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Susanne and Machiel
Susanne and Machiel

Susanne and Machiel

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Leaving paradise

    16 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 18 °C

    Today's hike was a small one. We only had to reach Totaranui which was like 4km from our campsite. From there a water taxi would take us back to Marahau, with a shuttle taking us back to the sandfly hostel in Nelson. On the way to Totaranui the hike partially was on a 750 meter long beach. We arrived around lunch time at Totaranui, giving us 3 hours before our water taxi would leave. That was perfectly enough time for 2 swims, lunch and a real fruit water ice cream. Yes, Totaranui actually has not only a DOC office with a small kiosk but also street access and a campground with campers, vans and huge tents. We're back in society.

    The water taxi arrived and all we had to do was get on it. But just like when we were kayaking, the waves weren't the friendliest and the water taxi therefore couldn't get very close to the beach. There were a lot of people waiting with us and when the skipper allowed people on, a little girl who tried first got injured because the metal plank he had 'rolled out' for us to walk on swung left to right and hit her on her leg. By then we had several kids crying and the skipper decided to relocate the boarding to the other side of the beach. That meant we got a free extra beach hike. There the water was calmer and everyone could board without further incidents.

    The ride was a bit bumpy but the views were nice and this time the engine did all the effort of moving us around rather than our own arm power. Back in Marahau we had to wait for our bus and then drive all the way back to Nelson. We arrived there a bit after 18:00 and were incredibly hungry. First we had to check in to the hostel though and receive our stored luggage back. This turned out to be tricky as they just couldn't find it. Machiel had the smart idea to just check the 6 bed dorm we had stayed in previously and voila there it was. They just never stored it in the luggage room and it was standing on the ground in the dorm since we left. Thankfully everything was still in it.

    We had a very needed dinner in the pub restaurant of the hostel, had a long enjoyable shower, tried to pack our backpacks as good as we could and went to bed early.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Walking on the seabed

    15 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 15 °C

    Waking up with a beach view - we could get used to that. After our improvised breakfast we had a 15km hike to do of which the last 3km were only passable around low tide. And since low tide was either at 7:22 or 19:53 we decided to go for the evening low tide and take our time in the first 12 km. After about 2 hours through the usual amazing jungle, we arrived to Onetahuti Beach. We had heard that this beach was very nice and that turned out to be true. It was great weather and the sun had quite some power, so it was only logical that we would go for a swim, especially because now it was almost high tide, so the water was quickly very deep and that made it very easy to actually swim. The water was cold but who cares if you can swim in such a location! There were no showers here either but by now we were pretty handy rinsing the salt off using a foot tap.

    Afterwards we were very hungry. We decided to only have half of our usual lunch, and then cook at Awaroa in the late afternoon while waiting for the low tide crossing and have the second half of our lunch when arriving to our campsite. This required some discipline but worked out somewhat.

    Having spent 2 hours at Onetahuti, it was time to get moving again. Already while walking along the beach we noticed that it was really getting high tide: the trail which was basically the beach was getting very small and a part required passing over a small ocean river. The trail afterwards was surprisingly hilly but apart from exhaustion also offered amazing views of the Awaroa Inlet which was still filled with more or less shallow water giving it all shades of blue and turquoise. In Awaroa we prepared dinner and then decided to wait at the hut for the crossing. It was also a good moment to evaluate how much food we had left for the following 24 hours: 9 wraps, 70gr oats, 2 energy bars and some nuts, honey and peanut butter.

    We read beforehand that the crossing is possible from 1.5 hours before up to 2 hours after low tide and low tide was predicted at 19:53. Speaking to a ranger at the hut, we heard that predicted low tide times are not so accurate and that instead of starting the crossing at 18:22, we should attempt no earlier than 19:00 and even then it would probably still mean we could get wet up to our waists. That wasn't exactly what we had invisioned as a low tide crossing.

    Turned out we were not the only ones being surprised by the delay and depth. Several people were waiting on our side of the river, but a couple from the other side attempted the crossing first. Someone on our side had binoculars, so we could follow their progress and it wasn't looking too good as they clearly struggled to find the shallowest path to walk. After they arrived and some others on our side started crossing as well, it was time to go. The sun was going down and after the crossing we still had to hike some kilometers and set up camp. The crossing was a combination of sticky mud with sharp shells, and now and then we had to go knee deep through a stream that tried to pull you to the right. Susanne lost her flip flops a few times, but eventually we managed to reach the other side. There we struggled to clean and dry our feet so we could put on socks and shoes again, while being under attack by sand flies. And believe us, sandfly bites are among the most itchy things you can imagine. Especially because they tend to bite your feet so every step you'll feel it. After putting on shoes eventually we walked to the campsite in one go, spoke to the other people that crossed, and went to bed.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore
    21

    A mistake we've never made before

    14 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ☀️ 17 °C

    We woke up to sun hitting our tent. It was breakfast time. And it was here that we realised we had left 500gr of oatflakes and 400gr of milk powder in the hostel in Motueka. We don't know how this could happen. First time for everything we suppose.

