Merry x-mas, happy holidays, a happy New Year and all the best!

We wish you a wonderful time with your family & friends, enjoy a few quiet days off and don't freeze to much where it is cold and where it has snow. We are thinking of you (while we party BBQ at the beach)!!!

Are you afraid of heights?

Just a quick note: We will do this tomorrow. No, I haven't done absailing before, why? And yes, I am usually the one who freezes her a*** off (pardon my french) below 25 degrees. Sounds like a straight forward "fun" holiday activity, doesn't it?

Philipp does absailing every year but this little tower is a 30-m-piece of cake compared to the 100m into a pitch black cave that is waiting for me tomorrow.

Well, travelling is about stretching your boundaries, right? Hope to be back online the day after tomorrow ;-)

South Island trip notes

Yes, we are still here. I mean, there.
Since leaving Australia we did not update you with where we went. Here we go:

1. From Sydney, we flew to Christchurch. But not only there. Also to Winter. To rain. To cold. To a sleeping room with no windows at all (Christchurch YHA) and no smile on the face of the reception staff. So far, all a little bit depressing ... And to rain. Did I already mentioned it rained? And it was cold? Very cold? Winter?
2. We picked up Pippilotta @ Escape Rentals and drove off to Akaroa. On beautiful Banks Peninsula we met the sun (Thank God!) for a few hours and enjoyed one of the Top10 holiday parks with a splendid view.
3. Dec 2 greeted us with rain again so we decided to go to a Spa. Unfortunately Spa in this country means "hot pool outside with no roof and no heating". So instead of being warmed up we froze even more. Especially because the Hanmer Springs Holiday Park did not feature any heating whatsoevèr. How do the Kiwis do this when it is really winter? With snow? Also weird, the Sauna at the Spa was time restricted - 30 mins slots. How am I supposed to "do Sauna" in 30 mins??? Still all a bit depressing.
4. Our way to the West Coast was then a turn towards the better. Our first DOC campsite was cheap ($10), clean and a paradise. The sun turned up and we enjoyed a lazy afternoon and a beautiful evening walk through the rainforest.
5. Unfortunately that should change again the next day, with Franz Josef keeping it grey, as well as the Fox Glaciers. But we did enjoy the great Holiday Park.
6. We didn't see the sun again until further south on "one of the most beautiful roads of the world" (at least according to Lonely Planet) ... well, the weather was better ;-) Really amazing were again the DOC campsites we stayed the following two nights. And the fact that "Nikolaus" showed up ;-)
7. The Conyon Swing in Queenstown is already covered by an earlier blog-post. And the area really looks like "Lord of the Rings"-country, yes.
   
8. In Te Anau we were back to the usual grey and wet and really appreciated underfloor heated facilities at another nice holiday park. Well, let's say you enjoy the small stuff after 1 week of continous rain. Btw: Have you ever seen aerial hunters?
9. Luckily the weather worked according to the weather report and finally on Dec 10 we saw the sun again. Perfectly in time for our trip to Milford Sound. Breathtaking landscape, an 25 metre deep aquarium and another beautiful DOC campsite. Snow, santas, Keas and some close-up flowers.
10. Leaving the Westcoast (and the sand-flies - we admit murder in about 1,000 times) towards the east coast solved one major question: How does the milk come into the coffee? Here is the answer for Cappuchino and the answer for Espresso Macchiato.
11. Further north in Dunedin we were back to rain which made space for a visit to the movies (Where the wild things are) and the Otago Peninsula Aquarium before heading north towards the Moeraki Boulders.

As always - there are a lot more pictures online than tagged in the text. Just browse though the album. Enjoy.

Project report "Natural Tan"

If you have followed us along you are aware of our little project called "Natural Tan". Although this idea already has quite a long beard in the www- and youtube-world we still wanted to do it as a memory for ourselves. We take 1 picture of us everyday. This will add up to around 250 pictures after 126 days of travelling.

