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    Fox Glacier

    3. maaliskuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    The third day in Fox Glacier. Maddie, Andrew (whom we met at the hostel in Picton), and I had planned to do the two-day Copland hike—first yesterday, then today. We postponed it to today because of the constant rain, hoping it would clear up. It didn’t. The weather looked just as bad, and two of us decided to call it. Maddie (you can probably guess) went for it anyway.

    For us, it was the right decision. We went on a 1.5-hour hike to get a glimpse of Fox Glacier and ended up absolutely soaked (apparently, “rainproof” doesn’t mean you won’t get drenched…). The nature was beautiful, I’m sure, but the rain kept us from seeing much. To make matters worse, thick clouds blocked the glacier, so the only proof of its existence was a tiny bluish-whitish patch—visible only with 240x zoom.

    Luckily, the hostel I stayed at for the night had a complimentary whirlpool, which warmed me up again.    Lue lisää

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    Tatare Tunnels

    1. maaliskuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Our last stop of the day was the Tatare Tunnels. Originally constructed in 1897 to supply water for gold mining operations along the Waiho River, these 500-meter tunnels are now open for adventurous tourists to explore. The water inside was freezing! My feet did not enjoy that and needed plenty of breaks.

    Upon arriving at the campsite that night, I was absolutely tormented by mosquitoes. Now I face a choice: endure the relentless itching or use my mosquito burner and suffer its intense burning effects. Pickle, pickle…    Lue lisää

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    Hokitika Gorge

    1. maaliskuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Hokitika Gorge has strikingly turquoise water due to the presence of glacial flour. Maddie considered going for a swim countless times. However, as another tourist pointed out, ‘blue’ usually means really cold! There were also warning signs advising against swimming. And sandflies! A combination of all these factors could convince her otherwise—though I’m sure not without a fair amount of regret.

    Just taking in our surroundings was rewarding enough. At least for me. ^^    Lue lisää

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    Another Cave and Pancake Rocks

    1. maaliskuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    A long day awaited us in rainy, foggy weather (of course, we didn’t manage everything we had planned—thankfully, I might add…). Our first stop was a cave near Pancake Rocks, and on our way there, we were entertained by two pretty good surfers. (Due to the mist in the air, taking good-quality pictures was quite tough.)

    The main attraction, Pancake Rocks, was only 200 meters further (we regretted not walking, as parking spaces were scarce). We walked the loop around the scenic landscape and thought, Why not have some pancakes while we’re here? Of course, there was a café selling them. Then we saw the price: 27.50 NZD for four stacked pancakes made with a ‘secret recipe’? Nope, we didn’t think so. Though I do wonder what ‘secret’ meant in this case.    Lue lisää

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    Maruia Falls

    28. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We had a rather late start to the day and enjoyed our campsite for quite a while. Then I heard it—bing, bing, bing. I peeked outside the kitchen to investigate. I engaged people in conversation and soon found the source—another avid Duolingo learner, Mira! What a coincidence—she was learning Spanish as well. Duolingo, it turns out, is a great icebreaker! We had a lovely chat with her, and I hope our paths will cross again.

    We had to move on, however, as we had a bit of a drive ahead of us. There was only one stop along the way: Maruia Falls. We were surprised to learn that they didn’t even exist until 1929, when the Murchison earthquake created the waterfall. Awesome! We were sure this area had been used as a quarry because it looked so even, but apparently not. ^^    Lue lisää

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    Split Apple Rock

    27. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We enjoyed a hot shower at the kayak rental. Once I was done, I went to the car and waited for Maddie. And waited. Just as I decided to go look for her, I saw her chatting with the rental staff and asked what the hold-up was.

    Turns out, they had locked her in the shower… :D

    Our last stop of the day: Split Apple Rock—though, depending on the angle, it might as well just be Apple Rock. We were about to leave the beach when we stumbled upon two surprise caves that were practically begging to be explored. So, we obliged.

