#interstops to Welly: 3 girlies on road

January 11, 2017

I sneaked out of the room at 7am. Today, I wanted to Skype with my boyfriend for a long time and open his Christmas present. I was really excited. His Christmas present brought tears to my eyes. It was a photo book. He had organized a photo shoot for me and his pictures told a wonderful story. There was also a lovely lunchbox included. At nine, my girls came into the kitchen and Bibi and I made Sabsi a delicious New Zealand vegetable breakfast, because she is vegan. Strengthened, the three of us illegally drove into the city. Already in the city, a guy knocked on our windshield from outside and talked about us having a flat tire. "No, this can't be true," growled Bibi. We were mega pissed off. We stopped at a bus stop and skillfully changed the flat tire. Many people asked us if we needed any help. We coolly answered each time that we had it fully under control. Since we had a strict schedule, I volunteered and went alone to the workshop while Bibi and Sabsi explored Queen Street in Auckland. Luckily, the tire only had a small hole and it only cost 25 $. Phew, we got off cheap. I picked up Bibi and Sabsi from Queen Street and we cruised to One Tree Hill to show Sabsi a bit more of Auckland. Our path then led to Pak n' Save and The Warehouse. We had to show Sabsi how to satisfy her basic needs in New Zealand 😉 After our shopping, we went to Piha. There is a wonderful beach there, which is incredibly popular, especially among surfers. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and the last rays of the sun. We took off our shoes and walked through the soft sand. We sat on the rocks and watched the magnificent sunset. Wow. The sea sparkled. The waves crashed against the rocks. In such moments, you forget all your worries and suddenly see the world only positively. When it started to get dark, we used Wikicamps, an app, to find a remote place where only self-contained vehicles were allowed to camp. Nevertheless, we set up our tent and the girls enjoyed a small beer. Today, I had the campervan all to myself. Bibi and Sabsi inflated the air mattress and then cuddled up in the tent.

January 12, 2017

After a delicious breakfast, our next destination was the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. On the way, we stopped for a tasty coffee and ate my mom's delicious Christmas cookies, which took four weeks to arrive on the other side of the world. After 3 hours of driving, we finally reached our destination. It seemed that we had a private tour today, as we were the only visitors at this time. An old retired white-bearded Kiwi (New Zealander) took us to the cave with a very old bus. Carefully, we stepped down the slippery steps into a dark gorge. It felt a bit like being in a Lord of the Rings movie. Through a rustic old wooden door, we reached the cave. Our guide told us a little bit about the history, the formation of the caves, and the function of the glowworms. The glowworms made the cave quite romantic, and it felt like looking at an amazing starry sky. Since glowworms are very sensitive to noise, we were allowed to try something cool. We shouted very loudly. Suddenly, the whole cave illuminated and the glowworms multiplied. It was really interesting to watch. After our tour, we enjoyed Kawa-Kawa tea, which our guide had prepared for us. It is a well-known remedy of the indigenous people and apparently has a calming effect. We said goodbye and went on the search for a campsite. We found a free camping site in a reserve. It didn't take long and a car arrived that looked very familiar to us. You won't believe who it was. Adela and David, our former flatmates, as well as their parents. What a coincidence. We told each other about our travel experiences so far and enjoyed a relaxed evening.

January 13, 2017

The next morning, we had a delicious breakfast and then went hiking to the Riverside Waterfall with Adela, David, and their parents. There was a nice hiking trail right next to the campsite. It was Sabsi's first little hike and she was delighted. We eventually reached the waterfall after hiking over rocks and stones. Well, we imagined the waterfall differently. It was not really worth seeing. Quite small and insignificant. We were used to much bigger ones. After our short hike, we headed towards Matamata, where we booked our Hobbiton tour for the afternoon. Since we had some time, we went to a park and relaxed on our cozy picnic blanket. Then it was time to leave. Our tour started at 5 pm. We took a mega cool Hobbiton bus to the movie set. Our guide, a cool guy with curly hair, informed us about the hard work behind the successful movie "The Hobbit". For example, the entire movie set was closed for airplanes. The vegetable garden is well maintained. The huge tree behind the Hobbiton village is not real. What? We didn't want to believe it at first. But then it somehow made sense, as the tree couldn't have roots because there was no space for them. The scene where Gandalf sits on a bench in front of his house with Frodo was actually filmed backwards due to the sun. Funny 😃 After the exciting and informative tour, we were invited to have a beer in the pub. We had a nice 10 minutes for that. That meant we had to drink fast. Due to the bright sun, the beer already worked its magic. Now we had to find a campsite. Our cool app, Campermate, suggested "McLaren's Glowworm Campsite". That sounded inviting. We set up our tent next to sheep and chickens. We had a shower and had a cozy dinner. It didn't take long and two young Germans joined us. Together, we enjoyed a few beers and decided around 10 pm to go on the Glowworm Walkway. We walked around in the dark with our headlamps. A German guy wanted to walk the trail barefoot, which he regretted after a few minutes. What a romantic atmosphere. Along the trail, there were glowworms that made the walkway really unique. We were overwhelmed. The nighttime excursion was definitely worth it. Happy, we fell into our beds.

