Day 79: When Kitty fell from the sky

16.09.2016

I am often accused by Gudi that I always manage to fill a page in the blog, even on days when nothing noteworthy has happened. Let's see if I can do it today too, because there is really very little to report about the following day.

In the morning we drive to Picton, the port city from which our ferry will cross to the North Island of New Zealand on Saturday. To get to the small town, we have to continue on the winding and somewhat exposed Queen Charlotte Drive. A small punishment for Gudi, who already loves hairpin bends anyway (or does she still love my driving style): today it is also raining - as the British say, it's pouring rain.

So this time I really try to drive according to the circumstances, because I don't like running over one of the cats or dogs who are already plagued by the fall from the sky.

In the city, oh well, let's say accumulation of houses, a city implies the presence of inhabitants, which is rather questionable here, it is still raining cats and dogs (who are sitting in buckets, of course). So we actually have absolutely no possibility to do anything. With a view to the upcoming, truly nerve-wracking first weeks in Vienna, I try to at least finish the past semester at university. Therefore, I seize the brief available morale and motivation before they can disappear too quickly in the vastness of the New Zealand landscape, provided the domestic duties. The result of this slightly inflated speech: I end up in the library. With a laptop and some books that Gudi selects for me on the topic of space travel, I try to put together something presentable to complete a history course. There is not much more to tell about this day. Gudi and I pass the time between writing sessions in the library playing Schnapsen. We taught ourselves this and even though I'm not sure if our own interpretation of the Wikipedia rules of the game really corresponds to the truth, we actually have fun playing it. The advantage of this mysterious pastime is primarily that you don't need electricity or internet access for it and the battery cannot be empty either. Even with not too much light, you can still play Schnapsen secretly under the blanket (if you have misread at this point, you should think about personal utilization in various ways).

Dear travel blog, I cannot report much more about today. Tomorrow we will travel across the strait on a huge steamship, with our car in the belly of the beast.

Oh, speaking of cars: my small but fine vehicle has a small starting problem and therefore belongs to the things I have to take care of in Vienna. If anyone knows a good cheap mechanic who would take a look at the car, please let me know.

In this sense: Have a good night and sweet dreams

Gudi's glorious laws:

If you spend a long time together, you will notice that your partner tends to use certain expressions a bit too often. So far so good, this is more or less normal. But Gudi's sayings are sometimes so stupid - and they are meant seriously - that I have decided to expand this section with a few all-time classics:

1. Oh well, that's just milking the mice!

2. Oh no, now we're in a mess! (Every time we turn the wrong way somewhere)

3. And because you drove so well, there's something to nibble on now!