The Obis and the Kiwis

The pre-ordered shuttle took us verrrrry early (8:30 😂, based on the previous days and weeks that was early) to the nearby Aquataxi base. Waiting for more people we were ready to board a speedboat 🚤, a tractor‘s 🚜 going to pull us to the beach and push us into the water (it was low tide). Everyone including the kids were asked to put on the lifejackets. First stop: Split Apple Rock. (Luckily we could skip the drive there, as it should be a bumpy road and very little space to turn around.) On the second stop we could spot some fur seals. They blended in perfectly with the stones...

After 30minutes bumpy ride over the Tasman sea we arrived at Anchorage, our starting point of today’s walk to Bark‘s Bay, which is part of Abel Tasman Coastal Walk. The girls were excited to have golden sand under their feet and it was hard to persuade them to start the track, but we had to, as we needed to cross Torrent Bay during low tide as we otherwise needed to make an 1,5hr detour.

Crossing the Bay was good fun. We saw boats on land, loads of mussels and we waddled through streams. The path continued through rain forest along the various bays and saw one beautiful beach after the other. After loooong 8,5km we arrived just in time for our aquataxi, which will bring us back to Marahau, but also meant no further time to spend at the beach... the girls were a bit sad. Especially Matilda, as she walked all by herself (proud mom moment) and was very looking forward to the sand.En savoir plus

The weather‘s currently treating us well and we decided to slow down a bit and stay an extra night.

We explored the beach in Marahau. Built small sandcastles (only to discover later the day that the high tide washed it away). After a pizza (the best pizza we had so far in New Zealand) lunch break we again headed into Abel Tasman NP, just this time we walked the first 1-2kms to the first beach 😁En savoir plus

Time to go further north, but unfortunately our fridge decided to give up, again... so we tried to get hold of the rental company first (tricky, as the phone reception was lousy). After an unsuccessful try to repair at a workshop (we could at least drive to beautiful backland) we finally headed to Golden Bay.

Pohara, a small Village between Takaka and the northern part of Abel Tasman NP. And the campground was located behind the sanddune. Perfect for a quick walk to the beach and a swim. Matilda couldn’t wait Greta sat in the sand and started digging 😂En savoir plus

From Haast to Wanaka it‘s only 2 hours drive, passing the Blue Pools and the Haast pass.

On a sunny day the Blue Pools would be blue, too, just on a rainy day it‘s a light grey, muddy 😂🙈 Well, it was a quick walk and we got some fresh air.

After passing the pass the weather became better and better (reminds us of going to Italy, we start rainy and after passing the tunnel, it‘s sunny 😁) and soon Lake Wanaka and later on Lake Hawea were visible. Just stunning!

The rainy weather also had its downside, we had a wet bed... luckily we got a quick appointment the same afternoon and got this issue fixed. And the fridge is interestingly working since 2 days. 🤔En savoir plus

Finally... finally we‘re driving to Milford Sound. On our way it rained and rained and it was windy. Not just a little bit. We saw hundreds of waterfalls, which wouldn’t exist without all that rain. We saw snow. And one place more beautiful than the other. One would say, hey all this you could have at home, too. Yes, that might be true, but the difference is that nature’s still intact and unlike in Austria less people, which also means less buildings/infrastructure.

A couple of days ago I pre-booked a
campervan site at the Milford Lodge. The only campsite in Milford Sound and the place is limited. Normally we would just show up and ask for availability.

Due to the weather (it changed from rain to dry to hail to wind to rain and every other possible direction and combination) we didn’t even bother going for a walk and stayed at the kitchen/lounge area and waited for dinner time 😬.En savoir plus