Tag Archives: family
Puerto López
Flu had not seen the ocean for ages.
I must admit that I had got quite used to it during this round-the-world trip, enjoying very different seascapes over the past 16 months and, therefore, somewhere on the way, forgetting that for Swiss people being close to the ocean was quite extraordinary. Hence, visiting the Ecuadorian coast was very high on Flu’s to-do-list for her holidays and she would not be disappointed. José and I, for our part, were equally excited about stopping on the Pacific coast, for we had heard that humpback whales frequented the waters in summer and chances at observing those impressive cetaceans were high.
Unterwegs in den Anden
Vereint in Quito
Aterrizado. Landed.
Soviel verrät mir der Bildschirm am Flughafen von Quito. Flurinas Flugzeug ist sicher gelandet, sie ist bereits auf ecuadorianischem Boden und sehr bald werde ich sie endlich in die Arme schliessen können. José und ich begeben uns vor die Türe der Arribos internacionales/International arrivals und warten gespannt. Jedes Mal wenn die Türe aufgeht steht mein Herz still. Aber nein — es ist nur der Pilot. Und der Passagier aus der Business Class. Und das Kind, das von einer Stewardess begleitet wird. Und und und. Hat Flu vielleicht ihr Gepäck nicht bekommen? Oder ist etwas beim Zoll schief gelaufen (schliesslich wusste ich, dass sie Käse für uns im Gepäck hatte)? Blöde Fragen beginnt man sich zu stellen, vollkommen unrealistisch.
Die Zeit vergeht langsam, zu langsam, wenn man etwas mit so viel Vorfreude erwartet.
Aber dann endlich ging die Schiebetüre auf und da kam sie heraus, wackeren Schrittes, ihren liebsten Rucksack tragend und mit dem grössten Lachen auf dem Gesicht, das ich je bei ihr gesehen habe.
Wiederseh in New York
Wär hätti je dänggt, wo mir uns vor über mne Johr in Basel verabschiedet hän, dass mir uns in New York wieder träffe würde?
Damals sin d USA nid mol uf unserer Reiseroute gstande. Won ich allerdings ghört ha, dass dr Kaspar und d Fabienne im April uf New York göhn und d Salome au in däm Monet uf ere Studiereis dört verbigo wird, han ich plötzlich afo Plän schmiede. Worum au nid uf New York — e Wältstadt wo mich scho immer greizt het — wenn mir das au no mit mne Träffe vo däne liebe Lüt verbinde könnte? S Flugticket nach San Francisco hän mir jo scho ka und vo dört an d Ostküste isch es fascht e Katzesprung.
In the Bay Area
The Caltrain came to a halt and dozens of IT specialists from different companies located in the Silicon Valley spilled out of the suburban train. As we waited for them to clear the way before getting on, our backpacks shouldered and exhausted from the twelve-hour flight from Auckland to San Francisco, a man with Google Glasses caught my eyes. Was he screening me? Or just checking his emails while walking? I could not stop staring at him. It was surreal and frightening. The doors of the train beeped, calling me back to reality, and I swiftly got on the train before the doors closed behind me.
Oh brave new world; that is quite a change from the isolated, calm New Zealand to the heart of today’s technological development area. Hello Silicon Valley!
Brizzie
Our last stop in Australia, awkwardly further away from New Zealand than Melbourne, was another visit at relatives’: my aunt and her family moved to Brisbane a few years ago, and I already had the opportunity to come by during my last round-the-world trip.
I was definitely luckier this time. Brisbane was not flooded.
Phillip Island
Let us be honest: India, though a marvellous and eye-opening destination, has more than a fair share of hassles in pack for travelers. I have talked with people disgusted after leaving the country, seen travelers pack up for home almost as soon as they had arrived, and read so many warnings that I could tell stories about that fact without even mentioning my own experience. The short conclusion is: most people love and hate India. At the same time.
And even though I tend to think I loved it more than I hated it, Phillip Island (Victoria), where Aunt Coeri and Uncle Rod took us for some holidays, still was a huge shock for me. An agreeable shock, mind. As opposed to the mountains of garbage and plastic we had previously encountered, Phillip Island boasts a pristine or, if altered by man, well-conserved environment. The contrast with our months spent in India was tremendous; and this contrast, I think, made our enjoyment of the Australian flora and fauna all the better.
Melbourne
Wawrinka versus Nadal.
This might be your current association with Melbourne; the whole sportive world looks towards the capital of Victoria tonight. Ourselves, however, enjoyed and discovered this vibrant city about a month ago, when tennis was still far away and Christmas just around the corner.
The Great Ocean Road, Victoria
We had hardly put our feet on the Australian continent when we set out to discover one of the most impressive coastlines in the world: the Great Ocean Road. Built in the 1920s, this world-famous road runs along the wild ocean in the south-west of Victoria. During our roadtrip together with my aunt and uncle, though the weather was definitely not postcardlike, I felt that the clouds, the wind and the rain actually showed the force of nature: its domination was immensely present. After all, those elements — together with the constant coming and going of the waves — shaped the cliffs and rocks over thousands of years to the stunning form they have today.
Standing near the edge of a precipice, surrounded by this powerful nature, I was overwhelmed by the vehemence and beauty of our planet.