Queenstown, Christchurch and Ka kite ano / Goodbye

Hey everyone,

et voilà - the next blog post. Already! The past few weeks of travelling through New Zealand have been quite eventful, yet all good things come to an end.

My return to Christchurch after the Northland/Bay of Islands trip (described in the previous blog post) was rather short, as I left again for Queenstown last Sunday. Yes, I already went to Queenstown during this trip but it was such an amazing place that I had to go there again for a bit longer before leaving the country. Also, I met Baltazar there, a really nice guy from Chile with an affinity for all things German.

The delay of my flight, at this stage, didn't bother me at all anymore. It seemed to be more or less common practice with Air New Zealand and since I am on holiday, it doesn't really matter whether I arrive one hour earlier or later. This time, yet again, the delay was due to bad weather and - as they say - "the late arrival of the aircraft". This aircraft, a turbo-prop, had just arrived from Queenstown, making its way through heavy crosswinds and a rainstorm. When boarding was completed, a voice said: 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome aboard your flight to Queenstown. As we have just come from Queenstown on our previous flight, we would like to inform you that turbulence may occur throughout the flight and advise you to stay seated with your seat-belt fastened at all times! There will be no hot drinks service on today's flight due to the weather conditions over the Southern Alps. Air New Zealand apologises for any inconvenience this may have caused."

Great. A free roller-coaster ride for everyone on board! - In reality, however, no one seemed nearly as excited as me - except for the two kids on the other side of the aisle. A concerned voice behind me enquired "Is it really that bad?" - the flight attendant's reply: "Yes it's pretty rough down there. Strong southeasterly winds." - "That was not the answer I was hoping for." - Well, but that's what you get if you ask! In the end, it wasn't all that bad, a few squeals and screams and we touched down in New Zealand's Adventure Sport capital. No need for the sickness bags.

Queenstown. Blue skies, sunshine and a high of 18°C - the perfect weather to get sunburnt! Other than that, the weather was actually fantastic and I spent most of those three days relaxing near Lake Wakatipu, having one nap after the other (I don't think I have ever slept more in three days!), eating Argentinian "churros" with "dulce de leche" at a small café called Patagonia, listening to the beautiful sound of the Spanish language (I was hanging out with Baltazar and two friends of his from Spain, Jose and Paula) and watching two other Argentinians making colourful bracelets, anklets and necklaces. Not a hint of stress, not a bit of pressure - time to reflect, time to think, time for indulgence.

Downtown Queenstown

Queenstown Marina

The "Remarkables" 

Crystal clear glacial water

Time for Art and for living the moment

Sunset over Lake Wakatipu

What an amazing feeling to get up in the morning and have time, to go to the Lake before noon and stay till well after sunset, to be able to soak up the "there and then" and just be! A big thanks to Baltazar for that =)

Eventually, however, I had to go back to Christchurch, this time by bus. 8.5 hours, a working day on the bus - from 8 am to 4.30 pm, taking me past Cromwell, Twizel, Lake Pukaki, Lake Tekapo and Ashburton.

Snow-capped Aoraki/Mt. Cook behind Lake Pukaki

Lake Tekapo's Church of the Good Shepherd

And now, a couple of days later, I can't believe how fast those 4 weeks in New Zealand went by. I have caught up with old friends and made new ones, visited familiar places and explored unknown territory, I have done everything I have wanted to do in New Zealand while still leaving some parts to discover on my next trip - and I will not leave that for another seven years! I can now explain why the North and South Island still feel more like home than the West Island, although both have been a great experience to see, live and travel. Thank you everyone who has made this trip so special, yet again!

What it comes down to ...

In a nutshell, I have satisfied my yearning for this place. Temporarily. Because ultimately, any time spent in New Zealand is too short unless it is forever.

Ka kite ano au i a koe, Aotearoa - I will see you again soon, Land of the long white cloud! =)

Ki wiwi ki wawa i te Hiku-o-te-ika - travelling around Northland and the Bay of Islands

The next part of my journey took me to the northernmost tip of New Zealand's North Island, a region called Northland that includes the Bay of Islands area. The Maori name for this region is Te Hiku-o-te-ika, literally translated as "the tail of the fish". The fish that the Maori are referring to is the North Island itself, Te Ika a Maui, the fish of Maui.

