Mückenstiche und Sommerhitze

Mensch, die Zeit vergeht! Jetzt sind wir schon 2.5 Wochen wieder hier und der Urlaub scheint in weiter Ferne zu sein. Der Alltag hat uns fast wieder, wenn er momentan auch noch langsam und gemütlich ist. Nebst Nachhilfe (Lydia) und Hausarbeiten (Patrick) gehen wir's langsam an und geniessen die letzten Tage unserer Sommerferien :-) Anbei ein paar Fotos von den letzten beiden Wochenenden: einer Geburtstagsfeier, einer "Pool-Party" (siehe Foto...Patrick hat seinen Spieltrieb entdeckt ;-)) und unserem Ausflug nach Lexington, Kentucky, wo wir unsere Freunde besucht haben, bei deren Eltern wir in Australien gewohnt haben. Der Kleine im Bilde hat uns das ganze Wochenende über köstlich amüsiert, da er knapp 3 Jahre ist und noch lernt zu sprechen. Witzigste Anekdote des Wochenendes ist die: I habe für ihn auf Deutsch bis 10 gezählt und irgendwann schaut er mich ganz ernst, fast besorgt, an und fragt: "What's that noise?". :-)

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mit Isaac, unserem jüngsten Freund

in Lexington, Kentucky

Ansonsten wüsste ich nur noch von unserem Ausflug zum Optiker letzte Woche zu berichten. Nach guter alter Ami-Manier haben wir in der Werbung gesehen, dass ein Optiker als Sonderangebot 2 Brillen zum Preis von einer anbot. Da ich ohne Brille zunehmend weniger scharf sehe (räusper, räusper) und Patrick ebenfalls eine neue Brille brauchte/ wollte, haben wir uns gedacht, wir schauen uns das mal an. Ohne Rezept ging nichts, aber glücklicherweise war der Augenarzt gleich nebenan und man konnte ohne Termin reinschneien und die Sehschärfe testen lassen. Das Ganze hat übrigens für Patrick $40 und für mich $20 gekostet ... für mich zahlt theoretisch die Kasse, weil ich das Glück habe, eine Zusatzversicherung für Augen zu haben. Praktisch muss ich aber bei jedem (!!!) Arztbesuch $20 zuzahlen, also auch hier. Weitere 1.5 h und $400 später hatten wir beide neue Brillen. Das war mit Sonderangebot (was natürlich nur galt, wenn man aus eigener Tasche und ohne Versicherung bezahlt hat). Ich bin fast vom Hocker gefallen! (War genauso fassungslos wie meine neue Brille, die Patrick übrigens viel zu deutsch findet ;-)). Bilder kann ich euch noch gar nicht zeigen, da wir die Brillen erst nächste Woche holen. Aber dann!!!

Abgesehen von einer Invasion unerträglich angriffslustiger Mücken ist es auch hier unerträglich heiss und vor allem schwül. Wir haben uns überwiegend gegen Klimaanlage, für das Schwitzen und für Ventilatoren entschieden. Die meisten Amis haben noch immer ihr Haus auf Kühlschranktemperatur gekühlt (und zahlen dafür locker $200 im Monat), aber unser Haus ist so alt und schlecht isoliert, dass der Kühleffekt eh nur wenige Stunden, wenn überhaupt so lange, anhält. Langsam brechen die Energienetze zusammen und in Kalifornien gibt's wohl auch schon Energiebeschränkungen. Tennessee ist davon weit entfernt, aber hier wird ja auch größtenteils kein Müll getrennt und alle fahren fleissig weiter mit ihren Panzerfahrzeugen zur Post um die Ecke. Und dass obwohl Benzin jetzt $ 2.85 pro Gallone (ca. 4 Liter) kostet. Spottbillig für deutsche Verhältnisse, aber wenn man überallhin fahren muss, geht das ganz schön ins Geld. Bin gespannt, wie es wird, wenn Benzinpreise auf $5 aufwärts steigen. ...

