Downunder

Rainriders extended mission "downunder" - New Zealand - January 2005

Participants:

Sorted by length of first names :-)

• HD B.
• FloD.
• Anja B.
• Doris U.
• Howie
• Michael U.

• Matthias T.

  Day 1

  Wallenhorst - Saturday, 01.01.2005 New Year's Day

  Overcast weather, approx. 3°C, Birte rings the doorbell at 7:10 in the morning. I'm excited and wonder if I've thought of everything. The cats get the last UHT milk from the fridge, unplug all the plugs, turn off the dishwasher, turn off the machine.... Everything is ready: departure approx. 7:28 am. We arrive at Osnabrück main station far too early. With my last good wishes, a completely exhausted Birte accompanies me to platform 11, where the IC to Hanover is already waiting - without a locomotive. There are also a few proles standing around on the platform, it's draughty and chilly. I am the first passenger to board the dark 2nd class carriage 20 minutes before departure. The hand moves forward, a final wave and the train rolls into Hanover.

  Once I arrive in the state capital, I have 20 minutes to change to the S-Bahn to the airport. The smell of fresh bread rolls is everywhere. Arriving at the airport, I drag my luggage and paddle to Departure Hall B. Here I wait an agonizingly long 20 minutes for my HDB group, all of whom I have never seen before except HD. Finally we are all there and cause a bit of stress at the KLM check-in counter: 12 pieces of luggage weighing 128 kg...all ok. Backpacks and paddles (including what felt like 250 km of duct tape) go into the bulky baggage. Then it's through the security check. Everything is x-rayed, pockets emptied, jacket and vest removed. Everything seems okay. Now it's off to the tarmac and into the relatively manageable city hopper via a proper gangway. It takes some skill to fit all the hand luggage into the stowage compartments - but we manage it in the end. Then the plane takes off on time and we take off.

  A short time later, we are already pushing through the wintery, closed cloud cover. From time to time I can still see the Mittelland Canal down there, I think there's even the Weser. The pilot tells me that we are flying over Osnabrück at 800 km/h, which is hidden under a thick cloud cover. What a pity that I can only see this mass of clouds!

As I am writing these lines, we are already landing in Amsterdam. Overcast - 5°C. A moment ago I could still see Holland's magnificent drainage system from above, now we're already stopping in front of a check-in hall in Schipol.

The airport here in Amsterdam is simply gigantic. There are at least 100 large airplanes on the runways alone that we roll past here. -Crazy!!!

We decide to spend the waiting time of about 7-8 hours with a city tour. We leave our hand luggage in a locker in the basement and buy train tickets to the main station. It's less than 10 minutes by train to the city center. We quickly realize that many sights are closed on New Year's Day. We walked to the Botanical Gardens (small but beautiful with lots of greenhouses). Then we went to the Tropical Museum - also closed. Then at Artist - a park with a zoo, planetarium and other attractions. We would have had to pay €16 for a day ticket and €12.50 for a reduced 1.5-hour ticket! Pretty hefty - that was definitely too expensive for us and we moved on. At the Maritime Museum - also closed. At least we could afford a stop at a large American snack chain at the beginning of the stroll (cheeseburger for €1.50, get rid of the poop once again for €0.50). After a total of 4.5 hours on our feet, we were all a bit exhausted. After the drive back to the airport, we still have enough time to have a look around this maze of halls, corridors, shopping facilities and so on.

Check-in is announced for 19:25.

Now we are already sitting in a Boeing 747-400, two stories high with about 400 people on board!!! The monitor shows that we have 10,247 km to fly to Kuala Lumpur. The calculated flight time is 11:22 hours. Outside on the ground it's 8°C, it's raining - and the pilots can't get one of the engines to start. It is now 20:36. Sitting next to me is a forty-something Indonesian businessman who is also writing something like me in a pad of paper (but from right to left!)

The rows of seats are arranged 3-4-3 with about 50 rows in a row. A Japanese man in the middle has just rubbed himself lavishly with some kind of pungent peppermint sauna oil - totally perverse!

So here we go. We're sitting right next to the left wing. The flaps move for the test. We taxi to the take-off position. It's already dark outside. The runway marker lights are shining everywhere, bathing the airport grounds in a dim, diffuse light. And now it's shoooooow....! It's easy to get into the seats and we're already in the low-hanging clouds, from which it has been raining for two hours for a change. The outside temperature sings from 8° to 1°. We climb higher and higher,1,600 m, 2,400 m, -3°C, at 660 km/h, -7°, 3,600 m, 860 km/h.

We are now about 40 minutes in the air: altitude 9,400 m, -54°C, over Hanover, Potsdam, Berlin we are now passing the Polish border at over 1060 km/h! The person sitting next to me is English (born in Egypt) and works for an Islamic aid organization that operates worldwide. He is now on his way to the office in Jarkata to organize help from there for a week. The organization is called "islamical relief" or something like that.

Day 2

Kuala Lumpur - Sunday, 02.01.2005

I made it through the night. I didn't get much sleep, but I was always able to get snacks or something to drink. In between, I took a tour of the Business Claas on the upper floor: there's more space, each seat has its own monitor and so on.

We had just flown over the coastal areas of Thailand (Puket and Aceh) affected by the tsunami and seaquake. Of course, we couldn't see anything under the clouds. And now we are already making a stopover in Kuala Lumpur.

First we quickly take off our ZipOffs and fleeces. Even though all modern airport halls are air-conditioned, we are somehow dressed a little inappropriately for near the equator. After all, it's supposed to be 28°C outside. The time difference to Frankfurt is already 7 hours. The flight from Amsterdam took about 11 hours and I feel surprisingly fit.

Our current problem: Howie and HD have suddenly disappeared in the airport hustle and bustle. First of all, we rattle through all the information points and counters - to no avail. Time starts to run out - kind of annoying! Finally, we have the two of them paged. The airport staff here are all very nice and really try to help us find them... exciting.

Now it's local time 16:36 and our departure to Auckland is 21:25 at C:036.

We want to use this time for a trip to the city center, about 25km away. First of all, we take a course to get some Malay cash and use it to lock our luggage. Tickets for the feeder train only need to be purchased at the arrival station for the distance traveled. After an exciting train ride and a lot of trying back and forth, we are suddenly standing in front of the metropolis' landmark: the Petronas Twin Towers. These giant towers are abbreviated to KLCC here. It is now after 6 p.m. and outside the air-conditioned stations it is really humid here, like in Germany only in midsummer before a huge thunderstorm with an outside temperature of around 30°C. As we are only a little north of the equator, dusk soon falls.

What never ceases to amaze us in this modern mega-growth metropolis is the selfless friendliness with which people always help us to get the right train or buy tickets.