The ancient legends have it that Maui was the son of Ranginui (the Sky father) and Papatuanuku (the Earth mother). Maui's brother Tane, the God of the Forests, separated their parents' embrace to allow light to enter their world. From then on, Ranginui's tears fell down to earth as raindrops, greeting Papatuanuku who returned the greeting by sending mists towards the sky. Maui's other siblings each had their own task - they were the God of the Sea, the God of the Winds and so forth. But Maui, being the youngest, was not very popular with his brothers. Only rarely would he go fishing with them, but the one day he did, he caught the biggest fish of all - henceforth known as the fish of Maui, te Ika-a-Maui, New Zealand's North Island. The canoe that he was in became known as the canoe of Maui, te Waka a Maui, New Zealand's South Island and the canoe's anchor, te Punga a Maui, is now New Zealand's Stewart Island. This trip therefore took me to the fish's tail, te Hiku-o-te-ika!

The Legend of Maui
Photo from: http://explore-nz.blogspot.co.nz/2010/12/background-of-new-zealand.html

Leaving Nelson in the morning and flying via Auckland, I would get into Kerikeri/Bay of Islands Airport around 2:30 pm - that was the plan. According to my schedule, I had a 40 minute stopover in Auckland which was a short time considering that my flight from Nelson already arrived 10 minutes later than planned. In a hurry to make my connection flight, I discovered that the flight had been delayed until further notice. Heavy downpours and strong winds in the Bay of Islands region made it impossible for the pilots to land on the very short 1.2 km / 3,900 ft runway. The morning flight to Kerikeri had been cancelled and passengers had to take a bus to get to their destination - a 4.5 hour drive instead of a 45 minute flight that I might be facing as well if the weather did not improve. An hour later, however, the decision was made to fly us to Whangarei, 70 km / 44 miles south of Kerikeri and take us to Kerikeri Airport by bus from there. Air New Zealand - amazing journeys every day!

Arriving in Whangarei

Of course, the plane was rather small: 19 passengers, one on each side of the aisle with great views into the cockpit (as there was no room for a door), no flight attendants (no room for them either), no in-flight service. When we finally got to Kerikeri Airport, I picked up my car that I was going to use for my road trip around the area. It was a brand new Toyota, less than 8,000 km travelled.

Taking the Toyota to the beach

I spent my first night in Kerikeri in a motel surrounded by subtropical rainforest before heading off to the northernmost point of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. On the way, I passed beautiful beaches, rolling hills and dense forests and made a stop at a Gumdiggers Camp. Gumdiggers dig for gum, the kind of juice that trees secrete when you cut them. This gum was later used to produce water-resistant clothing and footwear, which is why wellington boots are still called gumboots in New Zealand today. There was, however, much more to discover in this camp: ancient Kauri forests (Kauri trees are evergreen trees most common during the Jurassic period, some 150 million years ago) were once spread all over New Zealand's North Island. Two natural disasters (that no one knows the exact nature of) destroyed New Zealand's giant Kauri trees some 150,000 and some 45,000 years ago. In the swamps surrounding what is now the Gumdiggers Camp, these ancient Kauri trees were rediscovered - preserved in the mud for 150,000 years, making them the oldest non-fossilised wood in the world!

Gumdigger Hut and Gumboots

Holes were dug to reach the ancient Kauri wood

The oldest timber in the world - looking at 150,000 years of history

Petrified gum featuring a spider

Going further up north, my next stop was at Rarawa Beach, a silica beach on the east coast. To my surprise, I found it quite similar to some of the beaches I'd seen on Germany's North Sea coastline and on some of the Frisian islands, only that the sand was much whiter.

Walking through sand dunes

Rarawa Beach

Enjoying New Zealand's North Sea

Having a break =)

The day's goal, to drive up to Cape Reinga, was reached some two hours of driving on windy roads later. Passing the sand dunes of Te Paki on my left, I took the road leading to the Cape Reinga Lighthouse.

Te Paki sand dunes and Cape Maria van Diemen

Cape Reinga Lighthouse

Cape Reinga Panoramic View (click to enlarge)

