From North to South

Now I am back on my trip after the break in Wanganui. From there, I took the bus to Wellington which was not a problem at all. I had to walk about 20 to 30 minutes to my hostel so I could see a bit of the city with all my luggage on my back. The hostel was quite nice, it was a bigger one. I stayed in an en-suite 4-share room on the 5th floor, with quite a nice view onto the harbour. The location was also really good, a one minute walk to a big supermarket, not even 5 minutes to the famous Te Papa museum and everything was accessible by foot.

On the day of arrival, I walked to the lookout platform on Mount Victoria where I had a pretty nice view onto New Zealand's capital. I also walked along the city a bit. On the next day, I went to Te Papa museum and the Botanical Garden. The latter is located on a hill as Wellington is surrounded by mountain ranges. There's also a cable car up to the Botanical Garden but, as a backpacker, of course I walked up there. In the evening, I met Andrew, a Kiwi, and we did some comfort zone challenges together. Comfort zone challenges are a form of social exposure therapy where you do challenges like laying down on a public place. We did the 'lie down', 'work out in public' and 'high five strangers' challenge. It was a lot of fun and I think it's a good way to boost your confidence. And it was very cool to meet Andrew. On the next day, I had a quiet relaxing day, I just walked a bit around town again, strolled around famous Cuba Street and chilled in the park and read my book a bit. The next day, I went to the airport in order to catch my flight to Christchurch. I like Wellington much more than Auckland. It's a really cool city, however it needs a bit more to become my worldwide favorite.

Wellington harbour

Wellington harbour, Mt Victoria in background

view onto city from Mt Victoria

view from further up

Wellington city

view from cable car top station, Botanical Garden

Cuba Street

When I landed in Christchurch, I first had to catch a bus to the city. The bus driver was very friendly and told me when to get off. So I walked to my hostel which was at the edge of Christchurch CBD.

At the 1st day, I just walked a bit around town and went to the supermarket. At the next day, I did a free city walking tour where I have heard a lot about the earthquake on 22nd February 2011. It destroyed a lot of buildings and 185 people died. Today, half of the city is a construction site. In the city centre, there is a shopping mall where you can shop in shipping containers. Of course, the reason for it is terrible but I think, it's a pretty cool idea the people had to make the best of it. Shipping containers were used because they are cheap, portable and stackable. Besides, Christchurch has a nice Botanical Garden, surrounded by the Avon river and located in the Hagley park.

The city does not look that great due to the many construction sites but people here work hard to get things back to normal and there is something new opening almost every week. I would say, it's a special city though I wouldn't want to live there to be honest.

Avon River

Cathedral Square 

Christchurch cathedral

Avon River, Botanic Garden

Avon River

Re:Start Container Mall

Re:Start Container Mall

Christchurch

That's it for now. Next stop is Kaikoura!

Working in Wanganui

Hello there!

my last post was over 2 weeks ago and so I thought it is time for a new one. In fact, it did not happen that much in this time. From Taupo, I took the bus to Wanganui. As there was no direct service, I had to change the bus and I was worried a bit because the first bus had a delay of 45 minutes but Intercity, the bus company, is quite good organized and so it was no problem and I almost arrived on time in Wanganui (or Whanganui). There, I stayed for about two and a half weeks at the same hostel because I worked there in exchange for accommodation. So I could save some money and relax a bit. The work was not so exciting, it was a bit of cleaning and gardening...but 2 hours a day was not too bad!

Unfortunately, there is not so much to do in Wanganui. And as it is not so touristic, there are also not so many backpackers and most people are just staying for one night, or maybe two. Some days were quite boring, others were quite nice as I explored the town a bit, either alone or with some other travellers. Last weekend I met Sam, a guy from Belgium. We have visited the Virginia Lake together, a nice park in the city of Wanganui with a lake and some walking trails around. It was nice to meet him and maybe we gonna meet each other again on the South Island, as he just arrived and he plans to stay for a whole year in New Zealand!

