Glow Worms! / Waitomo, New Zealand, November 2008

After the abseil / the boots are already filled with water *)

Now I know why I have holes in my rubber boots. It is to get rid of the water that floods in from the upper rim. Actually my boots are completely filled with water - and it is damn cold.
I am standing in the middle of an underground river in a cave wondering what the hack I am doing here.

A little while ago I drove together with two French girls and two English guys with a van through the green hills of the Waitomo area. We were equipped with wet suits, helmets, head lamps, harnesses - and rubber boots with holes in it.
Our mission was to explore a cave by doing "Black Water Rafting".
Crouching through caves and all kinds of abseiling would have been enough to get me but in addition a fellow traveller mentioned that there are glow worms in some Waitomo caves.
Glowing worms? No idea what to expect.

Our guide Bettina briefed us about our equipment and pointed out that this wouldn't be a good idea for any person struggling with vertigo or claustrophobia.


*)

While I slowly descended down into the cave my environment changed completely and all senses noted a shift of gears.
The green hills changed into a indication of greenish light from above, the bird voices changed into the swoosh of water and the smell of fresh grass turned into that very unique cave-mixture of moisture, wet stones and soil.

All of a sudden I touched ground respectively water by landing in the middle of the stream that runs through the cave. I really had to inhale hard because the water up to my knees was very cold - and I mean 'very'. Was I really supposed to wade through that dark liquid antarctic for several hours? I guess so.

So here I am, in a cave rive'r. Let's enjoy it.


Freezing cold darkness *)

While waiting for the rest of my group to abseil I started to enjoy the scenery. Light fingers pointed down from above and when looking up there was no blue sky but a very intense green.
If you ever want to amplify a color just put complete darkness around it.

Everyone of us fetched an inflated rubber tube and we made our way up the river.
Bettina led us through a lot of small and smallest crevices and every time the water reached the next area of my body my lungs seemed to collapse.


Sometimes we had to crouch on our back with the cold water up to our ears - literally *)

After a while we reached a kind of underworld sandy beach in a bigger hall. We sat down on our tubes and Bettina shared some of her knowledge with us.
The said that the ceiling of the hall is covered with glow worms and that they illuminate to attract insects as prey. I looked up and saw not a single glowing thing. Did they cheat on me?
Bettina asked us to switch off our head lamps. Have you ever had the feeling of being swallowed by darkness? If there is a climax of 'pitch black' this would have been the moment to use it.


The underground sandy beach*)

I looked up into the darkness and was disappointed: No glowing worms above me. Did they really rip me off?

After some seconds of silence Bettina said 'Shall I switch the worms on? They are sensitive to noise and I am going to make some. Be prepared."

Without further warning she slammed her rubber tube on the surface of the water creating a really loud bang.

Sometimes you can densify a whole day into just one second. On this particular day it was the second after the bang.
It was like someone had switched on a steroid version of a starry sky. The whole ceiling was covered with thousands and thousands of little green-yellow glowing spots. The fact that it was completely dark around us amplified the effect, too. It seemed that the starry night was all around me because the worms reflected even on the surface of the water.
I never saw something similar before and I don't expect to see anything like it in the future.
Only the fact that I already had goose bumps from the cold water before prevented my skin from doing it again because of the sheer beauty of the moment.


A 30sec long exposure / Look at the glow worms behind us / Click on photo to enlarge *)

I cannot remember how long we sat in the darkness staring up to the worms but it was long - very long.

On our way back down the stream we 'embarked' our tubes and rafted down the river which was big fun and really kind of an adventure.
On some calmer parts we switched our lamps off again and drifted slowly through the starry darkness and from time to time we clapped onto the water to illuminate the worms again. Now we noticed that the whole cave was full of glow worms.


Rafting in our rubber tubes *)

Mastering some parts of the river was really like rafting. The water was quite wild as it made its way around the rocks. Everyone of us fell off the tube more than one time but for some reason the cold water wasn't a problem at all any longer.


