Christmas - NYE and farewell at the other end of the world

After saying goodbye to the beautiful North Island, Tyson welcomed the West Coast. He raced down it within 2 days, passing by the Pancake Rocks with their truly spectacular rock formations, spending a night in Greymouth across from a gas station, visiting a brewery, and last but not least, passing by Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier. After that, Tyson almost automatically steered towards the lovely town of Wanaka. Since we fell in love with Wanaka during our first visit, the decision to spend Christmas there was relatively easy. After checking into the holiday park, we spent three wonderful Christmas days here. To top it all off, we met Klaus and Anette again. We met them at the Wharariki Beach campground over a bottle of wine. We spent a great Christmas evening with them, enjoying pizza and, of course, wine. The Christmas days were very relaxed, most of the time we lay by the lake and refreshed our tan under the bright sunshine ;) After the holidays, we made our way to Milford Sound, where we met Anette and Klaus again and took an unforgettable Milford tour with them. We celebrated New Year's Eve, as it should be, in Wanaka! Sadly, this is the point where Jana and I had to part ways. Jana lost her heart in Wanaka and wants to start her Work and Travel visa here for the first time. I was of course tempted to take Jana to the North Island and spend my last two weeks there with her, but Jana can't be moved from this place for the time being ;) Nevertheless, we had an unforgettable New Year's Eve!! As Jana had made contact with a New Zealand family to look after their children in the new year, we had a great accommodation for us and Tyson over the holidays. We were able to leave the car parked at the entrance and cook, wash, shower, eat... everything our hearts desired in the family's house. The family was incredibly warm and accommodating! On New Year's Eve, we attended an annual open-air festival near Wanaka, the 'Rhythm and Alps'. The annual New Year's Day hike took us to Rob Roy Glacier. Through a bumpy round trip, marked by water and potholes, we completed the Glacier Track in 4 sweaty hours. The track was a New Year's highlight due to the spectacular views of the hanging glacier. The first day of the year was then concluded with a farewell dinner from Jana and me, with a bottle of wine and roasted vegetables, with a heavy heart and a very strange feeling. I returned Tyson to the rental station and now I'm back in a hostel after a long time. However, tomorrow I will already receive a new camper, this time it's a relocation car. Which means a rental car, in my case a camper, that needs to be returned from Christchurch to Auckland. I have exactly one week for this, including the ferry crossing from the South to the North Island, and I will spend the entire week in the camper for a small fee + fuel. The North Island is calling!!