New Year - New Country: New Zealand

03.01. - 05.01.2017

CHRISTCHURCH / HANMER SPRINGS / WESTPORT / GREAT COAST ROAD / GREYMOUTH

New year - new country! So we were off to New Zealand - the second major stage of our journey has begun. We faced our first major problem of the year: how do we get our luggage down to 20 kg. It was a struggle - but in the end we made it (feeling like we had 100 kg of carry-on baggage but that doesn't matter). Due to the time difference, we had a night flight and arrived in Christchurch shortly before 1 am ... there is now a 12-hour difference between New Zealand and Germany. If you think you can quickly leave the airport at night, you have never been to New Zealand.

On the plane, we were often reminded to declare everything we bring into the country - and yes, it was checked. I think I went through 2 or 3 inspections and even the soles of my feet were checked... so it took some time, but who needs sleep anyway. Thankfully, we had booked accommodation at the airport, as our car rental was also at the airport. So we didn't have far to go ... which the taxi driver also thought and therefore refused to drive us - we could easily walk. Did he see my luggage ?! It takes me an hour to walk 10 minutes with it. But well, we had our airport trolley - unfortunately I don't have a photo of us wandering through Christchurch at night with it, but it was certainly a funny sight. Our accommodation was near our car rental - very cool and unusual, but we still didn't get much sleep.

The next day we went to pick up the car - after all, we only have a little over 3 weeks to explore the islands. Since our car wasn't ready yet, we were allowed to go for breakfast worth $50.

 Of course, we didn't need to be told twice. Afterwards, we quickly did our first shopping and quickly realized ... New Zealand is definitely more expensive than Australia! After picking up our car, we visited Christchurch. In 2011 there was a major earthquake here - and it was still visible everywhere. Christchurch is practically a ghost town that is just beginning its reconstruction.

You can still see ruins everywhere, half of the city is a construction site, and the houses that have already been rebuilt are so modern that they don't really fit into the cityscape. Overall, a very strange atmosphere, especially because you could see that it used to be a beautiful old city. We then visited the Botanical Garden, which clearly represented the highlight of the city.

The next day we continued to Hanmer Springs - and it was a day of wellness. It should be mentioned that it gets significantly colder (!!!!) at night in New Zealand than in Australia - we sleep in thick clothing, sleeping bags, and blankets! Therefore, we were even more looking forward to a warm spa day, as you know it from Germany.

 Different countries, different customs - the New Zealanders have a slightly different understanding of a spa - it was a pure outdoor facility. Have they looked at their thermometer ?! Well ... it was not quite as relaxing as hoped.

 Fortunately, we treated ourselves to a massage and that was really relaxing! The highlight for us was being able to take a warm shower in the spa area - the day was saved! In the evening it got so cold that you could see snow on the mountains.

Today we headed to the West Coast of the South Island - starting with Westport. There we visited a seal colony. So cute, especially because they had just given birth to little seal pups. Then it was also the first time to refuel and that was a shock! In New Zealand, gasoline is twice as expensive as in Australia!!!! Yes, it is really very cheap in Australia, but we had gotten used to it. The price here is about the same as in Germany, except that you don't drive several hundred kilometers a day at home. These will be expensive 3 ½ weeks. We continued along the Great Coast Road ... at first we thought, how funny, is this a replica of the Great Ocean Road ?! But it turned out that the route was much more impressive than the Australians'! We made two stops along the way - Perpendicular Point and Pancakes Rocks.

The rocks there are layered in a way that is supposed to resemble pancakes. Our destination for the evening was Greymouth, where hopefully we would have a warmer night ahead.