New Zealand 19.03.07 - 17.04.07 tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-05-24:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ 2007-06-13T02:26:34Z Julia1976 img/travel-blog-feed.png Summary tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-12:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=14&entryid=65991 2007-06-13T02:26:34Z 2007-06-13T02:26:34Z [*][list] It has been fantastic to share some of my travel experience with Antje and my Mum and to spend so much time together. Although some of the arguements between my Mum and myself which I wish could have been avoided. However, I have the greatest best and friend and mother and we had so much fun and laughs. They are certainly crazy but also very funny. [*]NZ is a beautiful country. Amazing scenary and so diverse. [*]A 3 berth campervan is ... [*][list] It has been fantastic to share some of my travel experience with Antje and my Mum and to spend so much time together. Although some of the arguements between my Mum and myself which I wish could have been avoided.
However, I have the greatest best and friend and mother and we had so much fun and laughs. They are certainly crazy but also very funny.

[*]NZ is a beautiful country. Amazing scenary and so diverse.

[*]A 3 berth campervan is never big enough for 3 adults, you always need to go one size bigger than they tell you.

[*]By no means do they have as many sheep as everyone is saying. Apparently there are 20,000,000 sheep on 4,000,000 Kiwis but I wonder where they hide them. It seems far more cattle and possums!

[*]Don't rely on the weather for your trips and calculate a few more days in in case it's bad and trips get cancelled.

[*]I definitely have to go back to Kaikoura to swim with dolphins there where the groups are between 200 and 1000!

[*]Not everything that seems stolen is really been stolen, especially after 3 liters of wine! :-)

[*]Horse riding is still my passion and needs to be picked up again!

[*]Short distances can take so much longer in NZ due to the very hilly and curvy roads.

[*]Nothing can disappear in a campervan! :-)

[*]Daily showers really are not necessary!

[*]Health & Safety is not to be taken that seriously!

[*]If you have to catch a water taxi to avoid getting stranded over night, make sure you have plenty of time to get there and don't rely on Kiwi time estimates!

[*]Sandflies are the best kept secret of NZ but are a complete plague. Never experienced anything like it! Flies so small you can hardly see them but their bites itch like nothing else and last for approx. 3 weeks! They will drive you insane!

Summary remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Hamner Springs tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-10:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=13&entryid=65506 2007-06-13T01:53:07Z 2007-06-10T11:39:10Z From the west coast we drove all the way to Hamner Springs as that was the only campsite with power and it's just too cold now to camp wild. We woke up to the most incredible view of mountains. That's the great thing about a campervan you are quite often not sure where you ended up and it sometimes can be quite a surprise in the morning to find out where you are. We went Jetboating here, after having missed ... From the west coast we drove all the way to Hamner Springs as that was the only campsite with power and it's just too cold now to camp wild. We woke up to the most incredible view of mountains. That's the great thing about a campervan you are quite often not sure where you ended up and it sometimes can be quite a surprise in the morning to find out where you are.
We went Jetboating here, after having missed out in Queenstown and it was great fun. The scenary was spectacular and the boat ride really good fun too. We did doughnuts if that's what you call them on water. It certainly was fun but I think it's something you do once, unless you have cliffs where you can get to even closer.

After some delicious pie I set out for my horse riding trip. Antje went shopping and my Mum came with me and went for a walk. That was certainly a highlight. The scenary was breath taking and with riding through proper rivers and really dense forest and mountains I felt like a proper cowboy! :-) My horse, Katie, was good and I was leading the group. Fortunately it was just a small group and I properly enjoyed it. It was such a great feeling to be back on a horse and then on top of that I had the fantastic scenary too. It just made me realise how much I love it and how much I have missed it over the last few years. So I made the decision to pick it up in London again and find myself a stable and play cowboy in Richmond Park! :-)
I certainly walked like a cowboy once I got off the horse. Damn! Didn't remember it being that painful but I suppose I just have to get back into it.

Our last day in NZ was spent with buying more souvenirs in Hamner, making our way back and stopping at a beach above Christchurch where we went for a walk and then tidying up the van, packing etc. We found a hotel just next to the rental company and also next to the airport, returned the van, I complaint again and we got another AUS $ 200 back which made us happy and we straight away spent on dinner in a very nice restaurant called Cook'n with Gas and had a great meal. At the hotel bar we had a few "Absacker" whereas Antje and myself of course went over the top a bit (got to end it in class...."-) ) so this morning was quite painful. For them it must have been far worse as they had to get up earlier (5am for them and 6amfor me) and Antje also missed her bed last night and fell next to it, so apparently she was quite bruised and sore which is the last thing you need on a longhaul flight.... it was a good night though...:-)

Hamner Springs remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Shantytown & Pancake Rocks tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-10:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=12&entryid=65502 2007-06-10T11:03:41Z 2007-06-10T11:03:41Z Shantytown is an old gold mining town we visited, which was great. Really nicely made with a steam train, post office, stables, hospital.... everything, even a brothel. We were even panning gold and found some, which is probably put in there for the tourist. They fill it up for you in a little glas tube which says "Genuine Souvenir from Shantytown"... ha, ha.. genuine souvenir but not genuine gold.... Anyway, it was good fun and the panning is far more difficult ... Shantytown is an old gold mining town we visited, which was great. Really nicely made with a steam train, post office, stables, hospital.... everything, even a brothel.
We were even panning gold and found some, which is probably put in there for the tourist. They fill it up for you in a little glas tube which says "Genuine Souvenir from Shantytown"... ha, ha.. genuine souvenir but not genuine gold.... Anyway, it was good fun and the panning is far more difficult than I thought.

