Munich and a little Vienna

I'm currently sitting in the Munich office "working". It is now 11.45am and I just went outside to take a few photos. While outside I checked the temperture - still -8C. It got down to -9.5 the other day and I was hoping that it would reach double figures... but no such luck.

I don't think I've ever seen a hoar frost that lasted throughout the day - its actually sunny today and everything is still pearly white. The ground etc is still white anyway from the snow a few days ago, but at the moment the trees, bushes and grass all have a white lining.

I'm looking forward to a months time when it should be even colder. So far the clothes I have already are still OK apart from my shoes - can't say that I've ever contemplated buying new shoes for winter before.

So far I've been to about 6 or 7 different Christmas markets - really popular here. Basically people just go along, drink a mulled wine or two - using it to keep warm in the freezing tempertures.

Here are a few piccies of the hoar frost.

This is from the view from the kitchen window here at the Munich office












This was walking down the main road to get lunch yesterday.












Here are a few piccies from when I was in Vienna last week.

This is the Summer palace "Schönbrun" where the Hapburgs used to swan around before they were toppled in the first world war after 700 odd years of rule. It is really quite massive with a zoo and very large landscaped grounds.









Here is the view going in the opposite direction - the hill you see is completly sculptured to look its best :)











Here are some crazy colourful little ducks that were in one of the ponds at the top of the formentioned hill.

Attempt at posting a video

Here is maybe a video, but more likely just a photo of the funny cycling the Germans seem pretty keen on - see previous post for more details.

A weekend in the life of a German

Saturday I went flying with Kerstin's 81 year old granddad. Here I'll let pictures do most of the talking.

A fine autumn day













Flying over some nice multicoloured vineyards beside the Rhine river













Multicoloured fields












Multicoloured trees













The lovely Lorelei concert venue (middle left)















On Sunday we had one of the more interesting days here in Gemany so far.

Sunday morning: we set off to a town called Baden-Baden (no I don't have a stutter). Trucks are not allowed to drive on Sundays and being early there was little other traffic. Therefore I took full advantage of the autobahn and drove most of the journey at about 180kmh.

Second, Kerstin had noticed some little kunst-fahrradfahren festival (roughly art or acrobatic cycling) in a tiny town just outside Baden-Baden. We popped along for a look and were just in time to see the German champions do their thing. I just watched the videos again and it really looks like they have the bikes on strings. Crazy what some germans will spend years perfecting...

I made several videos of most of it (biggest is 3mins, 51mbs) which if you want to see I will have to set up a server on my PC seeing as its so damn big. Its worth seeing though, so if you have broadband, get in contact if you're interested.

Next, we headed into the Friedrichbad (roman style bath house). Now there was an experience. Something for you New Zealanders to keep in mind, is that Europeans in general (excluding the british) are much more liberal when it comes to nudity (just take note of any advertising you might see on TV).

So the first thing you do is strip off completely and wander down a long hallway to where they finally give you a towel. You don't get to hide behind it for long though, because the next thing you have to do is have a shower (naturally in a communal room). Next you head into the sauna - which in tradional Northern European style is of course, naked. Then they give you a "soap and brush massage" - I kinda felt like I was an invalid in a hospital being washed.

After sweating some more in a steam room, you then head into the communal pools where it is mixed. I have to say that coming from prudish New Zealand and then seeing lots of men and women wandering around naked like its nothing unusual is quite strange.

Anyway, there are about 10 'areas' which include hot pools, cold pools, bubbling pools etc which you are supposed to use in a particular order, although most people of course just take their time, pick their favorite pool and stay there.

All this culminates in showering one last time (the 4th time it was 'mandated'), jumping into a freezing cold pool to close your pores, drying off, moisturing yourself in a room with a bunch of other people in front of big mirrors, then relaxing wrapped in a towel to finish off.

So all in all, a very interesting day.

