Winter is coming...

Nope, I do not refer to 'A song of Ice and Fire' tho it is a really good book I just can recommend to read!
I now am on the South Island after a long ferry ride with I used for a nap - and what a nap it was! After a long night and almost missing the ferry nothing could have been better. Unfortunately a long bus ride followed the long ferry ride so that we arrived in Kaiteriteri in the evening.

After check-in and dinner the daily ritual started: Getting pissed!
However the next morning was hangover free and that was good because I was going to go on a walk in the famous Abel Tasman National Park and yes I have never ever heard of that park before but it was supposed to be one of the best so hell yeah I'm up for it. After a water taxi/ speed boat ride we reached the b-e-a-utiful beach from where we wanted to start. The morning was gorgeous with only very few clouds and a warming sun but since New Zealand enjoys to see us struggling with bad weather it quickly got cloudy and darker and then the rain came...all that within a quarter of an hour!
Anyway the Park was amazing and the walk was short but nice!

Martin the explorer!

Just then we had another long bus ride in front of us to get to Westport which was probably the worst part of my  New Zealand trip. 'Why?' you ask me? I can tell you! The weather was shit and surfing was the only thing I could do. However it was cold and rainy and the water was freezing so I decided not to spend 100 bucks on feeling ice cold for hours and nothing else was to be done there. I was glad when we left and this ride was going to be awesome! Yeah almost marvellous! Our first stop was a big seal colony! How awesome is that?

Aaawww! Cuties!

Later we drove a highway next to the Ocean which is supposed to be in the Top10 of the most scenic roads the world has to offer! And in my opinion it was at least as good as the Great Ocean Road in Victoria! Sick!

Group photo with both busses!

On that road we stopped at the Pancake Rocks or something like that and made a walk there. It started sunny and then it rained. After that it was sunny again and I got dry until the next shower made me wet and that happened 3 or 4 times in not even an hour's time! Ridiculous!

In the evening we finally arrived in Franz Josef where the weather should cause another disappointment: I could not fly to the glacier for the hike cause it was cloudy! Fuck you New Zealand! Moreover it was getting cold - very cold for Australian measure and a little cold to German ones. But since i lived in Austrlaia for such a long time now I got used to the heat and this was kind of a shock for me. Yep winter was coming and it was coming quickly to the Southern Alps. I at least had time to play paintball with the lads. And that, my dear audience, was not only much cheap but also more fun! We divided into 2 teams and then went into the jungle(?!) for battle! That day I lost my paintball virginity and it was so much fun!

Paintball with the lads!

The next day then we went to Wanaka on a road full of waterfalls and beautiful lakes with mountains around it. Wanaka was the first real town after Auckland and Wellington I like in New Zealand. This country is definitivly the wrong choice for those who like to see cities.
That evening we had the ABC party - anything but clothes.

Here with Mike&Matt...

Everyone got shitfaced but it hit Matt the most and he didn't have a good time in the bus the next morning!
Before leaving Wanaka we first wemt into a playhouse to let the child in us out!

After a morning walk around a mirror lake we finally arrived in Queenstown where I currently am and tomorrow the madness will start and I will see if it really the adventure capital!

Mirror lake!

Aaaand a random waterfall...

Sweet as bro!

Commin' to Auckland 'Lord of the Rings' already awaits me at the airport!

After a day in Auckland my Kiwi Experience starts! So let's go!

Auckland, much bigger than expected but quite nice.

Our stop for the day was Hot Water Beach but we first went to Cathedral Cove which is just next to it.

Really nice there but that's not even the highlight.

After a great dinner cooked together with my new friends we headed to the Hot Water Beach at around 9pm to catch the low tide and dig our own hot pools.
At first I was really sceptical...digging in the sand...wow... But! It was awesome and the water was burning hot and came out of the sand when you dig a hole! Ridiculous!
That really amazed me and I had some beers with me so a great evening!



The next morning we headed to Waitomo where we where going to do Black Water Rafting! On the way there we stopped at some point and made an early morning walk to wake up - good idea!

