Those long, hot, lazy summer days

Remember the endless summer days of your childhood, when fresh mornings gave way to the heat of long, lazy days? We had these again during the last week, and this is how we spent them... We spent a busy day in Queenstown, the worlds capitol of adrenaline sports. The most adrenaline we got was when we found our ticket for wrong parking...We got Rolf fixed again (this time he had the tiniest problem with his ceiling window but the ingenious guy from the garage came up with some creative help...), walked around the city (an alpine resort geared towards the adventurous that spent their days out in the beautiful surroundings and their nights out in town, not unlike what you'd find in Austria, Switzerland etc.) and spent a beautiful night out at the Twelve Mile Delta at Lake Wakatipu (Ithilien). People are often raving about Queenstown but truth be told, we weren't that impressed. So we quickly moved on to the little town of Te Anau, a peaceful place next to the second largest lake of NZ that is best known as a gateway to the rugged mountains of Fiordland National Park. And that's exactly why we went there and stayed for a couple of nights. On our first day we went tramping on yet another of the 9 Great Walks of NZ, the Kepler Track. We started from the township and followed the lakeshore through beautiful beech forests and mossy rainforest. The sandflies were eating us alive whenever we stopped to take in the views so we rushed through the walk in an attempt to survive. The only place we just had to stop for a little longer was the Te Anau wildlife centre that is home to native birds of NZ like the very rare flightless Takahe, the Tui and the Kaka. NZ was the first landmass to break away from the southern megacontinent Gondwana and as a result the native flora and fauna evolved very distinctively. When Maori and much later (but on a much higher level) the Europeans came to NZ they brought foreign animals and plants with them that brought many native species to the brink of extinction. The NZ people have realized this and protecting their native wildlife and flora has become a major mission. For us it sometimes seems a little extreme - killing the one species to protect the other. Especially the Possums, native to Australia, are radically being hunted down, but many others as well, even plants. But seeing the funny Takahe that was believed to be extinct for many years until a couple of pairs were being found and a huge rescue program was taken into place really put things into another perspective.

The next day we took a trip to famous Milford Sound. Milford Sound, that actually is a fjord, not a sound, is accessed via a road that is almost as well known for its beauty as the fjord itself. That's why we decided not to drive up there ourselves but take a guided tour there. The coach was perfect, with large windows, even in the ceiling so that we could see the mighty peaks on both sides of the road. We drove by beautiful Mirror Lakes, through the valley that sports the Misty Mountains in those movies everyone keeps talking about in NZ, through tiny Homer Tunnel that leads right through the granite of a massive skyhigh amphitheatre, crossed beautiful clear streams and saw thousands of waterfalls in the 'Valley of a thousand waterfalls' and spotted the beautiful Mount Tutoko, Fiordland's highest peak. When we arrived in Milford we transferred to a nice little boat that took us on a 'Nature Encounter' cruise around the fjord all the way out to the open Tasman Sea. We saw and learned lots about the seabirds, seals, the forming of the landscape etc. The scenery was magnificent with the steep mountains rising out of the sea to their snowy heights, the beautiful hanging valleys and hundreds of beautiful waterfalls (that we experienced from up close and got all sorts of wet). We had a great time and definitely could have spent more time there.

After having visited Fiordland we ventured further 'down' to Southland, the southern tip of mainland NZ. We spent a night in the surprisingly big city of Invercargill where we stayed at a farm and got to finally meet NZ's majority population, the sheep, and their many animal friends when we fed them ourselves. The alpacas were especially cuddly and we would have loved to take one of them with us. We took the trip down to Bluff the next morning. It is a tiny township and really just Invercargill's port. We went to see the 'southern cross' - found out that Germany is a rough 19000 km away whereas it is only about 6000 km to the Southpole - and to officially have travelled NZ from tip to toe. This was probably the farthest south we will get on our journey, and also the point furthest away from home. We're on our way back now, if you will. That way lead us into the Caitlins, the coastal region at the southern east that's usually windswept by the roaring forties. The days we spent there were beautiful and calm instead, with hot sun and zero clouds and very few other tourists. We spent some perfect beach days and more often than not our only companions in the lonely bays with their white beaches and blue waters were the 'locals': massive NZ sealions,playful Hector dolphins, graceful giant albatrosses, shy yellow eyed penguins and the cute little blue penguins. The Caitlins are simply a great place for animal spotting and there is a rough romantic to their rugged landscape that truly make this area worth visiting. On our way up further north we also spent time in Dunedin, the eldest university town in NZ with a very Scottish flavour to it. The city is beautifully located at the ocean, sheltered by the picturesque Otago Peninsula, and has a great vibe, probably due to its many students. Another old city we spent an afternoon at was Oamaru. When that little city was built in the treeless plains, white stone was the cheapest and easiest building material to get. That's why grand Victorian buildings were built that reminded of Athens - and the buildings still remain. The city is also home to the artists of Steampunk, an artstyle that is best explained by Steam meets Sciencefiction - what would our world look like today if we would still use steam, not electricity. It's a pretty cool mindgame and the exhibits are extraordinary. After great days at the ocean we ventured back inland to the South Island's backbone, the Southern Alps.