The Friedrichbad house















Then on Monday while leaving to head to Munich, some fool backed into us as we were driving along... (sob sob and we're only done 2 1/2 thousand kms :( - actually that reminds me - that will be the first post of our new car - lovely isn't it. We got it about 3-4 weeks ago - still only does 200kmh though :(

Asia Photos

Here are some photos from our trip through Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand (Yay, we finally managed to post them!!!)


A shop in Little India, a part of Singapore.













The tallest buildings in the world - the Petrona Towers in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).









Kerstin and Lindsay in front of the tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands (Malaysia)














A beach on Langkawi Island (Malaysia), moments before the Monsoon came pounding in.




A touristy elephant ride in Kao Sok National Park (Thailand)















A beautiful waterfall in Kao Sok National Park (Thailand)














Our beach on Ko Phangan











A guard in front of the temple of the emerald buddha in Bangkok (Thailand)

Starting work and the Autobahn...

Well finally our 3 enjoyable months of slacking around as unemployed bums had to end. We started on Thursday because here everything seems to run by the calender month. It started by rushing flatout down to the trainstation to get down to Munich. Because its a good 5 or so hour journey down there we had to catch a train at 7.30am and the trainstation is a sweaty 15 minute 'walk' or a comfortable 20 minutes effort - we left ourselves the choice of the former. As per usual the train managed to be late and we missed one of the connecting trains - extending our journey by another hour. Anyway our first two days were fairly casual, just getting computers, phones etc set up. Best of all we got the work car that we had been waiting for - with fuel card... On Friday we tried to get on the way home before the rushhour, but due to stuff to do and then trying to find *anything* to eat in Freising before heading off, we managed it about 4ish. Pretty soon all my boyhood dreams of hooning on the Autobahns here were being fulfilled. Screaming along (in my eyes) at a heady 160kmh. Then cars started passing us - doing who knows what speed. At one point we had been heading along at about 140 for half an hour or so and then I realised that apart from the trucks etc in the slow lane, I wasn't passing *anyone* - I was being passed constantly! All this in a country where petrol costs roughly double what it is in NZ! So anyway, in order to live the dream, I had to go faster, so although I wasn't about to break my NZ record of 200kmh due to the rental car being speed limited to 190kmh, I went faster and can now say that Germany is the only place where I have ever been overtaken while I was doing 180kmh. So anyway I had to try everything so next I decided to stop completely in the fast lane just to see what happened. No one seemed to care at all! Ok so they were all stopped too in what we like to call here a 'Stau' or for you uneducated folk, a traffic jam, but still... So thats about it for this update - 'tick' one boyhood dream mostly achieved (just have to wait for the new car once it is finally delivered). At the start I was commenting how I was amazed how there were no limits, and that you would think that 150kmh would be a generous limit (to avoid the extremes that can occur between lanes), but once I discovered that the average speed can be that... Oh well, I'm sure that soon it will be nothing - we head back down again tomorrow morning. Have to try and break my bosses record of 2 1/2 hours between Munich and Frankfurt (I think about 412km) - hmmm I don't think so.

New Flat

Well we've made the big step now finally and now have a flat. We've kinda had one for the last 3 weeks or so, but the landlady didn't want to sign us up until we had our job contracts. She held it for us anyway, because apparently we made a good impression?

Its actually quite big as far as german flats go - 95 square metres. Enough to have two bedrooms (actually one office...) and a living room. It feels huge because it has a 12 foot ceiling and even the door ways are a good 1/2 foot higher than usual for NZ (and about 2 foot higher than K's grandmother's place). We only have to walk up 3 (large) flights of stairs - hopefully high enough that we'll still get the sun in winter...

Although we are now living in the city (Wiesbaden - about 270,000 people), we still seem to be quite able to find ways to walk huge distances each day - although we are going to look for bikes tomorrow, because my feet are killing me.

We are slowly starting to accumulate stuff again now. We've bought a vacuum cleaner, clothes drying rack and K just got back from getting a massive 70 piece cutlery set. So if anyone wants to come visit, feel free to bring 9 other friends - they'll have to eat off paper plates, but they can have a knife and fork...

