Finally ... big picture post

163 pictures were uploaded today. So brew a coffee, put on some music and enjoy a journey from the South to the North Island with us. Our last route description finished in Dunedin and on Dec 11. Let's get started:

1. Dec 12 - We start off with the steepest road in the world in Dunedin and then drive up the coast to the Moeraki Boulders. These "pearls" are formed below the surface and then washed out until they get stuck on the beach. We enjoy a hidden DOC campsite with a pet wild pig, a self-build dam and a geocoin in surprising dimensions.
2. Dec 13 - The day of the bush! From the DOC campsite there is a track towards some limestone rocks. After a loooooooooong breakfast (Thank God no check-out at 10). The climb is beautiful, even challenging, and the views are amazing. We decide to not return the same way but keep on walking looking for a track to go home ... 5h later we are back, exhausted, tired and so happy that apart from some heavy scratches all over our bodies we did not suffer from anything else, while crouching through dense "furze" forest and knee-deep swamp. But, anyhow, we saw wild horses ... and sheeps (of course).
3. Dec 14 - We meet Aoraki / Mt. Cook. After a few morning clouds it is a beautiful hiking day with crystal-blue water (glacier flour!). Only the Nazi-campsite and the snow at night weren't actually part of the "ideal holiday-day" plan.
4. Dec 15 - Again Aoraki / Mt. Cook, this time from the air, on a tiny helicopter. Amazing, breathtaking views and clear-blue sky with only some clouds. We did a snow landing and also flew over Fox Glacier. Well worth its money!
   A big part of the night we spend driving - and hoping - to catch the ferry to the North Island the next day (Dec 16; Dec 17 we drive up north to do the Tongariro Crossing).
5. Dec 18 - A 5:50 am alarm clock. Nuts! At 7:30 we are on track, walking/climbing the Tongariro Crossing - what a unique adventure ,-) But the blue is convincing. We enjoy two nights at the perfectly organized Whakapapa DOC campground - incl. UMTS *yeah*! It seems like all Germans (speak "I am fffrommm Tschöarmaniiiieeeee") have retreated to New Zealand by now ... they are simply everywhere here.
   
6. Dec 19 - We continue north to Lake Taupo and come across floating beaches, curious swans and warm rivers. 360 degrees Jet Boat spins sound a lot more dramatic than they actually are, but squeezing through canyons with 40 degrees hot waterfalls is actually fun. And I am so thankful to Philipp that he actually did not mention that there were waterspiders running around where I had my nose ... The treat of the day is the Lake Taupo Top 10 Holiday Park - best facilities ever, close to hot springs. A must-stay! And it didn't even rain. Lesson-learned: Being a camper does not mean you cannot turn on the x-mas lights!
   
7. Dec 20 - belongs to the hot and boiling elements. Volcanic valley, bubbling mud pools, fuming busses and sparkling camper-x-mas-trees fill the day.
8. Dec 21 - The Pueroa Forest contains some left overs, some 50 others 2,000 years old. The Deer Jaw-Inbox is another reason why hunting is not on my fun-thing-to-do-list. Groce!
9. Dec 22 - 100m down, water, rocks, crawling, climbing, swimming, jumping, screaming, eating. This is our Waitomo Epic Cavetour experience in a few words.
10. Dec 23 to Dec 26 - Our campingtour is over. We say good-bye to Pippilotta after we "checked-in" with our lovely couchsurfing host in Auckland. 4 nights in Auckland, no driving, sunshine (finally!) and good food are waiting for us! We visit sparkling Franklin Street and celebrate x-mas with a bunch of couchsurfers from around the world. Santa was here. But not only he, also Markus flew in from Guzbach to make sure we keep up the BBQ-spirit.
    

Wow, by now it is 3am in the morning and the SD card already holds about 100 new pictures from our day out at the famous Karekare and Piha Beach. But for now I am going to say "Good night!".

All pics from this post can be found in the new picture album on facebook.

Missed the session?

Don't worry - this is what you could have seen:

Yesterday Offroad, today snow and a week ago Kangaroos - what day is today and where are we?

Good question! I have no clue (most of the time)!

Based on the Halloween decorations that party must be close and considering that people all along the coast buy gadzillions of kilos of food a long weekend seems to come along. So, let's see ...

• We are driving on the wrong side of the road - must be Australia (too sunny for England, too sorted for India, too peaceful for South Africa).
• This is confirmed by the road signs which range from "Kangaroos", "Wombats", "Wallabies", "Trucks", "Ducks" and "Aged" ... you name it ... crossing
• Halloween = Oct 31, 2009 coming up (Make sure you don't open the door for Freddy!)
  
