And here we've made it to 2008 as well.
I wish everybody
1 Happy New Year
12 Beautiful Months
365 Memorable Days
Make the best out of it every single moment.
I'm of to work now. No sleep, so it will be a tough day. Just got home, showered, changed and now killing a few minutes as I still have a few minutes before I have to go!
Big hug for all of you!
01 January 2008
31 December 2007
17 December 2007
Persistence
If you're not ready to climb a mountain, then see if you can walk up a gentle hill.
If you're not ready to walk up a hill, then set out to take a leisurely stroll.
If you're not able to walk that far, then you can take a single step.
After taking that step you'll likely find that you're ready to take another.
If you have trouble imagining yourself reaching your goal, then imagine yourself taking one small, simple action in the direction of that goal. Imagine it, and then do it.
After that first step, there will be another one you can take, something that's a little bit more challenging and yet not overwhelming. Keep it up, and soon the ultimate goal begins to come into view.
Anything can be accomplished if you are willing to keep taking the next step when it is time to do so. What you lack in brute strength, or resources, or knowledge, or skills, you can make up for with persistence.
You absolutely can get where you choose to go, step after step after persistent step. And now is the perfect time to begin.
If you're not ready to walk up a hill, then set out to take a leisurely stroll.
If you're not able to walk that far, then you can take a single step.
After taking that step you'll likely find that you're ready to take another.
If you have trouble imagining yourself reaching your goal, then imagine yourself taking one small, simple action in the direction of that goal. Imagine it, and then do it.
After that first step, there will be another one you can take, something that's a little bit more challenging and yet not overwhelming. Keep it up, and soon the ultimate goal begins to come into view.
Anything can be accomplished if you are willing to keep taking the next step when it is time to do so. What you lack in brute strength, or resources, or knowledge, or skills, you can make up for with persistence.
You absolutely can get where you choose to go, step after step after persistent step. And now is the perfect time to begin.
15 December 2007
Happy pumper
Well it has been a while, but that's just because I was busy. As always of course, but also because of something special. What? Well when I got back from New Zealand I received a letter from Les Mills in The Netherlands with the news I was invited to an audition day to become a trainee and hopefully after that become a trainer. I had to choose one program, which I found hard but I decided to go for BA. I was also thinking about BP because I love that to. I was a hard decision, but BA won at that time when I had to send in the tape. The audition day was yesterday in Leusden. Man, I was nervous. When I got out of the my hard rate was the same as after a BA track 9. Out of all teh tapes only 9 people were invited to come to the audition.
What did we have to do?
Give a 5-10 minute presentation about ourselves, our motivation and whta our addition to the would be. Then we had to present to different tracks from the program we wanted to audition for. And last but not least we had to do a workshop presentation from about 10 minutes, for which we had 30 minutes to prepare.
We had to pretend the other people were the new instructors and we had to give the presentations for them, while Brigitte (Head trainer) and Arthur (trainer) were obeserving us and taking notes. We had to participate during all the other track presentations. So, we had to to a lot of programs (all except BV, as nobody was doing audition for that). We were also observed in how we participated in the classes.
I wasn't to happy with my personal presentation. I was almost last and you hear so many stories and with the nerves running through my whole body I found it hard to stick to my prepared story. After that I started to feel a bit more comfortable and my BA presentation felt pretty good. During my preparation I was a bit worried about presenting a workshop, as I do not ahve a lot of experience in giving presentation. I usually talk easily, but you have to stick to the point and man, I find that hard. I had to prepare a workshop about the key element connecting. That was a relief. I knew I could do that and after my presentation I knew I gave the best I could. And if that wasn't enough, well then I would be disappointed, but I had a great learning experience which would help me to grow again in teaching and also in other stuff.
After we all gave our workshop presentation we had to go downstairs and after a while Arthur came down to get the first person. From that moment on, everbody started to get nervous again. Shall I make it or not? Few came down very disappointed, which I can really, really, really imagine and I was one of the others: being very happy!! I did not make it for BA, but they wanted me to go for BP trainee as I probably did do very well in the BP, while I did the class!!!! Cool!!! 5 of us made it to Traineeship (1 BC, 1 BB, 1 BJ, 1 BS and 1 BP). It will all start in January. I just can't wait!! I have been assisting a couple of module trainings, but now the real thing will start. Í just can't tell how excited I am. I know it will be tough, but I want to give all I have. I know there will be ups and downs, but the downs will make you stronger so you get up again. I;m going to go for it!!!!
What did we have to do?
Give a 5-10 minute presentation about ourselves, our motivation and whta our addition to the would be. Then we had to present to different tracks from the program we wanted to audition for. And last but not least we had to do a workshop presentation from about 10 minutes, for which we had 30 minutes to prepare.
We had to pretend the other people were the new instructors and we had to give the presentations for them, while Brigitte (Head trainer) and Arthur (trainer) were obeserving us and taking notes. We had to participate during all the other track presentations. So, we had to to a lot of programs (all except BV, as nobody was doing audition for that). We were also observed in how we participated in the classes.
