More pictures!

Only have time to tranfer a bit of pictures, will tell you about it all very soon :)

Moutain climbing!

Since I wrote last, I have climbed a mountain just opposite to Mt Cook. Elad (and isralean guy I am travelling with at the moment) and I rented a car from Wanaga and drove there. The pictures are of the road to Mt Cook (absolutely amazing landscape), Elad on the way up the mountain and me on the top. We stayed there for a night in a isolated hut with app. 10 other people that had climbed the mountain that day also. There was no heat but the a wonderful sunset over the mountains. I know pictures cant capture landscapes, but it was beautiful.

I am now in Queenstown – after delivering the car back, hitchhiking here and sleeping for app 12 hours – I discovered a very touristy city! This is the place you go if you want to get drunk, are app. 20 years, want to do wild things and get crazy… not personally my cup of tea… at least not like this! But luckily they have an amazing park where I have been hiding ever since with my book high up in a three. Nice to have some time alone!

Tomorrow I am heading out to a 11 day treck through the Routeburn trek, Milford and Doubtful Sounds, Steward Island and then to Christchurch. Not back before the 3th of feb. Really looking forward to it, but it is many days with a lot of new faces – I am traveling with 11 unknown people…. But as of tomorrow they will no longer be :)

I hope you are all good! Talk to you soon :)

XX
maja

picture comments!?

I can't figure out how to do picture comments directly under the picture, they are therefore placed as comments to the blog! hope that makes sence...

~maja

Billeder fra NZ!

Blog

Hello all you wonderful people :)

Since a lot of you have demanded pictures from my trip, while I am here, everything will from now on be on this blog! I will mail you once I post a new letters, and I will try to upload some pictures :)

I am currently in Wanaga - have just been out skydiving today! If you haven’t done it yet, get over your fear and do it!!!! It was insane, but wonderful, fantastic and beautiful!

The next three days I am tramping on Mount Cook, the highest mountain in NZ. Afterwards I am of (leaving Sunday) to an eleven day hike going down to the southern parts of NZ. We are in total ten people going, I now none of them by now, but I think it is going to be amazing! This also means that I can’t be in contact with any of you from the 24 jan – 4 feb (Jubii :) ). If you want to skype before then I will be online your Saturday morning!

I hope that all of you are good and that the world is treating you as well as it is treating me!

Hugs, love, and kiwi-kisses,
maja

First mail

Hi my dear family and friends,

After 25 hour in a plane with in between brakes of security checks from hysterical airport guards, I finally arrived here – on the other side of the planet, New Zealand. First stop was my hostel, completely busted with a gigantic jetlag hanging over me. The next couple of days I was constantly tired, but every morning I would still wake up at 5am… very annoying.

Since I only had one month travelling here in the beginning of my journey, I had to get out of the city as fast as possible. Firstly I had to find somewhere to live. This turned out to be easier then I had expected. Many people buy houses as an investment and then rent every single room out to students and young people. I now have a furnished room in the middle of Ponsonby (25 Collingwood street, house 6, Ponsonby, Auckland) – the creative part of town with loads of small random shops and cafes – almost as perfect as it could be :) The house is placed next to 5 other house, each with five students/international students/young workers. We have a big joined garden, all houses have porches and hammocks in front of their house, and generally everybody seems very nice.

Now my idea was to get to the south island as fast as possible – once I am done working for the university sometime in may it is already snowing down south. This will not stop me from going back at that time, but tramping around the country is always more fun when you are not freezing all the time…

Luckily I had mead a couple in my hostel - she had just run out of money and was now looking for a place to live in Auckland while she earned some money. Therefore we easily made a deal – she is now living in my room paying 2/3 of the rent every week while I am travelling. Her boyfriend, Nicky, had nothing to do in Auckland (have no idea to why this was the case?!) and was therefore heading south while Rachel was working. He gave me a lift to Nelson – he drives like an impatient german tourist racing through the mountains. When we drove here it really occurred to me how strong the sun is here in NZ! There is special sun screen designed only for NZ conditions! I am currently rubbed in 30+ for NZ developed by the NZ cancer society, which is very necessary even though it is currently raining... When we drove here there were occasional showers on the road - as soon as it stopped a thick layer of steam/fog emerged from the evaporating rain due to the strong sun beams, lying as a thick carpet on the road…. Crazy!!

Yesterday we couch surfed with a local family here in Wellington. A german women that had lived in NZ all her life, her maori husband (with maori tattoos, dreadlocks and a big fan of the all blacks, the national rugby team!) and their two sons at 3 and 5 years old. It was a family with absolutely no money whatsoever, but they still had room in their home and hearts for a couple of surfers :) I simply love this way of travelling! This meant that last night was spend sitting by the fire in their garden drinking homebrewed white wine, talking about maori culture while the two boys ran around showing me all their best toys… Much fun!

Very early this morning Nicky and I sneaked out without waking the family; the ferry left the harbor at half past eight. I am currently sitting on the ferry with app. six meter high waves outside – or that was at least the captain’s estimate… Nicky is at the moment sleeping – he is a very morning grumpy german accountant, almost always a bit pissed about something. Once we get to Nelson, the nearest city on the shore I think I am taking the bus instead of driving with him. He is very nice, but a bit moody….

My plan is at the moment to go south from Nelson with the bus towards Milford sound and the beautiful Fiordland! In nelson I am staying close to the Abel Tasman National park where there are some great hikes I might want to take before heading south. There is a long hike going out from Queenstown I am thinking of taking. It takes a week to walk; some of it is travelling with kayaks. On the way there I might be stopping over at the Franz Josef glazier, doing some glazier climbing. All in all I have four weeks ahead of me exploring the south island! I think it is going to be amazing :)

I hope that you all are doing as fantastic as I am – perhaps with a bit more snow, but otherwise :)

Hugs, love, kiwi-kisses and sunscreen rub-off

~maja