My Big Trip™ around New Zealand

So this is the Report on my 16 days backpackers trip all around New Zealand - Enjoy!

As you might not know, New Zealand is divided into three islands (ridiculously they count the very little island at the bottom of the map (Stewart Island) as the third one). My route is marked red on the map and summed up to over 4886 km. It is divided into three sub-trips:

(1) the big south island round

(2) the small south island round (the bottom)

(3) the north island trip (north of Auckland)

1. The way down to the south island and the Westcoast to Queenstown

First day - 29.03.2002 (658 km)

I took the night bus from Auckland to Wellington. Thanks to full moon this was like a daytime trip and I could see literally everything quite clear, though taking photos is not possible at night from a driving bus. Therefore just believe me: This part of the journey was probably not worth going there for a longer time during the day.

Second day - 30.03.2002 (147 km)

In the very morning I arrived in Wellington. Situated at the borders of the world famous Cook Strait, Wellington is famous for its stormy weather. Probably you will know Katherine Mansfield, brilliant writer of world-famous short-stories. She was born in Wellington and wrote most of her works here. After some hours spent in the harbour area in stormy weathers I boarded the ferry to Picton on the south island.  After a cruising through rough sea in famous Marlborough and Queen Charlotte Sounds I was happy when arriving in Picton and went straight to the backpackers bus that I was booked on. Unfortunately, lots of other attractive young people from many different countries had done the same so the bus was filled up quite quickly and they had to call a second one (which was a wink of luck because this second bus was bigger, nicer and better equipped than the original one and the driver was much cooler). So with a little delay we made our way out of Picton. When leaving Wellington (which is the country's capital by the way) as I mentioned before it was stormy and partly even rainy and I was worried. But when arriving in Picton, the sun was shining brightly and warm which didn't change (except for 7 hours) for the rest of the whole trip. So we made our way through Marlborough Valley into the township of Nelson at the borders of the Abel Tasman National Park where we stayed the night and saw a beautiful sunset.

Third day - 31.03.2002 (252 km)

In the morning we drove out to Kaiteriteri for a three-hours kayaking trip on the borders of the Tasman Sea. Shortly after noon we already left again and drove a long leg down to Buller Gorge, where we set up everything for tomorrow's jetboat adventure before spending the night in Westport.

Fourth day - 01.04.2002 (152 km)

In the early morning this guy from the jetboat company picked us up from the Hostel and when arriving at the offices we got equipped with all kinds of waterproof gear. Already been seated in the jetboat, we then were pulled by a trecker into of Buller Gorge river. This is a sometimes furiously flowing river coming down from the mountains. As soon as this boat guy got the enormous engine running, we were speeding with around 70 km/h up the river. - An amazing experience, believe me. The only nasty things were those sudden turns, because then I had to live with all the girls' weight sitting in my row sliding right towards me. Nevertheless, great experience. After 1,5 hours we got back to the bus and were all excited and of course had to tell everybody that not even was interested in what were going to tell while we were heading down the beautiful west coast alond the Tasman Sea. Of course, we had to stop for the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki as well as the Blowholes that produce a cloud of water spraying out as soon as a high wave hits the holes. Further down the coast we finally arrived at the Lake Mahinapua Hotel right next to the equally named lake where we had a rather incredible party that I will not lose any more words about. At sunset this spot can hardly be beaten: a breathtaking view over the lake with temperate rain forests at its borders and behind that the majestic Southern Alps with Mount Cook of course being the highest point in New Zealand.