There we were going through an old mine that wasn't in use anymore and when Jo and I found a pitch black side way that was obviously not part of the way we couldn't help it but let the little child in us out and walk that way - without a torch of course cause that would have been boring! Cloe also went with us to share the adventure and have a good story if we survive the mines! Anyway we seemed to be walking for hours when we remembered we have to be back in time to catch the coach and when we made our way back - now with torches - it took us not even five minutes...

Anyway we got to Waitomo and started the Black Water Rafting. Getting the wet wetsuits on it was pretty cold and then going into the ice cold water didn't make it better but that day I really valued a wet suit because after some minutes you were warm and even the cold water couldn't bother me!

The next morning we made our way to Rotorua, the cultural capital of New Zealand and that evening we got introduced into the Maori culture which is still quite vivid in New Zealand and the Maori are really proud of their culture. For instance we learned to dance the Haka, the Maori war dance.

We visited a Maori village and got told and shown about the crafts of the Maori and their warfare. Later on we had a typical Maori dinner. Delicious!

Rotorua itself is definitely not one of my favourite cities because of a lot of termic activity there are a lot of boiling hot mud pools and they smell very badly.

Source of the smell here we go!

Me and Craig and a mighty geyser !

After another night out in Rotorua and with only little sleep we headed for Taupō the next early morning. There I lost my luck with the weather because it was very cloudy and I could not climb Mount Doom...
So the next morning the only thing we could do after a long sleep after a good night out was to go to hot springs to courier our hangover.
Unfortunately we had to walk an hour to get there which is not quite that nice with a hangover - but hey! We made it!

Stunning landscapes!

Next stop with the coach is River Valley and as the name already says the next activity involves water! Yeah guessed right it's White Water Rafting! Arriving a little bit late we just could leave the coach and went straight for the wetsuits and other equipment to put everything on and then mad our way upstream the river since we were going to finish at our lodge.
White Water Rafting is sick! We went in groups of 5 in the boats and had each a guide on board and it was very very helpful.
Because of a lot of rain in the past days the river was at its maximum and the current was stronger than usual. After a couple of minutes when we went for the first little waterfall we lost the first person. And the water is bitter cold. That day I again really valued my wetsuit. Anyway after maybe half of the way we came to one of the bigger waterfalls and when we approached it our guide just started saying 'Fuck!Fuck!Shit!Fuck!' and a couple of seconds later in the waterfall we tipped over and everyone could enjoy the nice ice cold water.
We passed a lot of small waterfalls and rapids. Really good fun! Almost at the end of the trip we came to a about 6 metre high boulder so everyone who dared could jump into the river. That evening we discovered the nice little bar we had in our lodge and again we were going to have a long night!

Getting up early after a long night sucks! - But what can you do so down in the bus in which we were going to spend most of the day since it was a really fckn long ride to Wellington.

Wellington is small! But here is probably the best museum I've ever been in : The Papa. I'm not really the guy for most the museums but this one was pretty good explaining the history of New Zealand, its marine and forest animals and of course the Maori culture! Since I always take my time I spent a long couple of hours there.

Wellington!

Later that evening we went out for some free curry and pre-pre-drinks before we started with pre-drinks in our hostel which was ment to be alcohol free and it was a pretty funny thing to get it - in a very obvious way - past the reception in our rooms. When me and my mate tried it we just heard the reception laugh and saying 'This was the shittiest attempt I've ever seen!' But we got in so all good!
After the pre-drinks we went down to the bar and damn I was really wasted...
The day in Wellington was used with sightseeing at the waterfront and finally doing my laundry. The evening was also quite similar to the first one and I woke up at 6:40 am the next morning - 20 mins before my bus and the ferry departed! After waking all my roommates up I had to be quick but hey - no worries! So it was time to leave the beautiful North Island and go to the cold south!

4 seasons in 1 day?!

Yeah!
Finally in Melbourne! First impression? Okay, it's a big city but nothing special...
Anyway arriving 2am in the morning I had to pass a park and a possum came to me to welcome me to Melbourne and to get patted.
My first day in Melbourne started with more than 30° and sunshine so what can I do but to go to St. Kilda and check out the beach?
First problem: How to get there? Google maps was useless but it wasn't too hard to find out which tram takes me there.                                     Yeah there is a tram operating in Melbourne and it's awesome and adds so much flair to the city.

