The magic of Kaikoura

E_ Welcome back to New Zealand! This small town might be the most special please that I visited in that country.  The following sunrise can explain its uniqueness.

C_ Benvinguts i bengingudes de nou a Nova Zelanda! Kaikoura és, probablement, el lloc més especial que vaig visitar a Kiwilàndia. L’albada de la següent foto ho expressa…

E_ The town is located in the Kaikoura Peninsula, which extends into the sea south of the town, and the resulting upwelling currents bring an abundance of marine life from the depths of the nearby Hikurangi Trench (a linear deep in the Pacific Ocean). For this reason, it is a unique place for enjoying the marine wildlife.

C_ El poble està situat a la península de Kaikoura, la qual s’estén cap el mar al sud del poble, i el resultat de les corrents marines porten a la zona una abundant vida marina de les parts més profundes del Hikurangi Trench ( un “congost marí” situat a l’oceà Pacífic). Per aquest motiu, és un lloc únic per disfrutar de la vida marina salvatge.

E_The name Kaikoura (Maori language) means ‘meal of crayfish’ (kai – food/meal, kōura – crayfish) and the crayfish industry still plays a role in the economy of the region.  However, I didn’t try it! 😦

C_ El nom de Kaikoura ( prové del maorí) significa “menjar de llagosta” (kai – menjar/àpat, kōura – llagosta) i la indústria de la llagosta encara puja un role en l’economia de la zona. Tot i això, no la vaig provar! 😦

E_What I did was swimming with dolphins and seeing baby seals. Both experiences were completely different that I had imagined. I felt that I was small, insignificant in front of the majesty of their beauty and strength. It was breathtaking. That’s why I hate the zoo. Kaikoura is not in the main routes if you visit NZ, but it is idyllic.

C_ El que sí que vaig fer va ser nedar amb dofins i veure cries de foques. Les dues experiences van ser molt diferents al que havia imaginat. Em vaig sentir molt petita i insignificant davant la majestuositat de la bellesa d’aquells animals i de la seva força. Va ser espectacular. És per això que odio el zoo. Kaikoura no ve de pas si visites NZ, però és un lloc idílic.

Abel Tasman National Park

C_ Degut potser a que porto molts dies de molta feina, em ve molt de gust recordar l’experiència de fer kayak per aquestes terres. El so de l’aigua, el silenci, el sol, els ocells… com trobo a faltar Nova Zelanda…

E_ Due to I’ve been busy recently, I want to remember doing kayaking in this place. The sound of the water, the sun, the silence… I do miss New Zealand…

Wellington, the capital

C_ Aquest passat dijous va ser un día especial per Catalunya: 11S- Volem votar. En acord a la data i amb esperances que la voluntat popular es pugui complir, us presento la capital de Nova Zelanda, Wellington, el primer lloc del món on les dones van poder votar, l’any 1893. Si va ser possible fa més de 100 anys a l’altra punta del món i va ser l’inici del sufragi universal al món, el nostre referendum ha de ser possible.

E_Last Thursday was a special day for Catalonia: September 11th, the day that many Catalan people peacefully protested their right to vote for the independence of Catalonia. According to this day and the citizens’ attitude for demanding their rights, I would like to present Wellington to you. It was the first place in the world where women were allowed to vote, in 1893.

C_Dit això, aquí tenim la capital de Nova Zelanda. No és, ni molt menys, la ciutat més important del país en població i activitat econòmica ( antigament la capital era Auckland),  però es va decidir que era una ciutat entre les dues illes ( està situada al sud de l’illa del nord) i la seva ubicació era molt millor per representar a tots les ciutadans que no pas Auckland ( que està al nord de l’illa del nord). Tot i ser una ciutat amb MOLT vent ( molt més tocats que els de la tramuntana), l’ambient de la petita ciutat és molt acollidor. Es respira un ambient obert, molt més autèntic que Auckland però alhora divers. Em va agradar.

