March 31, 2008

the next jamie olivers

Us staying at the sheep station ... yep, indeed. :-) 

We met this guy from LA there .. Sam aka Borat ... he was staying there already for 1 1\2 yrs.. working and entertaining the backpackers, we guess. We were sitting on the porch with Sam and a couple from Beligum (our age, quit their jobs and travel around NZ for a year ... awesome) having some drinks and chatting. In the kitchen these two German guys aka mama' s babies were preparing their dinner ... like for 1 hour they neatly chopped vegetables, chopped cheese into tiny bits and pieces, cooked pasta and the likes and made themselves a big pot of pasta caserole! We had the times of our lives watching them acting like Jamie Oliver on speed, that was like a dinner show live. Sam then also filmed them with his camera and we watched the director' s cut on fast forward later! They didn' t really realize what was going on... thank god for the double glass windows!! Anyway, it was hillarous. 

Today we woke up to this splendid view of the station and the surrounding farm land.... it's like out of a movie set...



We also have the suspicion that to attract tourists to this end of the world, the Kiwis actually set this all up… they placed those amazing mountains, rivers and plain fields and turquoise lakes there .. it looks like out of  a movie set... Lord of the Rings comes alive... it really does! 

Right now we are at Te Anau, on the border of the Fiordlands of NZ... a tiny town ... a real variety to the hours driving though the most beautiful scenery through the mountains with nobody there except us and the sheeps .. no houses no stations to be seen... also, no radio... we are fluent in the song lyrics on our brought CDs yet! 

We are about to leave for the two hours drive to Milford Sound... where we are staying the night in the only backpacker there and leave for a trip to the Milford Sound tomorrow morning. Hopefully we' ll see the penguins, whales and dolphins. we are actually hoping for rain, since there won' t be sand flies then. 

More to come ... we now got to fill up our car... there isn' t a petrol station on the way to Milford .. which takes one way 2 hours! Also, there is just 1 bar .. probably closed after 5pm! 

More to come from the Mildford Sound adventures....

nautre on extasy

We finally  moved on south bound. Unfortunately there is no
quick internet access at all, so we cannot post into the blog as freqeutently as we' d like. Over all we can say we LOVE this country... we had our 4 hour drive to Lake Tekapo yesterday and we couldn' t stop oooohhing and aaawing about this magnifisant nature.... it's brilliant, awesome, fantastic... I think, we both fell for New Zealand... evertiime one turns a corner drving the passes it' s like you are thrown into a different world.... it's sooooo brilliant. We took like millions of pictures which I cannot upload right now, but I will asap... it' s breathtaking..
 
Lake Teakapo with its turquoise water and the snow covered mt Cook in the back .... WOW.... we had soo much luck since the sun was shining constantly.. and it' s quite hot..
 
What we also learned here, every mailbox is attached too tons of sheep... seriously, it' s sheep country. They look really cute with there round faces staring at the passing cars... and to top it all  last night we stayed at a sheep station! Don' t you all wonder? Yep, us staying on a sheep
station backpacker. It was really cosy more like a family stay.

We had a blast last night.

March 29, 2008

blinded by the light

We have made it!!! WOO HOOO! We finally landed in Christchurch, NZ after 24 hrs of boring  and very turbulent flights. But honestly it wasn` t too bad, we had two seat each on all our flights, that was really comfz (well as comfy as you can get on a plane!!). After Singpore we lost all awareness of time, day or even which part of the world we are on right now. We just sat there on the smokers terrace with 37 C degrees outside! Yeah! We probably looked and walked around like drunk zombies, the ground was still moving! Arriving in Sydney, after flying directly over the Opera House and Harbour Bridge,
was like out of a movie scene - felt pretty unreal. After we saw some really hot surfer guys, it was like "Hello and welcome to Australia!" - we really like that! :-)  Oh, and guess what? While waiting like right next to the runway for our final and quick flight to NZ I saw the A380 rolling .. gliding to the gate ... wow, that was quite impressive it's like huge. 

