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SYD - TAS - NZ 2023
  • Claudia Wildmann

SYD - TAS - NZ 2023

A 31-day adventure by Claudia Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 13, 2023
  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Sydney

    January 15, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Sydney… I lost a day on the way here (left Friday evening, arrived Sunday morning), made it with all my luggage and am exploring the city… back after 16 years. So many memories while strolling through this downtown…
    Jet lagged and tired, I nevertheless snatch tickets for Amadeus in the Opera House… who knows when I’ll be back 🤷‍♀️☺️
    I did not plan for the opera when packing… but I sorted that as well.

    What a day… what a city!

    And yes… I got sunburned…. Jet lag does not protect you 🤦🏻‍♀️    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Coogee, NSW

    January 16, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Down memory lane by heading to Coogee, the little beach suburb I lived in 2007…. I took the bus (same bus number, passed the horse stables) to the final stop - and here I am. It looks still pretty much the same… even my coffee shop is still there… start with a breakfast and get ready for the beach walk to Bondi. Past the most amazing cemetery…

    From Bondi I went on to Watson Bay and the lighthouse. Had some surprise ‚views‘ at a nudist beach (I realized it rather late 😂) and took the ferry back home to Circular Quays…

    Some shopping… some strolling… ending the day with the most gorgeous outdoor movie spot ever - Sydney Opera and Harbour Bridge as background. Film itself (‚Tar‘) - interesting… but Cate Blanchett is impressive.    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Manly

    January 17, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Beach Walk Spit Bridge to Manly - to soak in some more sun, beaches, views and stretch my legs before hopping on a plane again.
    Another beautiful beach walk I think I had missed out on before… worth it - but hot ☺️
    Little stop at Manly Beach before taking the ferry back to downtown…    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Welcome to Tasmania

    January 17, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Goodbye Sydney. You treated me well again and I’m sure I’ll come back….

    Next stop: Tasmania. With a 45 minutes delay - but I’m on vacation after all. I made it to Launceston, checked into my hotel and the quick walk to the supermarket (open until 10pm!!) indicates there might not be too much to see… but I only have tomorrow anyways…

    My only remaining question: Do they really speak English here? I has a lovely taxi driver who told me all kind of stories in my way from the airport. Now all I need is someone telling me, what he told me. I really tried, but failed… 🤷‍♀️😢    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Launceston

    January 18, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Launceston. A city I had not heard about until I started planning this trip. So, I came here with no expectations at all, actually getting out of here on the same evening my hiking trip concludes (after a shower ;-)).

    So, I just strolled through the town this morning, towards the little river I saw on the map… lucky surprise - I ended at the Launceston Cataract Gorge - which was indeed gorgeous. And ended to be much more sweaty than expected. A beautiful spot…

    After that, back to my hotel (still impressed that the guy at the reception knew my name and the duration of my stay simply by telling him my room number!), grabbing my stuff for the pre-trip meeting for my Cradle Mountain Overland Trail hiking tour starting tomorrow. 7 guests (6 women), 2 guides, and we will be ready to go early tomorrow… and it sounds as if we may have to endure a bit of a temperature shock… about 30C today - down to 13 tomorrow… but I was told that the weather constantly changes and we can expect snow or heat or both in one trip - so let’s see what we will get.

    And after grabbing some last things from the supermarket (snacks) and (almost) successfully fighting the temptation of all these outdoor stores here (another nice add on of this town) I’m now enjoying a glass of wine and a fancy dinner and the other amenities of modern life (shower, proper bed, light simply by pushing a switch, wifi, using the bathroom at night without shuffling out of a sleeping bag, finding shoes, a headlamp and walking through the cold), before heading out tomorrow.

    Remaining question: Should I bring my camera or just take the phone?!?

    There may not be many updates during the next 6 days - so all the fancy hiking pics and weird stories will have to wait…

    Fun fact: the sun sets only at 8:45pm - and I and my body are sooooo confused…

    PS: Launceston is Tasmania’s second largest city with a population of a bit less than 90k, which makes it 18th largest city of Australia. It’s a UNESCO city of gastronomy (little did I know that existed), has some nice restored Victorian houses and at least 8 churches.