January 14, 2017

The next morning, I was woken up promptly at 6 am by a crowing rooster. That was still okay. When I wanted to turn around again, a little sheep was bleating next to my campervan. At first, I thought I was having a nightmare. Terrible. That was the end of sleeping. I got up. The girls were already awake. While we had breakfast, a herd of sheep passed by us. I think there were about a thousand sheep. Unbelievable. Only in New Zealand 😃 Late in the morning, we hiked to the Wairere Falls. The hiking trail was quite challenging as we had to climb really big rocks. We were almost out of breath 😃 Finally, we reached our destination. Many people gathered at the lookout for the magnificent 153-meter-high waterfall. Wow. We were impressed. Sabsi couldn't stop taking photos. Once again, it was a sensation what nature offered us here. Slowly, we made our way back. I had the chance to do a short public photo shoot in the water. Sabsi proved to be a really good photographer and I had a large audience. Our next surprise for Sabsi were the Blue Springs, which were located on the way to Tauranga. A short 10-minute walk led us to the fascinating water. The water looked so wonderful. The Blue Springs definitely lived up to their name. The water was so pure and clear that it shimmered blue. After a short pole dance performance on a suitable tree, we made our way back. Now it was time to find a campsite. That wasn't so easy. When we arrived in Tauranga, most campsites were already full. Too bad. Somehow, we had expected that. "Well, let's just use one of our beloved holiday parks." After a vitamin-rich and healthy vegan dinner, we played Skipo. Our Scottish campmate from next door joined us and we tried to teach the drunken Scot how to play Skipo. "That's shit-ball," he kept saying. He was really weird. Who goes camping with his ex-wife and her new boyfriend? Well, it was definitely a fun evening 😊

January 15, 2017

The next morning, we had to hurry up. We were running a bit late. Breakfast was therefore very modest. Our first destination today was to visit our dear Couchsurfing host, Shane. You surely remember him. He helped us with buying the car and building the campervan. Fortunately, he was at home and kindly invited us for a coffee. Then we headed to "our" Mount. Of course, we wanted to show Sabsi the great view. So we hiked up the mountain, which was really exhausting. I don't understand how some people can run up this mountain. At the top of the mountain, we took some really cool photos and had a lot of fun posing 😊 Unfortunately, it started raining, but that didn't stop the girls from jumping into the sea. They had a lot of fun surfing the waves 😊 Meanwhile, I enjoyed the raindrops on my skin. We satisfied our hunger with a delicious vegan and cranberry burger for the girls. I was more in the mood for seafood and tried the seafood soup. We quenched our thirst with beers and Aperol Spritz. Of course, we also jumped into the hot water pools, the thermal pools heated by the volcanoes, with a view of the Mount. This was perfect on a rainy day like this. As a grand finale, we had waffle ice cream. And then it was off to Rotorua. We found a nice campsite right by the lake, a bit outside the city. We set up our tent and enjoyed a little snack. Later in the evening, two young Germans joined us and we had a few beers together.

January 16, 2017

Fortunately, the young Germans helped us out in the morning with some toast bread. In return, they got to taste our delicious baked beans. After breakfast, our first goal today was action. Sabsi and Bibi wanted to try Skyswing, a swing in the sky. I preferred to go biking today, so the girls dropped me off at a cool bike park in Rotorua. I was cycling uphill in scorching heat. I had no idea which route would lead where. I just rode randomly. Soon, I caught up with an older Canadian who showed me some cool trails. The bike park was really awesome. The trails were all natural and it was so much fun. I was really happy and motivated and cycled continuously for almost 4 hours. Unfortunately, the bike was only a hardtail, which made it a bit more difficult. Nevertheless, it was a successful day of biking for me 😊 In the late afternoon, the girls picked me up and we went to do our laundry. We hardly had any clothes left to wear. The laundromat was a bit different this time. We only had to drop off the laundry and the staff took care of washing and drying it. Cool, we thought. In the meantime, we treated ourselves to a chai at McDonald's. We also wanted to show Sabsi the Mud Pool, so we drove to Taupo at 6 pm. Sabsi was completely fascinated by the Mud Pool, just like us when we saw it for the first time. It is really unbelievable that 100-degree hot mud just bubbles up naturally in nature. After that, the girls jumped into the hot pools, the thermal pools heated by the volcanoes. I relaxed a bit in the van. It was already late and we had to make sure to get to Turangi. Sabsi even got to drive. The amazing girl quickly got the hang of driving on the left and pressed the accelerator quite hard. Finally, at 11 pm, we reached the free campsite in Turangi. We once again had the pleasure of using a disgusting pit toilet. But we didn't care. With our headlamps on, we set up our tent and went to sleep.

