice, otherwise we have to move to a hostel… Since the star constellation is quite different I suggest to visit the planetarium Stardome in Auckland sometime before. There we could see the show e.g. called “The Sky Tonight” (Wed - Sat 8.00pm, $12 maybe less) which generally introduces you to the objects, planets and events that are currently in New Zealand's night sky. If you are interested let me know and I would make a reservation for Wed night.

That weekend the Pohutukewa Festival (25 Nov – 12 Dec) is still on in Coromandel, so maybe we can go there and have a look?!

That’s it for today!