Beloved Wellington

Apr 7, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey, Thoughts

‘It has been a great summer, the best summer of them all!’

For real. Back then in December, when the summer began I came to Wellington and now this summer slowly gives in to the harvest. Somewhere in there was some kind of winter and 16 months have passed by now.

Today, when the last sun set over Wellington, I finally have passed on my car to a local student. I have bid farewell to the last people I know here, as long as they were at home, and now my time here in New Zealand has come to an end.

In my last days I have made full use of Wellington where I could and got closure to my heart’s content. Where it all began, it should have an end.
Thus, the last entry from New Zealand on my blog shall be about my beloved city Wellington. See a collage of the loveliest places here:

With a number of friends and even with my parents I sat here at the production site of the ‘Six Barrel Soda’ and drank wondrous sodas.

The grand museum ‘Te Papa’ in which you can see new things all the way! It’s free of charge and a great meeting point! 😉

On my way to the hostel. As it used to be and as it is today.

The way up Mount Victoria coming from the Oriental Parade. Yes, I love to walk about at night.

A unique cafe hides in a street corner and shines with its cool concept and siphon coffee. You should google Lamason, I suggest. 😉

In this place, you find 4 amazing cocktail bars, which each impress with their individual ambiance and character. I always was together with lovely people and we had a sweet time!

Chews Lane is a good place to spoon some takeaway or ice-cream sitting on the benches…

Oh, how many people I have ‘forced’ to THIS iced coffee! 😀 But everyone likes it, how else? It gets served at the Enigma Cafe and we got an extra portion marshmallows and cream for the last time. 

The ultimate cinema from the visitor’s perspective. At The Embassy we saw the Kiwi movie ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’. A worthy conclusion at my all-time favourite movie theatre!

And this is what it usually looks like stepping outside after the movie…

The Majestic Centre, the great anchor point for lost backpackers.

I loved to eat at Chef’s Palette many times, as pricing and concept make for a superb meal!

Cuba Street, one of the veins of Wellington.

And that’s the end of my trusty (and maltreated) car. A large burden is gone now!

This is the place where on the very first day I met my first friends in New Zealand. On this last evening I passed by it one more time…
At that moment, something had come full circle.

You have all been part of my great journey through New Zealand. With you I have shared my 16 months here and you were there. I want to thank you for that!

 

 

‘Many places I have been
Many sorrows I have seen
But I don’t regret
Nor will I forget
All who took that road with me’

The End Of All Things

Apr 5, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey, Thoughts

After the great event in Wellington, about which I will tell further down, we went to Napier one last time. But this city you already know about sufficiently. 😉

State Highway 2 north of Hutt Valley.

Our last route was from Napier to Mahia. You will surely remember the road trip I went on there about half a year ago.
This place I revisited with Elvis one more time and we watched the sun rise:

The last corner of New Zealand I hadn’t seen yet, the East Cape, we went along after that:

We didn’t have much time for the last ride down to Wellington. Therefore, we took only small station at the most important places:

Rain clouds gathered in Rotorua.

The Juka Falls from above. Here in Taupo for the last time we met up with Tina and her friend and shared a campsite. That also was the last night camping in New Zealand…

A rainbow in the Tongariro.

Of unique experiences you can tell quite often on a journey like mine, but some of them are more unique than others.
That applies to the movie marathon we took part in.
That one was about the ‘Lord of the Rings’- and the ‘Hobbit’ movies, which were being filmed in New Zealand in every aspect and all.
So, the place we spent 24 hours in was located at the heart of all the studios and production sites, as well as the residencies of the workers. Even the cinema is owned by the moviemakers. Thus, it was being decorated magnificently by a employee of WETA Workshop.
The probably greatest works of the New Zealand movie industry you couldn’t possibly experience in a more special way!

 

 

Some people were quite serious about their costumes. 😀

That was the agenda. During the breaks we got rid of the coffee, got new coffee, got more sweets and got some fresh air. 🙂

Courtenay Place.

 

 

And now we are back in Wellington. The place where it all began.
Did you keep count of how many months on my blog have been filled with New Zealand tales? It is 16. An entire 16 months are going towards its end now.

The last burden is my car. But on that there is going to be a way, too. No matter the price in the end. The most important is that I enjoy the last days in Wellington.

And that is not that easily done to begin with. But the more I walk the well-known streets of Wellington and ponder about the times, I close in to the conclusion: It is plenty. Wellington is going to go on without me.

