Christmas in the Familiarity

Dec 27, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey

It might possibly be pretty much one year ago that I reported back from Christmas celebrations.
And now I will do the same. But not as the stranger, more like ‘one of the crew’, to whom I looked up to back in the day.

Well, how did my second Christmas in New Zealand look?
I still don’t care much about parties, so the day was rather calm in its nature. Only this time I had all the advantages of an own flat, the vacant kitchen, the own car for the groceries and on top just a single fellow merrymaker.

We both are very much mature and mind style, which showed the most in the food we made.

We attempted the Kiwi classic, pavlova.
That is a giant wad of meringue that gets decorated with fruit, whipped cream and similar things. We went for self made chocolate whipped cream and a selection of fruit.
It came out well and was..sweet. Tasty and sweet. 🙂

When boys make whipped cream by themselves… 🙂 But is DID taste great! 😉

The meringue looks like this before the oven.

You pavlova could look like this. 🙂

 

 

The days before we tried to make some cold cake. Following the plan and gathering all our cooking skills we ended up with some less ideal looking, but a very nice tasting treat, as well.

 

 

For the main course, we had some colourful and, not worth mentioning, delicious pasta bake!

 

 

More impressive without all the cheese. 🙂

Only then!
Then, on that very Christmas Eve forenoon, the postman came around the corner and brought me the parcel from home!!
Speechless and overwhelmed I unpacked one proof of love after the other and already the day was that much Christmasy! 🙂

 

 

What could I possibly say??

 

 

The actual Christmas Eve I got to witness at 2am that night. Via Skype I took part in the curiously strange feeling handing out of presents at home. Christmas story, Christmas songs, Christmas dinner. Many familiar things, but quite some that I had forgotten over the better year…
One year more and I will make good for 2 missed Christmases at home!

Dunedin’s Finest

Nov 24, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey

After the night I opened the windows this morning, as it was a little stuffy and warm in my 2×3 metres. But the temperature didn’t change, as I would have expected.
So finally summer is around the corner! And..we are just looking at the Advent season. That is strange, but at least it gets warmer.
You don’t think much about it and suddenly all shops are full of Christmas decoration, people are walking barefoot, it smells like sunscreen and the barbecue season aims for its peak. That’s New Zealand.

 

 

Some different kind of decoration…

As aforementioned, we discovered many different attractions of Dunedin with Lea…

 

 

At the cafe ‘Kiki Beware’ you’ll find Mexican Iced Coffee being served. Cold milk, vanilla-anise-syrup and espresso to combine by yourself.

In the Chinese Garden you can’t stop wondering, how these wondrous places can exist like this in the middle of a ‘bigger’ city.

 

 

This picture (one of 190 of its kind) I took from behind the waterfall in the picture above.

 

 

This cat had also looked at the street art. 🙂 Only she seemed to already have picked her favourite piece of art for the day…

The albatrosses also got graced with our attendance. And this time they got much closer than last time. See for yourselves:

 

 

In New Zealand there are more than lots of seagulls. Therefore, pictures of them are not that special in the end. Only mid-flight it all starts to look different. I just made it an exercise…

 

 

At Tunnel Beach we were lucky, so that no other person was there, despite the marvelous weather.
Windy, but great. I just had to face the challenge to condense my impressions to 15 images. My SD card was lying at home and I had to deal with the internal storage of my camera. Well, then you think twice about what to snap and what not to! 😀

 

 

Sadly, Lea already is over the hills (at least some of them) and far away on her most impressively packed bike and my work life continues. For another time there’s just memories and pictures left. And Christmas, I dearly hope. 😉

 

 

This time, the picture was indeed planned. 😀

 

 

As a ‘finish’, a picture of the moon. I like the moon. 🙂

Authentic Kiwi Day

Nov 14, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Trips

Here’s another picture post. But what is worth more than a thousand words? 🙂

One morning Tina and I got going early. Early as in 4am.
Because we wanted to see the sunrise phenomenon at a very special place:
The Moeraki Boulders. They are roly-poly rocks at the beach. Explained as bluntly I want to point out that spherical rocks at the beach are indeed and unusual sight… 🙂

And oh, it was worth it!

 

 

As the magic of the rising sun began to cease, we went to a nearby spot at the sea and had breakfast in the most of authentic ways.

 

 

Tea…

 

 

…and an abundance of yummy things. 🙂

Pretty close by, wild animals roam the coastline. Unfortunately we didn’t see any penguins, instead we saw some other sweeties…

 

 

‘Now point at it.’

