Week 7 and the northern end

Hello and welcome to my presentation on geography. Is it even a subject? Who knows. Luckily, I won't become a teacher. Or will I?

Since the last time I checked in, a eventful week has passed.

We relaxed a lot at work. The only noteworthy event is that Philipp and I almost got towed with the company car while conducting inspections in a building. We just made it to the parking garage in time. The property manager there had already called the tow truck. Maybe it wasn't so clever to park for 2 hours on a numbered parking space of a tenant.😄

Now I not only have a blog, but also a Glock (Probs to Loni for the joke). Glocki landed here on Thursday. He will be traveling with me in New Zealand first and starting his internship in Auckland at the end of April.

This weekend, Sophia, Loni, Glock, and I embarked on a trip to Cape Reinga. Unfortunately, Stefan wasn't there.

Cape Reinga is the northernmost point of New Zealand, with its landmark being a lighthouse. It was quite a road trip to get there. We drove 1000 kilometers in a mini Mazda in just under 2 days. You can check the distance from Auckland to Cape Reinga on Google Maps. It's quite a sport for a weekend...

I was driving on Friday and Death really tried everything to make me end up in it. I have to ask myself again why I always make that joke. After all, only a handful of people understand it, right? Well, it has always been enough for me if I found my jokes funny. If the audience does too, then that's a nice bonus.😄

First of all, you shouldn't imagine the New Zealand motorway like a German autobahn. Not at all. The roads are single-lane country roads, quite winding and sometimes really narrow. The B33 or B28 are a dream compared to them.

But the shape of the roads itself was no big deal.

As it got dark, however, additional obstacles came into play. These were a jerrycan and dead animals on the road, interesting gravel tracks, and trucks parked half on the road. It got really nasty with the rising fog. Thanks to Katsche's driving school, everything went smoothly though.

On Friday, we visited a cave known for its glow worm population. It was really worth seeing. The floor of the cave was covered in mud. Mud... Settlers of Catan players know what I'm talking about. Looking forward to playing a game with Carlo W. (whose biggest role model I am), Lukas H. (advocate of the theory that watching the Tour de Ski helps against a hangover), and David B. (or W.), who likes to delve deep. Actually, Fabi S. doesn't feel like playing Settlers, but he will come anyway.😄

Here's an authentic picture of a tourist with a camera from a glow worm cave:

After spending the night in an awesome Airbnb, which is way better equipped than our Empire, we continued north on Saturday. First, we visited a beach, but unfortunately the weather there was a bit changeable. I found it remarkable how quickly the water receded as the tide began.

Then back in the car and to 90 Mile Beach. It's not actually 90 miles long, but you can see as far as the eye can see. You can even drive on the beach with a car. This route is better than some real roads.

Everywhere on the internet it explicitly states that you should only drive on the beach with four-wheel drive. Most car rental companies also completely prohibit driving on the beach. An angler we asked about the next exit thought we were stupid because we hadn't informed ourselves.

But in fact, we were stupid because we did inform ourselves and didn't care. Here's the appropriate picture for this living-on-the-edge action.

After leaving the beach, Cape Reinga wasn't far away. This point in New Zealand is a highlight. The path on high cliffs, from which you can see far out to sea and various beaches. You can also see how the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean there. It's clearly visible from the waves crashing into each other.

The lighthouse at the end of the cliff is truly magical. A very special place, almost surreal.

With this impressive place, only one sight could compete on this weekend. The largest Kauri tree in New Zealand, which we visited on Sunday. Kauri trees are special trees that only grow in New Zealand. The largest of them, the Tane Mahuta 'Lord of the Forest', is 51 meters tall with a trunk diameter of over 4 meters. Its age is unclear, but it is estimated to be around 2000 years old.

A picture doesn't do it justice. That's why I won't include one.

Then we went back home, with a greater difficulty. But I'll tell you about that next week.

By the way, Jana H. from F. won the puzzle game from the last blog. Of course, the rock on Piha Beach was a representation of Chipsy.

Chipsy is Jana's and my dog. A really great animal, we're bros.

It's also time to thank Teresa. She is my bridge to home, provides me with information about Fastnacht, and is my supervisor on Instagram. I also learned from her what a 'bio' is. Thanks for your support.😘

End for today. I'm going to call Hannah now. I'll complain about how stressful my life is. Why actually?