Many miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care

Te Reinga Point

Cape Reinga (or Te Rerenga Wairua) is an amazing place for various reasons. Firstly, it is New Zealand's northernmost point, 2,000 km / 1,200 miles east of Sydney and 10,000 km / 6,200 miles west of Santiago de Chile. Secondly, it is the place where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the swirls visible in the panoramic view of Cape Reinga above (note also the slightly different colours of the water). And thirdly, according to Maori legends, it is the place from where the spirits of the deceased travel home to Hawaiiki, the land of their ancestors. From all throughout New Zealand, they travel to the Cape where there are two springs, Te Waiora a Tane ("the living waters of Tane") and Te Wai Whero o Rata. Depending on which spring the spirits drink from, they will either return to the living or descend into the underworld. Te Reinga Point in the last photo features a dark rock in the sea with a tree growing on its easterly side. This tree is an 800 year old, ancient Kahika tree, a kind of Pohutukawa that has never been known to flower. The Maori call this tree Te Aroha - Love. The spirits, according to the Maori legends, descend to the water on steps formed by the tree's roots, turn back one last time to have a look at the land of the living and then carry on to Hawaiiki, the land of their ancestors. Te Rerenga Wairua is a very ambivalent place with most tourists coming to see the lighthouse and New Zealand's northernmost point. However, many do not take note of the spiritual significance of this place - and therefore its true beauty.

I would have loved to stay longer, however, my accommodation for the night was the Ninety Mile Beach Holiday Park, some 100 km / 62 miles south. Ninety Mile Beach is not actually 90 miles in length, but only 90 km / 55 miles. This is because in the early days of settlement, the missionaries followed the assumption that a horse could travel 30 miles (50 km) in a day and it took them three days to travel along the beach on horseback. However, they did not take into account that walking in sand takes longer than on solid ground, hence the name. The holiday park I stayed at was located right on the beach, allowing for a marvelous sunset experience.

Ninety Mile Beach - speed limit 30 km/h!
And yes, you can drive on the beach...

Sunset over Ninety Mile Beach

The next day took me further south, travelling via Kaitaia to the Hokianga Harbour. The Hokianga Harbour is an inlet from the Tasman Sea that extends about 30 km / 19 miles inland. It is in fact a river valley that was flooded after the end of the last ice age. I stayed the night in one of the most spectacular hostels I've ever seen, the Tree House in Kohukohu.

The Tree House

View from the kitchen

Funnily enough, the owners had family living in Newtown, NSW and went over to Kohukohu in 1981 to set up this special hostel. When asked about where the closest supermarket was, the owner, Phil, replied: "Oh it's best to take the ferry." Any bigger township was at least an hour's drive away from Kohukohu with the local grocer selling overpriced products. Instead, I actually ended up taking the vehicle ferry across to Rawene. It departs every hour on the hour from Kohukohu, takes 10-15 minutes across the Hokianga Harbour and departs Rawene every hour at half past, leaving me 20 minutes to do my shopping before catching the ferry back to my hostel.

The Hokianga Vehicle Ferry between Kohukohu and Rawene

The next day, I then took my rental car on to this ferry to continue my trip south to the Waipoua Forest, one of the few places that still features live Kauri trees. The biggest Kauri tree in New Zealand is Tane Mahuta, "Lord of the Forest", referring to Tane, the God of the Forest mentioned above. While this tree is "only" 51 metres / 168 ft high, its trunk has a girth of nearly 14 metres / 45 ft, meaning it would take at least 6 adults to reach around it. Its volume is equivalent to 517,000 milk cartons, 113,700 gallons of petrol or 7,300 kegs of beer - a truly amazing and awe-inspiring giant!

Tane Mahuta (click to enlarge)

Tree ferns in the Waipoua Forest

My way back up and across to Paihia led me past the villages of Opononi and Omapere on the southern coast of the Hokianga Harbour and to the Arai-te-Uru Scenic reserve with 360° views of sand dunes, a sheltered inlet, the open sea, forests, beaches and rock formations - to put it in a nutshell: a place that simply cannot be captured in pictures, not even panoramic pictures. But anyway, here are my attempts:

Arai-te-Uru Panoramic View (click to enlarge)

Arai-te-Uru Reserve facing inland

After an hour's drive from the west to the east coast (yes, it is that narrow), I reached the final stop of my trip, Paihia - the gateway to the Bay of Islands. Staying in a motel near the town centre, everything was within walking distance including the Marina from where passenger ferries depart to the township of Russell across the bay. Russell was the first permanent European settlement in New Zealand, featuring New Zealand's oldest church, oldest hotel and oldest petrol station. Owing to the early stage of settlement, the township of Russell was neither subject to Maori nor British law and soon became known as the "Hell Hole of the South Pacific". However, the architecture of this place remains as a silent witness of the early colonial times.