    And this was not the W Trek. There were no shops and restaurants around here. So, in the face of overwhelming odds, we were left with only one option: we were going to have to science the shit out of this. We had 35gr of sugary cinnamon oatflakes per person per breakfast, which would last us not very long. But by mixing it with water we'd create sugary cinnamon oatmilk. This is high level stuff. Then for this day we could add the banana and apple, and the next two mornings we'd crumble our remaining energy bars into it, plus a handful of nuts, and voilà: we had ourselves a still not filling enough but somewhat mediocre breakfast that could hopefully get us through these mountains without snack breaks.

    Not that we believe in God, but it felt like heaven had sent out some local bird to steal a bag of pita bread for us. We asked all other campers around but when none admitted it was theirs, we happily took the few slices of pita bread to add to our diminished stock of food.

    The hike was first leading along the beach before going into the jungle again. The weather was great and we came across some very clear rivers. A side trip of a few minutes led us to Cleopatras Pool, a nice natural pool within the river and a natural mossy slide. This made an excellent lunch break spot while watching others going into the cold water and use the partially painful looking slide. We still had 9km to go and continued along Torrent Bay, more jungle, and a hanging bridge above Falls River. We considered trying a swim at Medlands beach but decided to continue to our campsite at Bark Bay, set up our tent, and then try there instead. We first walked along the whole long and nice bay to have a look around and to find the best spot in terms of wind. There was a very clear river entering the sea on the other side of the bay but we eventually ended up walking into the water in front of our tent. Turned out the water was pretty shallow and it would take very long to get anywhere deep. This was probably because it was almost low tide and is probably way better at high tide. We anyways rolled a bit around in the water and then decided to try the shower we spotted on our arrival. Bad timing had it that we had to queue behind 2 other people and the shower gave up before it was our turn. However, their was still a water tap with a bit of an unreliable stream but good enough for us. You can't really expect more when being on a hike in nature.

    The campsite was actually located on a bit of a sandbar, in front the beach and sea, behind a lagoon that's filled at high tide. Remarkably, even here the New Zealanders were able to install water toilets and a nice kitchen area with drinkable water. A pretty cool spot to set up your tent and have dinner.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Sea kayaking

    13 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ☁️ 18 °C

    After a rushed early morning of eating breakfast and final preparations, we were picked up at 8:00 by our kayak operator. We were taken to Marahau, where our kayaking trip would begin. Together with a German family of 5, we got a quite detailed introduction on how to use the kayak, where to put out bags, what to do if we happened to turn around the kayak or in any other emergency situation. The briefing was really good but also took about one hour. He asked if we had any kayaking experience, we answered: "yes, on small Dutch canals". We were good to go. Anyone could do sea kayaking, apparently.

    By the time we were actually in the water it was 10:30. This gave us 5 hours to kayak all the way from Marahau to Anchorage which was supposed to take us 4 hours and didn't leave a lot of slack for breaks. But we were still positive we could make it, given that the ocean water looked calm enough in the bay, and we were told we'd have the wind in our back.

    That however turned out to be utterly wrong. We were told to stay near the shoreline for the calmest weather, but even there we soon started getting strong headwinds and high waves. It was also going towards high tide, and the tides are particularly strong in this area, or so we heard. In the bays the water was OKish to kayak around and have a look at cliffs and see and hear the bird life. But every time we kayaked around corners of cliffs the wind got very powerful and the waves were several meters high. It really felt like a rollercoaster and that the waves could slam us over if we didn't hit them at a near-perfect 90 degree angle. At one point we felt in desperate need of a break and saw the German family on a narrow beach, so we figured we'd stop there as well. With no sea kayak experience we didn't really look at the waves near the beach too much, and when trying to navigate onto the only free spot left at the tiny beach we managed to get turned sideways by the waves. Thankfully some of the family saw this happening before it probably actually happened, ran towards us and dragged our kayak straight and onto the beach.

    We ate some bread but the weather was cloudy and cold, and the beach was only getting smaller towards high tide. Another couple arrived and when landing had the same problem we had: their kayak was pushed sideways. This time Machiel could be the hero as he dragged their kayak onto the beach. But the waves were looking increasingly unfriendly and we were wondering how we were going back out there. We had realized by now that reaching Anchorage was out of the question. It was past 13:00 at this point and the part to come was mostly on open sea and nicknamed the 'Mad Mile'. Thankfully the kayak operator had clearly explained that we could also leave the kayak at Observation Bay, not far from where we were.

    However, to get there we needed to actually get back into the water without turning the kayak upside down or filling it entirely with water. This was a fun challenge but we eventually made it (albeit it with Machiel sitting in a puddle) and paddled our way to observation beach. When we called the kayak operator to let them know we would leave the kayaks here, we also heard from them that the weather had gotten worse than expected this morning. Then it was time for a bit more lunch before we started our 1.5 hour hike to Anchorage. The trail was easy and especially enjoyable since we had our big bags transferred by water taxi.

    In Anchorage we found a very nice spot for our tent opposite of a dried up river/ocean bed. There was a really good kitchen area for cooking, and clean toilets too. There were many birds walking around the campground. They were nice to watch and not shy but we found out soon that they would do everything they could to get peoples stuff. Plastic bags seemed to be one of their favourites and so we soon found our trash bag and it's content spread out over 20 meters. That taught us the lesson and from then on we were more careful.

