I Heart NZ

We’ve left New Zealand again and just as last time it’s been an amazing trip. I can’t tell you how much I love NZ. It’s hard to explain how absolutely amazing this country is, especially to someone who hasn’t been here.

New Zealand is quite a small country, it’s smaller than Sweden and has less people, but it has so much! There is so much to see and do here. As my parents said; every day it’s like we’re visiting a new country. They have the fiords, glaciers, rainforests, beautiful beaches, glowworm caves, some of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever seen, the Southern Alps, Rotorua with the Maori culture centers and geothermal parks, great cities, adventures like bungee jump, sky diving, whitewater rafting, caving, canyoning, paragliding, jet boating, skiing and so much more. There is something for everyone here.

 

NZ is really tourist friendly and the great thing is that they don’t charge you for everything and I love the fact that public toilets are every where, they are free and really nice. And even parking is free in a lot of places.

Everything is so clean and nice and you don’t see a lot of graffiti and crap everywhere like in a lot of other places.

 

The kiwis seem to be so proud of their country, as they should be and they have the country outlines on so many different things, you can buy bowls, t-shirts, clocks, jewellery and so many other things in the shape of New Zealand and it’s nice stuff, not tacky crap. I like it, you should be proud of your country and you should be allowed to show it. Unfortunately in Sweden and England (and probably lots of other countries) you can’t show too much pride cause people will call you a racist. Luckily you are allowed to show pride for another country so this is what I’m doing. NZ feels like a second home to us and we both love it a lot.

 


NZ lakes & rivers

NZ has a lot of lakes and rivers and the colours of a lot of these are just amazing! Some of them almost look poisonous cause they are so beautiful. The camera can’t really show the colours off properly but it will give you some idea.

 

Hokitika

 

Hokitika

 

Somewhere near Twizel

 

Lake Wakitipu

 

Lake Tekapo

 

Tasman Glacier Lake

 

Clutha River

 

Lake Pukaki

 

Lake Tarawera

 


Twizel, Mt Cook & Lake Tekapo

Last time Andrew and I were in NZ we stopped in Twizel for less than an hour, it didn’t look like much and everything seemed to be closed so we quickly moved on to Mt Cook. This time we spent a bit more time in Twizel and we loved it. Fair enough last time we were there it was autumn and now it is summer so that could have made a difference but still.

The reason why we did stop here this time is because of the fishing, we thought we’d check it out.

However the weather was so good that dad didn’t do that much fishing, he did some and caught a few fish, but instead we just swam in the river and enjoyed the awesome weather. It was so nice!

 

The day after it was windy as hell and we went to Mt Cook. We couldn’t do the walks we wanted to cause of the weather but we did walk to Tasman Glacier Lake. To be honest it wasn’t as impressive as last time we saw it but still pretty cool.

 

Just as we were leaving it started to rain but when we got back to Twizel it was sunny. Dad and Andrew did some fishing in some river and mom and I chilled out.

 

We spent the night at Lake Tekapo, it was really cold and pissing down so this evening we had to play yatzy in the campervan, I still lost though.

 

 

Andrew and I swimming in the river

 

Mt Cook

 

Tasman Glacier Lake

 

Lake Tekapo and The Church of the Good Shepherd


Queenstown & Milford Sound

After Wanaka we went to Queenstown, it’s the adventure capital of the world but we didn’t actually do anything adventurous. We did some shopping and ate some really nice food.

 

After 2 days we moved on to Te Anau. We couldn’t do the Milford Sound cruise that day so instead we went fishing. Well, dad fished, Andrew and I watched and I took some pictures.

 

It takes about 2 hours to drive from Te Anau to Milford and we had booked the morning cruise so we had to get up really early. I’m glad we did book the early cruise cause the drive there was more stunning in the morning. The clouds were low and it looked like spirits were rising from the ground and the lakes, it was beautiful.

 

Andrew and I have done the cruise before but we did the afternoon cruise then and to be honest I don’t think it matters how many times you do the cruise I still don’t think you would be disappointed and lets be honest, there is no way you could get sick of the views. It is truly amazing. I know I say that a lot but it is. It’s hard to truly explain how wonderful and beautiful New Zealand is and with Milford Sound it’s hard to explain how big it is, how amazing it is.

 

I took a picture where you can see a tiny boat at the bottom corner of the picture but in the reality the boat is actually very big.

 

Queenstown

 

On the way to Milford Sound

 

Do you see the little white ship?