E_Having said this, let me explain to you about the capital of New Zealand. It is not by far the most important city in terms of population and economy (Auckland was the capital in the past), but its location is much better than Auckland because it is situated in the south of the North Island and, therefore, closer to the population of the South Island. Even being the city of the wind, the atmosphere of this little place is very charming. If you walk through its streets, you can feel an authentic “kiwi” atmosphere. I liked it so much.

C_Moltes de les escenes del “Senyor dels anells” es van gravar per la zona de Wellington, i el que és molt divertit dels aeroports de NZ és que et trobes escultures de la pel·lícula: aquesta és la de Wellington, la qual impacta, la veritat.

E_Wellington and its surroundings are the places where most of the scenes of The Lord of the rings were filmed. Perhaps for this reason we can see scultures of the movie in the airport, even though you can see them in Auckland and Christchurch airports too… Anyway, this country has to be very thankful to this movie because it has given them a lot of money and popularity.

C_Nova Zelanda és un país format sobre dues plaques tectòniques. Gran part de la seva riquesa natural i de la formació dels Alps Neozelandesos és gràcies a això, però això provoca riscs com els terratrèmols. I Wellington, per la seva localització, és una gran candidata a patir-los. Vaig visitar el Parlament  ( la foto de sobre) i em vaig quedar impressionada per la doble estructura sobre la qual està construït l’edifici per poder suportar forts terratrèmols. La tècnica emprada és originaria de Japó,  i consta d’un doble terra perquè en el cas que tremoli la terra, aixó no afecti a l’estructura base de l’edifici. Em vaig quedar molt impressionada.

Veureu també a la foto, com la mare Anglaterra està a tot arreu, la seva bandera que no hi falti….

E_This country is set up on two tectonic plates and its natural richness might be due to this situation. However, the earthquake risk is so high and they have had some disasters because of that. Although Wellington has a high risk of earthquakes, its parliament is well-prepared to support them.

On the other hand, we can see in the picture the English flag in front of the parliament… you can feel the power of the Empire everywhere!

C_No vaig estar-hi més d’un dia i mig ( tot i que ara penso que m’hagués agradat passar-hi uns quants dies més) però vaig tenir temps per entrar a un fantàstic museu anomenat Te Papa. 100% recomanable. El museu són 6 pisos d’història del país a nivell natural, geològic, històric i cultural. ESPECTACULAR. I gratuït, això és el més increïble…. Quantes coses hem d’aprendre encara…

En aquest museu pots entendre l’evolució del país a nivell natural, com la mà de l’home ha intervingut en la fauna i la flora durant els últims anys, què significa ser un país sobre volcans i plaques tectòniques, com la colonització europea ha influenciat en les cultures del país i el seu territori, com es va desenvolupar el conficte entre les comunitats autòctones (els maoris) i la colonia britànica, com ha esdevingut la immigració dels últims 30 anys de les illes del pacífic i els països asiàtics…. vaja, que vaig disfrutar com una nena petita…

E_I was only there for a day ( even though I think I would have wanted to stay a few more days) but I had enough time to visit the fantastic Te Papa Museum. It is highly recommended! This museum consists of six floors which are full of natural, geological, historical and cultural information about this country. It was unbelievable! Moreover, it was completely free! How many things do we still have to learn in terms of service…

And after visiting this windy city, my adventure went on through the Cook pass by ferry to the South Island… The place which I would rename Paradise!

C_I després de visitar la ciutat del vent, ferri per creuar l’estret de Cook i cap a l’illa del Sud… el paradís!

 

1st learned recipe from Auckland: sushi!

E_The diversity of dishes that I could eat in Auckland was unbelievable. For that reason, I decided to collect some international recipes from my classmates. I would like to show you which one I cooked first: Sushi! Thanks Ayaka! I really miss to buy delicious cheap sushi because in Barcelona is not as easy as in Auckland!

 

C_ Nova Zelanda no serà mai famós per la seva propia gastronomia. És per això, poster, que és molt fàcil trobar molts plats d’altres llocs del món. Durant 6 mess vaig poder probar un munt de menjar deliciós. És per aquest motiu que vaig decidir recopilar receptes dels meus companys de classe per poder-les fer a Barcelona. I aquí teniu el primer resultat! Sushi!