We then headed for the Pancake Rocks which were great too, but unfortunately the weather was really bad. They look quite incredible and I can see how they got their names. The layers of the rocks look like pancakes, so that was great to see.

After that we stooped at another seal colony at Foulwind Cape, which was incredible. So many seals in such a small place. As the sea is so rough here they had several little pools which seemed like their playground but also like the pup swimming school where they teach them. So cute...
They were only mums with their pups and all of them shouting and screaming like little kids. So funny! We worth a visit and a great finish of the west coast. We are off inland now...

Shantytown & Pancake Rocks remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Fox and Franz Josef Glacier tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-07:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=10&entryid=65096 2007-06-07T15:33:26Z 2007-06-07T15:33:26Z For the Fox Glacier the good weather was back on our side again and it started with a fantastic morning and I quickly booked my Mum and myself on the Heli-Hike for the Fox Glacier and Antje decided to do the half day walking tour. We drove for a couple of hours through amazing scenary which looked even more spectacular thanks to the great weather. Rainforest, mountains, of which some were still covered with snow, and the really rough Tasman ... For the Fox Glacier the good weather was back on our side again and it started with a fantastic morning and I quickly booked my Mum and myself on the Heli-Hike for the Fox Glacier and Antje decided to do the half day walking tour.
We drove for a couple of hours through amazing scenary which looked even more spectacular thanks to the great weather. Rainforest, mountains, of which some were still covered with snow, and the really rough Tasman Sea. What a view.
We were quite lucky as a couple of people didn't show up, so we could get already on to an earlier tour which started at 12pm.
Before we went on to the tour we walked around Lake Matheson which is famous for refelcting the mountains and glacier. A great walk around the lake with more stunning views.
The helicopter flight was great although quite short. I just love flying helicopther. I have only done it twice but there is something so special to it.... it's just an amazing feeling!
We landed directly on the ice! Spectacular! Ice everywhere, hence a glacier...:-), and we had to wear proper ice crampons around our leather boots and had a walking stick, or whatever you call them in mountaineering language...;-)
We walked along fantastic caves,wholes,crevasses, little lakes and rivers. Amazing how blue ice can be. It looked so pretty. We found a whole that was so deep even our tour guide said that in her 5 years working there it's the deepest she has ever found and told the other guides about it straight away. She kept throwing ice blocks into it to establish how deep it was. The noise just went on for ever... incredible. A person would have fittted into that quite easily too and we were just climbing over it. Again, health and safety is taken slightly more relaxed here. They have the same thing as in Australia and just make you sign a disclaimer saying they don't take any responsibility if you die. That jlaw doesn't exist in the UK or Germany. Companies there can't just make you sign such a paper... but I am glad they do it here, otherwise I would have never seen a glacier from that perspective...
The Flox Glacier is still growing and the global warming acutally helps it, as more and more water goes up in the air (from the sea in Australia) which then rains/snows down on the two glaciers. It really was another incredible experience to see a glacier like that. Slightly different when you just ski on it like I have usually done.
After 3 hours in the ice it got quite cold though, so we went to Cafe Neve which was recommened by the Swedish jeweller we met in Queenstown and they indeed had fabulous hot chocolate. As we still had to wait for Antje a couple of hours and were freezing we decided to stop for a quick glas of red wine in the only pub there called the Saloon. A really nice cosy pub with a big fire, which was just the perfect sitting after being in the ice. One glas turned into 5, what a surprise eh??, we met a really nice photographer from Oxford.
We then had dinner at Cafe Neve which was absolutely fantastic and a great recommendation from the Swede. I did have trouble remembering what I actually ate but I knew it was good! :-) It was such a funny evening though....
As went to bed really early we felt okay the next morning and got up early.

In georgeous sunshine we drove along the west coast and stopped at Franz Josef Glacier. From there we went for a nice 3 hour walk in Okarito. The first half was through rainforest which was leading to a lagoon and the second half along the black beach which the really rough Tasman Sea. Completely different and very beautiful. I don't think you can acutally swim in the sea there, as it's too rough and most of the time probably too cold too.

We stopped in Greymouth and are going to Shantytown tomorrow morning.

