Family holiday in Australia

It already has been an eventful start to the year. I am sorry I haven’t gotten around writing on my blog in a long time, but I have been very busy; mostly with the organizing and entertaining of my family’s visit to Australia.

We had a great time traveling across Australia. Our first trip went to the outback, Uluru (Ayers Rock,) the Olgas and Kings Canyon. Also we went during summer, we were lucky enough to have only 32 degrees Celsius and a nice breeze to cool us down. I was expecting a much hotter weather…

After an eventful 3 days of walking through the spectacular scenery and learning about the fauna, flora and indigenous history, we took off to Cairns in North Queensland. We picked up two six berth campervans to accommodate eight people in total. The drive down to Sydney was long but also action-packed. We explored the cold stream of Mossman Gorge went to a snorkeling and boating safari in the Whitsundays and watched dolphins in Forster.

Back in The Sydney area we went to explore the Blue Mountains and Sydney city, including a stroll (5 hours) in the botanic gardens, a visit to the Aquarium and zoo and a bathroom stop at the Opera house.

The three weeks went far too quick and before we knew it, it was time to say good bye again. Naturally I am quite upset to let my family go again, especially because I don’t expect to see them for another 4-5 years.

I will tell you more in detail next time and will include some photos as well.

Mount Cook, Lake Tekapo and back to Christchurch

Once we left Queenstown, we head off north again to go to Mount Cook, our last day in Queenstown was a bit rainy and the rain followed us all the way to Mount Cook. The snow on the mountains looked like it was about to fall in a massive avalanche. We could here rumbles behind the mountains, not too sure if it was an avalanche or thunder. The Old Mountaineers café was our refuge for a cup of coffee, the little café is filled with wonderful black and white photos of years gone by. It tells the story of mountaineers and there adventures in the early days of Mount Cook. As we were rained out we decided to move on very quickly after the nights camp to head back to Christchurch.

On our way we saw the spectacular Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo. At Lake Tekapo we enjoyed a picnic in the company of a local dog. Little Pippy seemed to love the ever changing crowd of tourists coming to his town and feeding him all sorts of treats.

The drive to Christchurch was filled with more and more mountain views and once back at the city we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at the Antarctic centre. I was a bit disappointed to see only one little enclosure of penguins but had a blast in the stormy room. This room is only little but kept at a -8° Celsius. But at certain times the wind chill factor is put up to make the room feel like a real ice storm in the Antarctic. Of cause they provide you with big jackets to keep warm… The other thing which was a lot of fun was a ride on the hägglund, a Swedish vehicle which is especially designed to drive is snowy, muddy and difficult terrain, it can even swim thru waters, which we all experience it in a bumpy and fun ride; actually it was so much fun that we did it twice.

Our last day we spend exploring more of Christchurch, the botanic Garden was blossoming and we saw the famous Tram and watched people punting along the river. The Sunday markets were also on the list and we enjoyed some great food there, even some German sausages with sauerkraut and sweet grainy mustard.

The most interesting place for me though was the Christchurch Museum; I was very surprised to see such a great collection of artefacts and memorabilities. Definitely worth going! In the afternoon it was time to return our van to the rental place. One night at the hotel and an early flight out of Christchurch back to Sydney… It went way too fast as usual when you are having fun.

Next time I would take the Transalpine Train and probably stay a bit longer, I would also stay at some locations for much longer to really get the whole picture, but for this time it was great to get a feeling of the place and find our favourite spots.

Can’t wait for my next vacation!

Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers and all the way down to Queenstown

Our road trip took us from the north of the South Island along the west coast to the South. Along the way we visited two glaciers; first Franz Josef Glacier which turned out to be quite a hike to get to. We got ready for some serious snow walking, when I was very surprised to get ride of some clothe layers half way because it was just too hot. A 30 minute walk over rocks and water streams, past gushing waterfalls and many tourists, we made it to our destination. The glacier, despite not being able to touch it, impressed me.