Ehe mich das auf Israel zu sprechen bringt (worüber hier übrigens mittlerweile sogar in Lokal"nachrichten" berichtet wird), stelle ich lieber ein paar Fotos ins Netz :-)



-- > NICHT meine neue Brille ;-) mit Patricks Stiefmutter auf derGeburstagsfeier von Patricks Cousin.

HIIIIILLLLLLLLLLFFFFFFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Liebe alle!

Heute schreib' ich mal schnell für einen guten Zweck: Mein Freund Benny braucht ganz dringend und unbedingt liebe Menschen, die ihm bei seiner Diplomarbeit helfen wollen. Wir armen Psychologen schreiben in den meisten Fällen Diplomarbeiten, in denen wir auf viele bis sehr viele Teilnehmer angewiesen sind, damit wir hübsch das in vielen Statistikvorlesungen Gelernte üben können. Problem daran ist, dass die Diplomarbeit erst dann fertig geschrieben werden kann, wenn sich 20/50/100/200/... Teilnehmer erbarmt haben. Allllsooooo: Bitte, bitte, bitte gebt euch einen Ruck, sucht Euch ein stilles Plätzchen mit Computer und ca. 30-40 min Zeit (vergeht ganz schnell) und nehmt an seiner Studie teil. Man kann dabei sogar noch was lernen :) Und wenn ihr gut seid, könnt ihr sogar ein bißchen Geld verdienen!!!
Jetzt mal noch Bennys offizielle Beschreibung:

Der größere Sinn:
Viele Schulbücher und Lernmaterialien sind schwer verständlich. Sie machen es Schülern, Studenten und Erwachsenen auf der ganzen Welt nicht gerade einfach, neuen Stoff aufzunehmen. Ich untersuche einen modernen Ansatz, wie der Wissenserwerb komplexer Themen mit Hilfe von grafischen Abbildungen erleichtert werden kann.
Du trägst durch Deine Teilnahme dazu bei, den wissenschaftlichen Kenntnisstand maßgeblich zu erweitern. Konkrete Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten werden erprobt und können nach dieser Studie dazu beitragen, dass das heutzutage immer wichtiger werdende Lernen aus Texten, erleichtert wird. Es geht sozusagen um die Zukunft des Lernens. Deine Kinder werden sich freuen.
Der kleinere Sinn:
Das zu lernende Thema ist interessant, polarisierend, Du bekommst tiefere Einblicke in einige Mechanismen unserer Gesellschaft.
Du bist vielleicht einer der ersten, der zukünftige Lernformen kennenlernen und ausprobieren darf.
Du würdest mir einen sehr großen persönlichen Gefallen tun und mir wirklich helfen. Die Universität lässt die meißten Studenten mit ihren Diplomarbeiten hängen. Mir fällt es schwer, an genügend Versuchspersonen zu kommen. Ich werd langsam nervös und bin daher auf Dich und meine anderen persönlichen Kontakte angewiesen.
Eine kurze Zusammenfassung, was Dich erwartet:
Du sollst online einen anspruchsvollen Sachtext so lesen, als ob Du ihn für Schule oder Studium verstehen müsstest. Dein dabei erworbenes Wissen wird danach abgetestet. Wie beim Lernen üblich, ist das etwas anstrengend. Du solltest Dir also etwas 45 Minuten Zeit nehmen und aufnahmebereit, also nicht zu müde sein.

Und noch ein kleiner Anreiz:
Die besten Versuchspersonen erhalten 50 Euro.

Den Test erreichst Du unter folgendem Link: www.sophotec.com/sophotec/sophotest/

DANKE !

In der Hoffnung, dass das Blog auch weiterhin ungeliebte Massenemails ersetzen kann, werde ich meine Neuigkeiten hier auch in Zukunft ab und zu mitteilen. So könnt ihr nach Neuigkeiten schauen, wenn es Euch lieb ist und nicht nur dann, wenn ich Zeit für eine lange email habe...