We went to Twizel and on into the Mount Cook National Park where we had the most scenic campground on the foot of the mountains with views of the glaciers. The first day we went hiking in the Hooker Village that was formed by its namesake glacier and offers great views of Mount Cook. The second day we tried out mountaineering (unintentionally so) when we tramped, climbed and snowwalked up to the Mueller Hut on the top of the Sealy Range. The whole track was only 10km but it took us 7 hours to complete it. With a 1km height difference on a 5 km distance you can imagine that getting up there (and down as well) was a real fight -  but the views from atop were definitely worth it! When we reached the mountaintop the view into the next valley opened up and showed us a world of hanging glaciers, sheer mountain cliffs and roaring waterfalls. The sun and heat of the day brought lots of action to the icy fields so we got to see and hear lots of massive avalanches from a safe distance while sitting in the sun, enjoying a well earned break. A magical place! When we got back down to the carpark our legs were shaking and we were tired so we went out of the National Park to beautiful little Lake Tekapo where we visited a small picturesque church and spent the rest of the day relaxing in the shade at the lakeside, sipping on our giant milkshakes. Oh these summer days...

Strap yourself to a beautiful stranger...

21. 01. 2013
4:00 pm
Arrived in Wanaka. Sun is burning hot, no clouds dot the sky. It's seriously pretty around here...the heat and beauty of the place might just get to our heads and make us do stupid things. Better get some shade in the visitor centre over there.
4:30 pm
Did that shade come a little late or was booking a skydive for tomorrow morning just a dream? Wait a minute...what just happened?
5:30 pm
The lakeside camp we're staying at tonight helps us clear our heads. Whoever is brave enough to go for a swim in these waters will easily throw himself out of a perfectly good aircraft tomorrow. Wow that's really cold...but no way back now, you chicken!
6:00 pm
Defeated the lake and our own bodies. Our arms and legs might still hurt a little but all doubt about tomorrow is gone. Can't wait!
11:00 pm
The beautiful clear southern night sky looks pretty inviting. This is gonna be great!

22.01.2013

Before...