Other little things I forgot to mention in my last posts were that I bought a bottle of real (application control, or what ever it is) bottle of french wine for €1.60 or about $3.00 - basically half what you could get cheap NZ wine for (in NZ)...

Also, when we were in Liechtenstein the other week, we were eating lunch up at the top of the chair lift that we took to the top of one of the mountains. I accidentally dropped my pocket knife over the edge. It was then that we discovered that I had actually dropped it into Austria... so had to do some rock climbing to retrive it.

Finally seeing a bit of Germany

Hi All,

We've just got back from a week down at Lake Constance, which was really nice. Being a kiwi I was kinda hung up over the whole swapping country thing, so I made sure that we got to head to all the other 3 countries around the area (Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria). I'll post the picture of me heading into Switzerland doing a handstand at some point (should really get around to putting up the asia piccies too...).

Since its been over a month since I last got my butt into gear and wrote, I'm probably going to miss most of what we've been up to, but here are the main bits anyway.

Probably about the time I last wrote, I got an email from Allied Telesyn asking whether we were interested in working for Allied Telesyn over here. Because we were heading down to Munich anyway, we went in for an interview and got offered jobs. We're still waiting for the contracts at this point, but we'll be flying down to Munich on Thursday to sign our lives away and we'll be starting on the 1st of September. It sounds like a pretty good job so far. We'll be doing mostly support, so we get a company car and will be travelling around to various companies, trying to solve their problems. We also got to choose where we based ourselves because we'll be working mostly from home, so we're going to be in Wiesbaden, about an hour south of Kerstin's parents.

Other than that, we've been getting back into running. Trying to head out a few times a week. We're really keen to get some bikes so we can start making the most of the great biking trails here in Europe. A couple of weeks ago, we biked from here north to a river called the Lahn and followed it into the nearest 'big' town Koblenz. The trail was really great, a seperate biking trail, so you don't have to worry about the traffic - all tarsealed - and you can easily bike two or three abreast when there isn't anyone coming in the other direction.

While down in the South, had been planning to hire bikes and bike around the entire lake, but the lonely planet informed us of something called 'the erlebnis card'. Basically someone has got together about 160 different touristy places (boats, museums, castles, mountain trains and lifts just to name a few). So for a set price (about €70 for a week), you can head around doing everything for free. Never ones to turn down a bargain, we set about getting as much value for money as possible. The weather tried to keep us from getting to Liechtenstein, but we got a fantastic day in the end.

We also did some walking around in Switzerland which was just like in the Heidi stories - lots of flower covered fields, cows with bells clanging etc. We're going to have to head back to do some proper tramping at some stage. The other really nice day we got, we spent biking around one of the smaller arms of the lake. Again there were fantasic trails to follow, and although we ran out of time to go to the Rhein waterfall, that was mainly because we were enjoying the rest of the trip so much.

So anyway, I'll try to update this a bit more often as I can't remember most of what we've been up to recently...

Here are some piccies:
The view from the top of the chairlift in Malbun, Liechtenstein








Real Swiss cows, complete with cow bells








Mock stone age buildings on the Lake Constanz edge








Hundertwasser house Altenrhein, Switzerland











Lindsay crossing the German Swiss border








This is Switzerland right... actually this in Konstanz - any Swiss town has heaps more flags than that.










Lovely 'little' chalet up a mountain near Bregenz, Austria

First German entry

Hallo, wir wohnen nun seit fast einer Woche in Deutschland, und es ist schön.

Ok, now that I've shown off a little... Even though it got rewritten, first by Kerstin, then corrected by Kevin. We arrived last Thursday morning - a little tired after getting up at 4am Thai time to get down to Singapore in time and not really sleeping on the plane to Germany meant that we were up for basically two days straight - I thought you only did that sort of crazy stuff when coming all the way from NZ!

