27.02.2020 - Day 64 - Kaiserslautern, Palatinate

My 65th and last travel blog entry:

We're back, several euros, South African Rand, Singapore Dollars, New Zealand Dollars, Australian Dollars, Japanese Yen, US Dollars, and Mexican Pesos poorer, but much richer in unforgettable, amazing, and sensational experiences, encounters, and impressions! Thanks to the tailwind, we landed in Frankfurt half an hour earlier than planned this morning. The flight was relaxed and the landing was smooth 👍🛬. And how lovely that our dear friend Hans picked us up and brought us home in style.

In 64 days, we traveled around the world. It's incredible how smoothly and wonderfully everything worked. In this time, we took off 14 times and, luckily, landed just as many times. We checked in our suitcases 14 times, and 14 times they arrived, usually as the first ones, complete on the baggage carousel at the next airport. Our other bookings, such as hotels, theater tickets, or rental cars, went without a hitch and were perfect.

And what a journey it was.... We will surely need some time to really process and perceive everything we experienced. We never would have thought it would be so fantastic. All our expectations, and we had high expectations, were surpassed by far. We are very grateful that we were able to experience nine weeks that were filled with highlights. And how wonderful it was to let you participate a little in our world trip and our experiences through this blog. I certainly enjoyed hacking our day into the tablet every evening 😀.

Postscript: Yesterday, Brigitte sat down in the lounge and on the plane and wrote a fantastic and very readable 'statistics' that I naturally want to share with you. Voilà:

'I knew that my husband was a great entertainer. But I have come to realize more and more every evening that he is an even greater storyteller and a humorous and intelligent blog author! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Stephan, for your tireless blog sessions, which sometimes lasted for hours, evening after evening, including the great selection of pictures with fitting and funny captions. I love you for that too!'

- Flew almost 40,000 miles.

• - 7 countries in 64 days: South Africa, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, USA, Mexico
• - 7 different currencies: South African Rand, Singapore Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Australian Dollar, Japanese Yen, Mexican Peso, US Dollar
• - Took off 14 times: Frankfurt, JHB, Singapore, Melbourne, Auckland, Sydney, Tokyo, Honolulu, Kona, SFO, Denver, Cancun, NY.
• - Landed 14 times: Cape Town, JHB, Singapore, Melbourne, Wellington, Sydney, Tokyo, Honolulu, Kona, SFO, Denver, Cancun, NY, Frankfurt.
• - 6 different airlines: 1x Lufthansa, 5x Singapore Airlines, 1x New Zealand Airlines, 2x ANA Airlines, 1x Hawaiian Airlines, 4x United Airlines.
• - Unbelievable 1: Always got our luggage.
• - Unbelievable 2: Always departed and landed on time.
• - Flew over the equator 4 times.
• - Lived in 9 different time zones.
• - 3 day flights and 11 overnight flights.
• - Wrote 34 postcards.
• - Experienced February 1st twice: in Kyoto, Tokyo, and in Honolulu/Waikiki by crossing the international date line.
• - Slept in 10 different hotels: Hermanus Beach Front Lodge, Indigo Singapore Katong, The Copthorne Oriental Bay Wellington, Quay West Suites Sydney, Interconti Tokyo Bay, The Thousands Kyoto, Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach, The White Swan SFO, Blue Diamond Luxury Boutique Hotel Playa del Carmen, Hyatt Centric Times Square NY.
• - Slept in 6 different B&Bs: 119 on Georges B&B Napier, The Flying Trout Boutique Lodge Lake Taupo, The Waterways Boathouse Whitianga, Miharo Lodge Auckland, Morepork Riverside Lodge, Orchid Tree B&B Hilo.
• - Highest temperature 41 degrees Celsius in the shade in Sydney, lowest temperature -2 degrees Celsius on Mauna Kea at 4,200 meters above sea level.
• - Ate Italian food 3 times: Sydney, Kyoto, SFO.
• - Ate Thai food 6 times: Napier, Sydney, Honolulu, 2x Hilo, NY.
• - Ate at Le Pain Quotidien 3 times in NY.
• - Had fish & chips many times.
• - Had burgers and ribs many times.
• - Had countless fruit platters.
• - Took 1 guitar and 1 ukulele around the world.
• - Spent wonderful days with Ilona and Stefan in Somerset West and got to know Huber Thomas.
• - Serenaded Martina and Thomas Reiland at Grande Roche, Paarl.
• - Celebrated New Year's at 'Spiers' without the usual fireworks, which are not common in South Africa.
• - Met Martina and Thomas + Helga and Peter for New Year's and in Hermanus.
• - Met Sabine and Thilo in Hermanus.
• - Met Manuela and Michael in Singapore.
• - Met nice young people from the South Palatinate in Whitianga.
• - Celebrated the magnificent Australia Day on January 26, 2020, in Sydney.
• - Met Michel in Tokyo and NYC.
• - Watched the Super Bowl final on February 3, 2020, in a sports bar in Waikiki: San Francisco 49ers vs Kansas City Chiefs with the Chiefs winning.
• - Met Hans and Kirsten in Mexico.
• - Saw an opera in Sydney (La Boheme).
• - Saw a musical in NYC (West Side Story).
• - Rented 2 cars: Suzuki in NZ and Jeep Wrangler Sahara on Big Island.
• - Drove 1,800 kilometers in NZ and 800 kilometers on Big Island.
• - Saw 2 waterfalls: Huka Falls in NZ, Akaka Falls on Big Island.
• - Took ferries in Sydney (Taronga Zoo), SFO (Sausalito - Fisherman's Wharf), and NY (Staten Island Ferry).
• - Rented 2 Harley motorcycles in Waikiki.
• - Rented 2 e-bikes in SFO.
• - Visited 8 Harley stores: Sin., Auckland, 3x Honolulu, Kona, SFO, NY = 5 t-shirts + 2 shirts + 1 bandana for S., 2 shirts + 1 sunglasses + 1 bandana for B.
• - Played golf twice: in Hilo, Hawaii + Gran Coyote, Mexico.
• - Did laundry at 4 places: Somerset West, Whitianga, Sydney, Hilo, fell in love with the local laundromat there.
• - Took 4 Uber taxis in SFO.
• - Left 2 credit cards behind, found 1, blocked 1.
• - Didn't see any whales in Hermanus and Paihia.
• - Saw whales from a very long distance in Hilo.
• - 1-2 years of intensive preparation.
• - 65 blog posts with... 648 uploaded photos.
• - Read 6 thick books.
• - On December 30, 2019, description and warning about the coronavirus by Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, who appeared at the market in Wuhan, China
• - Bushfires in Australia, the smoke reached the city center of Sydney and could be smelled and seen in the hotel room.
• - Government crisis in Thuringia.
• - Storm "Sabine" at the beginning of February
• - Hamburg election on February 23, 2020.
• - Resignations of AKK, Klinsmann, and Marx.
• - Firing of Gerry Ehrmann / 1. FCK
• - Fortunately, we hardly needed the well-stocked travel pharmacy, except for treating a stuffy nose, we were hardly ever sick during the 9 weeks.
• - We had fantastic dream weather with dreamlike views of Mount Fuji in Japan, which is usually shrouded in fog; driving up to Mauna Kea in Hawaii, which was closed the next day due to snowfall; cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge in spring-like temperatures, which is often shrouded in fog.

