Kaikoura

So after we got to kaikoura we found a cute little hostel called duskys lodge we went to dinner! Kaikoura was a popular whaling town and had a park with whale ribs as archways...yah. Anyway they have their own colony of fur seals we visited the colony on our second day! You could get so close that you could touch them not that you would want to! They look like lions of the sea!! And they smell like fish pfff!

 Then on the instruction from a kiwi that we met in austraila we went searching for the seal pup waterfall pool. On the way there we saw a very large seal colony just off the highway on the rocks! Here you saw the seals fight eachother for the best sun spots or saw them playing or saw the big males fighting for breeding rights! Some had some big wounds.

We also saw some pups so we thought this was the "pup pools" but we were wrong!
Just after a four buliding town called calarence with the ocean on the right side! On the left side is a pull of in a corner is a path along a stream to a waterfall! The first thing that I saw was a pup swimming in the water playing with a pink flower! Manfred saw a bridge that we walked under!

 As we walked along the stream we saw more and more pups. We saw one grooming himself and was very happy to pose for the camrea!

When we reached the waterfall there were at least 10 seal pups jumping and swimming in the pool under the waterfall! Soo cool!!

We made our way back along the river one of the pups Came so close that I could of touched it!! So cute!

The pups come up here to be safe while the mothers go hunting for fish, and learn how to swim and fight play!
This was a highlight!!


After the seal pups we made our way to Nelson!

Nelson
in Nelson Manfred started to fell under the weather so we checked into a backpackers early so he could sleep! I then went and visited inga a friend and mother to be!
She recommend that we go to the golden bay the north point of the south island!
We walked up to the center of NZ.

The next day we started on our way up to the north end of the south island.

We stayed in a cute sea side motel at Takaka, and visited the pupu springs the clearest water that I have ever seen!

Farewell spit is the longest stretch of sand and keeps growing thanks to the coast of the north and south island.

Wekakura  beach is a beautiful place, but the tide was out and the wind was blowing around 60mph so building huge sand dunes and it was like going skiing! Alought not quite to manfred's likeing! We when made our way to a cave, I sat on a rock to dump sand out of my shoe and Manfred went to take a picture of the cave. He quickly came out of it when he heard a growl! He then saw the sea lion well hidden along the back wall he then took a picture of it, and what he did not see was that the seal had just given birth! So look closely!

 

We also got some good sand pictures now have to get the camrea fixed :(

The next day we headed to Picton for our ferry the following day! We stayed in the sequoia lodge a Backpackers with a hot tube free internet and Chocolate pudding!!! After dinner Hyper I got to get my energy out at the playground!!!



Next day on the ferry to Wellington!

NZ - Part II

Die eingefleischten Kiwis unter euch haben laengst bemerkt, dass die zwei untersten Fotos im letzten Eintrag nicht von der Westkueste sind...denn via Lewis Pass sind wir nach Kaikoura gefahren. Unterwegs haben wir uns im heissen, algigen Wasser der Maruia Springs vom verregneten Tag aufgewaermt. Diese Thermalquelle befindet sich in der Naehe der Passhoehe. Die Paesse der Suedalpen sind meist um die 1000 m ueber Meer und damit noch mitten im Wald. Die Baeume sind oft moosbewachsen, jedoch aendert sich das Erscheinungsbild rasch. Innert weniger Autostunden fahren wir durch Regenwaelder, nordische Waelder, Afrika-Baum-Waelder (wie Mia sie treffend nennt), Grassteppen und karge Steinwuesten.

der naechste Blog - Eintrag ist bereits auf gutem Wege, dieser wird dann etwas laenger.

New Zealand

So we arrive in Christchurch at 12:00am, after finding a open car rental we tried to rent a car that night and go to a motel. But that cost to much to put on to manfred's credit card, so we spent the next few hours trying to sleep on the airport floor. After a few hours we were woken up by the airport security. So we called different car rentals and found one for half the price as a few hours before!!! So finally after checking everything was ok on the car we hit the road. 
Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep,Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep,Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep there are alot of sheep here and the meat is still expensive! NZ is mainly an export country!

Driving on the wrong side of the road is not as hard as I thought it would be. Although, whenever I want to turn left or right my windshild wippers would go crazy because it is on the other side.Also backing up is even harder then before, because you have to look over the oppesite shoulder, but other then reminding eachother to stay on the left side of the road we are doing ok!!

Ok so many people say the views in NZ are amazing, they are right every hour that we drive is a different landscape! So on the first day we drove through the

Mackenzie Country where we stopped at Lake Tekapo! After trying to drive around the lake (which did not work) we parked behind a gas station and went for a walk. Where some locals invited us for a BBQ and a beer, we ended up going to the local bar with them till the early morning. We then slept in the car and found that it was not that comfortable!

 The next day after saying goodbye to Mackenzie Country we headed down to Queenstown. Here we only had rain so we stayed one night in a hostel and moved on. We then drove through and over the southern alps and headed for the coast! By the time we saw the coast line it was dark, we then found a motel in a small village called Haast!!

The next day we visited the fox glacier, for us it was not that amazing, since we have skied on a glacier in the Alps!

We Also went kiwi (bird) searching! We did not find one though so we headed back to the car and found it with a dead battery! Yep I left the lights on (stupid)! Luckily we were near a cafe and the owner gave us a jump start! Now I'm paranoid and double, triple check the lights before I get out!! We made it all the way to Hakitika where we spent the night in a Backpackers.