    In one of them, we found a little prehistoric-looking crustacean—no idea what this guy is called.

    While hiking up the hill back to the car, I spotted the third little sticker of its kind. Still waiting for the culprit to come forward. :D    Lue lisää

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    Lagoons, Seals and Starfish

    27. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We made good use of the calm waters early in the morning and prepared to go past our original campsite, up Torrent River into the lagoons. The waters had been calm before, but in the lagoon, there was no movement at all—magical! It was incredibly scenic to gently paddle up Torrent River.

    We parked the kayak and hiked 10 minutes to Cleopatra’s Pool—a natural pool in a river with a natural slide! I passed up on the opportunity, feeling too cold just wading through the water to get there. ^^

    Look who’s peeking up to catch a glimpse of the happenings in the pool!

    The way back was long and not easy, with our aching hands and shoulders from the previous day. The waves picked up a bit towards the end again, but nothing compared to what we had experienced before. We stopped at Adele Island once more, this time on the rocky side, where we spotted seal pups! It was tough to take pictures from the constantly moving kayak, but maybe you can spot one of the little guys.

    Back on Fisherman Island, it was time for a swim—and look what we found! Starfish! Apparently, they were fruitful and multiplied, because I kept finding more and more! I wanted to keep going because I saw so many, but Maddie said no, we should head back to the rental place. Oh maaaan!    Lue lisää

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    The Next Day: Te Pukatea Bay

    27. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    The next morning couldn’t have been much better: calm waters!! That was all we wanted.

    We also had countless Weka friends at our campsite. At first, we had encountered them on Rotoroa Island and marveled at the cute little birdies. Now, we kept shooing them away—they are quite crafty! We had been warned at the beginning of our kayaking tour not to leave anything unattended, or they would snatch it up and quickly wiggle off into the bush.

    We were also instructed to leave the tent zippers out of the birds’ reach, up high in the middle of the entrance. Otherwise, these intelligent and persistent little creatures might open the tent and invite themselves in. ^^    Lue lisää

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    Stillwell Bay and “Type 2 Kind of Fun“

    26. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Straight across from the beach at Adele Island, there was a beach with archways and coves on the mainland we wanted to see. Another 20 minutes of exploration and we went on to make it to our campsite, Anchorage. We didn’t. Suddenly, the weather changed without warning. A wall of dark clouds was hanging above us and broke shortly after. The wind picked up and the waves were getting higher. Soaked and slightly cold, we paddled to the next best shore, Watering Cove, for a short reprieve and to wait for the rain to pass. It didn’t. Watering Cove was the last beach on the mainland before a very exposed area called “The Mad Mile” – with a rough and rocky coastline that stretched on for longer than we thought. We decided to go for it and tried to set off. That’s when we realised this was gonna be difficult. As soon as we pushed the kayak into the water to get in, the waves crashed into it and left water in our cockpits before we could attach our spray skirts. We tried to pump it out, but at one point, we’d just have to live with a little water if we actually wanted to get a move on. If we managed to get through this, we would arrive at our campsite just beyond this rough patch, Anchorage. The aptly named “Mad Mile” made me question the decision to go on a kayaking tour and a few more things. :D

    The weather got worse: the rain was heavier; the wind grew even stronger; the waves were getting scarily high. It took us 1.5 hours to get through this stretch (in good weather the next day it was less than 40 minutes) and at this point, we were kind of paddling for our lives. A lot of the waves towered over us and soaked us (just in case the rain didn’t do a good enough job) and not only made our kayak shake violently but made the fear of capsizing all too real. All of that for 90 minutes. My body was in survival mode, and I even forgot to feel seasick. I was both surprised and encouraged to power through when I heard Maddie go “Whoo!” from the back seat every now and then. As she put it – even when things go bad, it’s important to keep morale high. (After our ordeal we compared notes: From what I gather, Maddie was just as scared as I was.)

