Day 61: The world from the kayak perspective

I was lucky I had such great weather conditions on my first kayaking tour. The sun was very warm and intensifying all those colours surrounding me. I had a lot of respect being out there in the bays of the Tasman Sea, and I felt grateful I could see all those lovely places from this new perspective. I really enjoyed my first kayaking experience, and I'm more than keen in giving it another try in a different ocean.

#newzealand #southernisland #abeltasman

Day 60: The hidden peace inside

The beach you can see in this picture was really that empty all the time. I didn't wait for a window with no people, dogs, children, boats, cars...it was just as empty as it is displayed here. The perfect place to have an afternoon break with an apple, some coffee, and a piece of chocolate. Also a very good place to close my eyes, breathe deeply, and go on a search of my inner peace. My head has been quite busy, especially during my last few weeks in Germany. I figured out my mind was quite occupied by all sorts of things, but I eventually managed to get rid of all those distracting thoughts and found back to the peaceful mode of meditation for about 15-20 minutes. I felt very fresh and positive afterwards, and was happy I'm still capable of doing that.

#newzealand #southernisland #goldenbay

Day 59: There is only ONE now

The end of the day in NZ is usually accompanied by a lovely game of colours in the sky. It's stunning, and it also reminds me that another day in life has passed. Most of the time I can smile, because I did something nice and it was a good day. It's important for me to do that, because there is only ONE now. This now will never come back again like that. It's gone, so it's important to make it special and good.

#newzealand #southernisland #goldenbay

Day 58: Purple freaky mushrooms

Have you ever seen, heard of, or even tried purple mushrooms? No? Me neither, but they do exist, deep in the NZ native bush.

#newzealand #southernisland #goldenbay

Day 57: Off the grid

I'm glad that my NZ journey also taught me to live off the grid for a while. Not having a flushing toilet, only having power and warm water when the sun is out and (almost) only living by what I planted and harvested. It not only made me appreciate it all a bit more, it also made me see that we're wasting so much energy and water for unnecessary reasons, and that the vegetables I have planted and harvested suddenly taste so much different, because I have a somewhat personal connection to them. It's a great feeling, and I think many people miss out on something, if they don't experience this way of living for at least once in a lifetime.

#newzealand #southernisland #goldenbay

Day 56: How far I've come

I've been in New Zealand for 56 days now, which makes exactly 8 weeks. If somebody asks me if the time has passed quickly, I'd say yes and no. Yes, because I can't believe this is my 9th week already. No, because my first few awkward days in Auckland seem so far away already that I can't even believe they were part of this journey. So in the meantime I've made to a bunch of places on the Northern Island and few ones on the Southern Island. I'm not done yet. Time is not up yet. I won't stop blogging yet.

#newzealand

Day 55: Travel is my priority

Some of you may have asked themselves how I get along here, where do my funds come from? And I'm going to share my secret with you: I don't have any. My bank account has seen far better days. However, there is a way of getting along without paying: Couchsurfing, hitchhiking, wwoofing. Doing that at least kept my cash flow low. And yes, there is the flight you need, and the chocolate you want, and the coffee with cream on top. But hey.....some things are so worth the investment...

#newzealand #southernisland #goldenbay

Day 54: Too much beauty, too little time

The Papapara Peak Track was very demanding, physically demanding. A 10h return track up to the 1300m peak overlooking the mountain ranges of the Southern Island and the Tasman Sea. I only had one hour at the peak in order to make it back before dusk. I wish I had had more time so I could have paid my environment more attention and appreciation. Same on the way up through native bush: blue mushrooms, freaky trees, deformed tree routes, small birds, big birds...it all deserves attention and appreciation, because I won't see such things outside of NZ ever again.

#newzealand #southernisland #goldenbay

Day 53: The orange triangle is your life saver

The tracks in New Zealand are very well maintained, but can be very wild and hard to find at times. Therefore, it is always good to watch out for this orange triangle. If you go on long tracks in remote and rural areas, this orange triangle can be a life saver. It tells you you're on the right way.

