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Australien 2016-17

July 2016 - July 2017
A 350-day adventure by Katharina Read more
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  • Katharina SchumacherAustralien 2016-17
    Day 276

    Nelson-Christchurch

    April 18, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    There is a quote stating that it is the journey that counts rather than the destination. This really is true for our New Zealand trip. 💕
    Sometimes we were on the road for up to six hours but it never got boring because there was just too much to see. The landscape and scenery in this country is truly magnificent and we would stop more than once to get a couple (or heaps) of pictures.
    One of the maybe most beautiful stops was Lake Rotiti. You have the crystal clear lake in front of the incredible mountain range. The weather was perfect which added to the overall experience of this amazing place.💕
    Our journey continued to the Mauria Falls. The waterfall might not be the tallest but it was still very beautiful especially with the rainbow in front. 💕
    Fault lines from different earthquakes are visible everywhere in New Zealand. They shaped the landscape quite significantly and I can't even recall how many of them we saw and drove past or over in those two weeks.
    However the one we came across that day on the Lewis Pass was really easy to spot and really impressive as well. I still find it astonishing how mountains are made through the movement of the earth.
    Being here is definitely the best and most interesting geography lesson I ever had. 💕    Read more

  • Katharina SchumacherAustralien 2016-17
    Day 277

    Christchurch

    April 19, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Our stay in Christchurch was only a short one. Still we got to see yet another beautiful place on earth. We drove up into the mountains to get a better view of the area and it was definitely worth it. 💕
    I know I repeat myself when I say New Zealand's scenery is just amazing but it is just too true. (Sorry not sorry)
    The rest of the day was spent exploring Christchurch's city itself.
    Christchurch experienced a massive earthquake in 2011 that damaged or even wiped out most of the city's buildings. Sadly 185 lives were also lost during that earthquake that reached 6.3 on the Richter scale.
    To remember and reflect the loss of lives the city has a temporary art installation called "185 Empty Chairs". It consist of 185 different white painted chairs each standing for one individual lost on that day. It is one of those things that is sad and beautiful at the same time. 💕
    Christchurch is still being rebuilt even 6 years after the earthquake and they assembled the so called "Restart Mall" that is built from shipping containers since those are earthquake proof.
    It actually looks quite cool and we had a smoothie before we hit the road again and made our way to Lake Tekapo. 💕    Read more

  • Katharina SchumacherAustralien 2016-17
    Day 278

    Lake Tekapo

    April 20, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Lake Tekapo greeted us with the coldest weather we got to experience in New Zealand .
    Even though we saw many of New Zealand's lakes every single one of them was special and different in its own way💕. This place really makes you feel like you are the only person on this planet.
    Up on Mount John we were greeted by views of a quite different landscape than the one we were used to. The landscape looked almost desert like and for some reason I thought it looked like the surface of the moon.
    When we made our way back to the hostel the sun was setting and when we arrived the sky was painted red.
    What a beautiful end to yet another beautiful day.💕    Read more

  • Katharina SchumacherAustralien 2016-17
    Day 279

    Lake Tekapo-Queenstown

    April 21, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    First stop of the day: Lake Pukaki. The weather was great and for the first time we were the only people exploring the lake which made it significantly easier to take pictures.
    We also got to feed some salmon that day. It was a fun activity and it was for free (and we love free things #gappielife).
    We left after every fish had a full tummy and made our way over the Lindi's Pass to a bridge in the middle of nowhere where two of our group did bungee jumping off the bridge.
    Even watching the people jump was scary but the location was definitely worth a stop because surprise it was another Lord of the Rings movie set.
    The crystal clear blue river in contrast to the autumn coloured trees was just stunning 💕
    We had to wait over two hours for our two group members to jump but who would complain when being surrounded by such an amazing scenery. 💕
    When we arrived in Queenstown it was love at first sight. It is a beautiful town in midst the mountains and Lake Wakatipu. 💕
    We got to watch the sunset over the lake and went to bed excited for the next two days here.    Read more

  • Katharina SchumacherAustralien 2016-17
    Day 279

    Queenstown

    April 21, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Our first day in Queenstown started with yet another great breakfast 💕. I think good food is necessary for every good holiday.
    We were really lucky with the weather and were able to enjoy a stroll through the botanical gardens along the lake before we headed of to our first activity here in Queenstown.
    We were picked up and drove to Glenorchy which is around 40min from Queenstown. We had booked the River Wild Horse Trekking tour and were quickly equipped with helmets before we drove over to the actual stables. 💕
    My horse's name was Cruz and we made a great pair for the next couple of hours. The ride was amazing. 💕
    We got spectacular views of the area with its majestic mountains, many of those have been used in different movies. We also got to ride through rivers which was a first time for me. It was a bit scary but overall lots of fun and I even managed to stay dry until the last river where I somehow managed to get the water up to my knee 💕.
    It was another highlight of our trip and I am really glad we did it. 💕    Read more