    Suddenly, amidst the forever on-stretching rocks, we saw a faint beach in the distance, and when we found out that it indeed had a campsite – even though not the one we were supposed to go to – we set for it. Now the waves were behind us and made it a little easier to move forwards. However, that comes with a fair amount of danger as well. When kayaking, the most dangerous parts are the takeoff and landing. When you get close enough to the shore and high waves are breaking behind you, there is a decent chance you’ll not only get submerged by the waves in the kayak, but also spin around and land upside down. With the aforementioned spray skirts that are tightly attached to you and the kayak, this makes things more complicated. When bellying up, you need to keep your wits about you, fully submerged, to feel around the lines of the skirt, find the strap, pull it forth, and then back to get out of the kayak.

    We were in absolute luck, however. As soon as we got close enough to the shore, first two, then six people were sprinting towards us to hold the kayak steady so we could get out unscathed. We were incredibly grateful to them. We got out of our wet clothes and tried to get warm, yearning for a hot chocolate or any other hot drink. Unfortunately, there was no Woolworths in the wilderness… Our saviours, however, lent us their camping stove, so we were able to turn our cold salad into a hot stew. Yummy.

    Forgive me for not taking the time in the storm to take pictures to show you just how awful things were. :D    Lue lisää

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    Adele Island

    26. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    An hour later, we arrived at Adele Island - a bird sanctuary. We had our lunch there and encountered an adorable little bird! We‘re not quite sure what kind of bird it is, but the little fella followed us around and got really close. At one point he gave our refreshing isotonic drink a little side eye. Not sure what he was on about.Lue lisää

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    Fisherman Island

    26. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Our first stop was Fisherman Island. It looks so tropical there! The water is pristine and has a gradient of 50 shades of turquoise. We had such fun watching little hermit crabs look for bigger shells and fight for them, looking at cool rocks (and collecting them) and finding awesome seashells. The sand there was so fine, and ranged from white to yellow/orange hues.Lue lisää

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    2-Day Kayak Tour - Abel Tasman

    26.–27. helmik., Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    I was wondering why Maddie was in such a hurry early in the morning as we were about to leave our campsite for the kayak rental—only a minute away. Turns out, we didn’t have to be there at 8:45 a.m. as I had assumed, but at 8:15 a.m.

    Well. That ain’t good.

    We were informed that we’d be on the later tour at 10:15 a.m. because we had missed too much of the instructions. But miraculously, since we’re both model students (please don’t interview any of my former teachers, thank you), we were allowed to join our originally planned tour.

    The instructor read us the weather forecast for the next two days and commented, “I’d love to rip this up and throw it away, but legally, I have to read this to you.”

    What he read to us sounded great, though—perfect conditions for a two-day kayak trip. Sunshine, calm water, hardly any wind.

    We got into our double kayak and paddled away.    Lue lisää

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    Nelson

    25. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Our hostel in Picton looked like a (quoting the owner here) “third world train station“ on the outside and like a Greek painting on the inside. Everything also had an underlying marine theme. The owner even spoke a marine jargon that might have been popular 150 years ago, but she was so committed and seemed to genuinely have a great time being in charge of a hostel. What a kind lady! Since the website for the hostel said there would be free parking on the premises and we couldn‘t find it, we parked in a 60 minute free parking zone, went inside (past midnight!) and asked her. She responded: “Fear not, your chariot may stay there, it shall not be taken!“ She went on to mention that the government didn‘t have the capacity to pay anyone to check on people illegally extending their stay on limited parking spaces. Cool. After a glass of wine and a great conversation with Dan (a reflected, insightful guy from Israel), I went to bed at around 3am. I almost felt refreshed after 5 hours of sleep!
    Before we left the hostel, we collected Andrew, who wanted to hitchhike to Nelson. Since we were going in the same direction, and miraculously were able to fit him plus his luggage into my car, we let him join our quirky gang. (That also meant he wasn‘t able to make use of the little cardboard that the owner of the hostel had made for him so lovingly!) While we were tetrissing our luggage to make some room in the car, we saw an elegantly dressed parking warden scribbling a ticket for the car in front of us. What a great coincidence that we happened to be at the car at just the right moment to avoid getting her autograph… Andrew told us about a case of an overnight stay that cost the two cars they had 400 NZD each. Yikes…
    Before we arrived at Nelson, we had a pit stop at a beautiful river along the road, Rai River. We tried skipping stones and Maddie went for a swim. (No one can say she doesn‘t use every single opportunity for a wee dip, and no matter how cold the water is, she always says: “The water is lovely!“ (Only sometimes with a slightly higher voice than at other times…)
    When we arrived at Nelson (a truly cute town), my need for sushi prevailed, so we enjoyed a truly reasonably priced meal. Just next door, there was a 5 star rated coffee place that had the BEST iced matcha milkshake I‘ve ever had! I‘m still really happy about that.    Lue lisää

