Nelson

Our first stop on the south island was Nelson where we visited Erika's old work colleague Lili. After the rain up north and the wind in Wellington, Nelson felt like the perfect place to visit. It is the town with the most sunshine per year in New Zealand.

After catching the early morning ferry across Cook Straight we had plenty of time for our drive to Nelson. We therefore decided to take the scenic route along the Marlborough Sounds. The road was windy and narrow but it was worth it. A number of lookout points along the way provided lunch and coffee spots with excellent views. Before we got to Nelson we also had time to stop and jump off some cliffs into a crystal clear river.

The day after we arrived in Nelson, Lili took us to her favorite swimming spot. After a BBQ lunch outside the motor home in the hot Nelson sun we jumped into the water to let the slow current take us down the stream.

At the end of our Nelson day we headed up along the cost towards the Abel Tasman national park. We wanted to spend the night in a good spot for the hiking adventures that were planned for the following day.

Wellington

New Zealand's capital is in a beautiful location on the southern tip of the north island. It provides stunning scenery with water in three directions. It is however also known for it's extreme wind.

During our visit to Wellington we got to see some great city scenery from the top of Mount Victoria and we sure got our fair share of wind as well.

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

The Tongariro national park in the middle of New Zealand's north island is the countries oldest national park and the forth oldest national park in the world. It consists of three large volcanoes and is situated on a high altitude plane.

New Zealand is know as a country with many great hikes and the Tongariro national park is no exception. There are several hikes to choose between, the most famous being the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It is 19.4 km long and often described as New Zealand's best one day hike. Starting at an altitude of just over 1000 meters it climbs up to an altitude of 1866 where it crosses the mountain ridge between the two volcanoes Tongariro and Ngaruhoe before starting the descend.

We had to postpone our hike hike for one day when the weather forecast looked bad. With the alpine conditions along the crossing we did not want to risk getting stuck on the mountain in bad weather. As the forecast for the following day looked very good, the decision to postpone the hike was an easy one.

After a very cold night's sleep we got up early and started out hike at seven o'clock. The air was still misty and cold as we began the climb towards higher altitudes. As we continued hiking the mist cleared and the sun began to warm up the air, it was only the wind that did not want to be on our side.

The first part of the hike provided spectacular views of the mountain ridge that we were going to cross but the real wow feeling came once we reached the highest point of the trail. It was a landscape consisting of volcano craters, turquoise lakes and cone shaped mountains in the foreground and lakes, green fields and rivers in the background. With the view provided from the top on a clear day, the Tongariro Crossing is just not worth doing on a day with bad weather.

After a manageable but challenging seven hour hike we felt a sense of accomplishment. It was a great feeling to see our motorhome and know that there was well deserved beer in the fridge waiting for us.

Waitomo Caves

The Waitomo caves are formed from under water rivers and passages that erode huge cavernous tunnels. The rivers and waterfalls make for an adventurous trip to view not only the caves but also the glow worms. The glow worms are actually maggots the size of a matchsticks which burn off there waste matter that then produces a light.

In order to explore these caves we went down the underground river on inner tubes. This "black water rafting" included drifting down tight passages, limboing under low rock ceilings and racing down rushing water passages in complete darkness. The light from the glow worms guided us through this underwater labyrinth. The scariest part was jumping backwards in our inner tubes off a 3 meter waterfall in complete darkness.

Kiwi fruit and dairy cows

During our stay in Te Puke, Pär's host family took us to visit their kiwi fruit orchard and their dairy farm. Both kiwi fruit and dairy farming are very important industries in the Bay of Plenty region and it was interesting to learn more about these areas.

Kiwi fruit farmers are currently very worried because of a terrible bug that has attacked the golden kiwis. It is still unclear what makes it spread and the reason as to why it attacks only certain trees. An interesting fact about the kiwi fruit trees is that there are male and female trees. Only the female trees carry fruit but you need both the male and female trees together in an orchard for them to reproduce.

It was amazing to see how one person can milk 400 cows in an hour with a turn table milking machine. We also got to learn about how the cows are rotated between the  paddocks in order to maximize the amount of grass.

Thank you again for taking the time to show us around:)

Te Puke

Despite being the kiwi fruit capital of the world, Te Puke might not be the town that the majority of the tourists visit. The reason why we stayed here for quite a few days is because Pär was a high school exchange student here 20 years ago. We stayed with Pär's host family and managed to meet up with many dear old friends.

Thanks everyone for making us feel so welcome. It was fantastic to see you all again. On the day we arrived Pär's host mother Shelagh organized a large BBQ. This gave Erika and Peter the chance to meet everybody and Pär the opportunity to catch up and talk about old memories.

Rotorua

A visit to New Zealand is not complete without a visit to Rotorua. The town is surrounded by geothermal activity and provides excellent opportunities to learn more about the Maori history and culture.

We started our Rotorua visit with a Maori dance show, including the famous haka. This was followed by a walk among geysers, hot water streams and boiling mud pools. Before finishing the day off we went for a swim in natural hot springs.