Sydney and Whangamata

Last weekend I went to Sydney on a visit to my friend Ross. Jordan and Elina also joined us and we had a great time exploring Sydney together.

Beautiful weather on our first day in Sydney

Ugly birds everywhere

Jordan and Elina stayed in a hostel in King's Cross

Sofia, a friend of Elina's, lives near Bondi beach

Because Sofia is an au pair
We could party in her family's rooftop garden

Sydney can be so over the top
We had pancake breakfast at a place dedicated
to revolutionising how we think about chocolate

The Sydney Opera House lives up to the hype

Bondi does too

Waves at Bondi

Ross, Lisa and I are ready for a jet boat ride

Very ready

What better way to see the harbour?

Thank you Ross and Lisa

Whangamata
This weekend I went with my new Bay2Bay friends to Whangamata.
 

I met them on a Sunday swim two weeks ago
It was too warm to wear my wetsuit that day

I'm so glad they convinced me to come to Whangamata

Everyone is excited for the swim

It's a swim safari

Leisurely pace, beautiful islands, clear water

We call the second island "donut island"
We swam through the cave to get in here

See the hole in the middle? That's where the lagoon is

"If I was fish, this would totally be my spot" - heard on the beach

Short stop on Hauturu Island before the final swim

Lovely barbeque after the swim
Families, steaks and beers in the bach
So Kiwi

Skinny dip after sundown
Yes, it was very dark

In fact it wasn't. The starlight was amazing. And even more amazingly, there was light in the water from fluorescent algae. Combine that with dark, rolling waves and incredible, naked people. That's a memory for life.

Onemata beach Sunday morning
Thanks for taking me Michele

Birthday!

I just had my second birthday in Auckland. 26 now. The NeedScopers were really sweet to remember and congratulate me and there were greetings from Denmark as well.

Mom sent me a rye bread
(from a local NZ baker)

Such a treat

Homemade flødebolle
I set myself a challenge this week. I'd make "flødeboller" and bring them to work. They are like cream puffs, but Danish. Very popular. They are for celebrating small successes in life, birthdays, indulgent moments... Well anytime really.

Phil named them "sorting hats"

I had a test run Monday. And another test run Tuesday. It's not that easy to make sugar and egg white stiff enough to carry the weight of melted chocolate coating. I think these turned out rather well. Especially the marzipan base was appreciated. Marzipan is apparently exotic in New Zealand (who would have known).

Celebrating my own way
I'll remember this birthday for the many little celebrations. On the actual day I had a Skype call with my family before going to a restaurant alone. In a small way my unplanned restaurant visit made the day more special. I had roast pig belly with Korean soju.

Did the math and decided not to finish the bottle
375 ml * 18% = too drunk for a Thursday

Auckland by night
Friday was the opposite of my quiet Thursday. Eri invited me to town with a group of friends. Man, they party hard. But hey, I'm Danish, I can take it ;) Anyway, we trashed a hotel room, had not one but two guys pass out and didn't stop dancing until the club closed. So much. So crazy. Fun. Cheers Chaeyeoung.

5:30 am Saturday and Sunday
Crazy weekend

I slept most of Saturday and got up early Sunday morning. Registration closed at 6am and by that time I was standing in my togs, jandals and a t-shirt. Cold. Determined.
The ferry took us to Rangitoto. 500 swimmers. Ready to swim across the Hauraki gulf on a beautifully calm Sunday morning. Almost no tide or waves made it a very enjoyable swim. Water wasn't even cold. My form was ok, but not great. 1 hour 15 minutes for the 4.6 k swim.

4.6 k later
Sun's come out
I'm beat

An active week

This Monday I was invited for the first time to crew on Playbuoy for the Stuart Championship series. It is serious fun. Everyone in championship positions. Me on the rail (i.e. responsible for helping out the first and second bowmen in maneuvers or when something goes wrong). A small task, but that is a luxury of having a crew of 8 on a 34 foot boat. You can have every task completed to perfection. And we did. So we won, and I felt like the king of the world.