We are standing in front of these huge towers with modern glittering facades and, although they are gigantic, they are just two skyscrapers among many here - albeit much smaller ones. There is gigantic construction going on in every corner of this city (although today is actually Sunday, many building sites are in operation - maybe it's not a day off here??). The streets with left-hand traffic are very busy, so you have to be very careful when crossing - there are even moving traffic lights with seconds left!!! Totally awesome!!!!

The vegetation is of course also tropical, as if stolen from a greenhouse. Palm trees and other plants probably manage quite well here with the poor soil conditions in the city.

at least all the plants are green - even if some of them only have to grow on a bit of dirty rubble.

We only had 3-4 hours for the city excursion. That is of course far too little for such an up-and-coming metropolis of millions as Kuala Lumpur is. Nevertheless, it was probably just enough for a very rough orientation and was therefore really worthwhile! Now we hurry back to the airport to check in just in time.

The flight to Auckland (with Malaysia Airlines, also with a Boeing 747-400) takes about 9 hours. There is always something to eat in between. I can hardly sleep all night. We sit on the right wing and can see little of the ground apart from a few glimpses of the cloud cover over Australia at night.

Now we are worried about the strict entry regulations regarding the cleanliness of equipment and the import of food. We will experience everything in about half an hour...

Day 3

Auckland - Monday, 03.01.2005

We have already covered another 9,500 km in this giant bird. A stylized plane appears on the screen again and again, indicating the direction to Mecca and the distance...

Now we are clearly descending - in the middle of the clouds over the Tasman Sea, the flaps are opening, the temperature outside is rising steadily from -46°C to +11°C...

So!!! Landing went well, not quite as smooth as in Kuala Lumpur, but still soft and good. It is now 12:30 local time. Auckland's international airport has a more familiar feel to it, with carpeted floors and all. The halls and corridors also make a rather cozy impression. But the controls are all the stricter! I thought that if I couldn't bring in my beer crackers, which were intended as travel provisions, then at least I would be allowed to eat them - puff cake! The sturdy Maori customs officer asks me all sorts of questions about the origin, ingredients and other quality features of the fresh beer cracker sausages. Then she simply pockets my 10 delicious beer crackers, disappears into the back office area and comes back without them. Fresh quarantine stuff from our predecessors in the inspection, on the other hand, went into a special yellow garbage can according to meticulous protocol... Well, it's probably the right thing to do to protect New Zealand - SHIT!!!

But we were lucky with our shoes. Our four tents and the tarp are collected, but after 30 minutes they are handed back outside the disinfection department without any problems. Now we have time to check in for our Nelson flight. The two ladies at the domestic flight counter are really cool. One of them takes our main luggage, her colleague at the computer wants to charge us a few fresh New Zealand dollars for excess weight, as we have 20 kilos more in our luggage than in Hanover and Amsterdam. We find that worth discussing. For us laymen in this area of baggage handling, the solution to the puzzle is that the nice lady was probably resting her entire upper body on the counter connected to the scales for each piece of baggage, purely by chance. This was certainly completely unintentional and accidental. After a lengthy discussion, we realize that this procedure is always followed and that we can discuss with the pilot whether he wants to take responsibility for our luggage weight and the resulting take-off problems - great!

We wait a little longer outside the hall of this international airport. The weather is pleasantly European in summer!

We take a bus to the domestic part of the airport - even more familiar, also carpeted. Nice. You can check in here up to 15 minutes before take-off - perhaps even later. Domestic flights with "New Zealand Air" seem to be more like bus travel here. We walk onto the tarmac to the Saab 370 (?), which is characterized by its propeller and turbo with 33 seats. The flight attendant is a nice self-promoter. During the next 70 minutes, we get our first impressions of the landscape of approx. 500 km of the North Island through the somewhat loosened cloud cover, a water, a coffee with a cookie and finally a sweet - really nice (and such a pretty one...)

The pilot brought us down safely in Nelson. There seems to be a tide on this coast, which is protected by headlands - the water is probably just running out now. The vegetation is totally beautiful: summer, flowers, large cypresses, pines, solitary trees are probably also in here, willows, knotweed, British lawns...

That's Matthias: lively, wiry, nice. He jumps up and greets everyone with joy - cool, maybe even a little crazy! And this is our car and home for the next few weeks: Mitsubishi, off-road, short wheelbase, 4-wheel drive, 3 roof racks, some minor modifications to the interior, steering wheel on the right and already normally packed by German standards.

O:K: the luggage for seven people is also inside after half an hour and the people themselves somewhere in between. But now it's time for the first "Aldi shopping". Matthias and I stay with the car, which is leaking a little oil...

Michael and I take care of the sharp roof rack edges by wrapping our luggage tape and old cardboard from the store around them. According to our technicians, the oil leak can probably not be completely repaired with simple on-board equipment. Matthias tries to organize a remedy via the "local NZ-ADAC", but apparently there are some kind of membership problems.

As we are all hungry, we have a kebab for NZ$ 9 (approx. € 4.15). In Auckland at the airport I exchanged my first NZ$ 260 for € 150. It is definitely cheaper to exchange money in the provinces or to withdraw money directly from an ATM. I find the urban architecture here interesting. Nelson is, after all, the largest city in the north of the South Island and is characterized by 1-2 storey wooden houses in the city center. Most of these have beautiful arcades with automatically watered hanging baskets. A bit like in Wild West movies.

After the kebab, it's around 7 p.m. and we drive another two hours to our first campsite in Murchison. We are all pretty exhausted from the journey and somehow manage to get some sleep between the mountains of luggage during the drive. Everything here seems a

a bit like the Alps, and memories of Norway come flooding back. Strangely familiar, but with a few changes in the vegetation. We arrive at the Murchison campsite at 10 p.m. and set up our tents as dusk falls. After a short first evening get-together until midnight, we retire tired.

Day 4

South Island - Murchison - Tuesday, 04.01.2005

8:00 a.m., rain but pleasantly warm.

We have Porrege breakfast in the covered camper kitchen and set off at 10:00 a.m. to a neighboring paddler's store to pick up our reserved boats. Matthias has occasionally organized private boats for other paddlers and has probably negotiated very favourable conditions for the other rental boats. The store is very well equipped and also has its own kayak school. Once we have checked our boats and equipment, we have the unexpected problem of loading 7 bulky toy boats (there's no other name for these things) onto three crossbeams without vertical supports. Two full hours and at least five complete attempts later, we've managed it! The first paddling tour in New Zealand now takes us down a clear section of the Buller River, commonly referred to as "Doktors Creek". This section ends at our campsite and is a great introduction to Murchison's whitewater paradise. Anja and Doris promptly go for a swim.

In the evening, we have rice and beans with fresh chicken in the covered camper kitchen. Unfortunately, our communal kitchen is still missing a few spices...

But we all fall into our beds relatively quickly.