Im Moment gibt es gar keine großen Neuigkeiten. Es ist heiß und schwül, das Thermometer zeigt 36.8 Grad draußen an und selbst mit Klimaanlage (die wir, zugegeben, nicht überanspruchen) ist es in der Wohnung bestenfalls knapp über 30 Grad. Puuh. Da arbeitet es sich nicht so gut und irgendwie fehlt mir selbst der Ansporn, in die gekühlte Schule oder die Bibliothek zu fahren. Am Donnerstag fange ich mit meiner Nachhilfe an, da muss ich dann eh wieder jeden Tag in die Schule. In den letzten Tagen habe ich versucht, etwas zu arbeiten und meine neuen Kurse vorzubereiten. Gestern gab es dann noch gute Neuigkeiten. Die Schule hat mich angerufen, um mir mitzuteilen, dass mein Psychologie-Kurs von allen Abikursen am besten abgeschnitten hätte. 10 von 19 Schülern haben die Höchstnote bekommen. Hat mich sehr gefreut, das zu hören. Das macht Mut fürs kommende Jahr.

Das sind auch wirklich schon alle Neuigkeiten für den Moment. Mehr folgt. Bis dahin wie immer ganz liebe Grüße, Lydia.


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Not much going on here at the moment. It's hot and humid in Nashville (who would have thought?), apparently with a chance of hitting the 100 line for the first time in six years this week. Our little airconditioner is working hard, but it's just a window unit and our attic apartment still feels more like a sauna than anything else. Oh well. I prefer summer over winter, regardless. The heat has made me a bit lazy, however (we'll just blame it on the heat). I had plans to go to the much cooler school or library to read and work a bit, but that remained a plan. I figure I'll have to go back to school every day starting Thursday for summer school, so I might just enjoy the summer heat at home a bit longer. That's really about all that's going on at the moment. We're both working a few hours every day to get papers written, to-do-lists marked off and next year's classes prepared. At least I got some encouraging news yesterday. The school called me to let me know that the AP results came back and that my Psych class had scored the highest of all AP classes at that school ever. 10 out of 19 students got the highest possible score, a 5. I'm really proud of those "kids" ...and myself, considering it was my first year of teaching. It's definitely good motivation for the coming year.

Well, more updates soon. Time to read/ work a bit before dinner...

An Inconvenient Truth

Well, last night actually brought some sleep (if late), so hopefully that was the beginning of getting back to a more "normal" schedule. Apart from adjusting some more, we went to see the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" today and we can only encourage everyone to go see it! It's a well-done movie about a topic that concerns all of us (it certainly should). Yes, it's the Al Gore movie on Global Warming, but if that for some reason speaks against seeing it, the facts speak for seeing it - and seriously considering some action in everyday life. If you can't or don't want to make it to the movie, maybe take a moment to check out the website: www.climatecrisis.net You can calculate your household's CO2 emission and you are provided with numerous ways you can do something to stop destroying this planet of ours...from changing lightbulbs (to a compact fluorescent one) to recycling, carpooling, adjusting your thermostat, turning off lights and appliances when you don't use them to signing up for green energy units (Tennesseans, check out http://www.tva.gov/greenpowerswitch/), signing petitions to urge the States to ratify the Kyoto Protocol or writing letters to congress. For the most part these are really things that take VERY little effort or money and end up saving you money, in fact. For all who haven't seen it yet, especially in the Tennessee area, check out the movie Kilowatt (H)Ours by Jeff Barrie, too. Similar issue: How can pollution and energy use be cut in the Southern US by all of us to stop the vast and destructive amount of coalmining that's going on? Check it out, it's another fabulous movie with great hands-on-tipps and not a boring fact-after-fact-lecture at all! We own it if you want to borrow it, by the way...
Well, I needed to get that off my chest. It never feels like one alone can make a difference. But thinking that all of us may just do a little something in everyday life (like using reusable or paper bags when shopping, recycling plastic, cans and paper, changing lightbulbs, turning off lights, etc.) and spread the word, one soon becomes a group of people whose efforts combined can, indeed, make a difference. And knowing that takes some of the helplessness, apathy and frustration out of it, don't you think? And at this point I really do believe absolutely NOBODY has an excuse for not doing something. Nobody. None of us want to know our (grand)kids inherit an environmental mess that causes more Katrinas, floodings, droughts, tsunamis and ultinmately wars, famines and the spread of diseases. Being democrat or republican or being a sceptic or not having time, etc. just doesn't cut it I believe ... think about it! We all share the same environment after all, no matter what side of the political spectrum we're on and how much or how little we care about politics. Ultimately I don't think caring about our environment is a political issue. It should be in all of our interests to keep this planet inhabitable. Wouldn't you agree?