English-French-German exploration squad

I didn't waste a thought about the climb up into the light until we came back into the entrance hall. The walls of the cave were almost vertical and climbing with rubber boots isn't very comfy.
In the end it was fun, too, because Bettina secured us with a rope.

The whole tour was one of my absolute favorites in New Zealand and the perfect combination of adventure, sight seeing, physical exercise and team thing.

Oh, I should mention that I can absolutely recommend the company I did the tour with: "Rap, Raft 'n' Rock". The groups are very small, the guide was superb and even their small hostel was cute and relaxing.

*) Photos taken by Bettina of 'Rap Raft'n'Rock' with a water proof camera. I didn't bring my own camera into the cave for obvious reasons.

Mirroring the Future

Sometimes you walk on grounds that are connected to your future without knowing it.
In 2007 I shot this photo in Chicago. This artwork is called "Cloud Gate" and the reflection of the surrounding skyline fascinated me a lot.

In a few weeks I will be on a 7-day business trip to Chicago. While looking up the location of my meeting in Google Maps I was like "Wait a minute, this is right next to this mirror artwort thing".
I browsed through my photos of 2007 and found out that the skycraper of the Aon Center is mirrored on the surface of Cloud Gate on one of my shots.

I never thought that I would have the chance to actually work inside this tall building three years after 2007.

Looking at my old photo today is like catching a glimpse into my future.

Life is full of surprises, isn't it?

Pearls

Fragile pearls
You must not touch their green beds
The sleeping beauty is vulnerable

Contributions to the Big Play

"...
That you are here - That life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

What will your verse be?
..."

The lines are out of "The Dead Poem Society" and are really stuck in my head since I started watching the movie again during the last weekend.

If life is like a big play and you can contribute only one verse - what would your verse be?
A great question, isn't it? I really love this movie.

If I can contribute a verse I should try hard not to ruin it - starting NOW.

Sunday Morning

No words.

Smiling Feta

I am really not able to open the pack of Feta cheese. I haven't for more than a week. Do you know why? It is because of the smiling sheep in the logo.
The sheep looks way to friendly, doesn't it?
Oh boy, I am getting old.

Katzenjammer / Nuremberg, March 2010

I can't believe that I haven't been to a concert for more than two months now.
Yesterday I ended this period: I had a date with four wonderful ladies from Norway.

The Band is called 'Katzenjammer' and the name is actually a German word.
Literally translated it means 'cats howling' but actually it is a slang expression for the feeling when you are hangover.

The girls made a really funny mixture of Folk, Balkan and Pop. Sometimes it sounds like a Waltz, sometimes like Soul and sometimes like the soundtrack for a circus show.

They had lots of instruments on stage and every girl played every instrument. They changed roles and lead vocals after almost every song but played with great virtuosity, though. It seemed that playing a dedicated instruments just bores them.

When you see a blond girl with flowers in her hair and a pink polka dot dress out of a 60s second hand shop play the drums while blowing trumpet at the same time you instantly think that Metallica's Lars Ulrich is nothing than a rather mediocre drummer.

Small, funny, (relatively) unknown bands with catching music - that's why I love live concerts so much.

I enjoyed the gig a lot and you really should give their music a try - for example by watching the following video.

12 out of 10 Happiness / Waianakarua, New Zealand, December 2008

Lynn and Kim

This time I want to share one of the most impressive encounters of my whole trip with you.
This posting will be a hard one because I will try to explain something that wasn't seizable - it was only a click in my head - well, actually a constant clicking. Even if I'll fail to explain, you may at least get an idea about how much meeting some people touched me.

I was heading north on the south coast of the South Island. It was late afternoon and I was looking for a place to stay for the night. The hostel I had in mind was fully booked and I literally stumbled upon a sign saying 'Olive Grove Lodge' instead.