  • Katharina SchumacherAustralien 2016-17
    Day 280

    Middle Earth Tour

    April 22, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Good thing we liked Glenorchy because the next day we went straight back there for our second activity. This time we joined a Middle Earth tour (yes another Lord of the Rings activity).
    Our tour guide was a big fan himself and had so much background knowledge about the films, we really had a blast and learned so many new things.
    We drove to different places that were used as a set in the movies. 💕
    One of them was used as the setting for Isengard as well as for the scene in Wolverine where the helicopter explodes and you can see him walking away the lonely street.
    Another big highlight was the Forest of Lothlorien that felt completely magical. 💕
    We had some morning tea amongst the trees and felt like real elves exploring the forest that was also used to shoot Boromir's death scene.
    The only thing missing in my pictures from the last spot are the elephants. It is the scene in which Frodo, Sam and Gollum watch Faramir's men attack.
    We were enchanted the whole time and tried really hard to store all the new information in our brains.
    It made us want to watch the movies again (we also did that as a preparation for the trip ) because our tour guide told us so many things we never noticed before. 💕    Read more

  • Katharina SchumacherAustralien 2016-17
    Day 280

    Queenstown-Wanaka

    April 22, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Unfortunately we already had to say goodbye to Queenstown (probably my favourite town in New Zealand 💕). We drove over to Arrowtown first where the Autumn festival was on. Autumn was a really good time to visit New Zealand because of all the colours of the trees.
    The drive over to Wanaka was as beautiful as ever and of course we stopped for some pictures. The sun was just setting when we arrived and we good to see the famous Wanaka tree. 💕
    To make the scene perfect there was a piano next to the tree and people played some quiet tunes. 💕
    It was magical and it also made me a bit sad because there were only a few days left in this great country.    Read more

  • Katharina SchumacherAustralien 2016-17
    Day 281

    Wanaka-Franz Josef

    April 23, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We went for a morning bike ride (18km) around the lake which was way more exhausting than our tour guide had described it to us. It was still beautiful though and I was proud of myself for making it to the end (there were some moments were I seriously had my doubts).
    Equipped with food we hopped back onto our bus and hit the road towards Franz Josef Glacier.
    The journey there is quite long but as always we stopped many times. On our first stop our guide made us hop off from the bus and let us walk over a bridge amongst the mountains so we could get good pictures. Turns out walking over that bridge is illegal but with no phone reception who is going to tell on you?
    Of course we also found another waterfall that enchanted us once again with its crystal clear water. 💕
    We stopped on the beach where we got to spot some dolphins and also got to see some mirror reflections in the water that made up for some nice pictures. 💕
    The beach was also where we got to meet sandflies which was not too pleasant. The keep following you and they bite. When we stopped the next time to watch the sunset on the beach it was already a bit too cold for them so we were lucky to watch the scenery in peace.
    Another great day in New Zealand had passed. 💕    Read more

  • Katharina SchumacherAustralien 2016-17
    Day 282

    Franz Josef

    April 24, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Franz Josef is a really small town that is famous for its glacier, hence the name.
    Since we didn't want to spend $500 on a helicopter flight up to the glacier we decided on just going for a walk along the bottom of the glacier. 💕
    It was rather cold in the morning but it actually got quite hot with the sun later on. The glacier walk took us about two hours and we walked through a bit of rainforest followed by a path through a mostly dry river bed. We came across some beautiful waterfalls and took heaps of pictures of the glacier from all different angles. 💕
    At the end of the walk we were quite close to the glacier and we could see the different colours of the ice.
    Because we still had time and motivation left we went on another walk called the "Callery Gorge Walk". It was a rainforest walk and in my opinion it looked like the "Forbidden Forest" from Hogwarts. It really was magical and I think in the whole time we've spent ther we saw about four people. We also found some great opportunities for a photoshoot which sometimes involved a bit of climbing. 💕
    It was the last night of our tour that day so we got picked up by a limousine and were driven to a bar (200m) where we had dinner before we went to bed with lots of new memories we had made that day. 💕    Read more

  • Katharina SchumacherAustralien 2016-17
    Day 283

    TranzAlpine

    April 25, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Our last day in New Zealand happened to be ANZAC day. 💕
    On that day we remember the fallen soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
    We hopped on the bus in Franz Josef and made our way to the Greymouth train station.
    On our way we fist stopped at Lake Mapurika. An absolutely stunning sight. It was still early in the morning and the lake showed us a perfect mirror reflection with just the tiniest amount of fog on top of the lake. 💕
    Our second and last stop for the day was Hokitika. It is a rather small but cute town near the sea. We had some food and watched the small ANZAC Parade which was still impressive even though it was small.
    Sadly it was time to say goodbye when we arrived in Greymouth. We boarded the train and started our journey back to Christchurch from which we would fly home very early in the morning the next day.
    It is one of the most scenic train rides in the world and we took the last pictures of New Zealands beautiful landscape. 💕
    When we arrived about 4h later we were picked up by a shuttle bus and driven to the hostel where we repacked our bags, went to grab some food and then quickly went to sleep with alarms set for 3am.    Read more

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