    To finish off the day we went for a walk along the beach and found some cool huge boulders that we could walk through. While the kayak ride was wild, we still had a good time but it was even better to enjoy the nice landscape when not being shaken by the waves. Yellow beaches, jungle that reaches up to the beach and blue turquoise water - hard to get better than that.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore
    1

    Motueka

    12 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 20 °C

    So in the previous hostel in Nelson we spoke to an Israeli girl who had a van. She said back then that on Sunday she'd planned on driving north and that she would take us to Motueka if we'd want to. Our plans weren't set in stone yet back then but now we knew we wanted to go there on Sunday too, so we contacted her. She was still up for it which was great, especially since the InterCity bus going that morning was already fully booked. We walked to the old hostel and before we knew it were on our way to Motueka in an old Toyota van.

    Arriving there it turned out difficult to park to drop us off as there was a busy market in the park in front of our hostel. We couldn't enter our dorm yet as it was too early, so we walked around a bit on the market and in the town to continue searching for a new bikini for Susanne. The old one had sadly given up after at least 6 years. We were lucky and not only found a new one but also got some great Asian food and fresh strawberries on the market. For a second lunch, we got some fish and chips at a takeaway and ate it in a mediocre park.

    After a nostalgic walk around the town visiting the hostel where Susanne stayed while working here 10 years ago, it was time to prepare for the upcoming hike in the Abel Tasman National Park. We had already sorted out which clothes and gear to bring as we left everything else in the hostel in Nelson that morning. But we still needed to buy food for the coming 4 days and pack it nicely in our bags. To turn our leftover 500gr of oats into 4 breakfasts, we decided to buy eight 35gr bags of oats with cinnamon and sugar to add one to each breakfast. For the rest we stuck to the usual hiking foods and amounts.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Nelson

    11 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 19 °C

    The day started again with a waffle, toasts and cornflakes for breakfast. Then we had our productive hour of the day, where we organised transportation to and from the Abel Tasman National Park, a water taxi to pick us up at the end of the hike and a kayak for the first day. All that for 378 nzd for the 2 of us was certainly not cheap but we felt it was a fair deal, especially after knowing that prices in South America were often higher despite that living costs there are lower.

    The weather was nice and we decided to have a walk through Nelson. We don't really know why but we really like the city and its atmosphere. While failing in finding a new bikini, we did both succeed in buying new sun glasses 😎. We also visited a church that had held a creative Christmas tree competition for non-profit organisations.

    So we are almost ready to head off for a 4 day kayak and hike along the coast adventure. Once again we will hence be offline for a while.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Playing darts

    10 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ☁️ 21 °C

    Waffles for breakfast is a good start to the day, one of the pros of this hostel. We knew we had to leave it to relocate to another hostel, but we weren't in a rush. We booked some more accommodation for the following week, did an attempt at playing darts and talked to some people that also happened to sit in the common rooms. When we knew we could check in at the other hostel, we put on our backpacks and walked through the town. We picked up some wholemeal bread which turned out to be very good. At our new home we immediately put on a wash, and played some table football. They also had a nice outside area here. We just couldn't spend much time there since you get eaten alive by the sandflies. Finding a supermarket here wasn't as easy and making wraps didn't work out well as we couldn't find minced meat nor good lettuce and avocado. The good side of this was that we had spinach for the first time in 2 months and it was delicious.Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Crossing the Cook Strait

    9 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 20 °C

    After a pretty bad night in shitty beds we had a quick breakfast before catching our shuttle bus to the station. From there we were driven to the harbour where the ferry would take us to Picton on the South Island. The ferry took about 3 hours, we had some comfortable chairs, free sometimes available WiFi and nice views over the Malborough Sounds. Arriving in Picton we picked up our checked in bags and entered the bus to Nelson. The bus ride was cool, it was quickly noticeable that the nature on the South Island is a bit wilder. We checked in at our hostel and immediately walked to the Nelson i-Site for information about the Abel Tasman Coastal Walk. We wanted to combine a multi-day hike with a day of kayaking. It wasn't exactly possible how we imagined and got extra difficult through having to find a good combination of available campings and good weather. Loaded with a kilo of information flyers we walked back to the hostel. We liked it as it wasn't too big and got recently renovated. We made dinner in the very nice kitchen and then researched how we wanted to do the trip. We booked the needed campings along the trail and went to bed.Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore
    1

    The Capital

    8 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 15 °C

    After 2 months of travelling we are increasingly noticing that days of not doing anything special and days of research and booking things are also part of the deal. Today was going to be such a day. Our bus to Wellington only left at 15:00. So we had some time in the morning to book accommodation for the South Island and inform ourselves about the Abel Tasman Coastal Walk, one of the so called Great Walks of New Zealand. We also decided to cook for lunch instead of dinner since our bus would arrive in the late evening in Wellington. The bus ride itself took 5 long hours including a short stopover in Bulls - a town were people find themselves very funny 😉

    The hostel in Wellington was mainly decided based on its location: right next to the transport hub where our InterCity bus arrived and where our shuttle bus to the ferry would leave the next morning. After making our beds and eating a bread with salami dinner, we wanted to go to the supermarket around the corner, but for whatever reason it was closed. Not having time in the morning we walked a bit around to find an open supermarket so we'd have a breakfast to eat. Then we slept in probably the least comfortable beds so far this trip (including our tent mattresses!), in which it felt like the mattress had a sinkhole in the center.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    The Tongariro crossing