    PPS: For anyone interested - this is what I’m doing the next couple of days: https://www.intrepidtravel.com/us/australia/cra…    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Overland Track 1/6

    January 19, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Off we went… After an early morning start, a bumpy bus ride and coffee on the way, it was time to say goodbye to civilization. Our little group of 7 courageous hikers and 2 guides started our Overland Track from Ronny’s Creek to Waterfall Valley.
    The weather was probably the worst that day - but still not bad, just a bit windy and chilled. All of us had to get used to that bulky heavy thing on our backs - challenged right away with the steepest section of the trail…
    But… we survived and got rewarded with some pretty amazing views. Two little huts on the way - incl one that looked more like an old diver’s helmet where we learned that the best way to get a hut set up and potentially named after you is to die of hypothermia… if you ‘just’ fall - no hut, I’m afraid… (yup… bit of a weird humor here… but it should become a theme over the next days… luckily, there won’t be a new hut named after any of us anytime soon).
    Finally we reached the destination of this day, set up tent (far away from the toilets - which meant a long way to go for me twice (!) during the night) and said goodnight to our little wallaby neighbors…    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Overland Track 2/6

    January 20, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Day 2 was the shortest day in terms of distance and while we had a lazy start, we woke up to blue sky… Waterfall Valley to Lake Windermere with a nice little side tour to go swimming in a waaaaay too cold lake…
    This evening, wombats and possums said goodnight to us.    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Overland Track - Summary

    January 24, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Back in civilisation after 6 days of hiking the Overland Track in Tasmania.
    The (very) short version: It was an amazing, memorable and truely unique experience. My feet hurt (but no blisters), I am tired and exhausted, but I'm coming back with many, many good memories, new friends, new experiences, appreciation of amenities like hot showers, light switches, proper beds and toilets closeby (yes, a true reminder of Zeltlager in the Jachenau... it's been a while, but the experiences from back then came in handy once again), many moskito bites and so many pictures in my head.
    More to come - but for now: I'm back, clean, tired at Launceston airport, waiting for my 2hrs delayed flight to Melbourne where I will spend some more hours of this night before heading to Queenstown. New Zealand is next - but I have tons to digest. Thanks to Ana, Anne, Jenny, Scott, Lisa, Penny and our amazing guides Samson and Ryder who made this trip so special. I really hope to keep in touch.

    Off-topic, but still somehow present right now. While I was not impacted by the Amazon layoffs, some dear colleagues have been impacted. I was and still am devastated by some of the news I saw only today and am still processing. Thinking of all of you and wishing you all the very best. It is such a bummer to see you go and hard to believe... Let me know if there is anything I can do!    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Traveling

    January 25, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    If someone travels - they will have stories to tell… one of mine can be summarized by the pics below. Instead of flying out of Launceston at 9:35pm yesterday, spending the night at Melbourne airport and having an early flight from there to Queenstown, it’s 5:15am now and I’m still (or rather again) at Launceston airport.
    Around midnight last night, we were told that our flight was finally canceled. I got rebooked to the same flight connection 24hrs later. And while I like this town, I’m ready to hit NZ. Soooo… booked myself an early connection from here to Melbourne and on to Sydney with a different airline and hopefully the 4hrs of scheduled time in Sydney will be enough for my flight from Sydney to Queenstown… if all goes as planned, I will be in Queenstown 9hrs later than planned - so not too bad. But lots can go wrong along the way, so we’ll see…

    Oh… and I had 2 cozy hours of sleep in a nice bed in a hotel in Launceston - roughly from 2-4am. Who needs more 😂

    Next stops (hopefully) - Launceston - Melbourne - Sydney - Queenstown.    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Queenstown - Glenorchy - Te Anau

    January 26, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Sleep can feel sooooo good!
    Once I was able to think straight again, I headed out to enjoy breakfast in the sun and stroll through Queenstown incl. it’s Gardens. Not much time for this tiny and cute city (thanks again, Jetstar) - but I wanted to head up to the head of the lake (Lake Wakatipu), Glenorchy. Allegedly there are some beautiful hikes - but I only had time for a stroll and coffee… but the drive was pretty amazing, incl a beautiful viewpoint along the road and a nap on one of those beaches.