Russell Panoramic View (click to enlarge)

The Beach Esplanade in Russell

It was also in Russell that the British Governor Hobson read his Proclamations that constituted the beginning of the Treaty of Waitangi, the next and last stop of my trip. On February 6th, 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi established a British Governor in New Zealand, recognised Maori land rights and turned the indigenous population of New Zealand into British subjects. Different from the proceedings with other indigenous groups such as the Aboriginal people of Australia or the Native Americans on the American continents, this treaty provided the indigenous population of New Zealand with a supporting document to later reclaim their tribal land (because the British, of course, did not stick to the Treaty). The Treaty of Waitangi is considered the founding document of New Zealand as a nation, which is why February 6th, Waitangi Day, has become New Zealand's national day, with major festivities in 1990, the 150th anniversary.

The Treaty House on the Waitangi Grounds

Maori war canoes on display at Waitangi

The inside of a traditional Maori meeting house

The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840

In review, I cannot believe that this was just a four day trip, yet such an interesting and intense experience. My way back to Christchurch passed without further complications or disruptions, taking me half-way over this beautiful country that I have come to love so dearly - for its nature, for its people and for its humour.

Air New Zealand sickness bag

Nelson - the "Top of the South"

Hey everyone,

here's the next blog post from New Zealand - and I can promise you it will not be the last!

When Jackie and I got back to Christchurch from our road trip (cf. previous blog post), we only had one night until the next adventure began - for Jackie, that meant flying up to Auckland for a stopover to visit Hobbiton before heading back home to the States; for me, it meant an onward journey - though it took me seven years back in time. At Christchurch Airport, I took the following photo, which - I think - perfectly describes my situation: the plane I'm on is painted in the most recent colours of Air New Zealand while the one next to us features the old livery and a Jetstar plane can be detected in the background. In other words: I'm on a trip full of new experiences while looking back at and comparing it with the old memories, while Australia and my experience of living and studying there has taken the backseat - nothing, simply nothing can beat New Zealand! Sorry Australia :-/

Planes at Christchurch Airport

And as I'm now basically on my way of gaining a "new" experience of New Zealand, why don't I take you with me to where I was headed next - Nelson. My flight took me via Wellington, the "windy" city and capital of New Zealand... or was it Middle Earth?

Welcome to Middle Earth! =)

The agreeable thing with domestic connecting flights in New Zealand is that you never have to wait for long to board your next flight - this time, the layover in Wellington was about 10 minutes. 

The Marlborough Sounds from above seem to say: Welcome home!

And my 25-minute-flight from Wellington to Nelson was to become the fastest journey back in time that I've ever had. Those of you who went to school with me in New Zealand will remember this - coming in to Nelson Airport is an experience of its own: descending over the water, passing over land ("Yes we'll be there soon!"), going back over the sea ("Does the pilot know what he's doing?"), reaching the Monaco peninsula ("Oh good, I can see land underneath! But where's the runway?") and flying over the last inlet ("OMG, we're going to end up in the water, we're way too low!") before finally touching down. Back on the ground, I disembarked over the tarmac, walked into the tiny terminal building with one café and two check-in counters and back out the other end which is where you pick up your suitcase. Straight from the luggage trolley.

For the duration of my stay, Helen and Rex had kindly offered me to reside at their place - and by "reside", I mean reside! A beachfront home on the Monaco peninsula with views over the estuarine Tasman Bay towards Richmond that I had visited a number of times while I was in Nelson in 2007. Helen and Rex were hosting Ji (whom I visited in Christchurch) and Manatsu (another friend of mine from Japan) while I was there and took me to the Abel Tasman Nationalpark, Kaiteriteri Beach and Ngaio Bay for their family holidays (I still can't get over how staying in a luxury villa can be referred to as "camping"!). Anyway, this is the view from the "balcony" (indoor verandah with sliding doors) that we had every morning for breakfast, every day at lunchtime and every night for dinner - with different water levels of course as the tide goes in and out down here as it does in the North Sea in Germany.

Planes coming in, boats left stranded and the idyllic scenery of the hills!

And because Helen and Rex wouldn't be Helen and Rex if there weren't any trips to go on, we were off to Lake Rotoroa in the Nelson Lakes National Park the next day - because they were building and extending a holiday cabin there. Now, while that entailed a three hour wait at Placemakers (the New Zealand hardware store) and entertaining two 7 and 11 year-old children (on a side note: waiting & children - both not my favourite things in the world), it meant a great day trip to the hinterland. All the more so because travelling with either of them generally means you're not going to starve. That's why a bike ride came in opportunely the next day to visit my school from seven years ago: Nayland College. There were memories hidden behind every corner, situations and conversations that had taken place here and there and everywhere and I could virtually see all the people I'd met at Nayland College in front of me. Now, of course, Nayland College was closed for summer break, which meant that I couldn't go inside any of the buildings, but the whole atmosphere was overwhelming.

