New Zealand
Kaipakirikiri Bay

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    • Day 5

      Queen Charlotte Track - Day 3

      October 30, 2022 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      Today was filled with 9 hours of hiking across about 25km from Punga Cove to Portage. There were heaps of steep hills but lots of pretty lookouts on the way. We were lucky to get some great weather too!!Read more

    • Day 27

      Marlborough Sounds 🛥⚓️🛟

      March 8, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

      Neuer Tag, neues Boot!

      Diesmal sind wir auf einem Wassertaxi in den Marlborough Sounds unterwegs.
      Ist eine fast schon verwunschene Gegend mit einem Labyrinth aus unzähligen Buchten, Inselchen und Meeresarmen. Eine weitläufige Explosion aus Blau- und Grüntönen quasi.

      Von hier aus geht auch unsere Fähre auf die Nordinsel. Da wir einen Tag "übrig" haben, versuchen wir, die Überfahrt einen Tag vorzuverlegen . Aber keine Chance, die Fähren sind auf Wochen im Voraus hoffnungslos ausgebucht.

      Hoffentlich geht da alles gut... das Anreise- Erlebnis in Auckland ist immer noch lebhaft in Erinnerung! 🙈😳🫣

      Erstmal setzen wir aber woanders hin über. Wir möchten einen kleinen Teil des Queen-Charlotte-Tracks erwandern. Wieder mal eine Mehrtagestour, von der wir uns einen besonders nett erscheinenden Abschnitt heraus picken.

      Und dieser ist dann wirklich seeehr nett. Der Weg führt immer über den Bergrücken, sodass man ständig rechts und/ oder links schöne Ausblicke hat. 😃🏞👏

      Es geht aber auch abwechslungsreich durch einen urtümlichen Dschungel mit Jahrhunderte alten Farnbäumen und gigantischen Wurzeln bis zu unserem Etappenziel, der Mistletoe - Bay. Ist gleichzeitig ein Campingplatz.

      Hier werden wir sofort von zwei freundlich grunzenden Schweinen begrüßt. Ob das wohl die Camp-Mitarbeiter sind?😅

      Um 15 Uhr soll uns das Wassertaxi wieder einsammeln.
      Noch mehrmals Zeit und Ort gecheckt, nicht dass wir hier noch stranden. Gäbe aber zugegebenermaßen schlechtere Orte, um vergessen zu werden☀️😊

      15.15 Uhr, immer noch kein Boot in Sicht. Hm.... na gut, bisschen Zeit muss man ja lassen.

      15.20 Uhr, weiterhin kein Boot, dafür trudelt was anderes ein... Es schwimmt ebenfalls im Wasser, ist groß, dunkel und hat nen Stachel: Rochen!

      Einer nach dem anderen gleitet direkt unter den Steg hindurch, auf dem wir gerade stehen, und macht es sich in der Bucht gemütlich.
      Plötzlich finden wir es sehr praktisch, dass unser Rücktransport noch nicht da ist. 😏😁

      15.30 Uhr schippert dann aber tatsächlich ein Boot ein. Es scheint, als wenn man uns nicht so richtig auf dem Schirm hatte, es war ein Materialtransport und wir mussten ziemlich deutlich auf uns aufmerksam machen... hm.

      Aber alles schnell geklärt, der Skipper ist sehr freundlich und quatscht ein wenig mit uns. Dadurch erfahren wir , dass die gerade beobachteten Rochen sehr gerne von Orca-Walen gefressen werden, die es hier auch gibt... aber weiter draußen. 😦 Die Orcas sind dabei offenbar Gourmets, denn sie futtern nur die Leber von den Rochen. Och nööö.

      Wir sind zunächst noch die einzigen Passagiere und haben eine der schönsten Bootstouren überhaupt. Da wir weiter zu anderen Buchten müssen, kriegen wir gleich eine kleine Rundfahrt durch die Marlborough Sounds inklusive. Wie praktisch!
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    • Day 73

      QCT Day 3 Evening

      January 12 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      This evening I checked into my 5 person shared accomodation to discover I was the only person staying there! I spoke to the owner and she said this was highly unusual and the 3 previous nights had been completely full!

      I then called the resort next door to book a table for dinner, only to be informed that there were none available. I therefore asked if there was anywhere else nearby to eat and was recommended Punga Cove, the place I'd eaten the night before and just walked 25km from. The only realistic option was to eat pasta, pasta sauce and beans found in the cupboard of my accomodation.

      Before succumbing to this fate I thought I'd head down to the resort anyway to enjoy the views out to the sounds and maybe try and walk in to the restaurant. However, there was still no space for me in the restaurant but I was able sit in the huge bar area and order bar snacks. Thankfully the bar snacks included fries and also a fish bowl. So I ordered one of each and when they arrived it could have easily fed two people! So all worked out well in the end!
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    • Day 156

      Queen Charlotte Track - Day 2

      December 2, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      We woke up to weka rustling around in the bushes around our tent. They're real trouble makers. We packed up our tents and walked a small way to a hill-top lookout for breakfast. The view from up there was awesome. And of course, there were more weka to keep us company. A lot of people hike this track, so they are very tame.

      The main trail stuck to the ridge of peninsula. But it was hot and we wanted to cool off in the water. So we found a trail that went down to a resort. It had a lot of homemade statues, among which lama were grazing and chicken roamed free. Hammocks were strung in a few key spots. What a great place. We went for a swim even though the water was chilly and even spotted some jellyfish and a giant seastar! We took a shower on the boat dock and refilled our water before hiking back up to the ridge.

      Signs along the way shared some of the history of the waterways. Besides being important for ferries connecting the North and South islands, the sound was also an important part of Maori transportation. During times of conflict, European ships needed a long time to navigate the sounds. Maori would portage with their canoes through the saddle (a dip in the ridge) to quickly surprise their enemies.

      That evening we stayed in a campsite. The campsites are managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and just consist of flat areas for tents, a long drop toilet and a rainwater tank. We didn't bring a stove (we were eating vegetables raw, soaking oatmeal/rice flakes, and eating canned fish) but we could drink the water after treating it with tablets.

      We met two French girls and shared some food and stories.
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    • Day 25

      Blue Sky Kayaking in Kenepuru Sound

      February 26, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

      We woke to a beautiful morning with great views from our room and no wind or waves on the water. Perfect for the kayak portion of our 3-day adventure in Marlborough Sounds.

      After breakfast we met George, our kayak guide for the day. We were set up with spray skirts and flotation jackets and set off to paddle around the part of the sound. We stopped at a green-lipped mussel farm, where they grow on short, thick ropes dangling down from horizontal ropes stretched between floating canisters. Darryl and George harvested some mature mussels for part of our lunch later.

      After a couple of hours of paddling, we stopped at Weka Point, named for a native flightless bird that’s about chicken-sized. Like the kea, you need to watch your belongings around them—they’ll steal sunglasses, sandwiches, anything really.

      We kept our sandwiches and paddling gloves close and didn’t have any trouble. A fantail bird was flitting around us inquisitively for awhile. George made tea, then boiled the mussels. The air temperature was perfect, and Matt decided to take a dip. We didn’t think it was that warm.

      After the lunch stop, the wind came up and the next couple of hours of paddling were not as placid as before. We bounced around on 1-foot swells, but the skirts kept our boats from getting filled with water. By the time we reached shore we felt like we’d had a good workout—something to compensate for all the legwork yesterday.

      Another great dinner with Matt at the hotel restaurant, sampling some of the local Sauvignon Blanc. A warm sunset over the sound completed the evening.
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    Kaipakirikiri Bay

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