I wasn't to happy with my personal presentation. I was almost last and you hear so many stories and with the nerves running through my whole body I found it hard to stick to my prepared story. After that I started to feel a bit more comfortable and my BA presentation felt pretty good. During my preparation I was a bit worried about presenting a workshop, as I do not ahve a lot of experience in giving presentation. I usually talk easily, but you have to stick to the point and man, I find that hard. I had to prepare a workshop about the key element connecting. That was a relief. I knew I could do that and after my presentation I knew I gave the best I could. And if that wasn't enough, well then I would be disappointed, but I had a great learning experience which would help me to grow again in teaching and also in other stuff.
After we all gave our workshop presentation we had to go downstairs and after a while Arthur came down to get the first person. From that moment on, everbody started to get nervous again. Shall I make it or not? Few came down very disappointed, which I can really, really, really imagine and I was one of the others: being very happy!! I did not make it for BA, but they wanted me to go for BP trainee as I probably did do very well in the BP, while I did the class!!!! Cool!!! 5 of us made it to Traineeship (1 BC, 1 BB, 1 BJ, 1 BS and 1 BP). It will all start in January. I just can't wait!! I have been assisting a couple of module trainings, but now the real thing will start. Í just can't tell how excited I am. I know it will be tough, but I want to give all I have. I know there will be ups and downs, but the downs will make you stronger so you get up again. I;m going to go for it!!!!
24 November 2007
Awesome Quarterly!
You guys ... last weekend was AWESOME! What else can I say. I had the best time. Great Masterclasses, cool party and heaps of fun!
Left home on Friday already as Saturdaymorning 09.00 am was BC Masterclasses. I didn't feel like driving almost 2 hours before that, so Claudia and I booked a room in the Koningshof from Friday. Ofcourse I still had to tell her all about NZ, so also because of that it was way better to go on Friday :-)
So Saturdaymorning BC34 was the kick off for the Mega Quarterly 2007. The releases weren't very big surprises for me this time as I had seen and even done some of 'm in NZ during GFX. But still it was great, it's good to see our own Dutch and Belgium trainers present.
I like the combo in track 6 with the side kick, knee, back kick.
After BC class I went on to BP with Susan and Steve. I always like it when they are presenting. I always learn a lot from them. During biceps Karin and Jan came on stage and did the BP dance with Susan and Steve haha ... was so much fun to watch.
Then Claudia talked me into doing BV. Actually I planned to rest for an hour because I still had BB and BA ahead of me ... but anyway .... who cares .....it sounded like fun. I don;t teach BV, but I really like the music. And since I was really sore from my classes on Thursday I figured it would be better to keep moving instead of sitting down. Christel and Patricia made it a lot of fun. I like the BV music and I can imagine it's a lot of fun teaching the class. It's very social and you get to talk and connect with the members a lot.
Then of to BB with Christel and Hadewych. I love the ending of track 9... left and right splits..... I could still do 'm... Yessss. Great music choice, good excercises. I had my BB module training with Hadewych. She's pregnant now and it's unbelievable what she can still do with only 7 weeks to go. You go girl. I love it when the Belgium trainers teach BB, they always sound so friendly with the soft G they use in Belgium. I also love the follow up cues Hadewych uses.
Well after BB it's time for my favourite class. I could feel the energy coming. Lisa was presenting with Karin and Daniel ..... awesome team. Found a good spot on the first row, together with some other assessors. It was great.... the energy ran through my whole body and I had the feeling I cold go on 4 ever. WIth track eight we had 3 slovenians coming on stage, they are also on the DVD presentation in track 8 and with track 9 Lisa pulled me on stage .... COOL! with2 more people. It was awesome. Just another energy boast!!!


We went to get a quick and unhealthy dinner .... changed into our Pirate outfit .... and it was Partytime. Buffalo .... Haka.... drinks, more drinks... dance more dance .....and sore feet.





Left home on Friday already as Saturdaymorning 09.00 am was BC Masterclasses. I didn't feel like driving almost 2 hours before that, so Claudia and I booked a room in the Koningshof from Friday. Ofcourse I still had to tell her all about NZ, so also because of that it was way better to go on Friday :-)
So Saturdaymorning BC34 was the kick off for the Mega Quarterly 2007. The releases weren't very big surprises for me this time as I had seen and even done some of 'm in NZ during GFX. But still it was great, it's good to see our own Dutch and Belgium trainers present.
I like the combo in track 6 with the side kick, knee, back kick.
After BC class I went on to BP with Susan and Steve. I always like it when they are presenting. I always learn a lot from them. During biceps Karin and Jan came on stage and did the BP dance with Susan and Steve haha ... was so much fun to watch.
Then Claudia talked me into doing BV. Actually I planned to rest for an hour because I still had BB and BA ahead of me ... but anyway .... who cares .....it sounded like fun. I don;t teach BV, but I really like the music. And since I was really sore from my classes on Thursday I figured it would be better to keep moving instead of sitting down. Christel and Patricia made it a lot of fun. I like the BV music and I can imagine it's a lot of fun teaching the class. It's very social and you get to talk and connect with the members a lot.

