Toktok-Toktok – Part 1

Mar 29, 2016 | The Great Journey, Thoughts

I have experienced many things in New Zealand, have seen many places and have shown you pretty much everything in pictures and reports.

But one place I have yet always skipped. A place I knew from the beginning would be special. From which I knew right after the first visit I wasn’t done with. The one I am sitting in right now and have the great task to write something fitting about.

Napier.

Here I first arrived after I had one month in Wellington and had visited Rotorua. Here I came back often, when I lived in Hastings and worked in the orchard. Here I went in the last days before setting out to the South Island after leaving the family. Here I returned with my parents and now even with Elvis.
Here I have friends.

But that is a long story.
And you shall hear it:

Those who especially in the beginning of my time here read my blog carefully, must know about the ol’ tragic tale about my travel bag. Against all the vendor’s promises that one has not been sent to New Zealand, so that I have to travel with a substitute. So far, so bad.
My actual bag would have had shoulder straps and I am sure I would have carried it on my bag, walking up and down the hills of Wellington when I lost my way.
Yes, my first official act back then was to lose my way in Wellington.

But I sure got aid. From Klaus and Jennifer. Those two lovely ones were quite easy to get talked to and even offered to drive me to the hostel, which I accepted.
In fact I was on the other end of Wellington and not as much central as was planned.

The following is history. We met again several times in my time in New Zealand and at the moment I sit in their house at their table and sip, you could have guessed it, tea.

But only at a later stage I got to hear Klaus’ and Jennifer’s side of the story. That one is quite different from what I thought it would be.
For they didn’t coincidentally stopped at the shopping window, where I started to talk to them, but the waited on purpose for the person behind them.

As my trolley produces this monotone ‘toktok-toktok’ noise as I pulled it across the pavement. And that exact noise made them stop after a while, to see who had been following them for a while now towards the city border.

Without this sound, that my ‘false’ bag produced, they would just have entered their car just there in the next minute and would have driven off.

And, oh, what would I have missed!
I would have seen Napier as a beautiful city, but nothing beats friends in the end.

No Milford Sound or sunrise at the beach or the majestical mountains; nothing beats a get-together with friends!

Not only in Napier I found friends, in many corners of New Zealand I now know lovely houses and I am profoundly grateful for that.

This entry I will leave without pictures and thus, finish with a cliffhanger.

For in over a year, at every visit in Napier more and more pictures were shot and collected, from which I now have to pick the best, to show you this special case of a city

As to give this town its due, pictures are needed. And I’ve got heaps of them. 😉

TO BE CONTINUED!

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??

 

 

Looking back and looking forward

Mar 2, 2016 | The Great Journey, Thoughts

Today I have just done it. I have looked through the whole of my own blog from the very beginning.

Most intriguing to read, how you evolved and how you didn’t know at any moment what would happen next… But didn’t it become better and even better?? 🙂

Much has happened. My fear that I would look back and it would all feel like 2 months was without reason. A long time, filled with incredible experiences, is behind me. In my older entries I often mentioned my parents, not knowing that I would share all the experiences and impressions first hand with them one day.

And it was but a success, this time together! The central people of my life had the chance to have an extended look into my life far away.
The most precious moments were those, where my friends from here (be it flatmates, colleagues from work or acquaintances I wouldn’t want to have missed) had the chance to meet my parents after they had met me.

And as I proceed writing this post, I am positive that I don’t know anything that is about to happen in the next 2 months. I am before it all, just as back then, when I didn’t even know how Wellington looked like up close.
Tomorrow I will pick up Elvis, my best friend, from the airport and will experience New Zealand and Australia with him. I will have a peek into South-East Asia and soon after that I will hold my nephew in my arms along with all my loved ones at home.

One day I will sit there. In my office chair that I haven’t seen for 17 months. I will log in and start a new post. I will listen to music that has accompanied me on my journey on my dearly missed speakers and I will write all about how I am. I will do it over and over again and I am sure I will have to review a lot. For after this journey, I will actually be able to give advice to those who are yet to have this great trip.

But all that is in the future. Now I am to focus on the present. 36 days are left in New Zealand. Of 16 months. Then 3 weeks of Australia, followed by 10 days from Singapore to Bangkok.

This is the dawn of the 7th and last age in New Zealand. Once more seeing all the known and the unknown and after that, only forward.