Fox and Franz Josef Glacier remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Queenstown tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-07:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=9&entryid=65093 2007-06-07T15:00:33Z 2007-06-07T15:00:33Z From Milford Sound/ Te Anau we drove all the way to Queenstown which is a very cute little town and really busy, which is a nice change to our recent places. There is life in the evening and even loads of bars and restaurants to choose from! We were thrilled! ;-) Loads of shops too...:-) That seems to be the first place where there is something going on. We had a look around and booked a Milford Sound flight for Mutti ... From Milford Sound/ Te Anau we drove all the way to Queenstown which is a very cute little town and really busy, which is a nice change to our recent places. There is life in the evening and even loads of bars and restaurants to choose from! We were thrilled! ;-)
Loads of shops too...:-) That seems to be the first place where there is something going on. We had a look around and booked a Milford Sound flight for Mutti and a High Five Tour for Antje and myself! Yippeeehhhh... that is a Jetboat trip, Helicopter flight, Gondoal up to the mountain, a luge down the mountain and a movie to finish it off. How exciting! :-)
Although we were all really tired, Antje and myself decided to take advantage out of the fact of being in Queensland and went to a bar for "just the one". The pub was really nice and cosy and even had an open fire in the middle and we had a really nice evening. The bartender wearing his trouser so deep that you could see his crack was a bit unpleasant but never mind... well, actually what made it really unpleasant was that in his crack he stuck the towel he used for polishing the glasses.... urrggh........ we made sure they re-filled the same glasses we had! :-)
After several beers and the company of a weird Aussie we realised at 1am it was time to go home as we had an early start.
The next morning it was pissing down and my Mums flight was cancelled and our trip delayed to the afternoon, which was then cancelled after all too. We were already dropped of in the car park for the jet boating when they decided in the last second, it's raining to heavy and the drivers can't actually see anything which helps when you are rushing just a few centimeters next to some cliff in stupid speed. We were absolutely gutted, as we were so looking forward to it. That is really something you can't do everywhere and is quite special to Queenstown, but I suppose we can't complain, as we have been really lucky with the weather so far. We had better weather anyone I have met who has been here in the summer....
So we did some more shopping in Queenstown to cheer us up and then met with my Mum again to make our way to the glaciers...

Queenstown remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Milford Sound tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-07:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=8&entryid=65082 2007-06-07T14:42:14Z 2007-06-07T14:28:18Z Our flight that was booked to fly over Milford Sound then land in Milford, get on a cruise ship and then fly back, was delayed due to the weather. While we were tryig to fill in the time and waiting whether we would have any luck later on, my Mum and me had such a big arguement which ended in her storming off and saying that she wouldn't go. Antje and myself decided to go, as we didn't know where ... Our flight that was booked to fly over Milford Sound then land in Milford, get on a cruise ship and then fly back, was delayed due to the weather. While we were tryig to fill in the time and waiting whether we would have any luck later on, my Mum and me had such a big arguement which ended in her storming off and saying that she wouldn't go. Antje and myself decided to go, as we didn't know where she was, when she would decided to come back and it was also booked. And that was a good decision, as it was amazing. Such a shame it had to happen without my Mum but I hate to say that it certainly was one of the highlights in New Zealand. Antje and myself had a plane just to ourselves. That's why they weren't impressed about the cancellation but let us still fly. The plane only had 4 seats, one pilot and 3 passengers. Fantastic! Never been in or seen such a small plane and also never had a privat plane. And the pilot was cute too! :-)
The weather, which is very temperamantle in that area was perfect. The pilot even said that he has seen mountains he has never seen before. Whether that is true or the guy was maybe just new, who knows....;-)
Anyway, the views were truly breath taking. The fiords, the mountains which occasionally had the peak covered with snow and the wonderful deep blue hidden mountain lakes that you could only see from the air. It was well and truly brilliant and a unitque experience.
The only downside was that I felt so sorry that Mutti missed all that, as she would have loved it.
After an amazing 35 minute flight we landed at the cute Milford airport that is surrounded by mountains and doesn't even have a control tower. Everyone, meaning every plane or pilot is just lookig out of the window watching out for each other.
We then got on our boat. That was amazing too. Wonderful waterfalls and fantastic views all around. After the cruise our privat pilot picked us up again and we flew back. Again breathtaking views... What an experience that was. Fabolous!!!

From Milford we made our way to Queenstown...

