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Update from our three country journey from Hungary via Austria to Germany…
I am writing this on the coach, not far from Vienna, as we are heading towards our lunch break. The weather for our final full day in Europe is pretty much as it has been for most of our trip: sunny, with a gentle breeze and a few clouds in the sky, with a temperature of 30°C. Any student that has complained to me about being hot has been not so gently reminded how lucky they are to be experiencing a small dose of summer in July. Our journey started in Pécs at 8am this morning; we stopped for 30m for a quick break near Budapest and it is now 1:30pm. Everyone seems to be taking the long trip well, but I imagine there will be some tired teenagers in Munich tonight!

Here are some of the tidbits from our trip that I haven’t mentioned yet:

* Two of our concerts have been interrupted by planes. The first was in St Gilgen, where three WWII replica fighters (possibly Messerschmidt ME109s) were putting on an aerobatic show high above the lake. The second was in Pécs, where a decrepit looking biplane did a series of low passes over the town during most of the concert. It did feel like we’d stepped back in time.

* All of our outdoor concerts were interrupted by barking dogs, but particularly so in Bad Tatzmannsdorf, where an annoying lapdog decided to bark at anything that came vaguely close to it. It also seemed to like us playing Austrian music more than anything else. The other memorable thing from that concert was the pair of storks nesting on top of a chimney, that watched the whole concert.

* Whenever the group has walked anywhere en masse, members of the public have been peering at our uniform tops, trying to figure out who on earth we are and why there are so many teenagers taking over their town. We’ve met several kiwis on route and lots of people have come to our concerts simply because they had asked who we were and what we were doing. When people find out where we’re from, they usually mention Lord of the Rings, or possibly the All Blacks. Occasionally we get the odd “Oh, you’re from New Zealand! Do you know [insert name] from [insert town]?” – and sometimes we do!

Today we got up really early to go on a canopy tour involving swinging through the trees on ziplines. It was really fun.

More photos of that tomorrow.  Then we went to the luge again. It was really cold but great fun.

just a day at work for me today. nice and sunny, but quite chilly.

from facebook

Update from the second half of our last day in Hungary…

We all enjoyed another carb+protein lunch at the cellar restaurant, before splitting into the three groups: cave dwellers, water babies and shopaholics. Everyone seemed to have a great afternoon at their various activities, all sharing their stories over dinner when we came back together again.

Apparently the water park was a step up from the one in Debrecen, the caves were impressive, and judging by the purchases, the shoppers were very happy.

After dinner there was the last chance to spend any leftover forints, including the purchase of several gallons of gelato (it is so good!), before returning to the hostel, where everyone is busy packing so we can leave Pécs at 8am tomorrow to head to Munich via Budapest and Linz, which will probably be about a 12 hour drive. Wish us luck!

From Facebook

Update from our final morning in Hungary…

Today was planned as a ‘rain day’ just in case we couldn’t do our concert last night. Therefore we have a free day.

After a sleep in this morning (really the first one of the tour!), we’ve had some time to sort out luggage, do some washing and relax a little. The troopers who have always slogged behind the scenes to pack the truck (ably led by Benjamin Tan and Matt Russell) have secured all the larger instruments, ready for the flight home in a couple of days.

In about 40m we are all heading back into town for lunch, and then the group is splitting up for the afternoon: some to go to another water park, some to visit local caves, and the rest to spend the last few forints in town.

i worked from home today. 

it got to about 4pm and i realised i hadn’t moved from my chair all day (other than trips to the kettle)

so i drove over to Christmas Beach on Herald Island to take some sunset pictures. 

i arrived just in time before the sun dipped behind a hill

then everything went slightly yellow

Hello.  Today we started with a yum breakfast at a cafe where we have been before.
Then we went to see some native birds and whizz down the log flume loads of times.
Then back to the hotel to chill abd go in the spa pool.
Then back to see kiwis by night.

from facebook:

Update from Pécs…
This morning we enjoyed a bus and walking tour of the city, including exploring the 2000 year old underground Roman cemetery beneath St Peter’s Basilica. Then it was off to the Zsolnay porcelain museum and factory, one of the most famous in Europe.

The exhibition was amazing – the porcelain items from the late 19th century could have easily been mistaken for Art Deco. Some of the staff splashed out on some of the more modern pieces at the shop in town later in the day – I doubt many of the students have! We enjoyed both our lunch and dinner in Cellarium, an underground restaurant in the centre of town.

In between, the students enjoyed some free time exploring the old and new parts of Pécs. Once again,we had a full stage set up for the final concert, right in front of the church that has both a cross and a crescent (it was a Catholic church before the Turkish invasion, when all the Catholic churches were turned into mosques), and right in the centre of town.

The concert audience was probably the largest we’ve had so far, with several hundred joining in the anthem at the end of the concert. The lovely people from Filharmonia Hungary were thrilled with the audience response as well as our performance.

Our guide told the students how much she had enjoyed their performances, their openness to learning about new cultures, their discipline and musicianship, and their kindness to one another. At the end of the tour, it was really good to get an endorsement of what we are doing – how it has touched ordinary people in Hungary, how they have enjoyed interacting with a bunch of Kiwi teenagers, and how the variety of the concerts has kept them entertained.

Goulash cooking in Hortobágy, Hungary.

View from the stage in Pécs, before the concert began

Westlake Big Band sound check on the stage at Pécs

Hello.  Today Kez and I left Auckland in the fog but it is sunny in Rotorua.  We have had fun bombing down the luge and then relaxing at the hotel.

very foggy this morning in auckland up until about 2pm.  made for a scenic walk to work.  it’s nice that the mornings are getting a bit lighter now

i had a pretty uneventful day at work and went for a walk at lunch to enjoy the crisp air

meanwhile

meanwhile jane and kezia have gone to rotorua, but i think they’ll tell you about that separately.