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    Jumperama - Wellington

    24. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We drove on to Wellington and Maddie tried to book a ferry during the car ride. The only available slot was 8.30 pm with a duration of 3.5h - ETA around midnight. That meant we had almost 3.5 hours to kill until then and how extraordinarily convenient that I had very recently looked into trampoline parks in Wellington and knew what to do for a fairly reasonable price. I love trampolines! It‘s a fantastic workout, during which - if you wanna believe my watch - I burned 500+ cals in about an hour. And Maddie was so kind as to teach me the forward flip which I actually pulled off in about 30 min! My question is this: How did I learn something like this in less than an hour that 12 years of P.E. failed to teach me? (Not sure if I‘m in the mood to accept some of the responsibility here. :D)
    We were even able to enjoy a nice shower in the Jumperama and then hurried to grab an ice-cream (apple crumble/custard flavour: best ice-cream here so far!) to make it just in time to board the ferry to Picton, on the South Island.    Lue lisää

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    The Putangirua Pinnacles

    24. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Today we visited another location featured on LotR: The Putangirua Pinnacles. Maybe it was shown in the 3rd film where some kind of army of the dead is risen. I obviously know all about it. I was a nice hike with great weather. These Pinnacles are quite impressive! Deceptively tall. The hike back led us through an almost dry, but incredibly rocky riverbed. Another one of those occasions that reminded me that I should wear different shoes with a little more grip. ^^
    Since we still felt the thrill of discovering the Paūa Shells the previous day, we tried again on Whangaimoana Beach, but apart from finding amazing jade rocks (I wish I had my sandpaper with me to make them shiny and pretty (my precious!)), we didn’t have any luck with the shells in question.    Lue lisää

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    Castlepoint

    23. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Castlepoint was such a cool place that we spent most of our day there, hiking. That place basically consists of compressed seashells (very sharp and pointy) and from a geological perspective absolutely fascinating! But first my question to the audience: Who was it? (Picture 5 (and, btw, not at all the only one I‘ve seen here.)) :D Please come forward in the comment section. :D
    Castlepoint is another one of those places that had hiking trails that were closed down due to risk of landslides or unsecured, riskier paths. Take a guess what we did? Yep. We went for the view. I take it as a good sign, btw, that whenever there‘s a steep slope and I decide to go down in a reverse crawl, Maddie looks back and nods approvingly. As she often puts it: “You can either choose to go down on your butt, or the mountain will bring you to your butt.“
    When we were wandering around the beach, I suddenly saw two inconspicuous little objects that might have looked like rocks to most people. It was the only ones there, nothing of its kind anywhere else to be found around there: Paūa Shells. Aren‘t they pretty?
    BTW, the 14th pic shows what I assume to be the aforementioned "sea lice"; tiny nasty jellyfish that sting you. At least those won't anymore. :)    Lue lisää

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    Maraetotara Falls

    22. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    This gem of a waterfall was conveniently on the way to Pahiatua (just had to look up where I am online because it really is a blur!). Just a 5 minute walk and the reward was: about 25 Germans going for a swim there in a group. Maddie said I‘m not allowed to complain because apparently I was doing the exact same thing. But… something, something?Lue lisää