How awesome is that?

After spending ages in the tram I eventually arrived. Well, St. Kilda is quite nice but nothing compared to Sydney's beaches and the water is flat without any waves.

Beach day! Yeah!

Later on when Luke and Ben finished work they came to join me and we celebrated our reunion after three weeks with some jugs of Pimms in a beach bar!

After sunset we went to the mysterious jetty to see the penguins who live there. Yeah, Melbourne is full of little wonders!

Looking evil with those red eyes...

The next day I was going to explore the city. The day started warm and sunny but in the afternnon it turned cold and rainy? Summer and winter in one day? Melbourne!
That evening I cooked the worst pasta of my whole life. The bolognese sauce was pretty good tho but I had such a bad cooker for the water it took ages! After having the spaghetti already in for half an hour (!) they were still hard so I had to keep them in and when after a whole hour the consistance of the pasta was good they just takes like flour! Awful but hunger makes you eat it!
The good thing the long cooking session did to me is that I got to know some people to go to the city with the next day.

There we went to the Queen Victoria Market a gigantic market where you can get everything and cheaper than in the super market! Amazing!

Later that day me and my room mate, Basti, went to a comedy play. At that time the International Comedy Festival took place in Melbourne and you could watch comedy plays at some places in the city and it was after all not bad at all! Well done guys.

On Friday I went to join the free city tour and it was marvellous! The tour guide was damn good and showed us the very best places of Melbourne and told us about everything.
The real city life takes place in the small lane ways where the cafes and restaurants and -of course- the art scene was with its graffiti. Sick!

Melbourne's uni is really cool!

Street art in Melbourne is awesome!

By that time I was already loving Melbourne! With every day that passed I liked the city a little bit more.
That night we went to an Aussie Football game Hawthorns vs Fremantle.

After some time you could understand the scoring system and some of the rules but that's it.
However it is good fun to watch them play because it's all but boring with the tackles and everything.


On Saturday Luke, Ben and I went around the city to find the best deal for renting a car and we found it at Peterpans! 75/day for a big car with insurance was pretty good though we were all under 25!

Getting closer to the evening we started preparing for the night, getting goon and getting dressed.
That night Luke and Ben wanted to show me the amazing party scene of Melbourne and they didn't promise too much!

We went to a really sick club Brown Alley or so and later to another sick one called Cloud 9! And yeah we all were on cloud nine and partied till the next morning. Yeah it was a great night!

Monday we finally started our road trip. Ben, Luke, me and Anna, a girl I met earlier made our way to the first stop, The Grampians!
The weather was really good mostly sunny and sometimes cloudy and it was warm. We did some long walks and when it got dark we made our way 300km down to our accomodation on the Great Ocean Road!

Martin, the explorer here in the canyon.

 Now exploring what lies behind the mountains! Good day for exploring!

Jump! Because we can!

But here again you can see how quickly the weather can change in Victoria because when we woke up it was already a little bit raining.
But a tiny amount of water surely can't stop us so we went to our first stop, the 12 apostles!

Stunning! Marvellous! Superb!

Even tho it was raining they were stunning! Everyone who said that the Great Ocean Road is amazing does not exaggerate!
We have seen stunning cliffs, unbelievably beautiful beaches and even waterfalls!

Who can that cool boy be?

Gettin' excited!

My final day in Melbourne Luke and me started with a proper English breakfast: beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, scrambled eggs, bacon and bread. We just did not take sausages because here they are crap.

This was Luke's last day in Australia so we went for some beers before he had to leave for his flight to Bali.
Saying good bye to people you have spent your time with for half a year sucks but I'll see him again! Have a good time in Asia Luke!

The evening I went up the Eureka tower to the skydeck to see my beloved Melbourne from above and it is stunning!

Melbourne, I love that city!

The following morning then it was my turn to turn my back to Australia because I was going to fly to Auckland! New Zealand here I come!