 

Seals




Wanaka

After our night at the glacier we went to the next glacier, Fox Glacier, we didn’t walk it or anything but we had a quick look at it before heading off down the west coast.

 

This day contained a lot of driving, there is just not a lot on the road between Fox and Wanaka, ok we stopped at Haast for some lunch and Haast Pass is a nice drive but the weather was crap, it rained a lot, just like last time we were there. But as soon as you get over to the other side of the Alps the sun comes out. It’s amazing.

Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea are some of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever seen and I’ve even lived in the Lake District. Driving along the shore of either these lakes is so nice and when you get over the hill and see Lake Hawea on the other side with the mountains in the background it just takes your breath away, it works every time.

 

We stayed at a campsite by Clutha River, which apparently is NZ longest river and of course dad did some fishing. The woman in reception said that there was quite a lot of fish in the river but they were very hard to catch, but dad being dad caught one within 15 min.

 

Our first full day in Wanaka dad went fishing (of course) and the rest of us went to a vineyard, Rippon, I think we got to sample more than 6 different wines, at 10 in the morning, good start to the day :)

Then we had a look around town before heading back.

It was a nice chilled out day.

 

This is where we stayed

 

Lake Hawea


Beer and glacier

We survived the night and it wasn’t bad. The sandflies were still there in the morning so we left as soon as we could and drove with the windows open to get the bastards out!

 

First stop of the day was Greymouth, we needed to do some shopping and we were also checking out a brewery or dad Montheits, he got a few beers and a t-shirt and even a free hat.

 

Then off down the coast and our destination was Franz Josef Glacier, we found a camping site and then we went to the glacier. We walked almost all the way to the glacier, I think we were only a couple of hundred meters away. I’ve seen it before but it’s still awesome. It’s just so hard to imagine how big it really is. It’s so cool (hehe I know, it’s made of ice but still).

 

f
Franz Josef glacier


Can you see the people up walking?


The top


Andrew, me and mom


South Island

We also spent half a day in Hamilton and another in Auckland before jetting off down to the South Island.

 

We picked up our campervan as soon as we landed, had some breakfast and headed to the west coast via Arthur’s Pass. Arthur’s Pass was a great drive! A lot better than Lewis Pass which we used last time. We did a stop at Castle Hill where I think they have shot some scenes from Lord of the Rings and Narnia, either way it was very beautiful, but the whole drive was beautiful.

We did another stop along the way and lots a few Kea’s. They were not shy and got up really close to us.

 

We made it to Hokitika and went straight to Hokitika Gorge. It was amazing! The colour of the water was just amazing! I just wanted to jump in and hug it! I obviously didn’t, but I did go down and stepped into the water :) The pictures just don’t do it justice but you’ll still get the idea.

 

Our first night in the campervan was spent at a DOC site (camping more or less rough) at Hans Bay. Took forever to get there and it was very busy. I went for a little walk and noticed that a bit further along there were no people at all so we parked there instead.

We went to bed pretty early cause we were being eaten alive by sandflies! I think they are worse than mosquitoes cause they are smaller, you can’t hear them and not all of them bite, just the females and how do you know which ones are the evil bitches? You don’t until they have bitten you and it hurts!

 


Arthur's Pass


Kea


Dad fishing



Hokitika Gorge




Tongariro

Next stop was National Park. The weather wasn’t the best but we made the best of what we had. Dad did some more fishing and even though we were advised not to attempt the Tongariro Crossing, mom and I still did. We knew we wouldn’t be able to do it all but our goal was Soda Springs and we did make it there and back :) For those who don’t know, Tongariro Crossing is also the home of Mordor and Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings. The clouds were really really low, they went all the way down to well the road. It was also very windy and by the time we got to Soda Springs the weather had gotten worse and by the time we got back to the car park we were soaked, in spite of “waterproof” clothes and Gore Tex shoes (“guaranteed to keep you dry” yeah right!). It was still worth it though and we still did see a lot.

 

After we met up with Andrew we went for a hot chocolate and it was soo nice. Where dad was fishing it had been 18 degrees and where mom and I had been it was 9.



Mom into the mist


Me




Dad fishing in Tongariro River


I'm back

Since we are now on the road travelling now and will be for the next couple of months I think I’m gonna write only in English now. I mean I have a lot to write but not a lot of time since time is money when you have to pay for the internet and all our Swedish friends and family members understand English I thought it was a good idea :)

 

Sooo, as you know my mom and dad are here now and we have been very busy so here’s where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing:

 

 

Rotorua

We spent 2 nights in Rotorua and we did lots. The first night we went to some hot springs and just relaxed in the 40 degree water. It was soo nice! We also took a short walk to where the water actually bubbled up from the ground and apparently it was 98 degrees there and then it cooled down when it ran down the stream, it was pretty amazing to see.