Fifth day - 02.04.2002 (129 km)

At the Bushman's Centre I had to proove my old knowledge of handling different weapons, such as a handgun, bow and arrow, and throwing knifes. This time it was all about hunting Oppossums. Except of axe throwing, I managed to maintain a rate of over 95% of hitting my targets (all Oppossums got an arrow between their eyes!). Back on the bus, driving to one of New Zealand's first place where Gold was spotted. There I had the chance to gold-panning. I got annoyed after the first pan and despite most others brought just this one pan to check if I had found gold. You won't believe it: I found some! I of course took it with me and have it on my shelf right over my desk in a little ampule. If you have ever encountered sandflies, this would be the place where you appreciated the most to have brought an insect repellent with you. By the end of the day we arrived in Franz Josef, the town at the foot of the only glacier in the world (carrying the same name as the town) that finishes in temperate rain forest.

Sixth day - 03.04.2002 (0 km)

This day we had reserved for a full-day trip on the Franz Josef Glacier. So in the early moring we packed our bags, went to the shuttle and took off to get all the gear on: special hiking boots as well as spikes and an ice-axe. Well, then we spent around 6 hours exploring crevasses and caves on the glacier. This is by the way the exact glacier where the movie "Vertical Limit" was shot. I sometimes feared for my life but it was definately worth the experience. Hardest day of all, but worth it. By the way, this glacier ends up right next to the top of Mount Cook. On its top some scenes of "Lord of the Rings" were shot (the ones in the mountains, if you remember). Anways, at the end of the day I was glad that I made it and also glad that I made it back down into the valley.

Seventh day - 04.04.2002 (290 km)

Departing from Franz Josef in the early morning we went directly to Lake Matheson. There I got these unreal postcard shots catching the perfect mirror reflection of Mt Cook and the Southern Alps. - Brilliant! After this we went further down the coast and left it behind when crossing over the Haast Pass with lots of nice waterfalls coming down the mountains into the Mount Aspiring National Park. Ending up in a township called Wanaka we chilled out in the evening at the Wanaka Hotel where I (as kind of a birthday present for myself) took the last spare double room (huge!) available. The hotel is right at the shore of Lake Wanaka with a breathtaking background featuring the Southern Alps. As I was enjoying myself playing at the grand piano in the hotel's lounge right at sunset time (just imagine sitting in a nice hotel lounge, open fireplace, big armchairs, big windows allow a wonderful view, quite stylish ambience), some people, mostly Americans, mostly female, gathered around me and were joining me in my kind of a decent birthday celebration. Then suddenly, a little group of people with instruments in their hands (I never wondered about why people are openly carrying their instruments into a hotel lounge) asked if they could join and jam (play together spontaneously). Well, sure I agreed and so I suddenly had a whole band with bass, guitar, singer and piano. After some time they said, they had to leave for a gig in town. After they left, people came to me and told me that they were a famous band from the charts that just that night gave a concert in town. I giggled amazed and was grateful for this unexpected birthday present.

Eigth day - 05.04.2002 (112 km)

After a short stop at the Puzzling World in Wanaka (where I came to stem a whole tower...) we got on the bus as fast as possible because it was more or less rainy that day, as we made our way down into Queenstown, shortly stopping over at the world's first Bungee site.

So here are the photos of this leg of the trip:

.

2. Queenstown - the Bottom - Christchurch

Ninth day - 06.04.2002 (0 km)

This whole day was dedicated to Queenstown, the small township at the borders of huge Lake Wakatipu which is supposed to be the adventure capital of the world. In the morning (the first since my departure where I could sleep longer than 8am) I took the gondola (manufactured in Germany!) to get up onto a mountain that granted me an amazing view over the city and lake. Then in the afternoon I took a shuttle that brought me to Glenorchy which is a village about one hour north out of Queenstown at the lake. There I enjoyed my first horse-ride ever! When the photos were taken in the very beginning I still had no idea what to do with this horse. But this changed very rapidly so that I became finally the best rider in the group being able to do all the basic things one has to know from stopping to galopp, only jumping was kind of difficult. Another funny fact is that my horse "Cord" also appeared in the movie "Lord of the Rings". If you have recognized it in the movie, please let me know. So this was the day that will go down in history as the day when a son stepped into the footsteps of his father, a passionate horse rider in a riding regiment of the German army. This made me proud.