• Long Weekend = Melbourne Cup - the race that stops a nation; 3200m, 3 year and older - also coming up (Oh God, I didn't bring my hat!)
  
• We have snow and bright sunshine as well as surfer's on the beach - must be winter ;-)

Ok, for those who like to get a short understanding where we went so far, this is the list:

1. Adelaide - Nice couchsurfing
2. Down south to Kangaroo Island - don't miss Maslin Beach
3. 2 days on Kangaroo Island - Offroad, animals, rocks, Coastline - you can easily do 4 days to a week
   
4. Via Fleur Peninsula & Victor Harbor into the Grampians - Road-side BBQs are great stuff!
   
5. 2 days at the Grampians - you can do easily a full week there - bring your 4WD ;-)
6. Down to Great Ocean Road - Bimbi Campground is an amazing place, close to there is also an interesting Tree-top walk
   
7. Along Great Ocean Road to Melbourne - look out of the windows, an that is not just because of the many, many, many curves
8. 2 days in Melbourne - Great couchsurfing, fun city with good weather and very good food
   
9. Along the coast via Lake Entrance to Buchan - that is the center of the world ... with caves, no honestly: plan to stay there longer - it is "true holiday" at Buchan Lodge
   
10. Through the snowy mountains or Australian Alps to Jyndabinde - yep, snow, fun skiing area and very steep roads as well as just the perfect accomodation for Glenf & Soeren
    
11. Back to the coast at Narooma - make sure you watch out for whales, seals, penguins and birds on Montague Island and meet YHA Momo
    
12. Thats a little bit more than 2,000 kilometers so far. More the 3,000 still to go. 3 weeks left.

And that is about the only time and place which we should not forget.
Hope all is well with you and the weather plays nicely. Have a good day!

Home - far away from Home

We are approaching our 5th week on the road - it has been 5 amazing weeks with so many overwhelming impressions that sometimes I feel it is already very hard to keep track of time and place (what day is today? why do the stores close now? which city are we in at the moment? The pictures - see links on right - help to keep track and so does the continuously running GPS). The feeling to start into a new adventure every day is a very good (and very present) feeling every morning.

And there have indeed been some adventures: a tree bursting into fire just out of nothing (Otway Park), off-road tracks everywhere (Kangaroo Islands & Grampians), my shower-spider encounter (No, Heike, this picture is nothing for you!), taking a cab in Beijing (after they actually stopped to pick up some obvious strangers), eating Sijuan food and trusting the "Range" display of our car while being far away from any tank station whatsoever, ah, forgot driving on left lane ...

Also a big (and daily) adventure is to come "Home" every night. Because "Home" mostly is a different place and a different type of place every day. So far we have enjoyed Couchsurfing (Claudia in Shanghai, Christine in Adelaide and Rob in Melbourne), Hotel, Hostels and Campgrounds.

Couchsurfing (by now you! also! should! be! registered!) has been - as always - the true "Home" experience. Thanks to all of our hosts! The couchsurfing stays are for sure our opportunities to re-charge energy. This blog is written from a very stylish living room in south-east Melbourne (Dani, you would love it!) where we enjoy 3 comfortable days/nights with our great host Rob.

With regards to hotels we have tried the Ibis at Sydney Airport (clean but very, very, very small room, hideous expensive WLAN) and the Grosvenor Hotel in Victor Habor (shared bathrooms, very old house, no Internet).

Campgrounds with using either cabins or sleeping in the car (actually quite comfortable) we have visited: the Campground at the Koala Walk on Kangaroo Island (no link, but easy late night check-in "pick a site and pay tomorrow" and great facilities), the Emu Holiday Park at the Grampians (great location, a little bit off-track, but very nice facilities and a lot of space to enjoy your time; pics start here) and the Bimbi Campground at Otway Park close to the Great Ocean Road (absolute fabulous place, but a little grumpy management).

Hostel guests we were only on Kangaroo Island (very nice location, directly across from the ferry, easy late night check-in) so far, but there will be more for sure.

What also makes you feel "at home" on long travels is doing stuff, which you would normally do at home: like occasionally visiting McDonalds (only for the free WLAN of course ;-) ), going shopping instead of visiting another museum, sleep in (I still consider 11 am early mornings) and having a massage & manicure (I absolutely can recommend Dragonfly). We unfortunately missed the Sydney Habor Bridge Picnic Event: German - English. Too bad. But we have electric BBQ along the road, in combination with fresh fruit & vegetables just a perfect treat while killing kilometers (no kangaroos so far, thank god!).

Stay tuned & check out the new pics.