Day 5

South Island - Murchison - Wednesday, 05.01.2005

The constant rain has actually stopped. Anja brings me a cup of coffee to the tent. Matthias has caught a serious stomach bug and is out for the day. Without Matthias, we first go shopping in the town. My haul from the supermarket: postcards, Diet Coke, trail mix and a universal sponge for the kitchen, tent and boat. On the other side of the street, I get hold of a comfortable camping chair for NS$15. HD finds various small items such as a hairdryer for NS$ 3 in a junk store run by a Dutchman.

In the afternoon we go with a paddler from the campsite to an upper section of the Buller. Here at the entrance near a road bridge far away from any civilization there is even an outhouse - cool. It only takes about 20 minutes to put in. There are a few locals at the access point who do embankment launches from the 20m high bridge support. First they have to use material to get along a dirt channel before the view of the last few meters of free flight becomes clear. Interesting...

The river here is similarly comfortable in the lower II section. After the halfway point, there is a confusing, massive rapid which, with a good MW, already passes as a weak IV.

with a good MW. I decide to take the chickenway on the right bank and am annoyed that I don't have a bigger boat or even my Salto with me. My frustration increases when I see Howie, HD and Michael getting through the rapid without any problems and having fun at the same time... well. Anja and Michael find out a little later that the Buller can also be a bit mean with a swim that causes a bit of chaos. At first we don't know if we're missing a paddle so Howie and I decide to paddle the last two kilometers alone - without success in the paddle search.

HD, Anja, Doris and Michael (all with paddles) arrive a long time later and we load up in the rain.

In the evening we have pasta with tomato sauce with onions and eggs in it, real paddlers' food!!! The best thing about it - we have our own spices! Around 23:00, off to the sleeping bag. It's raining...

Day 6

South Island - Murchison - Thursday, 06.01.2005

20° Celsius, drizzling rain. After breakfast with toast, we have to go to the workshop. The oil cooler supply line is leaking! That means "big shit"! Matthias and Howie will probably have to drive to Nelson to see if they can do anything about it. On the way there, however, they drop us off at a beautiful tributary of the Buller. Thanks to the incessant rain, it is easy to ride today. The official start is at a quaint old wooden bridge. We carry on about 500 m up to a side stream (black water) to take 3 beautiful steps. A wonderful start and a nice compensation for putting on the wet wetsuits. The stream is particularly scenic. Moss-covered smooth rocks (look a bit like coarse-grained concrete) are overgrown with ferns and all kinds of bushes. Strange bird sounds accompany us as well as many play boaters. Some play areas are really overcrowded. But it's still a great paddling experience on a moderately difficult torrent. To stay in practice, Doris decides to do another swim today. This time in front of a narrow slot.

After the mouth of the Buller, it's another 2 km to the campsite. The Buller has about half a meter more water today! Many familiar spots have flooded, but the swift current makes up for this.

Arriving at camp, I enjoy my first shower in the southern hemisphere. Here, too, the water drips from top to bottom...

At around 18:00, a German couple arrive at the campsite and I practise some small talk with them while hanging up my wetsuit. Matthias and Howie have just returned from Nelson and tell me about their luck and success:

After being passed from a specialist garage to various colleagues to a scrap dealer - who happened to have the same Mitsubishi as a test dummy - they were able to wrench on both cars themselves for about three hours. The problem was "only" a loose screw on the oil cooler or the supply line. However, everything was very difficult to access. Howie and Matthias only had to pay NZ $20 for everything (advice, the opportunity to do the work on site and borrowing tools)!

The evening passes without rain, but sandflies for free and in all quantities and backed beans.

Day 7

South Island - Murchison - Friday, 07.01.2005

No rain, cloudy. My Thermarest has probably rewarded yesterday's loving attempts at gluing with latex glue and tape. As it rained less this night than the night before, I no longer have any problems with condensation in my Northface canvas tent. These are comforts that make the start of a new day seem comfortable.

Today we want to go to the Glenroy River. It's supposed to go up to 3+ and be more technical. Afterwards we'll move camp to Hokitika. That's the plan.

After breakfast we found two Kiwis with whom we want to paddle on the remote Glenroy. They can also help us move the boat. The nature here is once again brilliant. On the way there, we drive for about half an hour through a large mountain valley with large herds of cattle but also a rugged shore road (gravel road). The sun is shining (!) and we can set off at around 12:15. The river can perhaps be compared to the upper Oker or the Loisach. It starts off nice and easy - around 2 to 2+. The banks gradually get closer and suddenly, after a good hour of playing around, we're in the middle of a full-blown 3-4 (with 5 places) gorge. Now the stream quickly becomes too difficult for our group. After Anja, Howie and Michael also have to swim. We need a lot of time to retrieve all the swimmers and materials. The banks of the gorge are impassable and steep, but manageable. After about 5 hours in this gorge, we all reach the end of the gorge safely at a road bridge. This gorge had some really beautiful and technically challenging white water to offer, which I would love to do again with my Salto. Without swimming, this stretch should be doable in 2-3 hours including playtime.

We are all happy to have made it through the paddling part in one piece. But after a short breather, the ubiquitous sandflies start to get on our nerves. There are billions of these little evolutionary bugs inside the van. But it doesn't help - we have to get in anyway.

We reach Murchison at around 8 p.m. - much later than planned. Famished, we first go for a delicious meal at the Bub at the "main intersection". We stand out a little in our paddling gear as all the pub-goers in New Zealand dress up.

We then pack up the rest of our things at the campsite and set off for Hokitika at around 23:30. The car is full to bursting and there is only minimal room to move in the driver's seat. But we arrive safely at the campsite in Hokitika at around 3:00 a.m. and quickly set up our tents. While unpacking in the dark, someone accidentally sounds the horn - it can't hurt to introduce yourself at this time of day, the campsite is packed....

Day 8

South Island - Hokitika - Saturday, 08.01.2005

11:30 a.m., rain but warm. HD drives into town to get bread etc. My first view out of the tent is of the edge of the local rainforest. A little further to the right I can make out a large expanse of water between the thick raindrops - is this an arm of the Tasman Sea? Today should be the opportunity to finally swap my RAD play boat (which was a real disadvantage yesterday with all the massive paddling!!!) for a creeker.

It turns out differently.

After finishing breakfast at around 2.30 p.m., we take a look at Hokitika. A film festival is currently taking place in the local movie theater and all the films are somehow about water. After getting tickets for the evening's films, we go to the beach: huge waves, gray sand, no dyke, long straight coastline. From here, you can see across the offshore quarry and grassland plain to the snow-covered peaks of the Southern Alps. Great!

At 6 p.m. we are back at our campsite just outside the village. The water surface turns out to be a freshwater lake that was created by glaciers and the ocean ages ago. From here it's about a kilometer to the beach, through a fern forest, past a boy, through dunes and pastures. The surf can be clearly heard all the way to the campsite!

