it has been a while since I wrote something. But now there is a little bit to tell again :)
After I wrote the last post, Jacqui and I spent a few more days on the South Island, which we spent in Kaikoura, among other places.
There we had an incredibly great free campsite right by the sea. Not only could we look directly at the sea, but in the morning several dolphin colonies frolicked in the water and showed off their tricks!
Of course, the dolphins took off after I paddled about 5 kilometers out :D
Back on the North Island, Jacqui dropped me off in New Plymouth. I spent 3 great weeks there with Vic. I met Vic on the watermelon farm and I was incredibly happy to see her again after 2 months! During this time, I worked in a hostel to be able to stay there for free. New Plymouth is a beautiful place on the west coast and is especially known for the Taranaki volcano. There is the so-called 'coastal walkway' which stretches for 10 kilometers along the coast.
Almost every day I walked a part of this path and with a bit of luck I could sometimes see Mount Taranaki! I also grabbed my surfboard there again and plunged into the waves. Well, I have probably mentioned before that surfing requires a lot of patience and endurance. It didn't go so well, but one moment was very special. Because the waves were once again very steep and difficult to take, I paddled behind the lineup (behind the waves before they break), sat on my board and looked at the volcano, the beach and the coast from a completely different perspective. Further north, the waves were significantly larger, so the horizon was not straight but wavy! At that moment, I was glad to be at a much quieter surf spot and just watch the other surfers and dream that one day I will be able to do it nearly as well.
Taranaki volcano in the background!
Twice we made our way to the famous Mirror Lake. The starting point is about 20 kilometers from New Plymouth and you can book a transfer to get there. However, we tried hitchhiking and it worked wonderfully both times. Unfortunately, both times we only saw the reflection of the dense clouds.
Once we also stayed in a hut not far from the lake. There we slept well- if we had known beforehand that the chance of clear sight in the morning is highest, we would probably have gotten up a little earlier :D
Nevertheless, we had a great evening in the hut!
In the end of the 3 weeks we were at the WOMAD Festival and it was 3 unforgettable days where we had a lot of fun!
Unfortunately, there is mainly work in gastronomy in New Plymouth and since I am not really interested in that, I had to go where there is a larger job offer. So I left New Plymouth with a heavy heart and made my way to Hastings.
During the drive to Hastings
Hastings is located on the east coast and is a mecca for backpackers looking for work, because there is plenty of it there. I worked on a blueberry farm for the first 2.5 weeks and picked up to 35 kilos of blueberries per day!
Aside from planting watermelons, it was the easiest job I have done here so far. Picking is really easy and you carry a box that you fill with only 1 kilo of blueberries, unlike cherry picking where the full bucket weighed about 7 kilos.
Unfortunately, in my second week we were sent home a little earlier every day and had two days off instead of one. Sounds good in itself, but since I was only in Hastings to earn money, it wasn't very satisfying.
...
The free time could also not be used properly, because there is not much to see in Hastings and you need a car to get to the sea and other places worth seeing.
Small exception - Chinese garden in Hastings
So I started working in an apple packing house. After the relatively easy picking of blueberries, where you could set your own pace and even listen to your own music, the packing house was the complete opposite. The first day was by far the hardest working day I have ever had - physically and mentally! There were 29 short conveyor belts, each with different apple varieties. Some belts were quite calm and on others, new apples came every second. Unfortunately, I was at one of the more stressful conveyor belts. After the apples fell onto pre-prepared cardboard trays, you had to stack them into boxes, label them, and carry the finished box to the next station. Not bad in itself if it weren't for the time pressure and the amount of apples! Sometimes you just couldn't keep up and then there was a risk that the apples would fall from the belt. That happens there quite often but of course you try to avoid this scenario, which puts you under constant stress - for 10.5 hours! Unfortunately, the machine doesn't wait for you.
On the third day, I asked for a new position, since I had naturally looked around to see what else there is and realized that there are much better jobs in the packing house.
So I spent the remaining time filling the conveyor belts with cardboard trays. That was also stressful and exhausting, but much better than the position of the 'packer'. I worked 63 hours a week there for 2 weeks.
You can imagine how happy I was on the last day of work :D! Now in hindsight, I can laugh about it, including how overwhelmed I was on the first day with all the apples :D It was definitely worth the experience!
Over Easter, I drove to Taupo and literally took a break from the past few weeks. It was really necessary!
Lake Taupo with a view of Tongariro National Park. The pointed mountain in the middle is a volcano. Mount Ngauruhoe is the Mount Doom from the movie 'Lord of the Rings'.
It is already autumn in New Zealand
Since I missed Vic and New Plymouth a lot, I decided to spend a few more days there. Whenever I return to a place, it feels like I've never left. This is also the case in New Plymouth.
The mission Mirrorlake also had to be completed and this time we picked the perfect day!
We stayed overnight in the Pouakai Hut again and got up early to be on time for the sunrise at Mirror Lake.
From here, you could even see the silhouette of Tongariro National Park (ok, not so much in the photo :D)
looks a bit better than the first picture, right? :D
The third ascent was so worth it- what can I say, good things come in threes? :)
Participated in the so-called park run- Vic obviously had more fun :D
The week with Vic in New Plymouth flew by and makes it a bit difficult for me to leave this place again.
But I'm also looking forward to returning to Asia! First, I'm flying to Bali. You can be curious about all the other destinations within Asia!
