More beautiful, higher, more powerful

Kia ora from New Zealand!

In my last report, which covers the past year 2016, I chose a headline that alludes to the Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius (faster, higher, stronger). I chose this headline for a reason, because these days have increased in many ways what I have experienced in this beautiful country so far and thus provided a perfect year-end. I will now tell you exactly what I experienced. Have fun 😊

Wednesday, December 28th

This time I woke up very early, which was good because I had arranged to go on a longer hike with Andy from Canada. After breakfast with Denise, whom I had to say goodbye to shortly afterwards, we started the hike to the summit of Ben Lomond at 8:20. Ben Lomond is the highest mountain in the immediate vicinity, reaching an altitude of 1748 meters. It quickly became clear that this would not be an easy path! We hiked through rock slabs and steep ramps, through the forest and past the skyline, and soon reached the tree line, where the terrain turned into tundra. As soon as we left the tree line, we saw five mountain goats of different colors in the not too far distance. It was the first time I saw mountain goats in the wild. With increasing altitude, the wind became stronger and colder. The summit of the mountain was already visible early on, but the path to it seemed never-ending. Especially when we reached the saddle and could start the final, even steeper ascent. Shortly before that, Jan, the 'flying Czech', caught up with us and even overtook us. He was already far ahead of us at the top. By the way, compared to this ascent, the Alpine Crossing was a joke in terms of difficulty. We continued to climb slowly but surely on the difficult path, and after three hours, we finally reached our destination, which rewarded us with a phenomenal view 😍 In front of us lay Queenstown amidst green meadows and large forests, with vast tundra expanses above. On the other side, we could see a huge valley with many snow-covered mountains. All of this under sunny skies with only a few clouds. Of course, it was still not very warm due to the altitude. When we reached the top, we were joined by three keas. These are mostly green mountain parrots. It was an amazing panorama, with one of the keas right in front of me on a rock and steep descent down to Queenstown beneath. After a while, we started making our way back down. The return was not as difficult as I had feared, but it still took a while. We took a slightly different path back, which eventually turned into jungle-like conditions, including climbing. After enjoying the beach promenade on the last meters, we finally arrived exhausted but happy at the hostel after seven hours of hiking. In the evening, I went on a kind of pub tour with Sven, Rebecca, Felix, and a new Stray group that had just arrived in Queenstown, where I also met a few familiar faces. We enjoyed some good music and had a little party before heading home shortly after midnight.

Thursday, December 29th

Many people I have met so far say that Milford Sound is their number one place in New Zealand. So, I was very excited when we headed in that direction early in the morning. And my expectations were not disappointed. This day was truly one of the most beautiful of my journey. After a long drive with our new bus driver Lego from Queenstown, the mountains gradually became higher and the scenery more spectacular. I felt like I was in the Alps. We were also extremely lucky with the weather, as there is usually an 80% chance of rain there. But on this day, there was no sign of rain. It was like a dream that you never want to wake up from. I have never seen such an impressive and majestic mountain landscape before. Thanks to Lego, we were able to get off the bus at several stops and take extensive photos of the scenery. The whole bus ride was accompanied by epic music like 'Circle of Life' or 'What a wonderful world'. Several times, I got goosebumps when I saw the mountains that surrounded us in the valley. There, you feel so small and insignificant compared to the huge and powerful mother nature. There was also a tunnel that reminded me of a coal mine. It had a mystical atmosphere 😊 The destination of this amazing journey was a small harbor, from where the Milford Sound Cruise departed. For this purpose, we all boarded a large ship that took us through a vast mountainous landscape with rainforests and two impressive waterfalls that were huge and filled with water. We also saw a large colony of seals. It was extremely windy on the ship, but everyone gladly endured it for these views 😉 On the way back, we could once again enjoy the beautiful mountains before heading to our remote accommodation, Gunn's Camp, a campsite situated in the mountains. There is no cell phone reception there, and the power is completely shut off at 10:00 pm. It is even more extreme than Whakahoro. After a short hike, which was not very spectacular and mostly through the forest, we all had a delicious barbecue with burgers and sausages before I joined some people in tackling a huge puzzle. We managed to complete the edge but then the lights went out 😅 That's why everyone went to bed shortly after that.

Friday, December 30th

From Gunn's Camp, we first went to the Mirror Lakes in the morning, which are known for their spectacular reflections. It was fascinating, although the lakes were not that large, so we couldn't admire the reflections as much. After that, we went to Te Anau, where we had already been the day before. There, I could admire the beach and the sea before heading to Lake Matheson, one of the supposedly most beautiful lakes in the world. It was a beautiful view, but nothing overly spectacular. Afterwards, we made another stop at the sea, where we could see some dolphins in the distance. Another goal achieved 😊✔ Although it was difficult to see them clearly because of the relatively large distance. Then we continued to Invercargill, and from there to Bluff, where those who wanted to go to Stewart Island took the ferry. Stewart Island is the third island of New Zealand in the far south and reportedly has beautiful scenery, but unfortunately, the ferry is very expensive. You can also find kiwis there. It would have been too expensive for just one day. I would have done it for three days, but I'm still in the country long enough to catch up on that. Those of us who remained simply had a casual dinner and a cozy evening at the hostel in Invercargill, the place that was once referred to as the 'Gateway to nowhere' by some celebrity or something like that. Apparently, there is absolutely nothing to do in this city, so we stayed at home.

Saturday, December 31st and Sunday, January 1st (early morning)

Finally, another big day had arrived: New Year's Eve. Like many others, I had planned to be in the party capital Queenstown for the turn of the year. But first, everyone who stayed in Invercargill, including me, went wildlife spotting in extremely windy weather. First, we went to a beach with a lighthouse, where there are usually sea lions lying around. I actually saw one lying on the beach. It didn't seem very motivated to move and was lying there calmly. After that, we wanted to observe dolphins in the sea somewhere else, but unfortunately, we couldn't see any there. The day passed quickly, and after picking up the visitors to Stewart Island in Bluff in the late afternoon, we headed towards our destination for the day, Queenstown. Unfortunately, we were delayed on the way due to a serious accident involving several cars, with two helicopters and four ambulances on the scene. So we didn't arrive in Queenstown until 9:00 pm, and after the longest check-in of my life, we didn't make it to the city until 10:15 pm. After a final pizza to end the year, I went to the harbor with two Dutch girls, one of whom, Lydia, by the way, had her birthday on New Year's Day, Marcel (SUI), Jan, Sven, and Felix. We went to an open-air concert right by the lake. With a countdown, we welcomed the new year 2017, but unfortunately, we somehow lost sight of Jan, Marcel, and Sven. After that, everyone ran to the lakeside wall to admire the official fireworks display. It was simply beautiful with colorful lights and various effects, lasting 6 minutes. After sending New Year's greetings, we went to 'The London,' a club, with the two Dutch girls. There, we met many other people from the Stray group. The music wasn't the greatest, but it was still fun because I also met my former colleagues and 'Vineyard chauffeurs' Jeremy and Thomas, who came to the club. I was very happy to see them again. It wasn't until 3:15 am that I went back to the hostel.

In my next report, I will tell you about my, UNFORTUNATELY, very weather-affected time at Mt. Cook, as well as my experiences in Christchurch and Timaru.

See you soon,

Your Max