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    Napier

    22. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Yesterday night, Maddie came to me and told me that something really bad had just happened and not to freak out. She put something into my hand that looked like my car keys. Or rather, half of them. The other half was stuck inside of the driver‘s door. Instead of getting some sleep, we were now meeting new people via telephone. A very nice locksmith who said that he doesn‘t do cars anymore but he would consider it if we had no luck getting hold of someone else. We kept calling him throughout and he called us to check and make sure we weren‘t stranded on our campsite. Luckily, we were able to reach a lady, who, we decided, wouldn‘t have to drive the 40 min to our campsite at night, but in the morning. And so she did. Very quick and efficient and now I‘m the proud owner of 2 new keys! (I had only been given only one when I got the car and had meant to have another one made as soon as I had a little time for that. In a manner of speaking, this morning, I had that time…). While insurance has promised to cover “up to half the bill“, let‘s wait and see if they shall.
    After the car issue had been settled, we felt relieved enough to go for a swim in the ocean. The waves broke very close to the shore and were quite forceful. When I decided to get out of the water, a wave kindly felt obliged to give me a lift and washed me ashore with about the same amount of grace as a dead seal would have had in that situation. I‘ve still got sand everywhere. ^^
    We got ready to drive to Napier to explore the art deco capital of the world. On the side of the road, there was a lovely shop with fresh fruit and veggies! We went shopping there for a bit and, among other things, got peacherines (cross between peaches and nectarines) and a cross between a peacherine with a peach. 75 % peach and 25 % nectarine. I wanna know who came up with that and why. :D
    There was a beautiful waterfall in the Centennial Park! We almost thought we couldn‘t get in there because there was a wedding going on. Must be awesome photos with that kind of nature in the background.
    (The second to last picture shows a few major wine capitals in the world.)    Lue lisää

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    Waipatiki Beach

    21. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Our last night in Taupo was behind us and we embarked on our journey further south, near Napier. We found a scenic lookout point we could hike to on the road to our campsite. If only I remembered where it was... The road was closed for vehicles as large chunks of the road had broken off. It was such a cute hidden gem we stumbled upon to enjoy a little snack. There were a surprising amount of blackberry bushes! We seized the day and foraged. :) There was also a surprising amount of sandflies. They seized the day and foraged, too. :(
    Nasty buggers.
    As soon as we arrived at our campsite, it started to rain a lot! With the first rays of sunshine about 2 hours later, a vibrant rainbow came out and lasted surprisingly long. As if to make up for the bad weather, we got the best view of the Milky Way yet!    Lue lisää

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    Taranaki Falls

    20. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    My hike to Taranaki Falls offered a lot of scenic variety: hills, forests, streams, fields and quite a few smaller waterfalls along the way. Annoyingly, there was a fair amount of tourists there as well and about 75% of them were German. Not the travel experience I was hoping for. Though I always get a kick out of being mistaken for an Australian.

    In the late afternoon, when we were both back at Lake Taupo, we admired the calm lake and just had to practise our kayaking skills again. Well, Maddie did. I already mastered the craft. But who was I to say no to a little fun?    Lue lisää

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    Gollum‘s Pool - Tawhai Falls

    20. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    While Maddie was conquering the Tongariro Crossing (a 20km hike up on volcanic landscapes), I went to see two waterfalls instead (my 9km cannot compete with 20km, of course). I really wanted to do the Crossing as well, but I lacked the necessary gear like a rainproof jacket and a few layers of clothing not made of cotton, to keep you warm up there. I considered buying it, but I didn‘t feel ready for a +400$ investment just yet. Luckily, the Tongariro National Park has more to offer, like Tawhai Falls (otherwise known as Gollum’s Pool, which featured in the second LotR film).Lue lisää

