kaikoura

Queenstown was amazing. It is still very touristic and full of travellers from all over the place, but never lost its charm and grace. We arrived pretty late and I was very sick. A cold was bothering me for days and had it’s turning point on this day. What we didn’t knew, was that a rugby tryout tournament for the all blacks was held in queenstown this weekend and nearly every backpacker or motel was fully booked. So the painful search began and we didn’t manage to find a place or I should say a bed to stay. So we decided to take the 10km away almost free campsite. It was at the shoreline of the long lake wakatipu, where a lot of lord of the rings scenes were taken. But before getting there we decided to have a decent dinner and the only and best place you should have been when coming to queenstown is fergburger. Always busy, always open and always delicious. Not only good, but pretty much the best burger I ever ate in my life. Seriously. Worth every dollar we swallowed those huge and tasty burgers to load our fuel level. Sleeping was not that good with all those sandflies and a cold, but the morning and the breakfast at the lake was just simply amazing. Pretty cold with the southerlies but very scenic. The sun just rose from the mountain tops and a cold breeze made the water a little choppy. The lake was still crystal clear and the surrounding mountains looked sharp and majestic while they raise from the shoreline of the lake until little clouds stopped them. Little ducks played infront of us hoping to get some of our breakfast. We managed it later to get a really nice room in a hostel and had it to ourselfes until 4 mature kiwi-ladies were showing up in the room next door with a beer, notebook and a loudspeaker. There were here for party and the rugby tournament, which we could watch from the balcony of the hostel. During the day I forced romy to walk up the the mountain next to the stadium although there was a gondola going up and down. Poor baby. But it was worth the walk and just an hour walk. The view was amazing and the sun was burning although the southerlies was blowing chilly. We decided to not go on the LUGE which is kind of a ‘sommerrodelbahn’ cause we didn’t felt like risking our lifes ;) 

wanaka

on the way to queenstown

queenstown and lake wakatipu

lake wakatipu in the morning

queenstown from above

Leaving queenstown in the next morning with some new clothing custom made from fetchNZ means also pushing the pedal to bring romy in time to the airport to get her flight to Indonesia. Driving through all those mountains of the southern alps and along all those lakes and green, golden and brown grass was just amazing but hard too, because the end of the trip was close. After having a heavy brainstorming, going through a lot of scenarios and a there was a decision to think about. Leaving or staying another week. Let me just say we woke up every of the following morning with sunshine right at the famous surf beach north of kaikoura. So the following week was just about hanging out and enjoying the amazing weather and the view off the car through the grass down the rocks to the water. It was quiet and sometimes a seal was playing infront of our ‘house’ in the light blue water. Just hang out, relax and sometimes having a surfsession while romy was writing postcards or building tower with rocks. 

kaikoura

My first session after coming to kaikoura was as classic as it can be. Surf was not that good but big enough and glassy. Just a few guys out and everybody was relaxed. But there was an old men with grey hair and a longboard sitting in the lineup talking to everyone around and telling stories about the swell up north or how it has been before our time. The other session was pretty nice too. I had quite a lot of waves and they were pretty powerful. But actually I was chatting with a guy from England about bali and Lombok and the waves in france and spain. We missed most of the good waves or were out of position because of getting into deep in a nice conversation. But he had to leave, because his girlfriend was waiving at the beach to come back in. he said, sorry and I said: ‘damn, my girlie is going shopping and I wait in the water’… hilarious. The surf wasn’t that good and specially in the last couple of days I was in the water only once. But that session was in mangamaunu, the famous pointbreak. It was small, very small actually and low tide, so you really have to be carefull of the rocks. Once I jumped of a wave and landed on my board, but when I put my hands in the water to paddle, I touched a rock… but the waves were fun as long as you manage to grab one. But pumping and racing down the line gave my just a small picture of how magnificent and perfect this wave can get on a big day and how consistent and perfect it peels down the line all the way in the bay. Maybe another day. 

In the meantime we went to hanmer springs to go to the hotpools and spa, which wasn’t that good as we thought. It was expensive and very touristic instead of idyllic. But sittin in 40 degree of water was really relaxing. But the fun part was the mini golf tour before the spa. Romy really kicked my butt and we went evan after 2 rounds. But we had a lot of fun.

 kaikoura

Today I had to bring romy to the bus to Christchurch so that she can get the plane tomorrow, because staying another week longer was not possible. So kind of a sad day, but my sister picked me up and we were checking the surfing spots. What else was there to do besides getting your head free and no longer occupied by the fact to be alone. Anyway, I went out and it was a short and cold but funny session though. It was worth a paddle and I became wet, so why not. The waves weren’t getting any better anyway. Tomorrow me and my sister are off for a surfing roadtrip to the north island. Taranaki and new Plymouth is set but all bets are off. So see you soon with some footage and a lot of stories to tell.