9:00 am
All is well, we are excited and looking forward to some fun. Where is the breakfast?
10:00 am
Checking out right on time always makes us feel good. So happy we could sing a joyful song. The sun is shining, the sky is blue...wait, what is that? Is that a skydiving plane? What is it doing going further up? Why is it getting so small so quickly? And why did we eat such a big breakfast again? Kidding, that looks like a great ride up there. Can't wait to do it ourselves.
10:30 am
Checked in at the skydive base. Signed all papers that tell us that this really is our own fault. Now supposed to wait until it's our turn. Maybe some fresh air would be good now, better wait outside...Let's build up some tension and watch the next group go up.
10:40 am
Holy cracker, that little plane goes up high. Sh...
10:50 am
It's still going up higher? Why would it want to go up higher? Sh, sh, sh.
11:00 am
Is that someone jumping out of that plane up there? What do you mean 'It's too far up to see?'. Wait, what? That's only 12000 ft? Sh, sh, sh.
11:05 am
They're calling us in. I might die of a heart attack before we even leave the ground...but that would mean I would miss out on skydiving...Trapped between excitement and anxiety.
11:15 am
Haha, we look ridiculous in our jumpsuits. That's a relieve. Hey, hi. You're my jump master? Well, hi there, stranger! Please take good care of me and...wait, what? We're getting on the plane already? Shouldn't you check, I mean, or, aaahm, okay, wait, what do I do now? Why am I on the plane? I don't know if,....wait, why are we moving? Ooooh no...
11:20 am
Up we go. Now you're checking, okay, alright. Everyone is so busy, that's good, right? Checking here, checking there. When will I be strapped to you? Maybe we should do that now, just in case? No? Too early? Well, okay, I just thought... What do you mean, 'Stop thinking'?
11:25 am
Okay guys, I know, playing with the nervous customer is what you do, but would you please stop it? Your jokes don't really make anyone laugh right now. Haha. That's just being polite, laughing at the jokes of the strange man I will jump out of this plane with...oh wait, that one was actually good...
11:30 am
This takes forever...are we there yet?! What is that, wait...wow! There they are! I can finally see the Alps. There's Mount Cook, and there, that's Mount Aspiring...that's magnificent! And look, down there, the Queenstown lakes! This is just breathtaking!
11:35 am
Still staring out of the window in awe. Oh, what's that? My oxygen mask? Are we that high up already? I didn't realize, I am captivated by the scenery out there. Oh, now I can hear my breathing. It's so calm. Everyone is silent now. That's nice.
11:40 am
Okay, there goes the calm. Just passed 12000 ft and the two pairs that were in front of me left the plane with little more than a scream. Does that mean I have to go first when we reach 15000 ft?
11:45 am
This takes forever. Could we just get there and get this over with?
11:50 am
Oooh, the door opens. This is my exit. Holy moly we're up high. Being strapped to my jump master makes moving to the door really funny. Can't we just do that a little while longer? Woops, no, there go my legs. Oh gosh, there goes the rest of me. Am I really just dangeling from an open plane more than 4500 meters above the ground? I think this is a good time to start some screaming...
11:51 am

...during...

Upside down world, I'm faaaalling! This is awesome! It's so fast. It's so rough. No more fear. Just joy. And freedom!
11:52 am
Ough, parachute break, stopping my 60 sec freefall at 200 Kph. I think my jump master talks to me. What? That's Mount Cook over there? Who cares, I just fell really fast and loved it and now I am gliding around and that's all too much endorphins, here I am, laughing, crying and screaming of joy all at the same time... 
11:55 am
Again, again! Dancing, laughing, feeling a little sick of too much excitement...This was unbelievably cool! Legendary!
4:00 pm
Still smiling. Arrived in Queenstown. Don't really remember how we got here. Just reliving what happened this morning.
8:00 pm
Still smiling. Discussing every second of our experience.
11:30 pm
Sleeping, dreaming of an awesome freefall, feeling the wind on our faces. And smiling.

...and after!

Icy Giants

From Greymouth we went on to Hokitika, a charming little beach town where we spent some stormy time at the ocean before going out to a little lake in the area where we went for rainy walks. The next day we didn't want to wait around any longer and went down to Franz Josef Township that is situated at the foot of the famous Franz Josef Glacier. And sure enough, once we got there it cleared up and the sun came out for the first time in what felt like ages.

So the next beautiful morning, cloudless and clear as it could get, we went out on the ice. The glacier tour started in town where we had to fill out a massive amount of forms before even getting to the place where we would get our gear: jackets, gloves, overtrousers, hats, boots, socks, spikes and the like. Then we hopped onto a Heli and went up into the mountains. We turned around a mountain corner and suddenly the glacier appeared in front of us. It was blindingly white, rising in front of us like a wall - simply breathtaking. We landed on the ice and the following three hours were like a trip into a different world. We climbed up the glacier, zigzagged through mazes of icy walls high as skyscrapers, jumped over deep canyons and crawled through cages of ice. Down in the cages the ice shined in spectacular shades of blue while on the surface it was glittering in the sun, building bizarre formations that were constantly changing under the forces of melt water. It was an amazing experience, being on this singularly beautiful glacier and actually getting lost in its sheer size and grandeur. After three hours that felt like 5 minutes (we could have gone on forever), we were picked up by the Heli again and had to say goodbye to Franz Josef Glacier. We defrosted ourselves (it actually wasn't cold at all on the glacier...) in the Hot Pools in town and spent a perfectly relaxed evening out in the sun.