The goal is to be able to see how we transform from

Sep 2009-office people

(as in ... pale, hotel rooms, deadlines, commuting, long office hours, rainy weather)

into Jan 2010-holiday enjoyers

 (as in ... tanned, campervan, "campground reception closes at 7pm", "it is only 350km on the road today!", "11:45 pm: I quickly put those last pics on facebook", "Thank God, we bought the Icebreakers").

 You see there is a small big difference ;-)

So far we have gathered a collection of 136 pictures and uploaded 30 new pictures today.

The truth is: Smiling portait pictures somehow all look the same. And the transformation is not obvious if you see yourself every day. The pictures even prove that there are days where you simply don't look like yourself. If you are lucky you look like your brother or your mum. If you are not so lucky or the weather is too awful for too long you simply look ... äh, let's say ... "a little off the track" with a weird face, awful hair/beard-do or amazingly tourist-style socks (I am not tagging these, go search for yourself ;-) ).

Also a truth is: We haven't been to a beach with bikini weather since Nov 27, 2009 as it turned out to be winter again in NZ. So, please could everyone send a little sun down to New Zealand? Thank you!

If you're my mum ...

... don't, really don't and I mean that, click on this link.


p.s.: I'm writing this post so this means I'm alive :o) and Martina is too

Quickie

This blog entry is going to be a quick one for a few reasons:

1. My laptop clock says 13:33, which means it is 1:30 am in the morning where I am currently sitting.
2. Wireless and Internet (it seems like) just recently arrived here in New Zealand and is a) not very much available and b) hideously expensive.
3. There is so much to tell what happened over the last few days that we rather do it in pictures.
4. I am freezing (did I say that already?). It is summer. In New Zealand. We have about 5 degrees at night.

Check out the the new pics in the picture album - there you can find our (partly crazy and scary) story of the past few days. And to all who do: please be careful where you couchsurf! But on the other hand - no holiday without adventure, right ;-) ?!


To Lee: I know you have said it all along ;-). We are allright, the police did a great job.

The best of far away

... is sometimes home. 6 weeks Australia lie behind us. Enough time to get a glimpse of a (very big) country. This is what we liked - and what we realized is (sometimes a lot) better at home.

The best-of-the-best:

1. Free flying cockatoos over wide landscapes - these birds are simply not designed for cages. Everybody who puts them in a cage should be put there him/herself.
2. Sunrise at Whitsunday Islands after a night out at sea.
3. Stars. Everywhere. And so different!
   
4. Electric BBQs at most rest areas and  public parks - have your fresh, self-made lunch on the beach or in the middle of a just wonderful National Park. Cheap, easy, tasty.
5. To cuddle Koalas, Kangaroos and Wallabies
   
6. Service orientation of officals - ever tried to ask for restaurant tips in a German police station? Well, Good-luck!
7. Sushi rolls. Simple, easy, huge and tasty.
8. Sleeping in a tent while Wombats and Koalas have their fun outside (earplugs appreciated as they can make a hell of a noise).
9. Orange M&Ms and crumpets with Nutella (although the Woolworth Chocolate Spread actually tastes more like Nutella than Nutella itself over here)
   
10. The beaches, the weather and the sun. But this is why we came here, right?!
    

 Where home was missed

1. Leberwurst, Kalbsfleischwurst & thin bacon slices that actually can be wrapped around a date (the fruit, not your next-door-neighbour- although, each to his own!)
2. Public transportation systems - try to find out which bus brings you where in Sydney (no iPhone at hand!), when it is supposed to leave and where the bus you are currently riding will stop ...
3. Road kills being removed before they skeletonize
4. Being able to sleep in your own bed, in your own appartement with your own kitchen and stuff. Very much sometimes (especially when the place you stay at has pets called cockroaches or spiders in all scary sizes).
5. Shoe variety. I still cannot belive I survived the past 10 weeks with only 4 pairs of shoes. Only 8 to go ...

Well, so much for the big continent with its red heart. We have moved on and were shocked to learn that it has less than 15 degrees here in Christchurch, New Zealand. Currently 8 degrees. We also opened a new picture album - stay tuned!