Milford Sound

E_ This place was one of our “MUST”. A “MUST” means a place where you must go if you visit NZ. I don’t want to write a lot in this post because I feel my words bother the pictures. It is one of the most impressive and stunning places that I have ever been. I highly recommend it.

C_ Aquest lloc era un dels nostres “MUST”. Un “MUST” significava un lloc on havies d’anar sí o sí en el cas que visitessis NZ. No vull escriure gaire en aquest post perquè em dóna la sensació que les paraules molesten les images. Aquest és un dels llocs més sorprenents i espectaculars que he visitat mai. Si aneu a NZ hi heu d’anar. (encara que plogui)

 

 

From Queenstown to Fox Glacier

ENGLISH

In my opinion, one of the best options for traveling through New Zealand is to rent a car or a van. Driving and enjoying the scenery across different towns is even better than visiting some famous places and definitely much better than just staying in cities. If you choose this kind of transport, you can stop whenever and wherever you want.

We started our third day on South Island in Queenstown. That day we were going to drive to Fox Glacier and we had no idea of the many breathtaking views that were waiting for us. The following pictures are some examples.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t as good as we’d have liked, but we didn’t care because the fog and rain made it magical and left us with an unforgettable feeling. During our road trip we discovered Hawea Lake, which is one of the most unbelievable lakes that I’ve seen in New Zealand. Indeed, I don’t know why this lake was different from the others, but the mixture of beauty and peace that I could feel there might have been the secret. Time and life stop there giving nature its real power which we frequently forget.

After our visit to Wanaka, we reached Fox Glacier in the evening. It was still raining, so we had to stay in our new backpaker, which was without electricity due to the storm. We tried to cook something (the restaurant next door to the backpaker allowed us to prepare something there) and hoped the following day would be better to visit the glacier.

Rotorua, the smelly land!

CATALÀ AND ENGLISH

C_Rotorua, a tres hores en cotxe d’Auckland, és la zona geotermal més activa del país i una de les més espectaculars del món. Aquesta ciutat està rodejada de fonts termals, guèisers, piscines de fang i núvols de gas sulfúric responsables de l’olor d’ou podrit que pots percebre en aquesta zona.

E_Rotorua is just three hours far from Auckland by car. This is one of the world’s most spectacular Geothermal Wonderlands and is one place where the turbulent forces that formed New Zealand are most evident. This city, on the Volcanic Plateau, has one of the world’s most lively fields of geothermal activity.

C_Nosaltres vam visitar la reserva geotermal Te Whakarewarewa ( té nassos el nom), que significa “la sublevació dels guerrers de Wahiao”. Hi ha més de 500 manantials i dos guèisers espectaculars, un dels quals escupeix aigua bullent fins a 30 metres d’alçada unes vint vegades al dia.

C_Els  Māori “Te Arawa” van ser els primers en establir-se en aquesta zona ara farà uns 600 anys. Els colons europeus es van establir a Rotorua al voltant del 1830. Avui dia, el 35% de la població és Maorí i és un bon lloc per conèixer una miqueta la seva cultura i com vivien fins fa 200 anys.

E_The  Māori people of “Te Arawa” were the original occupants of the Rotorua District, settling around the coast, the lakes, forests and geothermal areas. European settlers established in Rotorua in the 1830s. Nowadays, Maoris’ population in Rotorua is around 35% and this city is a remarkable place to discover their culture and their ancient lifestyle.

C_Els antecedents dels Māori eren tribus procedents de la Polinesia, els quals provenien del sud-est asiàtic. Māori significa “ la gent originalment d’allà” ( the local people, the original people). Maori era una paraula que significava “local” o “originalment”, contrariament a gent nouvinguda, com van ser els colons europeus que van anomenar “Pakeha”. Amb l’arribada dels europeus, la paraula  Māori va anar convertint-se a principis del segle XIX, en un adjectiu per referir-se a la gent maorí “ Māori people”.

