NEW ZEALAND

Our adventures among Kiwis, sheeps, waterfalls and glowworms!

Well..Now we are as far away from home as we can get, the timedifference is now 12 hours! And instead of forcing our way through snowmud we are having springtime sunshine!

We arrived in Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand on the 11th of November. We liked Christchurch alot. Here we stayed until the 13th, some friends to my parents friends, were very kind and showed us around and even let us have dinner with them. That was very exiting to be able to see what a true New Zealanders home looked like and the food was delicious.
  was the nice adventures company that took us around to all odd places in New Zealand. From Christchurch we first went to Kaikoura, a beautiful little village by the sea with the snowy alps in the background, where we tried to go whalewatching, but because of the weather it got canceled all day, we thought about going with the helicopter but as the once going before us didn´t get to see any whale that one got canceled too.

The next day we went to Picton to change bus and busdriver and go further to Nelson. Nelson is a tiny but very nice little city. We went to see the nice church and strolled around the town. The next day we went to Abel Tasman National park.

Christchurch - Kaiokoura - Picton - Nelson - Abel Tasman National Park - Westport (jetboating) - Hawks Craig - Hokitika - Pannakaki (Panncake Rocks) - Mahnapua - Franz Josef (With Glacierwalk) - Makarora (party) - Arrowtown - QUEENSTOWN (Pipeline, rafting) - Milford Sound - Te Anau - Queenstown - Mt Cook - Christchurch - Kaikoura (dolphinswimming, whalewhatching) - Picton Then we took the boat over the ditch..To the North Island! Wellington - Lake Taupo - Rotoroua - Waitomo (Blackwater rafting in the caves) - Auckland - Whangarei Falls - Caving with candles - Paihia (Bay of Island) - Cape Reinga (90-milebeach, sandsurfing on the dunes, Kauri forest, bath in the ocean) - Paiha - Auckland

Mainstops and adventures on the South Island:

• Abel Tasman National park - Here we went trekking in the beautiful park. A boat took us from Kaiteriteri up north and drop us of at Torrent bay. The weather was awful..Raining cats and dogs. We took a two-hours walk in the bush with gorgeous views and over "hängbroar". Finally we arrive in Barkey Bay were the boat is supposed to pick us up. We enter a cabin there that all of us thought was a public one. But after a short while a man comes out to us and tell us that this is private. Very embarrassing.
  

• WESTPORT - Just outside this little town we went jetboating. That was a blast! And I got soaking wet...

• PANNCAKES ROCKS - Amazing force the water can create!! The whole rock was actually vibrating and the water blow up thirty meters through the blowholes...
• FRANZ JOSEF - Here we went GLACIERWALKING! In shorts and very warm jumpers and raincoats we climbed and forced ourselves through "glaciärsprickor", tunnlar mm

• Lake Matheson - amazing Mirrorlake

• HAAST PASS- One of the millions of waterfalls we saw in New Zealand

• MAKARORA - Oh! Here in the middle of nowhere, 30 citizen only, WE HAD THE WORST PARTY EVER!!!

• QUEENSTOWN - THE CAPITAL OF ACVENTURES! -Ann bungijumped from the Pipeline!! Isn´t she brave?? It was no less than 102 metres!! The pipline is a made up bridge over Shotover river. The drive upthere goes on one of the three roads in New Zealand where no insurance are valid because of the danger. And I think I know why...the road were winding at the edge of huge steeps through Skippers Canyone..The drive itself was a tingling experience!! I loved it! We also went whitewterrafting on the Shotover river, That was a adventure I just have to do again someday!! Two guys fell out of our boat and another boat turned upside down and slide into a tunnel that way!! The raft was VERY rough that day bacause of the rain and the fat that the waterlevel were raising very quickly as we got in. But we got out of it alive and happy...but VERY wet´n cold!

• MILFORD SOUND - Beautiful....We went on a cruise and saw wild Penguins!!

• MT COOK - The largest mountain of New Zealand

• KAIKOURA - From here I have the most wonderful experience of my trip...We went SWIMMING WITH THE WILD DOLPHINS!! Thats beyond words to describe....It is such a feeling...

• WHALE WHATCHING - Also in Kaikoura, we saw not less than five Spermwhales!!

• The LOBSTER..In Kaoikoura we had our most expensive but marvellous meal..We had lobster..

Favorite Links

Lonely Planet, about New Zealand
YHA in New Zealand
Dolphin Encounter Kaikoura
KIWI EXPERIENCE