Back in Hahei

After some fun in Rotorura we are now back in Hahei with our friends. We enjoyed another couple of wonderful days with Marisa and Peter, just relaxing and enjoying their company, the beautiful views and surroundings. On Monday the four of us headed off to Coromandel Town and on the way back climbed up Castle Rock (no, not the town in Colorado south of Denver) on the famous 309 Highway.

Anja had a physical therapy appointment and we have good news - it appears that she is on the road to healing. It wasn't pinched disk afterall, but rather a slipped disk which makes a lot more sense. Her sciatica iscn't hurting anymore and the numbness in her foot is retreating more and more daily.

Our last day in New Zealand approached way too fast and we are about to board a 777 to Hanoi, Vietname 2morrow early morning. We had a wonderful time in this beautiful country which reminded us a lot of Switzerland minus the over-population. We are excited for our last adventure - Vietnam and at the same time are looking forward to being home for Christmas with family and friends.

Rotorua Zorbing

Today we left the magical forest of Lake Waikaremoana and drove 3 hours to Rotorua, one of NZ's big tourist centers, famous for its Geysirs and volcanic landscapes. It is also famous for the crazy things you can do here, such as sky-diving or bungy jumping. We decided that we can't leave NZ without having done at least one adrenaline-pumping thing, so we went "zorbing"!!! They put you in a giant plastic ball with a bunch of water and shove you down a hill... it's like being inside a giant washing machine and heck, it was sooo much fun! Markus and I went into one ball together and felt like two three year old kids slip-sliding down the slope. Of course Markus had to do the more scary zig-zag slope by himself... and was all smiles when he came out of the Zorb. We had the time of our lives and are now looking forward to explore the rest of Rotorua and attend a Maori Concert this evening.

Lake Waikaremoana and Umgebung

After a long drive on a mostly gravel, winding road we ended up at the beautiful natural preserve of Lake Waikaremoana. Because it was cold and raining pretty hard (trust us, it wasn't our fault), we decided to stay at a cabin instead of trying to set up camp in the rain. We spent the night in the warm and cozy wooden cabin and were refreshed the next day to tackle the 6 hour hike to Lake Waikareiti. We hiked through this enchanted,fairytale forest, thinking gnomes and elfs are hiding behind every tree. The hike did not seem long at all and before we knew it we arrived at the lake. After enjoying an hour of rest over the magnificent beach we walked back to our cabin. Before dinner we hung out with some friendly ducks and black swans on the dock before we had a hearty dinner with potatoes, cheese and eeeeeeegs (in Kiwi - slang).

Napier Wine Tasting

In Napier we crashed at a backpackers near the Port of the city and the next day Anja enjoyed some more Anti-Q shopping (yes, she definately has an addiction). We spent the morning sightseeing in the beautiful Art-Deco town and researching our continuing travels, realizing that we would miss out if we didn't participate in a local wine tour and tasting experience with one of the local wineries.

What said we did and had a wonderful time at the Church Road winery, visiting the winery, cellars and of course tasting their many wines, of which only one of them we liked :P.

Waitomo Caves

After learning about the game of cricket from a local guy that I met in Victoria Park and Anja satisifying her shopping cravings we headed south through Hamilton to the Waitomo Caves, home of the world famous Glow-worms caves. We spent our first night in the cabin in a long while because there was rain in the forecast (I am sure it was our fault).

The next morning we split up, Anja deciding to do the walk-through tour of the newly opened Rukurai Caves with phenomenal stalagtites (from the ceiling), stalagmites, glow-worms (which really are maggets) and other amazing cave-rock-formations. I embarked on the black-water rafting tour, a 3h adventure by intertube through dark caves with glow-worms on the ceilings, like the nightsky, small waterfalls and lots of ice-cold water. After a short visit at the local Cave Museum, not really worth it, we continued on our way toward Tongariro National Park. This is where many of the Lord of the Rings Volcano scences were filmed and the plan was to do an 8h hike the next day.

After checking the 5-cast (just for fuz and cuz) and finding more rain than we were willing to put up with on a day hike, we continued on to Napier. All in all a REALLY long day on the road.

Waipoura Kauri Forest & Auckland

Yesterday we camped in one of the largest Kauri Forests in the northland of New Zealand. Kauris are giant trees which grow to over 16m in circumference and 40m high. They were logged extensively and their gum was used to produce varnish in the late 19th century - only few remain in the Natural Preserves today. After a couple hours walking through the cool forest and admiring these monsters, we enjoyed a lazy lunch near an ice-cold stream, dipping in it for only very brief moments. We then continued toward Auckland where we arrived last night into a noisy inner-city campsite - the worst we've slept in a while. Cities are much louder after you've spent a couple days in the wilderness.

Today we are exploring the largest, liveliest city of New Zealand also called the city of Sails. The port is famous for hosting the America's Cup and there are many cafes and restaurants scattered out onto the streets that give it a European feel.

Bay of Islands

Two days ago we departed from a wonderful relaxing week with our friends Peter and Marisa. They really spoiled us with trips around Hahei and of course their wonderful cooking and beautiful house. Furthermore, they provided us with all their camping gear so we can travel low budget through the beautiful countryside and coastal areas of the north island of New Zealand.

