After 16 weeks on the road: 2 weeks break at home

After our trip to the Iguazu Falls, through Antarctica, and finally 10.5 weeks in New Zealand, we had to come home and experience some everyday life ... but don't worry, in 2 weeks we will continue towards India & Indonesia (if we can get the visas).

What will we remember from New Zealand? Well, first of all, the Kiwi (we learned that there is no plural form for the birds). We had some really nice Kiwi observations in Kiwi houses (since they are nocturnal, you always need such a house), but the absolute highlight was the Kiwi in their natural habitat on Stewart Island. And then the many hikes - notable ones were reaching the crater lake on Ruapehu, summiting Ngauruhoe, hiking Roy's Peak, and the 1.5-day tour on the Routeburn Track. But we also enjoyed many of the smaller hikes and discovered new places... speaking of new places: With Stewart Island, Nelson Lakes NP, and Te Urewera NP, we have now closed our last 3 big white spots on the New Zealand map.

The weather was rather mediocre, but we were here in late summer and autumn. Above all, it was cooler than expected. Considering the storms right before our arrival, we can't really complain - everything worked out quite well for us.

By the way, we managed to cover more than 14,000km (to be precise: 14,470 km) by car, which is not sooo much for our standards, but it is surprising in a country where the longest distance between two places (Cape Reinga - Bluff) is only 2,100km. The camera was even more busy than the car - we collected almost 17,800 pictures.

Now it's time to take a short break. Then we will spend 2 weeks in some Indian national parks on a tiger photo safari. After that, we will switch to Indonesia to add orangutans (2) and Komodo dragons (3) to our list. And then - you won't believe it - there will actually be a few days of relaxation, in the form of a few snorkeling days (4) ... Jakarta (1) is almost always the hub to reach the different areas. This trip will also mark the end of our sabbatical year.

We cannot foresee how the blog will go - we have no clue whether we will find any power to charge the battery, let alone internet. But if we do, you can expect updates from us here as usual.