SYD - TAS - NZ 2023 | FindPenguins

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SYD - TAS - NZ 2023 Traveler
Where are you from?
February 8, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
As one can imagine, this is a typical question here. And I’m still struggling how to answer. I often revert to - I am German, but I live in the States.

If I just say - Seattle, Washington, people will quickly get from my accent that this is not where I was born (not to mention that people all around have no clue where to put my funny language mix of German native, British English in school, some time in Australia and now working for a US company for over 10 years, 3.5 of those living in the US).

But just referring to Germany does not sound right either. That‘s not really reflect who I am.
I tried once or twice just to keep the conversation short - but then you can bet that someone has an uncle, a kid or some good friend in Germany… 🤷‍♀️😀Read more
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SYD - TAS - NZ 2023 Traveler
Gorgeous hike - with my own rain cloud
February 8, 2023 in New Zealand
Seems as if I’m carrying a little rain cloud over my head….
I had an amazing day doing the Pouakai Crossing in Egmont National Park. Allegedly, you have amazing and quite impressive views during this full-day hike…
I had impressive views… of clouds, fog, rain… at least for the first 2/3 of the hike. It was still impressive - just not what I had hoped for looking at the weather forecast yesterday.

Good news: I had the shuttle (I parked my car at the end of the trail and was shuttled to the trailhead) almost to myself, there were hardly any people on the trail, my rain jacket really holds up to it’s promise and my hiking pants are fast drying. Also, given the few stops I was much faster than expected - and I actually started the day with a rainbow. All in all pretty good - just different 😎

On a sidenote - I think this is cow island. There were many, many sheeps on the South Island. There are quite many here as well - but waaaaay more cows!!Read more
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SYD - TAS - NZ 2023 Traveler
Close to the end of the world…
February 9, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 17 °C
Upfront: Apologies to everyone who has no clue about Lord of the Rings - you may not understand some of the below…
And to everyone - sorry for the long post.

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A bit of an odd day today.

First of all - I could sleep in… which didn‘t go that well. So, I started with a vast breakfast at the cute ‚The fat kiwi‘-cafe, in a little village that had a lot of big birds…

After that, I threw myself into a wetsuit and some glowworm caves. Waitomo is quite famous for it’s cafes and I booked a tour with tubing - yes, we all got a swim tube, a wetsuit, stylish rubber boots, a helmet and a light - and off we went (sorry, no pics). We spent quite some time in the cave (and the cold water) - but it was really amazing. And the glowworms are almost surreal.
Also… small world… on of the other participants was an ex-Amazonian (a shoes vendor manager - and yes, Amazonians know exactly what this means 😉)

From there, it was a two hours drive to my next stop… lost of construction sites on the road - and I tried to stop three times for a coffee - without any success (two closed, and the other one did not look inviting at all). So, no coffee… 😕

So, I went straight to my next accommodation, also to sort out my hiking trip tomorrow and assuming I could get coffee somewhere here (spoiler alert: nope).
I arrived, walked through the door with ‚Entrance‘ and there was no reception or anything. There was some communal space, bathrooms, stairs to the rooms… some doors malre ‚private‘ and a (former?) breakfast counter… even my ‚hallo?!?‘ didn‘t bring me any further…

Soo… after a couple of minutes I decided to head out again - there were two more places close by I wanted to see - and get back later. When walking back to my car, I looked left.. and there was a big sign: ‚office‘. And of course… someone was there to check me in 😂

Also booked my shuttle for my hike tomorrow - the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing - allegedly the best one-day hike in NZ. I had a short moment of regret when I was told that today about 300 people went up that hike (if EVERYONE is doing it, why should I do it?) - but I had already signed up for it, so I just need to go with the flow.
And - MAYBE - I am lucky enough and I see more than just clouds and rain tomorrow.
On a sidenote - this place is tiny. It seems as if the whole village is involved in these hikes (and skiing in winter) and that‘s it. There is really nothing else but surreal nature to see.

And what exactly I s there to see?!? Yeah, I’m getting deep into Lord of the Rings land now. It‘s passing a volcano and allegedly quite mystical. But I just need to look out of the window here - this feels a bit like a different world… scenes in Mordor where filmed where I will hike tomorrow…

I spent the late afternoon with a short hike to Taranaki Falls with ‚the‘ mountain in the background - and did unfortunately not make it all the way to ‚Gollum‘s pool‘, another waterfall, because it was too late already and another 1hr drive one-way. And I was starving (you may remember - no coffee in the afternoon!).