Later in the cinema, after a short amateur film from the area, a one-hour expedition film about an expedition to Lake Jennissei and Lake Baikal is shown. This movie is well made even if there are technical problems with the playback. During the forced breaks, the presenter repeatedly reads out short poems. His pirate costume is probably a kind of identity clue and a nod to the past of the Westerners here.

After the movie, we drive to the Strandbub near the campsite. A tour bus has just arrived here and is hosting a transvestite party with the motto that no one will recognize the participants here at the end of the world. As "normal people", we prefer a walk on the nearby beach, which we really enjoy in the final twilight.

Day 9

South Island - Hokitika - Sunday, 09.01.2005

Sun, warm - only in the late afternoon familiar rain. We have breakfast in a bit of a hurry as we have an appointment with our boat rental company Helen at 9:00 am. There we swap the RADs for HOCKERs which we want to test in the surf today. We drive about 20 minutes to Helen. She lives with her family in a small suburb of Hokitika in a single-storey wooden house of the simplest construction, typical for this area. Simple glazing and hardly any insulation, the house stands on simple wooden stilts directly on the gravelly ground. This is how I imagine construction in America...

We now drive about an hour up the west coast to the Pancake Rocks. Over the centuries, the waves have washed these beautiful rock formations out of the cliffs, which look like large stacks of pancakes. A great footpath leads from a parking lot on the coastal road to the most beautiful views of this natural spectacle. Although the tide is low, the waves crash against the rocks with tremendous force. At high tide, real salt water geysers spurt up from the spectacular blow holes. The footpath leads through the rocks and through the typical fern forest with its exotic plants. This place is beautiful!

Then we meet (once again) a friend of Matthias, Kerstin and her lovely family. The fact that familiar faces keep crossing our path also makes us think a little.

Later, we drive to a nearby beach to paddle in the surf. The sun is shining, the surf is at least 500 m out and definitely up to 3 m high far out. We spend the first hour practising in the first 150 m with wave crests up to 2 m high. It's fun and I'm slowly getting used to the feeling of riding in these breakers. Suddenly I see Howie paddling out quite far. I'm still wondering whether I shouldn't whistle him back. Moments later I see Anja gesticulating on the beach: Howie has capsized.

This is now a problem, as we can't assume that the flotsam with Howie will wash up on the beach at low tide without help. Apart from the feeling of swimming in the breakers out there.

From my point of view, I wouldn't dare come within 50 m of Howie's position with my creeker. At the breaker height Howie is at, I don't trust myself to hold on for any length of time, let alone initiate an orderly recovery operation. I decide to wait a little longer in my position and hope that Howie will drift a little further towards the beach. In the meantime, HD paddles up to Howie with his Kingpin. For Howie, this is certainly a psychologically encouraging gesture - nothing more. For HD, it's just dangerous. I paddle back to the beach, with three to five wave crests it takes me less than 3 minutes. HD joins me a little later and reports that Howie is still in good shape, but that he can hardly change his position but can still hold on to the boat. After a short consultation on the beach, HD paddles back out with my creeker and unpacked throw bag to hook Howie's boat and pull everything ashore. After 20 minutes, this attempt is finally successful, which we are all relieved about - after all, that wasn't funny!

A little later, while Howie is still destroying our last reserves of drinking water, two helicopters fly over the bay. We suspect that someone among the onlookers on the shore road has called "111"...

After the helicopters have gone, we end our surf paddling a little more quietly and visit a nearby karst cave into which we go about 150-200 m with flashlights, neoclothes and helmets. We don't get back to camp until after sunset and shopping and once again fall into our sleeping bags as if dead.

Day 10

South Island - Hokitika - Monday, 10.01.2005

First beautiful day with relatively little rain. After a long breakfast, we decide to paddle the Grey River for 15 km WW I-II to make up for yesterday and as a psychological rebuilding trip. After an approach of around 50 km, the 30 km gravel stretch is rather borderline. As a bank swallow, Matthias forgoes a nice day's paddling for us. Before we set off, a coach gets stuck on our campsite - a spectacle without equal and a nice attempt to test Matthias' 4-wheeler L-300. The attempt fails and we decide now (it's already 1 p.m.!) to get going. The scenery on the way to Grey is impressive. We leave civilization on a gravel road. This connects various old gold mines that seem to have been out of operation for a long time. We drive through native rainforest - but the track is in surprisingly good condition. After checking the location and discussing the leaks with Matthias, we set off at around 3 p.m. on my most scenic WW tour to date! At first, it's a bit dry as we make our way down a choppy side arm. Once we reach the main course of the river, our eyes are drawn to the completely untouched nature beyond the gravel banks. No human habitation, no roads, no bridges. Where are the electricity pylons, pasture posts and fences? Simply nothing but pure nature. After about 10 km we come to the breakthrough sections that are supposed to lead us out of this untouched valley. This steep-sided, narrow rocky gorge is absolutely calm and quiet after a small entrance gorge. The damp, moss- and fern-covered walls are oppressively close together in places and would make a way out almost impossible if the water conditions were unmanageable.

After about three hours, we leave this first section of the river. We keep an eye out for our orange luggage bag, which Matthias wanted to lay out on the left bank as a sign. Anja has swum this stretch twice and Doris has already swum it once and we are looking forward to the near finish. We suddenly see a strange yellow bag on the left bank. HD gets out at a willow and looks around for about 80 meters. The bag is yellow, no Matthias, no road and no car in sight - so we carry on. We turn the bag around again - it's 6:30 pm. As there are still very few signs of civilization, we paddle faster. The Grey River widens from time to time, the WW is essentially classed as level I. We even pass an automatic gauge house and there - a person! A person in a Neo. We get closer and want to ask him in English. It only works moderately well. After futile attempts at communication, we are met with a broad torrent of Franconian speech. After all, it's a gold prospector from Franconia who even presents us with his entire day's findings in a film reel! But no sign of Matthias.

We pass another prospector and test the cell phone every 30 minutes in vain - without network reception. In the event that this happens, we decide on the first road bridge over the Grey as our last meeting point. It's getting dark and the total distance is approaching 30 km! Our interest in the geologically striking stratified banks and conglomerate walls is slowly waning. Finally, after 6 hours of very beautiful but also exhausting paddling, we actually reach the federal highway bridge with the last rays of sunshine. Matthias is there and we are annoyed that we paddled past the yellow bag and didn't keep an eye out for 20 m more...

All's well that ends well. We arrive at our spot at around 23:00 and once again fall into our sleeping bags, dead tired and without eating.

Day 11

South Island - Hokitika - Tuesday, 11.01.2005

Sunny, light cloud cover and no rain all day!