The Olive Grove Lodge was a tiny hostel in an absolutely magnificent garden. Looking back it was the most comfy hostel of my whole trip.

I was the only guest that time and the owner Kim greeted me very warmly. We had a short conversation and my first impression was that he really knows how to do tourist smalltalk. But there was something more. Something was strange about that guy. Something I could grasp yet.

After a while I was checking out the common kitchen. It was actually the kitchen of the owner's family. They shared it with their guests. I made myself a cup of herbal tea from the huge collection of organic teas out of the hostel garden as Kim explained.

He told me that his wife Lynn and he started the hostel a few years ago. They grow organic food and teach their sons at home because Lynn is a teacher. This may sound like the prototype of some kind of weird eco-family - it was not, quite the opposite.


Some of my impressions from Olive Grove Lodge

Kim told me that some European girl was leaving the hostel today without paying and that such behavior is not super rare. Apart from the fact that he of course didn't like cheating guests he didn't seem to be upset.
I asked whether he had a good day anyway. His way of saying something like
Udo, it was an absolutely fantastic day' sounded absolutely authentic to me.

He told me about his day and that he likes what he does very much.

Without noticing both of us had already left the solid path of polite smalltalk for a small hiking path leading into some thicker bushes of conversation.

I said 'Wow, this sounds very convinced. I am glad that you had a good day'. After a short pause I dared to add something like 'You seem to be sort of happy. Are you?'.

He looked at me not a bit astonished about such a question but just said 'Oh yes, I am very happy'.

You might know that I have the habit of trying to rate happiness from time to time. Yes, I know it's probably quite stupid but that's how I am wired.

My next question to Kim was 'If you should rate your current happiness with then points, how much would you give? 10 points mean "super happy" and 0 points indicate absolute sadness'.

The answer of Kim was simply '10' - uttered with the same convincing tone.

'10 points? 10 is maximum. You are as happy as you can be? Really?'

Kim smiled and said 'Yes I am as happy as I can imagine.'

I was impressed because it didn't feel like an airy statement.

Kim left and I prepared my dinner using lots of the complimentary herbs. Afterwards I mounted my slackline in the garden and did some balancing with Kim's son Joseph - a funny and curious guy.


Slacklining with Joseph

After a while Kim came back to me and said 'Udo I told my wife Kim about your happiness rating question. Do you know what she said? She said whether she could give 12 points as well because she feels 12 out of 10 happy. Udo you have to meet Lynn'.

And so I did.

It might sound kitschy but to me Kim and Lynn seemed to be a perfect couple. I sensed a mixture of deep respect, harmony of two strong characters and knowing that being with the other one makes oneself better.

On arriving I noticed 'something strange' about Kim and by now I knew what it was: He was happy.
He and Lynn were happy and even better, they were very aware of it and thankful to whoever.
I was really amazed. Really really.

Lynn, Kim and I had a very long talk that evening about life in general, about the obstacles along the way and about doing the right thing.

Before leaving the Olive Grove Lodge the next day I asked them to write down their word of the day for me. Because we talked about organic food as well they wrote 'You are what you eat'. But if you look closely you can see a small 12/10 in the corner. At the first glance it might seem to be just the rest of some former chalkboard scribbling but is is not and now you know the story about it.

I thought a lot about Kim and Lynn the next days, throughout the rest of my trip and even until today.
Both of them don't know how much they inspired me. Hm, maybe I send a link to this posting to them.

I hope that all of you are at least a little bit as happy as Kim and Lynn that December day in 2008. What place would the world be with more Kims and Lynns? Maybe the world IS full of them and I was simply too blind to see - yet.

Yes, I know this posting is already way to long. But you seem to be still reading, ain't you?

In my job I share an office with a guy named Tom. He and his girlfriend Dési went to New Zealand for vacation end of 2009. I gave them some recommendations for hostels and the Olive Grove Lodge was one of them. Tom got a printout of the chalkboard photo of Kim and Lynn and the assignment to give it to them in case they stay at their place.
Tom and Dési accomplished the mission and here is their report of it - uncut and in their own words. Thanks folks - you rock!