Anyway its nice to be here because its now cool enough to go running etc. I've been for a couple of runs now - yesterday I nearly managed to get lost jogging along some long forgotten trail. That's one of the things I really like here, is thinking that the trail I am running along may have been carved out by the Romans 2000 years ago or something. You can never get that feeling in NZ.

The job interviews are flowing in for Kerstin which is really nice. In fact interviews in general are coming in - the Arbeitsamt (German WINZ) wants to have an interview so we can look at getting an unemployment benefit while we look for jobs - they also want to come by the house to check our claim that there is only one kitchen in the house (that would cost extra).

We are heading down to Munich on Sunday as Kerstin has an interview down there on Monday. Happily that also coincides with some other friends from NZ being there. A friend from Uni is also now living there, and Allied Telesyn has shown an interest in re-employing us, and the office is down in Munich so we may be busy.

Other than that I'm busy trying to learn German (and come to grips with the German keyboard), which is challenging but I'll get there eventually...

Back to earth

Well we're finally on our way (to our new) home. We arrived safely in Singapore this morning and are about to board the final flight to Frankfurt in about an hour.

We were a little sad to leave Bangkok (probably just because the thought of having to work is getting too close) - we went up the tallest building in Thailand for tea the other night - was really nice. Got up to the 84th floor where they have a revolving platform basically right at the top. We also booked into a nicer hotel for the last night so we could have a pool to relax in.

We got back to Singapore and were glad to find our main bags still in the hotel where we left them. Worked out really well, because they made us book a room for them to keep our bags, it meant we had somewhere to relax and get ready. We then lugged our stuff across town and appreciated how we didn't have to lug it around the rest of asia.

Anyway tomorrow its a whole new life for me - got to learn german and try to make some friends - maybe even get a job...

Bangkok (continued)

Hi again, Well we're well on our way to becoming experienced Bangkokians - we even helped out some other tourists today. We've now walked around the entire city about 4 times. We've kinda learnt out lesson - when we went to the Grand Palace we walked instead of taking a taxi, but now we just jump in and make sure they start the meter (and speak english). We've even survived a few tuk tuk rides. Quite fun once you learn to bargain - and travel early so as not to breath too much grey air. Yesterday morning we got really keen and went for the first run since we started our travels. We heading to Lampini park at about 1/4 to 7am and discovered that it was the busiest place in bangkok. Almost nothing opens in Bangkok until 9 or 10 so we were expecting the place to be deserted. It felt like we were doing the city to surf or something. Yesterday we ventured to the weekend markets - again something really to see. Because we don't really fit their cloths and there aren't any changing rooms to try, we basically just wandered around. I saw more different types of animals there than a medium sized zoo. Alot of them you feel a bit sorry for as they aren't always looked after very well, but the fish seem happy enough (most of them), and there is about the same variety as when we went diving. anyway better go as we're on these crazy computers that we had to buy prepaid vouchers for and they will kick me off and delete this when my hour runs out.

Bangkok

Well we've entered the madness of Bangkok. We ended up skipping the stop in Chumphon as the ferries and train all matched up nicely and we managed to get an overnight train to here the same day. They had a nifty little scam going in Chumphon - they dropped us off at a bar called "Farang Bar" (Foreigner bar) which made us a little sus, but they fed us and we were able to surf the web for a little while etc and even booked the train for us very "helpfully". The scam was quite clever in that in the lower bunks in the train cost more, so we paid appropriately, but they wouldn't give us the tickets until we actually got to the station. On checking the tickets there (with only a few minutes to spare), we discover they've booked upper bunks and kept the change. We questioned the girl that dropped us off who seemed to understand very little english all of a sudden, but after trying to blow us off, just gave us the change. Pretty nice for them - all they lose is the scam profits - the scam with all upsides and no downsides!

Anyway we then suffered on a train cooled to near NZ temperatures (winter) and little 6 foot compartments (if you're concerned - kerstin was fine), and finally got to Bangkok. We booked into a hotel that we had heard about, styled (as in had no work donë) in the 50's. We were duly notified that they didn't take sex tourists and that if they mistook your wife as a prostitute, they would not applogise and that no complaints were acceptable (kinda fortunate for them given the room we got). Because we were sick of walking we booked in for one night and found somewhere nicer the next day (sorry V&V).