Milford Sound remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Catlins tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-06:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=7&entryid=64934 2007-06-06T17:18:57Z 2007-06-06T17:18:57Z From Akaroa we went to Timaru and stopped at a campsite to carry on the next day to our next stop the Moeraki Boulders, which was wonderful. A fantastic beach where we went for a really long walk which was so nice. They have these funny stones there which looked great (easiest to have a look at the pictures), but it's quite a strange thing. Antje and Mutti were busy collecting shells as always...:-) They probably get stuck in customs, ... From Akaroa we went to Timaru and stopped at a campsite to carry on the next day to our next stop the Moeraki Boulders, which was wonderful. A fantastic beach where we went for a really long walk which was so nice. They have these funny stones there which looked great (easiest to have a look at the pictures), but it's quite a strange thing. Antje and Mutti were busy collecting shells as always...:-) They probably get stuck in customs, as you are not meant to take anything from the beach with you and Mutti had her pockets filled up. She even had to lie stuff down half way through the walk because she couldn't carry it anymore.... Unbelievable... It's not protectect stuff or anything so it should be okay...
After that we went to Shag Point, which was so beautiful. We saw loads of seals again. Incredible how many seals I have seen on this trip by now. We had lunch with the best view you could possibly have for lunch and then carried on all the way to Nugget Point. The small road leading to Nugget Point looked already incredible in the dark, so I can't wait to see at daytime.
It's all the way along the sea and all the rocks and moon were shining so bright, the moon was like a spot light, eluminating everything. Amazing! The sky and especially the Southern Cross looked incredible. It is really strange that you can see it as soon as you look up in the sky.
It's certainly getting cold here now. Since a couple of days we can't even camp wild anymore, as we need the heating at night and it only works when we pluged in to electricity. We also can't sit outside anymore...:-(

Easter we spent very hung over (what a surprise, as Antje and myself drank 3 liters of wine....), in Kaka Point. We stayed on a small campsite and even had our first night for free, as receptions wasn't occupied. Great!
On our first day in the Catlins we went to Cannibal Bay which we unfortunately passed by accident (Blonds...:-) and went back to Kaka Point to do the Bush Walk instead. On our way back we got lost and had to wander around in town and found a nice little restaurant where we decided to have dinner that evening. Sometimes it's actually quite good to get lost :-)
We then went to Nugget Point and saw seals again and then yellow-eyed penguins. There weren't many but they are sooooo cute. They are just too funny when they come out of the water trying to get onto the beach slipping around on the tummy and once they start walking you can't help yourself but burst out laughing. Too funny those fellows...
After that we had dinner in our new found restaurant which was very good and had an early night.
The day after we started our 4-5 walk at Cannibal Bay which we didn't miss this time and walked up the cliffs where we had an amazing view. After that we walked along the beach to Surat Bay. that was absolutely incredible, as we have seen so many sea lions. They are absolutely massive and just lie on that wonderful beach with huge waves, dunes in the background, surrounded by stunning cliffs. What a beautiful spot that is. To some of them we got really close as they were lying in the dunes. That was really coold. There was one female in grey and white with huge big black eyes that was just georgous. She looked like a cuddly toy, so beautiful. She also seemed to have a little pup and there was quite some action going on, as a male kept them separate. Got some great pics and have never been so close to a sea lion. There have been a couple of scary moments too, when that male starting making really scary noises and "running" towards our direction. Not sure whether we got too close or whether it was still the dispute over the puppy. What a wonderful walk that was. You had to watch out for the sea lions as you kept stumbling over them if you didn't watch out.

After that we drove to Curio Bay hoping to see Blue Penguins but had no luck. We found a really cool campsite though. Brilliant location, facilities were very basic to say the least, but they are still booked out for the powered campsites for the next 6 months, so it's all about location, location, location...:-)
Due to the demand we couldn't get a powered campsite, which meant no heating for us and it was freezing, so another excuse to drink shit loads of wine to keep us warm.
The following day we went to the Petrified Forest, which wasn't too great and then to the most Southern Point on the South Island, which was great but very windy.
After that we drove to Te Anau which a very nice little town just by a lake and our starting point for Milford Sound. Tonight is an early night again and doing things like laundry, internet etc.

Catlins remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Akaroa tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-06:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=6&entryid=64929 2007-06-06T16:32:24Z 2007-06-06T16:32:24Z We drove all the way from Kaikoura to Akaroa and got straight away sent away by a very rude Kiwi, so we had to relocate in the middle of the night and couldn't find anything but outside the firebrigade. Great! As long as they are goodlooking, but let's hope there is no alarm.... The next morning was miserable... completely overcast and rainy and really cold. After being told that the water tempearture is 15 C, Mutti and Antje decided not to ... We drove all the way from Kaikoura to Akaroa and got straight away sent away by a very rude Kiwi, so we had to relocate in the middle of the night and couldn't find anything but outside the firebrigade. Great! As long as they are goodlooking, but let's hope there is no alarm....

The next morning was miserable... completely overcast and rainy and really cold. After being told that the water tempearture is 15 C, Mutti and Antje decided not to go swimming and just come along and watch which was fine with me. Under no circumstance I was giving up my dolphin swimming. Once we got on the boat, the weather was fantastic and Mutti regret her decision. We went out to find the Hector dolphins which are really cute. They are the smallest ones, which is good for the swimming but thinking about the orcas... it's even easier to attack them. They are probably just the appetizer before they go to the next bay to have the Dusky Dolphins as a main....
They are much shier than the Duskies and live in small groups, only 5-6. We eventually did find some and I can tell you it was freezing cold. I was wearing a wet suit and boots but the moment the water got into the wetsuit was literally breathtaking. After a few minutes it got better, but still my hands and face....
It was an amazing experience to have them come up so close to you. The water was really dark blue so could never see them coming and they suddenly just came up next to you or in front of you which is a bit strange, but it was great!
It was definitely an amazing experience but it also made me want more. It must be incredible to swim with a few hundred and also when they are not as shy. But maybe next time... and for now it was absolutely incredible and I can only recommend it.
If we have time on our way back I would definitely do it in Kaikoura with the Dusky Dolphins. They are just amazing animals. Sometimes it is a bit weird when they dive up in front of you and just disappear under you. They come up to proably one meter distance. As they like noises, I had two stones that I had to clap under water and a girl next to me had an underwater camera making strange noises, which seemed to work quite well, as at one point they were all around us. Happy Days...:-)