Then of to BB with Christel and Hadewych. I love the ending of track 9... left and right splits..... I could still do 'm... Yessss. Great music choice, good excercises. I had my BB module training with Hadewych. She's pregnant now and it's unbelievable what she can still do with only 7 weeks to go. You go girl. I love it when the Belgium trainers teach BB, they always sound so friendly with the soft G they use in Belgium. I also love the follow up cues Hadewych uses.
Well after BB it's time for my favourite class. I could feel the energy coming. Lisa was presenting with Karin and Daniel ..... awesome team. Found a good spot on the first row, together with some other assessors. It was great.... the energy ran through my whole body and I had the feeling I cold go on 4 ever. WIth track eight we had 3 slovenians coming on stage, they are also on the DVD presentation in track 8 and with track 9 Lisa pulled me on stage .... COOL! with2 more people. It was awesome. Just another energy boast!!!

Since I had all the energy going on, I decided to do BS class as well. Claudia and Cecile together with the Mam to be be, Susan. Amazing what she still can do. The did a terrific job and with the party step they changed into their 70's outfit .... FUN!!! By the time we got to the power track...my light turned off .... I had to stick with the option so prevent from falling of the step. But anyway.... it was great.

We went to get a quick and unhealthy dinner .... changed into our Pirate outfit .... and it was Partytime. Buffalo .... Haka.... drinks, more drinks... dance more dance .....and sore feet.


Next day ..... I only managed to do one BA class... was jsut too tired to do more ... haha. Stayed and watched BS and another BA class and then went home. The next weeks will be pretty busy..... I will have to do a lot of preparation for an audition day and also learn the new releases in between.... will also cover some classes at other clubs and work @ KLM has started again too.......Back to reality haha.... it's good to be home (for now)!
15 November 2007
@ home
I;m back. Did some great shopping i Hong Kong, well as far as my baggage allowance would let me. I know I work for the airline, but 20Kgs isn't enough when travelling via Hong Kong, after being in Auckland with Les Mills and a Nike Platinum at the corner. But I made it without paying excess baggage. Yeah!
I was in Hong Kong 5 years ago, but couldn't remember a lot from it. Just from my pictures, but that was about it. I booked a very nice hotel, with swimmingpool, so in the afternoon a spend a couple of hours next to the pool. What else I did? uuuhhhhh... shopping!! Bought clothes, some watches and other presents for my friends. I could have bought so much more, but I managed not to be a complete Shopaholic. Do you now the Shopaholic books by Sophie Kinsella? I do! And just replace Rebecca's name by mine and it would be the story ;-)
It's good to be back home. Had an awesome trip, which left me with great memorable moments. Now it's time for the next steps. To start of .... teaching tonight: BP and BA! This weekend: MEGA quarterly and PARTYYYYYYYY!!!!!
I was in Hong Kong 5 years ago, but couldn't remember a lot from it. Just from my pictures, but that was about it. I booked a very nice hotel, with swimmingpool, so in the afternoon a spend a couple of hours next to the pool. What else I did? uuuhhhhh... shopping!! Bought clothes, some watches and other presents for my friends. I could have bought so much more, but I managed not to be a complete Shopaholic. Do you now the Shopaholic books by Sophie Kinsella? I do! And just replace Rebecca's name by mine and it would be the story ;-)
It's good to be back home. Had an awesome trip, which left me with great memorable moments. Now it's time for the next steps. To start of .... teaching tonight: BP and BA! This weekend: MEGA quarterly and PARTYYYYYYYY!!!!!
12 November 2007
Just some more Les Mills...
Had a midnight flight from Tonga back to Auckland. Tried to sleep before, but unfortunately didn't. Arrived back in Auckland around 05.00 am. And by 07.00am I arrived in the hotel. Still couldn't sleep, so ended up doing a BS class with Lisa at 08.30. Then went to get breakfast, walked around in the city, still couldn't sleep, so went to BA class. Wow, it was tough. But it felt good doing BA. At the end talked to Zoe from the UK, but she moved to Auckland now, so actually she's a local now :-). We ended up going for a quick dinner. By 09.00pm a was so tired I finally could fall asleep and slept untill 07.00 Sunday morning. Did BS with Mark and then BA with Nate, I was glad he did BA58 as I know the release and I was tired from the BS class. Still I wanted to do BA, but I wasn't as energetic as I normally am. My knees just wouldn't get up.
Then packed the rest of my stuff and my KLM collegue picked me up for the rest of the afternoon. We didn't do very much, just enjoyed the nice weather, which I will really miss back home. Heard it was cold, rainy and just now very nice :-(.
My flight is at midnight to Hong Kong.
Then packed the rest of my stuff and my KLM collegue picked me up for the rest of the afternoon. We didn't do very much, just enjoyed the nice weather, which I will really miss back home. Heard it was cold, rainy and just now very nice :-(.
My flight is at midnight to Hong Kong.
09 November 2007
Tonga, where every new day begins
..... and where there also comes an end to my holidays. I had a great time here. but tonight is time to go home. Met some very nice people, saw beautiful islands, enjoyed the sun, well I could go on forever, but the next step is coming up. 2 More days in Auckland, then off to Hong Kong on my way home.
Here some pics of the island:
08 November 2007
Just to let you know .....