Anyways, New Zealand greeted us well, with blue skies, 24 C and sunshine. hurray! Our shuttle driver from the airport was a race driver - he really was - and drove, well, raced us through the whole town to our hostel on the New Brighton beach. The country looks really amazing from the plane, green fields and champagne colored mountains that enter right into the ocean. 

Yesterday we already got a first glimpse of what it' s going to be like the next 4 weeks... we took a stroll on the beach, which is just around the corner of our hostel. It' s  already breathtaking... and we haven't started to see the really good stuff yet. I attach the pics we took yesterday at sun down, to give ya' ll some impressions. 

The people here are amazing ... they are soo nice.. and it/ s not that fake friendliness, it' s real. We already met some fisherman who actually caught a huge sting ray out of the ocean. We were like ... ja  ja, whatever, but then we actually saw it out of the water... wow, it was huge ... well, so much for us going swimming in there! the surfers obviously don/ t mind they were there the whole evening ...  :-) 

So, that is it for now ...we are off for drinks. ... after work ... well, welcome holidays drink.. :-) since we walked like all of Christchurch toady we really earned it, right? Christchurch is really pretty, a lot of green and a very small town and very british looking. But great outdoor bars and pubs .. :-) 

You all enjoy your day at work, while we are starting off our Friday night in NZ.

March 25, 2008

the wait is almost over

WOW, the wait is almost over and it´s finally here ... just 1 more night and we´re heading off to the end to the world, literally. Supposedly, a real amazing and breath taking one. Better be! It´ll take us like 24 hrs flight time via Singapur, Sydney to Christchurch, NZ - just to get there. So, while everyone else is working and catching a good nights sleep, I´m still not there yet. Bags are almost packed, nevertheless I am still amazed I managed to stuff just 16 kg in it ... hello? I thought I´d need to take my whole closet... * you wish* ... tough decision, do I know now, what I am gonna wear the next four weeks? Hardly. ;-) Well, there´s not a lot to talk about right now. People are constantly ringing me up, it ´s just one month, it´s not that I won´t come back ... well, chances are good that I finally landed and actually might not, but we´d see to that way later! If the surfer turns out to be a sheep after all - just kidding - I think NOT!


March 23, 2008

Let´s find out what this fuss is about

New Zealand has captured me since my 3 hrs stop over at Auckland Airport on my way to Sydney, Australia in 2005. That´s something - I´d say! Finally, after three years of anxious waits and imagination ... the day has finally come ... I will finally find out on my own what´s the fuss all about! Let´s have the time of our lives.... Still 2 more days to go! Can´t wait ... bag is packed, well, almost! Can´t I just take my whole closet with me! :-) I have impression I am mostly taking battery charger leads! Seriously!

March 07, 2008

Kia ora!

New Zealand - a trip to the end of the world


Haere mai! Welcome! New Zealand has captured me since my 3 hrs stop over at Auckland Airport on my way to Sydney, Australia in 2005. That´s something - I´d say! So now after three years of waiting and saving up vacation days ... the day has finally come ... I will finally find out on my own what´s the fuss all about! Let´s have the time of our lives.... 



Start of travels: Mar 25, 2008

End of travels: Apr 22, 2008


The route is taking us from Christchurch via Lake Tekapo to Queenstown and further on to the marvellous Milford Sound. We´d have to do some backtracking since MS isn´t accessable directly, well, then we´d go to Te Anau as well. From there we´d go straight to the glaciers and then up the coast to Picton. From there the ferry to Wellingnton and to Rotorua. There is sooo much to see and do, I wonder if we´ll handle it in our time frame. On the North Island I´d like to see the glowworm caves ... did you know that one can do underground caving in NZ? That sounds pretty interesting. We´ll see! There´s sooo much to do .. and soo much on our lists... white water rafting whale watching, tramping, walking on the glacier, and dolphin encounter! 

My list of things to take grows daily... which reminds me to try on my windbreaker before going! Oh, and I need to pick up my new passort next week! 

That´s it for now... 

19 days left ...