bye bye South Island and thank you for the great time

We went back to the West Coast via Haast Pass with a few stops at Blue Pools.

The weather there did not look good at all and messed up our travel plans a bit. Since very bad weather was forecasted for the coming days, we quickly passed by the two glaciers Fox and Franz Josef. 

At Fox Glacier, we took a short walk through a rainforest and to the Fox Glacier Lookout, from where we could see a small part of the glacier. However, the best way to see the glaciers is by helicopter, which is why some helicopters flew above us. 

 The Maori used to call the Franz Josef Glacier 'ka roimata o Hine Hukatere', which translates to 'tears of the snow maiden'. According to the legend, the maiden lost her lover when he fell to his death from a summit. Her flowing tears then froze into glacier ice. The unusual name comes from the Austrian Julius Haast, who wanted to honor Emperor Franz Josef at that time. 

 What fascinated me about these glaciers is the fact that they rise in the midst of rainforests. I was also shocked how much the glaciers have retreated in recent years. Along the way, you can see markings that show how the glaciers have changed in recent years. Due to massive climate change, it is unfortunately becoming increasingly difficult to see the glaciers on foot.

After visiting the glaciers, we continued to Greymouth because we wanted to spend the upcoming storm in a larger city. We waited there for the storm and it was more powerful than expected. Our car was shaking at night and the sound of the wind kept us awake. On one day, we even had to leave the city center because it was no longer safe. We saw dented garages, fallen trees, and broken railway barriers. This experience made it even more clear to us how much New Zealand is a playground for such natural disasters. Such storms and smaller earthquakes are part of everyday life there. When the storm subsided, we headed back to the East Coast via Lewis Pass.

 In Lewis Pass, we treated ourselves to a day in the hot pools of Hamer Springs. It felt like all the residents plus tourists were there with us at the swimming pool, so it was very crowded. However, it felt good to finally have some warmth after the rainy days. 

Kaikoura is a hotspot for observing marine animals, the reason why so many animals live there is due to the ocean currents and geographical conditions. The seabed gradually sinks from the land and then drops steeply to a depth of 800 meters, where the southward current meets the continental shelf. This creates an upward flow that carries food from the seabed to the zone where the marine inhabitants are. We were also lucky enough to see some dolphins and numerous seals. Domi also caught several small sharks while fishing. Since no other fish bit, we had shark for dinner. Although it felt strange to eat shark, it tasted good to us. 

 On our first few days, the waves on the beach near Kaikoura were huge, probably the biggest waves we have seen in New Zealand so far. Therefore, we wanted to work on our surfing skills further. However, the waves were too big for us and we were just tossed around. We spent the evenings at the same beach, where there was a relaxed atmosphere and many surfers gathered. In the evenings, there were several bonfires and we sat together with our old friend Lorenz and exchanged our experiences of the past weeks. 

In Blenheim, a few kilometers north of Kaikoura, there are endless vineyards, which is why the place is especially popular with backpackers. We went there to finally meet up with Alex, a friend of Domi's from Germany. Together, we spent some time and enjoyed the beautiful beaches on the East Coast of New Zealand one last time. From Blenheim, we drove back to Picton. 

There, we took the ferry back to the North Island. Saying goodbye to the South Island of New Zealand was really difficult for us. We came to the South Island with high expectations and those expectations were more than exceeded. It felt like saying goodbye to our big journey. The last month has already begun for us and we have to deal with selling Rogi. We would love to take our old friend with us to Germany, he has been so loyal to us during this time and has been a great home for us over the past few months. We will drive back to Auckland along the East Coast, as we have not visited it yet. Hopefully, we will have a great remaining time there with good weather.