Fishing with Captain Kirk

Another outdoor day in New Zealand.

We went fishing with Captain Kirk, who is Marek's co-worker in the restaurant and a passionate fisherman (not the "real" Captain Kirk, though that would be awesome and bizarre at the same time).

I didn't catch any single fish and Marek got only smaller ones, that must have been thrown back into the sea (it is against the law to keep too small fish), but Captain has got us one nice big snapper. Captain Kirk is wonderful person to go fishing with, because he doesn't like to eat fish (which seems to me quite unusual, but he claims he just likes catching them), so on that day, me and Marek had for dinner our freshest fish ever. Thanks, Captain!

A snapper. Just too small.

Both of my companions didn't talk too much, so I basically just stared into the sea, climbed on the rocks around and took some pictures. Quite unexpectedly, I enjoyed it. (Have I mentioned that I have never been a really big nature lover neither outdoor person? Against all odds, it seems to me I am becoming one. And I won't say no to the next fishing trip.)

Here are some pictures from our fishing trip:

Preparing baits. Marek's hands covered with squid juice.

Captain Kirk.

Boys - fishing, me - hanging around.

Yeah, this is me fishing.

Me fishing again, just from another point of view.

On the way to the seaside.

Oh well, and I forgot to mention it was my birthday on that day. I didn't throw any party, but at least I went fishing and as they say: "hey, you can't have it all..."

Read More »

Honey Bee Day

In my head, I imagined the first days in New Zealand like really lazy and boring, me just walking around the island or lying in the bed, slowly getting over the jet lag... well, as I found out, my boyfriend Marek had some different plans for me.

On the very first day, we met Marek's friend Richard, the beekeeper. He has been working with bees for seven years already. It had been a hobby for him, but after some time it has become his full-time job. He learned it all completely by himself - by reading books, watching Youtube videos and stuff like that, which makes him out to be pretty inspiring person for me.

I'm not going to lie, I am terribly scared of all these flying creatures that can bite you or sting you or cause you a physical or mental pain in any way and I was really mad at Marek, that he came up with this kind of trip on my very first day in New Zealand, without any warning.

But after all, I must say it was awesome. I got zero bites (thanks to the clothing borrowed from Richard) and tons of fascinating pictures from the bee world. And Richard is a very nice person. He explained us everything, that we wanted to know about beekeeping and his attitude persuaded me that bees are quite friendly and nice animals (as long as you wear beekeeper protective clothing :-)).

I call this picture "The Epic Beekeeper".

Richard sharing his knowledge.

Marek working with the mixture made of thyme - illness prevention for the bees.

Where are you, my Queen B?

Bees, bees everywhere!

Beekeeper's workplace.

Me, Marek and one crazy photobombing bee.

Read More »

Winter is coming... again.

After many sleepless nights, I finally decided it is time to go to New Zealand, so that I can travel with my boyfriend, who has been here for seven months already. There are pros and cons to everything - and for me the fact that I am going to miss summer back home and replace it with winter in New Zealand, was the greatest sacrifice ever, because I am a passionate really-hot-weather lover. But let's say I love my boyfriend more than hot weather and it was quite some time since we saw each other, so here I am.

During my journey here, I kept on telling myself how lucky I am compared to James Cook or whoever had to sail to get here, but at the end, I was just sick of airports and airplanes. Let's be honest, the flights from Prague to Seoul and from Seoul to Auckland were neverending. I was terribly tired after about 35 hours of travelling, all I wanted was to get some sleep. But well, I still felt lively enough to take some pictures when taking the ferry from Auckland harbour to Waiheke Island, where I am going to stay a few weeks:

Now I am quite relaxed and ready for the upcoming winter, wild nature, adventure, new places and people.

I have arrived here with no great plan, but with some dreams and goals, both small and big. And who knows what is waiting for me in this country. As my favourite lyrics go: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Let the winter and the new episode of my life begin!

Read More »