Today we want to take a helicopter into an impassable side valley of the "upper Hokitika river". But we waste so much time in the morning that we don't manage to order the heli-trip. In the morning, the helicopter was already out in the mountains and couldn't be reached by radio from the base station, and at lunchtime we could only communicate with the A.B. if a cell phone network was working at all. So half the day goes by. We stop at an Internet café in Hokitika and then drive back to the campsite. A "bush walk" is signposted on the way to the camp. We spontaneously decide to go for a walk. This initially leads through beautiful bog pools and wet bush. In places, the path leads over beautiful boardwalks and footbridges. Later on, we walk through dry bush, which in turn turns into native rainforest with fern trees and giant eucalyptus trees. After two hours, we have had enough of walking. The map we were following initially misled us a little about the total distance so that we now have to walk another two and a half hours along a country road back to the campsite. We are finished and exhausted when we arrive, but we have walked all the way around Lake Mahinapua - but without being able to take a look at it and its beautiful wild shores.

In the evening, Matthias and I drive back to the beach so that we can call the helicopter from here on our cell phones - there is no cell phone reception at the camp. Unfortunately, we are unsuccessful, but we "shower" on this almost deserted dream beach in the setting sun. We use cold fresh water from canisters that we have brought with us. When we get back to camp, the others have already prepared rice with corn and pieces of tuna. The mosquitoes are particularly fierce again today, so I retire to the tent at around 22:30.

Day 12

South Island - Hokitika - Wednesday, 12.01.2005

Sunny, slightly cloudy and warm. The helitrip doesn't work out today either. So we decide to pack up our tents and head south at around 10:30. We want to drive along the west coast to the glaciers. Our destination for the day is a D.O.C. campground east of Queenstown. The coastal road leads through beautiful bushland that stretches between the high coastal mountains and the coastline. It crosses wide, gravelly riverbeds time and again and there are hardly any villages, let alone towns or cities, along the entire route. You really have to think about filling up with diesel. After about three hours, we arrive at the Franz Josef Glacier tourist parking lot. A footpath leads us the last stretch through an almost plant-free scree landscape to the glacier gate, which we can't see directly. The weather is kind to us again today so that we can collect two hours of great impressions of this magnificent landscape.

There are guided tours up to the glacier for Ns$ 150, for Ns$ 300 you can also be flown up by helicopter... we prefer to enjoy the view of the paddleable, freezing cold glacier river (Matthias measures 0° C on the pocket thermometer he brought with him!

water temperature!!). The water is dark gray and milky-transparent. Suddenly, a thunderous, muffled crashing and rumbling can be heard in the valley. We witness the glacier calving into its outlet right in front of us. Fortunately, we are about 200 m away, but at the same time we are curious to see what effect this might have on the water flow. So we venture closer to the course of the river, but make sure we are in a clearly elevated and safe position. There are huge blocks of ice rolling and floating everywhere in the water behind which you could paddle into the eddy if they didn't change position so threateningly quickly. Many of them are the size of a car, some are probably even bigger. The background noise is very reminiscent of the rumbling of alpine rivers in flood, with the difference that here you can see the grinding process in a few sizes larger.

On the search for a gas station, we come across a fuel machine which first gobbles up a 20 dollar note without any consideration or thanks. We continue along the River Haas (or something like that?). Halfway along, the river has created a huge gorge that would make a Weller bridge look like a fly in the ointment. Simply superlative madness - fortunately it's a bit late for paddling today... (otherwise we would of course get ready for a first trip immediately...)

After the pass, we pass two large lakes at dusk on our way to Queenstown, where we meet some Australians we know from the campsite in Hokitika on the road at around 11pm. Together with them we drive to a wild and romantic spot. We drive along vineyards from the main road steeply down to a remote riverbank. Four of us have room in a quarry stone hut. Anja, HD and I quickly set up our tents in the dark. Once again, there is no time for food before we sink into a deep sleep.

Day 13

South Island - Near Queenstown - Thursday, 13.01.2005

Sun, few clouds and pleasantly warm. We save breakfast at the campsite to save time and make up for it later in Queenstown. Anja and HD absolutely have to take a shower. Matthias organizes our hiking tour which will take us over a mountain range past two mountain huts from Saturday to Monday. Michael burns a photo CD and the morning passes in a flash. Around 2 p.m. we set off for the wonderful, remote Shotover Valley. This rugged former gold mining valley can only be reached via a narrow gravel road that has been carved out of the rock. Signs warn that there are no turning facilities and that motorhomes, buses and two-wheeled vehicles would have serious problems. Car insurance companies also exclude any liability for driving through the valley and any possible consequences!

The views and perspectives are once again absolutely stunning. Even on the first stretch of the route, there are no signs of civilization off the track. Now, in the afternoon, only the raft buses coming towards us from the valley are a sign of the local gold rush of the present - the tourism industry. We follow the track almost to the upper end of the valley to the starting point for tomorrow's paddle tour. The track crosses several steep scree fields and fords. In the valley, we can make out some flat terrain formations, some of which look as if they have been created artificially - but we can't make any sense of them. It is about 19:00 when we pitch our tents. There is a beautiful

gravel bank and tall poplars on the banks of the Shotover River. A church youth group has set up camp on the site and we quickly strike up a conversation with their counselors. A driver agrees to transfer Matthias and me. Before we leave, we take the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful "Lord of the Rings" perspective a little way up the valley by car: a wide basin opens up before us. In the middle of the gravel bed landscape at the bottom of the valley, a free-flowing mountain river meanders in front of the setting sun and large, solitary trees create harmonious accents on the grassy mountain slopes with their lengthening shadows.

When we return to camp half an hour later from this unique vantage point, Murray drives us down the gravel road to Deep Creek in his Land Rover. There is an easily accessible large gravel bank here where the raft entrepreneurs start their tours. As our paddling book speaks in riddles to us, we stop frequently to get our bearings. There are two suspension bridges over the river on this section. Bungee jumps are (of course) also offered from these. Like many fashionable suicidal pastimes, bungee jumping probably originated in New Zealand. On the bumpy drive back in the off-road pickup, Murray, who once went to sea as a ship's engineer, tells us a lot about the history of the gold miners in the Shotover river valley. On closer inspection, we can still see relics of this in the valley. We can now see traces of old irrigation systems on the flat terrain formations: Ponds that were fed with water from higher-lying side gorges and supplied the water via canals to the actual gold panning sites. The gold prospectors probably mainly used the moraine material that had already been crushed by the glaciers and from which the people probably built up the flat plateaus. Around 1860 to 1880, there must have been so many people here that there was even a post office and school. These buildings are clearly visible on the other side of the gorge and are probably the only permanent buildings in the entire valley that have been preserved for reasons of monument protection. All other traces of settlement have been largely obliterated and grass has grown over them. There are still a few simple and partly dilapidated stone huts along the road or near the river. A dilapidated pub with a hotel probably marks the end of the day trips in the days when horse-drawn carts had to carry all supplies from Queenstown to Shotovervalley via the gold miners' gravel road under daring conditions. Today, the journey, which is still strenuous in dry weather, takes about two hours in an off-road vehicle. In the past, it probably took at least two days. After Murray, Matthias and I have spent about two hours moving the vehicle, the food (pasta with tomato sauce) is already prepared at the camp. In the last of the sunlight, I collect the cans of beer from the riverbank - wonderfully cool, incredibly tasty!

