New Zealand is really on the other side of our planet Earth and a dream came true exploring that wonderland.
Frankfurt | Dubai | [Melbourne] | Auckland
New Year's Eve 2016/17 in Auckland was our big goal - thanks to Julia, we finally made it. Screw Dubai and never fly Quantas is our conclusion. We started happy in Frankfurt, breakfast and coffee at Mc Donalds included, and
finally arived at Dubai too late, the flight to NZ via Melbourne was gone and we end up sleeping on the carpet - until some staff passed us laughing... Julia was on her top level, when she elbowed herself to the desk and booked us on 2 of the last 4 remaining seats on a DIRECT flight to Auckland in 2016!
Northern Island
1 week was definetly to short for this dreamland. If we come back once, we will stay much longer in the north to discover the very north and the coasts.
Auckland
Auckland was the best place to celebrate New Years Eve 2016/17, we had a great dinner and some drinks before we enjoyed a wonderful firework from the top of the tower. Happy New Year!
Coromandel Peninsula
We took our rental car to start our 3 weeks roadtrip, starting north and heading south for more than 5.000 km. Speeding cars and Running man were our heavy rotation songs.
Hell's Gate and Wai-O-Tapu Wonderland
Preparing our roadtrip for the next days, our focus was already on the great hike: Where are my hiking boots? Was the most relevant question... Still on the parkyard of Coromandel! This is still a running gag, for Julia. Rotorua town offered some new boots as well as a vest, Erik is still wearing both of it in Germany.
Lake Taupo
On our way to Lake Taupo we stopped at the famous Huka Falls to take a short walk and some impressive captures.
We drove to Lake Rotopounamo for a warmup hike and walked around the beautiful lake once. Due to very bad weather conditions the volcanoe area was closedly the next day and we had to change our plans... No problem, as Taupo was a lovely city with a great diner where we had burgers, beer and played some cards.
Tangariro Crossing
Aka "The biggest adventure of our life" began at 4.00 in the morning and was suddenly stopped by the police, they expected us to be drunken from a night out at Taupo. A bus drove us from our parking north of the volcanoes to the starting point of our hike. It was really cold, many tourists wore bermudas and flip flops.
We climbed up for 6 hours, and of course we went the extra mile to an extraordinary look out. Descending was horrible for our mind, we saw the parking space all the time, but we had to walk and walk and walk. Finally down, only some meters to go, Julia fall on the stoney ground and cut her knew off. Thanks to Mc Donald's for the first aid kid and free Coke refill. Due to the day we lost, we had to drive for more than 5 hours to get to the very south of the northern island. A drunken women welcomed us from the ground floor next to our hotel door...Cheers.
Southern Island
2 weeks from Picton to Christchurch and so many adventures in between:
Picton
The ferry brought us to Picton, we took a nap and some pictures on the ocean for sure.
Abel Tasman National Park
Our Motel was - once again - a very lovely apartment with our car standing right in front of the door, which makes travelling very easy. We just took 2 chairs and spent the evenings outside, with some beers and chips in our hands.
Canoeing is a must in Abel Tasman Nationalpark! We paddled from the coast to an island nearby, others go on a long tour along the Park. The time on the small island was awesome, pick-nick, swimming and relaxing before we had to get back. Against the wind and the waives! It was horrible and we both decided that our canoe career has ended in Abel Tasman Nationalpark.
Farewell Spit
The most northwestern point of New Zealand's South Island was in the news some weeks later, when hundreds of whales died there... We enjoyed the hike and the view out there.
Piraten Bucht and Moueraki Boulders
The coast was on our map for that day:
McLean Falls
It was worth every meter we walked after our dinner! After a long day of driving an enjoying the coast, we had a great meal at our guest house und decided spontaneously to talk a walk to the falls. Without any expactations we were stunned by the beauty of the nature out there. Standing on slippy rocks is still a photographic highlight, nothing else but large rocks and rushing water around the tripod.
