Hey Guys! After we spent Christmas at the Gardiners we set off to the Abel Tasman Coastal Track for four days and wwoofed at Jim's and Erhard's place, who took us to see some great places like the most amazing Wharariki Beach. Then we walked the Heaphy Track, New Zealand's longest Great Walk, which saved us 463 km of driving and was just awesome. In Karamea we got invited in by the super nice shop owners of the local store and are having a very fun time with the whole family.
Here is a map of our Journey:
THE ABEL TASMAN COASTAL TRACK
The first tidal crossing, somebody else who did it 3 hrs later had the water up to their chest
We walked in a lot of bush but every now and again we had beautiful views on the beaches
These are the so called sand boats ;)
Swimming in the rain on the third day
Amazing rocks
Lunch time, the same as always: Cheese and apples on bread
The fire and good company make even a rainy afternoon nice
The first time we collected food ourselves: mussels from the rocks. 2 kg of mussels ended up as 150 g edible mussel flesh.
We left our big backpacks at the campground and had a relaxing walk to Separation Point
On the fourth day our camera only took blurry pictures, but as you can see, the weather was good and we had beautiful open views all the time =)
That night we tried our working for accomodation busking and after 2 hrs Jim (88 year old music show producer) took us to his place without wanting us to work for him - we still did ;)
An afternoon trip to the Pupu Springs - 23 m deep springs...
... and so clear you can see the bottom and all the fish inside
Sunday we went to a church where they happened to have a Baby Christening Service. We got invited to a big lunch party and met another German guy, living near the Heaphy track, who offered us to come and WWOOF at his place - he would even drive us to the start of the Track.
Arriving at his place.
So we spent New Year's Eve at his house and were the only ones apart from one other house to light any fireworks.
Our first job: Making 2 of those Plum Cake trays =) Yummy - Mums recipe.
We also weeded his garden.
There even was a huge colony of seals - the baby was just 3 m away from us
Speechless
Lots of Caves, too!
Erhard and Lina walking on the beach.
Lina cheating on me with an old bearded man.
The next day the little village had a boat race with self-made rafts. Erhard told us, it wasn't about winning but about making life as hard as possible =)
The last night with Erhard. We had an awesome barbecue: Lamb chops, tomatoes, potatoes, capsicum and aubergines - all out of his garden, even the lambs.
THE HEAPHY TRACK
The first day we climbed for 5 hrs to 920 m but we didn't feel it at all because we were dreaming about our new living situation for our master studies back in Germany.
Watch for the changing flora throughout the track.
Still Thomas obviously was tired afterwards.
Breakfast the next morning after recovering our Tramping Guide Book a Weka (a cheeky NZ bird) had stolen out of our backpack and dumped behind the next bush.
2nd day: beautiful mountain ranges...
... a fairy tale like mossy forest ...
... beautiful plains ...
... and a statue on top of a bis boulder - just as random as the boulder itself
Wow, wow, wow! A beautiful sunset above the clouds on the mountains. This was the most spectacular scene on the track
3rd day: Lina cheating on me again - this time with a bush monster.
Walking over a new bridge with a Pohutukawa Tree in the background - the red blossoming NZ christmas tree.
The Heaphy River mouthing into the sea, massive waves at the end.
4th day: walking along the rough beach.
Who finds Thomas?
Walking through the nice Nikau Palm forest.
Christmas Trees!
Arriving in Karamea, we asked at the shop if they knew anyone who took WWOOFers. After nothing worked out, Juliette and Jason, the owners of the shop, asked us if we could paint their house - YES, of course. So we also got to meet their great kids Matthew, Brendan and Samantha. We got heaps of food in a self contained cottage but can still participate in their family life.
... Kahawai fishing ...
... and caving in the Oparara Caves. We discovered many tunnels, squeezed through tight gaps and climbed up many little bluffs.
Looking at spiders and wetas, glow-worms and fossils...
.... and big spiders
Here we are in the Moria Gate Archway, it's huge.
Sammy and Lina between the stalactites.
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