our captain on the ship to the South Island ;-)
a Bluebridge ferry arriving at the South Island
view over Marlborough Sounds
while hiking the Queen Charlotte Track
camping on the Queen Charlotte Track
one of the many golden bays of Abel Tasman National Park
Anchorage Bay in Abel Tasman National Park
Sea Kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park
the lazy part of our Sea Kayaking tour
the only really annoying thing on the South Island were the many nasty Sandflies...
Sometimes the Sandflies were so bad that we had to prepare dinner in the car
this toilet was not so much pleasure to use
on our way to Nelson Lakes National Park - a part which is not visited by many tourists
after some days and the saltwater while Kayaking these shorts could stand on its own and desperately needed some washing…
hiking Robert Ridge to Angelus Hut
Angelus Hut surrounded by mountains and two lakes. One of our favorite places in NZ
on our way down on Speargrass Creek Route we had to cross the water at least 30 times
one way bridge including railway tracks
nobody - not even our friends from NZ - could explain why the railroad tracks run through the roundabout...
beautiful mountains and glacier water on our way to Haast Pass
Franz Josef Glacier - only a short distance away from the ocean
Mount Cook seen from the West Coast
sunrise at Lake Matheson - Aoraki / Mount Cook in the background
we were not the only ones trying to capture the sunrise...
we did a skydive in Wanaka - so awesome it is hard to describe...
hiking to Rob Roy Glacier
Fergburger in Queenstown - famous for a good reason
Verena happy to be back in Queenstown after 8 years
view over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu
Moke Lake campground near Queenstown
view over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu
trying to process some pictures at bright sunshine
on top of Key Summit on a rather grey day…
… and some days later with wonderful weather
one of the few Keas (Alpine Parrot) we saw
perfect conditions for driving to Milford Sound - lots of rain meant that there were waterfalls coming down everywhere
3 hours later all the rain had gone and the sun came out - YAY!
on our boat tour through Milford Sound
Dolphins in Milford Sound
unfortunately this gate did not stop the sandflys… ;-)
because of the hot temperatures we went swimming in lakes way more often than we would have thought
the Lost Gypsy Gallery - an awesome bus and open air gallery of a dude who collects all sorts of stuff (what many would consider rubbish) and then turns that into incredibly creative items
guess who pressed that button… and guess who was wet afterwards...
thousands of little things that turn and/or make a sound. A paradise for nursery-children (German: Spielkinder)
Baldwin Street in Dunedin - the steepest street in the world
they claim that these were the best fish and chips in NZ - they are probably right...
the Lounge of our Van :-)
we called them shopping ladies
Bay near Moeraki Lighthouse
yellow eyed Penguin - the closest we got :-)
for 2 Dollars this steam train will make lots of noise and fire
the driver of the steam train :-)
heaps of sheep - the roads in NZ are pretty busy ;-)
Christchurch was heavily damaged by Earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. It felt weird and a bit depressing walking through the city with so many destroyed buildings and so much empty space. Especially for Verena who knew the city intact / undestroyed.
one of the many large empty spaces in the centre of the city
185 chairs to remember each victim of the Earthquake
improvised container mall with (overdone) christmas decoration at 25°C
improvised container mall
Christchurch Botanic Garden
very often the cheapest food in NZ was made in Germany
blossoming Pohutukawa (the NZ Christmas tree)
Akaroa - also called little France
New Zealand's forests are very green
Lake Tekapo and blossoming Lupines
Chapel of the Good Shepherd
maybe we would go to church more often with a view like this ;-)
Chapel of the Good Shepherd
Aoraki / Mt. Cook with unbelievable good weather
Lake Pukaki and its crazy watercolor
sky on fire (Edgar has a witness that it really was like this…)
Springfield honoring Homer Simpson - somehow we really wanted Donuts afterwards…
wine fields near Blenheim