Christmas in Kaikoura 🎄

We spent the second day in Kaikoura exploring the city center and relaxing on the beach. The appointment at the Mercedes Benz workshop was on Friday, which meant we had to drive to Chch again. Once we got there, we dropped off the car and went looking for a café. There were a few different shops near the café, which we all went to because we still had a lot of time to fill. Then, while we were at the toy store, we got a call from the repair shop, only for them to tell us that they were also having trouble communicating with the computer. It would now take a little longer and cost more. After another hour we were finally allowed to come back. They hadn't really gotten much out of it. It seems that a sensor is broken and we have the choice to either replace the sensor or just take a chance and look further into the engine and Manuel search for the problem. We chose the former and Dad will send us a new sensor with the brakes. Friday was very uneventful because we just spent it trying to figure out what was causing the check engine light to appear.

I think I forgot to mention that we had to change our Christmas plans as the lengthy car repairs meant we wouldn't have made it to Auckland on time to see our friends from the program.

On Christmas morning we went to a beach where you could take a hike to see seals. You were only allowed to approach the seals at a maximum of 10 meters, but since they sometimes blend in very well with their surroundings, it often happened that we were accidentally only about 2 meters away from them. I had never seen seals in real life before, so it was definitely a nice Christmas experience🤗 When we got back to the campsite, it was already late afternoon and we noticed that we had new neighbors. But for us it was time to take a shower first! After that we came into contact with the new group quite quickly and it turned out that they all came from Germany. After a short small talk, Madlen and I were challenged to a game of beer pong. Since it was almost time for something to eat, Madlen and I went into the city center as planned because we wanted to treat ourselves to something to celebrate the day. After a short, very expensive visit to a restaurant, we went back to the new group and continued celebrating Christmas with them. But since it was still very warm and we also used the campsite's pool, it didn't really feel like Christmas. At some point the topic of gymnastics came up and everyone showed what they could do...when I wanted to teach the boys the splits, I simply sprained my thumb while supporting them🥲🥲. It was getting quite late and we ended the evening with a round of “who am I?” Slightly hungover, the family was called in the morning to take part in the festivities at home. We spent the day nursing our hangovers before playing beer pong again in the evening. However, since it was Christmas Day in New Zealand, all the liquor stores were closed and we made our way to the city center with the aim of buying alcohol from restaurants😅 This only worked to a limited extent as we were only allowed to consume the alcohol on site. But we were already called by the others who had stayed behind at the campsite because they had bought more than 50 beers from the people there. It was a very fun and successful evening!

The next morning we had to say goodbye to the group as we continued on to Havelock and the others to Chch.

We only had three nights there. Since the last few days were still a bit on our minds, the first day was very quiet. In the evening, while we were cooking, we met Anton. He is also from Germany and is currently working in Havelock, but will most likely meet us in Nelson over New Year's Eve. We had planned a short hike for the next day. Unfortunately, Anton unexpectedly had to work and Madlen and I set off alone. Unfortunately, this hike wasn't as exciting as the last one😉

Accompanied by very stormy and rainy weather, we set off on Friday to our next destination: Nelson🥳