Welcome, the game is ”find the train”

OK, we know you are a little tired after your journey, we know you are a little stressed when you arrive for the first time in a new location, we know that we must guide you. But Brussels Airport has chosen to entertain you. There are just enough signs indicating where the railway station is so they can point out that they have done their job. But there are not enough signs so you can relax, follow he signs and arrive. If you follow the signs, we will even send you over an underground parking, barely lighted and with a smell as if there was a rock concert here yesterday. It’s a well kept secret that you can reach the railway station from within the airport without going over this parking. We love to make it a little more excited for you. No thanks, happy we could make this different.

Welcome, we don’t accept your money.

Most airports I have been to, and there are a lot, have an automated system to distribute tickets for public transportation. One can pay with cash or the major credit cards. Instructions on the terminals, as well as indications to where these terminals are, have been done with very clear pictograms, and in most airports, staff will be present to assist travelers. In New York for example, you will find on any given day about 5 to 10 staff in any of the airtrain-stations, ready to assist travelers in a very friendly and efficient way.

Well, we give you the choice in Brussels: You can get in line for a ticket, there are two windows, but only one is open. You will be serviced by a person that is barely speaking English and that treats any of his customers like they are to stupid to be walking the face of the earth, let alone his train station. Or, you chose the (yep: 1!) automated terminal. But if you had hoped to pay by cash or credit card here, you can get in the queue for the angry man, as in Brussels International Airport, this terminal only takes the local debit cards (bancontact/mister cash) supported by the local banks.

Welcome, figure out where you must go yourself!

There is no staff here to help you, because in the minds of the Belgian Railroad you are able to figure out the information on the yellow paper sheets that you might or might not find in the stations. If you pick the wrong ones, you will be looking at the timetable for the weekend if you are here on a weekday. If you happen to ever come in Amsterdam-Schiphol, you will find a display with all locations and what trains will bring you there. We Belgians believe that this is an underestimation of your brainpower, and we turned it in a little quiz. Enjoy: you have one chance in three to end up on the right platform. Once you have gambled well here, get ready for Brussels North station, where hitting the right platform is one out of twelve. The pro circuit, as you can see.

Welcome, don’t carry to much stuff

When I travel, I do carry some luggage (that is, if the airlines are not losing it). In Brussels airport, the national railroads have decided not to install elevators (lifts) to the train platforms and to block access for trolleys on the stairs. So, welcome dear traveler with luggage. See how you get to the train. don’t count on us for helping you. We’ll be monitoring you trough the camera-circuit and deliver the best of your struggle with luggage on our youtube channel one day. But we are not trained, nor have the genuine helpfulness in us to resolve this…

Welcome, show your tickets please, you thief!

So you have loaded all the luggage on the escalator and by risking life and limbs, you have made it to the bottom of the stairs and are ready to enter the platform. You would have hoped so, but the NMBS/SNCB (national railroad company) thinks the queue and the stairs are not enough humiliating and annoying you. You will now be checked to have paid the extra fee to use these great accommodations. OK, you lost me, so let me explain. When the Belgian government, the airport management and the railroad company set together and figured out that there could be some people taking trains in the airport, they decided to charge a special fee (diabolo, nomen est omen) for all passengers boarding or leaving a train in this railway station. And in stead of providing staff to help customers buy tickets, they have send 4 of their most incompetent, unfriendly and unilingual staff (they can’t even say please in our local languages, let alone in yours…) to see that you are not cheating this extra fee for the great service you are receiving.

Welcome, learn Dutch, now!

Some train staff will, once on the train, explain their welcome, the procedures and the next stops in four languages. They do exist but are extremely are rare. But they are in breach of the Belgian Legal system that doesn’t permit them to use English in official communications. And they are not even supposed to speak English. But rest assured that the Belgian railroads are committed to deliver you first class (!) service when visiting our country… As the airport is part of the Flemish community, one is not supposed to speak another language.

Welcome, our architect hates you… and us…

The railway station has been built taking into account the mission that not one person should feel comfortable here. And they succeeded. But for those that would have a sense of comfort after all, staff has been doing some reconstruction works since this station opened. So if you can stand the looks, they give you the noise of drills… We are all equal here: let the wait for the train be unpleasant for all. Those of you that have had lounges or even just enough sitting space while waiting for a train, note that we do things different…

Note as well the absence of any staff once you are on the platforms. You are on your own now!

Welcome, we have classes on our trains!

