South Island

Hi everyone,
time for a "short" newsupdate....
Our time is flying here I cannot tell how much!!!We just had 2 weeks of vacations and went to the south Island and had a great adventure there....we drove more than 3200km in 11 days. We started off in Christchruch and made a whole round along the coast. When we arrived in Christchruch we didn´t like the city that much and we thought it´s rather small so we changed our plan of staying there 2 days in staying there only for one day and then drive up north. We passed Kaikoura and saw some awesome beaches unfortunately no whales... But we saw seals!!!It was amazing to see this colony and how relaxed they were with all those people around.
On our way up north to Picton and Nelson we has some adventures on teh road because the road can easily go uphill for like 25km...On the way we visited some caves which was quite cold but interesting. The north of the Island is really beautiful with all the fruit plantations and small villages.
We liked Nelson a lot though it didn´t seem that save at night but during the day it was amazing a cozy village in the middle of the Mountains and they have a beautiful cathedral which was a bit of an emotional experience for me but ok. On our further way we went to the most northern point of teh South Island teh farewell spit and we had miles and miles the beach for ourselves it was damn windy but also so incredibly peaceful!I wanted to do horseback riding but it was already too late so we continued our way to find a backpackers and almost had to oush the car to teh next bigger "city" because they really have a problem with gas stations on teh south island and then to find one in the evening which is OPEN is like similar to winning teh jackpot in the lottery. On the last meters we made it but it was quite challnging to drive up and down those hills with an empty tank:-)

Next days we spent on the westcoast. And guess what we saw seals again:-) We also went to cape foolswind which was quite a long walk to the lighthouse at the top but definitely worth it. It was along a very steep coast and we had a stunning view on lots of beaches rocks and of course the ocean. When you stand there you feel like there is just the world and you and no one else.
It´s amazing for how many kilometers you can just on your own and drown in your own thoughts. My personal paradise to reflect...it just sometimes looked liek I run away from Liubi:-)
Like schatje would say: FREE YOUR MIND!!!!That´s excatly what I needed and I did!!!
Down to the westcoas we made a stopover for one day at teh Franz Josef glacier and we did a full day tour with our hot guide Rob through the ice. In Franz Josef we firstly met teh Swiss guys in the supermarket and afterwards Mel&Jen 2 friends from the uni at the hostel and we did the tour together. It was amazing with the girls!!!And definitely everybody knew about old Gregg after we left:-) and everybody could sing the song:-) Thank you girls for making this trip even more fun!!!Over the night we stayed in Haarst which is basically not even a village...
Next day we headed to Queenstown....It is definitely one of the most beautiful cities that they have down there! It looks more like a French woud say"pittoresque". We also met some guys from teh uni there and went out to party which was not really that much fun because to put it in siple words the DJ truely sucked!!!The next day we walked around in Queenstown and took it easy because I was already a bit sick of driving all teh time so we went up the hill with the gondola where we had such a great view over the city and the mountains. Oh I almost forgot a small highlight which was Arrowtown...a tiny tiny town near Queenstown!!!I never saw something so small and beautiful in my life imagine a light Autumnday all the trees are coloured the sun is shining and the towns sparkles in all its beautiful coloures. It looks like in a Western Movie there is one main street with small shops and café and bars along the way and it´s just so tiny.

We had amazing weather for the whole stay except for one day when we went to Milford sound but that was actually very good because when it rains there then you can see all the waterfalls much better. They dry out very fast so for Milford Sound the weather was perfect.
Already the way from Queenstown to there is really impressive with all teh waterfalls on the way, the rocks, the mountains and evrything si sooo huge. You drive through this park forever and it´s hard to imagine that there is still something coming....We did a cruise there and drove right trough a waterfall:-)Liubi and me didn´t realize in time that we were really driving THROUGH the watferfall and we got let´s say a BIT wet....AMAZING time...if I´ve had more time I´d have wanted to fo an overnight cruise and stay on teh water for teh night or go to doubtful sounds....I guess this was really one big highlight for me of the whole trip!!!

From there we headed to Invercargill which was quite an impressive city and we stayed at the most cozy packpackers ever...it took us a while to find one but then we ended up in Sparky´s...Really passionate owner who created a "home" for people. We loved it there!!
On our further way I had my next highlight: we saw peguins!!!The blues ones which are the smallest ones in the world and we watched them when they came home from swimming the whole day to their home colony...we saw about 30!!!They are only 30cm tall and weigh only 1kg and they are endlessly cute!!!And they are mates for life!!So in my next life I want to be a penguin ;-) I think I made Liuba creazy with this phrase!!!The next morning we got up at 6 to watch the yellow hair pinguin going out in the ocean and guess what!? WE saw them!!!!!!!!!Yaaay!!!!It was amazing!!!I definitely want to be a pegnuin!!!According to my coach I already walk like them...;-)amazing creatures!!!
Before we actually were driving through teh Catlins and went to the most southern point of the Island....I bet I forgot more of our stories and places we´ve been to but we experineced so much and saw so many things...I guess it´s best you have a look at teh pictures to get a better impression...for now this should do...I´ll try to write more often...
Miss home terribly!!!!
Hugs hugs hugs!!!
Van :-)