E_The  ancestors of the  Māori were Polynesian people originating from south-est Asia. The name “Māori” originally meant “the local people”, or “the original people”. Māori was a word which signified “local” or “original” – as opposed to the new arrivals – white European settlers – the “pakeha”. With the arrival of European settlers, the word Māori gradually became an adjective for the “Māori people”. This change took place before 1815.

http://www.history-nz.org/maori3.html

Living in New Zealand. Thank you!

ENGLISH

This post is a break from my writing about my trips in New Zealand. It is a post to say thank you to everybody who spent such an unbelievable time in NZ with me. It has been like a dream.

It was hard to decide to come here and to save enough money for that, but this experience has worked more than I had never expected. I am starting a new period in my life in Barcelona again, but now, I know that I am capable of living and being happy in other places in the world. This learning is an amazing experience and is due to living in Auckland for nearly 6 months.

Thank you to my classmates ( Ayaka, Puy, Phoebe, Oma, Rafael, Recep, Aida, Madoka, Javier, Carolina, Samer, Jose, Patty, Sukuman, Niti, Helenni, Paula, Vitor, Andrea, Noel…) who have become my friends and for sharing an amazing time together. Sweet as!

Thank you to my lovely teachers from ELA who helped me a lot, in particular Melody, Matthew and Katy! I got 7.0 in IELTS, and the business class was the best! (hahaha)

Thank you to my flatmates ( Nami, Marianne and Asha) with who I spent amazing moments singing, eating a lot of food and laughing!

Thank you to the Catalan community! We are so cool! And it is good to feel that you are close to home sometimes.

And especially thank you to Nicky and Kike. My life in NZ would have been worse without you, for sure! You are like my older brother and sister. Thanks for helping me a lot and always giving me a hand.

Please, forgive me if I have missed someone…

CATALÀ: I gràcies Ferri per la visita ( de germà només n’hi ha un!) i Jèssica pel “cacho” viatge que ens vam fotre!

And that is all. You are all very welcome in Barcelona. I wish all of you the best and maybe, we will meet again once, somewhere.

Lots of love from Mireia

Queenstown i llac Wakatipu

CATALÀ AND ENGLISH

Benvinguts i benvingudes a l’illa del sud de Nova Zelanda. Després de 3 mesos vivint pel nord era moment de descobrir com era la famosa illa del sud ( tothom em deia has d’anar al sud, has d’anar al sud!) La nostra porta d’entrada va ser Queenstown, el centre d’esports d’aventura de NZ i uns dels millors llocs a nivell mundial.

Welcome to the South Island of New Zealand! After three months living in Auckland, it was time to discover the famous South Island. Everybody told me “you must go to the South” so, here we, were! We started in Queenstown, one of the most famous sport-adventure towns in the world.

La història explica que quan van arribar les europeus per aquesta zona buscant or van veure aquesta població i els voltants i van dir que el poble era digne d’una reina, És per això que li van posar Queenstown (el poble de la reina). I una altra cosa potser no, però bonic, ho és.

It is known that when the European settlers arrived in this area looking for gold, they saw the town and said it was beautiful enough for a Queen. That’s why it is called Queenstown. I don’t know if a Queen would be happy in this town, but I assure that is beautiful enough.

Queenstown a dia d’avui és un poble orientat al turisme, on hi pots practicar un munt d’esports d’aventura, fer excursions i mil i una activtats. (prepara la butxaca, però). A l’hivern és el millor lloc per anar a practicar esquí i snowboard a NZ, ja que està entre la serralada anomenada Remarkables (extraordinari) on hi ha moltes pistes d’esquí. Tot i això, s’ha de reservar allotjament amb temps, perquè a dia d’avui, quan la temporada d’esquí ja ha començat, està tot a petar.

Nowadays, the ecomony thrives on tourism, which is focused on hundreds of sport-adventure activities. (but honestly, quite expensive). It is, as well, the best place for skiing and snowboarding.

La población està a la vora del llac Wakatipu, el més llarg de NZ. Una de les coses més boniques que he vist en aquest país ha estat el color de l’aigua d’aquest llac, el qual és un blau-turquesa-grisós que no havia vist mai. (perdoneu, és difícil de descriure). El motiu és que l’aigua del llac prové dels glaciars i és per això que el color és especial.

