The last weekend was a long weekend, because Monday was Labor Day which is a public holiday. So Tobias, the german internship guy working for Trimble as well, asked me if I want to join him discovering Banks Peninsula, just off Christchurch. I didn't have to think long, whether I should join him or not, because it is a great opportunity to see some beautiful places. So we left on Saturday afternoon and drove straight to Akaroa, where we walked along the beach, to the nice little light house. Before we went to a little bar we had some fish and chips from the really famous local fish and chips store (a lot of different people told us to go there and eat fish and chips)... and it was really nice.
Then in the bar we met some european people, some swiss, some german... jep, they're everywhere... but we had a nice evening together, talking about the experiences we made so far in New Zealand.
On the next day we drove to Okains Bay, a nice little bay on the north side of the peninsula. After that we definitely wanted to see Lyttelton, so we drove to Lyttelton and we weren't disappointed. Lyttelton is the one and only harbor of Christchurch, so all the goods coming and leaving Christchurch by ship will pass Lyttelton. But it isn't as busy as one would expect... the 'old' town (the first settlers who came to Christchurch, first settled down in Lyttelton and that was in 1849, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Port_of_lyttelton.jpg) is quite small, but really nice. Our next, but last stop was probably our highest stop. We went to the Port Hills, which is kind of Üetliberg of Zurich, or Säntis for eastern Switerland :-). It is the nearest, most exciting nature of Christchurch, where a lot of bikers, cyclists, climbers, hikers,... have a lot of fun. The view is awesome, you can see the wide sea, Lyttelton, Christchurch, the Southern Alps,... which means that you have a good view in any direction.
Then I have something else to be happy about. I went sailing on the Estuary (the little very shallow bay east of Christchurch, http://maps.google.co.nz/?ie=UTF8&ll=-43.54606,172.721214&spn=0.05064,0.087461&t=h&z=14) on Saturday morning. The weather was perfect for sailing, quite strong, constant wind and sunshine!! :-) Unfortunately I haven't made any pictures, but the guy, I borrowed the boat from, told me that I'll be welcome to borrow one of his boats another time again. So that was just awesome!
Last but not least, I have got a new bike... yes, an old nice PEUGEOT... although it needed a bit of care and cleaning, so that's what I did on Monday, the public holiday: I cleaned my new bike and had to change the tube and tire (!!! the puncture was quite severe... the tire had a 2cm tear) the first time already. That wasn't a good start, I had a puncture on Friday, the 2nd day i had my bike...
But now it looks nice again and it is nice to ride again... :-)
Hope you are all well!
ps. see photos...!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
new home and some impressions from work and christchurch itself
It took me a while to save some time to write another blog. Lots of different things are happening over here...
First of all, I managed to decide on a flat or more accurate, on a house. The house itself is quite special and really nice equipped regarding furniture and stuff. Unfortunately its not a typical kiwi townhouse, because it has got a second floor and it might be a bit too tidy :-). Although it is typical kiwi in terms of statics... these bl*** kiwi houses are just build like paper houses. You can feel the cold coming through the wall and through the (one glassed, nod double or triple glassed like in Europe) windows. And my room sits just on top of two posts made out of steel. Just one side of the room is connected to the house and therefore it is quite unstable... 'luckily' the house is located 100m beside the railways... every time when the train passes, it feels like an earthquake! everything is shaking... :-)
Anyway, the flatmates are really nice and easygoing. Although they are just a 'bit' older than me (range from approx 30 to 45). So for one more time (as when I was in London) I am the young chicken. But until now I really cant complain - its great living in that house.
At work, everything came a bit different than I expected it to come. I knew, my field of work will be something with machine control, but I did not expect that I will be integrated into testing that much. I was driving a scary big machine in my first week at work already. It is a machine which makes curbs (Randsteine) and gutters (Abflussrinnen) out of concrete while it is driving along the street. (see: http://www.gomaco.com/Resources/gt3600c_g.html and http://www.gomaco.com/Resources/photos/gt3600_01_06/graphic4.gif)
On the other hand I am 'just' involved in testing and not developing. But of course I can't really expect being involved in developing in my first internship. And I really need to say, that I feel comfortable being a tester at the first step. And not least, I still have to take full responsibility of the hole testing and reporting all the bugs.
So I really enjoy the diversified work, running a big machine, reporting bugs, learning new things about CAN-buses, see how such guidance systems are being developed, ...
And the people I work with are great, very helpful and focused, but not too serious and jocking as well.
Last weekend I was in the city and went to the botanic garden (its spring over here http://picasaweb.google.ch/chbischo/BotanicGarden) and to Sumner (a part of the city which is right at the beach http://picasaweb.google.ch/chbischo/Sumner ). It was really nice.
On Saturday night I went out with a german guy. He is doing an internship at Trimble as well. Fortunately the kiwis are not lazy folks at all... there was really something going on in the city, people everywhere on the street, and the bars and clubs were quite full. The very center of Christchurch is quite small, but the outgoing does't seems to be too bad, jipi :-)
One of my flatmates will take me to a club/bar next weekend to meet some of her friends...therefore I am really looking forward to meet some local kiwis... :-)
First of all, I managed to decide on a flat or more accurate, on a house. The house itself is quite special and really nice equipped regarding furniture and stuff. Unfortunately its not a typical kiwi townhouse, because it has got a second floor and it might be a bit too tidy :-). Although it is typical kiwi in terms of statics... these bl*** kiwi houses are just build like paper houses. You can feel the cold coming through the wall and through the (one glassed, nod double or triple glassed like in Europe) windows. And my room sits just on top of two posts made out of steel. Just one side of the room is connected to the house and therefore it is quite unstable... 'luckily' the house is located 100m beside the railways... every time when the train passes, it feels like an earthquake! everything is shaking... :-)
Anyway, the flatmates are really nice and easygoing. Although they are just a 'bit' older than me (range from approx 30 to 45). So for one more time (as when I was in London) I am the young chicken. But until now I really cant complain - its great living in that house.
At work, everything came a bit different than I expected it to come. I knew, my field of work will be something with machine control, but I did not expect that I will be integrated into testing that much. I was driving a scary big machine in my first week at work already. It is a machine which makes curbs (Randsteine) and gutters (Abflussrinnen) out of concrete while it is driving along the street. (see: http://www.gomaco.com/Resources/gt3600c_g.html and http://www.gomaco.com/Resources/photos/gt3600_01_06/graphic4.gif)
On the other hand I am 'just' involved in testing and not developing. But of course I can't really expect being involved in developing in my first internship. And I really need to say, that I feel comfortable being a tester at the first step. And not least, I still have to take full responsibility of the hole testing and reporting all the bugs.
So I really enjoy the diversified work, running a big machine, reporting bugs, learning new things about CAN-buses, see how such guidance systems are being developed, ...
And the people I work with are great, very helpful and focused, but not too serious and jocking as well.
Last weekend I was in the city and went to the botanic garden (its spring over here http://picasaweb.google.ch/chbischo/BotanicGarden) and to Sumner (a part of the city which is right at the beach http://picasaweb.google.ch/chbischo/Sumner ). It was really nice.
On Saturday night I went out with a german guy. He is doing an internship at Trimble as well. Fortunately the kiwis are not lazy folks at all... there was really something going on in the city, people everywhere on the street, and the bars and clubs were quite full. The very center of Christchurch is quite small, but the outgoing does't seems to be too bad, jipi :-)
One of my flatmates will take me to a club/bar next weekend to meet some of her friends...therefore I am really looking forward to meet some local kiwis... :-)
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