    Another long drive followed - all the way to Te Anau, where I’ll stay for the next two nights…

    Highlight 1 of the day: No noteworthy incident with the car - driving left is weird but so far manageable.
    Highlight 2 of the day: Laundry!! Having clean clothes is a pretty good feeling. Not all the hiking dirt made it out of the clothes - but the fresh smell is definitely an improvement when opening the backpack…

    Mystery of the day: Huge police investigation in Te Anau. Unfortunately nobody told us what happened.

    Observations of the day: sheeeeep everywhere; merino everywhere; nature reminds me a bit of Alaska; like everywhere, the service sector is suffering from significant post-COVID staff shortage. Lots of places are not even open - and it is main season!!    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Rain in Fiordland

    January 27, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Finally the day for my rain pants… and… I must admit that I was lucky that I did not need them during the overland track… they are everything - but not waterproof anymore 🫣

    Luckily, it was only a couple of hours of rain this morning… I had a beautiful (pouring) rain walk along Lake Gunn nature walk on my way to Milford Sound… there I hoped on a boat (early enough before the crowds) for a 2hrs boat ride through the Fiord…. Stunning and amazing. Thanks to the rain we had a breadth of waterfalls (usually, there is only a handful of permanent waterfalls). Breathtaking!

    On my way back - some more stops along the way, incl famous (but underwhelming) Mirror Lakes and Mistletoe Lake - the latter even in the sun…

    Sad to say goodbye to this beautiful spot tomorrow… I’ll be heading over to the Eastcoast. Hopefully with one or two nice hiking stops.    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Vacation

    January 28, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    It seems as if it took me until today to really feel like vacation (and yes, it’s already half time).

    Therefore, only a few words about today:

    Little hike in the morning along the Kepler Trail - nice and peaceful- but not comparable with the Overland Trail. But - I saw my first Kiwi ☺️.

    Long car ride all the way to the Otago Peninsula with steep and windy roads, but breathtaking nature and even a castle. Also saw seals 🦭

    Overnight in Dunedin - not worth a visit - but St. Clair just around the corner is very special (that’s the beach pic).

    Highlights beyond the beaches, views, seals, sheep, nature, kiwi: I managed to fuel up my car with no (!!) issues. And yes - this is a highlight for me ☺️

    Oh - and if someone knows what Kepler has to do with this trail / the respective mountain range - please share.    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Penguins - and once again driving

    January 29, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Seals and penguins and too many birds…

    After breakfast on the beach, I took a tour at the Penguin Place - a ‘private conservation reserve dedicated to helping the endangered Yellow-Eyed Penguin survive’… those little guys are pretty close to extinction and they try their best to avoid that. It is a lovely place…
    We saw Yellow-Eyed Penguins, Fiordland Crest Penguins and (allegedly) a baby Blue Eyed Penguin (it was hidden in a tiny house and could also have been a piece of wood 😉). And seals!!

    From there, it was quite a drive all the way to Wanaka - home for one night. Lake Wanaka is quite cold - but I was brave - and rewarded myself with ice cream afterwards…

    Lesson 1 learned today: the only native NZ mammals were bats and marine mammals… all the rabbits, possums, feral cats and other rodents are not supposed to be here - abs actually a problem for the little penguins. There are some wallabies here - also considered a pest…

    Lesson 2 learned today: Traveling alone in a country with soooo many wineries and vineyards is annoying. Who goes wine tasting alone?!? 😟

    Plans for tomorrow - getting back in my hiking boots… and only a short drive for once….    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    All and everything

    January 30, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    What a gorgeous day…

    Started early - after I managed to ‘escape’ out of my hostel following a little fight with the door, coffee in the only bakery in Wanaka open before 7am - in the middle of an industrial area, main customers construction workers who all asked me what I was up for and then off to hit the trail to Isthmus Peak. I opted for it over Rob Roy (that’s the one EVERYONE does with the famous pics in the middle of nowhere) - just because not everyone does it ;-)
    Lots of sweat, quite steep, but so worth it… and given that it was the first over 1000meter elevation hike since this COVID (booster) disaster, I’m pretty proud. 3hrs up (finishing another audiobook), encountering 5 other people, lots of water (sweating out and getting back into my body) - and gorgeous views over Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea…

    Back down in the summer heat, grateful for my poles in those steep sections - and back at the car park, I had a blister (none during the Overland Track, btw!!) 🤨

    Anyways… the drive was along water, waterfalls and I got a (quick) swim at the Blue Pools. Freeeeeeezing, but gooooood… more waterfalls… helping a mom recover her baby’s pacifier (and safe her night), views - and all of a sudden the scenery changed from dry, yellowish mountains to green. And the weather changes.. back to drizzle and rain for now…

    Closing the day at a pub called The Hard Antler… and yes… the name is what you get… in addition to huuuge sized portions.