#newzealand #southernisland #goldenbay

Day 52: I saw a kiwi!

I saw a kiwi...it was furry, sweet, and not shy at all. I wonder why people keep searching for it in the dark? I found this one in the brightest daylight ever.

#newzealand #southernisland #somewhere

Day 51: Hot shower = $5

Ah...finally, a hot shower was all I was looking for!

#newzealand #southernisland #takaka

Day 50: I'm a hippie now

...okay, I don't walk barefoot and I don't smoke weed, but I kind of got into the "enjoying life" mode. The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, life is easy and good. It's okay to spend the day chilling on the couch or in the grass, walking around naked or sing your catchy song loudly...it's Golden Bay, it's okay! What a nice kind of vibe, far away from all the commitments waiting for me in Germany. It's great to be a hippie...even just for a few weeks.

#newzealand #southernisland #goldenbay

Day 49: 3:00pm...we're closing

In most places of New Zealand you better get your shopping and appointments done before 3:00pm, because it's the general closing time of banks, flower shops, libraries, hair dressers, services, bakeries, organic food shops, and even cafes.

#newzealand #southernisland #takaka

Day 48: Being part of the Golden Bay community

I like my current life here in Golden Bay. It's very easy, basic and it's all about enjoying the sunny side of life. Not only because Golden Bay is one of the sunniest areas in New Zealand, but also because the community here is small and therefore everybody knows everybody and everybody helps everybody. It's one of those places where you don't need to lock your door, or bike, or where people would always run after you, if you forget your wallet somewhere. It's great to be a part of that...for some time.

#newzealand #southernisland #takaka

Day 47: A day in the dunes

Today I hitchhiked to Farewell Spit, the northern most point of the Southern Island. I didn't really inform myself of what I may come across there, and I was glad I didn't, because I loved being surprised by this impressive landscape of endless, huge, white sand dunes.

The wind and rips of the Western side push the sand towards the wind and rips of the narrow but stormy Cook Strait between the Northern and Southern Island. As a result there is 30km long peninsula of nothing but sand dunes with lakes and some vegetation. This reminded me of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia (where there's hardly water though).

#newzealand #southernisland #farewellspit

Day 46: Hitchhikers' paradise

Takaka is a place of a little more than 1,000 people. The way that public transport works here is that you stand on the street, raise your thumb, and jump on the next car to give you a lift along the way. OR if you find one of those signs, just sit on the bench and do nothing. The next car will stop and also give you a lift. No need to exhaust yourself by standing and raising your thumb...fortunately!

#newzealand #southernisland #takaka

Day 45: The German bread that everybody loves

Everywhere outside of Germany I go people tell me how they love the German bread. Everywhere outside of Germany they complain about the 100 types of toast, but 0 types of sourdough bread. And everywhere outside of Germany there is one German bakery per ~10,000 people. So how come the retailer and wholesaler still don't stock these kind of breads? Why do I always have to ask for the German bakery to get my bread déjà-vu? #firstworldproblems

#newzealand #southernisland #takaka

Day 44: Fat seals, not a matter of luck

When you see your first seal in New Zealand you think how lucky you are. But turns out they are basically all over the country. I've seen quite a few now - big ones, small ones, dead ones, alive ones... On Wharariki beach I saw this fat seal full of fish and not even remotely bothered by my presence.

#newzealand #southernisland #whararikibeach

Day 43: Selfies on remote shores

Today I got my day off work and because our neighbour was so gentle to lend his car, I went to the remote Wharariki Beach on the northern tip of the Southern Island. It was so worth the getting up at 7am and so worth the one hour ride and so worth the sunburn I got. It was a rough beach with high waves, strong rips, fat seals and bright dunes. What a pretty peace of land. A nice place to lean back, relax, listen to the sounds of the sea and take a Heidi Klum style selfie picture.