These sea lions were wonderfully curious.

Pay attention to the eyes of this one.

 

 

Up next on the agenda of an authentic Kiwi day is the visit at a café. And when having chosen right, you are presented with photo material.

 

 

Tina has taken this marvelous picture. 🙂

 

 

Another point on the agenda: Unwind. You go to the beach, place yourself there, munch something, listen to music, draw, read, nap, take photos and enjoy life. At least as long the battery lasts… 🙂

 

 

A battery you typically recharge at a Fish’n’Chips store. We went to one with a remarkable outside lighting installation.

 

 

After that we looked at the Boulders in daylight. In addition, we had the chance to observe one of those utterly rare Asian tourists in a larger formation this time. Exhilarating! 😀

 

 

Finishing with the grand prize (no prize, as saving comes first) question:
How many sea lions can you count in the next picture?? 😉

 

 

A Hole in the Rock

Oct 24, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Trips

Often you tell yourself: I will be here for while, I still have enough time to see everything. But from experience you know that time flies faster than you’d like. That’s why we canvass all the nice spots around Dunedin more or less dutifully.
The locals recommended driving up Mount Cargill. And oh, it was worth it! After all, it is the tallest mountain in the city area.

View on the (also from up close) all wonderful peninsula.

Dunedin from above. Behind the hill next to the stadium (bulky building in the middle) I will live from tomorrow.

And I looooove you all! 🙂

In New Zealand you can see and experience quite a lot for free. But for some things tourists are expected to pay some dime. For example to see the albatross colonies from up cose. Following the advice of the locals, we just went lurking outside and saw some specimens! So you can also have it for free, though a little less spectacular.

The albatross is an awe-inspiring, majestic animal. Up to 3 metres wingspan are easily distinguishable from the seagulls.

I went all solemn at the sight. It is something special, after all…

The albatross colony lies at the very end of the peninsula. There you find a commotion of seagulls and some lovely sights:

 

 

On a peaceful evening we went through a scenic sunset towards the Sandfly Bay.
That is how I pictured New Zealand and you are welcome to share in, because there are not many pictures more New Zealand like…

 

 

For those who have been thinking about changing their screen wallpaper for a long time: There you go. 😀

 

 

One sunny day we paid a visit to the Tunnel Beach. By Tunnel, not the extraordinary coast line is referred to, but the tunnel a rich gentleman had built into the rock to give his daughter access to a sheltered bathing bay.

 

 

The ‘secret beach’.

 

 

A small and rather unspectacular cave down at the beach.

The tunnel. This is what a healthy father-daughter-relationship looks like. 😀

The bay from above.

 

 

After a small shopping tour we had dinner, followed by ice cream. In Germany, do you get a 2 litre pack of cookie ice cream for a better 2€? 😉

 

 

 

 

In Dunedin you also find a botanic garden, which overflows with pomp.

But first photograph someone’s Coke can. 🙂

 

 

It has shown that I am a good car groomer and now I got 3 weeks to cover for a colleague, full time! That is a great opportunity, you can say out loud.
Tomorrow I will move in to the new flat and from there, life will go on…
You’ll hear from me! 😉

Where did I just end up?

Sep 30, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Trips

At first I was thinking to stay in Queenstown for a longer while. But it always goes different. My photo tour I took on, nevertheless. 🙂

 

 

Whilst at the supermarket mostly offered for impulse purchase, this cookie got its own bar in Queenstown…

 

 

View on the city from the promenade.

 

 

EVERYONE travelling to Queenstown will get word about the legendary ‘Fergburger’. And well, they are undoubtedly stunning phenomena, those ones. 🙂

 

 

Suburb Frankton, home to the airport and situated by the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu.

 

 

 

 

Queenstown is also known as the adventure capital of New Zealand. Whoever is looking for Bungy, Skydive or helicopter rides, look no further.
I didn’t indulge in those pricy undertakings, but didn’t miss out on another real adventure:

The Ride through Skippers Canyon!

 

 

Suddenly you find yourself in another world.

The New Zealand roads are never boring, but this one definitely took all the cake.

In the valley flows the Shotover River, where a little further down scenes for The Lord of the Rings were filmed.

 

 

At this spectacular sight I sat down and added the only logical thing to truly enjoy this moment: A KitKat Chunky from the parcel from home. 🙂

You surely would agree that the street’s menu looks all inviting. 😉