#te awamutu

[drag-tween]

‘Hateful’:  Police on alert as protest against Destiny Church planned for Auckland, New Zealand

Action comes after violent scenes at Rainbow Parade last weekend

[thefinn-ternet]

Day: Sept 22nd

#Finn365 

#TimFinn

A Frenz told me how he & his GF took a campervan trip in NZ & turned up in Te Awamutu to see Tim was playing.  It wasn't this gig but it's why I'm posting this.

Tim Finn - 2006 Live In Te Awamutu - 50 minutes

[neilfinnaesthetics]

No bc the way me and my friend spent at least half an hour pretending to kiss the Neil and Tim Finn pole in Te Awamutu still makes me laugh. Also the parks there are A++

[valdesphotography]

[newzealandness]

Week 3

January 19th  - January 25th

I just realized it will be February next week. Just a tiny indicator of how quickly the time passes. It will be all over before I know it, so enjoy it now I say :D

This week passed fairly routine like actually. I did have some trouble with getting out of bed, which is not exactly new, but my sleep has become increasingly unrestful. I dream of work and of airplanes and my visa and whatnot. Not particularly nightmares, but they keep me very busy and I wake up from them quite often. Aka not a good night’s rest and I am beginning to feel it. Luckily I have my second (SECOND!!!??!) day off tomorrow and I decided I am going to sleep as much as I can.

We had a busy week at Equibreed, mainly because of Jody’s semen collection, which took place during the mornings. I was equipped with transporting the semen to the Animal Breeding Centre near Hamilton Airport. About an hour’s ride in total and good to practice to be honest. Quite uneventful yes, and the dangers of lunching at KFC were always present (it’s so cheap here, what the hell, you get a complete lunch: 3 wings, fries and drink for 3,35 euro’s), but it was nice to have some time on myself.

Unfortunately one of the staff, Emma, hurt her back pretty badly and she is not to return until it is fully healed. Which means we are pretty short on staff right now. Which also means I have been officially employed to work there. And it is certainly not bad! I earn about 10 euro’s per hour and work an average of 9 hours a day. I am very grateful for this opportunity because I thought that it would initially cost me a lot of money to sustain myself here, but the opposite turned out, which is very beneficial for my bank account (at least for now, the temptations of LotR and Hobbit merchandise have not  yet crossed my path…)

All very nice, but I have to keep in mind I am not here for just a work experience or  a holiday. The idea of the internship is that you get accustomed to cooperating with a company, which boils down to work along with them, but I also have to be involved in scientific research. I talked about this with my supervisor and we set a deadline for a small paper I am to write about the mare’s ovulation cycle. That will at least keep me busy until we come to the data analysis and other stuff. Ohh, and I saw an embryo through the microscope the other day. I believe it was 14 days old, and of course did not at all resemble a horse yet, but it was very exciting nonetheless.

Other than that and being exhausted from work and just wanting to eat and sleep I have been riding a bit again with Briony and will probably go again tomorrow! And I am planning on visiting Hobbiton on Tuesday. I initially wanted to go on Monday but it turned out it’s a public holiday, in other words it will be swarming with people. Not a good day to go. Plus it’s not a case of “yolo let’s go to Matamata” It’s a big think okay? It means an awful lot to me. So yeah it will probably be a rollercoaster of emotions :P It’s also so very very close by, like a 50 minute drive? I am going for the day tour. When Marlena is here we will go again of course, and I will try to persuade her to take the evening tour. Which will consist of an evening dining at the Green Dragon Inn and when walk with lanterns through Hobbiton up the Hill to Bag End.

Yes my thoughts exactly *_*

I am not influenced by any film by choosing this country at all!

Ah yes and in case you are wondering. That big bug I found wandering around Equibreed, no idea what it is… but it was huge and awesome :D And that big  black spider, yeah, that one lives behind one of the paintings in my bedroom. So basically it is my roommate and I called it Bob. Although I am not 100% comfortable with it roaming around at night. But hey it keeps the mosquito’s at bay. I hope.