... it feels so good to enjoy the sun, nice tropical islands all around, white beaches, palm trees, blue sky ..... fresh fruit, coconuts ..... one more day to go :-)
06 November 2007
Hello from Tonga
Wow you guys, there's much to tell since last post. Filming has been great. Another experience I will not forget. Claudia and Karin both did great and of course all the others as well. Some stuff had to be done a couple of times, but still it was great and a whole bunch of fun!! I have met so many nice people and it was also good to have to experience of the GFX, which can be compared with our Mega Quarterly in November. Cool I'm going to have to party's. Yesss the Masquerade party was fun too! We first went out for a drink with the Belgiums or as they are called ' the Les Mills Family' . Lien is too young to go to the party unfortunately, so they didn't go. Cris (BP) joined us and we met some more people at the Drake. We had a few cocktails to celebrate the hard work was over for Karin and Claudia, and then of to the party. Danced, drank had fun and ended up with sore feet. Man, my high heels were killing me. We left the party around 2 am. The next morning I went for a coffee with Claudia as she was leaving at noon. Then Karin, Cor and I joined Lisa for a trip to Devonport. Dean & Kirsty were are there and so was Cris. We walked up to one of the volcanoes then had lunch and went to the gym to watch Lien and Anne shadow with BJ. Lien had a great time with shadowing in the filming. Gandalf, Matteo and Rach have been great with her. I think it's more than a wish come true for her, which is great when you know from where she had to come! Good job you girl, you made me cry watching you doing your BJ tracks!
Then unfortunately it was time to say goodbye again. Our Les Mills family was leaving at midnight and Karin, Cor and I were going for dinner with Cris. So a quick drink was all we had.
Then after dinner I packed my bags as I left for Tonga!!!!!!
And that's where I am now! Enjoying the sun, doing nothing etc. I got here yesterday, walked around for a bit and enjoyed the sun. Today I took a tour to Atata Island, were I did some snorkeling, walked around the Island for a bit had lunch and relaxed. I will be here until Friday. Then I have Saturday and Sunday in Auckland again, Leave at midnight for Hongkong, have Monday all day there and then it finally is time to go home.
Keep you posted ... big hug!
Then unfortunately it was time to say goodbye again. Our Les Mills family was leaving at midnight and Karin, Cor and I were going for dinner with Cris. So a quick drink was all we had.
Then after dinner I packed my bags as I left for Tonga!!!!!!
And that's where I am now! Enjoying the sun, doing nothing etc. I got here yesterday, walked around for a bit and enjoyed the sun. Today I took a tour to Atata Island, were I did some snorkeling, walked around the Island for a bit had lunch and relaxed. I will be here until Friday. Then I have Saturday and Sunday in Auckland again, Leave at midnight for Hongkong, have Monday all day there and then it finally is time to go home.
Keep you posted ... big hug!
28 October 2007
Auckland - Les Mills
Yeah, back in Auckland and I'm sore already. Had an early morning yesterday. BC 08.10 with Dan & Rach. When I was walking up to the gym I saw Karin and Claudia our 2 dutch trainers who will be presenting. They just got in in the middle of the night and Claudia had to join BC after only a couple of hours sleep. After BC I stayed at chatted a bit with Karin and after that I joined BA with Mark S. I just love him. He's so good with connecting in class. In the afternoon I did another BA class. First I wanted to join BP as well, but I was pretty tired after not working out for 2 days, I decided it would be better to give my body a bit of a rest. Showed Claudia around for a bit, went to the supermarket, sat down for a coffee and later that evening the three of us went for dinner. Claudia didn't present yet, but Karin did, and I think she did great. Especially when you think of the fact she'd hardly slept over the night.
This morning Claudia presented BC for the first time. Cool! I'm enjoying this BC release, and after not doing combat for a while, I can really feel my shoulders. After BC I joined the Team teach BB class together with Karin. We both needed a good stretch. A beautiful release it is.
This afternoon I will be doing BP and BA (of course) and I'm not quite sure if I will be doing BC, might just watch Claudia and take a couple of pictures. I'll see.
Wow, it's so good to be back!
This morning Claudia presented BC for the first time. Cool! I'm enjoying this BC release, and after not doing combat for a while, I can really feel my shoulders. After BC I joined the Team teach BB class together with Karin. We both needed a good stretch. A beautiful release it is.
This afternoon I will be doing BP and BA (of course) and I'm not quite sure if I will be doing BC, might just watch Claudia and take a couple of pictures. I'll see.
Wow, it's so good to be back!
25 October 2007
From South to North
Yeah, I made my way up to the North Island. And wow what an amazing trip it was yesterday. The train left Christchurch at 07.00 am already. A shuttle goes through town and stops at the hostels to pick people up. Good service as the train station is pretty far out of the way.
The train was comfortable and the nice thing about is, that there is a viewing balcony. It's open and good to take pictures. I really enjoyed the trip. Saw so many things go by. Most impressive to me are still the mountains with snowy tops. So weird to see those when you see the Pacific on the other side. Also saw penguins and seals swim in the ocean. Later on, the landscape changed into vineyards, as the weather is good for that at the top of the south island. The train arrived 5 hours after it departed in Picton, but time went by so quickly. Than went on the Inter islander ferry. It was amazing how beautiful it was the trip through the Marlborough Sounds. I'm so glad I finally got to this ferry crossing. I already know my pictures will not show the beauty I saw in real. You just gotta go and see it for yourself.
