Finally better

Two weeks have passed since we set foot on New Zealand ground and exactly that time we needed to recover and truely arrive here. I did end up taking pain killers, but by now it's healed up and I feel a lot better. The shingles were followed by a bad cold, though. Juergen battled Sinusitis and Marlon had fever, again, and also a bad cold. Camping with our nice "spaceship" (photos will follow) was terribly exhausting, as well, and we were stumbling from camp ground to camp ground, hoping the nightmare would somehow dissolve by itself. To make a long story short, despite the serious (at least from our point of view) problems we had, we saw some beautiful spots and are happy that we've almost recovered by now! The northern most point of New Zealand is absolutely beautiful!!! The northern most camp ground 3 km further south east is also a dream come true. With crystal clear waters, nice waves to dive into and a great coastal walkway. The mosquitoes were nasty and poor Marlon does show quite a few bites, though. Now we're back in Auckland at Sveni's place since yesterday. Today we looked around down town and harbor. Auckland is also called the city of sails because of it's big number of sailers. The Louis Vuitton cup is also held here, I actually think it's taking place next week. We saw two of the boats they sail in the America's Cup. Two hours sailing experience on the boat cost 150 New Zealand dollars...
Tomorrow Marlon and I are off to Nina's while Juergi will stay here with Sveni for the weekend. On monday he might go on a short sailing trip with Andrew (Nina's husband).

People kept asking me what shingles are. It's also called Guertelrose in german and is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox (Windpocken). So everyone who had chickenpox as a child (or adult) can get shingles. One nerve (sometimes more) gets inflamed and blisters develop on the connected skin area. It can be horribly painful, and it can destroy parts of the nerve if not treated correctly and in time. In my case the diagnose was pretty clear at an early stage, so we were able to treat in time. It also was only a small area. Anyway it was pretty painful and I don't wish it for anybody! At least I didn't need to take any morphines or antidepressants as some patients have to.

We hope all of you are well! We are always happy to hear some news from YOU, too!!!