Unfortunatelly the next day it was raining and the clouds kept the mountaintops a secret once again. We went to the glacier valley anyways and took quite a spectacular walk up to the glaciers terminal zone - or as close as we could safely get. It was somewhat mystical, with the clouds hanging deep in the valley that looks like a rocky desert. The surrounding mountains are covered with lush rainforest though, and that is what makes Franz and Fox glaciers very special. No other glaciers in the world penetrate so deeply into a temperate rainforest - and this obviously makes for some great scenery. We spent the afternoon in Fox Township where we went for some walks through the valley and got our feet wet. When it didn't clear up the next day either, we just went into the glacier valley again and visited Fox' terminal face. Fox gracefully winds through the mountains with some twists and turns. It is surrounded by some of the Southern Alps highest mountain tops, like Mount Cook and the enormous Abel Tasman glacier high up in the mountains. Even on that grey day the scenery was stunning and the sheer forces of nature that could be found in the valley (as the Fox glacier is retreating quickly) make you feel quite small.

From Fox we went down to Haast and took a side trip to Jackson Bay at the end of the road. As we went down there, it cleared up, so we got to enjoy the beautiful landscape around us. The highway winds through beautiful lowland, offers nice sidewalks through estuaries and leads along the pristine coast with its turquoise waters and long beach for the last part. Jackson Bay is a nice, calm and sheltered area. But after a short walk across the small peninsula we reached the open wild Tasman sea. Looking down to the southwest we knew the next thing to come would be Antarctica. We are getting closer to the most southern point of our journey.

After a night in Haast we woke up to perfect weather - no cloud, not even on the mountain tops, and the warm sunshine on our faces for breakfast - you don't need much more to be happy. We went down the Haast Highway that leads back inland, right through the mountains over the Haast Pass. It was awesome since we actually got to see the Alps in their whole grandeur for the first time on our trip. So we took our time and spend the whole day for the trip down to Wanaka as we stopped at every corner for pictures, short walks or a cold drink in the sun. We saw stunning scenery, with beautiful waterfalls, sheer cliffs, deep gorges and a steadily changing landscape from lush rainforests to alpine grasslands. The crystal clear blue waters of the alpine Queenstown Lakes invited for a swim (a short one as the water was freezing) in front of the scenic backdrop of snowcapped mountains and rolling hills. In the end it was just that - a perfect summer day. And one that we used preparing ourselves mentally for the next morning - when we went skydiving...

Southern North

We got up early and went on a beautiful ferry ride from Wellington over to Picton on the South Island. The skies were clear, the sea was smooth (something rarely seen in the Cook Strait) and the morning sun warmed our faces so we stayed outside on the observation deck for the whole 3.5 hour journey. The scenery was ranging from stunning at the southern tip of the North Island to simply breathtaking in the Marlborough Sounds at the northern tip of the South Island. We didn't stay in Picton after we arrived but went straight (NOT literally spoken - needed the motionsicknes meds from the ferry once we were back on NZ's windy roads...) to Motueka, a gateway to the famous Abel Tasman National Park. Abel Tasman is the smallest of NZ's national parks and boasts some scenery that you would rather expect on a lonely tropical island. It also hosts one of the Great Walks, a multi day coastal track. Due to a lack of time we couldn't tramp the whole way. So we based ourselves in Marahau at the southern end of the track and took a watertaxi up half way into the National Park to Bark Bay and took the one day hike back to Marahau from there. We walked along turquoise waters and outstretched white beaches, crossed bays through their tidal areas when the water had left and had lunch at a secluded lookout on the top of some cliffs. It was an amazing hike! The way was long though and after a couple of harder hikes during the last week we ended up being pretty tired and somewhat lame with numerous blisters and hurting knees. 
 

So we decided it was time for a couple of non-hiking days and went back to the eastern coast via an overnight stay at the little town of Havelock where a storm caught us and almost blew us away while we were asleep. We passed through Marlborough without stopping for a visit to one of the famous wineries because it was pouring down like crazy and we just wanted to escape the storm. From Blenheim down to our destination Kaikoura the skies sure cleared up and the winds eased down so we could stop for numerous pictures along the highly photogenic coast. In Kaikoura we ran some errands like getting haircuts and checked out the little township. 