I want to go home. To a normal life with my family and my home.
Life as a traveler is an exciting, diverse and never-ending composition of goodbyes, new circumstances and the overall realisation that you are here IN ORDER TO experience something.
The people walking the city in the golden autumn afternoon sun all have a home to go back to. Every day, for a long time. They have people they know and see. Every day, for a long time. They have a place they live in and that they discover laid-back. Every day, for a long time.
And one day, the same I will have too. When I am home.

I like to compare New Zealand with a buffet. I walked up and down it and filled many plates. Now I scrape together the last bits of my last plate and enjoy the last flavour.
The dessert awaits in form of 3 weeks Australia with Elvis and after that the cordial (more like a cocktail, actually) is in sight over in Southeast Asia.

It doesn’t end. It continues!

May It Be. Long Ways To Go Yet. Into The West.

Toktok-Toktok – Part 2

Apr 3, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey

Have I mentioned Napier to be most special and unique?
I hope you will agree with me, while browsing through the pictures that I have collected over more than one whole year…

 

 

Klaus and Jennifer, the heroes of the first hour!

The city is being dominated by its Art Deco after being rebuilt after the earthquake in 1931.

What compares to a cup coffee?

 

 

The Centennial Gardens in Napier are well worth a visit! Some pictures of the flowers are scattered around the blog. 😉

 

 

Cape Kidnappers in the background.

 

 

Clive Square. A prototype of a city park.

But Napier doesn’t stay passive, being a special city with its Art Deco, the wonderful places and people.
In Napier, every February the Art Deco Festival takes place.
What that means? That means that the ENTIRE city lives like in 1930 for some days. Music, clothing, activities and most prominently the cars get put back in time.

See for yourselves:

One of the greatest attractions is the car parade. Over 300 vintage cars, bicycles, motorbikes and even soapboxes ride through the city in a chain.
And in my 16 months here I had the chance to experience the whole festival twice.

 

 

Next to antique steam machinery, there was a military search light from the old days at the beach…

 

 

By the way, this is one of my last blog posts from New Zealand. For it is not more than 5 days until I have to leave this place.
But I am prepared for that. I have taken much with me and left much here. The last days I spend in the same hostel as in the beginning to strike a clean balance. After 1 1/3 years you can look back quite a deal…

The Full Package New Zealand

Mar 23, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey

I rarely know the exact title of a photo post, before tinkering with its text a little beforehand.
But with this one it is quite easy. On our way up the North Island we came across some classic images of the country.

 

 

A street sign with some typical names…

I finally had the chance to get my passport decorated with the stamp of the republic at the heart of the Forgotten World Highway!

This stick insect was a patient model at a camping site.

 

 

The camping guests that don’t pay.

Tane Mahuta, the biggest Kauri tree in the world! Over 50 metres tall, he hosts whole trees in his crown!

Life goals for Germany: A microwave for a postbox! 😀

In New Zealand, a house is not bound to the place it can be found…

A most special highlight was the visit at an old friend’s, who gave me a lift over a year ago when I was hitchhiking. We were being hosted lovingly, saw an iconic corner of Auckland and most of all we talked just as back then, when we first met. To meet people (again) is better than any sight!

 

 

Lion Rock at Piha Beach.

 

 

Actually, you might not want to admit that, let alone do, but we are sleeping at the side of the road from time to time due to the lack of a free campsite around.
An one morning there just was this sunrise and the grass and morning dew adding to it… 🙂

 

 

 

 

There are the most different fences in New Zealand, one full of bras, one full of toothbrushes, one full of hubcaps, one full of jandals and so forth… 🙂
But from all of the above I would not have wanted to miss anything, so just the shoes were left. As they were as much worn out and patched up and I didn’t want to take them any further, given the new ones as well!
So we stopped at the State Highway 3 and I performed the traditional ritual…

 

 

A part of me in New Zealand, how’s that? 😉

 

 

Now it is but little time until the great event goes down. For I take part in a movie marathon in Wellington, featuring both Middle Earth trilogies. By that, I will see New Zealand in New Zealand in a certain special way.
But more on that later, as we have to go there now…

South Island, Final Take

Mar 17, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey, Thoughts

I have come a long way.
I sit inside the premium lounge on the newest Interislander ferry, eat the complementary breakfast, get free coffee from the Jura fully automated coffee machine, charge all my devices with my dearly held multisockets, around me only older, quieter people and I am all good with myself and the world.

In which way could the 8th and last crossing between the islands look better? Maybe if I could have shared the luxury with Elvis, but there was only one coupon to my Nautical-Miles-Card. That one I only own for saving one to two dollars at the ferry…
Well, even best friends need a break from each other from time to time. 🙂

I am convinced that no other backpacker takes the ferry a crazy eight times from one island to the other. But it had to go this way. One time for a almost magical weekend with the best au pairs in the world, one time for an unknown future, one time with my parents and one time with Elvis. That’s how I traveled the South Island. My readers are in the know. 😉 And I always came back content and happy. And I always look forward to see beloved Wellington again.There it all began and there it all will end…

The last days on the South Island were filled with pondering about this ‘last time’, as expected. And we made the most out of these last times!

