To Auckland and Beyond!

I´ve been pretty lazy really when it comes to both taking photos, and spending time in front of a computer to bother adding to this blog. Luckily I have been ill for 3 days, which has given me the perfect opportunity to not do anything for a change, hide from the sunshine, and sit at a computer.

However by this point I´m not feeling very inspired when it comes to writing stories of our adventures.........which has never been my strong point anyway.

Needless to say we´re having a great time, and after just getting back from 10 days in Australia (I didn´t even take my camera!), we are back in Hokitika, and thinking once again about whether it´s time to look for some kind of income again, or just opt out all together!

Here are some shots from our trip to the wonderfully weird North Island of NZ. As I mentioned I´ve been lazy as hell with my camera, and havn´t taken photos of any kayaking, mountain biking, surfing or other fun stuff!

So here are a few landscape shots from the past couple of months!


Most things on the North Island seem to steam and bubble in some way. The earths crust here is built to the usual dodgy Kiwi building standards, so all the heat from the centre of the earth keeps escaping!



Even the mountains spit out smoke! Red Crater on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.

Mt. Ngauruhoe.....another active Volcano!

Hillevi on part of our long 5 day trek done in 3 days with the Volcano Mt. Ruapehu in the background.

Sunset over Mt. Raupehu

The Emerald lakes.

After catching up with friends in Taupo and Rotorua for 2 weeks, we hit the road ´to Auckland and beyond!`. Heading up to the far Northern tip of the North Island we came to 90 Mile Beach. A stretch of about 100km of official NZ Highway (only at low tide!) with a speed limit of 100km/h.

This led to about 2 days of entertainment and donuts blasting up and down the sand.

Romantic sunset shot!

Hillevi washes up after breakfast on the highway.

To get to and from the beach the ´Highway` follows (actually is in the middle of) a river for about 10km. Once again the speed limit is 100km/h.

We then headed back down south to Hokitika, working our way along the coast line!

South Island NZ

It was quite hard to drag ourselves away from the paradise that is Hokitika, but thinking we should see what else NZ has to offer we finally hit the road and headed south through the Glaciers towards Queenstown.

Finally after only 7 weeks of waiting, our van and home was finally fitted with it´s new motor and road worth again......... warranties are wonderful things!


Our new home is only 12 years old and we have just added this extension of a covered terrace area with a wonderful view!

Lake Moke, our home just outside Queenstown for a week.

Queenstown is a great wee spot where you can do just about everything from jumping off cliffs to drinking coffee! We opted for the cheaper options disappearing into the mountains with some food and a tent for a few days.

Hillevi on the Steel Creek Alpine Crossing between the Caples and Greenstone vallies.

Hillevi washing in a mountain stream.

What can I say! The Majority of the walk was through a hugely varying forest with limited views. So I didn´t have much choice but to photograph trees! I´m sure the ents live around here somewhere!












After getting our fill tramping, kayaking, fishing, mountain biking, Frisbee Golfing and Job Hunting in Queentown, we headed on South to NZ´s Southern most island, Stewart Island. Ever original with names, we landed in the only town Oban, where despite only having 22km of roads, and 380 inhabitants, they still have 300 cars! Kiwi´s just love driving!



The local in Oban are well know for being friendly and welcoming!?!



Hillevi takes a break at the local telephone tree for a break, and tries to decide whether to order a taxi just for the hell of it!



Again we were stuck in the Forest all day as part of our 3 day trek, so when we finally got to an opening I couldn´t resist getting a cliche shot of a pier.




Back from the island we worked our way through the Catlins towards Dunedin. Not sure what to do, we randomly stopped for the night in Curio bay, and not only being treated to a spectacular sunset, we found the place full of dolphins, seals and penguins!

First thing the next morning we headed out for a swim in a sheltered area of the bay, and spent a freezing half hour bodysurfing with about 15 dolphins......unfortunately we were too occupied to take any photos, so you´ll just have to believe me!


All throught the Catlins we found deserted beaches to set up home on.

Wine & Whales

After 10 days of living in a tent the Girls were ready for a bit of luxury. On the way back down the drop Mika in Christchurch we passed through Marlborough, and took the opportunity to stay at some Vinyards, and test the local produce! I have learnt a lot, and feel confident the I can now tell the difference between a white and a red wine.....but only if I´m allowed to look!

The Isabel Vinyard, where we stayed the night.

Gourmet food and wine, in the middle of the vines!

We made a final stop in Kaikoura before dropping Mika off, so the girls could get the first flight in Helicopter, as we flew out to observe the local wonder of a large sperm whale population. Hillevi being Norwegian was licking her lips at sighting this one, but was informed that unfortunately whaling is no longer permitted in NZ.

New Year and Abel Tasmen

Just after Christmas Hillevi arrived in NZ for the start of her adventure. Mika, our friend from Oslo also joined us for a 2 week holiday. We headed up the the North of the South Island, and the Golden Bay area for New year, and then entered the Abel Tasmen National park for 5 days of tramping.

The trek took us through thick jungle, and gave us access to numerous deserted beaches in a complete paradise.

Mika relaxes with a ´One Square Meal´for lunch, on yet another perfect beach.

Hillevi relaxing with a book at our private beach for the night.

Hillevi.

The sunset seen from the door of our tent!

Tonga Island seal colony.

Home for the night. More perfect beaches!!!!

Everything grows bigger and better over here. These arn´t trees.....they´re ferns! And they can reach over 10 metres in height!

A giant fern, which NZ is famous for.

We forgot a deck of cards. For the nights entertainment we Mika leads us in a matrix style long jump competition.

Family day on the Hoki River

The kayaking population in Hokitika seems to have exploded in the past couple of years, as a made breeding frenzy has taking grip on the paddling population. Dave takes his turn a babysitting while Heather spends the day Heli boating on the Hokitika River. We took both Heathers and Coopers family up for a day rafting through the spectacular Hokitika gorge.

JJ shows us that he is a real natural when it comes to children.

Pete and Karren, who have been putting me up for the past few weeks at Pete´s Hokitika Palace. The only rules are that he has to win at the poker table.......although that doesn´t seem to take much effort!

Dave and Sussie.

Heather and Sussie.

Hamish and Joan climb on board with Dando to head up the river.

Cooper guides the crew through the gorge.

Shortly before Karren and Hamish abandoned ship. If you look closely you can see the fear in their eyes!