Having a talk to some other tourists on the way back to the van, proofed to use that we are taking a sort of normal route through this island. We met a very nice Australian couple from Queensland and also some honeymooners from the UK. After exchanging numbers and emails we went our separate ways; we went south whilst they hit the road towards our last destination.

Fox Glaciers impressed us even more; jumping over big rocks to climb to the other side of the stream underneath a gushing waterfall and turquoise water pits looked too inviting to give it a pass. I had to stick my feet into the icy water. I have never experienced anything that refreshing. The water must have been close to freezing; I could not keep my feet in longer then a couple of seconds.

Again the glacier was only to look at and we weren’t allowed to touch or climb on it, but the journey was the best part anyways. One thing that was very astonishing was to see pictures of the glaciers from the 1930’s which showed how big and how far into the valley this glacier used to be, global warming has left its mark…

We hit the road again to drive thru Wanaka, but stayed at a camping ground at Lake Hawea for the night. We woke up to a wonderful lake view in the morning, which set the scene for the rest of the day as we drove thru more mountains and past lakes to get to one of NZ most visited towns – Queenstown.

I really liked Queenstown, so many tourists... We took a cruise on Lake Wakatipu and our captain told us, that an average of 4500 new visitors come to Queenstown on a daily basis. Even though the town only has 14,000 people living there, another 16,000 visitors join them making around 30,000 people all up on average. So Queenstown has more visitors then locals! We indulged in some seriously yummy food whilst in Queenstown. One of our destinations was the pub on the wharf, which has a fantastic menu. The next day we also visited the Fergburger, the busiest hamburger place I have ever seen. The burgers were huge and very tasty, whilst the atmosphere was very hype and fun. A great place to wait for your burger and watch people…

Before we went on the cruise, we made it up to the top of the mountain on a gondola. My partner is terrified of heights and was very relieved when he could feel ground under his feet. He had no hesitation though when it came to the luge ride. An 800m gravity fed ride on a little cart was a very fun pastime. I tried to film my ride but failed miserably to film anything other then my shoes as you have to hold on to the handles with both hands so the brakes don’t apply. Once you let go of the handle the whole thing stops.

The view was amazing from the top of the mountain and I even got to touch some leftover snow, which was quickly used up for a little snowball fight.

After two days of Queenstown adventures we head up to Mount Cook… more next time.

A day at the spa in Hanmer Springs and off to see my friend in Motueka NZ

To continue my story about my NZ holiday…

We left Christchurch to head of to Hanmer Springs, which is famous for its natural mineral springs. Three of the pools are Sulphur pools and around about 42° Celsius. If you have missed the Sulphur lessons in chemistry class, it smells like rotten eggs… And yes I took a soak in it… It made my skin very soft and the hot water relaxed my body instantly, and even though we went in early spring and the mountains surrounding the spa still had snow caps, we enjoyed the outdoor pool very much. Once you walk out of the hot pool it actually takes a while for your body to get cold, and when jumping into the next hot spring it feels much warmer then it really is. I was disappointed that there was no snowfall on that day, as I do remember visiting similar pools in Germany and Michigan, whilst it was snowing. It is fantastic sitting in a hot spring and have snow falling onto your head. When I was a child I even used to quickly jump out of the hot pool to roll in the snow and then jump back into the water… But unfortunately no snow, we had very nice and warm weather which was very comfortable, I did manage to jump into the slightly colder pool to get a similar effect.

After the visit to the pool we head off to Kaikoura. What a wonderful view that was!

We were thinking of joining a cruise ship to see the seals and albatross, but where a little bit too late and missed the boat, well next time…

Our road trip took us to our next destination 250km to the north west - Nelson - another small and romantic city with blossom trees and historic churches.