We've now checked out the grand palace (had to hire long pants to get in and very nearly died in the heat). They have what is commonly known as the emerald budda there, for which they would kill you if you so much as point your feet at it. The king himself changes the Budda's clothes each season (I'm not joking). The buildings were quite stunning - the amount of detail was way too much for me in the heat, the whole place spares no expense or effort so there is alot to see. After spending the whole day wandering around on a beautiful (read scorching hot) day, we went to the movies to relax.

Today we went to see the Reclining Budda - a massive 45 metre long, 3 metre high statue - oh and the golden Budda - 5.5 tonnes of solid gold. Both were very touristy and while impressive they were a little disappointing, given that we were constantly being asked to move aside so Indian tourists could have their picture taken beside them.

The beach

Ahh the last 6 or 7 days or so since the last update have been great. First we went on a trip to Ang Thong Marine Park where we did some snorkelling and Kayaking around a lovely little group of islands. Then we shifted house and came to Koh Pha-ngan and found a really superb little beach called Hat Yao on the North Western side of the island. We got a room for 200 baht (around $8) per night, right by the beach. The beach itself is really cool - it has a little reef that anytime apart from a couple of hours either side of high tide, protects it from any waves etc. So during the day you get heaps of people just sitting and playing in the calm shallow water. They make most of their money from the restaurant so meals were an extortionate 50-60 baht (around $2) from the 30 odd we were paying on the mainland. So after sitting in the nice calm warm water (just rubbing it in for the NZers reading this :), we decided to do our diving course there, so we signed on the dotted line and the next day we started. After 3 days we did two dives at "Sail rock" - a rock in the middle of the ocean that just rises vertically from the bottom and therefore makes great diving. The water was a crazy 29-30 degrees which made diving really quite pleasant. It was really nice to get down and see what had only tempted us when we were snorkelling. We saw a moray eel amoungst many other fasinating things. Apon completing our course we had a massage to congradulate ourselves - we really should have tried it earlier! We both had "Thai massages" which is where they push and pull your entire body to leave you feeling pretty relaxed at the end of the 1 1/2 hour session! Yesterday we decided we had had enough of the strenous stuff and had a lazy day sitting around on our lovely beach. We did some more snorkelling and also had another massage as we really enjoyed the one the day before! Today we are heading off reluctantly to Koh Tao that we're now just using as a stepping stone on our way north to Bangkok. We'll probably stay one night in Chumphon on the coast and then get a night train north the following night. Now we feel like we've had a honeymoon...

The move to Thailand

Feels like I haven't updated the blog for weeks...

Well we finally made it to Thailand. On Langkawi we got up at six, went part-way towards the mountain we were going to climb, discovered that no gas stations were open and we were going to run out of gas, changed course, went to the set of "Anna and the king" instead, then went back to our hotel, tried to return the scooter, discovered the place wasn't open, paniced, managed to return it in the nick of time, jumped into a taxi, went to the ferry terminal, managed to eat breakfast, got on the ferry - all in perfect time.




We then got scammed first up in Thailand - Fares into the town 7 kms away were about the same as a 5 hour journey, but we figured that their scam (involving booking a ticket right to Surat Thani a days jouney north) kinda saved us time anyway, so weren't too worried.

We stayed the night in Surat Thani, then went to the Khao Sok National Park, where we got to ride on an elepant, see lots of pretty butterflies, eat lots of fruit off the hotel's trees, and relax a bit.

Anyway now we now are on Koh Samui - we arrived last night and today rented another scooter and had a look around. They didn't even look to see whether I had a license, let alone the international license I'm supposed to have, but don't. Tomorrow we're going to Ang Thong Marine Park to do some kayaking and snorkelling etc.