OK, even if the crappy compartment you are entering in is the most dirty one you have ever seen, beware: if it has the number 1 in it, or a yellow line on the outside: you are in a first class compartment. No, they have no internet here, of power plugs, or clean seats, or friendly people. But it is different, so you pay more…

One of the staff I met on a train and with whom I discussed this issue, said to a set of tourists that she found on the 1st class with a 2nd class ticket: “You can stay if you pay” …

Welcome, don’t carry to much stuff (2)

The airport express baggage space...

Hey, after you have made it to the train, figured out that you are in the right class, you will find that this train, called airport express, has no room for luggage. The Belgian Railroad company must have been thinking that people coming to or leaving from an airport come there to visit the airport building itself, not to travel. So why provide trains that can accommodate all of your stuff? If you are lucky, you will even encounter one of their staff telling you that your luggage can not stand in the location where you put it, becoming deaf and ignorant when you ask where to put it…

Welcome, learn Dutch or French in 15 minutes!

So when you leave the airport, all of a sudden there is no information available in English anymore. Not on the signs, not in the announcements on the train. The man or women controlling your tickets is not supposed to speak English, but I must say that they have learned to explain that this is first class and that you should be in first in English. But explaining you what trains to change to get to your destination is part of the future learning program, if any.

Welcome, note that “express” is not fast

So this great train you are taking is called an Airport Express. That’s why they make it wait as long as possible in most stations it passes. If you happen to go to the airport and passes Leuven with this train, the “express” will stand still for about 10 minutes here. If the shop owners in Leuven would be able to serve coffee in under 10 minutes, you could have get some. Too bad.

Welcome, and enjoy your stay!

But, let this not  stop you from experiencing the great nation with no service: Belgium . The motto is: trek uw plan, tirez votre plan, help yourself.

If you would have hoped that NMBS/SNCB is reading these kinds of blogs and trying to improve, I must sadly inform you that this blog is not in a language their staff is supposed to understand…

Today announced itself as another great day. The view from our Fiordland Lodge onto the Te Anau lake was stunning again.

The view on Te Anau - morning

We would have loved to stay a couple more days on this great place. Both Vicky and I love pancakes for breakfast, and the ones served here were just great.  We met a couple of Dutch people who gave us some good hints and advice for our journey of today, on where to stop – and where not.

Our route would take us today under the 46th parallel, way more south than Vicky and I ever had been before, and probably will be in the next couple of months… The Catlins are a reserve in the south of New Zealand, where we had a great time.

Variable Oystercatcher - Catlins

The problem with driving in New Zealand is that one never stops being amazed at the landscape we drive in. Everywhere you look is beauty – especially in this reserve.

Lighthouse in the Catlins

We made it – later than expected – to Dunedin. Eva, our host, welcomed us in the Fletcher Lodge, not too far from the center, where we fell asleep in seconds. Probably we counted enough sheep during the day…

Route:

View Directions to Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand in a larger map

After the great hikes of the day before yesterday, we had yesterday a day of travel. We left after breakfast in Franz Josef Glacier, and needed about a whole day to get to our new destination: Queenstown. It took us so long, because we had such a spectacular places to stop in (I’ll update the pictures soon). Fox Glacier, Haast Pass, Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea and Lake Dunstan where all as beautiful as they could be. We took plenty of time to enjoy the sights on this very sunny day.

So by the end of the afternoon, we made it to Queenstown. This place seems to live by tourists only. The only shops in town are selling food, trips for tourists, gear for hiking and camping or souvenirs.

Our home for yesterday and today is Browns Boutique Hotel. A nice place at three blocks from the beach. We discussed food with our host. When we mentioned him that we had not seen many places where meat was cooked as demanded, he directed us to this French Restaurant with the Italian sounding name Solera. We had a great meal there and went back to the hotel (uphill, after a good bottle of wine…).

This morning, the breakfast conversation was monopolized by a group of Californian people. Normally, I enjoy a funny and enthusiast start of the day, but this was so loud that Vicky and I could not even have a conversation.But the breakfast itself was another nice cooking. (Must have gained a few kilos by now, with all these pancakes and eggs cooked to perfection here)

I had hoped to join one of the tours that visit all these Lord Of The Ring places in and around Queenstown, but there were more fans in town than expected and all were completely booked . Vicky was smarter: she booked her spa before we arrived here. So I went for a lazy morning in town and met Vicky short after noon. I went for a tour on one of these great jetboat-rides, while Vicky was seaking a good place on the beach.

After all these big dinners, we needed something a little calmer and went for the international standard for a quick and cheap meal: Chinese food. And for desert one of the fabulous ice cones at Patagonia. One scoop was more than enough, even if we would have loved to taste all their flavours!