Got to Wellington late afternoon, but for me it was just to spend the night as I left early this morning to go to Napier.
I love this city. I love the art deco. I have been walking around for just about the whole afternoon, enjoyed the sun for a bit while having a frappuchino, walked all the way up to Bluff Hill Viewing point, wearing my flip-flops, or should I say jandals while over here in Kiwi land :-)
Had good dinner at some place near the boulevard and then played around with my camera, trying to make good pictures from the colourful fountain.
Auckland is getting closer and closer ....
The train was comfortable and the nice thing about is, that there is a viewing balcony. It's open and good to take pictures. I really enjoyed the trip. Saw so many things go by. Most impressive to me are still the mountains with snowy tops. So weird to see those when you see the Pacific on the other side. Also saw penguins and seals swim in the ocean. Later on, the landscape changed into vineyards, as the weather is good for that at the top of the south island. The train arrived 5 hours after it departed in Picton, but time went by so quickly. Than went on the Inter islander ferry. It was amazing how beautiful it was the trip through the Marlborough Sounds. I'm so glad I finally got to this ferry crossing. I already know my pictures will not show the beauty I saw in real. You just gotta go and see it for yourself.
Got to Wellington late afternoon, but for me it was just to spend the night as I left early this morning to go to Napier.
I love this city. I love the art deco. I have been walking around for just about the whole afternoon, enjoyed the sun for a bit while having a frappuchino, walked all the way up to Bluff Hill Viewing point, wearing my flip-flops, or should I say jandals while over here in Kiwi land :-)
Had good dinner at some place near the boulevard and then played around with my camera, trying to make good pictures from the colourful fountain.
Auckland is getting closer and closer ....
22 October 2007
Stewart Island - Ulva Island
Here I am again. Where do I start..... Let me think. I left you guys in Christchurch, so I'll begin from there. The bus trip took forever. It was a nice ride ... but way too long, so during the 10 hours on the bus I had decided that no matter what I was going to take the plane going back to Christchurch. Anyway ... the ride was beautiful again. For a long time I could see the Southern Alps again. We were going through a lot of small villages. Every once in a while a stop to stretch eat or do other stuff :-) Well 10 hours and 40 minutes later I arrived in Invercargill. The weather changed a lot, so by this time it rained, the temperature had gone way down and the wind was blowing. So bad that the ferry did not go that day to Stewart Island.... uhhhh any other possibility??? Well I just waited until the next morning. Still they could not tell if the ferry was going. But anyway I could cancel the whole thing and fly over to Stewart Island. Surprisingly enough, the flight were still going. Off to the airport then. The tickets were made out hand written, the reservation system was a cardboard separated into several boxes with 8 places to add the names. Really old fashioned, I think my dad used to work like that when he started working with KLM over 40 yrs ago ... haha. Anyway I hopped on the flight and when we were about to take of I got really scared. You know to small parts in the paper which tell those stories like, small plane missing in bad weather. I could already imagine this in next days paper. Luckily it did happen and I arrived safely at Stewart Island. A bus took us to Oban, the main city, or actually only city, or shall we call it 1 street village. I dropped my bag at the hostel and picked up a map to do a walk. There was this nice 6 hour walk I decided to do. Even though it was raining and really cold. The track was mostly through like a jungle.Too bad the temperature didn't feel like a jungle. Heard more birds than I saw. Passed beaches, bridges. Listened to the sounds of the birds, the wind, the rain. It felt like I was the only one there. By the time I got back I was freezing, but it was a great walk. I could really feel my feet and legs and I was tired, but it was a satisfying feeling. I had promised myself a hot chocolate and they served carrot cake as well. That was a nice treat after this walk.
Went to bed early and because of that I woke up early as well. I decided to go for a walk, as the weather seemed to be better as the day before. Went to a look out, then walked along the shore and at 8.30 I got back and went to the visitors centre if they had any options of going to Ulva Island. There was a water taxi leaving at 09.00, so I had to hurry. They also arranged my flight back to the mainland. I checked out the hostel and went on to Golden Bay Beach were the water taxi would be leaving from. It was still windy and cold and every once in a while it would still rain, but at least the sun was shining too. The weather is really amazing. Within 5 minutes it changes from sunny into rain, dark grey sky, into bright blue sky with the sun shining again. Anyway the waves seemed to be pretty high, and this boat is fairly small. Crazy .. but with this good captain it was all okay and I arrived safely on Vulva Island. This is completely national reserve. Few tracks have been set, which can be followed. The walk was beautiful. The sounds of birds, the wind blowing through the trees, the waves approaching the beach. The tress were making scary sounds like they could fall down any minute and then all of a sudden it was quiet, the sun tries to reach through the trees. I stop walking and enjoy this moment of silence. Then the birds come out again, all making different sounds. After while I see the beach coming up. Walk a long the beach see a seal sticking his head out of the water. It feel like I'm the only one on the Island. Amazing. After 2 1/2 hours I'm back at the were I started. Have to wait for about 30 minutes until the boat comes again to pick me up, right on time to catch the flight. I get to sit all the up front next to the pilot. Nice views and the flight was better than the one yesterday. The weather clearly as cleared up luckily. I arrived in Invercargill. Arranged my ticket to fly back to Christchurch and cancelled the bus ticket. Walked around in the city for a bit, got some food for tonight and also arranged the train to Picton and the ferry to Wellington. Finally I'am going to make the ferry crossing from South to North. I hope it's not too rough on the water and that the weather will be good enough to take pictures. Let's keep the fingers crossed.
