My first destination on the South Island was the Hangdog Camp in Takaka. It was supposed to be a good place to hook up with other climbers. It turned out different. I did´nt find a lot of serious climbers and got charged 2,50NZD from a Belgium guy to climb with him and his rope...nothing is for free he meant, hilarious!! So I end up baking pizza in the clay oven with Nico a french shepherd.

I renounced climbing and contacted Zack an excentric canadian Adventurer witch I met in Wellington before. We managed to organize a four day kayak trip in the Abel Tasman National Park together with Nico and Vincent an other canadian traveller.

Paddeling in a sea kayak provides acces to remote landscapes. A totaly new way of locomotion for me.

And it gets you close to wildlife as well.

Vincent is passionated for seafood. He was collecting mussels and baby clams. Good for us. We had yummie sea food pasta!

The crew. In fact we did´nt know each other before we had a great time. It´s great when things work out like that.

Finaly we got the chance to see dolphins at sunset in Golden Bay. Life is sweet!

Cape Farewell my first contact with the tasman sea.

landscaping.

windy roads makes driving fun. glad to have a vehicle.

Hokitika on the westcoast, sea and a first taste of real mountains.

It is spring in the southern hemisphere. Weird.. after fall in Canada. The weather is changing at least two times a day. Feels like April in November.

Finaly enjoying the benefits of beeing a parking lot bum again.

As 1500 other tourists as well I did the famous Tongariro alpine crossing.

To avoid the crowds I did a little detour and climbed Mt. Ngauruhoe witch is also known as Mt. Doom in the movie "Lord of the Rings". On the summit I met Christoph from Bavaria. He decided to join me for a quick descent on the approximately 400m gravel slope. One of the most enjoyable "Schotterritschn" runs ever.

I like signs in general. But it made me really happy to discover two good ones at the same spot.

In Wellington I had to go through some bureaucratic barriers for my upcomming travels in Asia. So waiting and killing time. Besides sightseeing, a lot of walking and tea brakes I got to see the Governor-General of NZ as well.

Wellington is a hilly windy city with a vast network of mountainbike trails in it´s backyard. To defeat the weariness of my soul I rented a bike and it´s been totaly worth the money. Man-made single tracks made me smilling again immediately. And of course the f.....g rear brake is mounted on the wrong side here as well. I never did such a graceful highsider since a long time ago.

New Zealand is well known for it´s strict biosecurity rules. I got a free shoe wash and my tent has been inspected as well. Altough the officers have been very friendly it felt a bit like entering an airforce base.

The first days in Auckland have been crazy for me. I have been used in travelling independly for the last four month. Millions of tourists (mostly german backpackers...), expensive food and public transportation made me feel unconfortable quiet a bit. I realised: I need a vehicle soon!! I went to a car auktion, different market places and did many phone calls. One day I was even pretty close to buy myself a bike, just to escape from that mess.

Finaly I bought this Honda station wagon. It was not cheap and it is not in perfect shape, but it drives and I got a buy-back option by the dealer in auckland as well. I appreciate the street signs, they help me a lot driving on the other side.

I went straight to Rotorura where I got to know the kiwi guy Neil. He is really into US cars and he was keen to help me out with his tools and a set of used speakers. Seems like cars were a very big thing in this country.

Some work needed to be done. I built a sleeping platform with storage underneath - pretty much the same way I did it in the Subaru I drove in Canada. Yes, the broom stick came with the car..

Rotorura is the city with the most dynamic thermal activity in NZ. There is mud pools and steaming hot springs in people´s backyards. In addition you get to enjoy an intense eggy odour almost anywhere in town.