Alright, that much from Lydia the teacher. It had to be, I just get too passionate about these issues.

P.S. Just to show you that we actually walk the walk a bit ourselves... We have changed all of our lightbulbs, we recycle plastic, paper, cans and compost kitchen waste in our yard (makes GREAT soil and costs nothing!). We carpool, walk or take the bus whenever possible. We pay for one green power unit every month (150 kwh for only $4 a month). We try to keep our house adequately cold or warm (it's supposed to be a bit colder in the winter and a bit warmer in the summer, after all). We try to use the dryer as little as possible and dry our clothes on the line. We try to buy local products to reduce shipping costs and as part of that we have recently joined a community supported organic farm by buying a share that in turn allows us to pick up fresh, locally and organically grown veggies every week until fall.
So, it is possible to do something, even with little time and money!

If you have ideas on additional steps we can take, we'd love to hear them, obviously...

Das gute alte jetlag

Wer hätte gedacht, dass jetlag so viel interessanten Stoff zum Schreiben liefern könnte? Muss schnell von letzter Nacht erzählen, es ist einfach zu absurd. Während Patrick gegen 23 Uhr schlafen konnte, habe ich mich gegen 1 Uhr immer noch gewundert, ob mir das auch bald so gehen würde. Nach einem Doku-Film habe ich gegen 2 versucht zu schlafen...mit dem Ergebnis, dass Patrick mit mir 20 min später vor dem Fernseher saß und wir erst einen Doku-Film über Einsteins Relativitätshteorie, Quantenmechanik und die String-Theorie und dann ein Video guckten. Als dann gegen 5 die Sonne langsam aufging, haben wir uns entschieden, komme was wolle, ins Bett zu gehen und so lange liegen zu bleiben, bis wir einschlafen. Muss dann wohl auch passiert sein, denn jetzt ist es 14.30 und wir sind gerade aufgewacht. In der Tat. Haben keinen Wecker, kein Telefon, kein Nichts gehört. Nach den Beobachtungen der letzten Tage heisst das jetlag jetzt bei mir auch 48-12 oder 24-12 jetlag (für 48/ 24 h hellwach und 12 h Tiefschlaf) :) Im Moment ist das alles noch ganz witzig und interessant, vor allem, da wir nicht gleich wieder arbeiten müssen, aber es stellt sich die Frage, wie in Gottes Namen wir heute abend zu einer "normalen" Zeit müde sein sollen? Irgendwelche Ideen? Jedenfalls haben wir bei all dem noch etwas über Physik gelernt. Schon witzig, dass die Amis die informativen Sendungen mitten in der Nacht zeigen...

