Almost home again..!

Hello everyone,

To my shock and amazement i saw that my last post has been from wellington, just before the rugby world cup. That means i will have quite some catching up to do... Like i said before, if you want to see as much as possible of new zealand in three weeks, you cant sit around too much. So i just havent gotten around to writing a story the past 2 weeks. But here we go!

In Wellington we found the only pub in the whole city i think where there was a group of french supporters watching as well. The atmosphere was great among them, although in the end as you know they just pulled the short straw.. The streets filled up though with people in black, and a true national fest (volksfeest) broke loose. It was great to see, but it wasnt really our party, so we didnt stay too long.

The next morning we took the ferry across to the south island, where we arrived in Picton. Picton is situated in the marlborough sound, with an amazing fjordlandscape. We made a mountainbike tour along a part of the Queen Charlotte track there.

The next day we drove on to the west coast, where we stopped at the strangely shaped pankake rocks, before we made our way to the franz jozef glacier. There we did a spectacular walk alongside the gletsjer, and we also walked on the gletsjer ice!

After that we drove over the Haast pass, lots of turns and amazing landscapes, to reach Lake Wanaka. We slept just outside the city of Wanaka, and the next morning we made our way to the airport there, for a skydive! It was a tandem skydive, so you were tied to an experienced instructor, and all you had to do was enjoy and smile at the camera. I will show the movie of my skydive when im home!

We went through Queenstown in the afternoon, after the skydive. Queenstown is called the adrenaline capital of the world, and there is loads of adventurous stuff to do around there. But they also ask enormous amounts of money for everything, so we decided to not let ourselves be ripped off and do our adventurous wishes somewhere else.

We slept on a parking lot next to a river. Next morning our car battery was empty because we left the lights on (again!) and we had to hold someone down on the road to ask for startercables. All in all it went pretty smooth, we were on the road in 30 minutes.
We went on quickly to Mount Cook, where we took a hostel. That was pretty necessary, since we hadnt had a shower since picton, and also needed to do laundry and recharge our mp3-players.
Mount Cook also beholds 2 glaciers, but they are not nearly as spectacular as Franz Josef Glacier, because they are covered by a layer of grey stone and sand. And we were too late in the season for a day of skying, so we didnt do much there.

Our next stop was Christchurch. Anko and I were both curious about how much the earthquake destroyed there. And to be honest, it was a terrible sight. As you are driving through the outskirts of Christchurch, nothing seems wrong, but in the real heart of the city not a lot of building are still standing erect. Most of the streets are closed, building are being torn down because of cracks and collapse risk, and it will no doubt take years before the center will be as it was.
They reopened part of the center with some clothing stores and cafetaria, by putting ship containers down and making doors and windowns in them. It was a sad sight really...

Close to Christchurch is a peninsula and a place called Akaroa, where you can swim with dolphins. Thats one of the things i really wanted to do, but unfortunately that tour was booked full. Instead we did a kayak tour where we could see penguins and seals from real up close, which was also definitely worth it. One seal came playing and came so close we could almost touch it!

Another thing on my list was to ride on a quad. We did that a bit up north, near Hanmer Springs. Also really cool! I decided i gotta have one of those myself. Maybe a nice birthday gift..?

After that we drove back to picton and took the eveningferry back to the north island. We both didnt sleep too well that night, and the next day it rained all day, so we decided to take another hostel. At that moment we were near Mount Egmont, and we had the whole lodge there to ourselves. An own room, for the first time since Taipei!
The next morning it was actually snowing, so we decided to skip our climb of the mountain and move on. The road we took was called the Forgotten World highway from Stratford, because it goes through a landscape which very much resembles new zealand as it was 100 years ago.
Personally, i think they actually paid the few people living in that area to make it look like their house was rusty and about to collapse. But the scenery was indeed amazing and i think we turned a 1000 corners that day. We spent the whole day in the car, but the weather cleared up, we had the music loud and there was hardly anyone on the road, so it was very enjoyable!

Our last real trip before we had to turn in the car was at the Waitomo Caves. That is an area where there are hundreds of caves, some of them still with water running through them. We did a caving tour through the Haggas Honking Holes, where we had to squeeze ourselves through small holes, abseil down waterfalls, climb rocky walls. And here and there we could also see the famous glowworms that inhabit those caves. Or, as we learned during the trip, they are glowmaggots that create light by burning their shit. But ofcourse, the term maggot wouldnt attract to many tourists, hence glowworm caves.
It was definitely a worthy and spectacular ending of our New Zealand adventure!

The next day we cleaned the car and handed it in without trouble.

Reflecting on New Zealand i would say it was a very spectacular country, naturewise! The cities arent too exciting, especially compared to Sydney, Melbourne or some European cities. Going through new zealand by campervan is the only right way to do it. And the experience is even more intense if you just park it in the wild, somewhere on a hilltop with incredible view, or next to a raging river. But ofcourse, you have to be up against the low amount of luxury and hygiene, and the cold during the evenings.
We havent been washed away completely by rain, but it did rain at least a bit every day. The weather in NZ is very changeable, you never now what you are gonna get. Although, when its raining in the morning, youve got a good chance of sunshine from 5 to 7 pm. And in the other way around also counts..
NZ is slightly cheaper dan Australia, but not much. And the people are on average a bit less friendly..

At the moment im in Sydney again. Lot of deja vu's here from a few months back! I went to the same hostel I had when i came here. It feels right, to be back where i started before i go home.

I havent been able to change my ticket with stopover in Bangkok. Which kinda sucks, because the city centre is having a lot of trouble with floodings. I read that the backpacker neighborhood is hard to reach, so i have decided to take a hotel on the airport and not take any risk. I dont really feel like wet feet or ugly diseases from contaminated water.

At the moment I feel pretty devastated, because i had to fly in the middle of the night from NZ to Sydney, so i got about 2,5 hours of sleep.. I think i will take a nap today.

This sunday I will come home, landing on Schiphol in the morning! I dont expect to experience a whole lotta new things in the next few days, it feels like i am already on my way home... But I will let you know if I made it home safely. Thank you all so much for following my blog! I have always read your reactions with great pleasure, even though i didnt always respond to them. I hope you forgive me...

It's been an absolute unforgettable experience, which i will always carry with me. I am going home with mixed feelings, but it will sure be nice to come home again!

Cheers, and i wish you all a G'day, mate!

Jelle