Went to bed early and because of that I woke up early as well. I decided to go for a walk, as the weather seemed to be better as the day before. Went to a look out, then walked along the shore and at 8.30 I got back and went to the visitors centre if they had any options of going to Ulva Island. There was a water taxi leaving at 09.00, so I had to hurry. They also arranged my flight back to the mainland. I checked out the hostel and went on to Golden Bay Beach were the water taxi would be leaving from. It was still windy and cold and every once in a while it would still rain, but at least the sun was shining too. The weather is really amazing. Within 5 minutes it changes from sunny into rain, dark grey sky, into bright blue sky with the sun shining again. Anyway the waves seemed to be pretty high, and this boat is fairly small. Crazy .. but with this good captain it was all okay and I arrived safely on Vulva Island. This is completely national reserve. Few tracks have been set, which can be followed. The walk was beautiful. The sounds of birds, the wind blowing through the trees, the waves approaching the beach. The tress were making scary sounds like they could fall down any minute and then all of a sudden it was quiet, the sun tries to reach through the trees. I stop walking and enjoy this moment of silence. Then the birds come out again, all making different sounds. After while I see the beach coming up. Walk a long the beach see a seal sticking his head out of the water. It feel like I'm the only one on the Island. Amazing. After 2 1/2 hours I'm back at the were I started. Have to wait for about 30 minutes until the boat comes again to pick me up, right on time to catch the flight. I get to sit all the up front next to the pilot. Nice views and the flight was better than the one yesterday. The weather clearly as cleared up luckily. I arrived in Invercargill. Arranged my ticket to fly back to Christchurch and cancelled the bus ticket. Walked around in the city for a bit, got some food for tonight and also arranged the train to Picton and the ferry to Wellington. Finally I'am going to make the ferry crossing from South to North. I hope it's not too rough on the water and that the weather will be good enough to take pictures. Let's keep the fingers crossed.
19 October 2007
AMS - KIX - AKL - CHC
Wow that was quite a trip. Flew after a day of work to Osaka. Had a great flight 3 seats for me and was able to get a pretty good sleep for about 4 hours on board I think. Arriving in Japan I was very glad there were signs in English as well so I managed to get my way to the train station. Bough a day pass which would get me to Kyoto and back. I was right on time catch the 10.15 train. The doors closed right behind my backpack. The train ride was about 75 minutes. Arriving in Kyoto was an experience. How to get out. The only words I understood were Arrivals, departures and Exit. Well you would think with exit it's easy to get out .... uuhhh which exit .... Just took a guess and picked the right one. Started walking and after a while I figured out how to get to Gion, the area where the geisha's are. It was nice walking around after an 11 hour flight. The weather was great (23 Celsius) the sun was out. After about an 1 1/2 walking through smalls streets I got in another different world ... you the book about the geisha? Well that's where I just arrived. Amazing! I was told the geisha's usually don't get out before 4 pm ... but I saw quite a few walking around. Waiting patiently for people with camera's. I walked around for a while, saw some temples and then I decided to go to the station and then the airport. After almost 4 hours of walking my feet were tired. I still had some time left for the flight. Slept for a bit and ate and drank.
On the next flight I did not sleep at all. It was quite a full flight. Read, watched a movie, some comedy's, played games and then it was time to land. Immigration etc in Auckland went pretty fast this time so I managed to get a 1pm flight to Christchurch. Found a place to sleep there and more important .... a hot shower. After arranging stuff to go to Akaroa and Stewart Island .... I was knock out and fall asleep at 7pm. Woke up only once during the night and this morning my alarm woke me up at 7.30 Left the hostel at around 8.15 to get a coffee at Starbucks (Yeah!) Exactly like 1 year and a half ago. At 9.00 the bus left for Akaroa. Awesome views all around the banks Peninsula. Clear blue sky, we even got to see the Southern Alps all covered with snow.
When I arrived in Akaroa I walked around for a bit, sat in the sun even though it's fairly cold, had lunch and then went to the wharf for a swim tour with the Hector Dolphin, the smallest Dolphin in the world, only living in this area. The dolphin will be maximum 1.20m (female)-1.40m (male). After a little while we saw penguins, but still no dolphins. Finally there was one, but this one was probably still hungry and getting his fish. No interest in playing. Then all of a sudden 3 dolphins came up to the boat .. all curious. I don't think I was ever so happy and quick in cold water as I was now. So cool..... 3 dolphins swimming around us, coming up to you, I can't describe how that is. After about 35 minutes the called us in the boat again as the dolphins had left. I think my body temperature went down about 10 degrees. I was shaking all over, but is was well worth it. I spilled my hot chocolate all over as I kept on shaking. Arriving at the wharf again, took of my wetsuit and could only get a quick shower as the bus was waiting for me. Wow what a great day!!!
