We are still here!

Hello out there! You might have been wondering already whether we're still in NZ, yes we are. But even in such a stunning country everyday live gets you! But I'll try and catch up with what we've been up to since aehm ... May.

Alrighty, let's start with a beautiful trip  to ...

Lake Tekapo

For a change, that's not a seaside location but still worthy going there. Beautiful bright blue lakes amidst mountains - feels a bit like home! We spent a few days (in June) in the area, also visited Mt Cook village and the Hot Pools in Tekapo, all very relaxing.

To pass winter in Dunedin, our friend Cohen had the great idea to throw a ...

Cocktail Party

(well he kind of won it from a Vodka producer) So we all dressed up and partied!

We also got a bit out into the snow on our ...

Cross-country skiing trip

Joined by Ben, Susie and Noelia we ran to a hut on our skis where we cooked, played, and stayed the night. Next day we skied out again. 

To keep warm (and well fed) we took turns with our flatmate Noelia and cooked our favorite Austrian and Spanish dishes in our

International Nights

Yummm .... here are some pics of only some of them

And then it was already 

Spring

And Tom went on some trips with his mates: 

Paua diving
Boat trip





Und wer gern von unseren Abenteuern auf Deutsch hoeren will, bitte auf Skype anrufen :)
LG Luci

2 Trips: Easter time around Lake Wakatipu and a Doubtfulsound Cruise

In the last few months, 2 great trips were on our plans. First we spent Easter with some friends in the area around Queenstown. And only last weekend we went for the first time down to Fjordland in the very South of NZ and spent two days on a cruise through the stunningly beautiful Doubtful Sound. Both trips were amazing experiences and showed us two different, beautiful sides of NZ.

In den letzten paar Monaten haben wir zwei tolle Ausflüge gemacht. Zuerst haben wir Ostern mit einigen Freunden in der Gegend rund um Queenstown verbracht. Und letztes Wochenende fuhren wir das erste Mal nach Fjordland in den Süden Neuseelands hinunter. Wir verbrachten dort zwei Tage auf einer Schiffsfahrt durch den atemberaubend schönen Doubtful Sound. Beide Ausflüge waren wunderbare Erlebnisse und zeigten uns zwei unterschiedliche, schöne Seiten von Neuseeland.

Hike to Lake Rere

Rain, sandflies and mountains - that's what you can expect in Fjordland. Fortunately we just got the mountains!

Visitors in Dunedin

We can hardly believe our luck how many of our friends traveled all the way to NZ this year. But I assume us being here is only a good excuse to visit this beautiful country. Here are the pics from Michael&Ulli's visit in February and Giggi&Martina's visit in April. Both were great times with lots of fun and adventure! Hopefully our visitors liked it as much, too!

Wir können es kaum fassen, wie viele von unseren Freunden die weite Reise nach Neuseeland auf sich genommen haben. Aber ich schätze, dass wir hier sind, ist nur eine gute Ausrede um dieses wunderschöne Land zu besuchen. Hier gibt's Fotos von unseren Besuchern im Februar - Michael&Ulli - und im April - Giggi&Martina. Beide Male hatten wir eine grossartige Zeit mit viel Spass und Abenteuer! Hoffentlich hat's unseren Besuchern auch so gut gefallen!

Michael & Ulli

Giggi & Martina

Tom's sad time alone in Dunedin

While Luci was back in Austria, Tom did not only work and shed tears, he also did some stuff that actually looks really fun!


Während Luci in Österreich war, hat Tom nicht nur gearbeitet und ein paar Tränen vergossen, er hat auch einiges unternommen, das eigentlich recht nach Spass aussieht!

Tom alone in Dunedin

Austrian times

In March Luci was visiting Austria, mainly for her father's 60th and to spend time with the family, but of course also to meet friends! It was a great time, and I enjoyed every minute. Unfortunately I didn't meet everyone I would have liked to see despite the already very tight program; the main focus was on my family. But thanks for the wonderful time that I could spend with so many of you. The only downside was that Tom wasn't there as well, so next time we'll definitely go both!

Im März hat Luci einen Kurztrip nach Österreich gemacht, hauptsächlich zum 60er ihres Vaters und um Zeit mit der Familie zu verbringen, aber natürlich auch um Freunde zu treffen! Es war eine grossartige Zeit, und ich habe jede Minute genossen. Leider ist es sich trotz des ziemlich engen Zeitplans nicht ausgegangen sich mit allen zu treffen, die ich gerne gesehen hätte; der Focus lag auf meiner Familie. Aber vielen, vielen Dank für die schöne Zeit die ich mit so vielen von euch hatte! Der einzige Wermutstropfen war dass Tom nicht mit dabei war, also nächstes Mal fliegen wir sicher beide!