Tenth day - 07.04.2002 (120 km)

I now changed bus systems from the big green bus to the Bottom Bus, also green, but quite smaller, carrying about a 20 people only. Starting quite early in the morning we drove out to the massive Clyde dam (a stupid Kiwi once forgot to open the dam after heavy rainfall because he was catched by a rugby game on TV, he finally flooded three cities...) and after a short stopover to Dunedin, New Zealand's most famous student town which is also supposed to be the most Scottish town in New Zealand (Dunedin means Edinburgh in old Gaelic). Accompanied by two German girls I made my way through Dunedin, we ended up in Mc Donald's, because it was just the day before university started again, so there was literally nobody around... Not the best image of a vivid student town.

Eleventh day - 08.04.2002 (90 km)

On our way through the Catlins, an area of distinctive ridges clothed in awesome native forest. We first stopped at the Headlands with their nice sandy beaches, where we encountered huge and magnificent sea-lions in their natural environment. These sea-lions are special because there are only around one hundred on the whole cost of mainland New Zealand with a majority in the Catlins. They have swum many hundreds of kilometres from the sub-Antarctic Islands. Later we stopped over at Nugget Point, a lighthouse that marks a cliff with big hunks of rock sticking up from crashing seas. Over there, we had the chance to catch a glimpse of playing seals. - Cute!

Some minutes later I had reached the point which with an easy 4800 km is the closest to the south pole, a very windy place. As we were entering the township of Invercargill, we had a short look at Stewart Island which is the third of the three official islands that form New Zealand before heading to Riverton where we spent the night.

Twelwth day - 09.04.2002 (350 km)

When departing Riverton in the morning we took a short look on the rising sun from a hill's pead and got off for Te Anau, the place where I had to catch the Milford bus. On the way there we saw the effects that heavy salty winds have on trees in the coastal areas. The Milford Bus then was incredibly small. My group consisting of 9 people got its own 20-people bus. Heaps of space for me. So we started to what was supposed to be the most amazing impression of the whole trip. Well, as it turned out, it was: After coming down into Milford Valley, a glacier-formed flat tundra-like plateau covering the distance of 18 km between two mountain ranges, and seeing some nice lakes on the way, we finally arrived in the little village of Milford, marking the entrance to the famous Milford Sound (which from a scientific point of view is in fact a fjord, being a former mountain valley that was flooded by the rising sea levels after the Ice Age whereas a sound would be formed by glaciers and then flooded). There we went on a two hour cruise. You easily loose your sense for distance or size when cruising between these steep mountains. Big ships seem to vanish in that scenery. Everything is so beautiful and so big. Just have a look at the photos, they can tell you more than words can do. After the cruise we boarded the bus again and headed back to Queenstown.

Thirteenth day - 09.04.2002 (486 km)

Starting in the very morning this day was basically determined by covering a great distance all the way up the east coast to Christchurch, stopping over at some amazingly blue lakes in the mountains with breathtaking views of Mount Cook (you remember, the highest point in New Zealand and the place where the mountain scenes of "Lord of the Rings" were shot). The probably most interesting lake was the one with the chapel of the good shepard at its borders and the monument for the shepard dog. - Very nice. In the evening when arriving in Christchurch after this quite long leg, I decided to go to the movies and watch "A Beautiful Mind", you know, that Oscar-winning motion picture starring Russel Crowe. Good one. Christchurch is the most English city in New Zealand. I think, it's nicer than most English cities, not only because of its climate but also because of a little channel with gondola traffic on it that is flowing through the middle of the city or the old tram or the vast variety of building styles, mostly coming from the late Victorian age.

Now have a look at the photos of this leg of the trip:

.