Then we threw over board our non-hiking policy and went for a great hike around the beautiful Kaikoura Peninsula. The path went along the windy coast out to Point Keen and the old whaling station Fyffe House, we came across colonies of NZ Fur Seals, walked up the cliffs to see millions of seabirds from above and finished the walk back in town with a perfect coffee and cake combo. Kaikoura already left a good impression on us after this great day but it wasn't until the next morning that we saw what makes the small town such a visitors magnet: the whales. We went on a whale watching tour by boat and the fast catamaran took us away from the continental shelf out to the Kaikoura Canyon. The 1600 m deep drop in the sea is one of the reasons that many spermwhales can be found in the area. Their preferred food, giant squids, live in the deep waters of the canyon. The squids find enough food here themselves because cold streams from the Antarctic and warm streams from the tropical regions clash in the Kaikoura region and form a constant turbulence that swirls up nutrition for them. Young male spermwhales practice their hunting and communication skills in this region while it is too cold for female whales to stay here. We were lucky enough to see one of these amazing, huge creatures while it was surfacing for a break between two dives. The young whales dive for about 45 minutes and only surface for 10 minutes to catch their breath. They are amazingly efficient and to watch them and listen to their sounds makes you feel really small in so many ways. The whale we saw was named Tiaki and he was a huge old whale who became resident to the area (he's been living there for 23 years). When he dived back down into the deep blue he left us all awestruck. But the amazement wasn't over yet because we got really lucky and got to see a school of Short Finned Pilotwhales. These whales are not resident here and usually they rush through high speed so that the boat has to drive alongside them before they quickly dive down for hunting. The school we saw was very relaxed though, just swimming around a little, playing with their babies and seemingly enjoying the sun. We got to stop and just sit there with our boat right next to the whales and watch them for the longest time. Huge Albatrosses joined us and gave us even more to marvel at. We eventually had to leave and get back to the coast but we surely won't forget these encounters in a hurry! 

After having seen the whales we left Kaikoura to go back to the west coast that everyone is endlessly raving about. We stopped in the charming old town of Reefton where buildings from the Gold Rush times remain before we went to Westport and further up north to Karamea, the end of the road. After spending a rainy afternoon inventing new and exciting variations to Yatzy we went up into the Oparara Basin the next morning. The Oparara river runs through the Kahurangi National Park and has formed amazing limestone formations and cave systems on its way. On a beautiful walk through very pretty old rainforest we got to see the biggest limestone arch in NZ (the Oparara Arch is 42 m high and spans across the river for 219m ) and the equally impressive Moria Gate Arch. A little further up in the forest we explored the Boxing Cave and the Crazy Paving Cave – two dry caves that are home to massive cage spiders, cage weta and other bugs. It was a bring-you-own-torch exploration and a real adventure for us since we were alone in the unkown cold dark with these huge animals around us...the wonderous cave world we found down there was worth it. Still - what a great feeling to resurface back into the sunlight (or the rain in this case, but still...).  

We went back to the little town of Westport where we spent a great night out in the local mining pub (Denniston Dog) and got our private movie showing in the local theatre before we were off to Punakaiki the next morning. Punakaiki is a small settlement in the Paparoa National Park that is most famous for its stunning Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. The Pancake Rocks are limestone formations at the coast that have layers and therefore just look like giant stacks of pancakes. Geologists are still not sure how and why these layers actually formed but one thing is for sure – they are a visitor magnet and rightly so. The rocks form rounds with open tops and at high tide the ocean waves thunder in and blow out of the openings like giant geysirs – very cool blowholes indeed! 
The way to and from these rocks leads along the ocean and is rated by the Lonely Planet as one of the top 5 scenic drives in the world – which we wouldn’t know because the weather prevented us from seeing anything along the route. So we decided to take it slow and wait around the area for some sunshine. That’s how we ended up in Greymouth, the biggest city on the South Island’s westcoast. And here we wait while it is slowly clearing up.

