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On the road to Paradise

A bɔra kɛnɛ kan: 22.02.2020

On the road to Paradise
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As you might imagine, there is not often reception and even less places for good WiFi. So the posts from New Zealand will be less frequent I fear.

Anyway, this island (the southern one) is incredible so far. The cities are stupid expensive and very touristic but the landscape just a dream.

But first things first. I bought a car in Christchurch on the third day of my arrival.

This is it, it's being checked by a pro.

It's a Toyota Estima from 1997 with a mileage of 233000. For it's age it's in a very good shape.

The previous owner is packing his things. Still remember how excited I was at that time.
Also bought a new jacket, it can get cold at night here. Do you think it's colorful enough?
Keys are mine, ready for take off!
Big roof on top, a second one in front.

If the cushions are arranged properly the bed is very comfy!

First sunset, didn't disappoint at all
I swear, no filters whatsoever
The van at night, I'm about to cook.
The sunrise in the morning was also incredible 🤩
The lake Tekapo at daytime
The water here has in interesting color, it's more turquoise and often very clear.
This is Viktoria, we'll travel together for a bit
Me, enjoying myself
Did I mention the turquoise water already?
It's crazy beautiful..

We basically crashed a night at lake Tekapo and went in the morning to an area called Wanaka where we hiked for a bit.

Wanaka also doesn't disappoint with sights..
Green landscapes, rivers and snow topped mountains, this is New Zealand for me so far
This place was rather touristic but I hid all of them behind my back 😂
Someone carried a guitar because.. why not playing an instrument while hiking?
We refilled water at this river. It's suuuper clean.
This was the end of the hike. I didn't totally understand where the ice came from, the glacier was a fair bit away.
The way back.. I'm not surprised that Lord of the Rings was shot in New Zealand.
This lake is multi-colored.
It just keeps on going like this here..
We left Wanaka again to make our way to Queenstown

Before we arrived at our camping place (you can only camp in designated areas here) we had dinner. Simple pasta with tomato onion basil sauce but with a great view (again 🙄).

We got visitors very quickly.

That place where we had dinner is famous for it's tree. It is just some tree, growing in the water and got somehow hyped big time on social media. It has over 2000 (yes three zeros here) Google reviews. I totally didn't get the hype about it but maybe you know what's up when you see the hashtag #thatwanakatree

If you look closely you see many people sitting there..

And yes it's all about that stupid tree in the water 🤣.

This is how the back of my car (its name is Otto) looks like.

Otto is very well equipped. He has a tent, a solar shower, gas cooker, a toilet which I never use but have to carry with me to be allowed to camp for free, food, a cooling box (without electricity tho), a sink, 25l tank for fresh water and 25l tank for grey water, a bed for two and plenty of space below that bed. I am super happy with my dude. Otto is the best! And he only cost me 1850€. Renting a similar car for 6 weeks would have been even more expensive.

In Queenstown is a big hike, called Ben Lomond track. We decided to do that and got at least 6 warnings like this one.

Needless to say, we ignored them all.

Vik is not used to hikes like this one and admittedly, it was pretty rough.

We had to make our way somehow through here
It's all very moist..
Once out of the forest there were amazing views.

While hiking Vik decided to go back and I met a guy called James William while saying goodbye to her. Most British name ever and yes he is from London, funny fella tho, we had interesting talks about social media (he actually works on a professional level with social media).

More far up, the view got better and better
This was already amazing buuuut there are higher peaks that need to be climbed 👍

That specific mountain is famous for it's Kea birds. I didn't know that before and was just lucky to climb the right one. They are the only (or atleast one of very few) alpine parrots. He has the nickname curious Kea.

This is him and he is indeed extremely curious - especially for bags to get some food.
He rather walked around then flying, which is a pitty since he is very colorful under his wings.

At the top were about 20 people enjoying the view and relaxing after the hike, everyone was fascinated by the bird and by how close he came. While he circled the group everyone left their bag (and food) unattended which he then grabbed and ate. I'm convinced he learned that behavior over time, he seems to a very smart cunt 😂

The Kea while jumping. Not only smart but also lazy.
Still searching for food to steal..
He opened that bag faster then the girl had time to react.

While I was there, he grabbed one banana and a bowl of hummus...

Anyway, not only the bird was intriguing but also the mountain itself.
Obligatory jumping foto..
This is my British friend, rock on buddy!
Already on the way back again. That high peak you see there is the mountain James and I have been to.
One last look down from Ben Lomond
I don't know how they are called but these trees have an interesting structure and are huuuuuge

After that day in Queenstown we went up north to explore an area around a small town called Glenorchy.

More lakes on the way..
Nature here just don't seize to amaze me
Even tho we drove over 30 minutes, we are still at the same lake, it's huge.
This was our camp for the night.. There were more people later but it was still beautiful.

We did the hiking track to the 'Invincible gold mine' where over 100 years ago lot of gold was mined (big surprise here).

To get to the track we had to cross this river but since Otto is a 4 wheel driven car, this is no issue at all! Otto is simply the best 💎
I won't bother you with every single foto, there is plenty more in the foto section.

There were still the left overs from the old gold mine, which was very cool to see.

The stones were crushed in here to separate them from the gold.
The old water wheel to power the whole thing. The stream for it was a kilometer away.
I think this tree burned once since it is black on the inside and recovered afterwards. There were more like this, some still completely black.
More streams with crystal clear water..
It seems to be harder to escape these views then to find them..

The next day I decided to do the 'Earnslaw Burn Ridge track'. I haven't had much I do on it, a good friend (thanks Clara!) highly recommended it to me. The sign at the beginning said it would take 4-6h and I started at 12:30.

The beginning of the hike, some scenes of Lord of the Rings were filmed in this very forest.
I met Nico and Coonsta (I believe this is how your write that name) from Finland and we did the track together.
Coonsta crossing a stream
It was very beautiful but sometimes the path was destroyed by landslides, which didn't make it any easier.

A good 3 hours in we wondered how much more time we needed to finish the track. A French couple told us the 4-6h were ONE WAY and not 'return included' like usually here. The 'return' was actually missing on the sign. That was at about 15:30. They told us we need about 90 minutes to finish the track. When we asked them if it's worth it, they just laughed and told us it's an incredible view on a glacier, with a crystal clear river in a valley with countless waterfalls. We decided to hurry up and maybe return in the darkness.

I have had more difficult hikes but the chances to get wet feet were really high here.

Eventually I decided to split with the Finnish guys because I was faster on my own and made the way to the glacier in an hour.

Eventually the forest opened up and revealed the glacier.
Beautiful streams...
The...
...Waterfalls...
...Were...
...CountlessClose up of the glacier
The other side of the valley
And that big stream of fresh glacier water
If trees have a heart, I'm sure it looks like that.
And they are so nice to build stairs for travelers.

Somehow I made the way back in just 2,5h. My backpack was lighter since I ate almost all of the food and haven't had much water (I could refill it at any of the streams) but it's still a really good time. I made it back before dark 👍

The view from the camping ground the next morning
Juuuust loving it. I actually also swam in there but not for long. It's pretty cold, especially after Australia...
Breakfast with a view (once again).

Today, Sunday, I will leave Viktoria in Queenstown and make my way up North all the way to Blenheim to meet Amanda again (on Tuesday) and travel around with her. In the meantime I will probably rock one longer track and just enjoy the ride. Driving car here is pretty different. The landscape basically forces you to stop and now and then.


I think by now you got it, but I'm totally blown away here and there is so much more to come yet!

Next update will probably take some time but will be awesome again, I promise 🤩

Until then, stay happy and safe,

Laurin



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Jaabi (1)

James
Hey! It's British guy James, just saw your blog on the notes on my phone so had a look at your updates. Hope all is well with you during lockdown!

Zelande kura
Zelande kura
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Arrivée en Nouvelle-Zélande

Supplement to the previous blog entry and a short update 👌

Meet Amanda!

Taama-bulɔguwAw ye taama-bulɔgu dɔ dabɔImprint (sɛbɛnni).Baarakɛcogo sariyawKunnafoniw lakanani