Back to North

On the way back north we first drive over the second highest moutain pass in New Zealand, quite a good view for a pass ;) 

Next point on the itinerary was Mount Cook, the highest Mountain in New Zealand with over 3700 meters. Again we were really lucky with the weather ;)

The lake is so blue because of particles from the glaciers

Left high mountain is Mount Cook

After we arrived at our hostel we went for a walk. We could decide between an easy and a hard one. Of course I selected the hard one... It was over 2200 steps ...

This is the mountain we hiked

Took me around 1 hour

we did it :D 

Let's go for a swim :P

Was a bit cold and itchy

The steps ;)

After these hard hike we relaxed and watched a few movies. Sadly it is not so easy to go up to Mount Doom, thats more for pros...

The weather changed again :/ 

On the way to Rangitat we saw a couple of things. Normally you can do here, probably one of the best raftings in the world, but because of the rain the water raised to high for it...

Beautiful church in an awesome area (was a wedding)

Yeah one of our highlights, a big tree ... :P

We slept at the raft center was in the middle of nowhere. But we relaxed, played ultimate frisbee, watched movies and had an amazing BBQ :D simple awesome ;)  The other boys also decided to drink, drink and go to a party, was quite a fun for us when they came back :D

Was the last night traveling with Suzanne and Iris.

Sleeping in the third level ;D

Getting up early next morning...

Meanwhile in New Zealand :)

The girls jumped off the bus in Christchurch to flight to Auckland, smarter then driving all the hours up there ;)
At least I had a day with beach time and nice people in Kaikoura.

And I also eat my first fish and chips. A little bit of a surprise, it tested good ;) No idea why I waited so long.

On the way to Picton we stopped at the coast to see more seals. There are a lot of great places to spot them in New Zealand.

Picton means ferry again. It is a comfortable ferry, but still it is after the whole time of moving really annoying. Finally we made it to Wellington again. Last night with these people and looking forward to a 10 hours drive, we had a awesome night out! The DJ really rocked the club and knew how to play the shit ;) awesome dude!

Next day was one of the hardest, driving 10 hours after 2 hours of sleep... I got a bit sick after these exhausting days... But next day means again driving up to Pahia, not so munch time to recover. 

Next big tree on our way...

After I arrived in Pahia I took my time to get well again Beach, Movie and relax time!!

After my last Beach in New Zealand I left back to Auckland for two days. These days were kind of lazy, I only organised a few things for the States. I managed to meet Sandra again before she flow to Fiji's. Hope everything is going to be right after the storm.

Best ATM in the city ;)

Dessert at the MC Donald's :D

At my last day in New Zealand I managed to watch UCL again :D didn't saw a Bayern game for ages. Thanks to my brother for the VPN and Flo for the WiFi ;)

WOW no New Zealand is over... Was so incredible fast the last few weeks! Awesome country to visit, amazing people I met and great time I had!!! Thanks to everyone and everything who was a part of my exhausting, crazy and great trip in NZ!!!

Next stop I the past... Hawaii here I come!!!

Cheers
Steffen 

Queenstown

On the way to Queenstown we stopped at the first bungy jump, the AJ Hackett Bungy.

Sadly I had to safe money ... ;P

In Queenstown I bumped into Nicholas a guy from Sydney again, it is funny how you meet people after months again. I ended up in a room full with girls, was quite funny to listen to all the girls talk :D But it was hard to get a spot in the bathroom ;)

Had to fix my trousers, ups :P

Backpackers problem of not enough power ;)

We went out to eat pizza and went afterwards on a pub crawl, 6 pubs and 6 drinks included. We had a lot of fun, played some games. I won two vouchers, sadly I couldn't use any of them... But it was a hell of fun :D

Because we stopped in Queenstown for 2 nights I went on the Tiki Trail, a short hike. It was only 1 hour up and 1 back, but it was approximately an altitude of 600 meters, quite exhausting ;)

Quite thought

A little bit deep ;)

On the top

Was really worth it to get up :D

Good weather as usual ;)

Next night party again :P, but this time we watched the sunset and I got earlier in bed, because we left Queenstown at 7 in the morning. ;)

The squad: Jules, Suzanne, Karin, Iris
Ben, Nick, Simon and myself ;)

From the group only Suzanne and Iris stayed at the bus with me to the deep south. We went to the Milford Sounds and stopped along the way a view times, some walks and Waterfalls.

Lazy girls ;)

Humbolt Falls

The Milford Sounds is a fiordland, the valleys were formed thousands of years ago. Now the Ocean filled the valley and it looks awesome, definitely a place you have to go!!!

Was really windy on the top deck

Seals everywhere seals ;)

It is over 130 meters high

We slept at the Gunn's Camp, it is nearby to the Milford Sounds, so we didn't have to drive so munch in one day. More stopped at the way back;)

The birds are crazy :D

Gunn's Camp is in the middle of nowhere, there is nothing close by, even the electricity turns of at 10 pm, means early bedtime ;)

Next stop and last stop before we return to Queenstown was Invercargill, a quite big industrial city. On the way we did a few stops.

Lake Gunn

Mirror Lake

Lunchtime is beach time

It excites two option, you can stay in Invercargill or go to Stewart Island, the most south point in New Zealand. Because I only had on day I decided it isn't worth it to spent the money to go to Stewart Island and stayed in Invercargill. We went up to Bluff Hill, again strayed up ;) on the top we had a 360 degrees view.

Stewart Island

Because we had to wait for the people from Stewart Island, we drove to the Catlin's to see dolphins and some other nice spots ;) Only the weather turned into rain...

Sometimes we also have rain -.-

Dolphins :D

The lines which you can see are woods from thousands of years ago

Sea lion

A stupid Chinese through a stone at one of them to wake it up :,/

Because of the weather we decided not to go for a swim ;)
We went back to Invercargill to relax until the ferry arrives and we could continue back to Queenstown. Finally we arrived in Queenstown at 8 pm. Load of people I met earlier on my trip were also in Queenstown, so me had a little meet and greet. I went with Mark to Devilsburger for an awesome burger :D

Afterwards we met Ann-Kathrin and Bonnie again at the lake. Sadly all of the had to get up earlier at the next morning or were totally exhausted, so they went in bed early... But because it was my and the girls last night in Queenstown, we went out and also met Isabel and Jaron.

Next morning we left Queenstown at 9 am to drive all the way back north to Auckland. Was a lot of driving and stops along the road, quite exhausting. Let's see what I can see on my way back north ;) definitely more driving ...

Cheers
Steffen