Our first day was a long one on the road, stopping in Warkworth to see if there were any Antique stores where Anja could find any treasures, no such luck... We continued along the coast to Whangarei and Tutukaka, finally arriving at a beautiful DOC (Department of Conservation) campground on the northern tip of Whangaruru Bay.

Yesterday, in the middle of taking down the tent it started to rain and we decided to wait and let all the gear dry b4 continuing. The coastal area toward Russel is breathtaking, with small beaches, islands and subtropical forestlands dotting the landscape. Russel, a nostalgic town with 19th century architecture was perfect for a cup of coffee. After a short ferry ride we arrived in Opuka just adjacent to the touristy town of Paiha. We continued through to Waitangi, where the famous peace treaty between the ingiginous Maori and Europeans was signed. From there we embarked on a 10 km hike to the Waruru waterfalls where we camped at the base with the sound of the falls drowning out any other noise. A perfect place to fall asleep.

Hahei, New Zealand

Two days ago we arrived in Auckland around midnight. After a short night in a hotel near the airport we picked up our rental car and headed off toward the Coromandel Peninsula where our friends Marisa and Peter live. After a 3 hour drive, there was a warm welcome at their beautiful house just above the beach of Hahei. The location is incredible and the view an absolute dream.

It was wonderful to just relax and spend two days sleeping in, having amazing dinners with our friends and experiencing a civilized lifestyle. Peter and Marisa are great hosts and we are feeling at home already. Anja has continued to visit Chiropractics along the way. We are looking forward to a couple more relaxing days here before we head off with tent to explore the rest of the north island of New Zealand.

Red Center II

Kings Canyon was amazing. We got up around 5am... something you just get accustomed to doing when the days are as hot as they are here in the desert. A beautiful hike took us along the rim of the canyon. I couldn't resist a dip into the cold water in one of the swimming holes near the mouth of the canyon. The landscape reminded us a lot of southwestern Utah - minus the kangaroos :)

With the heavy rains the 4WD track we were going to take back to Alice was closed so we had to alter our route, which was actually for the better. We decided to explore the East MacDonell Ranges instead, as you guessed correctly, east of Alice. We camped in the beautiful Theraphin Gorge, virtually by ourselves and cooked a wonderful Safran Risotto and enjoyed a 1/2 bottle of red wine, australian of course.

The next morning we completed two more hikes near our campsite and also visited the ghost town of Arltunga, a "flourishing" gold miner town in the late 19th century. Continuing along true outback roads we arrived in Gem Tree last night around 6pm.

Today, we enjoyed the hard work of fossiking for zircon in the gem fields east of Gem Tree. After a hard 6 hours of work we did manage to find approximately 12 zircons that can be cut into various pieces of jewellery. It was an exciting, back-breaking adventure... So, here we are back in Alice and our flight to Auckland, New Zealand leaves 2morrow at noon. We had a wonderful time on this unique continent, saw heaps, but haven't even scratched the surface of what this country has to offer. Thank you Australia for a wonderful time and goodbye.

Red Center I

Just over a week ago we touched down in Alice Springs and surprise, surprise, the same evening it started raining in the desert! This created a nice cool off with temperatures forecast to be in the around 40 C.

As mentioned in one of the previous posts we rented a 4WD to explore the Red Center. We headed off to the West MacDonell Ranges (heading 270, not surprisingly) after a wonderful day in the "Alice", as locals call the small desert town, visiting the very interesting Desert Park on the way, which explains the various Desert landscapes, flora and fauna, how to find water and other essentials in the Outback. After a couple of short hikes to various Gorges and Chasms we settled in Glen Helen for the night. At this point we had decided to spend our nights on camping mats in the back of our 4WD because all rooms in the Outback, even dorm-rooms with bunk-beds and 4-10 people shared occupancy, ran >= AUS $50 which we weren't willing to pay. Unfortunately, the first night in the car was rather aweful :( We had the choice between keeping the windows shut and suffering a heat stroke or opening the windows and getting eaten alive by some pretty nasty mosquitos (yes, they do exist outside minnesotaaaaaa). To make a long story short, we didn't sleep much. In the morning Anja's back injury was pretty bad and we decided to head back to Alice to see a chiropractic.

The same day, with Anja feeling much better after a good cracking, we continued on to Uluru (Ayers Rock). It is quite an amazing sight, this monolith in the middle of the desert. We watched a beautiful sunset with many other spectators and spent a, this time more confortable night, in the back of the 4WD. A thunderstorm had cooled temps and the mosquitos weren't nearly as bad.

The next morning the plan was to get up for the sunrise, however, we couldn't quite get out of our car/bed in time so we decided instead to pay a visit to the other famous rock formations in the area, the olgas. We started the 7km hike around 6:30 am and were happy we did so, because by the time we had finished, temps were a blistering 34 C. The afternoon was spent around a pool, the only way to keep half-way cool.

Sunrise at Uluru was clouded over the next day, but still made for a mystical landscape with half of Uluru covered in fog. We hiked around the base of the rock, 10km round-trip, sharing the trail with relatively few other visitors. Then we headed off towards Kings Canyon, a 3.5h drive. There's a lot of open space in these parts of the country. After another spectacular thunderstorm across the desert we settled in for the night in our, by this time, comfy 4WD home :)