A Year Flashed By

Mom & Dad at the Sparks Marina in Spring of 2010
Rose at the Christchurch New Zealand Botanic Garden
Abby's Baptism in Florida with the whole Koehlinger Family
Golf in Florida with the Koehlinger Men
Baking with Grandma Koehlinger in Indiana
A Kingfisher in Sparks, Nevada


Crocodile in Adelaide River near Kakadu National Park/Darwin, Australia
Sunrise in Uluru/Kata Tjuta National Park, Central Australia
Sunset champagne camel tour of Uluru, Australia
Uluru/Ayers Rock aglow in sunset colors, Central Australia
Sunset from our beach house near Abel Tasman Nat'l Park, S. Island of New Zealand
A windy hike in the Golden Bay with our friends, New Zealand

Cormorants in NZ
California, Fall 2009 with Piroska neniek, Grandma & Parents
Beach hike in California, Fall 2009
Bodega Bay, California
Florida beach time with Isaac, Mike & Jen, and Dave's Parents in Fall 2009

Group picture, Savannah beach Fall 2009 (Tibe Island)
Leaving Antarctica, March 5th 2010 awaiting our commercial flight
Christmas hike at McMurdo Station
Ice caving during Sea Ice Training in Antarctica
Survival Training a few miles from McMurdo Station
Lovely trip through Christchurch, New Zealand on my way to Antarctica

Wow, a year has somehow flashed by and it's been a blast! After the Sierra Nevada's on the Pacific Crest Trail (755 miles) last summer, we visited Mike & Jen in Florida and my parents in Reno as well as my aunt & uncle in California. It was a gorgeous trip through New Zealand to Antarctica and as soon as I arrived, I felt immediately at home. A lot of wonderful friends I haven't seen in ages made us feel infinitely welcome. Had a very busy and a really fun and lovely season at McMurdo Station catching up with friends, touring some scenic places and of course working. We stayed for the extended season and got to see some pretty sunsets before leaving on the last flight and getting a gorgeous fly over of the Erebus crater, the southernmost volcano in the world on a commercial flight in first class! Can't beat that.

Another perfect trip in New Zealand with three long backpacking trips, a gorgeous beach house in the Golden Bay with our friends, a weekend home at Hanmer Springs with Tibor, Dora & Tia, some awesome penguin rookeries and hiking near Dunedin, and getting to see Tibor & Dora's home in Wellington, NZ. An amazing 5 weeks that flew by! Then onto 3 weeks of spellbinding sights in the central red Outback of Australia that I've always craved to see in a camper van National Park hopping, existing on barramundi fish and beers and doing some fabulous smaller hikes with our friend Jennifer. Then the last week in Australia near Sydney in a sleepy sea village called Avalon where we hiked all day and bird-watched, toured bakeries and delighted in the sunsets. Back to the U.S. to see my parents in Reno in the spring, meet Abigail in Florida, tour a whiskey distillery in Kentucky, bake with Grandma Koehlinger in Indiana and return to Reno to help my parents move. It's been a year already, a gorgeous year that I'm so lucky to have shared with family and friends! Welcome to world Hanna & Abigail!!! (Tibor, please send pictures of our visits when you can, and thanks for Skyping!)