It’s very hot here btw, 30 degrees easily, and so very very dusty. It reminds me of Pinkpop 2014 a lot. But without the rain. And dustier. And with more Physical exercise. Man I do hope to lose some weight here. Built some muscle. Whatever.  (See here my problem with cheap fastfood)

I hope you are all well, thank you for reading and I see you again next week!

[newzealandness]

Week 1

January 3rd – January 11th

My first week in New Zealand is already coming to an end. It went very quickly to be honest, but that’s partly because I have been very busy indeed.

The first two nights I stayed at Equibreed, the facility I am doing my internship, because we didn’t get round to dropping me off at the house I was intending to stay. But on Monday I was off to meet Travis, Brony and Lisa with whom I am currently sharing accommodations.

The house I live in, at Te Awamutu, is a converted woolshed, which has all the comforts of home. It feels like a mix of a hostel, a student house and campside de la Fonteclose (for the people concerning you know what I mean ;) My room has a double bed and some wardrobes, it’s about.. roughly 12m2 so big enough for me. We also have a toilet, which is very deep and dixie like, but it doesn’t smell at all (got to be careful not to drop anything into it though!!), kitchen,  bathroom and whatnot.

Everyone is very nice and Brony does most of the cooking and other household tasks. Mashed potatoes and pasta seem to be in favour here, and I just eat whatever there’s in the fridge. Sometimes I do my own shopping. However the shops are at least 20 minutes away by car so the importance of shopping lists becomes quite apparent now!!! Also there’s lots of meat, especially beef :D me like. Breakfast is usually buttered toast and coffee, then cereals at lunchtime. I usually have proper lunch at home.

The  view and surroundings here are amazing and it is everything I could have asked for. Cows, horses, cats, dogs, chickens. It feels like a farm (it is really) so I could not be happier. I still haven’t ridden though, after working the entire day with horses the last thing I want is to spend more time with them.

And of course I have my very own car now :D properly owned by me and insured. It is a Ford Laser L sedan from 1989. It is quite an old thing but it drives and gets me from A to B. I am very happy with it because it was only 500 NZ dollars which is about 339 euros :P

  The work I am doing at Equibreed is quite confidential because we are working with thoroughbreds and sports horses. But I can give you a rough schedule of my day. Also check out their website! http://www.equibreed.co.nz/

I am currently working full time, in order to get to know the company and the work they are doing based on an every day routine, and have since I arrived on Saturday evening. Monday the 19th will be my first proper day off. I am looking forward to it so much. Not that I do not like the work but it is physically and mentally exhausting.

My day starts at 8 a.m. up until 1:30 p.m. if I am lucky but usually until 3 p.m. Jobs include, cleaning the stables, giving injections, help with scanning, help with semen collection etc etc.

Then I have the afternoon off but go back to work from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. to help with scanning and some other things.

And about 4 times a week I have an evening shift which starts at 11 p.m. until 1 a.m. if I am really unlucky.  All in all it’s usually 11 hours a day. Not something I am used to. I am really starting to appreciate sleep and time off now. It’s all good fun though, the people are very nice and I am learning a lot of interesting stuff. In about a week I will have my new schedule which will be Modays and Tuesdays off, work on my university project “Does the weather have an influence on the predictability of ovulation in mares?” on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. And work on Saturdays and Sundays, I got an offer straight after my second day. Initially I was going to pay the rent by myself but they offered to do it in exchange of work. Also they will give me a tank of petrol every week. Sounds like a very good deal to me! I could not be happier and appreciate it a lot.

At any rate, I feel like I am learning a lot. Although I am dreading the statistics bits. Wageningen has such a good reputation that it just frightens me. I should be all right but statistics is not really my cup of tea. But that’s one of my learning goals. To get a more academic attitude when working with statistical problem solving. We will see how it goes, I am not going to worry about it too much.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you again next week :D

[theoedlife-blog]

Te Awamutu, Castle Rock, New Zealand - 4 day out door rock climbing trip, first time actually outdoor rock climbing, what an amazing experience, decided to take it up as a hobby, my first climbs about, grade: 13