    7 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 9 °C

    The weather was still a bit questionable in the morning, so the operators decided that instead of the usual schedule of shuttle buses, there would only leave one, at 9:30. With the latest shuttle back leaving at 18:00 that also immediately decided for us that a side trip to the top of Mount Doom would not be possible. Our shuttle dropped us off at the trail at 10:10, so we knew we had to cover the 19km in less than 8 hours. In the meantime, we'd face 1100 meters of elevation. Tough trail on paper, and we also planned to enjoy the sights now and then instead of just marching on. The trail started easy, mostly flat and an easy to walk surface, some parts even had wooden walkways. With 1500 people walking this on an average day, it's clear that they invested a lot in preserving the nature. Today it didn't feel too crowded though. The first quarter was therefore covered quite quickly and arriving on the top of the devil's staircase, it was time for our first lunch break. The wind was climbing up the mountain with us, and we had to find some shelter behind boulders to not get too cold. The top of Mount Doom was shy at first, but was showing itself more and more. It stayed mostly cloudy most of the hike, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. We continued walking through a flat valley before hiking up to the Red Crater. This and the way down on the other side were probably the hardest parts of the hike with lose rocks and sand, so easy to slip and fall. It was here were we encountered the two least prepared people, hiking down wearing sneakers and a sweater having not more than a shopping bag over one shoulder that looked like it didn't contain more than a water bottle. It just didn't look right at all, but who knows, maybe they made it.

    The sights from the Red Crater area were beautiful. We had Mount Doom with its red glow, as well as the Red Crater itself, plus the cyan Emerald lakes down the hill on the other sight. We also started smelling sulfur, so the whole package was very Iceland-esque. Logically we tried to spend as much time as possible here, having a second lunch break right after the top of Red Crater. This was especially nice since Susanne didn't have much time here last time as she climbed Mount Doom back then and the weather got foggy once she reached the emerald lakes. To not miss the bus, we had to move eventually. The path was leading up a little to the blue lake. While not being spectacular itself, we had nice views of the area we had left behind us. Once that was no longer in sight, we still had 10km to go, all downhill. Ironically we could see the busstop already down the hill, but it took forever to get any closer. There was a decent view over some lakes and hills, but the repetitive hike down, mostly on some sort of rubber mats they had laid down, was certainly our least favourite part of the hike. With a few kilometers to go we thankfully reached a forest, so we had something else to look at. And forests in New Zealand are always very nice to look at because of their diverse plants.

    We reached the bus stop a few minutes before 18:00 and the shuttle arrived with us. Perfect timing. We still waited for some more people to arrive before heading back to our lodge. While our bodies didn't feel like they did nothing, they didn't feel as bad as we'd expect after a 19km hike either. So while being a long hike with lots of elevation, the relative ease of walking it makes it pretty doable.

    Back in the lodge we enjoyed a short stay in the free hot tubs and then ordered some food from the in-house bar which was pretty good and a lot.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Stressful research

    6 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 11 °C

    We booked 3 nights in this town as it would give us a bit of flexibility with when we would do the Tongariro crossing. This turned out to be a useful decision as we were told rather immediately that it wasn't going to happen the first full day we'd spend here. The winds were too powerful, but according to the forecasts it was going to get a bit better the next day. Fingers crossed. We had a lazy morning but also wanted to do some research on our future plans in New Zealand as we didn't have any accommodation or transportation booked after this town. Due to our indecisiveness this became a stressful process. To make the day a bit more fun we had lunch in the local takeaways and played some pingpong in between. Still took us a lot more time to research from then on,
    and only late in the evening we finished what we wanted. Good news: we heard the shuttle bus is planned for the next morning, so we were now completely in hike preparation mode.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    To Tongariro

    5 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 16 °C

    Auckland was surprisingly quiet and empty for being a big city. We took the bus in the early morning from the SkyCity bus terminal, destination National Park. Not a national park, but a small town near a national park called National Park. From here we want to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing which is supposed to be one of the best day hikes in the world. The town isn't big but has a small shop that sells groceries, souvenirs and basic outdoor gear. It was good enough to provide us with all ingredients for a nice pizza dinner. The atmosphere in the lodge we're staying in is like a mountain hut from the 90s or so. They have a ping pong table, a nice kitchen, hot tubs and we even got upgraded to a private room with en suite bathroom. Not bad after so many nights in our tent. Good to know we can stay here 3 nights.Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore
    2
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    Defeated by water

    4 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 19 °C

    So our plan was to go snorkeling at Goat Island where Susanne also snorkeled 10 years ago. Beforehand we had plotted out a diving shop we'd go to that had good reviews for renting cheap snorkeling gear. However, when we woke up it was very windy and not too warm. Machiel hadn't slept very well and was shivering. We decided to pack our backpacks first as we had to hand in the car in the end of the day. This was a bit of a challenge since we recently obtained some more stuff, like beach towels. But we somewhat managed to squeeze it all in. Then we first had a look at the conditions at the beach. It wasn't too perfect, but there were other people in the water. Susanne decided to give it a go, and rented snorkeling gear at the beach instead of the other shop, as it was somehow even cheaper (35 NZD for 2 hours vs 40 for the whole day) given that she would anyways only use it for 2 hours and not a whole day. The first snorkel wasn't too waterproof which meant it got it bit too salty, but after switching it for another one, it was working well. The underwater world had some really big fish to offer. Among them the big-gray-with-shiny-turquoise-dots-fish and the big-red-white-striped-fish-who-likes-to-stick-to-the-ground. It wasn't as great as in Susanne's memory, also because the sea was a bit rough and therefore the water not that clear, but it still pretty nice. Machiel meanwhile was the flipflop & towel guy. After a while a break was needed as the water was, despite wearing a wet suit, very cold. She went in once more for a little while, but the sea didn't have much more to offer today. The car meanwhile had warmed up a lot but it took Susanne quite a while in it until she felt warm again.

