Now I reached the west coast. around 1900 a little gold rush draw a number of adventurers to the region around Westport. Not much to be found. Westport recovered by coalmining and fishing. But it still got it’s wild west charm. It was a really good ride through the Buller Gorge. Another Wow for the Scenery! As I told you the sandflies finally got me and the bitesa are itching like hell. Grrr…. really annoying. My van runs well so far and carried me safely through the mountains. And finally I found a computer to connect my camera to. So hopefully Flickr works this time and I can provide you with some new photos. I know, the old ones are wearing off.

New Zealand and I share the same favourite colour. So it seems. Now I finally packed my things and left Christchurch on the 24.. I went to Banks Peninsula to have a swim with Hector Dolphins, the smallest sea mammals in the world. What an experience. I was a  little nervous. I’m not that kind natural swimming talent, so it was quite exciting for me to put on a wetsuit, flippers, goggles and snorkel and glide into 15 degrees cold water. The weather wasn’t great and the visibility under water was poor, but the dolphins were there. they were all around us. Small groups playing with us. Wow. Now I’m on my way northeast, passed Hanmer Springs yesterday and headed to Westport. I hope to stay there for a little time and continue to Nelson, where I hope to find some work. So much for now, folks.

4 Wheels a motor and a bed. I proudly present: my new car. Today I bought a van. It’s 18 years old and still in a good shape. Just wait for the photos. Maybe you got a good idea for a name? I hope all your prayers will be with it so it won’t break down. Tomorrow I’ll gett the last things fixed and equipped. New Zealand I’m coming! Right now I’m looking for some travel companions.

I made a hint to something last time. When I arrived here in NZ my luggage was carefully checked for any kind of little organic buggers which could probably invade the nature of these beautiful islands. You have to declare everything like food, meat, plants, used camping and hiking equipment to the government. I had my juggling balls with me, which my lovely girl Maren had given to me. As they turned out to be filled with seeds they had to be heattreated. Meaning I had to leave them for treatment a t the airport and to pick them up a few days later. That just cost me 35$ plus the taxi ride. Otherwise I could have taken the bus to the airport. So that’s the story of my balls. Well… at least the flight was cheap.

Only a 90 min flight from Auckland and you think you made a time travel. As you will see on my photos people who built this city in the late 18hundreds must have been homesick. They tried to recreate Britain on the other side of the world. Walking down Worcester street towards my hostel i waited for Harry Potter to run around the corner any time.

To top that right in front of our hostel there was some kind of oldtimer exhibition this morning. All the people dressed up like in 1900 and driving around in cars of that time. Time travel illusion complete!

They got some nice things down here including the cathedral, a great Botanic Garden and many arts and handcrafts shops. You can take the historic tram or enjoy a ride in a gondla on the river Aven.

Very british indeed.

Some words about the flight. Leaving Auckland came as a relief to me. To underline that the weather was fine, I had a nice maori cab driver taking me to the airport through the whole city. The motorway was completely packed because of the Chinese New Years celebrations in the city. After gathering my balls (I’ll explain that! ;-)) and running over a bird who tried to stand his claim - might he rest in peace - we arrived safely at the airport. Flying south we went along the west coast and I could enjoy viewing the great surf at Raglan and the other well known spots on the north island. We flew right past Mt. Egmont who showed his 2500m high snow topped flanks in shining sunlight. The southern alps passed and after what felt like just a few minutes, we descended towards Christchurch already. Wow, What a ride! I can really recommend that.

Auckland’s youth is definitely strange. I get the impression that Need For Speed is taught at school here. Every second car is tuned to hell! I’m sitting in this internet cafe for nearly 2 hours now, and outside is a crescendo of owerpowered engine sounds and pounding bass beats. The oldest cars have rocket like exhaust pipes and everyone tries to outrun the others as traffic lights get green. Turbos, NOS, you name it. And the bigger the spoiler, the better. And on a friday night it’s pure frenzy. Maybe i can catch some photos on my way home.

Aaah, oooh…, originally uploaded by strativari.

Finally! The first Photos are online now. Enjoy! This one shows Auckland Skyline and suburbs with Devonport in the front as seen from Rangitoto Summit.

Yesterday I got the Robinson Crusoe feeling. In the by near Auckland you can findan island, being the youngest volcano in the Auckland field (there are about 50 others). I took the ferry there and disembarked to my first little walk on Rangitoto Island. Though the island is a big rock of lava, it is covered with thick bush. Special trees and plants give you a jungle like feeling. I went up to the summit sweatting while crossing sunburnt raw lava fields. On my way I explored some lava caves and small paths wich would fit into every Indiana Jones Movie Set.

It’s worth every drop of sweat! On the summit you can enjoy a breathtaking view across the bay. If I was a pirate and had to burry a treasure…

But I payed with my first sunburn. Took the 30+ sunscreen three times that day. No use. The unforgiving sun punished me imediately for sitting on the pier for an hour. Maybe I should have jumped in and take a swim in the turquoise waters of the bay.

As I have some problems the the Card reader here a still haven’t uploaded some photos. Sorry for that but as soon I can manage you will get a closer look at my first jungle adventure.

Tomorrow I will fly to Christchurch and buy a car. Wish me luck for that. I hope not to get ripped of. We’ll see…

As you see I still got my problems with the english keyboards. I’ll get used to them. As I told you we went up Mt. Eden today. A small volcanic cone right in the city of Auckland. We had a wonderful view over the bay from there and tomororrow i hope to upload some pictures. After that we went for a little swim in the Pacific. Wow, me, finally in the Pacific! I missed that when I went to California many years ago. It wasn’t really a surfer’s beach but warm water, sand and shells. Besides, I learned a lot about surfing today.

Ok, folks. It’s getting late. Remember, it’s 12 hours later down here! Time to sleep.

Finally there: Auckland, New Zealand, Pacific Region, Southern Hemisphere. about 25 degrees in the shade and beautiful summer weather. The 29h of travelling didn’t affect my health as far as i can say and ecxept for the heat I slept as a baby. Now I’m out to explore the city. Rigth at airport I made the aquaintance of a nice surfer guy from Kiel. Now we are taking the first steps together. Todaz we’ll climb a small volcano. :-)

By the way, I decided to right this in english because I will drop some buttons here with this link address on them. So not onlz germans can read this crap. If you want me to give a translation… wait till I’m back. No let’s see, maybe i find the time to give a sumary in german too.

Cya!