After having some lunch we drove further up to finally visit my friend. It has been 8 years since I last saw her; in the meantime she got married and had two beautiful boys. We lost contact, because we both moved to different places and only out of pure luck found each other on facebook again. You got to love facebook! Despite the long time we haven’t seen each other, it felt like it has only been a couple of weeks. Some friends and only the best of friends can actually pick up the relationship where they have left it off and continue with the same feeling of closeness. She is one of those friends and we had a fabulous time in Motueka. We spend some time at the beach and walked in some marsh like areas along the coast. Too bad we had a big trip planed and needed to continue our travel the next afternoon…

Christchurch and Akaroa, New Zealand

We arrived at the airport in Christchurch around two o’clock in the afternoon. We had prearranged pick-up to the company we rented a campervan from. After watching a little video on how to use the facilities of the van, we were off to town.

Being used to the big city of Sydney, I was charmed by how small and historical Christchurch was. The buildings and churches all have their English influence and shops and restaurants were rather small.

We went to a supermarket to do some grocery shopping for the week and couldn’t believe the prices of fruit and vegetables. I expected fresh produce, since NZ is known for some good crop, but the quality and prices in the supermarket didn’t reflect that at all. We did however figure out later on in the trip that fruit and veggies are best bought from the farmers direct. Kiwi fruit was extra delicious and very cheap at only NZ$2 for a 2.5kilo bag. Needless to say, we lived on kiwifruit in the mornings for quite some time.

We then went to the city centre and had a good look around. The famous Christ Church Cathedral was one of the things we looked at, and of course the tram and river, with beautiful bridges. It was getting late and dark, so we had to leave Christchurch to find our first rest area for the night. We decided on the little town of Akaroa.

An hour of winding roads took us to this location; it is direct on the water and made a perfect spot for our first night camp. Unfortunately we didn’t see the ‘No Camping” signs and were scolded the next morning by one of the town residents for not obliging to that regulation, he also warned us that we should expect a fine in the mail, which we have not received as yet, but who knows it might still come… We didn’t think much of it at the time and sure didn’t want to have our first day of holidays ruined by it, so we went on to discover the very small town and its surrounding beaches. The scenery was lovely.

We then head back to the city to buy another quilt, as it was rather cold that night and we knew we were heading off to even colder areas…. Then our road trip took us to the north, more about that tomorrow…

Quick overview of my vacation in New Zealand

I can not believe I am already back from my NZ trip. Time has gone way too fast and I am wondering if it was all just a beautiful dream or if it really happened. The south island of NZ is absolutely wonderful and I would like to go back one day soon to do all the things we missed out on due to our limited time. I just want to write a little outline of my trip and will explain in more details of all the different places we went to at another time.

We set out to circle the south island and pick our favourite spots, and so we did. We flew over to Christchurch on a very cheap return ticket and picked up our two berth campervan from the friendly staff at the ‘Explore More’ campervan hire place. We then got ourselves packed up and ready to explore the city centre.

Christchurch is a very small and romantic city; some old architecture and the river with its many little bridges make it a very lovely place. We then travelled south east about an hour away to a little town called Akaroa, which is hidden behind hills and windy roads. We travelled at night time and missed out on the view at night but caught up on it the next day when we returned to Christchurch and towards the north. Our next stop was Hanmer Springs, where we enjoyed a soak in natural hot springs, enriched with many minerals.

We then travelled to the north where I visited my friend in Motueka, near Nelson.

We spend a day and a half catching up and enjoyed the beaches and mountain views of the area. Then it was time to say good bye and move on heading south to the magnificent views and walks of the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. What a hike but worth every step of it.

Heading further south to visit the wonderful Queenstown, taking a lake cruise and climbing the mountains in a comfortable way, by gondola… Well comfortable for me, my partner Mark on the other hand was extremely nervous as he has a huge phobia of heights, but we made it up to the top and all the way down again, unharmed. We then had a bit of unlucky weather and rain accompanied us parts of the way to Mount Cook. Even though we were washed out by rain a bit, this was one of the places I enjoyed the most; I will definitely go back one day.

