New Zealand

So just very briefly what I saw and experienced. For three days I have traveled more than I spent in New Zealand. It probably speaks for itself. But the journey was quite pleasant, no accidents happened thanks God.

New Plymouth is also a small city by the sea with a view of the volcano Mount Taranaki. And also there is a Shell refinery and therefore this is the reason why I'm here. We arrived here on Wednesday evening, and so we just bought something for dinner and we went to bed.

The next morning after OHS&S which took us around two hours we went to the refinery for the rest of the day. The overall work was fine, no stress. We did what was necessary, and on Friday morning we have only just tuned it and did some little things. The weather was pretty good, and the sun was shining and it was warm enough, but we had to be dressed in fireproof overalls, I definitely was not cold. Impression of the country I have just from the aircraft, but it looks very nice here. Nothing but mountains, especially on the southern island, perfect for hiking, but probably some other time with Slavka when we will have a little more time.

So for now we're flying home, I still have to overnight in Melbourne and  I'll arrive to Perth on Saturday because on Friday evening  there are no flight. As I said, I have traveled more than I've seen there:)

Work trip to NZ via Melbourne

This week will be travel. I am working on a project for the Shell refinery in New Zealand and this week I'm going for first time to see the customers, prepare the system for the upgrade, which will then do sometime in May. And since I have a colleague in Melbourne, we decided that it is appropriate to spend a day there with him and prepare everything here. So on Monday morning I departed to Melbourne, Tuesday to spend time in the office with a colleague and then together on Wednesday we will fly to New Zealand, where we will be until Friday.

In Melbourne it starts just beautifully. On Monday I have a day off, because they have a national holiday here, so I'm just relaxing at the hotel. But on Tuesday, it all started. From the hotel, I called the taxi to the office. We have made about two kilometers and taxi - Indian driver, they are all Indians here - it bumped into a stationary truck on the highway in the city. Car totally smashed the front and I had a pain in my back. Nothing nice. So I called an another taxi directly from the hotel hoping for normal driver, but again only Indian came so I was left nothing but hope that this time it will work out. They drive here very crazy. I do not know, is it because they have F1 circuit so everyone is playing for Schumacher or what. But they drive crazy, total wilderness.

After that the day at work went normally. On the way to the hotel luckily nothing happened and tomorrow I will fly to New Zealand, so I'm curious how it looks there even though I know that I can't see much, since we're going there for business, not pleasure.

Car service

As I wrote, we bought the car from the bazaar. When I bought it the whole car was being checked and some things were exchanged. But I didn't pay too much attention, since there is also a 3 months used car warranty. They just told me they replaced the timing belt and it is possible it will squeal for a while. But it would cease within thousand miles.
Well, I have already traveled much more and that squealing didn't stop, so I called to the service and said I want a repair. I also said the 12V outlet doesn't (hey, replacement is simple, but when they  do that I don't have to), and also the battery which left us last time hanging.
At service people are very kind. We agreed on Tuesday, 6.3. in the morning. Because the service is about 40 km south, they just ordered me a rental car for the whole day. Of course, I pay nothing, not even a dollar. This was I really like the customer service. They have exchanged and corrected all I told them, and even replaced the battery, even though the warranty didn't apply. But for the sake of a reputation here they are willing to do things beyond their duties. So while great satisfaction, I hope it will go even further as follows :)

Aquarium Aqwa

We have a long weekend, and I wonder what we do with it. I am quite tired from work, and we did not really do any big plans so this time it will be something easy. It is still very warm so no big trips come into consideration for now. After a short agreement we decided to go see a water aquarium.

But to be exact, we went there on Sunday. Saturday and Monday we left to rest and relax at home, and to the classic, evening on the beach. Now let's go, we go to the aquarium in Perth. Aquarium is situated in Hillarys, a bit to the north ofus, right by the ocean. There is also small shopping centre and restaurants, marina with yachts, and a small beach for kids, this is very great for swimming for small children.

We come quite late, around noon, and it is already crowded , and parking is copmletely full and to find free space is not as easy as it first appears. Finally, I managed to find a place after a few minute circling on parking lot.

Aquarium itself is quite nice, but personally I expected something much larger. The only thing really amazing here is a huge tunnel beneath a large water tank where the fish are from every part of the world. But other exposures and small aquariums I didn't find that great. It was nice, but I expected that there will be many more, not only in terms of fish, but also reptiles, snakes, possibly some penguins ... Well there was nothing in that together.

The whole aquarium we saw within about two or three hours. Then we went to the beach next door, there it is very nicely done, some cafes, grass, sand, and so we sat there for a few hours until the evening. The sun was beautifuly shining, so after lunch we took an ice cream, and then we went back home.

It was just a shorter trip, but to the other hand, quite nice. Now it remains to us just to jump to the the local zoo, but it again maybe next time :)

All photos can be found on:
https://picasaweb.google.com/101430570008874668546/20120403_aqwa