Last weeks in New Zealand

Kia ora!

It has been a while since the last time I wrote something, so I thought: Everyone back home is probalbly bored to death at the moment with study or work and I don't have anything on my hands at the moment, so why not brighten up everyones day with a few stories of what I've been up to the last two weeks! By the way: you might have noticed that I changed the language tho English, this is because of a few foreign requests. ;)

The last time I was talking about going on a 4 day hike in Milford Sound. Now, I've done it and I can tell you that it was truly amazing! First we had to take a boat to the starting point (which was already pretty damn beautiful), then we had to hike from hut to hut. The first day we had some rain, but that didn't matter so much because the first day hike is only 1 and a half hour. The huts where pretty nice. There was running (rain)water for drinking and for toilets (however no showers and gas for cooking. In the evening after the walk, everyone comes together in the common area to relax. You meet a lot of new people there, I played cards with a family from Hawaii every evening after dinner. It is fun to share food with each other, I gave a Korean couple some Heineken beer and got some Korean (hard) liquor in return. The next day me and three German guys where one of the last to leave after a night with not a lot sleep because of a few people who where snoring like chainsaws, but the rain was gone and the sun broke through. The track lead us through a valley, between mountains. Because it had rained the day before, there where waterfalls everywhere coming down from the mountain. Also, there was a mist hanging between the tops of the mountains, making it a mysterious (and awesome) sight. The next day we went over the mountains (with a crystal clear sky) on McKinnon pass (1200 meters above sea level). This was absolutely amazing, you could see over the complete valley! You could also take a shit on the toilet with the most beautiful view in the world, which was nicely positioned on the mountain ridge and offered a good view over the valley below. We also passed the highest falls in New Zealand (580 meter), the Sutherland falls. It was possible to climb behind the falls, and thus we did. That was truly amazing, the power of the water is so intense! We got completely soaked and it was so cold, but when we where able to open your eyes, we saw rainbows everywhere! Concluding: hiking in Milford Sound was an amazing experience (one of the best), where I made a lot of new friends and got in thouch with nature (whatever that means).

After my amazing adventure in Milford Sound, it was time to go up north and slowly start my way back to Auckland. First, I hitchhiked back to Wanaka with a police detective from Israel so I could pick up the boxershorts I forgot there. After that was done, I took te bus over Haast pass (which was g*ddamn beautiful) to Fox Glacier. We arrived in Fox township with the whole day ahead of us. However, rain and mist made it impossible to see the glacier and Fox township itself can hardly be called a town so we ended up watching chick flicks all day.. which was ofcoarse fantastic. The second day the weather was fine, so I went ice climbing on the glacier. First we walked all up the glacier, there the guide looked for some nice walls where he installed a rope (which saved my life more than once). Then we could climb up the walls with ice axes and spikes. First we climbed up a wall of aproximately 10 meters. But that wasn't enough so the next wall was almost 20 meters, which is high if you have to climb it.. In the end, I (because the other two where afraid) was lowerd into a hole in the glacier and I had to climb out. This was kinda scary. In the end I was totally exhausted but this was truly an awesome experience! Definitely
something I want to repeat in Europe sometimes!

The next day, me and a guy from Germany (yes another one..)and a Swedish girl took the bus (10 hour trip) up north to Nelson. In Nelson we went kayakking in Abel Tasman national park (google). Abel Tasman is a park filled with beautiful little islands and beaches, and kayakking there was very beautiful! Some islands contained a lot of seals, who where swimming and playing alongside your kayak!

At last it was time to leave the south island, a truly amazing island. Me and Gabriella (from Sweden) started hitchhiking early so we woudn't miss the ferry. We got picked up by a nice Dutch guy, but he dropped us of on the wrong spot in the middle of nowhere, so we had to wait a long time for someone to pick us up. We where running out of time, but luckily a Kiwi found us and took us with him. Unluckey for us, he dropped us off at an even more empty road... In the end we where picked up by two tourists who fellt sorry us after seeing us walking sadly beside a road in the middle of nowhere. And we even made the ferry!

Being back on the north island, I went up to Taupo. Taupo is a nice town close to Tongariro national park (again, ask google or my facebook for pictures), aka Mordor. Yes they filmed Morder there for the Lord of the Rings, so ofcoarse I had to go there. The Tongariro crossing was absolutely stunning! An 8 hour walk through a volcanic wasteland with a few active volcanos and some beautiful lakes. It was also possible to climb Mount Ngarahoe (or Mt. Doom), an active volcano. There is no track getting up there, you have to find your own way. Going up takes about 1and a half hour and is exhausting, but the view up there is just amazing! The way down is different and a lot faster, running/falling/sliding down the mountain only takes 15 minutes! Back in Taupo we could drink beers in the natural hotpools, heated by thermal activity in the earth! The next day it was time to leave Taupo, but first I decided to jump out of a plane. Yes I decided to do a skydive, and jumped on 15.000 ft out of a plane. This was a totally awesome experience, what an adrenaline rush! Besides the awesomness, the view wasn't too bad either. I could see all the way up to the ocean (for the smartasses among us: no, Taupo is no beach town)!

After my awesome skydive, it was time to hitchhike (I know I hitchhike sometimes at random times) to Rotorua. When you stap outside the car in Rotorua, the first thing you notice is the smell. Yes, in Rotorua it smells like farts all the time. This is because it is build in a volcanic area with a lot of thermal activity. It wouldn't surprise you that, also here, there are a lot of hotpools. Only it is not recommende to swim in them, as they often contain boiling water.. Next day we went with two German girls and two American guys to Wai-O-Tapu, an area with lots of those steaming hotpools. Their was also a geyser, which was very cool to see! The pools were very beautiful with lots of bright colours, like neon yellow (although they smelled like egg farts). Afterwarts we went to hot'n cold creek, a hotpool where you could actually swim in. The funny thing about this creek was that it was partly hot and partly cold (explains the name), so one part of your body could be cold while the other was hot. Another funny thing about this creek is that it is potentially deadly. If water would enter the nasal area you could get amoebic meningitis, which is fatal. The girls however, did not really care as they started swimming in the lake. Offcoarse the guys (including me) could not stay behind, however I wouldn't call it swimming what we did.. it was more sitting somewhere and trying not to die. In the end, it was fun chilling in the pool, and brawling with death. ˆˆ The next day I visited Hobbiton, which filled my Lord of the Rings hearth with immense joy!

After Rotorua I went to Hamilton to visit some friends I met in Queenstown. They let me stay at their place and even cooked for me which was very nice (and free ;)). There was even a pool so I went for a nightly swim! The next day I was dragged out of my bed at 5:30 am to go to the gym, for which my muscles are very gratefull at the moment... It was very nice to see them again!

On this moment I'm back at the start, in Auckland. Tomorrow my flight will leave. I feel a little bit sad that I have to leave this amazing and beautiful country. I made a lot of new friends here and I've done a lot of awesome stuff. And I'm going to Fiji so I don't know what I'm complaining about. But still... Anyway, I will be back that's for sure!

See you all in Fiji (probably not)!

Cheers!