Skydive, chocolate pudding, stray, snout track, sun, fun and much more

Hello dear ones,

finally the time has come again. After six long weeks of work in Blenheim, I was finally able to start traveling again on Sunday, December 18th, to continue exploring one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I'll tell you about the first days of my trip right away. But first, I want to wish you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year again. I hope you enjoyed the holidays. Unfortunately, time and WLAN were very limited lately, so I didn't have the opportunity to post a new article earlier. But now here is report number 17. Have fun reading 😊

Sunday, December 18th

In the morning, I took the Intercity from my temporary residence in Blenheim to my first destination, Picton. This is a small but beautiful town with a port and a great location. Unfortunately, the weather was quite changeable, so after lunch and a first little exploration of the city, I made my way to the small municipal aquarium, which mainly has fish but also other animals such as lizards, birds - including a penguin - and rabbits. I liked it very much, even though of course it didn't have the same dimensions as Kelly Tarlton's in Auckland. In the evening, there was something very special in my hostel, the Sequoia Lodge: free chocolate pudding with vanilla ice cream. It is served there every evening. You can even get seconds. Great service and super tasty 😋 During and after dinner, I talked to Nina from Dortmund and an American who enjoys extreme hiking, for over a week or even longer. I was fascinated to hear his stories. However, I think one Great Walk here in New Zealand is enough for me 😉 Let's see which one I decide on, there are a total of nine. The evening also passed quickly.

Monday, December 19th

On my second day in Picton, the sun was shining over the city, which prompted me to go on a longer hike, the Snout Track, which runs along the coast and through the forest. At the beginning of the trail, I met Mark, a student who lives in Picton. He approached me and we walked together to Bob's Bay. It's summer vacation in New Zealand now. From the first stop, I continued on my own. There were always great views, especially at the Queen Charlotte Viewpoint. After about 1.5 hours, I reached the end, with the last few meters going downhill, which required some climbing skills 😆 The furthest point was a rock standing alone in the sea. That's where some of the photos were taken. On the way back, I took a slightly different route, which was also very nice. When I arrived back at the hostel in the late afternoon, I first went to the free hot tub, then to the first (homemade) dinner, and then to the hairdresser ✂ Maike from Germany is currently working at the hostel and offers haircuts for 20 NZD. Since hairdressers here are usually much more expensive, and my hair hadn't been cut for quite a while, I didn't miss the opportunity 😊 And I was satisfied with the result. Right after that, there was the chocolate pudding again 😋 I got to know a larger group of German-speaking travelers during this time, and we spontaneously went for a drink in the evening. 🍻 First, we went to a small pub run by a Swiss person, and then to an Irish pub. It was a pretty funny evening with exciting travel stories, and we had a lot of fun together. When we returned to the hostel around 2:00, some people came up with the idea of going into the hot tub. Sounds stupid, it is stupid, but we still did it 😂 I went to bed shortly before 3:00.

Tuesday, December 20th

After two days in Picton, it was finally time for me to continue my Stray journey on Tuesday. We were picked up at the Bluebridge Ferry Terminal with some delay before continuing towards Abel Tasman National Park in a bus that was unfortunately completely overheated. The bus driver Bobby is only on his second tour, so he is still in the learning phase and everything, especially the organizational aspects, takes a bit longer than with others. But he's still likable 👍 The long day on the bus, including traffic jams, was more than compensated in the early evening - with skydiving! I had signed up for it during the bus ride, and I actually thought it would be the next day, but then Bobby announced it about an hour before. 'Very surprising, but it's okay,' I thought 😉 I have to say that before my trip, I was actually too afraid to do it, especially afraid of doing something wrong, but after meeting so many people who have done it and knowing that the tandem jumper takes care of everything, so you just have to let yourself be carried, I no longer had any fear of it. I always knew that the feeling of flying so high above the world must be amazing. Together with Jan (NED), we went to the skydiving company. After the introductory video, some explanations, getting dressed, and a short interview with my cameraman, we quickly got on the plane. We quickly climbed to 13,000 feet. That was the only phase where I had a slightly uncomfortable feeling at times. But the staff knows how to motivate people and take away their fear 👍 From the plane, I could admire the beautiful landscape under a bright blue sky. When the door opened, everything happened very quickly. I was hung from the plane and then the jump happened. I did a backwards somersault in the air and then came the floating phase. 45 seconds of free fall. I can't describe in words the incredible feeling of happiness I had during this phase. I had zero fear in that moment and just enjoyed the whole experience. You don't feel the speed of 200 km/h at all, it feels more like floating. Then suddenly a jerk - the parachute opened. From there on, it was just a slow descent, and I could calmly admire the scenery and even see a small part of the North Island. After about five minutes of descent, I had solid ground under my feet again. It was an incredibly amazing experience that I definitely don't want to miss and will probably never forget 😍 But one jump is enough in a lifetime, I think. Especially since it's an expensive thrill. When I arrived down, there was a short break first before I could enjoy the perfectly edited video, along with some others from my group who had just come back from paragliding. In addition to the video, I was also able to take home 77 photos, almost all of which are beautiful. After that, we went to the supermarket and then to our hostel via a narrow route with many sharp curves. There, I realized that the day had been quite full and exhausting for me. I had a strong headache when we arrived at the hostel 😣 They went away after I ate something, but I still went to bed early. Despite everything, thanks to the skydiving, it was one of the most beautiful days of my life 😍

Wednesday, December 21st

After the big adventure the day before, I wanted to take it a bit easier this time, but also not just hang around in the hostel. That's why I decided to do a long hike together with Louisa from England, to Anchorage (not the one in Alaska 😜). The round trip was about 25 kilometers. The majority of this route is part of one of the Great Walks of New Zealand, so we often met hikers with big backpacks. We were on the beautiful and not particularly difficult route for a total of 5.5 hours. There were always great views of the sea, bays, and beaches. I was able to have a good conversation with Louisa the whole time and finally speak a lot of English at once 😊 Later, we went to dinner at a gourmet burger place with a very Dutch-influenced group. The burgers there are huge, and it took almost an hour for them to be ready due to the large number of guests, but the quality was outstanding. The long wait was definitely worth it. After that, we went back to the hostel and went straight to the pool table. I played with Jan. After Jikke and Tessa won against Wouter and Louisa, we were allowed to compete against them and narrowly won the game 🎱🎉 After that, we ended the evening by the fireplace on the terrace.

Thursday, December 22nd

In the morning, we headed towards the West Coast. The drive was very scenic. On the way, we also took a nice group photo with the sea in the background. We got a first up-close impression of the coast when we could get off at a very rocky and rugged-looking beach. The very windy and gray weather actually matched that well. It's supposed to look similar in Brittany. Our destination, Westport, is certainly not a tourist magnet. It was more of a functional stopover. But there is a good brewery there, the West Coast Brewery. I took part in a tour there. It was a bit different from what you're used to in Germany 😅 First, we were shown the ingredients needed for beer and then we were allowed to smell some of them. And then we started right away with the beer tasting. We were allowed to drink the six beer varieties they have there - Lager, Draught, Black Beer, Green Fern, Pale Ale, and Pilsner - one after the other, and then try the Caramel Apple Cider. Except for the Black Beer and the Pale Ale, I liked everything. In between, they showed and explained the equipment needed for beer production for about 10 minutes. So it was a very practically oriented tour 😆🍺 In the end, there were hot dogs and chips. That was a perfect dinner 👌 Later, I sat together with Rebecca (SUI), Michael (ITA or South Tyrol), as well as Martin and Sven from Germany for quite a long time. We talked about very different things before it was time for bed.

Next, I will tell you how I spent Christmas in New Zealand and much more. Look forward to it!

See you soon,

Your Max