Kia Ora New Zealand!

Kia Ora!

I am now in New Zealand for about a week. Marco, Simon and me were first staying 2 days in Auckland. Except of the harbour, the city is not very nice. Like any other big cities, a lot of high-rise buildings but compared to Brisbane for example, it somehow looks ugly. I tried to open a bank account in several banks but it was kind of difficult because the banks are really busy and I had to make an appointment. So I decided to postpone this issue as I just stayed 2 days in Auckland.

Auckland harbour

After that we picked up our rental car and we were heading northward to the Bay of Islands. Our hostel was in Paihia, a nice small town. There, Marco and me did a walk to the Haruru Falls and besides that we did not do that much and mainly relaxed. Also the weather was not the best on two of the days.

Bay of Islands, Paihia

Bay of Islands, Paihia

Mangrove walking trail

hiking trail

view from hiking trail

lots of sheep

After 3 nights in Paihia, we were heading to Cape Reinga, the northernmost spot in New Zealand. According to the Maori, it is the place where the spirits left this world. On our way, we drove to the Rainbow Falls in Kerikeri. It was our only stop this day as the weather was quite bad. We stayed in a motel & backpackers in Pukenui, which is a small fishermen's village in Northland. The lodge was a small and very cozy place to stay. We had a nice pool and an amazing view onto the harbour. So great! Cape Reinga itself, which was about 50 km away, was very nice. A small lighthouse marks the northernmost spot and we had a great view onto the coastline. You can also see where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific meets. It looks cool how the waves collide in the middle of the ocean.

Houhora harbour, view from Pukenui Lodge

Houhora harbour, view from Pukenui Lodge

Pukenui Lodge, garden

Cape Reinga

Cape Reinga

Pacific and Tasman Sea collide

Cape Reinga

Whangarei Falls

Leaving the Northland after 5 to 6 days, we were heading back to Auckland to stop over for a night in a calm neighborhood. On our way back we stopped in Whangarei where we had lunch and visited the Whangarei Falls. Yesterday, we drove to Matamata where Marco and Simon visited Hobbiton. As I am not really a fan of Lord of the Rings, I decided to save the money. I can still do it a few months later if I really want to. In the meantime, I strolled around Matamata. In the evening, we arrived in Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula. We visited the Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove today but it was way too crowded so we couldn't really enjoy it. Though Stingray Bay was a nice place to take a good picture!

Matamata Hobbit House (Visitor Centre)

Cathedral Cove

Stingray Bay

Sydney to Brisbane

Hey guys,
I hope you all had a good start into the new year.
On January 3, we left Sydney and drove up north to Port Macquarie. There, we didn't do a lot but stayed in a small and cozy hostel. At the next day we were heading to the small country town Bellingen (not Benningen!) where we also stayed one night. It was located near the Dorrigo National Park, a good place to hike. Unforunately the weather was not good enough for a long hike but at least we did a approx. 6km rainforest walk which was quite nice. The waterfalls were beautiful but I hated the leeches, nasty little creatures. In the afternoon we were on our way to Byron Bay. There, we hired a surf board at the next day to try surfing a little bit. It is not so much my sport I have to admit though I liked the boogie board. It's a lot of fun! Simon and me tried it out in Sydney already.
After Byron Bay, we had a nice Airbnb accomodation near Surfers Paradise at the Gold Coast. Mark went alone to the city and the beach. Marco, Simon and me decided to just relax over there.
After 2 nights, it was time for Noosa Heads. We had booked a one day Fraser Island tour with 2 nights in Noosa Heads which is about an hour to drive from the island. Fraser Island is really cool but I must say one day is too stressful as you can't drive very fast on the island and mainly drove and didn't see much over there. Lake McKenzie was beautiful but we also had just one hour there, way too little time! Next time, I would rent a good off-road car for a couple days and rather go there by myself. It is probably a lot of fun to drive on the island.
Now we are in Brisbane since yesterday and Mark left us a couple of hours ago. His flight back to Germany was tonight. One day left for us and then it is time to say 'Goodbye Australia!' and 'Kia Ora New Zealand!'. I am really looking forward to NZ and I am excited how it will be!
Have a good one, mates!

beach at Nambucca heads

subtropical rainforest in Dorrigo NP

waterfall in Dorrigo NP

Glass House Mountains Lookout

big lizard at bar in Noosa Heads

Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island

rainforest walk on Fraser Island

Rainbow Beach near Fraser Island

Brisbane Downtown

Brisbane Botanical Garden

Brisbane River

Brisbane skyline

Happy New Year from Sydney

In Adelaide we picked up our huge 4WD Toyota Kluger...this car is awesome! Big, comfortable, plenty of space and with all the features you need. First, we drove almost the whole day from Adelaide to Warnambool. We literally drove through the middle of nowhere. In Warnambool we stayed at Paulina's house that we booked on Airbnb. It was a really cool place and we had a nice conversation after this exhausting day of driving. Unfortunately we left the morning after.
Then heading towards the Great Ocean Road after having breakfast. We saw the 12 Apostles and we went to other cool lookouts like Thunder Cave and Loch Ard. After staying in the hostel in Apollo Bay, we drove to Phillip Island with a short stopover in Clayton where we visited Mark's colleague again.
On Phillip Island we were unlucky, it was quite rainy and the weather was really British...It was fun though, we saw a snake and some koalas. However, the penguin parade in the evening was quite disappointing. It is way too touristic and it was so crowded.
After Phillip Island, we were heading towards Wilsons Promontory National Park which is my favorite so far. We were hiking quite a lot and we had some amazing views over there. We also saw a snake there just a metre away. But see below, a picture says more than a thousand words!
Next stop: Canberra, again after another long way, which was a little more interesting than the first drive though. There's not much too see in Canberra, the highlight were a bunch of kangaroos in the city next to the war memorial.
Before heading towards Sydney, we had a day in Katoomba next to the Blue Mountains National Park. The lookouts were much too crowded but on the hiking trails, it was really calm and very nice to walk. I really enjoyed it and would have spent a few more days there. The hostel was also really cool there. The room was huge and the recreation rooms and areas outside looked really nice.
Finally, we arrived in Sydney on December 30 where we met our friends Marco and Simon. Celebrating New Years Eve in Nielsen Park, we had a very good view onto the skyline of the metropolis and the fireworks. The way home back to our accomodation was a bit of a pain in the ass but I would go too far by telling this story now. On January 1 we met Rainer and Mareike again. We met them in Melbourne and they also celebrated NYE in Sydney. It was nice to meet them again, we were doing the free walking tour and having some beers afterwards.

And before I forget: HAPPY NEW YEAR guys. I am looking forward to hear from you, too!

Twelve Apostle Lookout

lookout on Great Ocean Road 

beach on Phillip Island

me standing on top of Mt Oberon in Wilsons Prom NP

river in Wilsons Prom NP

rain forest in Wilsons Prom NP

Blue Mountains

Sydney skyline - view from Nielsen Park

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Opera House