    That’s it… goodnight… let’s keep fingers crossed that the rain and wind goes away overnight - tomorrow is helicopter-glacier day 🚁🏔️🧊

    No major learnings today… just happiness and gratefulness… today had a bit of everything…    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    View of the views and Glacier(s)

    January 31, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    I started the morning at Lake Matheson. While I had picked that spot as an allegedly good coffee spot on my way, I learned that it is much more… the Lake has some pretty impressive views - and reflections on a nice day. Today was not that nice - and super humid - but still okay’ish… and yes, it has a viewpoint that is called view of the views… and it is a great view ☺️. And the coffee was pretty good as well.

    From there I went on to Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers - I had a booking for a heli-hike on the latter. Which… unfortunately… was canceled due to bad weather…
    But… I was lucky and could snatch a booking for a heli-hike on Fox Glacier. We were a small group - nevertheless with two quite annoying ladies who seemed to be too old for Instagram pics of their own - but didn’t think so themselves…
    Still, it was an amazing trip. A short ride up and down with the heli, and then we had almost 3 hours hopping around on the glacier with crampons - with a bit of rain, but overall pretty good weather. Who knows how long this glacier will still exist. It - weirdly enough - starts at less than 500m above sea level and you can see the sea while hiking it… very cool (pun intended).

    My legs are still sore - but it will be kayaking tomorrow (again, a different tour vs originally booked - for a lack of other customers). And then we’ll see what the weather brings… allegedly, the west coast will see some rain over the next few days (they anticipated that there might be no heli hikes altogether over the next 5 days)…    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Kayak, kiwis, trees, no kiwis, blue wate

    February 1, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Kayaking at Lake Mapourika to start the day - with a bunch of kids (?) that made me feel old… no doubt that the guy I shared a kayak with was still getting over his hangover - but he did well 😉 - and having some nice glaciers as backdrop did help!

    Afterwards a quick stop at the kiwi sanctuary - New Zealand really and impressively put significant effort in preserving what they have - incl increasing their number of kiwis (they have 5 different kinds of kiwis).

    Next stop - after coffee - was the west coast tree top walk. Unfortunately no view of the mountains - instead enough rain… But these trees… 😳

    Based on a recommendation from my kayak guide (anyone ever heard of Yung Gravy? He looked like his two) the next stop was Hokitika Gorge. While parking and gathering my stuff, I saw a man staring at another car, seemingly taking a video. Even weirder, he was smiling the entire time while nobody was around. Only when I got out of the car, I understood - a kiwi mom and her 2 chicks were exploring the parking lot… could not have been better…

    UPDATE: those are wekas, not kiwis… 😕

    But the Gorge came close - bluest water. So pretty and almost surreal…

    Tonight I’m sleeping in the cat room of a lovely hostel called Noah’s Ark. It’s also raining heavily - so that is that. Not to mention that one of the owner’s is half German ;-)    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Morning fails…

    February 2, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Note: here, ‘Cheese pockets’ have bacon in it, ‘Raspberry buns’ come with raisins and walkways can be closed and you might find out only after driving 8km in a dead end road…

    But found amazing coffee in a place that looks nothing like this from the outside…

    Happy Thursday everyone    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    It got better…

    February 2, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    After the rather disappointing start, the day got better.

    - I went on the planned walk just from the other side and ended at Point Elizabeth Lookout - such a peaceful and pretty spot.
    - From there I went off to Paparao National Park - incl a number of shorter walks - with many Kiwis along the way and some ‘pancake’ rocks.
    - Followed by a stop to do the Cape Foulwind trail, which started at a lighthouse and ended at a seal colony. Not too many friends where at home, but a number of kid seals (do they have a name??) played around while their parents slept.
    - Ended the day at the Alpine Lodge with probably the best food so far…