    We drove to Auckland trying to find a cheap gas station to fill up in. This wasn't easy, but we found one with a small detour. Arriving at the car rental location in Auckland, the car was quickly inspected while we were packing whatever was left in it. Then we walked to the hostel we booked. Yes, for the first time in 13 nights we were sleeping at a hostel again. It didn't have any atmosphere but it was functional and provided us with a good kitchen to bake the free kumaras we got on the kumara farm 2 nights ago. That was delicious.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Learning about Kauri history

    3 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ☁️ 23 °C

    Checkout was at 10, we had a relaxed morning with a shower on the farm. Before leaving we had a look at a part of their land which had the smallest chapel of New Zealand, some chickens that thought we were there to feed them, and some other funny objects they had no space for anymore in their shed exhibition.

    Next stop was the Kauri museum, but not before we had to return at some point because we realised we had forgotten food that was still in the fridge. When we finally got to the museum, we used a discount card we received from the car rental company, so the entrance price wasn't too bad. We read good reviews about the museum and they turned out to be correct. It was a huge museum with too much information to take in about kauri trees, gum, and New Zealand history. It was very interesting to learn about the value of the Kauri tree and its gum in the past and how they build dams that they would open once the water was high enough to move these huge heavy trees from the forest to the coast.

    When we were ready to leave again we discovered that it had rained in the meantime, so our far too dirty car got a free wash and looked reasonably dirty now. We drove further with the goal of sleeping somewhere close to Goat Island, where we wanted to snorkel the next day. This turned out tricky again as we didn't find 75NZD (45€) an acceptable price for a campsite. We ended up in Whangateau were we spend 46NZD and were positively surprised by all the new facilities they had. And we were lucky too, as they had exactly one spot left. We cooked the usual pasta dinner, had a late evening walk to the local graveyard, and did some more research about where we were going next.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Sticks and stones

    2 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 20 °C

    Today we wanted to see some boulders. They are visible in Koutu at low tide and a few hours around that. We hadn't really planned that but we were lucky to be there at a good time. It made a nice walk along the beach and there were lots of oysters attached to some of the boulders. Afterwards we drove to the west coast and had a nice yoghurt break at a viewpoint over the natural Hokianga Harbour. Further south the road we did the mandatory stop to visit Tane Mahuta, the tallest known Kauri tree. As expected it was very touristic and crowded. But there was a nice grass field as well which was a good lunch spot. Today's lunch was based on 'Dutch Wholemeal Grain' bread. It wasn't exactly what we know as Dutch bread but not too bad either.

    The mission of finding a camp spot took us to the Kai Iwi lakes. It didn't look bad but it was so crowded that we didn't like it too much. We drove on to Dargaville, where we found a farmhouse that offered camping spots on their huge fields of grass. The owner was really kind and gave us and some other guests a free tour of their collection of regional items. It was a great exhibition with two rooms: one dedicated to the history of kumara (sweet potato) farming in New Zealand; and the other a large collection of basically everything you can find in the ocean, from whale vomit and shark bones, to shells in all sizes. They also had swords of swordfish, and a leopard seal skeleton. Also the dining room for their guests had some interesting collected items hanging all over the ceiling and walls including a small underwear collection, a nudists suitcase, and some other rarities. A really great place to stay.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Welcome to the jungle

    1 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda ☀️ 23 °C

    We went to bed late, so the checkout time at 10 felt a bit cruel. We didn't feel very energetic for another day full of sightseeing but drove south anyways. A few minutes from Awanui we got to the slightly bigger town of Kaitaia. We got some groceries and went to our first i-site, the tourist information of New Zealand. The building was nice and we got some good info's on a nice Kauri forest in the area.

    Kauri trees are native trees to New Zealand. They usually grow in the most diverse forests here. The only problem is that many Kauri trees are getting ill from dieback, a disease without cure that kills Kauri trees. Therefore some areas are completely closed to the public and others have cleaning stations installed. The latter was the case at our camping in the Puketi forest. It was a simple cheap camping but had all we needed, and there were 2 Kauri walks super close by. It wasn't busy either, which meant we could fully immerse ourselves in the jungle and the wildlife.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    2020

    1 gennaio 2020, Nuova Zelanda 🌙 16 °C

    We were thinking for awhile what we should do with new years eve. Skip the celebrations and just sleep? That didn't sound too bad given that our bedtime was usually before 22:00 due to tiredness and darkness. But we also didn't want to waste the opportunity to celebrate the new decade while we're here. Even though for Susanne this wasn't the first time, as she was here in 2009 as well.

