The South Island...

For all those who have been eagerly awaiting my next post, here it is finally. The remaining 14 days with Manuela and Ben on the South Island flew by. As you can see in the photos, the South Island has many different scenic highlights to offer. When approaching the northeastern part of the South Island by ferry, you get the feeling of sailing through Norwegian fjords. While hiking in the northwestern Abel Tasman National Park, the coastline reminded me of areas in southern France where pine forests reach down to the sea (except here it is a rainforest and the crickets make almost more noise than the German neighbor with the leaf blower). In the mountains and glaciers inland, you sometimes feel like you are in the Alps, and on the west coast, where everything is green and the weather changes between sun, wind, and rain every minute, you feel like you are in Ireland.

However, there is one major difference from the European regions mentioned above: New Zealand, and especially the South Island, is much less densely populated. When hiking, you don't come across a farm or hut every so often. And if you do, it's not a place to grab a bite. When driving, you have to make sure to refuel in every larger town because it can sometimes be 100 to 200 km until the next gas station. It's even worse when you see Ben's oil lamp come on on a Sunday, but you just can't find the lever to open the hood. So we went to a gas station with an attached workshop, and I said to the slightly older cashier, 'You probably don't have anyone today who could check our oil, do you?', to which she only said 'Sure, that's my job.' (Oops, stepped right into the gender minefield). By the way, on that occasion, we found out that Ben's engine was right under our seats the whole time. We had to lift up the passenger seat to check the oil level!

Next time, you will find out how I reluctantly said goodbye to Manuela and Ben.