PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

First Week on the Other Side of the World

Week 170 of the photographic documentary of my daily life

It’s been a dream of mine for so long that finally has come true. Well, kind of. I wasn’t just dreaming of living in New Zealand and waiting for it to happen. I sent out CVs every year. I had email conversations and interviews via video call with companies down under.

And thanks to all the effort and work I put into it, I could make this dream of mine come true. Sometimes you just have to work for your dreams.

And yes, it’s been a week now since we arrived in the country and everything just feels right. Our new home is possibly the most beautiful place we’ve ever stayed in. The landscapes are stunning and the people are nice. Even at work.

But let’s begin this weekly documentary.

On Thursday we had one more day free to explore the surroundings before showing our faces at work so we drove to Wānaka, the nearest city.

We had things to resolve at the bank and the cellphone shop, but then we headed down to the water and walked along the shore of the lake. Even on a rather cold and overcast day like this one, the place looked stunning. The landscapes are simply rich in beauty all around.

On Friday, we woke early to head to our new workplace for the first time. The first rays of sunshine were just lighting up the mountains in our backyard when we jumped into the car.

Driving toward the airfield, we passed the Pisa Mountain Range to our left, which had received another dusting of snow overnight. The white snow was shining bright and fresh above the vineyards in the valley below.

While we spent all Friday long doing paperwork, yes I thought Germany was bad with paperwork, but the Kiwis topped it. I only got on Saturday morning into the air.

Skydiving is a very unique sport and job and this is why many countries have very different rules. While we both have Namibian, German and American (accepted worldwide, usually) licenses, we needed to convert all our ratings into New Zealand ones.

That was what took so long. And they still didn’t let us do a work jump but forced us to do a solo jump first. Since I had nothing else to do but make silly faces in the air, I grabbed my camera and filmed all around.

The sky was overcast, but the clouds were high, and we stayed below. The views were impressive, but I think they will even be better with blue skies in the background.

In the distance, you can see the snow-covered peaks of the southern Alps.

I can’t get enough of these mountains, so you’ll get many more pictures of them this week. This is a mountain range opposite of where we live. Also with some fresh snow atop.

On Sunday, all work got canceled due to the bad weather, but even a cold, windy and overcast day didn’t stop me from going on a hike. I met nobody but sheep, guanacos and some cattle high on the mountain.

Overnight, some more rain fell in the valley, which turned into snow in the mountains. Waking up on Monday morning, I saw these mountains out of the kitchen window.

Not bad, is it?

Coming Home from work, I place my lounging chair out on the terrace and sit next to my yellow roses in the sun.

Yes, I love our new home.

Talking about work. This is our new office. The plane is our ride to altitude, and the background is our office view.

The Southern Alps.

And after talking about home and work, here is a picture of the pleasure we have in between. Wednesday and Thursday will be our weekend down under, the days we’re off work.

And so we jumped into our car and headed toward and past Lake Wānaka. David found a hiking track on the AllTrails App. It was said to be a popular one, and we were certainly surprised by the number of cars parked in the car park but soon found out why.

This trail was simply breathtaking. It was a three-hour round trip with some slippery and some steep stretches, but a perfect hike to get used to the trails down under and worth every single drop of sweat.

This has been my weekly photo essay. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.

Dennett / Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian / Shell / Ivy / Lisa / Lynne and new to the team came Julia A. Keirns with "From Tennessee to Alabama"

These are the previous weekly photo essays:

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