Suddenly there is a commotion among the young people at the camp. A 14-year-old has probably broken his arm. That means at least 2-3 hours' drive to the nearest ambulance after dark. HD and Anja help as best they can until a perfect splint made of a sleeping mat, wood and triangular cloth fixes the arm for the bumpy transportation. It's not yet the end of the day for Murray as driver after sunset... I have a chat with a young youth leader about the differences and similarities between Europe and New Zealand - like me, he is very interested and enjoys talking about his country. This night is again wonderfully starry. The tall poplars and our tiredness finally dampen our interest in stargazing.

Day 14

South Island - Shotover Valley - Friday, 14.01.2005

Sun, hardly any clouds and nice and warm.

After a quiet night (the last in my one-man tent, which will fly back to Germany with Anja), we get going very early by our standards. Shortly before 9:00 a.m. we're done packing up the tents, having breakfast and packing the boats. Our tent stuff remains stowed away in HD's tent at the campsite so that we can catch up with it in the afternoon. The youth group and their supervisors bid us a warm farewell on the pebble beach and wave after us. We now experience a beautiful, pristine, barren alpine and treeless high mountain landscape again. The sun is shining and we have a good time on WW I - II from wave to wave. On the banks, steep walls alternate with scree slopes and soon we are already under the first bridge that leads from Goldgräberstraße to the school building high up on the right bank of the river. An old water-powered hammer mill with rusty metal parts also arouses our interest on the bank. We take a short lunch break and explore the rustic technology of days gone by.

Half an hour later, tourists wave us down from the second bridge. Perhaps some daredevils will jump down here on the bungee rope later. Shortly after the second bridge, the river splits. The left branch is unclear and runs between two steep rock faces. The right arm is flatter on the banks, but there is less water flowing here. So we decide to take the left arm. It offers us a beautiful passage with an easy route - wonderful.

It doesn't take much longer and we arrive at "Deep Creek". A large gravel bank on the left bank that can be used by buses. HD and Matthias take the van to pick up our things, while we witness a gigantic tourist industry during these two hours. Every minute, 20-man buses with raft trailers in Neos disgorge uniformed tourists who have booked the ultimate adventure. They listen more or less attentively to the guides during their introductory lectures. In the meantime, helicopters land 4-5 times to save more affluent guests the bumpy journey with a 5-minute helicopter flight. After a good hour, around 150 - 200 guests are stowed in the rafts and checked out and things slowly calm down again at "Deep Creek".

After loading the boats, we take the gold rush route for about 11⁄2 hours back to Queenstown, where we find accommodation in a previously booked hostel. The hostel with its wooden buildings is situated on a steep slope above the town. From the rooms you have a wonderful panoramic view over the lake and the mountains in which Queenstown is nestled. We use the evening to sort out all our clothes, shower, wash and put together our gear for our 3-day hike. Anja packs for her return flight. Matthias, Michael and Howie do some shopping and errands in town. In the evening, Doris cooks us pancakes from a ready-made mix that Matthias likes. The result is only reasonably enjoyable with sugar and a lot of hunger. The final preparations are completed around 1:00 am. After a beer on the beautifully situated terrace, Howie and I fall into bed, Matthias doesn't arrive until later - he's met the Australians who had a car breakdown in the Shotover Valley...

Day 15

South Island - Queenstown - Saturday, 15.01.2005

Sunny, slightly overcast, pleasant.

The alarm clock rings at 6:00 am. Everyone is dead tired. But Anja has to be at the airport by 8:00 at the latest. After all, we all leave at 7:40. Not really a problem, as it's only 10-15 minutes by car - if you know the way. However, we get completely lost, which is really tough for all the passengers due to having to adjust their driving style between the luggage. When we finally arrive at the airport just in time to check in, we are all relieved. Anja says goodbye with a few tears in her eyes, revealing that she would certainly like to continue traveling New Zealand with us.

We now have to hurry again to catch our transfer taxi shuttle at Kinloch Lodge (our starting point for the hike). We had ordered this for 10:00 a.m., but as we will be traveling from Queenstown for at least 21⁄4 hours, we have to call our hostel warden to postpone the date. The last town before the wilderness trip is called Glenorchy and is located in a beautiful glacial valley landscape, which is now crossed by an incredibly wide gravel river bed. After moving the car from the Routeburn start parking lot to Kinloch lodge and the hostel father back, we treat ourselves to fluffy toast with cheese and tomatoes. Then we set off at around 12:00 noon. The rucksacks are checked again and we are in a wild and romantic forest on a well-maintained hiking trail. We follow a gravel path along a river. Again and again we cross wooden bridges and suspension bridges spanning mountain streams and a number of small gorges. For 21⁄2 hours, the steadily ascending path takes us past some of the most beautiful places. This primeval forest is simply amazing. The undergrowth vegetation, the decaying tree trunks of all sizes - whether standing or lying down - the variety and richness of form of the ferns, mosses and lichens and, above all, the terrain are simply fascinating.

When we arrive at the Routeburn Flats Hut campsite, it is around 3 pm. The sun is shining and the landscape is breathtaking. A flat valley floor covered in tall grass with a gently meandering mountain river is framed here by steeply rising, forested mountains. Today we have climbed about 150 meters in altitude (net!!). The mountains around us are around 1000 m higher than the Flats Hut at 700 m. From our spot we have a view of snow-covered peaks from which countless waterfalls make their way down into the valley. A landscape straight out of "Lord of the Rings"!

In the afternoon, we play Wissard at a wooden table. Doris, Michael and Howie hike towards a larger waterfall through the jungle along the river. However, the trail soon gets lost in the undergrowth and they return a little later. We make ourselves bagged soups with zucchinis and fresh mushrooms to eat. Despite the beautiful landscape, we are so exhausted that we disappear into our sleeping bags at around 8:45 pm. The six of us are crammed into two tents.

Day 16

South Island - Routeburn Flats Hut - Sunday, 16.01.2005

Rain, cloudy and quite chilly.

The alarm clock rings at 7:00 am. After a tasteless porridge-sugar-raisin breakfast and fluffy toast, we start packing so that we can set off at 9:00 am. According to the description, today's route will take around 8 hours and involve a net ascent of 600 meters and a descent of 400 meters. The weather remains rainy all day; sometimes more - sometimes less with rare breaks. During the first 11⁄2 hour ascent through the rainforest to Routeburn Falls Hut, the rain is still relatively warm. We are all still struggling a little with the right dress code: it mustn't be too warm - then you'll get wet with sweat. But it mustn't be too short either, because then you cool down quickly in the wind. Once we arrive at the Routeburn Falls Hut, we take a short break. We change our clothes a little and get ready for more hours of rain in more open terrain. With the amount of rain continuously falling from the sky, all the mountain streams and rivulets slowly swell. During our stay under the hut roof, we also encounter German hikers. Again and again we meet familiar faces during the tour, which is certainly not surprising given the same route.

