Let's go to the South Island!

A few friends from Mount Maunganui took me to Rotorua on January 3rd, where we went on a kind of summer toboggan run. From there, I drove to Taupo the next day, where I got back on the Straybus! Then we went on to Whakahoro. We stayed there for two nights. On the first day, I did a 4-hour kayak tour on the river (one of the great walks) - it was beautiful! We went back in 15 minutes with the jet boat. In the evening, we had a very fun face painting party!

The next day, we went to Tongariro National Park, where we spent 8 hours for the crossing (19.4 km - mostly steep uphill - super exhausting), due to the weather conditions....

Unfortunately, we couldn't see much because it was very cloudy and windy. When our fingers froze, we couldn't enjoy the crossing anymore and just wanted to go home.

The next morning, I went to Wellington, where I stayed for 2 days (beautiful city). From there, on the 9th, I crossed over to the South Island, where friends from the hostel (Mount Maunganui) took me to Nelson. From there, Finja and Henri (friends from Germany) picked me up and we continued to Abel Tasman National Park. We stayed there for two nights at a campsite. On the first day, we had a kayak tour planned, on the second a 22-kilometer hike. It was really beautiful and I enjoyed the time with the two of them in Abel Tasman National Park very much!

This morning, I drove from Abel Tasman National Park to Westport. Here we just made a cozy bonfire on the beach. Tomorrow we will go to Franz Josef (skydiving, if the weather is good)!