Only in New Zealand

pictures, news and other cool beans from the middle of the earth

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Sorry, life got in the way of this blog but I think I am back now!

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Driving when influenced by drugs and alcohol is simply stupid for obvious reasons. If people don't think their own life is worth taking care of, they could at least think of everyone around them they're putting in danger. So this ad by the New Zealand transport agency is gold!

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This hairy cutie wished me a good morning when it popped up next to me in the bathroom the other day…

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New Zealand supermarkets never disappoint. 960 ml of raw egg white, “ready to go” - surely it is not meant to be drunk by itself? Maybe it's just more practical when preparing a pavlova for 30 people... Also: who seperates all the eggs???

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Perks of being a kitchen window florist...

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When you walk into the supermarket and see this and know exactly what's going to be for dinner! Yumm!

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Flying. Seat Anything F is what you want when flying south. Because when the sun has just risen, the clouds just lifted, the peaks of New Zealand's Southern Alps lie at your feet with snowy tips and you won't even see where they meet the ocean in the distance. This is 100% pure magic.

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New Zealand treated me well on my birthday!

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#isthishogwartsorwhat?

After what felt like three years of cloud covered, rainy, misty, sometimes even snowy Dunedin, when I woke up yesterday morning and could see the blue sky, the sun not hidden, and then looked out to this view from my office desk - it was pure magic. And as much as I hate going to sleep looking like an eskimo, because it is 10 degrees outside, which thanks to the lack of insulation and paper-thin windows equals maybe 12 degrees inside, I love the feeling of autumn, the fresh, crisp air in the mornings, the beautiful colour of trees. It feels like nature is wrapping its big arms around you and holds you tight.

Also this is my new fave:

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As the area around Dunedin's university is fairly flat, it is very popular to demonstrate your skills on the board. So at the gym, they need a place to put all the cool kids' mode of transport!

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Meet this fruit! Apparently it tastes like a mix of lemon and banana, so why they call it kiwiano, I am not entirely sure ... Maybe who ever invented this crisscross source of vitamins was thinking more about the looks...?

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Happy Easter weekend everyone! Hope you are just chillaxing and hanging out like me and my trainers!

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In 2011, when I left for New Zealand, my sister put a little note in my suitcase that she wrote the words of this song’s verse on. It took me an awfully long time to even realise they were lyrics, but man, how I love this song and could listen to it all day every day!

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Thinking of you, Vanuatu.

If you don’t live behind the moon, you will have heard of Cyclone Pam hitting the South Pacific nearly two weeks ago and the disaster that it left behind especially at the islands of Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Both countries have declared a state of emergency as thousands are without water, food and housing. Although the weather forecast had warned them of the coming storm days in advance, a lot of the people living on those islands simply didn’t have the means to protect themselves against this brutal force from above. They often live in very remote areas and houses like we know them are rare in those places.

Although nearly two weeks have passed, people on many islands of Vanuatu are still waiting for food and water supplies. They are seeing helicopters and planes coming to their islands on a daily basis, but those on it are only there to assess the damage, as the government is trying to be “as fair as possible to everyone” by planning a fair distribution of helping goods instead of delivering immediate help. Radio New Zealand reporter Koroi Hawkins has put together a blog showing first-hand pictures and stories of places and people he has visited since Pam hit.

In 2012 I spent one week at the Vanuatu island Espiritu Santo, that luckily wasn’t hit by cyclone Pam. I have been thinking of that trip a lot since last week and thought I’d share some of the pictures from back then:

Vanuatu is incredibly beautiful, untouched and raw. Its people are friendly and generous and they love their country. They depend on the environment a lot more than us. We have distanced ourselves from nature in our big houses and cars, looking at the world through screens, so not very many of us (including me) can even remotely understand what it is like to lose everything and be out there right now.

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BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS

How much of a city person am I, to post a video of birds singing? Hah. Seriously though, they are friggin loud! Amazeballs!

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My favourite time in Dunedin is at 7:05 am, when the sun comes up and makes the clouds look like they have fairy dust on them and even the birds are still sleeping and it’s just me walking down stairs full with broken glass from the night before. But all I do really, is look up to the sky.