Week 36 - Finally Summer Days!

This week was quite eventful for us.

Julian went on a fishing trip to Kaikoura. There, he had booked a fishing tour with Fips, Konsti, and Nils. The outing turned out to be very successful, and we four managed to catch many fish.

The biggest fish was caught by Fips with an electric fishing rod from a depth of about 500m. The deep-sea monster weighed 12kg and was nearly 1.3m long.

Equipped with our catch, we spent another night together in Kaikoura and feasted on our fresh fish for dinner.

A little shopping tour in Christchurch was also on the agenda. After successfully completing this, we strolled through the beautiful botanical garden and adjacent university buildings. These indeed reminded us of Hogwarts.

On Thursday, we took a day trip to the Akaroa Peninsula. Here, we did a lovely hike on a small mountain and had a wonderful view of the surroundings and the distinctive bay of the peninsula.

After another short hike to a little peninsula in this bay, we treated ourselves to some ice cream. Just right for the hot temperatures.

On Friday evening, we headed back to the botanical garden. But this time not to admire plants, but because a play was being performed there. In just 90 minutes, only 3 fantastic actors took us through the Lord of the Rings trilogy. With musical interludes, a lot of humor, and interaction with the audience, the play was easy for us to understand and a little highlight. The best part was that it was free.

Since we have already attended a few such events, we were well prepared this time. We brought our camping chairs, a picnic blanket, and, of course, plenty of food.

We think it’s wonderful how many such events are always happening here in New Zealand. No matter the time of year, there is always something going on. Often free of charge and prepared and conducted with a lot of passion. The locals also participate in these offers a lot, and you can see how happy everyone is about it.

Overall, the weather this week was really nice and summery. On Sunday, it was over 30 degrees, which Franzi took advantage of for a visit to the outdoor pool. We then ended the evening with a barbecue on our terrace.

At this point, warm greetings once again to wintery and cold Germany : )

Of course, we continue to enjoy the advantages of our house-sit and the company of Jake.