    So we bought some beer and snacks and looked up what could be potential spots for us to go where there would be anything like a public celebration. It's not as if we were in Auckland. There were only small towns around us. We figured most fireworks would take place at the beaches and that most people would head there as well, so we drove to Ahipara. On the way we bought burgers at a takeaway and ate them for dinner at a random parking lot. In Ahipara we turned onto a parking lot at the beach, but it didn't seem like there was anything going to happen there. We drove further and found another one where there were a few other cars and vans parked. Conveniently there was also a public toilet. We waited until around 23:30 and then more and more people from surrounding homes gathered on the beach, some with fireworks. While being among the first to enter the new decade, we were enjoying being at the beach watching fireworks around us in very comfortable temperatures.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Desert and paradise beach

    31 dicembre 2019, Nuova Zelanda ☀️ 23 °C

    Checkout time was at 9:00 but our daily schedule is early anyways nowadays so it wasn't really a problem. Today was the day we'd get to the most northern tip of the Far North District in Northland on the North Island of New Zealand. But our first stop were the sand dunes of Te Paki. Together with Cape Reinga they are the two top tourist sights in the North.

    The Te Paki sand dunes were stunning in the surrounding area of forests and ocean. From the car park we walked uphill to get a sense of how big they were. Quite tough to walk up in the sand, and the wind blowing sand in our faces didn't help. The advantage of being early was that there weren't yet crowds of other people. Some of the few that were as early as we had rented sandboards to go down the dunes with. It was fun to watch them go down but watching them struggle to get back up the hill made us realise you pay a lot of money for tough walks uphill with a sandboard and getting even more sand in your clothes and mouth when going down. We walked a bit around, discovered some lonely grasses that fought for living in such a place and learned that even in lots of sand that isn't a big dessert you easily lose sense for distance and elevation when everything around you is sand.

    Afterwards we went to the famous Cape Reinga. As expected it was crowded there, mainly around the lighthouse, but the site offered other hiking paths as well to nearby views and beaches, and of course we couldn't be stopped. Our choice was the 20 minute walk to Sandy Bay. It was more of a spontaneous decision and up at the lighthouse it was windy and cold, so we didn't bring our swimming stuff. When the beach came into sight it was becoming clear that that was a bit of a shame. The water was very clear and in contrast to the Cape there were only a few people to share it with. Citing Machiel that he doesn't understand why beaches are painted as a concept of paradise, but if they would be then this one would be it.

    We had a long drive south checking out possible campsites on the way. The ones at the beach were totally full and overcrowded, so we ended up in Awanui. IIt wasn't our first choice as it was fairly expensive, but it turned out really great as we could use a good washing machine and drying rack, swim in an actual swimming pool, and enjoy the free WiFi. Plus it was quite small so not so busy.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore
    2

    Another day at another beach

    30 dicembre 2019, Nuova Zelanda ☀️ 20 °C

    We woke up in the dunes and had breakfast at the bench in front of the kitchen area. The wind had nicely decreased throughout the night. So our tent didn't need the car as a shield anymore. We packed and left to drive to the very north of New Zealand. We knew of two campings in that area. Of both we had heard that they were full so we were afraid that wouldn't work out. We decided to try anyways starting with the one at the end of a 15km gravel road gambling that less people would do the effort to get there. Also we went there already in the late morning hoping that would make the difference. 10km before the end we saw a sign saying 'Camping full'. We went on anyways because previously we were also already once allowed on a camp that had a 'full' sign. Our perseverance paid off. They actually had space and the camping usually gets full around 16:00.

    We found a good spot for our tent and then enjoyed the beach for the rest of the afternoon. The bay looked amazing surrounded by forested hills and came along with a smaller bay at the edge. The water was very clear and, seeing one other couple in the water, we decided it was time for our second swim. The water was cold and after encountering a quite big sea spider and stepping on something big moving under our feet, we changed our minds. Instead we laid down on the beach and watched other people who seemed to have similar experiences changing there minds about if or if not to swim.

    The camping is one of many managed by the Department Of Conservation. They usually have dry toilets and this one even had cold showers and everything seemed very new. We got rid of the sand-salt-sunscreen mix in the showers and enjoyed a tasty curry-lentils meal which would have been even quicker would we be more patient cooking it. But we are probably just missing our two chef cooks Daniel and Franzi.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Living in the dunes

    29 dicembre 2019, Nuova Zelanda ☀️ 19 °C

    Our first stop was basically 5 minutes from our camping. For the first time during this beach trip we had an entire beach for ourselves and it wasn't a small one. After visiting yet another beach we were driving back off the peninsula. Because it was anyway on our way, we had a look at the so called 'Coca Cola' lake. The water is orangish. We drove further.

    On the way to the far north, campermate showed some interesting sight in Awanui. A factory producing and selling products made off Kauri wood. The big Kauri tree with carved-in stairs was the highlight.

    With our new network provider 2degrees we get a 'free hour' of mobile Internet every day. Sounds great, but we realized that this isn't very useful when you're in an area with little to no connection. So it was difficult to upload our footprint having to upload one picture after the other hoping for the wind to blow from the right direction or who knows what actually influenced the speed.

    We weren't in a rush to go further north and instead decided to arrive at a camping early to secure a good spot. We were a bit scared after hearing the night before that all campings were full. Arriving at Utea Park camping at the 90 mile beach, it turned out they had plenty of space. The campsite was awesome, right in the dunes with a very relaxing beach holiday flair. We enjoyed spending our afternoon there a lot although it was far too windy to even think about swimming.