Geothermal explorer

with Mr Winterberg

We started our new year in stinky Rotorua - and that's literally stinky. Rotorua sits right in a highly active geothermal area with lots of the heat steaming out of sulfurous holes in the ground or ponds of boiling mud. After sleeping in, taking a swim in the cold pool and then heating up in the hot tubs (all naturally heated of course) we went for a walk to the cities great Kuirau Park, where you can stroll through a wonderland of steam, boiling dirt and colourful stones. You gotta be careful though and stick to the pathways or you might just be boiled by accident... On our way to the city we passed through the pretty, small Maori village Ohinemutu that beautifully sits at the lakeshore with it's wooden, classically decorated houses, a nice old church and the grand wharenui, the sacred meeting house of the Maori. We met a great guy (he called himself Mr. Winterberg after we failed to pronounce his Maori name -'Because that's German you know...') who welcomed us in the traditional manner with a hongi before showing us around and then introducing us to his cousin who was working on his boats. The boats were traditional Maori craftsmanship - beautiful and efficient. One of them was a simple canoe but the other one was in the style of the famous waka that brought the first Maori settlers to NZ. We were invited to come onboard and got to hear stories about the boats' history and lots of jokes about Maori everyday life. We had a great time with these very hospitable awesome guys! And our Maori experience wasn't over for the day because in the evening we went to the Maori village of Mitai for a cultural show. We got involved in the quite lengthy powhiri, saw different kinds of dances (including the famous haka wardance) and listened to Maori music. After the performance we all shared a tasty Hangi meal. Hangi is still prepared like back in the days - in the ground. The geothermal activity provides enough heat and steam to get done all sorts of meat, potatoes and other vegetables. Add salads, sauces and awesome dessert to that and you understand why this was the best dinner we have had since leaving Thailand... And the excitement still wasn't over after all this. We went to an adjacent little zoolike park for a guided nighttime tour and saw, next to other really cool animals of all sorts, the national bird of NZ - the Kiwi. It was so funny to watch those little fellas, busily running around, digging holes in the ground with their very pointy beak. It is a miracle to me that they don't fall over. With no wings and just a big ball of brown furry feathers as their bodies they just look extremely unbalanced and really delightful.

The next day started with something equally rare like the Kiwi - the Lady Knox geyser. Only very few countries in the world have geysers and there are quite a few around Rotorua. We went to the colourful Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Park on the way to Taupo and discovered the Lady Knox and a huge thermal area on a great walk around. On the way we learned about which chemical in the toxic waters and mud paints the stones in which colour and how the whole area came into being when the Taupo volcano erupted and covered most parts of the central North Island under layers of ash, mud, etc.. The smell eventually drove us away from all geothermal pools after a couple of hours and we were happy to reach fresh Lake Taupo for a break and, later on, the Tongariro National Park. It was the first National Park in NZ and the fourth in the world and it covers the area around three beautiful volcanoes (all of which are still active) that tower over the rugged scenery with their snowcapped peeks.

We went for the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing which is one of NZ's Great Walks. Since the Tongariro erupted only a couple of weeks ago and the air hasn't cleared up from poisonous gases quite yet, the Crossing isn't a real crossing in the moment since the path is only open to the highest point of the way and all hikers just have to return the way they came from. It didn't matter though, as the highlights were all along the open way. The weather was poor so it was freezing cold up on the mountain and sometimes, in just the blink of an eye, the visibility would drop to zero before clearing up really well. This made for quite a challenging hike, especially since most of the way there is no real path but just some markers and you have to climb your own way up. The surreal environment made up for all the hard work, though. Old lavaflows, steep mountainsides, icy plains and an astounding variety of plants - there was something new to be explored after every corner. The best part was when we took a side trip from the actual Alpine Crossing and climbed up even higher to conquer the Tongariro peek. Many many people do the crossing but very few go the extra miles up to the top so the reward was solitude and a short glimpse of Taupo and Mount Taranaki in the far distance before the clouds closed in on us again. All in all it was quite a humbling experience to tramp in this harsh but beautiful environment. So the next day, before leaving Tongariro National Park, we went for a couple of more, shorter walks.

One of them lead us to Gollum's pool, another picturesque movie setting - they simply abound. After that we went further west to finish the story... The three volcanoes in the North Island's centre have a brother -mighty Mount Taranaki. Maori legends say that he and his siblings were driven apart when fighting over a girl's love. Taranaki followed the maiden all the way to the west coast where he sits now, far away from his brothers. On his way he formed the beautiful Wanganui river that was filled with his tears...

