The Travelling

Overall a pretty good experience in travelling half way around the world. Im glad I invested in my travel stockings as my legs were fine after flying, no swollen ankles or soreness or anything. Also extra glad I took earplugs on the plane, as it was rather noisy, plus they blocked out the sound of crying persons (small persons). So Hamish remember to pack some for your flights eh. The first flight (from Auckland to Bangkok) was on an Airbus so it was a newer plane. The best thing was that the plane wasn’t full, so the guy in the seat next to me was able to move off and have a whole 3 seats to himself, which left me with 2 seats at the window to myself. Awesome. I sat over the wing just like when I went to Japan, and the weather was great so I got a good view over Australia – Brisbane, Queensland and the Northern Territory. I think we flew over Darwin but I was asleep by then. I did watch one in-flight movie (Ratatouille) but then resisted further temptation so I could sleep. However I didn’t seem to be able to relax my mind, too excited and also trying to think over what I had to do to travel to Gent, so just sat there with my eyes closed most of the time.

The service on the plane was great, and the food was pretty good too. Got to Bangkok feeling pretty good, just needed a stretch and a wash. Bangkok airport is pretty flash, but there were lots of people and not many seats which was kind of strange I thought. Hence I sat down on the floor most of the time, waiting for my next flight. (The photos are of Bangkok airport, one is a 'smoker's room' and the other is just a random shot of the place i waited for the plane after going through passport security). I did buy an apple, orange and carrot juice which tasted really weird, had a wash and then spent the rest of the time listening to music. By the time the next flight was ready, I was almost asleep! Got on the plane and it was delayed, but I was so tired I fell asleep during takeoff and woke up at dinner time! The plane from Bangkok to London was a Boeing 747, so it was older and didn’t have the TV screens in the seats. It also was full of people so I didn’t have the luxury of extra space, but the people next to me were nice enough. The attendants sprayed us with some kind of insecticide on the plane and announced that we wouldn’t be allowed into the UK unless it had been done (so no choice there) so that was interesting. There were tooth brushes in the bathrooms (which I thought was great) and also the flight attendants came round and gave us hot towels to help us wake up, and also we had pancakes and croissants for breakfast before landing in London. The ladies on the plane were also given a corsage of orchids which were really lovely.

I arrived in London feeling pretty good, possibly because I had had a little bit of sleep, then had a coffee with breakfast, and then the adrenalin started pumping because I knew I had to get to the eurostar terminal on time. So I rushed off the plane (40min late) and straight to passport control, where to my amazement there was no queue (I’ve heard it can take hours). The guy who stamped my passport was really nice and gave me a stamp for passing through, rather than ‘activating’ my working holiday visa, which means that I will be able to get the full 2 years if I want to, or if I was to decide not to use it, then I would be able to reapply for a new one (whereas it is only issued once, and once it has started you can’t pause or extend it). So that was good to know. Left passport security and headed straight to baggage claim, it was all well-marked. Grabbed my bag and left! Simple as that! Got to the train station and couldn’t believe my luck really, it was so quick and easy. Then got to the terminal of the Heathrow Express which is a fast train into central London, and found that my NZ phone does work in the UK, so I was able to send texts and receive calls, which was lovely. Unfortunately it doesn’t auto-roam in Belgium so I can’t use it here, but apparently it will work in France, Spain and Germany so I guess I’ll see. The Heathrow Express took me into Paddington station, and then I had to catch a tube about 6 miles to Kings Cross / St Pancras where the Eurostar train departs from. I was a bit nervous about this, but there were so many people around and the whole atmosphere of the place was so mental that I just floated through pretty much. As soon as I had bought my ticket and walked down the corridor, the tube was about to leave so I hopped straight on it, which was lucky. The actual tube wasn’t too busy as I guess they are so frequent there are enough to pick up all the people that are around. It was a quick trip to St Pancras where I got my Eurostar ticket, registered, went through passport control again and then had a couple of minutes to buy some water and then board the train. It had a lot of carriages, maybe 30, I was surprised just how many people it carried. I struggled to manoeuvre my luggage onto the train but got there in the end. It sure is a fast train, and really quiet too. It only took 2 and a half hours to get to Belgium, which was neat. Got to see a bit of France on the way too (we stopped at Lille). The countryside in the top of France is much like the little bit of England I saw - flat, lush and green (unlike brown scorched NZ at the mo) and with all their characteristic houses. Belgium is also similar in landscape. There just aren’t any hills around, which makes it difficult to navigate by geography when there really aren’t that many landmarks hehe. Anyway the Eurostar arrived in Brussels a bit early even, so I wandered on through into the station and asked about a train to Gent. The attendant told me that one was leaving right then, so I hurried off to catch it rather than waiting around. Just made that train, and arrived in Gent with an hour to spend before I got picked up. Was really starting to feel tired so I bought a coffee and a ham roll (I think Belgians love to eat crusty bread like French sticks, broodje or something I think its called?) and then looked for the loo. Now I checked the whole station, and I could only find one toilet called ‘WC’ and you had to pay 40 euro cents to get in. I only had British pence and 35 euro cents, or bigger euro notes. Then after much consideration I remembered that Ellie had posted me 5 euro cents and I had packed it in my bag! So that pushed my balance up to 40 cents and I was able to use the toilet!!! Yay!! Thanks Ellie!!! It was actually much nicer than the usual public toilet anyway so was good to have a wash etc.

Then I had a bit of a wander round outside the train station and got my first sight of Gent. There were a million bikes parked up, and lots of trams going around. I was apparently wrong about Gent – the whole city is not pedestrian-only, but the city centre is. And public transport is good – there are buses, trams, trains, underground trains, and trolley-trams, whatever they are. Then I finally met up with Elke and her friend Claudia (who are both Belgians) from the ESN organisation that looks after exchange students. They picked me up from the station and drove me to pick up my residence keys etc. Unfortunately I didn’t get in to the halls I chose (Home Fabiola which was smaller, and newer, and closest to the law school), but am in Home Boudewijn which is further south. I guess this is probably for the best as it means I will have to hire a bike (and use it) which will be good exercise I suppose. Elke took me right to my room and gave me a few hints on how to get set up and suff. They were really lovely and introduced me to all the people we saw along the way, which was neat. I unpacked my stuff from my suitcase, or, as Elke said “we leave you some time to get installed”, had a shower and then went to bed about 7pm, around 42 hours after leaving NZ. Phew