Winter walk at the park!

After a day of snow yesterday, all the land is covered in a pretty blanket of white once again.!
We've already had temps in the 50's last week, but winter reminded us once more that its not over and out yet. Today, we awoke to a glaring and glissening sun that made for some crowded parks and good spirits, despite the icy wind and -3 or -4 degrees Celcius.

Here some pics of all the waterfowl and beauytiful sights in the park.

We were a bit hung over from a beer festival the night before and didn't make it very far in the park, but I guess it's always a good thing to get some air and excersize.

Night at the "Starkbierfest"

Starkbier is a strong beer which is consumed in Germany during Lent. The "strength" of the beer is not referring to the alcohol content, instead it describes the concentration of dissolved solids: the starch, sugars, proteins and minerals. It does have around 8 % alcohol content and his of a dark brown color. This event is celebrated with a "Starkbier" fest which includes music dancing and of course-lots of beer. Last night, we joined Carlo's colleagues from work and their wives for a long night of beer, bavarian cuisine and dancing.

It was a 6 hour affair!

Virginy and Marco (and a random guy with a typical bavarian outfit)

Anton and Olga from Russia

Christin and Harald

The band, "barefoot" played snappy, rocky tunes and the trumpet solo was amazing!


Carlo, Craig, Elizabeth, Hemanshu

Snow covering webcam, Marienplatz!

This is the current view of the webcam at Marienplatz!!!!
WINDY and very SNOWY!!!

Long time no see...

Yes, it has been ages since we've been able to post something, as we've been incredibly busy with life... After our return from Australia, I started my new job immediately and also had to still cope with my very sore and volatile spine. Carlo's parents also spent a wonderful week with us right after our return. To make a long story short-blogging was not possible. My back situation is improving and I am getting settled in my job ... so things are looking up. I hope to post and record some more thoughts of our trip in the next few days.

Currently winter has decided to pay us a surprise visit again, as it is SNOWING very hard outside!

It is the 6th of March and we are desperately waiting for spring to make its arrival!

Until soon,

Ines

Fishing Trip

On our first full day on the island, Carlo and I signed up for a three hour fishing trip while on Heron Island. We hoped to catch "the big one" but we held a somewhat pessimistic outlook as we have never been lucky when it comes to serious ocean fishing. At least we were able to pull up a few colorful comrades, who we gladly returned to their blue home once we captured a foto for the blog...:-)

Carlo managed to catch 3 and I only wrestled one into the boat, but at least mine was the biggest one out of the bunch. The elusive seatrout stayed so, but at least we saw a glimpse of some foraging dolphins. They probably were enticed close to the boat by the bait we had discarded.

Dolphins!!!

Check out the size difference! Yeah!

Despite the meager catch, we still had a good time!



Captian "Paul"

New Years Eve on Heron Island

Carlo and I spent our new year's eve on the island "turtle watching". This is prime time for the female green turtles to haul themselves ashore to deposit 3 to 4 clutches of eggs (up to 100) over the course of the next few months. We were lucky enough to have tracked down a turtle that was about to lay. It was an unforgettable experience, and 15 minutes until midnight she was finished and, exhilarated, we joined the rest of the guests at the bar. (More about the turtles later!)

Before all the turtle watching, we got "dolled up" for the occasion and had a nice dinner at the only restaurant at the island. It was not the best getup for crawling around on all fours in the sand on the beach... but hey, it was dark and out there nobody cared.

Ten seconds before the new year, Carlo ran into his cousin Silvia and her freshly wedded husband Ricardo. Both live in Messina, Sicily. They were also traveling throughout Australia on their honeymoon! It was an unbelievable coincidence to have met them there at that moment!

Almost 2010-seconds before we ran into Carlo's cousin and husband!

Ricardo and Silvia, Ines and Carlo... in 2010!!!

Gosh, time to go on a diet.... Maybe it's only the perspective?
At least Carlo is looking handsome as ever!

Arrival at Heron Island

This magnificant little island atop a coral reef was our home for 5 days!
Shipwreck close to the harbour in order to protect against big waves...

Arriving at Heron Island harbour!

Windy or what!

Heron Magic: I took these three pictures on our second day there!

Carlo at "Shark Bay"

These two pics I didn't take, but this is really what it is like!