---

Dési and Tom (on the right) one year later at the Olive Grove Lodge

After dinner at the Speights brewery in Dunedin we headed towards Oamaru. We arrived at Olive Grove Lodge shortly after 8 pm and found our host Kim in the kitchen. After some funny complaints about us being late we promised him some surprise. He immediately asked “Who sent you here?” Obviously he often welcomes guests sent by previous guests.
I showed him a photo printout asking him whether he remembers the ‘Guy with the chalkboard’ that took the photo of his wife with the writing on the chalkboard ‘you are what you eat’.

He was totally puzzled!
Then he smiled and told us that he and his wife Lynn just talked about this guy from Germany one week ago with some guests. They were asked about the funniest guests they had. After a short discussion they remembered Udo and he was awarded to be “one of the strangest guests ever” J
He looked at the three photos I gave him, took them and went out of the house with the words “I have to show them to my wife … she won´t believe it”.

We had a nice and peaceful stay for two nights at Olive Grove Lodge – with Lynn, Kim and their two sons. Be sure to ask them for the route to the penguins and sea lions and “Fleurs Place” – the famous restaurant.

Dési & Tom

---

If you have the chance to stay at Olive Grove Lodge - do it!
Here is their website: http://www.olivebranch.co.nz

Rock Concert Branches

A storm is coming.
Its name is 'Xyntia' and it already howled over France the other day.

I stare out of my big living room window and watch the gray-blue colored cloud-dough racing around my house.

The wind is speeding up and the branches of the cherry tree in the garden are waving at me like the arms of an ecstatic audience at a rock concert.
The remains of last autumns dead leaves spiral up in the air in front of my window in a direction that calls the law of gravity a myth.

From time to time the sun manages to pour a few buckets of yellow light over the scenery for some extra Tim-Burton-ness.

It feels really surreal to stand in a warm room seeing nature rave outside - a bit like the ending scene from the movie 'Fight Club'. In that scene Jack and Carla are looking out the window watching skyscrapers collapse.
The soundtrack for that scene was 'Where is my Mind' from the Pixies.

I am listening to that song right now - it works! Sometimes life can be like the ending scene of a movie if you add the right song.

Here is the scene from Fight Club I am talking about:

Board'n'Post / Grosser Arber, Germany

What kind of tech-world is this if one can publish Blog postings while sitting in the snow with a Snowboard attached?

I decided on very short notice that this Saturday is perfect for a single day of snowboarding.

The mountain Grosser Arber is not the Alps but it is only a 2.25 hour drive from Nuremberg.

Sunshine, cold clear air and that incredible noise the carving of the Snowboard does while flirting with the snow - wow!

I am very proud of myself because it is only my second time boarding and today I dared to do a red (medium) track for the first time. Don't ask how many times I crashed but it was worth it.

Excuse me now I have things to do now.

Lonely Planet Destroyed My Life

A friend I traveled with for just one day on Hawaii gave me a link to very interesting article.
It is about the backpacking virus that might hit you again and again as soon as you started traveling.

Although I am NOT close to leave my job for good I can find some similarities to my own experiences.

It is only a 3 minute read (in German language) and you can find it [here].

Sheep / New Zealand, December 2008

Double White Tuft

One of the commentators of the previous (test) posting requested something about vegetarian sheep. Actually I think the request has something to do with an upcoming afternoon playing "The Settlers of Catan". To make it crystal clear to that commentator: I will not trade sheep for wood just to be nice. You will not gonna like me!

Apart from that Catan-comment my last postings have been about the motherland of all sheep anyway: New Zealand.

It was really kind of ridiculous to have sheep everywhere - literally. During my days on the road it was not uncommon to stop for a herd of sheep that decided to cross the road just in front of me.

