Tag: 2015
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Last day in Oban and back to Bluff
As I had only two nights on the island my ferry back to the mainland was leaving at 3 o’clock. Which left me the morning to explore. This time I went to the south-east along the harbor to a place where blue penguins are nesting on the island. Wrong time of the day to see…
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On the Great Rakiura Walk to the steam haulers
Today I wanted to do a little bit more walking. The weather forecast was not the best with rain in the late afternoon. But after what I saw on the hike yesterday I wanted to make sure whether it is possible to hike the Raikura Walk in one day if you get up very early…
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To Oban on Rakiura (Stewart Island)
Most tour companies ignore this island. Well it does only have one village, a lot of forest, a lot of mud and is at the end of the world so this is somewhat understandable. Still there is a regular ferry service between Bluff and Oban that brings people to and from the island twice a…
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Driving through the Catlins
As I stayed longer in Dunedin the group I was travelling with was new again. (Well apart from a few faces I already knew from the KiwExperience busses.) Our driver came a little bit later because of some misunderstanding at office where they put me into another hostel. – Phew am I lucky that I…
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Mt. Cargill and the Organ pipes
were my goal for todays excursion. Because I did not want to bore you I decided to limit the pictures. To begin my hike I used public transport to get to the bottom of the mountain and later to get back into town. Yes public transport can be that good. The start is at a…
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Nelson Lakes to Westport
New driver – Lisa. For some reason she had two more passengers on board than on the manifest. Usually not that big of a problem: Fess up and she adds you on on the spot. Bigger problem though if you don’t fess up, the bus is full and she starts just to find out that…
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Discovering Abel Tasman
Today was a bit of tramping on the menu. But first I went with one of the sea shuttles all the way up the national park past two different sea lion colonies. Halfway through the trip the captain informed us that the boat had trouble with the hydraulics working the gangway. So some of the…
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Lock, Stock and two smoking paddles
That’s the name of the kayaking your I went on today. It was a whole day of kayaking in the waters in front of the Abel Tasman national park. The sea lions where not up to much apart from getting some sun. So we went on. At noon we had a stop to do some…
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Daytrip to Cape Reinga
The day started early with a different bus for our trip to the northern most point of New Zealand – Cape Reinga. The other bus was necessary as we went on a drive over 90 mile beach (which is only a little bit more than 50 miles actually). And 4 wheel drive definitely is a…
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Kauri Trees
Kauri trees are the biggest trees in New Zealand. Not the highest. The trees where massive (40-50 meters high with a diameter of 5 meters) and almost everywhere in the North Island as it seemed. To make it even better the wood is always straight, smooth and does not contain those ugly holes produced by…