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Anna32

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  1. Day 80, Home (March 22nd) Our flight to Hamburg last night was on time and, thankfully, short. Our first suitcase came out after only a few minutes, and the rest soon followed. In the taxi, I almost fell asleep a couple of times, and was more than happy when we finally arrived home. One of the cats looked at us a little surprised when we opened the door, and then promptly ran away. But that was only for a short while. Both cats seemed very happy to see us. My brother was still at our place, which he had freshly cleaned. Wow, thank you!!! Our young neighbour also showed up to look after the cats. They were a bit overwhelmed by all the attention and cuddles. We didn’t last long. Quick shower and then bed. We woke up around 5am, and enjoyed our morning routine. Coffee, and then breakfast for the cats. Our day has been filled with unpacking, laundry, shopping for groceries and going through mail. In between cuddling the cats. We took a long nap after lunch. Fortunately we only have to work again on April 3rd, so we can take it easy for the next few days. We have been around the world in 80 days. This is it. The end of our wonderful, extravagant, magical journey. It has been in the planning for almost five years. And now it‘s over. But it will stay in our hearts for a long time to come, and the memories we made will last a lifetime. Thank you all for coming along!
  2. Day 79, Auckland to Singapore to Frankfurt to Hamburg (March 21st) Technically, all our homebound travel is happening on the same calendar day. This only works because our first flight is scheduled to depart in the very early morning (1:20am) and the time zones are working in our favour, as we gain 12 hours on the way to Germany. As far as the actual travel went - it was pretty smooth. Singapore Airlines flight from Auckland to Singapore was delayed by one hour. That didn’t faze us, however, as we have four hours layover until our connecting flight to Frankfurt. We were trying to actively manage our body clock, so when we finally boarded at 2am we tried to stay awake as long as possible. SQ‘s business class cabin is very spacious, and the individual seating pods are generous and also have a great layout. After the more than narrow seats on Delta, which were a tight squeeze, this was a pleasant surprise. Mr. Duck approved, as he got his own little cubbyhole to sit in. The downside: we couldn’t see him with the door closed, and were a bit worried that we would forget him. So an hour before landing he had to go back into Holger’s backpack. Dinner service was speedy and very friendly. We both watched a movie, and then fell asleep. I have had many hotel beds far less comfy that this airline seat! We encountered some turbulence, but I still got a solid five hours of sleep in. After that, I made use of the free WiFi until the breakfast service started. We both ordered the Dim Sum, which was very good. Landing in Singapore, we had to transfer from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3. The sky outside showed some dark clouds, and promised rain. We stayed inside, and found the SilverKris Lounge. More breakfast in the form of Dim Sum, which was even better than on the plane. Then we went to freshen up. I was tempted to play with the remote control in the bathroom, but that might have ended in some kind of disaster. As it was, I enjoyed the heated toilet seat, and briefly wondered if it also had a cooling function for hot summer days? Boarding to Frankfurt was on time. Whenever we have flown through Singapore, at least three different people around the gate area have checked our boarding passes - sometimes for no apparent reason. The same was true today. Good to see that some things haven’t changed. As a pre-departure drink, we got offered a Bellini, which was very good. Mr. Duck approved! Singapore Airlines offer the „Book the Cook“ service on some intercontinental flights, and I had pre-ordered it for this segment. It is free of charge, and you can select from a vast amount of different dishes. I had chosen the Beach road prawn mee soup, a noodle soup with shrimps. Even the flight attendant who brought it looked a little jealous. It was super duper yummy! I am a fan of Asian noodle soups, and this was one of the best I have ever eaten. Only very messy, there is no elegant way to eat a noodle soup with chopsticks. We spent the time watching several movies each. I couldn’t sleep, so decided to stay awake, which will hopefully mean I will be able to sleep tonight. We landed on time in Frankfurt, and are now already boarded on our last leg to Hamburg. I will do a final post tomorrow, and sign off for today.
  3. Day 78, Kelly Tarlton‘s Aquarium, Auckland (March 20th) First of all, thank you for the many well-wishes for our trip home. It is very touching that we have become part of the daily routine for some of you with our stories and pictures. It has been a great honour to take you all along! But wait! We are not quite done yet! There is one final day in Auckland left for us to enjoy. And what a beautiful day it is, with the sun shining from a clear blue sky. Allison and Paul had warned us about the heavy commuter traffic in the mornings. That‘s why I called our Uber half an hour early. Appointment is appointment, we are very German that way. As it turned out, the worst of the Monday morning rush was over, so we arrived at Kelly Tarlton‘s Aquarium 20 minutes early for our 10am slot. Not a problem, because a) it wasn‘t very busy and we could walk right in and b) the views of downtown Auckland across the bay were so beautiful that we had to spent some time looking our fill and taking pictures. The aquarium is built into the side of a cliff wall and is basically one big cave with a number of tunnels and rooms inside. You walk in on the right hand side facing the cliff, and come out all the way to the left, through the gift shop. Coming in, we could see from markings on the floor how long the queues could get on busy days. Fortunately not today, it was nice and quiet. We walked right to the front desk and had our digital tickets scanned. Turning around the corner, we were standing right in the middle of the first exhibit. Scott‘s expedition hut in Antarctica. Okay, the original is still down there, but here was a replica of the different areas, together with some original accessories. Like cans of food, woolen socks and mittens, books and scientific gear. Including a slight musty smell, that was probably a lot more intense in the original hut, with almost 30 men, plus dogs and ponies living there. Next up was an area about conservation work in Antarctica. We had heard a lot about that from our two conservation carpenters on the Silver Cloud, and it was great to be able to revisit the subject. Then you had to walk through an „ice tunnel“. Not really ice, but the walls were moving which gave you a disoriented feeling. It was called the White Out Experience, and was pretty cool. Penguins! Kelly Tarlton’s claims to have the largest sub-Antarctic penguin colony on display. You could see them swimming, but also waddling in the snow or simply sleeping with their heads on their shoulders. There were a number of gentoos and king penguins. The two species don‘t really mingle a lot, they were each keeping to their group. Some were coming quite close to the full sized windows, so you could stand face to face with the penguins, with just a centimeter or two of glass between you. My only gripe was there was music playing in the visitors’ area, so we couldn’t hear the penguins braying and calling. Watching the penguins, I said to Holger how we have come full circle, with Antarctica being our first stop on this incredible journey, and now Kelly Tarlton’s with the Scott Hut and penguin exhibit being our last stop. It felt very fitting and brought a huge big smile to my face. After a children’s area with small tanks of coral reef fish, I could already smell the coffee. Yes, we found the cafeteria. We settled with our coffees next to a big tank with eagle rays, turtles and other fish. One of the keepers did a turtle talk, explaining that the three turtles currently in residence had all been rescued within the last six months from New Zealand’s coastline. They had been cared for in a quarantine area, and were now slowly made ready to go back into the wild. Great to see that there is also a lot of conservation work going on. Sharks and manta rays were next, in the big shark tunnel. We learned that this has been the first aquarium worldwide to install such an exhibit. Nowadays this is pretty standard, however very impressive that Kelly Tarlton himself had the vision to build something like this. He must have been quite the trailblazer. We passed through a few more exhibits, with lobsters, eels and sea horses. And then Mr. Duck had to do a photo session with some of the friendly plushies in the gift shop. All for the fans, is what he told us. Traffic on the way back to the airport was not too bad. We had lunch at a little sushi place near our hotel. Then we took a nap. We are trying to slowly bring our bodies back into the German timezone, bit by bit. I woke up from a text message from Singapore Airlines. Our outbound flight will be delayed by one hour. Since we have a four hour layover in Singapore this shouldn’t be an issue. We will now shower, change, finish packing and then slowly make our way to the airport. See you soon peeps!
  4. Day 77, Timaru to Christchurch to Auckland (March 19th) Judging from the loud music that we could hear in our hotel room this morning, the party continued bright and early. The music was interspersed with the sound of engines roaring. The vintage car faction seems to have quite a few early birds. We packed and weighed our suitcases. They can’t have more than 23 kilos each, since we’re flying today. Holger’s checked out at 22.9 kilos, while mine was a little lighter. Tomorrow we need to pack the stuff that we left with Allison and Paul, but Singapore Airlines allow us to pack 40 kilos each, so we should be good. We filled the car first with our luggage, then with petrol, and then made our way towards Christchurch. There were a lot of classical cars on the road, unsurprisingly. My highlight was a Cadillac that shimmered in metallic pink. I was too slow to take a picture, as I was raptly gazing at this lovely automobile. With all the natural beauty we have seen in the last weeks, a classical piece of machinery has its own kind of grace. Our drive took two hours and was very uneventful. Farmland. Roadworks. Traffic cones. After a last petrol stop we found the rental return address and received a friendly welcome from one of their agents that we had already met two weeks ago. She was holding the airport shuttle for us, and after a last fond goodbye to our trusty Toyota Corolla we were off. Check-in was a breeze, and security didn’t take long either. Which was good - I was getting a tiny bit hangry at this point. It was lunchtime, and I had skipped breakfast. Fortunately the Air New Zealand lounge had a good selection of sandwiches and salads. Best of all, they had an in-house barista, who set me up with a lovely cinnamon cappuccino. Byebye hangry! All to soon, it also was Byebye South Island. Our flight to Auckland boarded, and then we were off, on the first leg of our long way home. We took the shuttle bus from the Domestic Terminal to the ibis at the airport. Our room is tiny, but clean. After a little bit of suitcase Tetris, we were ready to meet Allison and Paul for dinner. There was a Gastropub right next to our hotel which had really good food. Conversation was great as always, and time flew by again. Byebye Allison and Paul, thank you for everything and hope to see you soon, somewhere on this marvelous planet we all share!
  5. Day 76, Dunedin to Timaru (March 18th) New Zealand‘s National Flower should be the white-striped orange traffic cone. Long rows of them grace almost every road. Occasionally you can find a single one out there in the wild, but typically they come in great clusters. Driving along Route 1, we saw plenty of them today, in full bloom. We left Dunedin shortly before 10am. The blue sky looked squeaky clean after yesterday‘s heavy rainfalls. We enjoyed a last view of this lovely town, nestled in its sheltering bay with a backdrop of rolling hills. Very understandable that first the Māori and then the Europeans settled here. We definitely hope to return one day. Driving north along the coast, we continued to enjoy lovely views of the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding countryside. Traffic was light, and all the traffic cones forced us to go slow and take it easy. After about 90 minutes, we saw a sign marking the Moeraki Boulders, and decided to check them out. Parking area, café, gift shop - the holy Trinity of New Zealand tourism was present here, as in so many other places. We took the walkway and wooden stairs down to the beach, where we could already see the famous boulders. Now, those aren’t any old stones. They are perfectly spherical globes - or in some cases half globes, lying sometimes in clusters, sometimes just a single one on the beach. Apparently they consist of mud, fine silt and clay, and have been shaped out of the surrounding cliffs and bedrock by Mother Nature. They are very striking, and make for great photo ops. One lady who was rocking a glorious round baby bump posed right next to a huge round bolder. A great memory for the family album! After we had taken our share of pictures, we walked back up and enjoyed a coffee in the adjacent café. Strong, black and tasty, just how we like it! Fueled by caffeine we drove on. Our next stop was the Little Blue Penguin colony in Oamaru. We had hoped to see some of the little birds in the wild. However they were all out to sea, fishing. Their nesting boxes were empty. We did see some fur seals chilling on the rocks by the ocean and enjoying the beautiful day. On an old pier there were also plenty of shags basking in the sun. Oamaru has an old Victorian warehouse quarter, that was full of life today. A band was playing, and some kind of street festival was happening. We went into the local craft beer brewery for a spot of lunch. No beer for us today, just some sodas, and loaded fries with pulled pork and cheese. It being Saturday, the brewery was really busy, and will probably stay that way until late. Unfortunately we had to move on and couldn’t sample the local brew. We also still have a couple of bottles from Monteith‘s of Greymouth in the car, so we‘re good. Another hour of driving along rows and rows of traffic cones brought us to Timaru, our stop for the night. I had booked the very last hotel room for this night on one of the big platforms a few days ago. The town didn’t look that busy, but maybe there is some kind of event going on? We‘ll surely find out. The Grosvenor Hotel is in an old building close to the city center. Right now it is hidden behind scaffolding. The rooms inside have already been modernized and are clean and comfortable. The lift, however, must be one of the oldest still working in New Zealand. It was quite the adventure to get to our floor. There is a classic car festival this weekend in Timaru. We saw a number of very pretty automobiles when we went out to dinner tonight. We found food at another brewpub - most everything else was closed in downtown Timaru on a Saturday night. Even the Turkish Kebap store wasn’t open. Maybe they were all partied out from the festival, who knows?
  6. Day 75, Glenfalloch Gardens, Larnach Castle, Otago Peninsula (March 17th) Today was „sleep as long as you want“ day. For me, that meant Sleeping Beauty woke up shortly before 9am. After leisurely getting ready, we were on our way at around 10:30am. The weather was a mix of sunshine and clouds. Very pleasant, and great to further explore the Otago Peninsula. Our first stop was at Glenfalloch Gardens. We had stumbled across this little gem of a park yesterday, when it just started raining. The parking area was already enchanting, surrounded by roses that were still in bloom, and giving off a sweet smell. We found a little café in the garden and decided to have brunch here. It was so so yummy, and Holger finally got a proper bratwurst, which he had been craving for a while. Then we set out to explore the park. It had several different areas, with walkways of varying comfort levels. Small bridges went over a little creek. Butterflies were enjoying the autumn flowers, and birds were calling from the trees. The sun came out, and shone upon this little corner of paradise. What a wonderful place! When it was time to move on, we drove a few kilometers uphill from the coast to Larnach Castle and Gardens. A very rich businessman had this Gothic-style mansion build in the 1870s. After living here with two wives, both of whom died, his third wife survived him after he took his own life in 1898. I am sure these family stories provide enough material for a gothic novel - with the house offering the perfect setting. When we walked through it, I felt a bit of a chill, and almost thought someone or something was trying to push me on the steep stairs. First of, though, we explored the lovely gardens. These have been created by the family that bought the derelict building and grounds in the 1960s, and has made it their lives‘ mission (over several generations) to restore Larnach Castle to its former glory, and retain it for the public. Of special interest was a garden walk showcasing some of New Zealand‘s endemic flora, from small plants to a tall Kauri tree. Many of NZs plants have a juvenile and an adult form that are very distinct. Botanists are still debating the reason for this - there will certainly be an evolutionary trigger that explains it. We then explored the mansion, where all the main rooms in use by the Larnach family have been lovingly restored, and even some of the original furniture brought back. We were very impressed by „Constance‘s Boudoir“, where some period clothing and accessories were on display, as well as the wedding gown of the third Mrs. Larnach. Overall, though, the mansion felt gloomy and also a little spooky to me. I do have an overactive imagination at times, so don‘t mind me. When we finished exploring we stopped in the former ballroom, which is now a café, for some refreshments. We sat out in a pavilion. As yesterday afternoon, the clouds had driven away the sun, and it started sprinkling with rain. Since we had a little walk to our car we decided to leave, and were just in time driving off when the rain got stronger. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, before it was time for our reservation at the Bistro at the Terminus. Today being Friday, we both chose the fish & chips, which were done with blue cod and absolutely delicious. The rain came down hard now, and the landlady kept apologizing. No need madam, your food was wonderful, and we will dry off again sooner or later!
  7. Day 74, Royal Albatross Centre, Taiaroa (March 16th) Today we are visiting with some Albatross. On the very tip of the Otago Peninsula is the only nesting colony of the Royal Albatross on the mainland. All other are on remote islands, far out to sea. Well, technically New Zealand is quite remote, but with its landmass we will accept the term „mainland“ in this case. The drive from Dunedin towards the tip of the Peninsula is very scenic. Sweeping views of the coastline from various height levels, as the narrow roads are winding up and down the hillsides. You simply cannot drive fast and might as well enjoy the ride. And we did, very much. Today was mostly mixed clouds, but no rain. Taiaroa Head has always been a strategic spot on the South Island. First, the Māori settled here, building a large Pa, or fortified settlement. At the end of the 19th century, with European settlers dominating the development of New Zealand’s infrastructure, it was decided that Taiaroa was an important spot for the country‘s defence. A large fort was build and manned by soldiers, complete with a rotating „disappearing“ gun, which could be moved up or down inside the hill. Surprisingly, no one ever attacked New Zealand, so the fort was abandoned in the early 20th Century. The hill had been flattened significantly from its natural shape, and apparently looked very appealing from out at sea. From 1919 onwards, Royal Albatross began to build a nesting colony here. The headland is also used by other birds as their breeding ground. Little Blue Penguins, Yellow-Eyed Penguins, Shags and Cormorants can be found here. And fortunately a lot of work is being put into conserving their spaces. Especially for the Albatross. We had booked a tour at 11am to see the colony. This is the only way to see the nesting sites, as they are not accessible to the public. The whole area is heavily managed and monitored by rangers, who basically provide a 5-Star service to the breeding Albatross. This includes incubating eggs to let them hatch safely, if a breeding couple seems challenged. The Albatross stay calmly on their nests while their eggs are replaced by fake ones, and later the hatched chicks are returned to them. The actual parental bonding only happens when the chicks start begging for food. The parent birds take turns hunting. You can see in the colouring of their beaks that they are feeding a chick - they turn redish, due to bonding hormones. Fascinating! After explaining about the colony and breeding cycle, and showing us a short film, our guide Francesca took us up a steep hill to the actual observatory. Quite a climb, but well worth it! We could see four fluffy white chicks sitting on their nests, patiently waiting for their parents to return with food. They hatch in late January, and are being fed by their parents until September, when they are fully grown and moulded into their adult plumage. Then, they fly over 9.000 kilometers to the coast of Chile to catch the resource-rich Humboldt current, and enjoy their teenage years until they are five or six years old. One of the little hatchlings looked more brown than white. Francesca explained that she had spilled over herself - vomited up her fishy feed. This is a form of defense when the chicks feel threatened. She will get clean again during the next big rain. The chicks are over two kilos each now, which is the time when the parents stop sitting on them and fly out to catch fish, only returning every couple of days to feed and check on their babies. Therefore we didn’t see any adults today. After about half an hour the next group showed up at the observatory, so we slowly walked back to the center. There, we enjoyed lunch at the café and browsed the gift shop. Then we slowly made our way back towards Dunedin, stopping often to enjoy the beautiful scenery and take pictures. It started lightly sprinkling rain at this point, so we decided to return tomorrow for more sights of the peninsula. For dinner, we drove into Dunedin, and found the Harbourside Grill. Holger chose a steak, while I had the shellfish in a white wine sauce. Delicious!
  8. Day 73, Wanaka to Dunedin (March 15th) The sun was shining from a clear blue sky as we left Wanaka this morning. Taking the Cadrona Pass Road, our first stop today will be Queenstown. We have quite gotten used to driving in New Zealand, and enjoy the often winding and scenic roads. Reaching the pass, we stopped at a view point, hoping to get a look across the valley all the way to Queenstown. Getting out of the car, we took one step forward and saw - a big cloud, hanging directly underneath the pass rim and obscuring any views. Driving on and a little down, at the next stop we could finally see Queenstown below the cloud. The views driving down from the pass of the town and Lake Wakatipu are lovely. Traffic getting into the city was quite busy. We decided to use one of the public garages to leave our car, not wanting to spend ages looking for a parking space. We strolled through Queenstown to the lakefront, admiring the speed boats that take tourists on a wild ride through Shotover Canyon. That must be quite the adrenaline rush. If we had more time we would have certainly done that. We could also see the paraglides coming down the mountain, one after the other. Today they apparently have very good conditions, but this is not for us. We found a café offering brunch with tables outside and a lovely view of the lake. They did excellent cappuccinos, and we both had a savory breakfast dish to fuel up for the day. We could have just sat there people watching and enjoying the beautiful atmosphere, but we still had a four-hour drive ahead of us. Byebye Queenstown, we will certainly plan a longer visit if we ever return to this part of the world. We drove along Lake Wakatipu, taking the more scenic route towards Dunedin. The weather was still beautiful, but getting a little more cloudy as we moved further east. One of our stops was in Garston. It‘s claim to fame is as New Zealand‘s most inland village. So from here on out we are making our way back to the ocean! The rest of the way was through rural country with a lot of agriculture. The most prominent feature of the landscape were the tall and long hedges, used to protect whatever is grown behind them from the wind. We were clearly moving away from wild and untamed nature into more civilized terrain. We reached our motel in Dunedin at around 5pm, and were pretty tired. Taking a little walk in the neighborhood, we found the Bistro at the Terminus, and were positively surprised for dinner. We shared a dish of greenshell mussels as a starter, and then had roast duck leg and pork belly respectively. So good that we immediately booked a table with them for Friday night for a return visit.
