New Zealand

Been like 3500km with Campervan, ferry, bus, car and on foot. 🙂 most of them while driving... View Larger Map  

Similar to 3 days ago, I wanted to do nothing. Again it didn't work out 🙂 - the weather was just too good. I thought I might have trouble walking after the hike/run yesterday but as it wasn't so bad I went for another round of golf for 15NZD :)23 Stableford points!...

Finally a challenging walk/hike/run in NZ 🙂 Did the "Routeburn Track" today. http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/fiordland/northern-fiordland/routeburn-track/track-description/ Well, I thought 3 days is a too much for the 32km. So I decided...

Rented the car today in order to do the Routeburn Track tomorrow. Just drove around without any plan - and found a beautiful lake… Really EVERYWHERE it's beautiful ! 🙂 I like this country...  

Today I wanted to relax and do NOTHING (except maybe blog update). But when I finally got up at 11am I opened the window and the weather was sooooo nice - I had to go out and climb a mountain 🙂 I was a bit in a hurry, as I only started at 1pm and the hike to the top...

WOW. This day definitely appears in the top-10 of this world tour. I was expecting a couple of dolphins and thought the guide is taking the piss when she mentioned "approx. 400 dolphins" … well…. she wasn't.They were so close. They were jumping all over the place....

Hanmer Springs is famous for their hot-springs. But I said I need to earn the right for that first (including sauna). So I hiked up Mt Isobel....

Just some more scenery - a small hike to a really nice beach at Wharariki… Again the driving was just so cool. Probably the day with the most km. as I continued to Hanmer Springs. Total km today: 468km (Yes, I did take a picture of a dead sheep 🙂 ) Did I mention that...

Well, quite nice. Mentioned in every tourist brochure of NZ. But not that special 🙂 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Waikoropup%C5%AB_Springs

So today Kayak. We started at 8:30 and boarded a boat which was being transported by a tractor to the sea! The reason is the big difference in the tide. Haven't seen that before. Where we were with the horses on the beach yesterday you now can see like 5 meters of...

So now for some horseback riding on the beach. This time it was finally more what I wanted - it was more like 2 hours "lessons" on horseback riding compared to other tourist attractions where you just sit on the horse for two hours.The guide explained it quite good:...

So the beach was nice - but the Microlight flight was … WOOOOOW… http://www.skyadventures.co.nz/ This "thing" has power! While Skydiving in Florida that plane was airborne quite quickly - but this ultra light "hanglider with engine" was airborne in like 5 seconds! And...

I did finally sleep a bit longer after quite a long drive yesterday and got into the I-Sight center to ask what I could do (like a "Fremdenverkehrsbüro" in Austria). The guy was really helpful - took I think an hour or 1.5! but then we had a plan… First:     Beach at...

http://www.qctrack.co.nz/ Getting up early and doing a day trip for the Queen charlotte sounds track. The boat left at 8am for Torea Bay - then it's a 24.5km walk to "Camp Bay" which should be 8 hours (you can see a picture with a sign that actually displays 9 hours)...

Well, the Wellington visit had to be cut short. I planned to stay there for 3 days, but after having such a great time with Trev I just stayed here for one night before catching the ferry to the south island (Picton) - even though I extended my camper-van rental for 3...

While Trev had to fly to a business meeting to Auckland his sister, her two daughters and I went on a tour around Napier. First we went up to Te Mata Peak - really nice views. Then just had a look at one of the best rated golf courses in the world: "Cape Kidnappers...

After driving down to Palmerston North to meet Trev and his sister we stopped by at the Tui Brewery on our way back up to CHECK (where their parents live). First of all I really can't describe the hospitality I experienced. Even though we just met on the plane it felt...

Today I was scheduled to drive down to Palmerston north to visit Trev (see earlier posts). But after reading that 9 hole green fee is only 15NZD (about 9.50EUR) I just had to get up early to play golf first (8.00am tee-off). Rentals 10NZD… WOW… Everything in NZ is...

10.000NZD in cash for a hole in one! I tried 50 balls. It is really hard, even though it's "just" 102 meters. But really funny! (lots of spectators supporting you!). At least I was able to hit that small Island twice (which gets you one free ball).But now hole-in-one...

http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/ First hiking in NZ. Probably the most common hike on the north island. Also famous for Mt. Ngauruhoe = Mount DOOM!!! (LOTR)They claim it is 8 hours for the crossing (crossing was closed so you had to walk back the same way - but at...

http://www.waitomo.com/waitomo-glowworm-caves.aspx There are several options you can do with the caves. You can do "standard" tours to go through the caves and look out for the glow-worms. Or you can go with the Black-water rafting company and have a more exiting tour...

Ok, Yesterday I decided to leave Rotorua earlier as the forecast showed more rain, so I booked the Waitomo Caves (next blog entry) for 2pm. With a 2 hour drive I still had time to do some walking in the Redwoods. Originally I wanted to get up early and to the 3.5 hour...

http://www.tepuia.com/ Very impressive Geysers! Bubbling mud-pools and similar stuff. Didn't do the Maori stuff as I did this yesterday already (and from what I've seen the Tamaki is better!) Pohutu GeyserThe most famous geyser, of the 65 geysers found in the Te...

I was signed up to do some Kayaking (tandem) on a class V river. I was a not very happy in the morning as it was raining and quite cold. However when I arrived the sun came out and it was quite warm! Unfortunately the guide didn't want to go ahead as apparently I'm to...

Again Culture! Some similarities to the Luau. Got to know the history and the customs of the Maori culture (indigenous people of NZ). Not many good pictures as it was quite dark and a lot of movement involved :)Nice dinner at the end with similar cooking then the Luau...

Today Hobbiton - the original movie set of LOTR and "The Hobbit". I did like the additional info the tour gave. For example that the actors actually drank BEER while filming! (only 1% alc. but still!) - apparently in order to have authentic hobbits 🙂 We also were...

Nice garden…http://www.rapaura.com/

Today I picked up the camper-van and started my journey through NZ. Just the driving was such a great experience (2900km in total at the end!) - I absolutely loved it.

Summary of 3 days in Auckland: Good food. Nice people. After arriving at 5am Monday morning I was able to check-in at the hotel at 7am which was really appreciated. I needed some more sleep (also to get sober 🙂 ). In the afternoon I did the "Coast-to-coast" Walkway....