 

The day after we went to Te Puia and checked out the geothermical valley, lots of bubbling mud pools, sulphur lakes and geysers. It was pretty awesome but sometimes it smelled really bad, of eggs and fart.

 

After Te Puia we went to Lake Tarawera where dad did some fishing and the rest of us just enjoyed the beautiful view and weather.

 

In the evening we went to Mitai for a Maori experience! The beginning was a bit slow, the guy was welcoming us in every language he knew and it was quite a few. When it finally started it was great. We walked through the rainforest and then a waka (a maori war canoe) came down the river. After that we went with them to their “village” and we got to meet the “chief”, he was great! Really funny and still very informative. We got to learn about the Maori culture, instruments, weapons and we got to see a display of the haka and poi two different maori dances. It was really really good!

 

After the show we got to eat hangi which is Maori food cooked in the ground. It was chicken, beef, lamb and lots of other foods and dessert!

The experience didn’t end there, after dinner we all got torches and we went out in the forest again and got to see glow worms and a beautiful spring.  It was a great night!

 

After Rotorua we drove towards Taupo and we stopped at Huka Falls and did some jet boating, it was dad’s idea and it was a good one. It was so much fun, we all felt like children :)

 

 


Hot water bubbling up


Te Puia


Us at Te Puia


Dad at Lake Tarawera


Mitai


Update

Här kommer en liten uppdatering. Vi har haft fullt upp de senaste dagarna.
Mamma och pappa har kommit hit!!!
Dom kom i söndags och jag mötte dom på flygplatsen i Auckland. Det var så kul att se dom igen!
Första dagen va vädret pissigt, regnade mer eller mindre hela dagen. Så vi åkte till Kelly Tarlton Underwater World och kollade in rockor, hajar, sköldpaddor, pingviner och vi hittade även Nemo.
På måndagen va vädret lite bättre, moln, sol, regn, sol, moln osv. Vi började dagen med att ta färjan till Devonport och gick upp på berget och utsikten va väldigt vacker. En liten skur kom men vi tog skydd i skyttegravarna.
Efter en fika när Andrew fick sin varma choklad serverad i en skål, åkte vi tillbaka till Auckland, kollade in de stora båtarna i hamnen och åt lunch.
Tog en drink på en irländsk pub och sen gick vi till Sky Tower. Vi tog hissen hela vägen upp, 186 meter upp och utsikten va helt ok :) mamma va lite försiktig och gick inte för nära glaset hehe
Igår lämnade vi Auckland och körde till Coromandel och första stoppet blev Hot Water Beach. Där kan man gräva en grop i sanden och vattnet som då kommer upp är varmt. Vi hyrde inga spadar men vi kollade in alla andra som hade gjort det. Dom var helt galna! Alla stod och grävde gropar i sanden. Vi smög ner våra fötter i andra personers gropar och jo vattnet va faktiskt väldigt varmt!
Sen blev det en skitlång promenad till Cathedral Cove! 40 min dit och 50 min tillbaka (mer uppför), shit va jobbigt det var! Det var ju väldigt vackert men man va rätt trött.
Vi kom fram till Tauranga på kvällen, grillade lite kött och drack lite vin.
Idag sken solen hela dagen! Vi åkte till Mt Maunganui beach och solade och jag och pappa badade tom. Pappa skulle egentligen ha åkt på en fisketur idag men det gick inte. Ett fartyg (Rena) gick på grund i oktober en bit härifrån och igår gick båten av på mitten och de ca 150 containrar som fanns kvar hamnade i havet. En del sjonk men en del flyter omkring på väg mot land och det är tyvärr här i närheten. Det suger rejält för det betyder även att delfinsafarin imorrn är inställd. Jäkla idiotkapten som tyckte att det var en bra ide att ta en genväg over ett rev. Arsel!
Imorrn åker vi vidare. Ska bli konstigt att lämna Tauranga och Jimmys igen. Men vi har mycket att se fram emot.
Ska försöka blogga lite när jag kan men som sagt vi kommer att ha rätt mycket att göra nu, mamma och pappa kommer att vara här i över 2 veckor till :)

Here's a little update. We’ve been quite busy these past days and the reason is, mom and dad have arrived!!!
They arrived on Sunday and I met them at the airport in Auckland. It was so good to see them again!

