Great group, great landscape, great activities, great Christmas

Hello dear readers,

As promised, in the following I will tell you how my first Christmas looked like that I was able to experience in summer. There are also exciting stories about my numerous other experiences. Have fun 😊

Friday, December 23rd

After leaving the hostel in Abel Tasman National Park, we arrived in Punakaiki, where the legendary Pancake Rocks are, after a short drive of just under an hour. These are rocks that stand in the sea and look like they are made up of many pancakes stacked on top of each other. That was something unique that you probably won't see anywhere else in the world. If you're lucky, you can also see the blowholes that are there, but unfortunately the water wasn't at the right level for that. During the tour, I saw some penguins sitting on one of the rocks, which was a premiere for me in the wilderness. So the visit was doubly worth it 😊👍 Actually, I wanted to eat pancakes in the cafe next door, but they were unfortunately very expensive. So I decided to have a delicious ice cream instead 😋🍧 We also visited Greymouth, which is known for its jewelry. I looked around the shops and there were also many great things to see, but I didn't buy anything. In the afternoon, we arrived in Franz Josef, our accommodation for the next two days. Together with Michael, Rebecca, Sven and Martin, we went to the supermarket because we had decided to cook together on Christmas Eve. We then decided to make homemade burgers. Burgers for Christmas - something new 🍔🎄😁 Later, most of our group went to the Pizza Festival. They serve pizza (6 different types) continuously and you can eat as much as you want for 1.5 hours. In addition, there is a free drink, garlic bread and French fries, which are all included in the price. In the end, we were all very full. Goal achieved ✅🍕🍟🍺 I was also able to have a good conversation with my seat neighbors. After that, a few people from our group and I went on a night walk because we had heard that there are a lot of glowworms in the forest. There were lights all over the path on the rock walls and in the bushes. It was beautiful. Like a string of lights at Christmas 😍 We were also able to see a possum that was climbing down a tree. So the trip was more than worth it. Afterwards, we went to the hostel bar for one last drink and then went to bed.

Saturday, December 24th

On one of the most beautiful days of the year, it was Christmas after all, I had planned a really good activity for the morning and the early afternoon: the Heli Hike to Franz Josef Glacier 🚁❄ Initially, I was quite worried because it was very foggy in our valley. That would have been really bad for my excursion. Fortunately, it turned out differently. After checking in at the i-Site, Leslie (CAN), Rebecca, Wouter, Jan, Sacheen (USA) and I were equipped with special shoes, jackets, hats, and gloves, as well as a fancy red waist bag, before heading to the helicopter landing site through the forest. After a few minutes, we went straight into the helicopter and took off immediately after everyone had taken their seats. The flight only lasted less than 5 minutes, but it was still amazing. There was so much beautiful scenery to see. On the glacier, there was bright sunshine, not a single cloud in the sky ☀ That naturally created a great contrast: radiant blue above mixed with icy white below. After each of us had been given a walking stick for support, we started our journey through the labyrinth-like passages. In between, we also saw real ice caves that we were even allowed to walk through. That was the absolute highlight, but everything else was simply breathtaking as well, including the frozen waterfall above the glacier, which you are not allowed to enter because it would be too dangerous. In any case, the tour was a complete success and we all had big smiles on our faces 😊😊 It is very difficult for me to put these incredible impressions into words, so I prefer to let the pictures speak 😉 How beautiful everything was is also shown by a funny statement from Denise in my room. I showed her my pictures and after half a minute she said, 'I don't want to look any further because I will get too jealous'. The sentence speaks for itself 😆 The whole thing was even more special because it was a real white Christmas for us ❄😍 After we had all flown back by helicopter and arrived safely in the valley, we were allowed to use the hot pools at the i-Site for free as a bonus to our trip. There we could relax and reflect on the impressions of the glacier at a temperature of 40°C. Afterwards, with almost everyone from our group who had done the Heli Hike, we went to a restaurant in town. I didn't order anything because I still had burgers on the menu for the evening, but I was able to help with the eating because the portions were too big for the others 😋 In the evening, it was time for the burgers. Prepared by us in half an hour, they were ready to be enjoyed on the terrace in front of us, and we could indulge ourselves. Each of us had three burgers, so we were all completely full by the end 😅 But we still had a big box of ice cream for dessert, which we somehow managed to finish together. Dessert is always a must 🍔🍦 After that, we went to the others who had reserved a table for our Stray group in the hostel restaurant. We had a few drinks and ended the Christmas evening together. So a wonderful and eventful day came to an end 🍻🍷🍸

Sunday, December 25th

On the first Christmas Day, we went to the next stop, Wanaka. Since this day is the only one in New Zealand where you can't do any activities and all supermarkets are closed, we had a very quiet drive with some beautiful views of the blue lakes and high, partly snow-covered mountains 🌁 That's why we stopped several times to take photos. In Wanaka, we could see a similar panorama. Simply unique in this perfect weather! Unfortunately, our time was very limited, so we couldn't do much in the afternoon and evening. I went to the beach again with my Christmas dinner group, where we were able to witness an extremely annoying child who shouted the whole beach down because it didn't want to come down from a tree that stood alone in the lake 😂 When the child was finally gone, everyone was able to take their photos undisturbed 😉 After that, I went hiking on Mount Iron with Martin and Sven. It didn't take long, we were back down in just over an hour. But the view was spectacular! Despite the low height, we had a wide view over the lake and the mountains, as well as over the flatland on the other side. In the evening, I sat at dinner with Denise, Sven, Martin, and Wouter and talked to them. After an unsuccessful attempt by Wouter to watch the movie Pulp Fiction with us in the TV room, we went with a larger group to the beach to watch the amazing starry sky and then went to bed.

Monday, December 26th

Already early in the morning, we met to make our way to the 'Adventure Capital of New Zealand', also known as Queenstown. However, Bobby had first scheduled a hike up Mount Iron, which Sven and I had already done a day earlier, unfortunately. So the two of us went to Puzzle World together. After being driven to despair by some puzzle tasks with building blocks because we couldn't solve them, we visited the absolutely impressive Illusion World and the big labyrinth together. There, you had to find four towers, climb up them, and then find the exit. Finding the four towers was pretty quick for me, but I just couldn't find a way out of the labyrinth. In the end, I managed with Sven's help. The labyrinth may look simple, but it is devilishly difficult and you can easily go around in circles. On the rest of the drive, we went to AJ Hackett Bungy, where some people from our group had booked a bungy jump. I had already had the experience in Canada and didn't feel like paying another 195 NZD 'just for fun' because it would have been exactly the same. I think, at least for now, that's something you only need to do once in your life, just to experience the feeling. Anyway, after everyone had safely returned to the top, we finally headed to Queenstown. After checking into our rooms and doing some shopping, we first went to dinner and then to a small farewell celebration at a large, quite oddly shaped tree on the beach, as some of the group were leaving the next morning, including Jan and our driver Bobby. The beach is not quite as impressive as the one in Wanaka because the mountains in the background are not as high, but it is still beautiful. After a few nice hours at the tree, in which the second Jan (CZE), by the way a former European Cup downhill skier in slalom, provided some laughs when he fell into a small stream hanging on a rope, which flows into the lake, the party continued in the Loco Bar next to our hostel. But the music there was really bad (techno) 😵 So there was no real party atmosphere. But it was still enough to sit at a table with the remaining people and have a nice conversation 😉

I have to say - and this is by no means against the other groups I have traveled with so far - that this Stray group is the one I feel most comfortable with. This is probably largely because I never traveled with the others for more than four nights, mostly only two, so you get to know each other better over a longer period of time, and because the group is much smaller than my previous ones. In the bus, for example, everyone has a window seat because only half of the seats are occupied. It's somehow more personal and less superficial because you have more contact with everyone, while some people in the large groups tend to get lost. That's why it was also very difficult for me during the time in Queenstown, where there were more goodbyes to come in the next three days, and it will certainly be the same on my next stops - to say goodbye to new friends, especially since the Stray group is also a kind of family 😟 But that's how it is when you travel. And since most of us are from the Western world, we can certainly visit each other if necessary. I have even already made arrangements to do that with one or two people 😊

Tuesday, October 27th

Although Christmas was over, there was still a lot of activity in Queenstown. With initially not so ideal weather, Sven and I went to town in the morning, to try the reportedly best burger in the world, the Fergburger. However, when we arrived at the restaurant, we found a seemingly kilometer-long line, so we would have had to wait for at least an hour before we could even place an order. Instead, we decided to try the Devil Burger, where according to Bobby the only difference to the Fergburger is the name. We got served immediately and were definitely not disappointed. The burger was really delicious and filled us up perfectly 😋🍔 When the sun came out, we headed to the next stop, the Skyline, together with Rebecca and Rebekka (funny coincidence 😅). By the way, Rebekka also studied in Trier and even started in the same semester as me. What a coincidence 😮 After a nice ride in the steepest gondola in New Zealand, we went straight to the Skyline Luge, so I was able to try out the third of the four tracks worldwide (after Calgary and Rotorua). As always, luging was incredibly fun and sometimes extremely fast with small jumps and numerous overtaking maneuvers. It's a pity that there is nothing like that in Europe. Summer toboggan runs just can't compete. After six rides, we sat down on the terrace of the Skyline and enjoyed the outstanding view over Queenstown and the surrounding area. Back in town, Rebecca and I went to Patagonia, the best ice cream parlor in the country. In the various ice cabinets, you could also see signs everywhere showing which awards the respective ice cream flavor had already received. The ice cream was fantastic indeed. On top of that, the scoops were huge, in Germany it would have been five scoops, here it was only two. So a real main course 👍👍🍦 In the early evening, I spontaneously decided to go for a hike on Queenstown Hill, which is 900 meters high, twice the height of Queenstown City. I made the ascent in 40 minutes and was rewarded with a brilliant view. Unfortunately, it was very windy though. That's why I didn't stay up there for long. But you could not only see the whole city, but also many high mountains in the surrounding area as well as lakes and forests. So it was really worth it. On the way down, I took my time and enjoyed a few more scenic views. Back at the hostel, I actually expected to go out and party with some others, but somehow no one was really in the mood. So I just had dinner with Denise, Sophia, and Lisa from my room and talked to them for a few more hours before going to sleep.

In the next report, I will tell you about the days leading up to New Year's Eve, during which there were once again beautiful landscapes to admire, but which were partly also associated with a lot of effort. Look forward to it!

See you soon,

Your Max