    Staying at a campsite practically in the dunes of a beach at the west coast has the advantage of seeing the sunset. It was a sunny day with few clouds so our odds were high. Tired of the wind, we were resting a bit in our tent like dumbasses until we'd go out and see it. Of course when we got out of the tent, the sunset was already going on. We half ran to the 90 mile beach to see it unfold, only to realise it disappearing behind clouds on the horizon. Tough luck.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    First swim

    28 dicembre 2019, Nuova Zelanda ☀️ 20 °C

    6 of the 8 fuel blocks on the dashboard had disappeared. With a gas prices app we found the cheapest gas station nearby and fueled up. The facilities were only going to decrease going north. On the way there we checked out Matauri Bay, where a hill at the coast hosts a memorial for Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior. It wasn't very clear how to get there, so when we saw some people going up somewhere from the beach we figured we'd try the same. After walking on a tricky and dangerous trail for awhile we realised it wasn't leading to the memorial, just to some rocks on the other side. We decided to turn around and found the right pass with the information board within a campsite at the beach. It was interesting to read but we decided to skip the correct path and move on. A little bit later we attempted the second climb of the day. This time we succeded and made it to the top of rock Ohakiri. It took only 20 minutes but the views were just great. Driving further the app campermate told us that we were gonna pass a cheap ice cream place. So we logically decided for having one sitting at Cable Bay watching some kites in the sky.

    Our choice of campsite for the night was Matai Bay which Susanne remembered as nice (and empty in September 2009). Arriving to the camping we were quite surprised to see a 'Full' sign at the entrance. We decided to ask anyways and were told that all campsites in the north were full but that they could offer us to put up our tent at the day parking down at the beach if we leave early in the morning. We didn't say no to that and pitched out tent with a picnic table in front and within a 1 minute walk to the beach. The weather was great and there were even some cold showers available, so we took the opportunity for a first swim in the ocean. The water was a bit colder than expected but we still liked it a lot.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Lunch in the rich people's garden

    27 dicembre 2019, Nuova Zelanda ☀️ 23 °C

    We woke up to beautiful blue sky and a view of a very nice beach and some picturesque rocks with the typical diverse New Zealand plants. Making it a good habit, we had breakfast at a bench at the beach before getting ready to drive off for another road trip day in Northland. While driving, we saw two chickens cross the road. We still haven't figured out why they did that.

    Out first stop was in Oakura. We read about a possible short walk to the end of a peninsula with nice views. Unfortunately that was again only possible at low tide and we didn't want to wait that long. The beach there was still good enough for an enjoyable short walk.

    Some viewpoint stops later we got hungry for lunch. Finding the perfect lunch spot was a difficult one but we are confident to say that we found it at Jacks Bay. We weren't quite sure if it was private or public but stayed anyways as it looked just too perfect with 4 chairs facing a perfect bay with nice boats, blue water and an empty beach in front. Right behind us there were some enormous gardens and expensive houses. We were just heading back to our car and while still joking about that this is our holiday mansion, we heard a helicopter landing right where we were having lunch just minutes before. Turns out the place didn't just look expensive but apparently is wealthy enough to afford private helicopters as well.

    Our next stop was the peninsula of Russell. At the very top we went for a walk up a small mountain to Tapeka Point to have a nice view over the famous Bay of Islands. It was all so nice, Machiel had a hard time asking himself why he was born in the wrong country. While being known for not being a fan of beaches, he actually realized he wanted one of these New Zealand beach houses with huge windows and terraces facing one of the thousand bays.

    It got later so we unfortunately had to drive further. We managed to get some cash without transaction fees, so we felt very lucky. Then we got even luckier with the ferry we wanted to take from Okiato to Opua to shorten the way. Arriving at the harbour, we saw the ferry full with cars, looking ready to leave. There was a STOP sign and we stopped for it, unsure what to do without further instructions. The car behind us then thought 'what are these tourists doing?', drove around us and onto the ferry. We followed them and when we parked the car, the ferry was already moving.

    A short ride later we arrived just south of Kerikeri at a camping with very soft grass. Before having a delicious wrap dinner, we needed to get some fresh vegetables. This was an excellent opportunity for Susanne to get nostalgic as she spend several weeks in Kerikeri 10 years ago. Visiting the former Kerikeri Farm Hostel was nice and weird at the same time. The main building still looked the same with its orange trees all around that Susanne was treating when working here for a few days back then.

    When going to bed later in the evening we discovered a sandfly problem. Hundreds of them were around our tent trying to get in, and when we went in at least 50 or so of them managed to join us.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore
    1

    Boxing Day in New Zealand

    26 dicembre 2019, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 20 °C

    Boxing day meant that the ghost town was suddenly full of people shopping for discounts. And so did we. First we made sure we got enough groceries to survive a few days. The supermarket was amazing, there was so much, we hadn't had that for a while. We also got a simcard, and in another store we got beach towels, gas, and much needed flip-flops for Susanne.

    It was time for lunch when we finally had everything together. The lunch spot of the day was at the base of the Whangarei Falls, a nice small waterfall at the edge of the town. We really liked the care that was taken of the park it was in, it looked spotless, the people were nice, and it was for free.

