Memories

A quiet day like today is perfect to take a break and look back. Our apactravel journey started on September 27, 2009 - about 3 months and a little bit ago. So far we have visited 5 countries, 4 are still to come until our return to Frankfurt on Jan 31, 2010. We have seen cities, lakes, mountains, caves, villages, animals big and small, people (mostly absolutely wonderful, some weird), cars, trucks, trees, glaciers, islands, bikes, boats, campgrounds, hotels and many more. We have lost only 2 cameras and did not experience any theft or serious injury. And in addition to all of this there are so many fantastic news from home to keep up with!

Looking at the pictures - we have roughly uploaded 1,000 pics already (about 20% of the pics we actually took) - most of our days were simply packed. Just wondering, how do you keep the memories of a journey like this?

One way might be my little red travel diary which by now holds wonderful stories from all the travellers we met along the way, I even have collected some handprinted pictures. The actual "travel-diary-ing" though is a tough job to keep up with. Ever tried to write a diary really every day?!

Another way could be our "Natural Tan" project which by now holds over 170 pictures and shows how we changed along the more than 40,000 kms we have already travelled. What do you think about the progress we made so far?

Von Natural Tan

Quite relaxed for an average moving speed of 101 km/h, isn't it ;-)) ?

For sure it is a day like today or our days on the Fijis where we simply did nothing. Apart from breathing, maybe. And as the Fijis were just wonderful we have added a few more pictures to the Fiji album.

 Do you remember the best day of your life?

Nachtelfirokesen (engl. night elf with a mohawk)

A short note upfront: this is one of the rare occasions where the German word is smoother than the English. We will stick with German.

"Nachtelfirokesen" are probably know to everybody who plays WOW (World of Warcraft). So was I told. I also was told they originally were thought to be an invention by some smart marketing guy to help promote the game by the help of Mr. T.

All bull***, we met one on Piha Beach in Auckland ;-)

The new 17 pics (Start with pic 164) were the last pictures of New Zealand - Good-bye southern hemisphere. We are already in Hong Kong, busy with hotel-room-window-sightseeing and sleeping as Philipp doesn't feel very well (either the Sushi or the Nashis ...). So we rest until the "Po Chai Pills"  (I cannot believe there is a Wiki-page for them) do their work.

@Mums, don't worry, he is already feeling better! And yes, I make sure, he drinks a lot ;-)

Something old, something new...

Something old: We are still on holiday ;-) .
Something new: Welcome to 2010!!!
Something borrowed: The fins to follow the Manta Ray.
Something blue: This was our "neighborhood".

Our New Year started slowly and remote on Nanuya Lalai Island at the Cold Coast Inn Resort. No electricity, no hot water, but a lot of sun, dancing and relaxation. Luckily our camera runs on batteries so we can show you some of the best pictures just here. But still, the highlight was the Fiji Beach Resort & Spa beach bar. Yes!

Happy New Year!!!

Unbelievable - our week in Fiji is already over. We are back in Auckland, busy preparing to leave to Asia in 2 days. 600 pics want to be sorted, geotagged, commented and (a few of them) uploaded.

The short version: Very blue water (or turquoise?), Manta Rays are giganto-enormeous when they swim 2m left of you, snorkelling was amazing and the Gold Coast Resort literally is at the end of the world! We have worked hard on our tanning project and are so relaxed that even our Fiji cab driver became nervous today waiting for us ;-)

Hope 2010 started off well for you - it seems to be a promising year already ;-)