Kerstin was hoping to do a Thai cooking course, but it seems to be pretty touristy, so we'll try again on another island. On Tuesday we'll probably head to Koh Phan ngan which is a bit more backpacker-like (here is a bit more upmarket), and then after a few days will head to Koh Tao for some diving...

Hello from Langkawi

	Well we changed our minds and didn't bother going to Penang in the end as the beaches aren't up to our standards, so we jumped on the next bus (conveniently sitting beside the one we were on) and headed up to the ferry terminal to Pulau Langkawi. Its a rather interesting place - first the guy who seemed very helpful and helped us find where to buy the tickets and find the ferry etc, suddenly didn't want to leave us alone when we arrived here. Not entirely sure what his scam was, but everyone here seems to be in each others pockets, so we guessed he was either planning to pick our pockets, or maybe just get backhanders from the taxi and hostel when we booked them... Anyway we managed to lose him after quite of bit of effort and after trying to hire a scooter, we got picked up by some guy using "his" car to play taxi for the day. Anyway he was also very friendly and gave us some real french cognac when we told him it was our honeymoon (which is probably worth more than the fare), so we weren't sure what his game was either - but he offered his phonenumber for if we had any troubles and insisted on going in personally to see if the hostel had any spare rooms etc. All I can say is I'm glad I still have my wallet and bag... So we went for a quick swim which was *very* warm, and went for a nice stroll along the beach - all very welcome after getting back into the heat that we had been able to get away from in the highlands. Today we hired a scooter for 25 Ringgit (about $10) and went for a drive. It was lovely for the first half of the day, then a light rain started. It was kinda fun - I got a free massage, and it wasn't really that cold. However when we wanted to come back home, it had got more persistant and heavier... and we were around the other side of the island. We had asked whether the monsoon had started, and nobody seemed too concerned. We got home and then an hour later we really found out what a monsoon was all about. Rain that beat the west coast. Unfortunately that meant we were trapped inside for the rest of the afternoon. Tomorrow morning we're going to make a early start and try and get to the top of the highest mountain before we have to catch the ferry just after 9. Then we might finally get into Thailand.

Kuala Lumpur and Cameron Highlands

Well we failed on the whole getting up to heights in KL - we tried to have tea in the KL tower and discovered that you have to book about a week in advance, then we tried to get up the Petronas towers and missed that too as they only allow 800 people up a day and the loney planet lied as to the time to be there. But the Petronas Towers were impressive from below (and at least we can say we were in them...).

Anyway we went to the Batu caves (large caves just outside KL that were converted into a Hindu shrine about 110 years ago). Pretty amazing - firstly just the size - the main cave is about 100 metres high and big round too. You get to it via 272 steps up a big staircase that isn't far from vertical. You can hire these little voice things that tell you all about the various parts of the temple. They explained all the different gods (well the most common ones anyway) and the mythology that goes with them. They have heaps of statues built right into the walls of the cave. I couldn't imagine it being built in NZ - the greenies would throw their toys about the cave desecration.

Next we discovered that it was school holidays *and* a public holiday when we wanted to go to the Cameron Highlands. So we rang around about 20 places until we found one that had a spare room - 340 Ringit - compared to the 40-50 odd that we've been paying in other places. Kerstin was pretty keen to go anyway, so we made it a honeymoon special. I quite enjoyed walking into a flash hotel wearing sandals, a singlet and running shorts.

Today we went on a tour around the "Boh" tea plantation. It was pretty interesting. Firstly the countryside looks pretty cool with the vast rows of tea bushes, then we visited the factory and saw how tea is actually made. Our guide also took us bush for a while and taught us how to survive slightly longer in the bush and how to kill anyone we don't like in various nasty ways. All in all a really enjoyable day.

Tomorrow we head north to Penang as a stopover, before heading up to the Ko Samui and Ko Tao island group in Thailand. I'm looking forward to doing a diving course - and am trying to persuede Kerstin that she does too...

Hello from KL

Hey y'all,

Well we've made it safe and sound up to KL in Malaysia - I can't actually spell the city name, so I hope you know where I'm talking about.

