Crossing the world to get to New Zealand

It's not that I have a lot to say about the actual flights, but I do have some pictures that I like and thought I could share them.

A I wrote in my post Destination New Zealand: some tips, on our way there, we flew through London, Dubai and Sydney before setting foot on Christchurch. I think the airlines were Qantas and Emirates, the latter being the one I'm 100% sure about it. Why? Because I really liked it. So I would recommend it.

By the way, I'm letting you all know that you can book, in advance, your meal for your flight, and choose what kind of meal you want: vegetarian, vegan, lactose free, gluten free, and stuff like that. I didn't know that in advance so my trip to New Zealand was pretty shitty (literally) in that sense. On the other hand, my trip back home was awesome. If you book your meal in advance, you also get it earlier than the rest.

Something yummy that I could not try

My highlights about the flights? That warm (not sure if comfortable) feeling in your butt when you go to the toilet at Dubai Airport, to see an actual desert... and the landscapes of New Zealand seen from the skies.

The desert around Dubai from the plane

And New Zealand... ❤

Christchurch: the city under construction

It is time I start to review and organise all my pictures and videos from my trip to New Zealand (in the summer of 2015). And since I have to do that, it may well be a good time to review and write about the trip in here. It's been too long since I last wrote, and the other day I started to have problems to remember everything we did and when we did it, so that was the first alarming sign telling me "you need to write that shit down, gurl!". So yup, let's go.

Christchurch: the city under construction

In total, from all the time I spent in NZ last summer (1 month and a week, approx.), I slept 3 nights but only spent/enjoyed 2 evenings in the city, so I didn't get to know the city a lot, but I can say some things. Also, thanks to the course I took, I had the chance to visit some sites around Christchurch (also written as Chch), so yeah, it's something. Let's start with the basics (and a bit of copy-paste from the Christchurch's entry in Wikipedia):

Christchurch (Ōtautahi in Māori) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. The Christchurch urban area lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula. It is home to 381,800 residents, making it New Zealand's third most-populous urban area behind Auckland and Wellington.

Don't know if you know, but Chch was hit by three earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, the one on February 22, 2011, is considered the nation's 3rd deadliest natural disaster in history. The city collapsed due to that tremor, and this is the reason why Chch is now a city under construction, literally. You get a weird feeling when you walk around the city center. It's really sad because it reminds you of all the suffering and pain its people must have been through, and you can also perceive all the memories and history that have been lost. I was shocked when I first arrived because you could find parking places almost everywhere, I guess where there had been a building before. And now there only were huge solars destined for parking...

Christchurch cathedral (upper right image, images below)

In the meantime...

Been busy, quite busy. I have some posts in the oven, regarding New Zealand mostly, but it seems like I will never finish them and this blog feels like it's slowly dying...

So I've decided to post another of my "creations", another figure skating video. This time, a tribute to Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot, my favourite figure skating pair, dancing to David Pfeffer's version of Time After Time.

My own art-skating pieces... and craziness

Skating Scene by Hendrick Avercamp

Wow! So I've seen that my first and last post on skating has been read a few times! Not sure if these are good or bad news! Because of that, I may feel too much freedom and happiness. Let me say that I'm sorry in advance in case a crazy-skating-avalanche of posts happens. ^^

Artistic skating gives you everything

In case someone has missed out and still don't know... I'm obsessed with artistic skating, also known as figure skating, both on ice and on wheels (roller skating), partly because I used to roller skate, and compete. I've been willing to write about it for a long time, but I did not know where to start. It is kind of overwhelming. So, I am thinking I'll write about technicalities and the sport in itself further on... but, right now, I just want to explore the art within the sport.

“Chase Your Dreams” from Nikki Smith.
All Rights Reserved. Fine print arts available here.

Fast post: cycling in Barcelona

Typical bike line in Barcelona

So now that I've moved back to Barcelona, and I've been away for two years, every time I take the bike I'm like: wait. Do we have bike lanes here? Or at least, more than before? Where are they!? How can I get to where I'm going?

New Zealand: South Island itineraries

Wither Hills Farm Park, Blenheim

As I said in my North vs. South island post, I only had the chance to visit the South Island, but I think I made a really good job, so here I'm sharing you an overview of what I did, what were the itineraries and how much time I needed to do them.

In order to make everything easier, I'm going to briefly explain my trip to NZ, so you can understand what happened there. I went to NZ to take a course at Lincoln University and I used the opportunity to visit the country. So, I went there and travelled a bit before the course (13 days), I did the 2-week course that took place in the Canterbury area (in Lincoln), and then I travelled a bit more (9 days) after the course, before leaving for Barcelona (stopping in Brisbane, Australia). So my NZ adventure was divided into two parts, and here I'm going to explain them.

New Zealand islands: north vs. south!

Nowadays, more or less everyone has to work, lives on a tight schedule and doesn't have a lot of holidays. Therefore, if you have the chance to go to the other side of the world, in this case New Zealand (NZ), it's almost certain that you will have to choose to visit only one of the islands of the country. Sorry, I mean, if you want to travel a bit and spend time on each place you visit. Of course, you can always fly from one point to the other, take a picture and go home, but that's not what I mean. :) Anyway, if you are trying to choose, some will say that the South Island is the best, and others will be like "how can you miss the north one!?". Well, it's a pity but shit (or life) happens. How to choose? Of course, it depends on what are you looking for and what you are more interested in. And, here, I'm going to try and shed some light on "what you will find and can do in each place" so you can be happy and confident of your final decision.

Destination New Zealand: some tips

Jeremy Rebboh in Panoramio

I've had the chance to, finally, travel to New Zealand, after a long time wishing for it to happen. So when I realized I was going to fulfill one of my biggest dreams in life... I had to decide where to go, what to see, what to do, and how much time I could spend in there (sometimes you have to limit yourself). So, after a really good trip, I wanted to share my choices, experiences and thoughts, hoping they can be helpful for someone else. And here I start with a bit of a general introduction and some tips!

Swedish Lapland: around Kiruna and Abisko

So... almost half a year later, yes, I finally write about Swedish Lapland! It's been a busy 2015 so far. And I'm going to start from the very beginning.

For those who still don't know anything about Lapland, it is a cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sápmi people and it is located in Northern Europe, extending over Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia (you can find more info on Wikipedia, of course).