Tomorrow I'm off to Invercargill and Stewart Island.
Keep you posted. Big hug!
On the next flight I did not sleep at all. It was quite a full flight. Read, watched a movie, some comedy's, played games and then it was time to land. Immigration etc in Auckland went pretty fast this time so I managed to get a 1pm flight to Christchurch. Found a place to sleep there and more important .... a hot shower. After arranging stuff to go to Akaroa and Stewart Island .... I was knock out and fall asleep at 7pm. Woke up only once during the night and this morning my alarm woke me up at 7.30 Left the hostel at around 8.15 to get a coffee at Starbucks (Yeah!) Exactly like 1 year and a half ago. At 9.00 the bus left for Akaroa. Awesome views all around the banks Peninsula. Clear blue sky, we even got to see the Southern Alps all covered with snow.
When I arrived in Akaroa I walked around for a bit, sat in the sun even though it's fairly cold, had lunch and then went to the wharf for a swim tour with the Hector Dolphin, the smallest Dolphin in the world, only living in this area. The dolphin will be maximum 1.20m (female)-1.40m (male). After a little while we saw penguins, but still no dolphins. Finally there was one, but this one was probably still hungry and getting his fish. No interest in playing. Then all of a sudden 3 dolphins came up to the boat .. all curious. I don't think I was ever so happy and quick in cold water as I was now. So cool..... 3 dolphins swimming around us, coming up to you, I can't describe how that is. After about 35 minutes the called us in the boat again as the dolphins had left. I think my body temperature went down about 10 degrees. I was shaking all over, but is was well worth it. I spilled my hot chocolate all over as I kept on shaking. Arriving at the wharf again, took of my wetsuit and could only get a quick shower as the bus was waiting for me. Wow what a great day!!!
Tomorrow I'm off to Invercargill and Stewart Island.
Keep you posted. Big hug!
13 October 2007
Fitvak Utrecht Demo Team
Claudia, Corine and I did a demo again in Utrecht at the Fitvak. It was fun again. One more day tomorrow. Below some pics which have been taken today during the 20 minute demo of 7 LM programs. BP, BS, BV, BB, BC, BJ and BA. By the way: something very unique happened. What?! Haha .. do you like to know ...... I did BJ .... Thursday evening we have been practising until 01.45 am and again at 07.45 am. Just so you know. I am not a jammer and learning 2 routines is pretty difficult. Deng ..... but I did it !!!!!

03 October 2007
Sorry haven't been too good in writing my blog that last couple of weeks. I don't know where the time goes. On one hand that's good, because that means I get to go to NZ sooner, but on the other had, there's still so much to do.Last week I have been adapting to NZ time for a bit since I was working night shifts for a couple of nights. Too bad I had to change back to Holland time again. Furthermore I have mostly been living a Les Mills world. Learning choreo's, doing the club launch last week. I I'm happy to tell BA was best visited class. It was crowded and everyone was so excited, including me :-) It was great energy and passion. Thank you guys!What else?! BB was a low priority for quite a while, because there weren't a lot of classes to substitute and I do not have my own class. Thanks to LM NL, I was able to postpone my exam tape, but now it's time to do it. At the club I have asked for an extra BB class for a couple of weeks, so I can finally work on my BB exam. They let me do Thursday evening (after BP & BA which isn't that easy). It starts to feel better and better. I have been taping my classes and watching it. Got some help from my friend Claudia as well. She really gave me some great advice. Yesterday I filmed a pretty good class, and I will have one more chance tomorrow. Then I will have a choice between the 2 videos to send in the best one. Still I think it's a difficult class to teach. I love it, but it ain't easy. It's so hard to stay calm and be quiet for me. It's a challenge which I love to take. Life would be boring without any challenges right?!
16 September 2007
NZ ..... Here I come
Exactly 1 month from now and I will be heading for NZ again. Today I confirmed and paid for my tickets, so there is no way back. Ha, not that I want to cancel my trip anyways.I'll be leaving 16 oct and will travel via Japan. I have never been to Japan, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to do a short visit. Unfortunately my ticket does not allow making any stopovers, so I just have to do it with the 10 hour layover. I will be flying into Osaka and take a trip to Kyoto, from which I have heard it's a nice city. Then I will be heading for Auckland and probably fly straight on to Christchurch. I plan to stay there for a couple of days and then I will be heading south towards Stewart Island. Then back up to Christchurch to take the train and ferry to Wellington. Then I want to go to Napier, Rotorua and back to Auckland. Then I plan to stay in Auckland for about a week and then I don't know yet. It'll depend on the weather what I will be doing. I will return home 13 nov late evening, so I get back on the 14th, right on time for our Mega Quarterly that weekend. Only one more month .......
13 September 2007
LM demo Nieuwegein 8-9 sep
28 August 2007
Time flies....