Back at Nayland... was about time aye!

The palm tree in front of the library

The Quad, the place to be at lunchtime for "Big Fat German Sausage"-sizzles! =)

Around the corner from the school was 31 Ferguson Street, my home away from home during my time at Nayland College. I knew that my hostfamily had sold the house and that it had been repainted but standing in front of it was a bit different. Still, walking my old "way home" from school was priceless.

Pimp my house... but yellow? Really?

I have to say that apart from this rather obvious change, Stoke hadn't changed much since I'd last seen it which made it easy for me to settle back in and enjoy my time in the sunny top of the South Island. And of course, the Nayland corner store wasn't far away either - my first genuine Hokey Pokey ice-cream in ages
!

And of course I caught up with my hostmum from back then, who now runs a Café / Deli on Main Road Stoke called "Infused":

Sharon preparing her legendary wraps!

Trafalgar Street in Nelson

Time to catch up with another key figure from back then? Definitely! At the "International BBQ" that apparently has become a tradition, I met Marilyn Gibbs again who was - and still is - the counsellor for Nayland's International Students. Nayland College gets about 120 International Students each semester - that makes about 1,600 International students since I've been there. But believe it or not - she recognised me and after half an hour even remembered my last name! Now that's what I call a good career choice. Mrs. Gibbs lives on a farm with Mr. Gibbs who gladly showed us around and let us feed the animals before we could dig in to a yummy BBQ buffet.

With Mrs Gibbs at the International BBQ -
"Koop, isn't it? Your last name is Koop!"

I also caught up for a coffee with my French teacher, Ms. Barker after having seen her in Paris during my week of high school finals in May 2009, which is when she took the Nayland French class on a trip all around France. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo with her but it was nonetheless nice to catch up! =)

Before heading on to my next adventure, Helen took me to the Marlborough region (Picton and Blenheim) as well as to Kaiteriteri in the Abel Tasman National Park to make my stay complete. 

Kaiteriteri Beach - one of the 5 most beautiful beaches in the world!

Cup of coffee with a view in Marahau

While the Kaiteriteri trip was pretty straight-forward, the trip to the Marlborough Sounds was rather interesting. Leaving Nelson, we came across a hitch-hiker... Helen later said "We should have driven past first to see what he looks like and then come around to pick him up.". But being the nice person that she is, Helen stopped on the side of the road and we took him to Picton. When the guy took his hat off, he looked like Captain Jack Sparrow who had lost his boat. This particular one had only lost his girlfriend though which needed to be discussed extensively. In view of his BO (the abbreviation for "body odour"), it wasn't hard to imagine why it hadn't worked out between them. Another thing that was not surprising was the fact that he wanted to get to Wellington to make his way up to Palmerston North to attend a peaceful gathering of like-minded individuals - in other words: a hippie festival with tons of weed. He had a small bottle of vodka with him that a Nelson local had given him (local produce - home made and apparently very strong; the debate on whether he was still under the influence of aforementioned liquor has not come to a final conclusion). Other than with the story of his girlfriend, however, he seemed rather content with his life and with what came his way, so he didn't mind our "ticky tour", meaning taking all kinds of roads but not the direct one to Picton. So he got his ferry to Wellington and a free scenic tour of the area on top of that.

The Pelorus River - filming location for the 2nd Hobbit movie
(where the dwarves escape in barrels)

Reaching the Sounds

One of the many lookouts (click to enlarge)

What a beautiful spot!

When we had dropped this guy off in Picton, we headed to Blenheim which is where Alistair and his wife live (Alistair is one of the sons) to have lunch before checking out an aviation museum on the way back.

On my last day in Nelson, we had a big dinner with the family and some more friends - and as strawberries are in season in New Zealand at the moment, there was not much of a choice as to what kind of dessert would be served - home-made Tiramisu!

Strawberry Tiramisù

Now, the actual purpose of my stay in Nelson was to relax and do nothing at all after my studies in Australia and my trips all over the place. Looking at this blog post, I just realised that I did do quite a lot but there was plenty of time to unwind as well. Thank you everyone in Nelson who made this stay possible, particularly Helen & Rex - thank you so much for your hospitality and for taking me back in time to 2007! You're welcome in Germany any time and I'll gladly show you around =)

Sooo... time to end this blog post with yet another sunset picture - read more about my subsequent trip to the Bay of Islands region in the far North of New Zealand in my next journal entry about the Hobbit's adventures away from the Shire!

Take care and stay tuned,

The Hobbit

(currently in Middle Earth)