So, dann wollen wir mal den "Tag" beginnen... Ich werde von weiteren Erlebnissen vollkommen entgleister circadianer Rhythmik berichten :)

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A note on jetlag

On the off-chance that you are not tired of reading about jetlag details yet, I HAVE to write about last night. I'm going to call this jetlag 48-12, or 24-12-jetlag - by far the strangest experience yet. To cut a long night short: There was no getting tired. Patrick had gone to bed around 11 pm, while at 1 am I was still waiting for some sign that my body would cooperate if I went to bed. A documentary, an hour and no changes later I decided to give it a try and just go to bed. Result was that 20 min later Patrick and I both ended up watching a show about Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and string theory ...plus our latest Blockbuster/ Netflix shipping. When we decided we HAD to give it a try, we were still not the slightest bit tired and the sun was already coming up. Eventually we must have fallen asleep (or should I say: passed out?) though, because now it is TWO PM and we just got up! Didn't hear the alarm, the phone, the mailman, nothing. So: My theory (or should I say: observation?) is that this jetlag enables one to stay up for 48 hours, then have a deep 12 hour sleep, or 24 up and ...uh...still sleep 12 hours.
Now, for a night that might be enjoyable or interesting (especially since we don't have to work immediately), but I'm a bit bothered by the question how on earth we are supposed to fall asleep at a regular hour tonight. Any ideas?

We will keep you updated on more circadian-rhythm-gone-wild-experiences ;-)

So...schnell noch eine Sind-wieder-da-Meldung auf Deutsch: Wir sind wieder da! :-) Wir sind gestern früh gut gelandet, ganz pünktlich, ohne verlorenes Gepäck oder sonstige Scherze. Überhaupt lief alles in diesem Urlaub richtig schön rund, das können wir jetzt im Nachhinein sagen. Nun sind wir wieder im unerträglich schwülen Nashville und kämpfen gegen jetlag und Spinnen (haben sich's hier gemütlich gemacht während wir weit weg waren). Patrick ist ziemlich froh wieder hier zu sein, er ist schon seit einiger Zeit bereit, sich wieder an seine Arbeit zu setzen. Ich kann das nicht unbedingt von mir behaupten, aber wenigstens bleibt so etwas Zeit, Besorgungen zu erledigen und Vorbereitungen für das neue Schuljahr zu treffen. Das geht am 04.08. für mich wieder los, auch wenn ich ab Montag (11.07.) wohl täglich Nachhilfe in Psychologie geben darf, da ich eine Schülerin hab' durchfallen lassen und sie nun keinen anderen finden, der sie den Sommer über unterrichtet. So schiesst man sich selbst ein Tor. Wenigstens gibt es ein paar extra Pfennige, die mein Konto nach den letzten 5 Wochen gut gebrauchen kann :)
Übrigens habe ich jetzt auch die meisten unserer Digitalfotos online gestellt. Könnt ihr unter folgendem Link sehen: http://de.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/patrickandlydia/album?.dir=/8380re2&.src=ph&.tok=phQzxKFBJ9g7mocT

Hoffe, das klappt.

Mehr in Kürze.

Gute Nacht...