#newzealand #southernisland #whararikebeach

Day 42: Fish & Chips - ticked off

This is what an NZ Fish&Chips takeaway snack looks like. Nothing special, but apparently a MUST TRY here. It was only the second time I tried (after trying and disliking it once in the UK). It was an okay experience. I was really hungry and longing for a snack that would fill me for a fair amount of time. And so I gave it a try. Category: must try, ticked off and done.

#newzealand #southernisland #collingwood

Day 41: The Tui bird

This bird is really fun to listen to. I'm amazed by how many different sounds this little black bird can make. I've seen it a thousand times already, but only found out a few weeks ago this lovely creature is called Tui, an endemic New Zealand bird and right after the Kiwi bird an icon of the local bird life.

#newzealand #southernisland #abeltasman

Day 40: Feet in the water

The Abel Tasman National Park embraced me with the loveliest sunshine ever. I can feel it getting warmer every week. On clear and calm days like today the sun is quite burning already. It's a mercyless sun down here. You will get dark, red or frackeled - more so than back home in Europe. So this day was good enough for me to put my feet in the clear blue water of Golden Bay. It's not freezing anymore. The swimming season is close.

#newzealand #southernisland #abeltasman

Day 39: Taking the ferry to the South

Shame on me I decided to go South one day later than I initially planned, BUT it was the right decision, because the weather was so much better, so sooo much better. I slept quite shitty, but the view on the Interislander Ferry that had just arrived from the South at 8:30am was excusing it all. It was warm, sunny and just the perfect day to do the crossover from the North to the South. I was excited seeing the white mountain peaks of the Southern Island getting closer and closer and the green hills of the Northern Island getting smaller and smaller. At 12:30: touch down in Picton, Southern Island.

#newzealand #cookstrait #interislanderferry

Day 38: Kiwis love the Queen

If you live in New Zealand you won't miss out on news about the Queen and her descendants. The NZ yellow press knows everything about Harry's new relationship, Prince George's son's first day in school, and the Queen's favourite meals and more. The Kiwis seem to still love their royal connection to the UK.

#newzealand #southernisland #pohara

Day 37: The "stop and go sign" job

Have you ever seen people doing this "holding traffic signs up" job? I have: in South Africa, Mongolia and I think Russia. And now...also in New Zealand. There are people being employed to wait in front of one lane roads and give the drivers a "stop" or a "go". Fascinating...

#newzealand #northernisland #wellington

Day 36: The better city for inexplicable reasons

So now that I have been in NZ for over a month I got to know quite a few Kiwis and no matter whom I had asked the "A or W?" question, the answer was always "Wellington"! And after I got here, I actually understood why. As I described in my previous post, I like the character and vibe of the city (the cafés, the street art, the hills, the suburbs, the waterfront, etc.), but I can't give a proper explanation for it. There is something about Wellington which made me like it right away and there is something about Auckland which made me dislike it right away. So maybe everybody has his or her own reason, but still the answer is almost always the same.

#newzealand #northernisland #wellington

Day 35: Wellington street art

When I go to new places I barely have an agenda what to do in them. I have a few things in mind and I like being inspired by other people who aren't into mass tourism as well. I don't do museums usually. I don't do package tours. I like the vibe being my guide. So I pay a lot of attention to details and I realized then Wellington is really quite a cool city for lots of reasons. It has a nice cool character. I was impressed by the streetart here. On a nightly run through the city I passed a small street towards the harbour and I had to interrupt my program to spend some time watching all those nice things surrounding me.

#newzealand #northernisland #wellington

Day 34: Gender neutral traffic lights

I didn't realized the women silhouettes until somebody made me aware of them. So next time you're in Wellington watch out for the traffic light ladies with their updo hair. It's worth a picture.

#newzealand #northernisland #wellington

Day 33: Exotic fruits and vegetables

Fruit and vegetable shopping can be a very enriching experience in New Zealand. A few days ago at New Market supermarket in Wellington I saw those red yams here. Apparently something potato-related, but very exotic thru foreigner eyes like mine. So I had take a picture of it.

#newzealand #northernisland #wellington