Get outside!

Happy new year everybody! Let 2018 be happy, filled with love, friends and adventures. Mine started on the beach with a bunch of great people, but first I'll tell you more about the adventures before.

The Queen Charlotte Track: my first tramping trip! (Tramping is the kiwi word for overnight hikes). I left most of my stuff at the hostel in Picton and took my "light" backpack filled with camping gear and food to the watertaxi, which brought us to Ship Cove on the far north of the Marlborough Sounds. We passed through beautiful scenery with quite a few salmon farms along the way and got treated on funny stories about bird attacks by the captain. I Ieft my backpack on the watertaxi for them to ship it to the first campsite which made the first day of 27 kilometres a little easier. Passing through native bush, incredible view points and absolutely nobody around was simply great. Solid selfreflection time ;). After a great dinner with a few other hikers (guess what... Rice and tuna!) and a veeeery refreshing swim I passed out in my little tent on Camp Bay.
From day 2 on I had to carry my package myself. 23km with a few big hills lay ahead of me, with the sun burning like crazy. Again, the views were breathtaking and made me stop many times just to make pictures. Cowshead bay offered paradise if it comes to swimming, simply wonderfull! I felt a little sore from the backpack but again had so much fun and such great talks with very inspirational people. Some where hiking the whole TA track, from cape Reinga to Bluff. Wow!
Covering another 23km on the last day got me back to Anakiwa, where the next beautiful swimming bay got me outside in the water for quite a while again. Taking the water taxi back to Picton after and sleeping in a cozy bunkbed at the backpackers was very, very relaxing. Check: first tramping trip on my own and it was AWESOME!

So if you like something, you gotta do more of it, right?! I hitchhiked my way to Nelson where I caught up with Thomas, a study mate from back in Groningen. We took off to the Nelson lakes national park and followed the Robert Ridge Track up to Angelus hut. Speaking of challenging, this was. Besides laughing lots about stupid (dutch) jokes, we also had to climb rocks and balance over small ridges at about 1600m height. Epic! After a dip in the freezing lake Angelus, the tent fellt cozy although not really warm, the wind blew straight through. Anyway, we brought jelly beans and even wine, so no problem there! The way back was steep and full of loose rocks and creek crossings. Jumping from stone to stone trying not to fall over.. I did anyway. Wet shoes are shoes too, right? The last few hours through the bush were not the prettiest, but after all we has such a great time, thank you lots Thom! Look at the pictures for an impression!

After some nice beach days around Nelson and Picton (and another small hike - Snout track) my cousin Cameron picked me up and we took the ferry back to Wellington and drove to Rotorua. So long, south Island! You've been extraordinary, adventurous and 100% gorgeous!

Christmas day was spend fishing on the ocean at Tauranga with family. Sunny, beautiful and lots to eat afterwards. We met with the whole family up in Whangamata on boxing day, so great to catch up with all of them after these exciting weeks! I drove with Cameron again towards Paihia (aaaall the way up north), where I stayed at a hostel and did a big day trip to Cape Reinga, where the Pacific ocean meets the Tasman sea. A very spiritual and special place to be. Sanddune surfing along the way was a great experience and just be carried by a bus instead of your own feet was quite pleasant for a day too. I went further down towards Whangarei and stayed in this old cellblock (prison) I was happy the doors did not get locked anymore though..

On the 30th I made my way to Ruakaka, where Thomas and his friends picked me up for some days camping out at Uretiti beach. A different world! No sense of time or place, just enjoying, laughing, swimming, kayaking, card games and a tiny bit of drinking. And suddenly it was 2018! Pretty much the absolutely perfect new years, even missing out on dutch oliebollen or skiing in Swiss was not hard at all. After all these beautiful (beach) days the weather changes now, so I'm happy to stay in Auckland for a few days where I get to stay with Rebekah, who I met at Uretiti beach. So generous and nice!

Allright, that's about it for now. I think it's pretty clear that my travels around New Zealand are all about getting outside, close to nature and to great people. 20 more days to go, let's enjoy!