Batman
Tuesday I lost a race. Or more accurately I was 83 of 90. Not a bad time though, 35 minutes to swim 1500 meters in my batman costume.

Do you remember this costume?
I made it for the weekend away

Bye Alana
My colleague Alana had her final day of work at NeedScope this Thursday. Celebrated in proper NeedScope style. Right now she is on her way to America to follow her husband's olympic running campaign. Best of luck Alana and Malcolm.

Out of Auckland
For Easter everyone goes out of Auckland. Me too. I went to Raglan with a group of friends. We had a great day.

From left: Jordan (Maori), Eri (Kiwi), Chae (Korean)
Nil (Indian), Michelle (Singaporean), Akiko (Japanese)
me (Danish)

Bridal Veil Falls

The drop is 55 meters

Relaxing at hot springs after a long day

Summer

Life is now again moving at its familiar, leisurely pace. Not too slow to be of interest and not too fast for me to write you an update.

January started slow. I was working more than usual, although I had no major active projects. At home I churned through books, tv series and solitary games. I like to think that I was not wasting time, but preparing for the busy times ahead.

Then Jordan moved in. He's a cool, Maori guy, who showed me how to jump off the wharf and make a massive splash! Jordan has perfected the art of "bombing". The wharf is 4 meters above the sea level, but onlookers are not safe from getting wet when he jumps. Ooooh!

Maori kids jumping off a bridge
Filmed when I was in Raglan this summer
Did you see the swimmer?

Family
The most important event of this summer was a visit from my family. Sorry for not trying to explain how much it meant to me.

Love you
Rasmus, mom and dad

Hawke's Bay
Tonight, I have just arrived back home from a mini-vacation to Hawke's Bay. Sin Jat, his mother and I went on a road trip to the sunny, wine district around the charming art-deco style city of Napier.

I have tasted so many wines these past few days, I can already feel them slipping out of my memory. In a vain attempt to keep all of the impressions, I will share some thoughts with you:
- Hawke's Bay produces a dry style of Sauvignon Blanc, which is not as good as the fruity Marlborough style
- The Chardonnay from Hawke's Bay is excellent, but the very oaky ones are not for me
- Gewurzstraminer can make quite strong wine, which is great with Asian spicy meals
- Hawke's Bay Pinot Noir is generally very good, but the intensity of the deep, plum-like taste varies
- Syrah from the Gimblet's Gravels area in Hawke's Bay is spicy, in a peppery way, and much more interesting than your typical, sweet and strong Australian Shiraz
- A few of the Hawke's Bay vineyards make good Merlot wines. Often Merlot is used in a blend with Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc to create a classic but boring red
- Hawke's Bay Rose's are made from many types of grapes, but always become enjoyable light wines
- Late harvest describes dessert wine, typically riesling, which tastes like liquid honey, because the grape was left out to dry on the vine
- Bigger wine glasses are better

One year in New Zealand

Today it has been exactly a year since I arrived in Auckland. When I look back, I see an exciting year full of change. I have become a professional, resident, car owning Pakeha. With many new memories. But I am still the same me. The one who arrived in Auckland January last year.

In the first weeks I walked a lot. Discovering which parts of Auckland I liked.

Victoria park
Now I walk through every day

In the weeks after that I travelled.

Coromandel

Wellington

Then I got a job.

The hip co-working space at the Biz Dojo
wasn't right for me

My boss at the time (the way she looks in my mind)

All the while, I was slowly learning what it means to be Kiwi.

Eating fush and chups - only a Brit would say fish and chips...

Watching rugby at the pub

Then I got the right job.

I love it. Every day.

I bought a car.

My first car

Drives like a dream

And went everywhere.

Cape Reinga

Bay of Islands

Goat Island

Muriwai Beach

Moutohora Island

Gisborne
Crazy people
Thanks for hosting me

It's been an amazing year. I love living in New Zealand.

Even when I sometimes feel like a lonely Kiwi