We followed Taranaki but chose a different path - the scenic Forgotten World Highway. It winds through beautiful backcountry, steep gorges and reminds of the time when European settlers first made a living back there. It was a beautiful drive that found its climax in a breathtaking view of the perfectly shaped Mount Taranaki and the lush, green Egmont National Park around it, encircled by the turquoise waters of the ocean. Of course we tramped on Taranaki but as we didn't have proper gear like ice pickles and the like, we couldn't climb the summit of this one. Instead we had a beautiful half day hike on the mountain's foot, went up over the treeline for a perfect view of the three volcano brothers in the far distance and back down into the deep forest for picture perfect waterfalls, lava pools and thundering mountain streams. When we arrived back at the carpark it proofed right once again that leaving on your car's lights when leaving it for a couple of hours is never a good idea. The real challenge in this first (and hopefully last) jumpstart was to find Rolf's battery...and that proofs that it is always a good idea to familiarize yourself with your rental Campervan before leaving the rental companies parking lot.

Whanganui River Road

After being back on the road we didn't dare getting off of it too soon again, so we went down to Wanganui and took a detour from there to drive along the famous Wanganui River Road. The street follows the river through it's winding valley, leads on mountaintops for awesome views and offers all sorts of great stops along the way. We turned back after some time because we really wanted to go south now, not north. Our next stop - with some overnighting in Foxton Beach and a nice afternoon spent in Paraparaumu Beach - was Wellington. We arrived in the 'Windy City' in the late afternoon on a beautiful, clear day so the obvious choice was to catch a ride on the cable car up the hill to a scenic lookout in the Botanical Garden (needless to say that the weather turned bad when we got up there...but we caught some good views before it turned all cloudy). The park was very nice with lots of informational signs about the native flora and a beautiful rose garden halfway back to the city. On the mountaintop there's also the Wellington Planetarium that we came across by chance just when they got ready for their last show for the day in their half dome. So the two of us and a couple of other ten to twelve years olds learned in quite an impressive movie why and how we are all astronomers. After the movie Jens had decided on a new career path...We also learned lots of cool stuff about the southern hemisphere's night sky and picked up a star map to find all the cool constellations ourselves. Then we wandered around the neat little adjacent museum to find out more about the universe and happened to be the last ones that had to be kicked out because it was way past the Planetarium's closing time... We strolled back down to the city and stopped at the Parliament Buildings for some pictures as they are a very interesting mix of three quite different architectural styles. Then it got to windy for us and we hid inside of Rolf and watched the gigantic ferries coming into the harbour and leaving again from inside our little home while enjoying a hot tea (that being possible because of a ridiculously convenient campground right in the centre of it all at the waterfront - awesome!). The second day in Wellington was a beautiful summer day and we spent it walking around the city, sitting at the waterfront and watching people, indulging in the famous coffee and running some errands. Most of the time we explored the great Te Papa museum, though. It is NZ's national museum and has heaps of cool stuff on offer. We learned about the natural forces that brought NZ to life and felt them in an earthquake house, saw the biggest Giant Squid on display in all of the world, listened to stories of early immigrants and their way to NZ and experienced the country and it's flora and fauna from mountain to sea without ever leaving that one enormous expo hall. A seriously cool place to be and so big that a whole day isn't really enough to see it all. But it's more than enough for your brain to take it all in, especially if it is in the long-term-traveller-mode...so we left Te Papa for some more city life exploring, found that Wellington -in contrast to its great museum - is really small and we had soon walked everywhere twice and so decided to say goodbye to the capital and with it the North Island. We were ready to take the ferry that we'd been watching ourselves

Between the years

Acting as if you could see anything

We spent Christmas day driving up to the northern tip of NZ, hoping to catch a glimpse not of Santa (it is not that far north...) but of the turbulent waters at Cape Reinga where two Oceans meet. The place is of high significance to the Maori as they believe that the souls of their dead go there to take off on their journey to their homeland. When we got there, a pacific storm was right over Northland so we didn't get to see the oceans or anything else more than 2 meters away from us, but at least the thick fog made for a very mystical atmosphere on the walk through the bush down to the cape's lighthouse that made it easy to understand the Maori's stories about the area. When it started hailing when we reached the lighthouse we even had a white Christmas of sorts - a perfect day that we finished off with my very own first driving experience down to still rainy Ahipara with stops at stormy 90 Mile Beach.