Queenstown, New Zealand, the 24th of January, 2011

So, after breakfast we went to the station where the whale watches are leaving. Arriving there, we couldn’t help noticing the signs warning for a rough sea and an increased risk of seasickness. You readers of our blog know that Vicky is one of these people that tend to be a little sensitive for that kind of weather. We decided last minute that Vicky would stay behind and that Koen would go alone.

And what an experience it was. We encoutered a spermwhale (that’s a Potvis in Dutch), some dolphins whose names have escaped me (please comment if you know what species they are), we have seen the seal colony from the seaside and encountered a couple of Hector Dolphins. (fast little dolphins, hence no picture).

Whale Tail near Kaikoura

Dolphin diving

A stormy day like today, is ideal to drive the 450 or so kilometers… not! The road was all but funny, we encountered floods, mudstreams, fallen rocks, etc… When the elements in New Zealand have a special day, humans feel rather small. We were happy when we arrived in Tasman: it stopped raining and we were greated by another great host. Our new home for the next days will be the Wairepo house. So lovely and calm, but the storm had taken out the internet – so more delay in uploading our pictures and updating the blog (It’s nice when nature sends one these little excuses )

A meal in the Apple Shed, a newly opened place in Mapua Wharf, was so lovely that we immdiately decided to come back here tomorrow. Other plans for tomorrow: we have a booking to go by seakayak to the shores of Abel Tasman National park, but even at the end of today the company that overseas the kayaks cannot give green light for the tour. We’ll have to call them in the morning to find out how the weather will have changed (or not).

Tasman, New Zealand, the 18th of January, 2011

(January 9,2011)

Today was a day of travel. We had to drive 600 kilometers to get from Russel to Waitomo. To make life a little more fun, we decided to drive via the east coast (the Pacific Ocean) and not via the west coast (Tasman Sea) to Auckland, being at 2/3rd of our trip today.

This route brought us to Opononi. Small town with beautiful dunes and a very sad history. (Een diepdroevig dierenverhaal): the dolphin Opo, whose mother died, was not shy at all to humans. It came to the village of Opononi, where it would swim with kids and perform tricks. Dynamite fishers killed the dolphin in 1956 (by accident?) and the dolphin was buried in full Maori style. The killing had national press coverage in New Zealand.

Some hours later, we arrived in Waipoua forest. In this forest, some great species of the Kauri tree can still be found. The tree on this picture, Tane Mahuta, is the largest known Kauri. He is 212 meters high. (we have been told…)

This day was a day that took us 600 kilometer south on the Northern Island of New Zealand. Expectations were high, but the surprise was a big one. The hotel our agency booked for Waitoma, was the Waitoma Caves Hotel. A first look at the outside made it clear that this hotel was not in the running for any first price or award, but the worst had to come…

While checking in, the lady at the counter told us to wait and fill in this paper, while she was waiting people in the restaurant. It turned out later that she was the only person working in the hotel that night. Ordering some water was impossible, the curtains were too short for the windows (and the sun rises here at 5 in the morning), there was corrosion in the bathroom, etc…. Fortunately the lady confirmed that this was the ordered room and that this was the best in the house. I’ve never ever given 1 star in a Tripadvisor tip, but there seem to be a first for everything.

mmmmm - fresh paint here

We slept a rather short night and enjoyed breakfast in this room where the paint was falling of the ceiling. We didn’t finish the coffee and drove of, looking for a café with some real food.

Pictures of the hotel can be found on koen’s website, our other pictures can be found on Flickr.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Being on holidays, we could not resist the pancakes in the hotel for breakfast, so we had breakfast and lunch the same time (had some portions of pancake in the States before, but this was unseen…).

Our first stop was at the Whangarei waterfalls:

Just before we arrived at Russel, we took a small detour to see the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. This is the location where in 1840, a treaty was signed between the Maori and the British on how they could live together on this nice island. It worked for about 4 years, when some skirmish broke out over the interpretation of the agreement on how to obtain land by the British:

Great fun: between Waitangi and Russel (our final destination), transport goes by ferry.The small boat can keep just over 10 cars.

Later than expected, we arrived in the lovely B&B where we will stay a couple of nights to discover this part of the Bay of Islands. The Flagstaff Lodge, called after a famous flagpole near the hotel. The pole, being a symbol of British presence and ruling, was cut down several times by the Maori.

