Abel Tasman National Park

In Motueka there is not very much to do, therefore I spent most of the time getting to know the people at the hostel. One guy I met in Wellington was at the hostel as well, I went with some people to a cave and springs. The water in the springs was super clear and the cave was awesome and massive.

Why I came here in the first place was after all because of the Abel Tasman Coast Track. If I would describe it with one world it would probably be 'beautiful'. It's what you see in movies. Perfect beaches. Amazingly blue water. Beautiful weather. When I first arrived to the campground I was gonna spend the night, I was amazed. It was a really cool place. I was the only one there and as the time went by it occurred to me that I might have to sleep here all by my self with an hour to the closest campsite. Fortunately that didn't happen. After a while I saw two familiar faces, It was Olivia and Anna, two german girls I met in Wellington. One guy named Chris joined us and we took a swim in the water on our private beach. Next day we walked together for some time on the track before going seperate ways. The track took tre days. Right now I'm preparing for the next hiking track that starts today, actually!

The Heaphy track here I come! :P    

The South Island!

South Island here I come!

The ferry leaves from Wellington and arrives in Picton - a small town in Marlborough Sounds. The landscape was very beautiful when the ferry entered the sounds. I stayed  in Picton for one night and went for a walk in the sounds. The next day I got a ride to Blenheim. I didn't really like the place that much so I left as soon as I could. I thought I would try hitchhiking, so I did. Before I even tried to hitchhike a man named Ean asked where I was going as I was walking along the road. He said he could drop me off at a good place in Renwick where I could try getting a lift to Nelson, where I was headed. He also invited me to his place for some coffee. After a nice cup of coffee I got to Renwick and it would not take long before a young couple picked me up. Ruben and Sophie took me to Nelson after we had taken a swim in an amazing river. The water was green, clear and cold! :)

Nelson is the biggest city in the northern part of the south island. The city center itself isn't that big, it looks big because of all the residential areas around. I enjoyed the atmosphere the city had to offer, with the market the beautiful lookout from the center of New Zealand, the Queens gardens and more. After a couple of days I felt like it was time to get going again. I still have the rest of the south island that I want to explore! A few people were going to Marahau that day and they gave me a lift to Motueka, which is on the way. Before that, we went to the shop where the Lord of the Rings ring was made. It was a very small shop and it's quite funny that a guy from Denmark actually made the ring here in New Zealand.

Stay tuned for more!

Pictures for you!

Mount Taranaki!

When driving to New Plymouth the landscape started to become more flat than I'm used to see here in New Zealand. When the mountain appeared it looked humongous. Jack and I managed to climb it, but it took all day. It's quite astonishing that a mountain like that exists right by the ocean.

Next stop was Wellington, after some scenic views by the road. We drove through Whanganui, Palmerston North and stayed a night in Masterton before arriving in Wellington. In the Capital of New Zealand I walked around in the city and hung around at the hostel a good amount of time. I also went to the Te Papa museum and mt Victoria a lookout point of city. As I have noticed there seems to be one of those in every city all over New Zealand. One day we decided to go on a private Lord of the Rings tour. So we took the car and drove around to the places where Rivendell and the dead army were filmed. The funny thing with Rivendell is that there is only one single tree that's actually from the movie. The rest was made from the computer. So that was a bit disappointing. On the other hand I was amazed of the place where the dead army was filmed. I was in Wellington for almost a week, then I was too excited about the south island, so I left after selling the car. :)

Camping in Coromandel!

After spending Christmas at the farm, the Americans, a couple from Czech Republic (named Alena and Ondrej) and I were invited to spend new years in Coromandel camping with their son, his girlfriend and  friends. The closest town was Thames, there we went when we needed groceries. The camping place we stayed at is called Kauaeranga Valley, which is in the middle of a huge desolate forest. We made barbecues almost every day and jumped into these amazing waterholes. At night we tried eel fishing. I got one but it was way smaller than the one I caught in the creek two months earlier. We made day trips to 'Hot water beach' and Port Jackson. At hot water beach there are places where hot water comes up from the ground. People come there to dig a hole where they can have a hot bath. Like the name says the water is hot, you should keep some distance from the source and maybe even mix it with the water from the ocean. Port Jackson is the very tip of the Coromandel peninsula. We went there to try surf casting. Our catch was a few small snappers and a crab i caught with a stick.

A very quick post...
//Simon

Finally Pictures!