3. The flight back to Auckland and the trip to Paihia / the Bay of Islands

Forteenth day - 10.04.2002 (1100 km)

In the morning I was flying out of Christchurch aboard a nice Quantas Boeing 767. There I had some amazing views when flying 30.000 ft over New Zealand. So I catched a few of them as photos. When arriving in Auckland, I spent 20 hours in my apartment, had some work to finish and therefore just a very short night for sleep.

Fifteenth day - 11.04.2002 (250 km)

Stopping only for short food stopovers the bus made its way with me and some very funny people up north to Paihia. When arriving there we checked in at the Hostel and then got back to the shore of the so called Bay of Islands (with over 140 islands in this bay the name is justified as far as I am concerned) where we boarded the speedboat that was supposed to bring us all the way through the bay out to a formation that is shaped like and called the Hole in the Rock. This boat was a blast: Riding at an easy 50-60 km/h we jumped over waves on the high sea with some quite hard landings. - This was probably the most thrilling experience on the trip and for sure breathtaking. Because of my lack of sleep I went back and slept immediately.

Sixteenth day - 12.04.2002 (500 km)

Starting in Paihia we went on a return daytrip to the northernmost point in New Zealand, Cape Reinga. On the way up there we stopped at the Puketi Kauri Forest to check some majestic trees that are dated up to 3000 years (still growing!) and can therefore considered to be some of the oldest living creatures on earth together with their pendants in northern California. Amazing if you realize that these trees have been there when Christ was born, when the Romans conquered Europe, even when the Egyptians just enjoyed their new pyramids. Cape Reinga is the point where two oceans meet. I have seen this once before at Gibraltar where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. This time the Tasman Sea met the Pacific Ocean. The cliff in front of the lighthouse at Cape Reinga is considered to be a holy place by the native people in New Zealand (called the Maori) because they think that there the souls go into the sea and make their way to heaven. Right next to the lighthouse on the cliff there is a sign that tells the distance to major cities around the world, such as London with over a 19.000 km (have a look at the photo!). After lunchbreak we then started our way back to Paihia, stopping at some high dunes where we got boards provided with which we could boogie down, doing so called Sandboarding. - Great fun! Later we took the highway directly driving on the sandy beach (a highway consisting of a sandy beach, normal cars can't make it here!) called the Ninety-Mile-Beach, but in fact only about 50 km long. Late in the evening we finally made it back to Paihia and spent the night there.

Seventeenth day - 13.04.2002 (250 km)

Who wants to go swimming early in the morning? - Well, I wanted, wearing a wetsuit though. The reason for this was the opportunity to get to swim with real dolphins in their natural environment, out in the sea. So we took the boat out, got into the wetsuits and got into the water where we suddenly were accompanied by several dozens of playing dolphins. Probably nobody that has not done this himself can imagine what it feels like if a three-meter-dolphin crosses your way under water. When diving and twisting around, they imitated me. Such a wonderful experience, such highly intelligent creatures. They really enjoyed playing with us, they even jumped out of the water. After we returned to Paihia beach, we enjoyed the rest of the day and then later in the afternoon got back on the bus that took us back to Auckland where I then arrived at my flat late in the evening, marking the end of my big trip.

Now have a look at the photos of the leg that I was just telling you about:

.

Conclusion: Even though I did not have the chance to get a commercial flight down to Antarctica, this will be remain one of my future projects. At the moment it was not possible to buy me into an expedition flight as a visitor. As a second goal I still want to encounter a blue whale. This might both be possible on one future trip because these huge creatures usually cruise in sub-Antarctic or Antarctic waters. Probably, this will fit into my big South America trip that is already in its concept phase, ready to be implemented in the next year. Probably, many folks expect New Zealand being paradise. The image of paradise is a divers one. I do not imagine paradise being like this, but for many nature-lovers this might be it. You can find so many different landscapes here so close together like probably nowhere else. As a matter of fact, every cent spent on this trip was worth it and brought a country closer to me that most people would not even find on a world map. I feel very lucky that I was allowed to see all this.

Ok, now you will click here and write a nice comment: