We arrived in Sydney today. Rain. We turn on the telly. Rain. We have seen a Wombat, Kangaroos and some other to our eyes exotic animals just outside the door. There are snakes in this country. I am afraid of snakes. I have this natural fear of snakes. Good thing they hibernate these days. Let them have their rest.
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In the past weeks we did a quick tour around the South Island of NZ, including a 4 day hike on the Abel Tasmen Coastel Track. We took pictures of the Fox Glacier, the Franz-Josef Glacier, some rocks that look like pancake stacks, the Milford sound (it was nearly dark, the tourists were gone, only us and the Sandflies were present) and other touristy places. What was really relevant and cool though, that we got to know very many very nice people. The pictures will fade but memories of people will survive. Sheesh, that was deep. On Monday 30th we arrived in Melbourne and were picked up by Shane and Jenny (Marit’s pen-pal) to stay at their farm in Tumbarumba. We enjoyed just hanging out there, having awesome food and making great friends.
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And today we arrived in the city. So far the rain was the only thing that was remarkable. But we will give Sydney a chance. If you had any experience with this city let us know what you think, or what we should check out.

I am happy to announce that one of my logos (Artcore) has won the logo of the day award. Cheers. Just wanted to share this because I find it both funny and kinda cool at the same time. I didn’t even submit the logo, I just got a mail that my logo won that award. So go over to Logo from dreams to check out all the other cool logos that are on display there.

My portfolio can now be found on Designcollector, check out this great site linking designers from all around the world.

We bought ourselves a nice little car. She is old, beige, rusty, reliable, economical and cool to cruise with. We bought it privately for a real good price. This is a dream come true. I always wanted to do this. Have a car in another country and cruise on for kilometers and hours and hours. We are still stunned and realy happy that everything went really well with this car. It is a lot cheaper than a rental and a lot more fun too! So welcome our 1980 Datsun Sunny to the family! Later mates.

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Just to let you know, we got here yesterday mornign, arrived here in Auckland save and sound. Weather good, went swimmingn in the pool already. More later. Japan was »Sugoi« we miss all of you there. Thank you so much.

Happy Easter to all of you. Today Marit and I will leave Japan. It’s hard to believe and we feel sad to say Good bye! We will take off from Narita Airport at 6:30 pm today and arrive in NZ at 9.20 am the next morning. Well see you there. Until then, Sayonara!

Plastic food is something that is very common, and also very helpful, if you are a gaijin like me who only knows how to read romaji (roman letters). If you go in a restaurant, be sure to look at the plastic platters in the front window of the restaurant. It is amazing how detailed the food is depicted in these wonderful pieces of every-day art. They are mostly made out of wax and covered with a shiny plastic cover. Once you picked your favorite composition go into the restaurant look at the menu packed with real-life pictures of the dish, point at the one that’s closest to the plastic platter and say to the waiter: »kore kudasai!« Most likely the waiter will say all kind of things to you, just smile accompanied by a couple of »hai«, which means »yes«, sit back and see what happens. Whithin minutes you will receive whatever you ordered. Don’t compare the real dish with the plastic platter, like you do it with the burger and it’s menu-picture at McDonald’s. Just enjoy it, I have never been disappointed!

Together with Ayu, Toru, Marit and I we picked her up. Chrissi, Marit’s sister, arrived here in Japan after countless hours of flight and with only a few hours of sleep within days. We are glad that she is back! Yes, after 17 years of being away, just like her sister will she once again be able to see places and most of all meet people that she grew up with. Exciting! Welcome to Japan Chrissi!