Return of the Jetlag

Friends, we are back home in Nash-Vegas! After what seemed a never-ending day, we arrived here safe and sound yesterday morning, not one minute late. Really, now that it's all over, we can say that this whole trip went surprisingly smoothly. Not one delayed flight, no accidents, lost or stolen items, broken tires, robberies, food poisonings, bed-bugs, snake bites, shark attacks, ... you get the idea. Really, the only two things we can think of that caused some "oh come on"s were our delay in Sydney due to bad communication between Air New Zealand and United Airlines and the fact that a mask we brought home didn't arrive in Nashville with us but had to be put on the next flight an delivered to our house later in the afternoon. Really, no big deal.
The flights yesterday were nice and smooth, especially the long trans-pacific one. In fact, we were lucky enough to fly on one of the new 747s, which...get this.... had a TV in the front seat (not too new, I know) AND you were able to control the program. In other words: You were able to choose between hundreds of movies, series, documentaries, cartoons, video-games, etc. and you could even stop or pause the show when you needed to eat, sleep, get up, etc.. So almost like you had the remote control to Air New Zealand's Tivo. I would say Air New Zealand redeemed itself there. Two thumbs up! Downside is that we did not sleep half as much as we wanted to, since we were too busy watching TV. :-) After that we had a ridiculous 9 hour layover in L.A.. "Luckily" the airport in L.A. is sh***y enough for one to easily waste plenty of time trying to get through immigration, customs and the next gate. So after all of that we "only" had 7.5 hours of hanging out left. Originally we wanted to go to the nearest beach, but once we had seen the horrific smog hanging over the city and the craziness out there, we decided to pass on sunshine and beach and stick with our gate. A few phonecalls, naps and book chapters later we got on our red-eye flight to Chicago (sooo boring because everyone was asleep apart from me, sitting inbetween Patrick and another lady, both snoozing away while I was WIDE awake). In Chcago we had enough time for some fast food breakfast (at that point we did not care what we were eating anymore, as long as it was close to food) and then headed home to Nashville. Our friend Emily met us at the airport and took us home, were we were welcomed by posters and lots of yummy food provided by our sweet neighbors. Thank you!!! We thought we'd crash and not get up until tomorrow, but we did surprisingly well. Patrick took a longer nap around lunchtime, while I was out getting gas, dropping off photos, doing laundry, unpacking, etc.. As soon as I sat down, however, it knocked me out, so that I took my long nap when Patrick got up. We were both up again later that afternoon and fiddled around a bit until the jetlag hit again at around 10 pm. Patrick was wide awake by 5 am while I slept like a rock until 10 this morning. Really, we felt fine all day and now it's 11 pm and nobody is the slightest bit tired. I guess we'll just wait until it knocks us out again with another violent attack of suddenly being dead-tired.

All in all it's good to be back. I think Patrick is slightly more excited than I am, as he has been anxious to get back to his work. I personally could have stayed out a few more weeks, but it's also good to be back home with our friends, plants (I've really missed then, they are my babies!) and what is familiar. Plus, it gives us both some time now to get our errands run and still have some time to prepare for the next semester/school year. God knows there is enough work to be done...

Two more things before it's time to sign off and read a bit:
Speaking of reading... we both got around to reading George Lakoff's "Don't Think Of An Elephant". What a great and interesting read! You should pick it up and read it if you get a chance, it's definitely worth it.
Last thing: I've posted most of our digital pictures, which you can access following this mega-link (slideshow under "Bildershow anschauen" above top right picture): http://de.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/patrickandlydia/album?.dir=/8380re2&.src=ph&.tok=phQzxKFBJ9g7mocT

Hope it works...

Good night!

Nothing forever and then two in a row...

A(nother) last good-bye from New Zealand: We're making good use of one of Samsung's free internet stations at Auckland airport (I guess I just made their advertising idea work) while waiting for our plane to L.A.. We had a nice last day here with a slow morning. After breakfast we went on a hike up to the highest volcanoe overlooking all of Auckland, its different neighborhoods, harbors, beaches, etc.. and then on to NZ's oldest museum, where we learned more about volcanoes and Maori culture. Before grabbing a late lunch and heading out to the aiport early to drop off our car, we went to one of Auckland's great beaches, had an ice-cream and enjoyed the "winter" one last time.
Now it's waiting for our plane. It's supposedly not booked out, which leaves hope for some extra leg room. Let's keep fingers crossed! Strange to think that it's now 7 p.m. here on Sunday and we'll get to L.A. at 2.40 pm on Sunday - i.e. technically before we left. Time's an interesting concept, isn't it?

We're off to finding something nutritious before living off of airplane food for 2 days (or however long it may be).

As we said yesterday: We'll be in touch with you guys as soon as we have returned to Nashville and to feeling human again.