Tane Mahuta

From there we started early the next morning to drive down the beautiful west coast, so called Kauri Coast. Kauris are native trees that once covered huge parts of NZ but were then cut down for their wood, their gum etc. Now the NZ people protect these beautiful trees and try to grow new ones in designated Kauri forests. Some old Kauris have survived, many of which can be found in the beautiful Waipoua forest that we took a couple of walks in on our way. We saw the magnificent Tane Mahuta, which is named for the Maori forest God. It is the largest living Kauri and thought to be about 2000 years old. We also saw the second tallest Kauri, Te Matua Ngahere ('the father of the forest') which really is only shorter but much fatter, and the Four Sisters, a group of four huge Kauris standing very close together. Kauris' feeding roots are very close to the surface so in order to prevent diseases visitors of Kauri forests have to brush and wash their shoes when entering and exiting the forests.

Protecting the forest

You find bottles of special soapy water and a brush lying around for your use almost at every corner in the area. Before arriving in Matakohe, our stop for the night, we climbed up a steep hill that looked like a dwarf's hat and caught a beautiful view over the Wairoa river and the plains.
The next morning we started with a beautiful bushwalk up the hills to an historic Pa. Pa were the fortified villages of the Maori back in the days. On many hills throughout NZ you can find what's left of them, mostly food pits. The one we visited this morning was huge with over 160 pits. The Maori only came up to this Pa during wartime, the rest of the time they lived scattered around the fields on either side of the river. After this morning walk we jumped into our van, aka. Rolling Rolf, and drove him back to where he came from in Auckland to get him fixed (no worries, nothing bad, just a broken power cable, he is fine now...).

We went on to Thames on the Coromandel Peninsular and drove down deep into the Coromandel Forest Park where we stayed in the Kauaeranga Valley for the night.We went for a half day tramp the next morning that lead us up the mountains into thick rain forest. It started raining pretty heavily shortly after we took off on the hike and the ways soon turned into slides of mud and real rivers a little later. Since we were soaked already, we didn't care anymore and went through with the whole walk. Picturesque waterfalls, breathtaking views over the valley and absolute solitude on the walk rewarded us for the hard work and we enjoyed every bit of it. (The key is to not let any of it bum you out but take it as an adventure.) The cold air and wet clothes took their toll though, and when we got back to the car we were ready for some nice hot water to warm us up. Nothing easier than that in a place like NZ!

We just went over to the eastern coast of the Coromandel where we stuck our feet into the sand at Hot Water Beach. A thermal area close to the surface heats up stones that heat up ground water in turn so that during the 4 hours around low tide hot springs are accessible for building ones own personal spa. We were too late for the treat this day but returned the next day, carrying our own little shovel to dig our hot hole. The weather was perfect for a beach day so after our hot bath we needed to cool down and went for a swim in the icy ocean before taking off to Hahei Beach and the coastal walk from there to famous Cathedral Cove. The cove is beautiful but was so crowded that we didn't stay for long. Instead we made our way down south through the scenic Karangahake Gorge where we learnt a lot about the early local business of goldmining on yet another bushwalk. Then we went straight to Matamata, where we had a date the next day.

The date was with Mister Bilbo Baggins at his beautiful home town of Hobbinton. We went there and took a great tour of the film set that lead us from the Party Tree over Bagend right to the Green Dragon, through colourful gardens and over rolling green hills. We recognized so many places from the movie and heard great anecdotes from how the set was put up and the movies were actually filmed. It was great fun - only downturn: Bilbo never showed up to our date...

After this we were up for an adventure and went on to Waitomo where the remarkable Waitomo Caves are located that are most famous for their glowworms. We spent the last day of the year tramping, climbing and tubing through the ice cold waters of the deep and dark Ruakari cave - we went Black Water Rafting.

We had the greatest time. From picking out the right caving gear to finding the fitting inner tube (you've got to stick your behind right through it and make a little dance) over test jumping for the waterfalls the preparation were already fun. When we actually entered the cave through the tiniest hole in the ground and found ourselves in a pitch black environment, ready to jump off a couple of waterfalls into a cold unknown river it started to be a real adventure. At the end of three adrenaline high hours we floated through the massive caves in our tubes and just looked up to the ceiling that was covered with beautiful blue shimmering glowworms that made it look like a stary sky - pure magic! For more New Years eve magic we made our way over to Rotorua afterwards, where we had a blast going out to the street party. A sparkling firework over the lake saw us into 2013.
We hope you all had a great last week in 2012 and safely made it into 2013! Our computer broke down so blogging is hard and pictures impossible right now but hopefully we will find ways to keep you posted!