When we set off from the hut after 1⁄2 hour, we leave the rainforest boundary and hike through an alpine heath landscape. We pass Routburn Fall and reach Lake Harris below Harris Saddle at its source. Not only is it raining, it is also getting windier. But from our narrow path, which leads directly past a steep slope, we can look down about 100 - 200 m onto the lake. It lies quietly and smoothly between steep and rugged granite rock faces. From these, countless waterfalls, which from a distance look like white veils, plunge almost directly into the shimmering turquoise lake. The lower end of the lake narrows more and more into a short river course until the water pours over ever larger terrain steps into Routburn Falls.

At around midday we reach the highest point of the track at Harris Saddle. At around 1300 m there is a small weather hut where we take a break and once again organize our soaked clothes. Signs point out that spending the night in or near the weather hut is only permitted in extreme emergencies. As we get ready for the descent, we are met by a couple in athletic clothing - both of them seem to be walking the entire tour in one go, which they seem to want to emphasize with their brisk pace.

After another hour's walk with repeated steep ascents and descents, we reach another saddle from which we can only get a glimpse of the view over the surrounding valleys and mountains. The clouds are blowing over the nearby mountain ridges in strong winds and swirl eerily in the valley basins. Even the mountain trolls disappear into all their hiding places in this weather, so we haven't seen any of them yet. At a steep mountain edge, the wind suddenly becomes so strong that Doris and I can barely keep our feet with our heavy rucksacks. We continue walking quickly between the squalls until we can take cover on a rock again. Matthias is probably the most trained hiker among us. Sometimes he runs ahead and sometimes he comes back to check on Doris and me at the end of the group. Michael, HD and Howie find their own pace, always busy filming and taking photos. The path leads into a side valley where our next stop must be at "Lake Mackenzie". The view of this lake is only revealed a little later. The tree line below us gets closer and closer and we can now enjoy the lake panorama to the full. It is a magnificent play of colors between all imaginable shades of turquoise, blue, green, brown, grey and white, including all their transitions and gradations. The work of the

glaciers of earlier ages is omnipresent here - it is simply wonderful to be in such a spot on earth. Suddenly we can make out Mc Kenzey Hut at the lower end of the lake. Our destination for today is probably 200 - 300 m below us and we still have a long descent through the steep rainforest ahead of us. A memorial plaque on a large boulder commemorates two children lost in a snowstorm.

Suddenly we are back in the rainforest. I think this one is higher than the first one. The trunks are all completely covered in moss and lichen, so you can't see any logs at all. The atmosphere in this enchanted forest is indescribable. There are small troll caves everywhere between trunks and boulders. If it were to get foggy now, it could become unreal and eerie. After an hour's walk through this last section, the fairytale forest suddenly opens up and we are standing in front of the mountain hut. All the open spaces around the hut are covered in soaked clothes and shoes. The small campsite for campers is located slightly away from the hut in the forest. Here we can finally pitch our tents in the dry and a tentative little yellow disk even appears between the clouds.

The hut warden kindly checks our tickets and informs us of the current weather conditions. The stormy wind from this afternoon is expected to pick up during the night and heavy rain is expected. That's a great outlook! Our fuel supplies for the gas and Trangia stove are running low after some of the petroleum ran out while we were hiking. With a bit of skill, Matthias, Michael and Doris sneak into the hut kitchen, which is actually reserved for hut guests, and cook our pasta dishes with fresh carrots and zucchinis.

We go to bed early; not without securing all our belongings under a storm and rain-proof shelter. The tent areas themselves are located on a raised square of artificial turf. This ensures a certain luxury on the otherwise stony ground.

Day 17

South Island - Mackenzie Hut - Monday, 17.01.2005

Rain, storm, quite chilly in the wind.

During the night we were woken up again and again by gusts of rain and wind. The adjacent forest groaned and moaned under the weight of the storm. However, the weather calmed down a little for breakfast at around 8:00 am. The hiking socks have dried out a little in the sleeping bag during the night and after stowing away the wet tents we head back onto the track. Howie twisted his knee badly on the descent yesterday, so we split his main luggage between the other rucksacks. With HD he starts a little earlier from Mc Kenzey towards "Divide". We now walk for about 5 hours through beautiful rainforest, which unfortunately lives up to its name. After about 2 hours of continuous rain, my shoes are completely wet again. So far, however, I've been very happy with them given the conditions. They give me a firm foothold on this gravel path, which is covered in small rivulets and quite steep in places. Despite the modest weather, my eyes and thoughts kept wandering over the fascinating vegetation. We pass waterfalls of various sizes every 20 minutes. Some of these seek

their way down the steep forest slope between moss-covered boulders. In some cases, they plunge into the depths in large, classic steps. The past few hours have caused all the watercourses to swell rapidly. After about 2 hours we come to a very large fall. If the weather is dry, there are probably two signposted crossing routes. The option of crossing the fall directly on the same contour line as our hiking trail is immediately ruled out after a brief look into the rocky niche washed by the water mist. The thunder from the same direction makes it impossible to make a real choice. Our alternative: a steep, impassable path down the slope, a quick shower and a laborious climb back up to the path. With what felt like 50 kg of luggage on my back, as a paddler I'm really starting to wonder whether access to the wet element couldn't be achieved much more harmoniously...

It may be that today we are getting to know this beautiful route under difficult weather conditions. Not even 150 years ago, there were no huts, bridges, footbridges or signposts here, let alone prepared paths. What motivation would have guided the first people on this route to find a way through this mountain world?

After about 4 hours, we arrive at our last hut before our final stop, which is located by a lake. It's raining less, Doris and I take a breather and before we cool down in our wet but windproof clothes, we set off on the last stage: 30 minutes of steep ascent and an hour of slow downhill - we're finished!

WE ARE AT THE END!!!

A hut, or rather a large bus shelter with toilets and benches. It's great to have a simple roof open to the sides above you. We can get changed. Apart from our shoes, we all managed to save almost completely dry spare clothes. So it's worth thinking about the sense and nonsense of the contents of your rucksack. I'm glad I can now switch to Tevas. After 11⁄2 hours, our bus arrives to take us to Queenstown via Te Anau. We are glad to have bus tickets. Two girls who arrived with us at Divide completely soaked are now standing in the rain by the road to get a lift. They are still standing there when our bus leaves...

