Week 10: Two Schapbacher meet... in New Zealand!

Kia Ora everyone. This is the dream of all tattooed Māori women rugby players speaking.

Last Wednesday, Glocki and I landed in Christchurch and started our round trip on the South Island. We are traveling with a campervan, which allows for great flexibility. You can park and sleep at any campsite. Since it is currently the off-season, you can also visit the campsite relatively spontaneously, without a prior booking. Otherwise, we would be lost with our spontaneity or lack of structure. 😄

Now to the details:

The first real highlight of our trip was on the second day on the Banks Peninsula. There, we took a boat tour with wildlife sightings. We saw dolphins, seals, and a penguin. It was very, very cool and the coastline of the peninsula itself was also worth seeing.

At one point, the Titanic song "My Heart Will Go On" even played on the onboard speakers. No idea why. Glocki desperately searched for Ruven, his rose from the Wasen. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found. Too bad.

This week, we also visited Maria, a friend's aunt. To be more precise, she is Mario's aunt, the partner of my cousin Lena. Maria was born and raised in Schapbach, the hometown of my parents. After living in Canada, she emigrated to New Zealand about 20 years ago. She now lives with her husband and her daughter's family in a big house in Timaru, near Christchurch.

We originally planned to stay there only on Friday night, but the whole family was so nice and welcoming that we rearranged our trip to return to them on Saturday evening. I'm really grateful to have met all of you. All family members are super nice and have a lot to tell. Even the little two-year-old Lukas. 😄

For me, it was great to meet real Kiwis and to hear their views and opinions on various topics. Moreover, it was satisfying to see that I can have conversations in English without major difficulties. (This week, I was even praised by an English granny for my good English. Whether this praise is deserved or not is a hot topic of debate.)

Another member of Maria's family that I really liked was Hermann the German Rottweiler.

A really beautiful and dear dog who unfortunately had surgery and therefore has to wear the Elizabethan collar. But that didn't stop him from eating a part of my shoelaces. The cheeky one. 😄

On Saturday evening, we went to an open-air rock concert with Maria and her daughter. They played hits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. That was a contrast for Glocki compared to my feel-good pop playlist that plays in the car. Ask him which one he prefers. 😄

The following day, we said goodbye to the Tobyn family and visited, among other places, Tunnel Beach. In the 19th century, a wealthy New Zealander had a tunnel dug through the cliffs to make it easier for his family to reach the beach. That's why this beautiful beach is still easily accessible today. But just the view from above was phenomenal.

A beautiful area with huge rock formations, rugged cliffs, and gentle waves.

We drove to Tunnel Beach by car, and while I'm at it, let me tell you something about driving in New Zealand. (Wow, that was a segue like on Sky when they promote a boxing match during a football game. Philipp would say his father is the king of segues. 😄)

Driving in New Zealand is generally pleasant, and other road users are relaxed. That's our luck, because we are doing a real road trip here. The campervan drives like a normal car, just a bit more sluggish in the curves. The roads themselves are fine. On narrow roads and gravel tracks, you just have to drive slower. Especially since traffic tickets are not cheap here and apparently there are speed cameras in unexpected places.

One thing that I can't really get used to is the many dead animals on the road. We see a carcass every 10 minutes, often torn apart. It's mainly possums, which are considered pests in New Zealand and probably won't be missed...

Fortunately, we haven't run over any animals (or humans) ourselves, except maybe a bird that flew into one of our headlights from the side. To give you an idea, here's a stock image of a flying bird.

The source of the image is a Google search for "flying bird".

For those of you meticulously working on your bachelor's thesis, yes Dennis and Steffen, I'm talking about you: You shouldn't cite like this. 😄

I'm not sure why there are so many more animals dying on the road here compared to Germany. Maybe it's because there are more animals in New Zealand than in our country and they are not accustomed to traffic? Some animals really have no experience with cars, as they sometimes run zigzag across the road, so you sometimes have to almost come to a stop until they finally move away.

Maybe New Zealanders intentionally run over possums because these pests come from Australia and eat all the kiwi birds? Update: This turned out to be true. 😄

So many questions. Where is the voiceover to answer them?

On Monday and Tuesday, we were at the Catlins, at the southeastern end of the South Island. The area is sparsely populated but has some of the most beautiful landscapes in New Zealand.

In the Catlins, many unique attractions are close together, so we were able to see all of the following places in one day. Crazy...

The following day was less productive. We had a flat tire and had to change it in the rain with ancient tools. Thumbs up to Glock, who had the idea to use a knife to crank the jack. Otherwise, we would have been screwed. Later in the day, we went to a workshop to get a new tire. We had to wait for an hour, but they patched the tire, changed it back, and sent the bill directly to Spaceships. We spent the rest of the day waiting for good weather and making our way to the next destination of our trip.

By the way, it was really cold and rainy at the Catlins. It dropped to 2 degrees at night. Fortunately, it mainly rained in the evenings and at night. In the van, you're already glad that everyone has their own blanket and sleeping bag. I definitely didn't want to freeze at night...

Finally for today, I want to say what a beautiful country New Zealand is. Some time ago, we met a German Russian at a geyser and had a little chat with him. He was quite a braggart. He told us that he had been to Iceland and that the geysers there were much more spectacular. He also said that the Fiordland National Park on the South Island is nothing special compared to the fjords he saw in Norway, which were much bigger. I almost asked him for an autograph, you rarely meet such worldly men.

But seriously:

It may be true that there are more impressive geysers, fjords, or beaches somewhere else. But where else can you find all of them together? In one day, we visited a large geothermal park, hiked through mountains and volcanic landscapes the next day, and on the third day, we were first at the beach and then in an area with huge forests, rivers, and rare animal species. Where else do you have the privilege of seeing all of this in one country in such a short time? The whole world in one country.

Once again, greetings to my friends back home. Sorry for the limited updates, but we don't always have internet here and don't have much time to write. In fact, we had no network at all in the last two days. See you soon.

A special greeting to derby hero Tom Franke. Have you ever missed a penalty in your life?

Finally, I pass on the good wish to you that an older German campsite owner gave us when we said goodbye: 'Keep it up.'

I had never heard that before, and hopefully I will never hear it again.

Goodbye and see you soon.