Although I shot thousands of photos in New Zealand there is only a single one dedicated to the woolen animal.
I was driving to a small waterfall on a late afternoon. Actually the waterfall was big enough to act as a major tourist site in Europe. In New Zealand it was nothing special, it didn't even have a name and I was the only visitor.

During my short walk to the fall I saw the sheep standing on the top of of a hill.
My perpective was perfect: The green hill and the sheep against the blue sky - with a tuft of white whool in form of a cloud nearby.


Oh, by the way - here is the nameless waterfall. Nothing special compared with the sheep, is it?

Test

Trsfjhgg

Car Soundtrack / North Island, New Zealand, November 2008

One of one million beautiful spots just beside the road in the Waikato area. Click on photo to view on Flickr.

During some long car drives on the North Island I shot short movies out of the car window.
Actually I did it because the green hills reminded me of the Shire out of Lord of the Rings so much. The whole landscape looked like the desktop background image with the green hills you might still know from Windows XP.

While browsing through the movies a few days ago I realized that the music I was listening to is hearable in the footage.
I was using a little FM transmitter to listen to my iPod music via the car radio.

I was smiling when I heard the songs again because I really connect them to my New Zealand trip.

Usually my music is a bit more Indy-like with some loud noise involved. Here it was completely different.

I prepared a little compilation of some car-video-snippets to give you an idea of the landscape on the North Island and of my music as well. If you listen closely you can even hear me whistling in one scene.

Trips without music wouldn't last that long, would they?


Here is my video

PS: Driving on the left side of the road is scary, isn't it? Luckily the roads in New Zealand are almost empty.

Tongariro Alpine Crossing / New Zealand

The volcano is 'Mount Doom' of Lord of the Rings (Mount Ngauruhoe)

If you are in New Zealand and not a complete ignorant of nature and outdoor activities you can't miss one specific hike: The 'challenge' is to cross a mountain range in a full-day tour and it is called 'Tongariro Alpine Crossing' in Togariro National Park near Turangi on the North Island.

The trek is 19 kilometres (12 miles) long, one has master more than 800 metres (2600 feet) of altitude difference and it takes 8 hours to get to the end of the path.

The interesting thing is that you cross different kinds of vegetation from small waterfalls and Scotland-like green hills over volcanic areas up to rocky grounds and snow on the highest point. The downward slope passes very blue lakes and ends in a lush rain forest.

The fact that you get all of the above in one single day makes this crossing one of the most popular hikes in New Zealand and you can imagine what that means regarding the number of hikers. This is especially true if you do the crossing on the first sunny day after a 4 day period of rain.



One can find a waterfall for every natural break ;-)

I managed to avoid the crowds and to hike on my own most of the day. The nature just blew me away.



I met a group of girls from my hostel and we walked some parts together. It was a good combination of talking and silence and it was perfectly ok to separate again after a while.



Emerald Lakes

After the highest point, the Red Crater, the Emerald Lakes came into view. Although the photo above is a HDR image the colors of the water are untouched - that's why the lakes are called Emerald Lakes. My lunch spot was in the shadow of a rock overlooking one of the lakes - in solitude.


Crossing several creeks and the clouds.



Rain forest at the end of the hike

When you look back to a vacation you might find some days you consider as very intense, positive or amazing. The memory of such a day is usually long lasting - no doubt.
But wouldn't it be even more intense to realize the extraordinary attitude of the day while you are living it instead of recalling a memory afterwards? For some reason it is sometimes hard for me to do so.
The day on Tongariro was one of the rare situations when I realized already in the morning that it was a special day. I enjoyed every single breath, almost every step, all the different shades of green, the ugly smell of the volcanic fumes and my sore muscles. It felt like a constant pressing of the 'Record' button inside my memory.
Right now in this second it is not 'Record' but 'Replay'. I am a super lucky guy, ain't I?