 

 

A last and unique goodbye from Ric, my flatmate/ landlord for 2 weeks in Dunedin. A funny bloke, but not too little on the nice side. 😀

born ’94

After the farewell visit in Dunedin, we made our way up north to Queenstown. One adventure after the other was awaiting us!

 

 

The ‘Remarkables’, a spectacular mountain ridge!

Part of the adventure was the food! As you know, in Queenstown you find the Ferg chain and enjoys its legendary status. For one last time we ate the unbeatable burger, some incomparable ice-cream and one inimitable meat pie there!

 

 

Even the menu of the Ferg Burger is a work of art in itself! 🙂

 

 

Queenstown offers all kinds of sports and activities imaginable. But it didn’t lure us onto the water…

Instead we were being attracted towards a rugged canyon in the outer areas…
The same, with its depth of 134m, is home to the highest bungy in New Zealand.

 

 

The abyss opens up deep and vast.

 

 

Not from utter fear, but from pure anticipation my heart beat fast. The own decision when to jump, which I missed at the skydive, would be in my hands now.

Without any thought about going back I jump. Free for a few seconds, only the sensation of the fall and the increasing noise of wind in my ears, I rush towards the ground. The bungy cord gets me and lets me bounce up and down for a few times.
Awesome! And if it were not for the pretty high cost and the scheduled departure, I would have done it again right away!

 

 

So, we worked ourselves up to the north of the South Island. All the closer to the area that I saw first of this wondrous island…

 

 

The rocks on the shore of the Pelorus.

 

 

The fjord we spent a weekend with my dear friends back in the day at.

Thus, the chapter is concluded. The last path I take off the South Island is the same we took onto it back in the days…

And I sit here and think about the time. The time to come and the time that lies behind us all. And what effect it had on us.
And we can all be but happy about this grand opportunity. And the times to come shall be not less great as those we look back at in satisfaction!

 

 

A component of my sumptuous breakfast at the premium plus lounge. As I said, you might just deserve something nice as a smelly backpacker. 🙂

Time to Leave

Mar 12, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey, Thoughts

Initially, I would have wanted to select the pictures of the trip and use them to illustrate the last days. But you have seen the areas we went through already.
Plus, I would write too little then about the last days’ happenings. And even though there is limited time to deal with the computer, you should still stay informed…

Where am I right now?
I am sitting on the couch in Dunedin, the same one I have been sitting on for the 3 months I lived here. It is all the same, only that this is the last time sitting here in my time in New Zealand. Also, Elvis is here. That is equally crazy as having had my parents in this place.

It is time to say goodbye. I have already done so to my workmates at the last major station here in Dunedin. Now, it is my last flat’s turn.
Until a few days ago, I told the people everywhere that I will come around again. But now it is serious, there is no going back.
Also, to the most magnificent latte in New Zealand I had to say goodbye.

This was the third and the last latte at the cafe Oyster Cove in Bluff.

 

 

We are camping with Elvis. And I can say but one thing: You won’t be the same after having eaten baked beans from a gas cooker in the wild and crouched into the tent for the night afterwards.
At least you don’t have to book those campsites beforehand these days. That makes for some liberty, as time allows of course.
Though we haven’t traveled as ‘campers’ for long, every other night has its own adventure!

 

 

 

 

There is not an unlimited amount of time at our hands and many goodbyes shall take place in the time to come. Thus, you have to pick very carefully who to grace with your visits. In Dunedin, it is the Mexican Iced Coffee at the cafe Kiki Beware for sure. Many more of those ‘last times’ should follow!

 

 

Chilled milk + vanilla-anise-syrup + espresso + cinnamon stick for a straw = Mexican Iced Coffee

 

 

Do you remember as back in the day, before departing from Germany, I wrote a lot about goodbyes? Back then I didn’t know anything about how many of those I would have to go through in the future. A journey in itself is parting. From people and places that became precious to you. From circumstances and environments that you get used to much too easily.

Today I look at goodbyes the same way I looked at them back then: Happily looking forward. Only that you don’t know at all, when and if you will see those people and places ever again.

But still I am just as hopeful as I was in the past. Because I know that these acquaintances and experiences are just that and that they indeed stay forever. Memories, ages from which you learn beyond measure.
And you should always look in the forward direction. To the things to come and to the things you take away from past times. And isn’t both wonderful and valuable??