After a picnic at Lake Tekapo, we headed back to Christchurch to explore more of the city and return our van to spend our last night in a nice hotel.

It took nine days, close to 2000km, six tanks of fuel and many hours on the road, but now we have circled most of the south island and had some spectacular experiences. I will definitely go back and explore more of the southern part as we had to bypass some of the towns as we had only little time left to return to Christchurch for our return flight. We had a great time and I will tell you much more in my next blogs…

Now I really need a vacation - NZ here I come!

Isn’t it ironic that every time just before your vacation you suddenly get so busy that you actually don’t know where left and right is anymore? I normally manage to schedule my workload so well that I don’t have to ever think about work outside of work hours, but this week sure hit me like truck. Funny enough everything has to be finished before I leave, as if I would never come back or take three month off.

I am going to New Zealand the day after tomorrow, and I am very much looking forward to it. It will only be for nine days but I am sure I will enjoy every bit of it.

It has been over a year since my last vacation and after this week I sure feel like I need a month off.

One thing I have learned today though is that you need to speak up, when you need help. Once put forward to the boss that I might not be able to finish everything despite staying back till all hours of the night, really made a difference... Fist of all we figured out what really needed to be done urgently and then got some of the coworkers to give me a hand as well.

I am funny when it comes to working, for some reason I always want to do it myself. I guess that comes from my parents constant reminder “if you want it done right, do it yourself” and as much as that is hammered into my head, I am learning to let go of this belief and actually enjoy being helped.

I will not be able to write any blogs in the next ten days, but I will make sure to tell you all about New Zealand when I get back. Hope you have a great week

Three of my favourite parts of Sydney

I live on the outskirts of Sydney and don’t visit the city very often, but when I do go for a day out, I have to go to see three things.

I love the Opera House; there is just something about it that makes me realize that I am finally where I wanted to be for so long. When I first thought of coming to this country I was sitting in my English class in tenth grade. Our teacher made learning English interesting by introducing different English speaking countries and we discussed Australia for a couple of month. She brought in pictures of the Australian landscapes and we talked about the flora and fauna of the country. The Opera House was one of the things I really needed to see…

Ten years later I found my self getting off an airplane in Sydney. And though it took two weeks before I got to see the Opera House I immediately fell in love with it. My first glimpse was when I drove over the Harbour Bridge to meet the family I was working for. I only saw the tip of the structure but the light reflecting of the building reminded me of the beauty of glistening water. Now every time I see the Opera House I have that feeling of “wow - I made it”. And even though it has been seven years now since I first came here I still feel that way.

My next favourite spot in Sydney city is the Botanic Gardens, they are located right next to the Opera House and go for acres and acres of neatly pruned hedges, tropical plants, odd looking trees and the best view of the surrounding waters. The masses of plants and flowers astonish me every time I go. Not to mention the endless numbers of flying foxes that hang in the trees having a well deserved rest. One of my favourite spots within the Botanic Gardens is the Succulent and Cacti gardens. Jamie Durie a famous Australian landscaper has put up a structure of thick iron sheets to make this gorgeous garden patch. It has the feeling of the Australian outback and reflects the shear beauty of this dry country.

Number three of my favourite things to visit in Sydney city is The Rocks. The hustle and bustle at this historic place makes me feel alive every time I go. You can visit the Rocks markets on the weekends, where you can find hand crafted Australian products. It is known for its charm and good restaurants. You can even go and climb the harbour Bridge from here and see the Opera House in a different angle. Visit all the little boutique shops and spoil yourself with a good cup of coffee.

Next time I will visit the city, I will go to Darling Harbour and tell you about that, it is another must see in Sydney and packed with entertainment.

If you are not living in Sydney I can only encourage you to come for a visit, it is by far the most beautiful city I have ever lived in.