I am still awake. The sun has set for half an hour now and I can hear the waves just over the dunes while I am staring at the ceiling of the van. We are lying with our heads towards the back of the car like we did from day one. We discussed for a …
Read more “Day and night in a van [Woolleys Bay, 27.01.2020]”
We stand in front of the entrance to the caves and click our little lights for a last time. On, off. “You know, with all the German campers around us this morning this feels like an episode of Dark and we should not go into these caves.” I haven’t watched Dark, so I don’t get …
Read more “Dark Caves with life [North Island, Waipu, 23.01.2020]”
I’m standing in my red swim shorts outside the food truck and bite into a fried kiwi. We just returned from an overnight hike and the girl from Utah we gave a ride back to Wanaka told us about the nearest laundry-o-mat, conveniently in the back of the central gas station of very sunny Wanaka …
We sit in a coffee shop. I have just read the introduction of David Sedaris‘ „Theft by Finding“. A fly crawls up and down my forearm. My flat white with oat milk rests on the table in front. The barista has a painted picture of himself as an icon with a latte art halo behind …
Read more “When the days were slow [North Island, 22.01.-28.01.2020]”
The one thing we had actually booked and planned ahead of stepping onto New Zealand’s ground was an overnight kayaking trip in Doubtful Sounds. Doubtful Sounds being the “little, less disturbed by tourists sister” of Milford Sound. Partly – or mostly? – because you can’t reach it as easy as Milford. You need to take …
Read more “Sandflies and Bird Talk [Overnight in Doubtful Sounds, 17.-18.01.2020]”
by guest blogger, Bridget How does this story begin? I guess, like many good novels, with a little research. I was trying to prepare myself for our month long trip to New Zealand, which I was excited for, but also a bit anxious. I was anxious because everyone who’s visited New Zealand spoke about how …
„I’m quoting The Lord of the Rings all day today.“ Bridget looks at me absolutely serious. We are on our way to Mount Sunday, a rather unknown hill on the south island. If you tell someone, that name definitely rings no bells. It would probably not even have a name if it didn’t play an …
„Why did we pick this as our first hike?“ Bridget asks, catching her breath after a long uphill section. I frown while trying to slow my heartbeat. „Because it was the first on our route?“ We are somewhere in the middle of the 1.100 meters in altitude we have to tackle today – uphill and …
Read more “First hike, hard hike [Avalanche Peak, 03.-05.01.2020]”
Just coming back from my two hikes on the Milford and the Kepler Tracks I was excited to go further south to the third island of New Zealand – Stewart Island / Raikura. Since I got to know about the 9-11 days self-sufficient backcountry hike, the North West Circuit, I planned to do it as …
Read more “Stewart Island – The challenging North-West-Circuit (NZ ~ 06.-17.11.2017)”
Another walk? Yes, the Kepler Track is just around the corner of Te Anau. I literally couldn’t let that chance slip through my fingers. And one rest day had to be enough this time. Although I maybe shouldn’t have stayed that long at the Halloween party in town… During my food preparation a traveller mate …