Akaroa remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Kaikoura tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-06:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=5&entryid=64918 2007-06-06T15:18:29Z 2007-06-06T15:18:29Z After Maharau we made our way to Kaikoura with a quick stop in Blenheim to do some shopping and another stop by theh sea for some lunch in a wonderful old and really romantic restaurant. Just before Kaikoura we bought a couple (only 2 as Antje doesn't like them) of fresh lobsters for dinner and also saw loads of seals. Absoluteley incredible how many there were. Just next to the road. They were also quite active and swimming in little ... After Maharau we made our way to Kaikoura with a quick stop in Blenheim to do some shopping and another stop by theh sea for some lunch in a wonderful old and really romantic restaurant. Just before Kaikoura we bought a couple (only 2 as Antje doesn't like them) of fresh lobsters for dinner and also saw loads of seals. Absoluteley incredible how many there were. Just next to the road. They were also quite active and swimming in little pools, fighting and annoying each other. I have never seen so many before. What a sight!
We had a quick look around in town and went for a walk on top of the cliffs before having our delicious dinner just by the sea, the two lobsters... yummy....
It's getting really cold now though, so we moved inside straight after dinner and proceeded with loads of wine....:-)
After an early morning we went to our whale watching tour which was a huge success. The weather was fantastic. Unfortunately the boats were quite big but it was still fantastic. We saw 3 sperm whales. They are 18-19 meters long. In case you wonder where the name comes from... here you go:
When whalers first caught them, them examined them and cut open their huge forehead, which holds 2.5 tons of a white oily liquid which they believed was sperm, hence the name sperm whale. They can't have been the brightest... Why on earth would one animal need 2.5 tons of sperm and then keep it in his forehead????
Never mind, they use the liquid to dive. When they go down it turns into wax which makes it heavier and keeps them down and once they want to come up again, they warm it up so it becomes liquide which helps the ascent. They are the whales that dive deepest, up to a 1000 meters, hence they need some help with that liquid/wax. They are the only whale that stays on the surface in the same spot for 5-10 minutes before diving down again, which makes it great for watching them, as they literally don't move. We have seen 3 of them. Very impressive. The best part was when they were diving down again and you could see the tail properly which usuallyis in the water. The classic whale tail! Loved it!!! Got some nice pics and videos form it too.
On our way back to the harbour we saw 200-300 dusky dolphins which was incredible. Have never seen so many dolphins in my life before... I know I keep saying this, but it's true. They are the acrobats of the sea and were very active and jumping around. A few of them did quite a few high jumps, which was great fun to watch. Got again quite a few good pics and even remembered the movie this time :-) The whole trip was a great success. After that I bought myself a nice ring as a memory.

Unfortnately I was stupid enough not to book my dolphin swimming and it is all booked up for the next 2-3 days. I have put us on the waiting list but no luck. After being very disappointed we met a guy in the car park who started the conversation with "3 girls in a campervan looks like trouble..." :-) if only he know how right we was...:-)
Anyway he told us that there was only one company offering the dolphin swimming and one of his friends is driving the boat and called him exactely one year ago from the boat to tell him while his customers are in the water swimming with the dolphins, Orcas are attacking the dolphins and killing them and there was blood everywhere in the water and the people still swimming and so on... Great! Exactely that kind of story you want to hear....
However he also told us that you can also go dolphin swimming in Akaroa, a very nice and cute little French town which is beautifully located close to Christchurch on a peninsula.
I booked the tour straight away and was very happy. We went for lunch again to a lobster place, just by the sea, only a little stall selling fresh lobster, called Molly.

Kaikoura remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Abel Tasman Park tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-05:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=4&entryid=64759 2007-06-05T16:54:24Z 2007-06-05T16:54:24Z We took the ferry to the South Island (Picton) this morning with Abel Tasman Park being our first destination. Thankfully the weather was quite good so we could sit outside all morning and even saw dolphins twice. We decided to change our original route and go straight to Kaikoura after Abel Tasman Park, as we all agreed that it is important to all of us to see whales and for me to swim with dolphins. If we would have gone ... We took the ferry to the South Island (Picton) this morning with Abel Tasman Park being our first destination. Thankfully the weather was quite good so we could sit outside all morning and even saw dolphins twice.
We decided to change our original route and go straight to Kaikoura after Abel Tasman Park, as we all agreed that it is important to all of us to see whales and for me to swim with dolphins. If we would have gone down the west coast first as originally planned, Kaikoura would have been the last stop and apparently you sometimes need to wait a few days before the boats can go out due to the weather and we didn't want to risk that.
The South Island is absolutely stunning so far. Already the ferry ride was amazing. The weather is good and we are wild camping on a beach by Marahau. Here is where the whole disaster with the sand flies started. Tiny little innocent looking flies... but oh no, innocent they are not!! Lethal blood sucking, most horrible itching and ever lasting bites they cause those evil creatures! The bites we would get that night would last until the end of the holiday.... Our legs looked like befallen by some sort of skin disease! Very attractive!!!