This town is located on the edge of lake Wakatipu, the longest lake in New Zealand. The special colour of this lake is one of the most beautiful things that I have seen in this country. I don’t know how to describe it, but this blue-turquoise-grey colour is different because the water comes from the glaciars.

I nosaltres, com no, si anàvem a Queenstown, no podíem marxar sense fer algun esport d’aventura a la capital mundial d’això. Així doncs, ens vam aventurar a fer barranquisme per la zona. Desafortunadament, no ens van deixar fer fotos durant l’activitat, però baixar per un dels rius d’aquest paradís ha sigut una de les millors activitats que he fet a la meva vida

We dedicated our second day in Queenstown to canyoning, an amazing activity which consists of going down through a river. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but it has been one of the most exciting activities that I’ve ever done! I strongly recommend it!

 

 

 

Hobbiton!

ENGLISH I CATALÀ

Some people say that Hobbiton is quite expensive, but honestly, I enjoyed it as if I were a child.  It was created on private land where over two hours we were able to have an experience as a Hobbit because I actually felt that I was in the movie.  I couldn’t stop taking pictures!    

Hi ha gent que diu que Hobbiton és car, però jo ho vaig disfrutar moltíssim. “La comarca” forma part de les terres d’un ramader. L’experiència dura un parell d’hores i realment val la pena si has vist la pel·lícula, perquè sembla que hi estiguis!   

Hobbiton is in the North Island of New Zealand, in Matamata.  The houses have probably been kept the same as when the movie was recorded. 

Hobbiton està a Matamata, a l’illa nord de Nova Zelanda. Tot el que es pot veure durant el tour i les cases dels Hobbits ho han conservat igual que a la pel·lícula. 

We could walk through the area and at the end of the tour they invited everybody for a beer. But it wasn’t a normal beer, it was a specificne which was created for the movie. It is special because it’s really soft ( just 1% of alcohol) to prevent the characters from getting drunk. 

Vam poder caminar a través de tota la zona i al final ens van invitar a una cervesa, la cervesa dels “Hobbits!”, la qual és molt suau ( només un 1% d’alcohol) feta especialment per la pel·lícula perquè els actors i actrius no s’emborratxessin! 

During the tour we learned some anecdotes of the making of the movie that impressed me.  Peter Jackson, the director of the movies, was pretty strict in some points regarding the scenery.  For instance, he didn’t like New Zealand’s sheep because in his opinion they were too modern, and therefore, he ordered English sheep from England to be brought in instead.  

Peter Jackson, el director, va ser bastant estricte en algunes coses. Va fer portar ovelles d’Anglaterra per la pel·lícula perquè les de Nova Zelanda li semblaven massa “modernes!”

Another anecdote was about one tree. There is just one fake tree in Hobbiton (It is the small one that you can see in the center of the following picture). After it was built, Peter Jackson didn’t aprove the colour of the leaves and he ordered the workers to paint them again to give them a more realistic colour. As a result, the workers themselves had to paint more than a thousand leaves! 

Una atra anècdota fa referència a l’únic abre fals de la pel·lícula (és el que està al centre de la següent foto). Un cop construït, el director no va aprovar el color de les fulles i les va fer pintar de nou una a una! I com podeu veure, n’hi ha milers!

He had another problem with some trees as well. In the book, plum trees appear in Hobbiton,  but Peter Jackson didn’t  like how they look, so he ordered the producers to plant apple trees instead and change the fruits and the leaves in order to make it seemhat those trees were plum trees. 

Un altre problema van ser els pruners que havien de sortir a la pel·lícula. A el director no li agradava la forma dels pruners. Per aquest motiu, va fer plantar pomers i perers en el seu lloc i va demanar que canviessin les fulles i les fruites perquè aquests semblessin pruners… Una bogeria vaja!

In conclusion, if you have seen The Lord of the Rings or Hobbiton and you are coming to the North Island of New Zealand, this is a remarkable place that you should go to!

Si heu vist la pel·lícula, definitivament és un lloc molt recomanable!