On the first day the weather was a bit shitty, it rained more or less all day so we went to Kelly Tarlton Underwater World and checked out the stingrays, sharks, turtles, penguins and we also found Nemo.


On Monday, the weather was a bit better, cloudy, sunny, rain, sunny, cloudy and so on. We started the day by taking the ferry to Devonport and went up the mountain and the view was very beautiful. A small shower came, but we took shelter in the trenches.
After a coffee break, where Andrew got his hot chocolate served in a bowl, we went back to Auckland, checked out the big boats in the harbor and had lunch.


We had a drink at an Irish pub and then we went to the Sky Tower. We took the elevator all the way up, 186 meters up and the view was pretty good :) mom was bit cautious and did not go too close to the glass :)



Yesterday we left Auckland and drove to the Coromandel and the first stop was Hot Water Beach. There you can dig a hole in the sand and the water, which then comes up, is hot. We couldn’t be bothered hiring spades but we checked out all the others who had. They were digging like crazy! We sneaked out feet unto other peoples wholes and yes sure enough the water was pretty hot.



Then there was a very long walk to Cathedral Cove! 40 min there and 50 minutes back (more uphill), it was pretty tough and hot! It was very beautiful when we got there but we were pretty tired.

We got to Tauranga in the evening, bbqed some meat and drank some wine :)



Today the sun was shining! So we went to Mt Maunganui beach and chilled out in the sun, dad and I even had a dip in the sea.

Dad was supposed to have gone on a fishing trip today but couldn’t. A ship (Rena) hit a reef not far from here in October and yesterday the ship split in two and the 150 containers which were still on the ship started falling into the sea. Some of them sank to the bottom and some of them are floating around and washing up along the shoreline.

It really sucks because not only did it mean dad couldn’t go out fishing but it also means the dolphin safari booked for tomorrow got cancelled as well. Stupid idiot captain thinking it was a good idea to take a short cut over a reef!

 

Leaving Tauranga and Jimmy’s again tomorrow, feels a bit strange, but we have a lot to look forward to. Mom and dad will be here for another 2 weeks which is great!

 

 

We found Nemo



View from Devonport



Sky Tower



Cathedral Cove


A day at the Mount

Igår åkte vi till stranden vid Mount Maungagui (eller the Mount som det kallas). Det var underbart! Rätt mycket folk men det är en väldigt lång strand så det är skönt.
Vi kastade lite frisbee och jag badade tom! Sen tog vi och promenerade uppför the Mount som egentligen är en vulkan. Det tar ca en timme upp och ner och det var varmt och jobbigt! Tyvärr hade dom stängt av den "lätta" vägen upp så det blev lite extra jobbigt.
Utsikten från toppen är helt underbar och klart värt promenaden.

Yesterday we went to the beach at Mount Maunganui (or the Mount as it's called for short). It was wonderful!
It was quite busy but it's a looong beach so there is always plenty of space.
Then we took a trip up the mount. It takes about an hour to go up and down and it was hot and tough and unfortunately the "easy" track was closed which made it a bit extra hard. The view from the top is so worth it though! It's stunning!
The Mount

The view

Happy New Year

Gott Nytt År allihopa!! Hoppas ni får en jätte kul kväll och att nästa år blir helt underbart!
Happy New year all! Hope you'll have a brilliand night and lets hope next year will be absolutely awesome!