The next day my Mum and myself went for a kayaking tour in Abel Tasman Park, which was fantastic! We had really good weather, well , at least it wasn't rainng, which is good here. Absolutely loved the kayaking, quite hard work but not as bad as I expected and it was working really well with my Mum, which proves the point that my technique isn't as bad as Matthi kept saying when we went kayaking in Sweden! :-) I am sure he would disagree...
First we were pulled out to the sea, which was quite strange, as we were sitting in the boat while the boat was still on a trailor. Basically like a taxi which was dropped straight into the sea. The boat dropped us and the kayaks at Bark Bay where we also met the other 4 Israeli attending the tour. We were kayaking aournd beautiful scenary. Fantastic beaches, turqois water and the thick forest of Abel Tasman Park in the background. The forest here looks a bit like the rainforest in Australia. We also went to two little islands where we saw loads of seals. They are a bit smaller than the Aussie ones and have their ears outside whereas the Aussie ones have them inside. REally cute little fellows. We had lunch at one of the beautiful beaches ,which looked like paradise, absolutely fantastic. While trying to climb out of the kayak, Mutti fell in the water, much to the amusement of all of us. And it really didn't have anything to do with me... Promise! :-) Unfortunately it wasn't warm enough for swimming, apart from the unintended dip of my Mum....
We also got to see some cool granit caves, where Mutti fell between the rocks while climbing. REally not her day....
I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it, what a great hobby... might need to consider taking up kayaking on the Thames... ;-)
On our way back we were sailing back by creating a most bizarre construction. The guide told us to hold the 3 kayaks together and then put up a sail, which was used as picnic blanket for our lunch. We got some serious speed and it was great fun. Well, for me and the others anyway, not so much for my Mum as she had to hold up the mast which was quite difficult. As I said, not one of her best days... :-)
Back at the campsit we had a much appreciated shower. That's part of the camping world. Even doing your laundry seems like a reward. Amazing how perspectives change.... By the time I am back, I am going to be one smelly girl....:-) hee, hee....

Although our van doesn't seem that big, we manage to keep loosing things. I lost my camera cable, my Mum her dogging station and so on. The other night my Mum and Antje did their laundry and when Antje went to pick up the second lot from the dryer the whole load was gone. Someoene had quite clearly nicked all our stuff. So, we carried on and had a few drinks to cheer ourselves up. The next morning Antje remembered the whole thing and went again to check, hoping that someone had taken it by mistake and put it back. After she found the dryer still empty and no sign of the laundry and she told a few people on the campsite and made it very clear what she thought of the thiefs. Fortunately the owners werent there. The ladies she cmplained to, even offered here some cloth....
After a while my Mum found a top in her drawer that was believed nicked. To cut a long story short, we were so drunk that none of us remembered and realised taht they had taken the laundry out of the dryer and tidily put it into their drawers... so it has been there the whole time. Needless to say that we had a few too many that night. Anyway, it was very funny at the time but I suppose you had to be there. That's now our joke for the trip though.

After her lucky day yesterday, my Mum almost fell down from the second bed which is in the top of the van and we haven't quite worked out how to fix the ladder properly... so the whole thing came down with a huge bang in the middle of the night, while she was trying to climb down. Antje jumped out of bed in shock, asking her:"MONI, bist du schon unten?" (is only funny in German...). We laughed the whole day about that. Needless to say that Antje and myself again had quite a few. I, on the other hand, being a caring daughter as always, didn't even wake up. My Mum could have broken her back and I would have slept through it. Too much drinkng at the moment... After Australia I am not used to that much drinking anymore...

The next day we went walking in Able Tasman Park. The water taxi dropped us off at Totaranui where we started our 4 hour walk. On our way to the drop off we stopped at another seal rock which was really cool. They were so active and most of them were in the water playing, swimming around, relaxing. Really great!
The walk was amazing. The weather was fantastic, probably the we had here on the South Island so far. The beaches are an absolute dream and Antje started to believe that not all holiday brochures are photoshopped! :-)
There were hardly any other people on the walk and we had some great walking. Either on the beach or inland. Mutti and myself were even so brave to go swimming, which was a great decision, as it was the last time in New Zealand. It was freezing cold, I acutally didn't feel my feet and hands anymore but really really nice. After that sandflie attack the second came over us. So bad. This time they went for the whole body not just the legs.... little Bastards!
The last part of the treck should have taken 1.5 hours but we needed at least 2, although we were almost running for the last hour. Something wasn't right there. Either we got lost, which is hardly impossilbe or they miscalculated. We agreed on the latter option...:-)
Anyway, we missed our pick up from the water taxi and got stranded in huge Abel Tasman Park! Going through our options, which basically meant walking for several hours to get to the next hut, as we couldn't have made it back to the campsite, we realised that first of all a lot of the huts were booked out and secondly the reason we didn't do an overnight treck was that we weren't equipped for it, meaning you have to bring your own sleeping bag and food to those huts. All they basically provide is a roof in a dorm. It wasn't even clear whether we could make it before sunset to one of the huts, which would have left us with the other option, staying at the beach. Checking our supplies, we counted 3 bananas, 3 apples and 3 wet towels..... You see how we got more and more worried of what to do. As the huts didn't sound to appealing we stayed at the beach and fortunately the guy came back 40 mins later being seriously pissed off as he had to come back all the way just for us. We didn't really get the friendliest welcome to say the least but we were so happy to be saved. That would have been a damn cold night!

It certainly taught us a lesson. One girl on the boat said exactely the same and agreed that some distances are under-estimated and vice versa. So, it wasn't our fault! :-)
We had a very relaxed and funny evening following that, so much appreciating our "home", beds, food and everything...;-) We do have a lot of fun I have to say....

Tomorrow it's going to Kaikoura where I have booked the whale watchfing for us and hopefully do the dolphin swimming too...

Oh, while searching for our cables and all that stuff, I took out one of the drawers thinking it might have fallen behind it and see what I find... I beautiful greenstone, nicely wrapped as a souvenir, exactely like I wanted one.
I did feel a bit bad as it was obviously for someone else but there is no way that with a several year old van you could have figured out who has lost it there. In hinsight, I got my punishment as I lost it later on... just wasn' meant to be. Now I will need to buy one on the Internet after all :-)

Abel Tasman Park remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Rotorua tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-06-03:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=3&entryid=64377 2007-06-03T13:10:42Z 2007-06-03T13:10:42Z We arrived in Rotorua in the evening and went to see and smell our first smelly thermals. Really impressive, steaming wholes, bubbles everywhere and an incredible smell. We camped wild that night, just outside the thermal park we went to see in the morning, Wai-O-Tapu it is called. That was one of the most incredible experiences ever. Everywhere springs and wholes and ponds with steaming and erupting water and mud boiling. Great for some mud masks that I purchased later ... We arrived in Rotorua in the evening and went to see and smell our first smelly thermals. Really impressive, steaming wholes, bubbles everywhere and an incredible smell. We camped wild that night, just outside the thermal park we went to see in the morning, Wai-O-Tapu it is called. That was one of the most incredible experiences ever. Everywhere springs and wholes and ponds with steaming and erupting water and mud boiling. Great for some mud masks that I purchased later on....:-)
The colours of some of them were just amazing and looked quite artificial, as they were so bright. We started the tour with an erupting geyser which was incredible. The smell was mind blowing though, but I absolutely loved it. After some great souvenir shopping (mud masks for the girls...:-) I went to the internet and unfortunately found out that they did charge me for the van after all.... Dough!!! Would have been too good to get the van for free. Would have done my budget good, but never mind....
In the evening we went for the Maori experience which was a complete flop. WE did learn a few interesting things but the whole thing was a complete tourist rip-off. Hundreds of tourists were squeezed into plastic tents do have some dinner cooked in the Hangi, which is the original Maori cooking, where they steam food for hours in the earth and then some Maori dancing etc. Unfortunately the whole thing came accross so not original and authentic that we were all quite disappointed. but had a lot of fun as it was quite comical. They made us repeat everything in Maori, which made us feel being back in primary school and asked us to take a picture of the dinner and the whole thing was just ridiculous.

After another night of wild camping we went to another thermal park that we got for free with our fantastic Maori night. That one, Hell's Gate, was really good too although I like the other better. Here they taught you more about how the Maori used to use the thermals and how they cooked food in it etc.
As we arrived at our camping spot at night, not knowing where we were and hoping to not be attacked by some Maoris, sticking their tongue out and widening their eyes as in their typical tradition, we weren't too far off and were surprised to have parked our van just by a nice lake surrounded by one of their meeting houses etc. That certainly was far more authentic than the arranged evening we had before. It does look very funny though when they do their dancing and all that and stick their tongue out as if their life depends on it.

We continued our journey the next morning to Wellington and stopped at Huka Falls which were incredible. REally cool place and we went for a nice walk there. The river generates 65% of the power for the Northern Island and 15% for whole of NZ! Quite impressive I thought...
We stopped for lunch at a prawn farm, stayed in a campsite in Taihope and continued all the way to Wellington where we were just waiting by the harbour to get us on the first ferry in the morning which is bringing us to the South Island. Classy... just next to the other lorry drivers....:-)

Rotorua remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Coromandel tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-05-25:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=2&entryid=62824 2007-05-25T12:03:01Z 2007-05-25T12:03:01Z Our first stop was the Hot Water Beach, which is a very nice massive beach with some hot water springs. The water is really really hot and you can get a shuffle and dig a whole which then fills up with the hot water and sit in it. It's really cool, the only diappointing fact was that the spot where you have the hot springs was completely packed with people, so we decided not to bother digging a whole. Our next ... Our first stop was the Hot Water Beach, which is a very nice massive beach with some hot water springs. The water is really really hot and you can get a shuffle and dig a whole which then fills up with the hot water and sit in it. It's really cool, the only diappointing fact was that the spot where you have the hot springs was completely packed with people, so we decided not to bother digging a whole.
Our next campsite was in Hahei just next to a fantastic beach. There are several little islands and rocks in the water which look just amazing, so we went for a really nice walk along the beach.

As it is so nice here and the weather is just great we decided to stay another day in Hahei and went to the Cathedral Cove, a huge whole in a rock looking like a cathedral, hence the name :-)
It was a really nice walk there and we got rewarded with a great beach with massive waves. The waves were actually that high, that my Mum got thrown over by one of them and pushed so hard with her face in the sand under water, that her neck cracked and she also ended up with a bruised eye. Very funny!
With such a wonderful scenary around us we decided to have dinner at the beach. Really cool! Very sophisticated with table and chairs too! :-) My first proper dinner at the beach. How romantic! :-)
Our next stop is Rotorua. The driving here is great by the way. It's so much more relaxed, no traffic jams, just loads of dead possums which is a plague brought in by Australia and the Kiwis are still pissed off about that, as they don't have any preditors they now have 70 millions possums here and and only 4 million is their population!

Coromandel remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Auckland and the Bay of Islands tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-05-25:/blog/?domain=JuliaNZ&thisblog_entryid=1&entryid=62608 2007-05-25T11:50:04Z 2007-05-25T11:50:04Z I am now in New Zealand. After landing I went straight to the B&B to meet up with Mutti and Antje. It was great to see both of them again. The B&B was quite simple but clean, certainly good enough for me. :-) Auckland doesn't seem very special. We went to the harbour for a bite to eat and shit loads of wine, as expected. It was great to catch up but far too much to drink, so we all had ... I am now in New Zealand. After landing I went straight to the B&B to meet up with Mutti and Antje. It was great to see both of them again. The B&B was quite simple but clean, certainly good enough for me. :-) Auckland doesn't seem very special.
We went to the harbour for a bite to eat and shit loads of wine, as expected. It was great to catch up but far too much to drink, so we all had a bad hangover the next morning.
Regarding to the landlady it seems that I was sleepwalking which is quite worrying. Wonder how long I have been doing that..... Anyway, needless to say that I wasn't in the best condition to pick up our campervan! ;-)
The driving was going better than expected and we went on our way to the Bay of Islands. We stayed in a small pituresque and charming village called Russell. The van is really small and we haven't really worked out the sleeping situation, as the so called 3rd bed is far too small and it also quite risky to fall down, so that is still a bit of a challenge.
Our first day in Russell was great with fantastic weather so we decided to have beach day and just relax. The beach wasn't too great (obviously being spoiled from Australia) but the scenary was fantastic. The islands certainly have something mystic.
We had our first BBQ in our new home and decided to stay here for another couple of nights.
After having hassle with our water tank which seem to be broken we got that sorted too. Our van seems pretty much the oldest around and apparently the tank was broken before, so no surprise there then...
Our next day was a boat trip going to "The Whole in the Rock".
Unfortunately it was overcast the whole day but the islands and the Whole were still great. Must be amazing when the sun is shining. Straight after we left the harbour we saw dolphins. There were so many of them, just fantastic. They were staying with the boat for a really long time and were swimming with us and jumping really high. Really cool! I have never seen so many dolphins befor and have never seen them jump so high. It was like being in one of those shows. They were massive too. Those Bottlenose Dolphins can get up to 4.5 meters and up to 450 kilos. Quite scary to imagine to swim with them.... I am not sure why they wouldn't let us swim with them, but unfortunately we didn't get a chance. I think their first priority was getting to the whole and only if we had time in the afternoon we could have swam with them. But never mind, I am sure there will be more opportunities.
Our van is still not sorted, so I called the mechanic again and we went to a nice little pub just by the seaside, The Duke of Marlborough.
As we can't get the van fixed we now have to go back to Auckland to get it fixed there, which gives me also the opportunity to pick up my fleece which I left in my drunken stage in the pub.
By the time we got back to van company they couldn't really help us anymore and put us up in hotel next door. After a lot of hassle and me kicking up a huge fuss, we managed to get a new van which is for 4 people and therefore much bigger and much nicer. So we are all very happy now with the big van. At least we have two proper double beds and can even manage to unpack all our stuff, which is a complete novelty for me :-)
Much happier with our new van we made our van to Coromandel.

Auckland and the Bay of Islands remains copyright of the author Julia1976, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]>