Lessons learned:

• - Learned at the observatory in Wellington how to easily determine the Southern Cross using two 'anchor stars'.
• - Visited the whale museum in Hermanus, Te Papa museum in Wellington, War museum in Auckland, Pearl Harbor Memorial in Honolulu, One World Trade Center Memorial in New York.
• - ANIMALS: Rock hyrax on the cliff path in Hermanus, marine animals at the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore, all kinds of (marsupial) animals at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney (kangaroos, koalas, wombats), and countless opossums in New Zealand (none of them were run over by us), iguanas of all sizes in Mexico, countless gray squirrels in Central Park in New York.
• - Stephan's new favorite animal lives in New Zealand: the kakapo, a nearly extinct parrot found only in New Zealand, which is the only parrot that cannot fly - and before the settlers brought dogs, cats, and other ground-dwelling animals, the up to four-kilogram bird had hardly any natural enemies.
• - Big Island/Hawaii: It is unique and only possible on Big Island to drive within an hour from sea level to an elevation of 4,200 meters: from Hilo to Mauna Kea, which is the highest sea mountain in the world when you count its over 5,000 meters into the sea depth, it is the highest mountain in the world.
• - The Dole Plantation on Oahu is more of a huge merchandising area than an adventurous pineapple learning tour. We had imagined it to be much more interesting and informative.
• - If the cruise guarantees whale-watching in Paihia, New Zealand, it doesn't mean that you will actually see whales on that day.... Instead, you get a (lifelong) voucher for another day, even if you are no longer on-site ... So, if you happen to be in Paihia soon, please feel free to contact us, we still have a voucher...
• - In NY, even at the age of 54, you cannot buy a can of beer without proving your age with your passport and showing that you are 21 or older...
• - When asked where we come from and that we are German, we always received very nice feedback and reactions. Almost always, the first things that people thought of were Oktoberfest. Then the German autobahn without a speed limit. Then German cars and then Angela Merkel. Always associated with a lot of admiration. Wherever we went, Germans enjoyed a good reputation.
• - After 1-2 days, we already felt comfortable in each city and were able to orient ourselves and find our way around well, it was reassuring to realize.
• - Metro and subway systems in Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Kyoto, New York work smoothly and were easy to understand for us, which gives a good feeling...
• - Riding the cable car together in downtown SF is more expensive than using an Uber taxi.
• - We were absolutely thrilled by the punctuality and speed of the Shinkansen, which runs every 10 minutes. Why can't German trains achieve that?!
• - The 'Maps' function in the iPhone (alongside TripAdvisor) was our most reliable companion. Along with the 'All Inclusive World' option from Telekom, we were always online and knew where we were at all times. And otherwise, wherever we were, there was a 'Starbucks' with WiFi on every corner, really on every corner, even more widespread than McDonald's ...
• - Credit card and passport - Openness, courage, stamina, love, mutual care, overcoming obstacles, tolerance, and lots of curiosity - that's all you need for Schnulli Tours' Around-the-World journey bliss!!!
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