Brief history: On Sunday Evening we arrived in Singapore. According to the pilot it was only 26ish degrees when we landed - I'd like to disagree. After lugging our 14 bags around the airport and onto the MRT (train), I'd lost more sweat than I thought I had in me... and then we had to get off at the other end. We had been contemplating taking our packs around with us, but this quickly changed our minds to "we're leaving our bags here at any cost".

Monday found us sweating our way around Orchard Rd and going to see the orchids in the botanic gardens. On our way to the gardens we saw heaps of turtles in a pond. While trying to capture a video of them, I nearly died in the sun. Needless to say, water was our friend.

On Tuesday we headed up to Melaka mostly by train. It was supposed to take 3 hours, but after moving about 2km, it decided to sit there for about an hour before moving on. When we got to Tampin, we caught the first bus we could - after being told by a wiley old taxi driver that there weren't any... he tried really hard - "would I lie to you, look at me, i'm old, look at my hair" - turned out (fortunately) that he would lie to us :) We ended up catching a local bus which took us the scenic (read long) route the rest of the way. Melaka is a town with a lot of history. First colonised in 1511 by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, then the English, then Japs, then English again. We stayed in a little hostel where we discovered that even top sheets weren't included in the price. That night we discovered why - even with the fan on, it was too damned hot.

Wednesday, we went for a wander around the township. I persueded Kerstin to allow me to hire a trishaw which was much better than walking. I don't think they know what wind is here, so some old guy peddling us around at 10km/h was sheer bliss. We also went to the "Sound and light show", which was a tape recorded history of Melaka.

Today we've moved on to Kuala Lumpur. Everything went smoothly today. The bus didn't rattle much at all, and we were here by lunchtime. We ate Indian for tea which was great after the terrible Indian we tried in Singapore. Now Kerstin is just checking all her job emails, and then we might head to the KL tower for tea :)

I think we're starting to adjust to the heat here now. I don't start beading sweat as soon as I step outside anymore. Don't get me wrong though, I can't wait to get to the islands in Thailand...

Till next time.
Lindsay and Kerstin

Counting Down...

In exactly two weeks' time Lindsay and I will have landed in Singapore and we will be starting the adventures of our honeymoon in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. We will be travelling around for one month and will then fly to Germany, where we will be living and (hopefully) working for the next couple of years. We are very excited and counting down... At the moment we are busy sorting through our belongings, working out what to take, store, give away or throw away. All this and trying to catch up with our friends before we leave keeps us pretty busy. Still we decided to take last weekend off and experience New Zealand's nature and beauty one last time before we leave. Together with two other (married!) couples (Veronica & Vince, Lauretta & Rene) we went to Mt Cook National Park and walked up to Mueller Hut, which is about 1000m above Mt Cook Village. The walk up was quite steep and it was a little clowdy, but we still had very nice views down onto the glaciers and the lake. As we got closer to the hut, there was an increasing amount of snow, the wind got chillier and the light rain drops turned into harsh snow flakes. Because the trip up was only 3 1/2 hours, the walk never got tedious though and we never cooled down too much. Mueller Hut is pretty flash, with solar-powered lights and gas cookers. Because of the altitude there was no fire, unfortunately. We warmed ourselves up with a cup of tea and by wrapping ourselves into blankets. We cooked a nice meal of couscous with salami, feta and capsicum and sat together chatting. During the night the wind picked up and it sounded like the hut was getting blown away. But fortunately it is very sturdy and remained standing. The next day was beautiful and clear and we were able to see the mountains (incl. Mt Cook) and glaciers properly. We took our crampons and ice axes and walked up to the summit of Mt Olivia(?), which was only 1/2 hour from the hut. from up the top we had the most amazing views. The trip was well worth it and makes us keep New Zealand in good memory. Crazy to think that yesterday we played around in the snow and in two weeks time we will be in a place where most people have never ever seen snow before. I will post some photos of our tramp shortly and will keep you updated about our trip through Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand...