Ulli: See Kiwis grow

Sometimes it can be a nuissance to find proper working internet, sometimes we just come home late every single evening...

A lot happend since our last entry, and once again I promise myself to post a lot more often...

After Auckland we made our way south-east to Miranda, very close to the Coromandel pensinsula. A perfect place to soak in a thermal pool and enjoy a quiet evening, before we went to Coromandel town, me in the car, Markus on the bike! Coromandel town used to be a Gold town, and this can still be seen everywhere. It even has a lot of "historic" buildings, some almost 100 years old...!

From Coromandel town we went to Whitianga (in the Maori language "Wh" is pronounced "f"). Here I used the chance to make my very own bone carving, which i carry with pride around my neck now! After watching the second part of "Lord of the rings", we hired Scooters (what a fun!!!) to visit the world famous Hot water pools, where one can dig holes on the beach to lay in the naturally hot water. This we unfortunately could not do, since it was high tide (it can only be done at low tide).
The next day (after watching "Lord of the rings III) we went to Cathedral Cove, an amazingly beautiful place, which some of you might have seen in "The chronicals of Narnia - Prince Caspian". I ended up completely wet when playing at the beach, but it was worth it!

From there we went South again, stopped for a night at Waihi. There is one of New Zealands biggest Gold mines, and I can say, I never saw such a big hole in the ground!!

Another Must-see seems to be the Kiwifruit orchards at "Kiwi 360". One gets driven around in Kiwi shaped Wagons, and hears a lot about the growing of Kiwifruit in the Bay of Islands. It was rather interesting, and we even had the chance to pick some Avocados...

Now we are close to Hell... But Markus will tell you about this in the next entry!!

Ulli: Long time no see...

Quite a lot happened since we last wrote something!

After our Kayaking trip to the black rocks in Bay of Islands, we headed direction North to Ahipara, the very beginning of the famous 90 Mile Beach, which is in fact “only” 60 Miles or about 100 Kilometres long.

Being no fans of bus tours, we were beaten by the amazing conditions and decided to get on a coach trip to the almost northernmost point of NZ, to Cape Reinga, where the Tasman sea and the Pacific ocean merge. This is the place, where according to the legend the souls of dead Maoris descend through the roots of a giant tree to the sea, and travel home to their ancient home, Hawaiti. On the way up we even had the chance to do some sand tobogganing on a giant sand dune. If one made sure to keep mouth and eyes shut at all times, it was really good fun!! The 90 Mile Beach itself is in fact a “normal” highway, where every car can go (4 wheel drive recommended!), as long as the tide is low! Still, there was almost nobody but two or three buses like ours.

Our next stop was at the giant Kauri trees in Waipoua Forest. They all have names, mostly maori names. The biggest, Tane Mahuta (Lord of the forest) hat a girth of almost 14 meters! The oldest (Tane Matua Ngahere – Father of the forest) is over 2000 years old. In the picture you see “Yakas”, which is the 7^th biggest, and already very impressive! A lot of the Giant Kauri trees where cut down in the last century, so there is only a very limited amount of them left. For all the souvenirs made of Kauris, it is promised that now living tree was hurt, but only old roots, some of them where in the ground for 20.000 of 40.000 years.

Further south-east in Auckland, we met the sister of my good friend Otto, Angela. It was a very nice and relaxing evening, we were invited for Lasagne and went to a Pub, and we got a lot of Insider information and tips. Thanks, Angi and Rich! The next day Markus took the ferry to the volcanic Rangitoto Island for a running trip, followed by another highlight that evening! We managed to get quite good tickets to see the “Phantom of the opera”!!

After a short stop at a campsite that even had its own sulphur pools, we arrived at Coromandel peninsula, where we plan to get very active again! Details will follow!

Markus: It`s worth to….

… visit Auckland
… get up in 40sec. to the top of the 326m high Skytower in Auckland.
… make some orienteering competitions at the peninsula northwest of Auckland.
… visit the Bay of Island, Northland
… make a spectacular boat trips to become friends with dolphins
… make a trip to many islands (of 300 in this area) by boat
… have a look at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds (www.waitangi.net.nz)
… cycle the whole afternoon from island to island
… do what you have do to at the Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa.
… walk the Cape Brett / Whangamumu track through native bush, palms, ferns
… discover lonely bays
… go kayaking for a lunch break at the black rocks
… see a tiger ray (appr. 120 cm long) VERY closely at the beach
… have a look at the Haruru falls
… inject the Hepatitis vaccination because it's cheaper
… return to NZ one day!

Ulli: Flies and Kiwis

A big Kia Ora from Auckland, where we are at the moment. This will be our first night in the tent, since so far we always slept in cabins. Lets hope it stays warm and dry!

One sight worth seeing: the famous Glowworm caves in Waitomo. There are around 300 caves, but only 3 of them can be visited. And of course, we did all 3 of them. They all have amazing Stalagtites and Stalagmites ("Stalagtites hold tight to the top, and Stalagmites might reach the top", for those who cant remember which are which...), but 2 also have their own way of lightning: little fly-larva, who stick to the ceiling, and actually glow, like fireflys. Amazing! The ceilings of the caves look like the sky, full of stars.

Today we saw it: the symbol of New Zealand! The proud of all Kiwis! One of the few, that are still around! We went to the the Bird Sanctuary in Otorohanga, where they do have two life KIWIS. Really cute animals!!
= ?

And as promised yesterday, the pictures. Enjoy...

Markus: From the South to the North

Picton next: Parts of the amazing Marlboro Sounds and the harbour for the ferrys to the North Island. Parts of the Queen Charlotte Track, Ulli, Hongkong Chinese Kelvin and I. 14 KM of native bush, ferns and palms.

The next day (Monday) crossing over the Cook Strait to Wellington - capital of NZ. Amazing views, first time really heavy rain.....

Wellington, nice to come and nice to go, especially when you that you will come back in maybe one or two month(s).

Up to north along the Kapiti Bay, further to Wanganui, kayaking at the Whanganui river, staying over night at the bottom of the amazing volcano Mt. Taranaki.

What happened in between - just look at the pictures which will follow the next couple of days!

Still a bit that everything is in full blossom, moderate to warm temperatures, and no stress situations so far. People are very friendly and helpful, and we hope it continues. Right now there are much more Maori and Polynesians than Pakehas (white people) in this area, two languages, but a peaceful environment, of course.

What comes next? Caves with small aliens everywhere, dark waters, and strange looking stones. Further way up to Auckland, doing some orienteering competitions and so on.....

By the way, everyone who is interested, i have a digital diary which describes all my sport activities I do on my own or together with Ulli (including hiking, kayaking, running...). Please find the link on the left!

Pictures coming soon!!!!

Ulli: Going North

Now we are on tour!

The first day brought us to Hanmer Springs, a town in the north of Christchurch, laying very nice and picturesque in the mountains. There one can do everything that is dangerous and nailbiting exciting: kayaking, canoeing, quad driving, bungee jumping, diving... The bravest we did was - due to the pouring rain - to sit in the famous spa in solphor water. It was most relaxing i have to say, although a bit smelly...

The next day we went to the Kaikoura peninsula, famous for its clayfish (yes, I didnt know that either!). We used the nice weather to hike around the whole peninsula, to enjoy fantastic views! In the afternoon we joined a guided kayaking-tour, a "seal encounter". To observe the seals from closest distances was great. And it certainly was not the last time we went kayaking!

Today we went to Picton, where we want to go hiking tomorrow, and continue our trip on the North Island on Monday!! Surely we will keep you informed!!

Left you can find a few pictures from our trip in Kaikoura!

Markus: On tour

Bicycle upgraded, last things bought, car mechanically checked, insurance policy signed,.... .Well I think we ready to start part one of our tour.

Here 's a qick overview about our next plans: Starting tommorrrow morning against North. We should be at Picton (the ferry station at the northern point of the island south) within 4 days (with quiet lot of program inbetween e.g. hiking, whale watching,....). On monday we take the ferry to cross the Cook Street to Wellington (North Island). Well and after another week or two with some new experiences we should arrive at Bay of Island (Northland, above Auckland). Bay of Island is the official start for the bicycle-tour. That means I/we will do some running, hiking and cycling already in the next days but the main part start at Bay of Island. Together (by car and by bike) should take us the wind down to Christchurch again (by not later than Christmas).
Despite that we have no continous internet access in the next couple of weeks we will keep you informed as good as possible.

Alright guys, next to the text you'll find some pictures from our Christchurch stay.