Take care, P & L

Finally.... a computer, some change and some time left to update this blog one last time for this trip. Sorry about the long pause.
Indeed, it is the end of our trip already. We're flying out of Auckland tomorrow night and get back to Nashville on Monday, so the plan.
Lots has happened after the last update. We pretty much travelled all through the North Island. From Picton on the South Island, we went on an early and chilly, but beautiful ferry ride to Wellington, which was nice, yet slightly disappointing for us after other travellers and the Lonely Planet had raved about it so much. From there we drove on to Tongrariro National Park - Peter Jackson used it as the setting for Mordor. Hard to find words to describe that place. It's "just" stunning. The whole area around the central North Island is, actually. Close by is Lake Taupo, NZ's biggest lake and, again, an immensely beautiful place. It's full of trout, has natural hot springs on the shore and is backed by the snow-covered volcanoes of Tongariro. Our stay in Taupo also put us into pizza-nirvana - it's home of the best pizza in NZ and the third best in the world, according to those who know. And, boy, was it ever a treat! YUMMY. Nearby Rotorua, thanks to its hot springs the most touristy place in NZ, was a disappointment, really. We were there on a Sunday morning, sure, but still... On we went quickly to the amazing (!!!) beaches and NZ's kiwi center at the Bay of Plenty and Mount Manganui in the East of the Island and further to the Coromandel Peninsula with its lush forests, rough shoreline and great hikes. After all that nature we spent a night in Auckland and went further to the Bay of Islands, north of Auckland. Now we're back in Auckland, actually enjoying NZ's biggest city (which most other people had talked down, so that we were pleasantly surprised). Tomorrow it's back home, which on the one hand we're excited about. On the other hand it'll be somewhat tough saying goodbye. New Zealand has left us lost for words with all its beauty more than once, that's for sure. Looking back, we are quite glad that we went during the southern hemisphere's winter (not that we had much of a choice, but still). I have to admit, we were somewhat scared of what to expect weather-wise in NZ when so many people asked us if we wanted to go skiing and if we had remembered to bring gloves, hats, scarves, etc.. Our experience was that, yes, there was plenty of snow and it did get chilly - BUT: we mostly had beautiful weather, around 12-17 degrees Celsius (60-70 degrees Fahrenheit?) and almost always sunshine or a few clouds and showers with sunshine following. As mentioned before, an added benefit of the winter was that we didn't have to reserve or book anything in advance, so that we were quite flexible and didn't have to share every sight with millions of other tourists :)
All in all it's been a great vacation to two fantastic countries and if at all possible, we shall be back. Until then: So long Southern Cross, New Zealand, Australia. We will miss you. Sniff, sniff.

At last, an attempt to summarize highlights and lowlights of this trip:

lowlights:
- Warrnambool and its Beachfront Backpackers
- Cairns
- Rotorua
- our departure from Sydney (Air New Zealand was being punky and has some work to do in terms of customer service and friendliness)
- Wellington's World Wide Backpacker - the people running it were just a bit too apathetic about their job.
-Matamata - Peter Jackson's Shire setting. It's a small town with nothing in it other than NZ's best cafe (recently voted as such) and the Shire, which, however, is on private property, doesn't really exist anymore, and can only be visited as part of a tour that costs you NZ$50. Please...

highlights:
- staying with our Australian hosts, Kev & Kath in Melbourne and Sarah, Chris & Co in Sydney
- The Great Barrier Reef
- The Great Ocean Road
- the Melbourne Botanical Gardens
- SYDNEY
- Our eco-friendly B&B in Christchurch: "English Park". Check it out and spread the word if you go!
- Hanmer Springs and its...well...hot springs when it's cold outside and one can watch the night sky with its mesmerizing Southern Cross.
- Picton and "The Villa" backpackers. A GREAT, clean and good-deal place!
- Abel Tasman National Park and kayaking along its shores.
- Tongariro and Taupo. Just all of it.
- Mount Maunganui's beach. Endless stretch of world-class sand and crystal-clear water. Sigh.
- Cathedral Cove on Coromandel.
- The biggest and oldest kauri tree in Waipoui Forest (North Island, west coast)
- Auckland and the Bamber House backpackers (apart from its notoriously dirty kitchen)

That's what stands out in our minds at the moment. We may add or subtract once we're back home ;-)

Pictures will follow in the next few days to give you a better impression of all of this (give us a day or two to sleep off the jetlag).