January 17, 2017

We were woken up by our alarm clock at 6 am. Today, we had the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park on the agenda. In icy cold weather, we enjoyed a quick breakfast standing up and then put on our hiking outfits. Then we set off. We had a 19.4 km long alpine hike ahead of us, one of the most beautiful day hikes in the world. We parked our car at the end of the route, at the Ketetahi car park. Then we took a shuttle to the starting point, which is usually in the Mangatepopo Valley at an altitude of 1100 m. The first part of the hike takes about 1-1.5 hours along the river, slightly uphill to the Soda Springs. Then there is a steep climb between Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe, called the Devil's Staircase, up to the 1600 m high saddle. The climb also took about an hour. For all Lord of the Rings fans: Battle scenes were filmed here. Mount Ngauruhoe is known as Mount Doom in the film. After the filming, restoration work had to be done because a lot was destroyed during the shoot. Our path continued over the South Crater to the highest point of the hiking trail, the 1886 m high and still active Red Crater. Another hour followed, which made us sweat a lot. But we forgot about that immediately when we saw the stunning view over the beautiful national park. Wow, we couldn't believe it. The colors of the Red Crater were breathtaking. If you continue, you can already see the Emerald Lakes from a distance with their sulphurous edges. The lake shimmered in shades of green, blue, and red. We took a short snack break and admired the wonderful natural scenery. We then reached the Blue Lake and after about an hour and a half, we reached the Ketetahi Hut. The landscape reminded me so much of the movie, Lord of the Rings. The last stretch was a brisk walk through the Tongariro Range and through a forest, and lasted about two more hours. Finally, we reached our car. We did it. We were so happy that we opened a beer at the car park after this strenuous walk. We now aimed to find a campsite with showers in Turangi and it didn't take long before we fell asleep.

January 18, 2017

After a delicious breakfast, we knew that we wanted to take it easy today. It was raining anyway, so we decided to drive to Taupo. We enjoyed a cozy cappuccino and chai latte, indulged in delicious cakes at a cute coffee shop, and then strolled through the city for a while. I took care of some gift shopping, while the girls checked out a sushi restaurant. Then we made our way to New Plymouth. Yes, that was quite a long way. About 3 hours of driving. Suddenly, we spotted an interesting sign. It said "Three Sisters". That sounded really mysterious. It turned out that we had to take a short walk on the beach, which was only possible at low tide. Barefoot, we walked along the wet black sand for about 20 minutes. Suddenly, we reached the place and now we also understood who the "three sisters" were. Huge rocks, three in a row, rose from the ocean. On that day, it was very cloudy and dark, so the place probably seemed even more eerie. It somehow reminded us of a real horror story. On the way back, we discovered a huge Maori face on another rock and a round giant stone sticking out of the sand, which somehow resembled a decapitated head. Very spooky, but incredibly fascinating. We reached the town of New Plymouth and settled down at a nice campsite. After a delicious small dinner, we made ourselves comfortable in our campervan and tent.

January 19, 2017

When I woke up the next day, it was pouring rain and the whole campsite was already flooded. It was clear that we couldn't do much on that day. I suggested to the girls to go out for breakfast. They were immediately excited about the idea, so we drove to the city and relaxed in the so-called "Chaos," a cozy café with a really great ambience, which definitely lived up to its name. We enjoyed a real New Zealand porridge and savory muffins. Of course, a tasty coffee was a must. Mmmmmh. Strengthened, we strolled through the city for a while and then wanted to check out the beach and inquire about surfing lessons. However, the weather was really bad and totally unsuitable for surfing. The girls had a bit of fun on the beautiful beach and took lots of photos. I watched them and enjoyed my privacy. 😊 The lady at the surf shop was very nice and recommended a cool hiking trail. It was called "Lucy's Gully." "Aha, sounds interesting," we thought. Curious, we made our way to the starting point. We were a bit unsure how it would be, as it had been raining a lot before. After just 5 minutes, it was clear that it would be a muddy affair. The first hour was all about climbing. We climbed over high roots and large rocks in the dirt. We acted like little monkeys, holding on to one branch after another to avoid falling into the mud completely. A few times, we were close to ending up completely covered in mud. Apart from a nice lookout, this hike was mainly about agility and overcoming obstacles. Sabsi, Bibi, and I agreed. This was probably the most extreme hike we have ever undertaken in our lives. 😃 We tried our best to clean our shoes and then set off to find a campsite. We found a mega cool spot right by the lighthouse on the West Cape. We were the only guests and enjoyed a hearty dinner. We deserved it after that killer hike. When it started to drizzle, we crawled into our sleeping spots. Suddenly, the girls screamed. I opened the car door. The girls were completely beside themselves. Someone had shot something at their tent. We looked and found baby wipes. Funny, who would do something like that? Sabsi and Bibi went to investigate and quickly found out that two teenagers were bored and played a prank. Well, they are funny...

