Watch out everyone, this time it's really intense. We started supporting the New Zealand tourist industry and dental health care a little bit ;) We went canyoning, did a glacier tour and flew in a helicopter. In the end we could finally fulfill our dream of having a gig in a New Zealand bar and it was an awesome night.
Here is a map of our travels: The heli flight is in pink =)
After leaving Te Anau we went to the Routeburn track and ran up the first few km as this chamois (Gemse)
Beautiful waterfalls on the track, the one on the right was 174m high!
This day we went swimming 3 times.
A view into the Hollyford Valley. In the end we could get a glimpse of the sea.
Breakfast view on the 2nd day after camping at Lake McKensie
Looking back onto the lake.
Funny "cabbage trees" - about only 20 cm high
A beautiful alpine lake. No swimming though - it was too cold.
Conical Hill - the highest point of the track (1515m)
On the way down again
Coming down to the Routeburn Flats where we camped the 2nd night.
After another night in Queenstown we hitched to the Lake Wanaka.
Because the weather was so hot and the lake so refreshing we stayed longer than planned, tenting in Holly's and Jason's garden...
...and got up "really" early to climb the Roy's Peak. First we walked around the lake.
We had some nice views from the bottom ...
... and spectacular ones from the top (1550 m)
One of the few summits that weren't cold and windy at the top.
Looking down on Wanaka on the way back.
The next day we went to Puzzling world - took us half an hour to find one of the 100000 possibilities to solve this puzzle =)
This is a quite
puzzling optical illusion!
puzzling optical illusion!
The tilted room - you totally lost the sense of balance. Everything was tilted...
... except for yourself. Water ran upstream and balls rolled upwards.
Maybe there was a reason why Lina woke up at 5:30 and had to go to the toilet ;)
That day we spent all the money we had earned cherry picking and it was so worth it:
A daytrip canyoning!
Huge slides, that would turn into waterfalls (some 8m high),
Abseiling, jumps and dives into pools, flying foxes,...
So much fun! But the water was extremely cold (glacier stream).
After leaving Wanaka we got back on a track: The Welcome Flats
We caught a ride with a Taiwanese family whose car was actually totally packed but they were so nice that they turned around to pick us up, and rearranged the car for us to fit in =) We had such a nice ride because we stopped at a lot of scenic places, i.e. Knight's Point
The first night on the track: We have never had SO many mosquitos and sandflies around our tent!!! But inside we could sleep peacefully knowing that the buzzes wouldn't affect us =)
Thanks so much for the awesome tent, Bietels!
We tried to cross the river (swimming) but the current was way too strong so we turned around halfway being swept away 30 m ^^
The coolest place on the track - our lunch break in the middle of two rivers meeting.
Thomas had just found 20$ next to the bridge.
Unfortunately Lina discovered a hole in her tooth that day
Arrived at the Welcome Flats Thomas enjoyed the hot pools (left)
and a lot of moss overgrown trees on the track (right).
The view from our campsite the second night.
After the track we hitched all the way up to Greymouth (4h) to see the dentist. We also spent the totally rainy day busking. As we got HEAPS of money we thought about spending it on the next tourist attraction.
We hitchhiked back down to the glaciers (4h).
A walk to the Franz Joseph glacier (left), and beautiful reflections in the Peter's Pool (right).
The top of the glacier
And some waterfalls on the way there.
After having found this wonderful sunny and warm church we had dinner at, we called the Reverend and asked if we could stay there for the night. It was so great that God provided a (His) house for his children in a very cold night!
Very bizarre story: We looked for a place to stay in Fox and met a funny guy doing cart wheels (Radschlaege) on his front lawn. So we just asked him and he said we were welcome to pitch our tent. He truned out to be a tourist helicopter pilot who had had a few beers and happened to be flatting (WG-Partner) with the exact glacier tour guide we would have the next day (already booked).
The lake Matheson - a bit too cloudy and windy for the 'spectacular' views. At least there were hellicopter dragonflies...
... and a frightless eel we didn't manage to catch
(although we tried about everything - flax, spear, hand catching...).
On our way to the glacier on the tour (still warm).
On the ice we had to wear a bit more ;) Lina was still cold
We saw a lot of cool ice formations - most of them caused by melted water.
Close to the pinnacles (left) and we still like each other (right)
Climbing through an ice cave.
Wearing original glacier beauty mudd as a mask - we were SO beautiful afterwards!
In the evening, when Toby checked his helicopter we got to play pilots =)
and the next day he even took us on a short flight!
It was the most amazing experience for Thomas!!!!
In Okarito we did a loop walk starting out in the marshes.
We climbed to the lookout and had a nice view over the lagoons, which turned out to be quite boring when we got there.
But the way back on the beach was great. Massive rocks...
...a seal...
...collecting pretty stones without parents interfering (too big, too many, not another one ^^)....
and having a rest in a natural couch - so soft and cosy!
In the afternoon we hitched once again to Greymouth (4h) and arrived at sunset.
We are WWOOFing for the owners of The Bucks Head Tavern who discovered us busking. So our first job besides doing the dishes and enjoying ourselves was a gig on a Saturday night.
After a while the locals were fully into it: "Then I saw her face, now Im a believer!"
It was a big party night.
