Today, tomorrow and what's next...?

The return flights are booked, the last weeks of work are planned and weekends are filled with events, and Michel's athletic highlight of this 6-month work period is approaching. Quappi is getting bigger, breathing is getting harder, and the excitement is rising....

Time flies so quickly, we enjoy every day, look ahead, and dream of the new adventures that the future brings...

Since we are often asked about what comes next, we will give a little overview with this entry, because the plans have changed since we found out about the pregnancy. It quickly became clear that we still wanted to go to Vanuatu. Anni's practice has been opened and Michel continues to work with the girls on qualifying for the Olympics in Tokyo. We also quickly decided that we want to be in Kiel for the special time before and after the birth, to share everything with family and friends. My sister Kathi's wedding in August was also being planned, so the decision was made to return to Kiel for this time. The decision has proven to be very wise, as the medical conditions in Vanuatu turned out to be quite basic. Definitely not the best idea for the first birth. 90% of expats fly to Australia or New Zealand for the birth.

At the end of June, Anni will fly back to Hamburg. The pregnancy has defined the timeframe, as such a trip should be made no later than the 32nd week, and a medical certificate of fitness is already required by then. I will now fly in the 29th week, to have a little buffer. A night at Trudy's in Sydney is planned, and a 7-hour lounge stay in Hong Kong should also make the trip a bit more comfortable. After that, the family vacation with the whole Hinrichsen clan is directly on the agenda, which I definitely don't want to miss.

Michel will then fly to Samoa in early July for 2 weeks to support his women's team Miller and Tini, as well as a men's team (Josh and Donny), at the Pacific Games.

At the end of July, Michel will also return to Kiel, possibly with a stopover in Tokyo at the 4-Star World Tour Event.

From August, we have found a beautiful apartment on Westring for the time until November. The residents, Hannah and Hanno, are going on a trip, and we will take care of their beautiful home. We are very glad that this opportunity has arisen, because it allows us to simply pack our bags again in November (if conditions allow). Since both the visas and Anni's business license are still valid, and Michel's contract has been extended until the 2020 Olympics, we will most likely take the tour to the other side of the world once again. This time with Quappi and everything that goes with it... the families are already preparing for this trip, and so we will fully enjoy Vanuatu once again.

As for how everything will actually unfold... we'll have to ask Quappi when the time comes :)

Last weekend, we spent calmly at home. I participated in a small yoga retreat, which was very nice, especially because you meet many other yogis and spend some time together. So, my Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning were planned with breathing, meditation, and asanas, while Michel enjoyed the time alone. In the afternoon, we relaxed at home, and on Sunday, we enjoyed the rest of the day with 4 other yoga women in a small resort.

The work weeks are otherwise quite comfortable. Sometimes full schedules, but also enough free time in between. Starting next week, it will be a bit more intense due to my last week of work, as well as for Michel, because the national team of New Caledonia will visit and there will be training camps and training matches. The evenings are filled with various dinners and farewell meals, and we are moving again for the last few weeks. We are going to the house of the Berliners, as our contract is ending, and their house is empty for 2 months. This was, of course, a great coincidence, and we are looking forward to strolling through 4-5 different rooms and maybe even getting lost.

Yesterday, we took a sailing trip to the neighboring small island, "Hat Island," with friends. It looks like a hat and has an interesting history. There is no one living on the island, and you are only allowed to enter the island with permission. We preferred to stay on our catamaran and snorkel and dive at 2 beautiful spots off the coast of Efate. Peter offers this tour, he is a super nice Aussie who has been living in Vanuatu for many years. He brought along another friendly couple and a photographer who wanted to photograph the beautiful corals, so there were a total of 10 people :) It was a pretty amazing tour, which started at 9 am and we were back around 5 pm. We have never seen such beautiful corals before, and we were very impressed with how alive everything is. This time, we were able to take more videos with the GoPro because the visibility was unbelievable. We sailed back feeling very inspired, but there was a little problem waiting for us at the harbor.

The only downer of the day was that, before we reached the boat, Peter let his minibus roll into the harbor basin. The exact sequence of events is still hard to understand, as he was right next to it when his car rolled down the slope in first gear. Pretty unlucky. Nevertheless, he still wanted to proceed with the tour, and when we returned, the locals had already been trying for hours to retrieve the car from the water, which was not easy and had already cost some nerves. We arrived just as the last ropes were being secured, and with Peter's key, the steering lock was released, allowing the car to be pulled out of the water using the ramp. Luckily, it was successful that day, and it was a pretty crazy story.

We then arrived a bit late for dinner at our beloved Seachange Lodge with Ian, who organized a dinner for the team from New Caledonia. That's how the evening ended, we enjoyed the company of Julie, Ian, Debbie, and other guests, and then fell exhausted into bed.