  9. Day 72, Milford Sound, Fiordland (March 14th) After two and a half months of absolutely breathtakingly beautiful adventures, it may be hard to believe that we can still get as excited as children at Christmas over a day trip. But it is true, when the alarm went off this morning, I basically woke up with my fingers crossed. We still had to get final confirmation that we were a go for today. At 8am, the green light came, and we jumped into the car for the short drive to Wanaka Airport. There we checked in with Southern Alps Air for our morning expedition. A scenic flight across the Southern Alps to Milford Sound, a boat cruise along the fjord, and then a scenic flight back. I had been checking and rechecking weather forecasts, and today had looked especially good. And it was. After checking in we still had a little time, so we went over to the Airport Café to get our caffeine fix. All in all we were 16 people, flying in three little aircraft this morning. We were six, plus the pilot, in our GA-8 Airvan. A very small plane. We all fastened our seatbelts, and donned headsets, and then were off. The sky was a clear blue, with hardly a cloud anywhere. „Picture perfect flying conditions“ as our young pilot called them. Quickly we were over the mountains. What hadn’t been possible for the last two days was an unexpected bonus today: we had a great view of Mount Cook, NZ‘s highest mountain, in the distance. With awe-inspiring views of mountains, glaciers, ravines, rivers and so much more, the flight time of 45 minutes was over in a heartbeat. We were making our way up Milford Sound to the local landing strip. Flying in, we could see a huge cruise ship, the Ovation of the Seas, at the entrance of the fjord. I googled it, she carries a maximum of 4.825 passengers and 1.300 crew. Wow. Landing in Milford Sound, we took a bus from the airfield to the pier, and boarded a much more reasonably-sized ship. Still, with three good-sized decks, she wasn‘t small, and we all found a viewing spot to our liking. Holger went up top to take pictures outside. It was still a bit chilly even with the morning sun, so I found a seat at an inside window to enjoy the spectacular views. Coffee and tea were complimentary, and just what was needed at that point. The cruise along the fjord was absolutely beautiful. We saw a pod of dolphins and some fur seals. The ship went very close to the steep fjord walls at times, to give us an up-close-and-personal view of some waterfalls and other scenic areas. The Captain told us that windspeeds within the fjord can equal those of a class 5 hurricane on stormy days, as the steep and narrow walls act like a windtunnel. Today, we had calm seas and almost no wind. And with over 200 rainy days a year in Milford Sound, we were also extremely lucky to get a sunny day. The cruise took one hour and 45 minutes, and was absolutely great. Back at the pier, only one of our three pilots was waiting for us. The others had taken an extra roundtrip to get more passengers from Wanaka. He took his four passengers and left, telling us the other pilots would be back for us in about ten minutes. An hour later, with still no sign of them, I got a little nervous and called the airline. The operator was completely unconcerned, telling us the pilots would come to get us any minute now. Right. Another ten minutes later, they finally showed up, with their new load of passengers barely making the next sightseeing boat. Our little wait was the only small flaw in an otherwise perfect day. Flying back to Wanaka, we took a more southerly route across the mountains. More breathtaking scenery. And a few more bumps in the air, which made our adventure even more exciting. Way too soon, Wanaka Airport was in sight, and we were landing. By that time it was 2:30pm. Since we hadn‘t eaten so far, we decided to hit the next supermarket for some sandwiches and fruit. After our late lunch, I had to do a little planning for our remaining days on the South Island, which filled the rest of the afternoon. In the beautiful evening sunshine, we took a little drive along Lake Wanaka. Many people were out and about along the lake shore, eating a picnic dinner and enjoying the views. What an absolutely stunning day. Truly memorable.
  10. Day 71, Franz Josef to Wanaka (March 13th) It has been raining through the night, sometimes heavily. However, this morning all looks sunny and bright. The ferns are still dripping a little bit, but that‘s just liquid sunshine, right? We make our way once again towards Fox Glacier and Lake Matheson, hoping for better visibility into the mountains, towards Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. There are still a lot of clouds hanging in front of the mountains, but at least we get a great coffee at the café next to Lake Matheson, and Holger scores some Pukeko pictures. Then we drive on, ever southward. Before we finally turn to cross the Southern Alps, we stop at a couple more scenic viewpoints looking out to the Tasman Sea. The last one has a lovely dune and beach area, but also sandflies. Ouch! Holger seems to be the top option on their menu today, while I get mostly left alone. Normally it‘s the other way around, so I‘m not complaining. We reach Haast in time for lunch. Somehow we had expected a bigger town, but it is really just the point where the main road turns inland. We find the Hard Antler Restaurant, which is surprisingly busy. It‘s a mix of roadside café and cowboy joint, with country music blasting. The decoration is in the name - antlers everywhere. Even the bathrooms are aptly named - Hinds, Stags and Wounded. Very unique. The food is good. For my drink, I am trying an original NZ specialty, L&P (lemon and paeroa), a fruity fizzy drink. Then we drive on towards Haast Pass. The road follows a wide, winding river. We are surrounded by high mountains, beautiful vistas, waterfalls, and forests. We stop at different viewpoints, greatly enjoying this beautiful day. Apart from all the campervans and buses, we see a surprising number of bikers. The road is partly very steep, so they sometimes have to walk their bikes, all on the main road. The scenery is lovely, but the traffic would significantly stress me if I were biking. We try to give them space as much as we can. The pass itself is quite unspectacular. We only notice because the road is going down again. And the vegetation changes dramatically. Gone are the lush, jungle-like fern forests. On the eastern side, the land is much drier and more brown than green. Driving along Lake Wanaka and then Lake Hawea, we see some beautiful vistas and stop for pictures multiple times. At around 4pm we finally reach Wanaka, our location for the next two nights. Maps had given a net drive time of 3 hours and 45 minutes, however we were on the road for about 7 hours today. We feel a little tired, so take a rest. Dinner is at the lakefront, where we enjoy beautiful views in the evening sun. Fortunately, Wanaka offers plenty of parking lakeside. The general tourism infrastructure is really good in NZ. A great first day of the last full week of our grand adventure!
  11. Day 70, Greymouth to Franz Josef (March 12th) Our neighbours from the adjacent units in our motel gathered in the parking area this morning, forming a choir and singing „For auld lang syne“. I was awake after that. Can someone bring me a coffee, please? I can report that we didn’t feel any ill effects from the Huhu grubs yesterday. From all the disgusted feedback we received from you, dear virtual travelers, we got the impression that our adventure was not to your general taste. Let me assure you that we quite enjoyed ourselves with this little challenge, even if it was slightly outside our comfort zone, too. This is the joy of traveling, to explore and experience new things. We have gladly taken one for the team. We set out further southward today. Shortly before Hokitika, the police had set up a roadblock, but waved us through. A bit strange on a Sunday morning, but maybe they were searching for something or someone in particular. We drove on, and greatly enjoyed the beautiful mountainous landscape with wild forests, streams and lakes, as we got closer and closer to the Southern Alps. At one of the lakes, we saw a white heron fishing. No wonder that this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the natural beauty is stunning. We reached Franz Josef at shortly after noon, and drove to the viewing area for the glacier of the same name. It has retreated quite significantly in the last twenty or thirty years. The part we could see had a dirty grayish colour. Maybe this was due to the heavy clouds today. All in all, not very spectacular. We decided to drive onwards to Fox Glacier. The road was winding up and down through the mountains. We saw a number of Pukekos along the roadside. They live a dangerous life, attested by some relatives that hadn‘t made it safely across. Why did the Pukeko cross the road? They don‘t seem to be the brightest bulbs on the Christmas Tree… Reaching the viewpoint of Fox Glacier, we should have been able to see Aoraki / Mt. Cook, as well. However, the clouds obscured the views of the higher mountains. We got a good look at the glacier, but that was about it, and it started to drizzle lightly. Holger found a few fantails, small birds with impressive tailfeathers, close to the viewpoint. So our output of bird pictures today is quite good. We drove back to Franz Josef. Our motel today is called „Rain Forest Retreat“. A very adequate name. Our little cottage is nestled between the trees and ferns, and feels very cozy. Dinner will be at the motel‘s restaurant, before an early night. Tomorrow will be a long day.
  12. Day 69, Wildfoods Festival Hokitika (March 11th) There are opportunities that are too good to ignore. The wonderful Allison Oosterman pointed out that our stay on the South Island would coincide with the annual Wildfoods Festival in Hokitika. Food and Festival are basically our middle names, so I immediately made it a part of our itinerary. Mr. Duck kindly gave his approval. He wanted to make the - brief but intense - acquaintance of a few snails and Huhu Grubs. Yesterday I had spoken to our lovely brewery guide about the festival. She recommended we should take some NZ cash, as not every food stall would have a POS. So our first mission this morning was to find an ATM. That was easily done, and the town center of Greymouth still seemed very sleepy on this Saturday morning. We drove along the coast to Hokitika. Initially I had tried to find a hotel in town, but they were all fully booked for the festival. No big deal, a 30 minute drive seems to be a small distance by New Zealand standards. The town center of Hokitika is - shall we say - compact. The festival is done on the local rugby field, and driving around it, we found a great parking spot on a street next to the field. Climbing out of the car, I heard a child crying. Or was it? It turned out that we had parked next to a house were someone was breeding Siamese cats. They were all in an enclosure at the front of the house, and - as is typical for this breed - very vocal. We spend a few minutes talking to them, and they seemed happy about the company. Such random encounters are the best! As we were still a little early for check-in, we took a stroll through town. In the tourist info was an aquarium with baby eels, much to Holger‘s delight. Walking on, it started to drizzle a little bit, so we went into the next shop. They had some beautiful pieces made with local jade, a stone that Hokitika is well known for. Fortunately the drizzle had stopped when we walked over to the rugby field. We checked in, and got our „beer and bug taster“ bracelets. First stop was a stall where you could get your free bug - deep-fried crickets, either on a stick or as a jello-shot. I had to have the jello cricket, while Holger took his insect pure. It was pretty chewy either way, and no specific taste that we could detect. Mr. Duck was noisily demanding Huhu grubs. They are the larvae of an endemic beetle, and seem to be the stuff of New Zealand legends. Considered a delicacy by the Māori they are said to taste like peanut butter. The Hokitika hockey club had a stall where you could try them. They had brought in fresh tree trunks in which the larvae live. They where being chopped then and there, and you could try them as they came fresh out of the tree. There also would have been a fried option, but only for the weak-hearted. Holger and I both decided we would sample a live one. We had a choice between small or large and chunky. Go big or go home is our motto, so we both selected a big grub. Mine was wriggling around, and bit me in the finger with his little pincer. Okay, his morning definitely ended worse than mine. The taste was somewhat slimy and milky, while the outside was surprisingly chewy. I couldn’t detect any peanut butter taste, but I am certainly no expert on grubs. After we braved this challenge we deserved a pie. They had a great selection of them in one of the stalls. Holger had a venison one, and I selected the Manuka honey smoked wild boar. Very delicious and filling! Next I tried a feijoa mead, which was dry and sparkling, very good. We wandered around and checked the different offerings. One thing we had to try were mountain oysters - sheep’s testicles. They were unseasoned and pretty bland. We sat down for a little bit and listened to some live music. Lots of people were in costume - there was even a competition for „feral fashion“, handcrafted costumes out of anything found in nature. For such a small town, this is clearly one of the big events of the year, and everyone was out in force. After one final round of the festival grounds, and a passion fruit cider, we decided that a couple of hours were all we needed. We were keen to explore the hinterland a little bit, and took the Blue Spur Drive away from the coast. This must be a bikers and hikers paradise, with green hills and small rivers providing some beautiful scenery. We didn’t do much for the rest of the day, and that was fine by us. Enough grubs and bugs to last us for a while!
  13. Day 68, Carters Beach to Greymouth (March 10th) The last of the rain finally stops as we are leaving our hotel this morning. The landscape looks scrubbed clean, and the sun is peaking out. Fabulous! Now we can actually see some of the mountains behind the coastline, that so far have just been blurred behind dark clouds. Driving south along the coast, our first stop is at Mitchell’s Gully Historic Gold Mine. Looking at the parking area and entrance, rather than a historic gold mine, we get hoarder vibes. All sorts of rusting vehicles and paraphernalia are dumped there. No one is around, and the whole set-up doesn’t really look trustworthy. The entrance fee is self-service, and we don’t have any NZ cash on us. We decide that this adventure is not meant to be for us, and move on. Our next stop is at a view point along the coast, where we see the spectacular waves crashing on the shore. Looking at the ocean is absolutely mesmerizing. There is a fine mist of spray hanging over the scenery. My lips taste salty, and my glasses need to be cleaned. A small price to pay for this wonderful atmosphere. We reach the parking lot at Pancake Rocks again. This is as far as we got yesterday. It is a lot drier, but also pretty busy today. We start the walking track along the coast. One viewpoint is more spectacular than the next. And even before we reach the famous blowholes, we can hear the occasional „boom“ from the waves crashing against the rocks. The walkway is leading us between the rocks, crossing a gorge and among some of the swirling pools of white water. My glasses and also my clothes get soaked from the spray - I love it! We spend quite a bit of time here, enjoying this special place. Then we head back to the café for some brunch. Holger has the Wild Coast Breakfast, while I order a huge slice of carrot cake and an Americano. So very yummy! The café also does a thriving to-go business today, both with their coffee drinks and bakery items. They have a great selection of pastries, pies, muffins and scones. We grab two date scones for the road, and also a new Pukeko fridge magnet as a keepsake. Driving further south, the coastal views never cease to wow us. Around every corner is another scenic vista. Until we turn inland, and reach Greymouth, our stop for today. Since it is still the middle of the day, we debate what to do next. One option would be Shantytown, a gold mining tourist attraction. There is also a public pool and spa across the road from our motel. Or, as a third option, a tour of Monteith‘s Brewing Company. Decisions, decisions. Okay, no big surprise, they had us at „beer“. It‘s a relatively short walk from our hotel to the brewery, but with the sun out it‘s warm! Checking in for our tour, we are being given our West Coast Passports. Among other things, they include a number of vouchers for different west coast attractions. Then our tour starts. First, our guide explains about the history of the brewery, and the beer brewing process in general. We are then free to walk around, among other things a bottling line. Then we are shown a video about brewing, and finally get to draw our own tasting beer from the tap. They have a wheat and a lager for us to try. We also get to taste malt and smell hops. As a good-bye present, each of us gets to select six beers or ciders for their very own six pack. We really enjoyed the tour. While we were there, the brew pub filled up considerably. It is Friday night, after all. We are lucky to find a table and order some food and a pint of cider each. Very delicious! Then, carrying our six packs on our backs, we walk back to our hotel. What an absolutely lovely day.
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