... When you're having fun. Last couple of weeks has been busy, but fun!Last weekend and the weekend before we there were quarterly workshops and master classes. I did assessment and of course my own master classes/workshops. I'm always looking forward it.This time I did BA in Roosendaal and did BP assessment there and all the other stuff I did in Nieuwegein on Saturday. On Friday and Sunday there was assessment again. On Sunday I decided to join the BS master class. I'm really starting to like BS :-)BA is great again. I love the release. In the beginning I thought it was a bit flat, but very soon I really liked it. Some new moves, nice combinations and a good flow from one track to the other. I nearly died during the Master class. Isn't it great to go that deep! The trainers pushed us really well and just by the look in their eyes I had to give more. Awesome! I really like track 9, it makes you work hard. I always like jumps, and now we have the air jack .... Feels like a happy jump all the way up in the air. Track 4 some killing Plyo's ... cool! :-)Well I think you just have to do BA to experience it, as there is now way you can describe the true BA feeling.BP has some neat innovations, with adding the weights with the chest. It's quite difficult here as we do not have the rubber weights, so they slide off easily. Good way to keep you bar evenly!Push ups on the bar with shoulder track and also use of the barbell with the abs! And I can tell you, I did the Master class on Saturday and on Monday I could still feel my inner abs!! Thanks Glenn, you made me work my abs very well with this track! With the lunge there is use of just a weight and the step. And with assessment we already noticed a big improvement for the instructors. Really nice 90/90's, good body positions, so imagine what this will also do for your participants. Unfortunately It doesn't make it a hard track when you already have a good body position as you only have the 5 kgs weight to hold. I'm glad the bar is back in the shoulder track! Well also for this one ... you've got to feel it!BC awesome. I already did BC when I was assisting the module training, which gave me the opportunity to go really deep. I always enjoy the master class most when given by Claudia and Daniel. They are just great together. By the way Claudia will be going to NZ to be in the filming in November!!! Together with our BA trainer Karin she'll be flying out to join the NZ presenters on stage. Isn't it great!!! Well I can tell you ... I'll be there :-) and I'm looking forward to it. BB was great as well. Unfortunately for me it was early morning, and I'm usually not that flexible when it's early morning. But well, it was a great start of the day. This release is better to do for me than the last release. I found that one a really hard one.What will I have planned ..... well, tomorrow I'm of to Nice, France for 3 days. Just to relax, and enjoy the weather (I hope) and oh .. when I get back I'll be a year older ..... Thursday is My B-day :-)Then in September I will be doing a Les Mills demo again with 3 C (Claudia , tiny C. & Corine, Mamma C. & Me Kiwi C.) somewhere in Nieuwegein. In October, right b4 I leave for New Zealand, we will do another demo at the "Fitvak" in Utrecht. Just like last year.For now, I off to pack my bag and get ready for work. Late shift today. Big hug
05 August 2007
Last week
Wow, it's august already. By the end of this month I'll be one year older again. Mmmm, don't think about that too much. What have I been doing? Mmmm work, teach, learning choreo. Did I also have some fun stuff to do? Yes of course. We went for a fun afternoon with all the instructors of fitness 365 in Amsterdam to Huizen. We went Lasergaming. I don't have a clue if that's actually English but it goes as follows: The group is divided into to teams. You get a thing around your upper body with a laser gun. Then you get to enter a pretty dark area, and you have to shoot as many people from the other as possible. Every time you shoot some one you get points for the team and the opponent stays out for about 5 seconds. It's so much fun. Especially with all instructors as there's nobody who likes to loose. We played 2 games from I think 20 mins or so, and I can tell you .... it's like a workout ...run run run for your "life". Afterwards we had dinner because most of us were pretty hungry.Then on Tuesday I fell down the stairs at work (I think just about every single person at the airport must have seen it as there were sooooo many people :-( and imagine seeing a girl in uniform falling down the stairs, actually trying not to fall. Must be quite funny hey). But I hurt my back and shoulder pretty bad at that time !$#(^$#^!%$!*$. so I wasn't able to teach that evening )*@$^!)&*#$. Wednesday went to my cousin for a BBQ. Thursday I did my classes again, but It didn't feel to good... don't think about it too much. My mom would say you'll get better before you turn into a guy (it's a Dutch saying which I have translated). But anyway, Friday I had the afternoon off of work and went to friend and we actually did nothing but enjoy the sun in her backyard. In the evening we went out for 'Pannekoeken', something we already decided to do for a long time, but somehow we never did. This weekend I assisted BC module training. I really like to assist the module trainings. It's quite a big group, and when that happens they have assessors assist the trainers during the module. Already in these 2 days I have seen people grow into the program and their techniques and coaching. Next weekend will be the last day. Hope everyone will be able to practise their tracks during the week in an actual class. It's quite an International group this time. People from Holland and Belgium, which is the usual mix, but this time we also got people (living in Holland) but who are from France, Portugal, South Africa, Romania......The only bad thing about the module training this weekend.,..... The weather.... we have had rain, storm and cold weather for the last 5 weeks or so.... this weekend it finally turned out to be 30 degrees celcius and I was indoors for the whole weekend. The other side..... I love to assist the trainings so I may not complain. 2-morrow back to work at KLM and teach my classes again, hopefully without any pain the back.
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