60th Party

Anzenberg & around

Building a new cowshed

Trip to Vienna

Zoo Schönbrunn with the Hubsls

New Vino Wagram

Girls-afternoon

What has been going on in and around Dunedin Jan - Apr

It's been quite a while since I last posted some new pictures (January, actually). So we've got quite a few new ones by now. Let's start with what has been happening in and around Dunedin.

Is schon ein Randl her, seit ich die letzten Bilder reingestellt habe (Jänner nämlich). Mittlerweile haben sich also schon wieder einige angesammelt. Fangen wir damit an, was sich in und um Dunedin getan hat.

Hydrangeas in Port Chalmers

Sailing in Macandrew Bay

Sangria-Party

Trip to Mosgiel 

 ANZAC day

Visitors from Austria!!!

THANK YOU ALL - IT WAS AMAZING! WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEE YOU SOON AGAIN AND TO OUR FUTURE VISITORS!

Visit from Gerti and Karl

Tom's aunt Gerti and her partner Karl started the visitor's season when they came for the first weekend in December. Together we explored Tunnel Beach, and "climbed" Mount Cargill. Thanks for the visit and it was a pleasure catching up and hearing from your travels in the Pacific!

Meeting Monika, Alfred, Cornelia and Herbert in Rotorua 

Mid december we "hoped" to the North Island to catch up with Tom's sister Monika, her partner Alfred, and their friends and travel-companions Cornelia and Herbert in Rotorua. After a happy reunion we took a bath in Keronsene Creek (around 38°C) and exchanged the latest news while sipping wine! The next day we went to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, an array of hot lakes in all colours. For the evening we had booked a traditional Maori dinner and show, and finally encountered mass tourism in NZ! A little crazy a busdriver brought us to the Maori village where we (and about 150 other people) were greeted to their village and could then see some of their traditions as well as singing and dancing. Afterwards a "Hangi" meal followed, which is meat and vegetables cooked in an earth oven. Unfortunately the quality of this hangi was rather bad, and we couldn't really enjoy it. While Alfred got then really fascinated by the singing of one of the guides - Sunny - Monika found it rather sickening ;)

What we had not expected: the most bizarre part was only to come on the bus drive home! Our guide was apparently also a passionate singer so she got us all to sing "The wheels on the bus go round and round" while clapping her hands above her head. Yes, while she was driving the bus. And to put more emphasis on the "round and round" she went about 5 rounds in the round-about. With a 50-seater bus. When we already thought that can't get any crazier, the bus driver wanted to have every nation on bord to sing a song from their country. Since we refused to sing, all the (drunken?, 50-60 year old) Canadiens and Australians started to sing for us: "Edelweiss" from the Sound of Music - assuming that that's something like our national anthem.

Well this was a worthy end of our trip because the next day we already headed back home to Dunedin to prepare for our guests!

Monika, Alfred, Cornelia and Herbert in Dunedin

On the 23rd of December we could finally welcome or guests in Dunedin! After half a year of planning from Tom's side we were happy to show Monika, Alfred, Cornelia and Herbert our new home town and surroundings! On the program: Otago peninsula with Sandfly beach (penguin, sea lions) and Taiaroa head (royal albatrosses and seagulls with diarrhea), then Moreaki boulders (big, round stones on a beach), Christmas-BBQ on Tunnel beach (with playing volleyball and frisbee, "swimming" in the sea). Afterwards we had our more traditional Christmasparty around our Christmas tree (a very unique piece), singing "Silent Night", unwrapping presents and talking to our families on Skype. At midnight we went to church. 

Otago Rail Trail with Monika, Alfred, Cornelia and Herbert

After Christmas we went to Central Otago with our guests and did the Otago Rail Trail with them. That's a bike route on a former train trail, where the rails have been removed. We had choosen the downhills part and also stopped at every pub on the way to refresh ourselves so the trip was an optimal opportunity to talk and chat. We also felt how much influence the sea and its winds have on the temperature - here it was really, really hot! On our last day we had planned to cruise from winery to winery in Alexendra, but apparently they were on X-mas holidays too. In the end we found some open ones and enjoyed some pinot noirs and others.

After those happy days the sad moment of having to say good bye arrived all too quickly and we were sorry to already have to let our guests go. Thank you for your visit - we enjoyed it more than we can say to have you here and spend Christmas with you! We hope we see you soon again in person, but sooner even on Skype!

Matthäus and Theresa in Dunedin

Only a day after a hard good-bye to Monika, Alfred, Cornelia and Herbert, we could already welcome our next visitors: Matthäus and Theresa! We spent a couple of days - and also New Years Eve - in Dunedin and explored it and its surroundings!

South Island Trip with Matthäus and Theresa

We started the new year with a South Island-trip with Matthäus and Theresa - Queenstown - Franz Josephs Glacier - Punakaiki - Abel Tasman National Park - Queen Charlotte Sounds! Thanks for the awesome time and enjoy the rest of your trip on the North Island and Sydney and travel home safe!