    Other callouts:
    - if it wasn’t for the palm trees and the kiwis, this could be the Oregon coast.
    - This includes the weather somehow. But while it switched between blue sky and pouring rain within minutes, it is pretty warm here!
    - I saw a lot of kiwis today… not yet bored by them. And they are fast!
    - No penguins though today
    - (Audio)Book recommendation for the nerds: Humble Pi. When Math goes wrong in the real world. I laughed out loud a few times.    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    This country…

    February 3, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    … is impressive. How can you fit so much into a rather small country - and I have seen so little?
    Mountains, rainforest, rugged coast, sandy beaches, wild rivers, cacti, you can ski, (heli) hike, kayak, zip line, raft, mountain bike and so much more…
    Not to mention those nice people all along the way… and sheep (forget about the mosquitos though) ☺️

    I like it… sad to see the time ticking…

    Quick summary of today: Mount Robert loop for hiking this morning with the clouds floating in and out of the valley. From there a rather short drive to Nelson - a cute little town that positively surprised me - with a nice beach, some pretty gardens and the ‘Center of New Zealand’. Enough to do for an afternoon.

    And not to forget about my little accommodation here… I would probably call it a bed and breakfast. The owner is a very nice Dutch lady and I may have woken her up from her nap this afternoon when I checked in - and all of a sudden stood in her living room without any further notice 🫣

    Luckily she did not kick me out - and I have a cute little room in the attic that doesn’t miss out on anything…    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler
    2

    Beach day followed by rain

    February 5, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Yesterday was not too eventful… an amazing breakfast from my host Paulina, a sweet Dutch lady with a B&B in Nelson, a bit of driving - or rather cruising (incl. to a little Buddhist meditation center) - followed by some beach time. It was hot!!! 🥵

    The plan for today was Abel Tasman National Park. By kayak, boat and walking boots… well… what was not part of the plan: wind and rain.
    When I showed up this morning, I was told that my trip got canceled because a storm was expected in the afternoon. I could still do some kayaking in the bay in the morning - and hop on a boat later for some walking - but not as a full day trip…
    Well, I had no other plans - and so I did the ‘small’ version of my trip. And I do not regret it. Even though I got completely soaked twice without even jumping in the water.
    Kayaking was great - it was almost a private tour with a guide and just one more lady I shared the kayak with (from Switzerland).
    Funny enough - small world - Ian, our guide, has worked on the San Juan islands until last year as a guide, guiding similar trips to the one I did last summer… so we were reminiscing about the Pacific North West and I got some new kayak recommendations - while fighting with the wind and the rain, admiring the split apple and getting in and out of caves… it was pretty amazing (and wet).

    After that, I changed into some (for now) dry clothes and had a little break for (yes!!) coffee before hoping on a boat to see at least some corner of the park. I hopped off at ‘Anchorage’ and did a little loop walk. It was soooo pretty. Hardly any people given the weather (yup, it started drizzling) - but really beautiful.
    Well, the last 20min or so, it started pouring down…

    Back with the boat, ‘home’ for a hot shower, dinner under a rainbow. And now, surprise, the sun is coming out again.

    Unfortunately I don’t have more time here - I have a ferry to catch tomorrow evening to get to the North Island…. Yes… the last week has started 😟    Read more

  • Claudia WildmannSYD - TAS - NZ 2023Traveler

    Howdy North Island

    February 7, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Time is really running…

    I said goodbye to the South Island yesterday - via a gorgeous evening ride on the ferry from Picton to Wellington. With me on the ferry - lots of German tourists and a couple of trucks full of sheep. 😟 interestingly enough - similar to Seattle - they have sounds here. Not exactly like Puget sound and the ferry was slightly larger than the Bremerton ferry and took longer. But we’ll… 🤷‍♀️

    It was a short night in Wellington, a quite cute city and I’m sorry I did not have time to explore… I spent the morning having some nice breakfast, getting some real bread (not German, but it is coming close), and exploring the nearby shoreline…. Sooooo pretty. Amazing colors. No penguins in sight though.

    After that, it was again driving. Up northwest… and yes, I hit the 3000km by now.

    Tomorrow, I’ll put on my hiking boots again for a full day of hiking 🥾… hopefully the weather holds up.

    Other than that - I’m more and more impressed about how nice the people are here. Just honestly friendly and interested in your story. Be it the hosts in the accommodations, the coffeeshop barista or today the optometrist (I had some issues with my contact lenses - all solved). And though it‘s basically to high season - it‘s still chilled.    Read more

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