Dinner was another adventure today. My host told me that there are 3 (4) options - a food truck, a restaurant in a motel and the ‚Schnapps Bar‘ (and self-cooking). It turned out - the food truck was closed today. The hotel served only hotel guests today. The supermarket closed at 7pm (it was 7:05) - so the ‚Schnapps Bar‘ it was. For me and for almost everyone else in this little village today.
I opted for a vegetarian curry on a lentil base. Well… the lentils were chickpeas and the rice was edible at its best. Maybe they were thinking about rice-schnapps?!?

I have a big lunch bag for tomorrow - so hopefully I will make it up this mountain nevertheless 😉

Other callouts:

Report of a loss (the first I‘m aware off at least): I must have lost my beloved (!!) purple merino buff. That was a good travel and hill g friend for years. I remember I still had it when I waited for the ferry. But after that?!? No idea. And yea, I looked in all bags… 😟

I‘m also a god employee - I don‘t know how many people I’ve told that they can shop on the AU, UK and US Amazon stores (yes, it’s more in fact - but they seem most relevant) and get things shipped to NZ. Your welcome, dear colleagues. 😉

Also - did I mention that I’m running out of time?Read more
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SYD - TAS - NZ 2023 Traveler
Short version
February 10, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
I‘m too tired for a long version - it‘s past 9:30pm after all 😂 (yes, my holiday schedule is different 😉):

- Tongariro Alpine crossing ✅
- amazing hike with no (!) rain, but it was windy and cloudy at times
- I even ended it with a short sprint to make it to the early shuttle 🥵
- I did not see Frodo, Gollum or Sauron - but felt close at times
- nobody in NZ seems to drink coffee after 3pm. Still not my schedule!
- probably the coldest day today - I was close to getting out my gloves. But they may remain unworn during this trip.
- found Gollum‘s pool - but he was out
- amazing dinner in Taupo - after that disaster yesterday I had more options and succeeded in finding a really good spot.
- final trip planning for my last full day - full in terms of full 24hrs AND pretty packed.
- Auckland tomorrow evening and unless cyclone Gabrielle hits early (Air New Zealand already sent me a warning email and invited me to rebook to a later flight), tomorrow will be my last night in NZ 😳

But for now: Goodnight!! 😴Read more
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SYD - TAS - NZ 2023 Traveler
Yellowstone and Hobbiton
February 11, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
As indicated yesterday, my day was fully packed.

After a quick breakfast (yes, another avocado toast), I made my way towards Rotorura - don’t tell anyone, but it’s coming pretty close to Yellowstone. Mud pools, geysers, hot pools, bubbles and sulphuric smell all around. Interestingly enough - people are living basically right next to these pools. For Māori, those are sacred sites and in fact you will find Māori villages close by. I’m always reluctant to visit these ‘living villages’ - I appreciate sharing cultures, introducing customs - but I’m always feeling a bit like in a zoo… really uncomfortable - and therefore opted primarily for the nature trails.

From there I went to Hobbiton!!! Sooooo cool! You can walk along the original Hobbit holes, listen to a number of background stories, have a drink in the green dragon and feel as if Frodo is about to jump out of the bushes (he did not). I’m actually considering to watch lord of the rings on my flight tomorrow - if available (and if my flight leaves as planned).

From there, the final leg to Auckland. Way toooo manny people here on a Saturday evening, in particular huge competition for dinner options.
Not sure I’m up for big city life tomorrow - but given the weather forecast (pouring rain!), I’ll have to rethink my plans anyway… tomorrow…

Now… it’s one last time goodnight from New Zealand. Hopefully…
I know I mentioned it before - I would not mind staying longer. But admittedly - not in a storm in Auckland. That does not sound too appealing…
Let’s keep fingers crossed!!Read more
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SYD - TAS - NZ 2023 Traveler
Auckland
February 12, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 18 °C
So, I spent the last couple of hours in Auckland - in rainy and stormy weather in a city that just recovered from a flood and now got ready for a cyclone. To cut it short - it was uneventful 🤷‍♀️
I strolled through the city, along the water, was in a weird mood anyways.
Every city on the coast has it’s own charm - and so has Auckland - but it probably could not win…

I went on a final walk up to Mount Eden - with a closed top, and, me trying to take a shortcut, all of a sudden slipping and kneeling in the mud. But despite the weather, there were some nice views over the city.