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    Craters of the Moon

    19. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    My first jog of the new year (I know it’s late to say this towards the end of February, but it’s better than December ^^) along the shore of Lake Taupo - at least a fraction of it. And what better way of cooling down than going for a swim directly afterwards in what felt like cold-plunge worthy, 10 degree cold water - but it was probably a fair deal warmer than that. Though it does get cold at night.
    The main attraction of the day would be a trip to Craters of the Moon - a geothermally active area near Taupo. In all fairness, the so-called Craters of the Moon looked like a successfully terraformed version of the actual moon - surprisingly green despite signs saying that not a lot would grow there. I beg to differ. The steam coming from the vents made our pants uncomfortably hot, funny enough.
    In other news, my arduous search for some matcha powder here in NZ was finally crowned with success. Then I drove us back swiftly to a) enjoy my matcha-vanilla ice-cream smoothie and b) to let Maddie make me a fresh batch of shortbread as a dessert for yesterday‘s lasagna.    Lue lisää

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    Lake Rotopounamu

    18. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    It was time for another hike! Rotopounamu is about 20 min away from Lake Taupo (properly pronounced as “toepaw“ as I’ve been told) and a 2h hike around a crater lake, surrounded by a lovely forest with spectacularly growing trees (see for yourself, though it really depends on what kind of growth patterns tickle your fancy), and most importantly, a lot of moss. Moss is awesome. We found a tree that was steaming in the sunlight after it had been raining for a while. It was tough to capture it on camera (Attempted with pic n°5 - The fuzzy areas on the left and right of the tree may give you a hint of the steam we saw rising from it. For a better effect I might suggest taking off your glasses. If you’re not normally wearing glasses, find some and put them on.)
    After a few days of rain and wind, the sky slowly cleared up in the late afternoon. Really slowly. That excited us because we wanted to stargaze at Lake Taupo after a delicious dinner that Maddie cooked upon my request (lasagna). The sunset tried its best to be spectacular. I gave it a solid C+. We enjoyed a bit of sparkling wine before we wanted to go stargazing. I was so excited at the prospect of seeing the Milky Way that I neglected to use the ideal exposure time. ^^
    The night sky was impressive but not better than what we had seen at campsites before. We identified the possible culprit that was hiding behind obscure clouds: The moon. We probably won’t get the chance to see the Milky Way as long as that little dickens is lurking about.    Lue lisää

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    Huka Falls

    17. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Equipped with some dry clothes (Maddie and I) Elizabeth drove us around Taupo for some more sightseeing. Apparently, there‘s a dam (Aratiatia Rapids) which let‘s water out a few times a day, so the riverbed beneath the dam suddenly gets flooded (having dried up a fair bit since the last flooding). Due to maintenance, however, it was continuously flooded - so we hurried there for nothing. The view was - as almost always here in NZ - worth it. We also went to Huka Falls and after that, to a cute honey shop where you could have a little honey tasting and try a few alcoholic beverages, most of them with honey. I started off with a gin with honey and sheep’s milk (odd combination, eh?) with a solid 42% but a surprisingly spicy, yet gentle taste. The mead I had after that with a mere 12% tasted like honey water in comparison. I couldn‘t leave without trying at least one of the many Irish creams they had there, the one with honey. Yum! I was certainly glad I didn‘t have to drive. :DLue lisää

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    Kayaking - Lake Taupo

    17. helmikuuta, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    An early morning to make use of the calm lake and head out with the boat to circle the island. At least we made it a quarter of the way. Then it got too choppy. Shame, really, but you can‘t control the weather. Yet.
    Instead, we went out with the kayak. Maddie has a decent amount of experience under her belt, I don’t really (apart from that one time 15 years ago). So, after a short introduction to the basics of kayaking, I paddled away. I truly regret not having taken up kayaking when I was younger. That was such fun! Maddie and I had a little race to a buoy - which I won, so I‘m using this victory as a reliable measure to roughly calculate that I would have won the Olympics some time ago.    Lue lisää

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