Back to NZ

Nu är vi tillbaka i Nya Zeeland! Vägen hit va inte lika smidig som vi hade hoppats men vi är här nu. Vi hade bokat en taxi (med SilverTop Taxis) som skulle hämta oss kl 3, klockan 3.14 ringde jag och frågade var dom var, då säger snubben att dom inte visste när taxin skulle komma, dom kan inte garantera att det kommer nån. Eh va? Jag hade ju bokat taxin en dag innan, han sa att jag kunde ha bokat den flera månader i förväg men dom kunde ändå inte garantera att en taxi skulle komma i tid. Va fan! Jäkla nötter! Som tur va lyckades vi vinka till oss en annan taxi på gatan, han va bussig, vi hade ju missat vår flygbuss och han bodde nära flygplatsen och det var nästan slutet av hans skift så han gav oss ett bra pris för att köra oss hela vägen.
Sen skulle vi checka in och kvinnan frågar om vi har returbiljett, vi svarade att ja vi har bokat ett flyg från NZ, men det räckte inte, hon krävde att vi hade den biljetten utskriven och det hade vi ju inte, vi flyger ju inte förrän i februari! Satan! Jag hade ju bokningsnumret och flight nummer men det räckte inte. Shit! Men jag lyckades visa henne bokningen på mobilen (kunde logga in på mailen), nja det kanske kunde funka. Klockan va 4.30 på morgonen, vi hade inte ens sovit en timme, va inte på humör för sånt här! Men det gick bra, Qantas är underbara och så otroligt hjälpsamma och det gick bra.
Resten av resan gick bättre.
Vi tog en SuperShuttle Bus från Auckland flygplats till vårt hotell, vår förare Gregory va en skit trevlig snubbe och jätte rolig.
Hotellet va helt ok, rätt litet rum men skön säng, eget badrum och ett litet kök, det var lyx för oss :)
Vi tog en sväng på stan, vädret va pissigt men vi kollade ändå bara affärer sen blev vi trötta, det blir lätt så när man inte sover.
Denna natt sov vi länge! Så länge att vi tom missade frukostmenyn, vi hade hittat ett ställe vi skulle käka frukost på men när vi kom dit va det för sent för frukost så det blev lunch istället.
Sen va det julklappsshopping. På kvällen blev det vin och en film.
Igår tog vi bussen hit till Tauranga där vi bodde för ett par år sen. Det känns lite konstigt att vara tillbaka. Inte mycket har ändrats.
Idag åkte vi till Mt Maunganui Beach, där har inte heller mycket ändrats. Eller jo egentligen har det ju det. Det var ett fartyg som gick på grund här för nån månad sen och läckte ut en massa jäkla olja, muppar, men man ser inte många spår av det nu, vattnet va så klart och allt var rent.
Vi badade inte men vi kastade lite frisbee och bara njöt. Lyckades bränna oss lite oxå.
Tog en liten promenad runt Tauranga centrum och tyvärr har min restaurang stängt! Det var synd, jag såg fram emot att äta middag där.
Nu har jag ätit pepparkakor med Ädelost med Päron som mamma hade skickat ner. Har även ätit en massa Dumle :) Min mamma är underbar!!

We're back in New Zealand! The way here didn't go as smoothly as we would have hoped but we got here in the end. We'd booked a taxi (with SilverTop Taxi) for 3 am. At 3.14 am I called asking where it was. They said they didn't know and they didn't know when one would come. I explained that I had ordered it a day earlier, but he just told me that I could have booked it months earlier they still couldn't guarantee that it would be there on time! What the hell! Luckily we managed to hail another taxi on the street and luckily he lived near the airport and was about to finish his shift so he gave us a good price to take us all the way to the airport which was good since we had missed the airport bus.
Then we were checking in and the woman asked if we had a return ticket from NZ, we said yes we had a ticket booked to leave, but she needed a printed ticket and since we're not leaving until Feb we didn't have that. I had the booking reference, times, flight number etc but that wasn't good enough. Crap! It was 4.30 am and we had had less than an hours sleep, we were not in the mood for this. Then I managed to show them the booking on Andrew's phone, I logged in to my e-mail and showed them there and luckily it worked. Qantas are the best, they are such nice people and so helpful! Not like a lot of other airline staff.
The rest of the trip went well, at Auckland airport we got a SuperShuttle Bus and our driver Gregory was a very nice and funny guy.
The hotel was fine, the room was pretty small but the bed was comfy, we had our own bathroom and a little kitchen, it was luxury for us.
We spent the day just having a look in town, the weather was pretty crap but we were in and out of shops anyway.
That night we slept well and long. We slept so long we even missed the breakfast menu! We had found a place we wanted to have breakfast at but when we finally got there it was too late so we had to have lunch instead.
Then it was time for xmas present shopping.
That night we had some NZ wine and watched a movie.
Yesterday we took the bus to Tauranga and we're now back where we used to live a couple of years ago. Feels good to be back and not much has changed.
Today we went to Mt Maunganui Beach. We didn't swim but we played with the frisbee, relaxed in the sun, got a bit burnt, had an ice cream and I fell asleep on the bus back.
Also had a little look around Tauranga city center, not much seems to have changed there either but the restaurant I used to work at has closed! I was so looking forward to having dinner there!
We've now had some gingerbread biscuits and wine on the decking. I'm listening to xmas music but still doesn't feel like xmas :)
Mt Maunganui beach
Mt Maunganui

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