Ruth and Jessie, who run the lodge, made us feel at home right away. Us arriving just in time for the daily cocktail and hors d’oeuvres helped a lot of course to get to know the and the other guests. We met some great people, with great stories, from Canada, Australia and Norway. Our hosts did all they could during our stay to make life as comfortable as possible. When looking for a place to stay on the Bay of Islands, you should look no further! The massage in their spa made it all complete We will miss the cooked breakfasts of Ruth…

Two great places to dine in Russel are The Gables and the Kamakura. Both are located at the beach of Russel and have beside the great view over the sea a great choice of (sea-)food. The oysters grow in Russel, so they are fresher than fresh here…

After a great walk to the flagstaff and visiting town, we considered it time to pay a visit to the local beach. We enjoyed it so much that I went back disguised as lobster.(memo to self: put sunblock on more often).

And, after our stay in Russel, we were all ready to go south and have some more adventures – for the next posts on the blog!

Being 60 hours en route from Brussels to Auckland is because of our long break in Hong Kong. More about that in a later blog…

We picked up our rental car in the airport, finding out soon that some habits of left-hand-car-drivers are hard to control when getting in a right-hand-driven car. Thanks it’s an automatic, because gear changing with my left hand is something I’ve never done before. Roundabouts are a particular new thing to learn, when changing sides of the road. Getting to the center of Auckland without hitting anything at all can be seen as the first major achievement of this trip. But the Toyota RAV4 we have here, has no scratch so far. We’ll keep it that way.

With our fatigue (caused by the changed timezone: +12h) we decided to leave the car in the garage of our hotel and to explore the city on foot. We spend a good part of the day in the Sky Tower in the center of Auckland. Pictures under in this blog.

We stayed in a nice hotel at the waterfront of Auckland. The waterfront has a lot of cafés and cosy restaurants. So we ended this first day, exhausted but happy to be on vacation, with a superb meal at one of the nice restos here.

More to follow!

PS: I will blog when/if I feel like it. I have a small notebook with me, but bringing it all in a blog after all these adventures, takes more time than I am willing to spend. So expect more delays. We are having a great time here…

PS2: Pictures can be found on Flickr

All our gentle house-sitters have received final instructions (and we have locked our wine cellar!). We have asked the people at LHR to ensure this time a smooth transfer. We haven’t forgotten the issues of the previous days or the great fun we had when opening terminal 5

Despite the fact that I travel a lot, I feel more excited for this trip than for any of the over 70  takeoffs in 2010.  For both Vicky and me, this will be by far the longest time away from the job we ever experienced.

Anyway, before we leave for the other end of the world, we wish you all a great 2011!!!!

Koen & Vicky

New Zealand Countryside

(Image by Trey Ratcliff – Flickr)

We leave Belgium at the end of this year and will be back in early February. We have found enough friends and family that loved to stay a couple of days in our house, so our animals will survive our absence.

Our jobs have been informed, and a plan has been brought in place so we, being indispensable persons, can be missed for more than a month. I just will have to make sure not to start any new ventures now, that would jeopardize our plans. Thinking about it, I have never been so long away from the job, ever.

The tour

We will leave Belgium and fly via London to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, we take a short break.  A short city trip in this wonderful area:

After our stop here, we will fly from Hong Kong to Auckland.

First we will take some time on the North Island and visit Auckland, the Bay of islands, Waitomo, Rotorua, Mount Tarawera, Tongariro National Park, Mt. Egmont NP and Wellington, where we take the ferry and head for the South Island.

Auckland	Bay of Islands	Waitomo	Rotorua	Tongariro National Park

There, we hope to see Picton , Blenheim, Abel Tasman National Park, Hokitika, Fox Glacier, Franz Josef Glacier, Queenstown, Te Anau, Fiordland National Park, Doubtful Sound , Dunedin , Lake Tekapo, Moeraki Boulders and Christchurch. The latter will depend on the situation, that has changed since we confirmed our bookings, now that it has recently been struck by the earthquake.

Tasman NP	Franz Josef Glacier	Doubtful Sound	Moeraki Boulder	Christchurch

Co-blogger, feeds, …

As my wife Vicky will be blogging as well, you can follow us here (http://4ic.be/newzealandblog), or subscribe to the RSS-feed (blog.blanquart.be/category/vrije-tijd/travel/newzealand/feed/ ) for the posts related to our New Zealand trip.

3 – 2 – 1

At the time of writing, we are 3 months, 2 weeks and 1 day away from the start of this adventure…

koen

Nevertheless, Jack was an extremely efficient and friendly salesman. I bought some paintings later (elsewhere) for 1/4th of his best price.

Just as a warning: you will also meet young Chinese people that will approach you under several excuses: “do you like to see the real China?” and “Can we hang out with you to practice our English?”. This will end in a traditional tea party in a tea house, where you will be presented after with a huge bill for the tea. So – when you go with these people, never accept anything before you have seen a menu/list with prices.

Had a great time in Shanghai, because once you are aware of the above schemes, you can really play the game