Besides the Virginia Lake, I visited the beach in Castlecliff, a suburb of Wanganui. I have also been on the memorial tower where you have quite a good view of the city and I visited the Wanganui Regional Museum. The main street in Wanganui is the Victoria Avenue, a nice street with a lot of shops and restaurants where I have strolled around several times. I also took the bike to explore the city a bit as there are free bikes available at the hostel. Besides that, there is not much to do though and I used the time to do some other things, like getting my hair cut, going to the cinema and doing some sports. It was a nice place to go running along the Wanganui river and do some exercises in the nearby park. I am missing the food from home and so I had self-made onion roast with spätzle on one day. See the pictures below, it looks good, huh?

That's it for now. The journey continues. I am glad the time is over here and I am now excited to go to Wellington tomorrow where I stay a couple of days until it's time to leave the North Island and explore the South Island.

Enjoy the pictures!

Wanganui river time lapse

view onto Wanganui river and town

Victoria Ave, Wanganui

Wanganui river

Virginia Lake

Virginia Lake

Castlecliff beach

Wanganui river

self-made onion roast with spätzle and gravy

Smell of rotten eggs and the great hiking trip

After Coromandel Peninsula it was time to return our rental car in Auckland and to say goodbye to Simon. For him it was time to fly back to Germany. Marco and me took the bus to Rotorua, quite a big town for New Zealand. It is a volcanic area with lakes and a lot of geothermal springs. The first thing you notice when coming to Rotorua is the smell of rotten eggs that comes from the presence of minerals. However, you get used to it and it's bearable when it is not too strong. In Rotorua we were hiking in the Redwoods forest which is famous for its many mountain bike trails. It is said to be the best place for mountain biking in the southern hemisphere. So we hired some bikes a few days later. Unfortunately, this day was a pain in the ass! The tires of the bikes were worn down so we had almost no grip on the tracks and it was quite dangerous to go on the intermediate trails. We decided to ride to a lake in the forest. On our way back however, my rear tire got a puncture in the middle of nowhere and so I had to wheel the bike all the way out to the forest to a bike shop where it got fixed. Not a good day to remember. Anyway, the other days were quite good. On one day we visited the thermal wonderland with a lot of different thermal pools and springs. It looks really amazing! Besides that, we mainly relaxed in the nearby park and we strolled around the city and the Government Gardens with Kelvin, a guy from Hongkong who stayed in the same room. It was nice to stay a couple days more at the same place as we had no more than 3 or 4 days at one place since mid-December.

 Redwoods Forest

MTB trail

Thermal Wonderland

Thermal Wonderland

Rotorua Museum in Government Gardens

lake in Redwoods Forest

 view onto the city

On Saturday it was time for Marco to return to Auckland in order to catch his flight 2 days after. Again, it was time to say goodbye and for me it was time to travel on my own from now on. It is kind of scary at first as I have never travelled alone for so long but so many people are doing the same here so there is no need to worry about really being alone.
So, I went the other way and catched a bus to Taupo, a nice town a bit southwards. There, I met Kelvin again, who was coincidentally staying at the same hostel as me. The world is so small! On the same day, we walked to the Huka Falls which was a nice walking trail. And we booked a shuttle to Tongariro National Park, where we did the Tongariro Alpine Crossing the next day.
That's why it was time to wake up at 4:30 at the next morning. Gosh, was that early! At breakfast, we met Eilidh from Edinburgh who joined us on the big hike. It was a very exhausting walk that took about 8 hours, including some small breaks. The reward was stunning views all over. There were a bit too many people for my liking though.
Today, I was on a sailing boat trip to the Maori rock carvings that are only accessible by boat. It was a nice boat trip. The operator was a fun guy who told some good stories and jokes.
Tomorrow the journey continue. Next stop: Whanganui

Waikato River

Huka Falls

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Mt Ngauruhoe

Emerald Lakes

Blue Lake

my fellow hikers

Mt Ngauruhoe time lapse

sailing boat trip

Maori rock carving