January 20, 2017

After a quick breakfast, we set off quite early. We actually planned to climb Mount Taranaki. Unfortunately, that didn't work out as it was too dangerous due to the weather. I looked up in my travel guide what else was worth seeing on the way to Wellington. I read about Hawera and an Elvis museum. The girls were immediately excited. So we made our way and enjoyed a delicious coffee first. Then we walked to the water tower in the hope of having a clear view of Mount Taranaki. In vain. That was really a shame. At 1 pm, we were allowed to explore the Elvis museum. What awaited us there was simply amazing. An older man had collected Elvis albums, posters, newspaper articles, and much more his whole life. There was so much love behind it. When you entered the garage, you had the feeling that Elvis was alive. For anyone who should ever be in New Zealand, I definitely recommend visiting KD's 50s & 60s private museum 😊 To pass the time until Sabsi's tattoo appointment, we relaxed in King Edmond Park and enjoyed a refreshing watermelon. Mmmh, it was delicious 😊 Then it was off to the tattoo studio. At first, the tattoo artist didn't make a serious impression. At least not for me. He had about three hairs on his head and one tooth. But he knew what he was doing. Sabsi's tattoo looked amazing and was also very cheap. Sabsi was very happy with her new body art. Happily, we made our way to Wellington and made a stop at a free camping site on the way to spend the night. We cooked ourselves a delicious curry pineapple rice for dinner and made some nice acquaintances with our fellow campers. Then we went to bed.

January 21, 2017

The next day, we set off quite early. We still had a long way to go to Wellington. We also wanted to make a stop in Wairoa. Supposedly, there was a really cool farmer's market. Well, we were curious. When we arrived, we realized that there didn't seem to be a farmer's market today. Instead, there seemed to be some kind of vintage car meeting. There were not only a bunch of vintage cars, but also people dressed in the style of the 50s and 60s. Many secondhand shops offered various items and clothes from that time. It was completely different from what we had expected. It was definitely a somewhat new experience. Eventually, we decided to chill out in a nearby park and have a relaxed breakfast. "Hans" and "Gerti" joined us here, a crazy bluebird and a duck. Strengthened, we set off towards Wellington. We followed a very narrow road up a mountain. Supposedly, there was a fairly cheap campsite somewhere here. Once again, we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere. Plus, it was raining and I flinched with every turn because it was really steep downhill. Finally, we reached our destination and freshened up right away. Then we drove into the city to do some laundry before Sabsi started her journey home. Saurabh, our former colleague, picked us up from the laundromat and wanted to show us the beautiful windy Wellington today. Since it was raining that day, he first took us to a huge trampoline hall where we had fun for an hour and acted like little children 😊 Then we drove through the famous Mount Victoria Tunnel. When you drive through this tunnel, you shouldn't be surprised if people honk at you. The tunnel is also known as the "honk tunnel". Of course, we honked as much as we could. Why not? After all, you're not allowed to do that everywhere 😊 We then continued to Mount Victoria. On that day, it was very rainy and stormy, so we drove to the lookout by car. We only got out for 2 seconds to take a photo with Sabsi. On clear days, you have a fantastic view over Wellington from up there. Unfortunately, we couldn't see anything on that day. What a pity. But we went to have a really nice Indian dinner with our Indian friend. Actually, the restaurant was already closed. However, Saurabh, our Indian friend, managed to get us a seat in the restaurant. How cool was that? He knew the restaurant owner and it wasn't a problem at all 😊 We ordered delicious Chicken Tikka Masala, Basmati, and Coconut Rice. When I took the first bite, I almost breathed fire because it was so spicy. Tears came to our eyes and our faces turned as red as tomatoes. The waiter noticed quickly and brought us a mango milkshake to neutralize the taste in our mouths. The food was still mega delicious. After that, it was time to say "Goodbye," dear Sabsi. Bibi and Sabsi didn't want to let go at the bus station. It was quite a sad moment. Silently and thoughtfully, Bibi and I made our way back to the campsite alone this time and fell asleep soon.