From there, a last drive along some beaches and then heading back to the airport, hoping Gabrielle would not stop me from flying home. And it did not. While Air New Zealand canceled all international flights out of Auckland on Monday and Tuesday - the Sunday flights went out and I was probably on one of the last ones to leave…

Goodbye New Zealand - it was a pleasure and I need to come back for sure - toooo many places I did not have them for…

Souvenir Highlight: As some know, I have a little collection of Starbucks mugs. But the prior version - I stopped with the new design (and actually don’t have space for new ones anyways). However - seems as if NZ is a bit behind on the transition - and I need to make room now for a new mug ☺️Read more
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SYD - TAS - NZ 2023 Traveler
Home(bound)
February 12, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C
Leaving Auckland on time - just a bit bumpy - to fly back in the past and actually arriving back in North America before I left is less spectacular than it might sound.

What was spectacular was my experience at Vancouver airport. And not in a fun way. It turns out that if you arrive from NZ / with Air NZ, you need to do the full immigration into Canada, collect your luggage, get back to the checkin counter, check in again and once again through security. This is not the case of you arrive from DE - so I certainly did not expect that - and in particular not all the queues related to that.
I had two hours - luckily we were on time… 45min for CA immigration and customs, 25min to drag my luggage from the carrousel to check in (unlike in Seattle, there is no counter anywhere closer to the carousel!), and another 25min through security and US immigration (yes, you can do that already in Canada).

At security, I ended up setting off some alarms because I was slightly covered in sweat. My TSA pre and global entry did not work either… and all I wanted was to get home…

Well - good thing, the airport staff was nice (well - almost all) and it was kind of nice when the TSA agent said ‘welcome home’ after doing all the paperwork.

I eventually had 5min before boarding - treating myself with a ‘Stress Down’ juice.

And now I’m home - bags unpacked, laundry almost done, showered, something in the fridge again and kicked off my fight with Jetstar on my expenses for the Tasmania flight cancellation.

Back to work tomorrow - but I know it will take some time not only to get back to normality, but also to process all these experiences, adventures and the amazing time…

Sad it’s over - but grateful I had this opportunity and that it all worked out fine…Read more
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SYD - TAS - NZ 2023 Traveler
What’s left to say?
February 17, 2023 in the United States
It was an amazing trip. As always, not enough time and I could have stayed so much longer. But I did miss my own bed. And also Seattle… a bit… sooo… after a few nights back home, 5 days at work, Seattle rain - I’d be ready to see the world again.

Giving that this is not happening, some numbers to reflect about my trip:
- 8 flights (one more than planned)
- 30 days (2 nights in Sydney, 7 (vs 6 planned) in Tasmania and 19 (or so) in NZ)
- 3868 km added to my rental car
- Attempts to turn on the windscreen wipers but accidentally ended with the indicator/ turn signals: approx 8x
- Number of times driving on the wrong side of the road: 1x - and I realized it very quickly. I guess the fun starts when I’m back home
- uncounted # km in my hiking boots and on my feet - but only 2 blisters!
- 2 kayaking tours
- 1 heli ride and 1 glacier hike
- Number of photos: I’m not going to count - but I know - a lot!!
- Number of items left behind (knowingly): 6 (rain pants no longer waterproof (and yes, I had impregnated them before), one pair of shoes, a hat, a water bladder - I tried, but this is not for me!, a broken camelbak waterbottle, and - still no idea where - a buff neck gaiter). Not too bad, I think.
- Hobbit, platypus and Tasman devil sightings: 0 unfortunately
- Number of audiobooks finished during this trip: 9; print books: 1; podcasts: many!
- Favorite place or best thing of this trip - no way to answer - too many amazing places and experiences.
- 1546 unread emails in my work inbox after coming back (I’m actually surprised that it was not more).

And with that, some final thoughts:
- Hard to believe, but you can get blisters from Birkenstock
- Only because I am (also) German does not mean that I want to become friends with you fellow German solo traveller, I’m sorry. And yes, maybe I don’t even want to talk more than 3 sentences to you! Americans understand that much better!
- I’m clearly a pool swimmer. I saw many, many beautiful beaches and passed so many pretty lakes - but hardly went for a swim.
- Avis is great and so was my car. Thank you!
- Jetstar however sucks. And even when it comes to refunds, they are slower than anything.
- Air NZ was nice - but that Vancouver transfer was a disaster
- I saw so much roadkill. Given that NZ wants to get rid of all the possums, weasels, stoats and alike, I’m wondering whether people are driving over them on purpose?
- You only get coffee before 3pm
- It‘s okay to be in bed by 9:30pm almost every day during vacation.
- Each NZ has a sign indicating the ‚duty manager‘. So, if you want to complain to the manager, you can become really personal.
- Scones will always be my death. The next trips must be to non-scone countries!
- 3 works are just not enough for NZ - but at least a start.

Thanks for staying with me all to the end ☺️Read more
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Trip end
February 12, 2023