    After some nice views we arrived to the next stop. A small hike brought us to the Tutukaka Lighthouse which is located on the so called Kukutauwhao Island. Only reachable during low tide, we were actually wondering what the definition of an island is. While the lighthouse itself isn't interesting, the views are pretty amazing. And also the walk there through some nice little jungle was very cool.

    It was getting late afternoon and we read about two free 'campings' for not self-contained vehicles/tents like us. In reality they are parking lots of which a small part is designated for overnight stays. Arriving at the first one of those, we learned that this small area was already completely full. The next one, Sandy Beach Camp in Woolleys Bay, appeared to be the same, but there were some volunteers from the district present that told us we were allowed to set up our tent right behind it on a patch of grass. That was great to hear, as it was right in front of a beach and there were public toilets as well.    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Ghost town

    25 dicembre 2019, Nuova Zelanda ⛅ 23 °C

    We arrived at 5 in the morning. We were lucky to be from two of the dozen or so countries that were allowed through the quick 'self service' passport scan. Unfortunately though, neither of our passports worked and we still ended up queueing, albeit in a much smaller line than the other peasants. Next stop and a first for us: bio security. A rather rude old dude hastily pushed us through a questionnaire about our gear and food. We thought people in New Zealand were friendly, but this guy seemed keen on leaving a different impression early on. We were sent behind a fenced area where we had to show our hiking boots and tent. The tent was then taken from us for inspection in their 'lab'. We were released and in the airport arrival area. After a desperate expensive basic grocery shopping (because we were afraid to starve knowing almost everything outside the airport is closed on Christmas Day) , we received our tent back. The next step was to get our rental car. Using a free number on an airport phone we ordered a free shuttle to get to the pickup place. There, they let us watch a short movie on how to drive in New Zealand and then we were allowed to leave with our Morris Garages car. While it wasn't a first for either of us to drive on the left hand side, we certainly needed some time to get used to it.

    We drove off to the north. Avoiding a toll road brought us to the small beach town of Orewa Beach. An excellent opportunity to have Christmas breakfast at the beach while watching some surfers. Driving further we could already admire the variety in New Zealands fauna just by looking outside the car windows. At a not so special viewpoint we found a nice snack shop selling us a sandwich and milkshake to stay in our happy but very tired Christmas mood.

    We were slowly running out of drinking water. Trusting the CamperMate app, we pulled into a campsite. We didn't find drinking water but the very nice Uretiti beach in Waipu bay. Later we read someone drowned there that morning.

    Knowing that we needed to buy groceries, towels, flip-flops etc for our beach trip to the very north, we thought it was a good idea to spend the night in the city of Whangarei. We found a campsite nearby, which was a bit expensive for our standards but we soon found out that's just how it is here. You can easily pay 10 euros per person to occupy a single tent spot. We wanted to enjoy our Christmas dinner by going out, mainly because we were super tired as our bodies were thinking it was 16 hours later and we also just didn't have anything we could cook except for oats. Walking into the center, it felt like a ghost town. We only saw a handful of other (desperate) people walking around, and despite of knowing all shops were going to be closed, we had hoped for more than a single restaurant to be open. The choice for dinner tonight was an easy one.    Leggi altro

  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    The curious case of Christmas evening

    24 dicembre 2019, Argentina ☀️ 31 °C

    Turns out we hadn't had enough yet of Argentina. We wanted to have just one more peek at the country, and we figured the airport of Buenos Aires was the perfect place to do it. At Santiago airport we stored up on some salt and fat at a burger place, bought the cheapest water we could find, and hurried to the gate which felt like it was located in terminal 953 gate 99c. Turns out it was a very nice modern building, and we assume they're still working on getting there quicker.

    With some delay we arrived in Buenos Aires in the evening on the 23rd, and had a fantastic time waiting for the next flight to Auckland which was supposed to leave right before midnight. In the mean time, Susanne still cleaned her shoes in the bathroom to make sure New Zealand would accept them. Then we flew west, i. e. sort of back in time. We were of course not flying as quickly as we passed the timezones, so slowly it did get later. Then after a couple of hours, around 4 or 5 in the morning of the 24th, we crossed the date line... and we skipped Christmas eve. It was now December 25th. Merry Christmas!    Leggi altro

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  • Susanne and MachielHalf around the world and backViaggiatore

    Goodbye

    23 dicembre 2019, Cile ☀️ 30 °C

    It was time to say goodbye - to Daniel and later in the day also to South America. How weird to suddenly be with the 2 of us.

    To actually be allowed to enter New Zealand, we needed to have a flight ticket showing we would intend to leave again. That meant we had to do some research on where we wanted to go afterwards. Australia was next on our list but after some thinking and researching with the good WiFi of the hostel we actually booked a flight to go to Fiji first.

    Once that was settled we decided to be brave and walk a bit through the actual city center of Santiago. It was hot, super crowded, interesting but also made us realize again why we don't really like cities too much. There was a road intersection destroyed by (we assume) protestors, but for the rest the city looked quite functional. Also had a lot of nice street art. We attempted to have a relaxing lunch in a park with Chilean bread, which is way too weak and fluffy, and it didn't take long before an army of pigeons told us this was a bad idea.

    At 16:00 it was time to leave to the airport to start our journey to New Zealand, but not before going the wrong way first.    Leggi altro

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