The bus first drives to Te Anau, a small town on the fjord-like lake of the same name. There are motels, golf courses, seaplanes and everything else that makes up a regional center. Our bus driver asks us to get off and wait for a more comfortable connecting bus. No sooner said than done. We pass the time at the tourist kiosk. There is also a bus shelter with internet and a TV cinema. After a good half hour, we continue our journey. A small bus with a driver stops and the luggage is stowed in a trailer. When we are all on the bus, the driver gets off and disappears. After 10 minutes she comes around the corner with a larger bus: we change again. The trailer is simply re-hitched. Now that we are on the bus, the rain stops and we drive through the hinterland of the Fjordlands to Queenstown. We arrive in the town around Lake Wakatipu at around 19:00. A cab we had ordered was supposed to take us to Kinloch Lodge. Unfortunately, there must have been a misunderstanding when booking - the driver only had us on his schedule for the next day. But he comes to pick us up anyway, even though it means at least a three-hour drive for him. After arriving at the lodge at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu, we take a shower before

we take a shower before heading to the hot pool above the buildings on the mountainside. From the pool, we enjoy the starry sky over the otherwise dark, wide trough valley.

Day 18

South Island - Kinloch lodge - Tuesday, 18.01.2005

Sunny, a little windy, warm and dry.

The lodge is well equipped with a kitchen and small restaurant to get backpackers back on their feet. Unfortunately we can't use the washing machine until 15:00 (!) because we need it ourselves. That's a definite minus at 27,- NS$ per night and nose!

After the last few days on the track and the long bus ride yesterday, we take our time over breakfast so that we don't set off for Queenstown until around 11:00 am. Here we spend about 3 hours eating fast food, running errands and having a diabetic emergency in front of the internet cafe before we set off for Dunedin in what continues to be beautiful weather. The landscape changes noticeably east of Queenstown. The lush west coast vegetation gives way to a dry mountain landscape with less forest. There are alternating vineyards but mainly sheep on brownish, barren slopes. There are also less kayakable rivers to admire. We pass through Dunedin just before dark. About 20 km north of the city, Matthias heads for a forest road high above a sheltered bay to camp. This leads very steeply into a remote mountain ridge. Shotgun shells and game remains are scattered all over the gravel ditches. Due to the lack of sunlight, we decide on a very wind-exposed spot with a beautiful view approx. 300 m above sea level. Preparing the noodle dinner with zucchinis and mushrooms turns into an adventurous test of skill due to the strong wind. Full and tired, we sink into our sleeping bags. The storm gets worse and worse during the night. Nevertheless, our tents just about survive it and the night.

Day 19

South Island - North of Dunedin - Wednesday, 19.01.2005

Storm, sun, few clouds, quite pleasant.

It is so stormy that we decide to combine breakfast with our visit to Dunedin. There is also an albatross colony at the end of the hilly Otago Peninsula and possibly dolphins to admire from a canoe in a bay. So our day starts full of expectation. We enjoy scrambled eggs and various toast specialties in the ARC Café near a DIY store. This quaint student pub on the edge of the city center also offers free internet access on slow computers.

By lunchtime we are at the northern tip of the Otago Peninsula. Here we visit the Albatross Visitor Center. Unfortunately, all the guided tours near the fenced-off albatross territories are fully booked until the evening. So we only have a few glimpses from afar of the giants of the air circling in the strong updrafts with wingspans of up to 2.80 m! We also miss a historic fortification used to guard and defend the port facilities - what a shame!

As time is pressing, we decide to forgo the bay excursion with our play boats planned for the afternoon, in the faint hope of encountering dolphins. Instead, we take a trip to Sandflies Bay, which is more or less on the peninsula on the way. From the parking lot, we descend steeply through high dunes to the bay. Here, impressive waves crash onto a beautiful, elongated sandy beach. Outside, these mountains of water are certainly up to four meters high. So probably only suitable for beginners to a limited extent... huge "licorice seaweed plants" and a knee sand spot are further highlights of this excursion. We forgo another night near Dunedin in favor of our time quota for the North Island. As Matthias has forgotten his daypack in the ARC café, we head back through the city and then onto the coastal road heading north. We pass through farmland which slowly flattens out north of Damaru. Late in the evening we stop in Timaru at a beautiful botanical garden (with a corner store and fish & chip counter in front, mmmhh - simply delicious!!!). Unfortunately, we don't have much time for an extensive walk in the garden.

We spend the night in the usual cramped conditions on the road. We continue over Arthur's Pass towards Hokitika. As we are near Hellen's canoe store (Kumara, second's street) at around 3:00 a.m., we decide to rest for four hours at a rest area a little further along the road. HD sets up his tent, Howie sleeps in the car and the rest sleep in the open air.

Day 20

South Island - Near Hokitika - Thursday, 20.01.2005

Cloudy, pleasant travel weather, no rain - today is a car day.

We don't wake up until around 8:00 a.m. - once again later than expected. As we want to be at the ferry terminal in Picton by 6 p.m., we have to get going again. First we drive to Hellen. As the return date was only agreed for tomorrow and we couldn't reach her by phone in advance, we hoped to find her anyway - unfortunately without success. Fortunately, Hellen's friendly neighbors and friends accept the four boats and equipment and admire our loading skills at dawn.

After refueling and turning back because of a forgotten paddle, we leave Kumara for Murchison. Here we return a borrowed spraydeck at the paddle store. I try in vain to find my lost cutlery at the campsite and continue via Blenheim to Picton. In Blenheim, the huge flat vineyards amidst the parched hills catch our eye again. This time our timing is right and we arrive at the ferry port about 25 minutes before check-in time. We are lucky with our overall height of 2.65 m, don't have to cram the boats into the van and can board the catamaran fast ferry without paying a surcharge.

In the evening light at the ferry port, Matthias gets a flash of excitement with our yellow group sunglasses from the Glenroy River. Otherwise, check-in is normal. We puzzle over the order in which the cars are loaded and unloaded... The semi-trailers are pulled onto the ferry with special machines that fit completely underneath them. Next to us, someone is playing his violin and we strike up a conversation with other waiting passengers. After the fast ferry has cast off, we leave the beautiful "Queen Charlotte Sound", a bay of the widely ramified Marlborough Sounds, at a normal

moderate pace. This changes abruptly when we reach the open Cook Strait. The two 7088 kW gensets (together that's almost 19,200 hp) are now blowing huge amounts of water out of the two stern twin jets and the catamaran is shooting across the undulating sea. The restless, bumpy ride thwarts all attempts to write anything and so we take an extensive tour of the ship. Not only is the space on deck severely restricted, it is also rather unpleasant due to the whipping spray breakers as soon as the initial fascination has worn off.

After a journey of just under two hours, we enter the calm bay off New Zealand's capital. As we disembark in Wellington at around 9:30 p.m., for the first time in weeks we see an urban street scene with multi-storey houses and even high-rise buildings (Dunedin was perhaps the only exception).

The capital of New Zealand is also framed by other cities directly on the bay, which are brightly lit in the dark and create a very unusual picture. For the night, we look for a wild camping spot at the end of a coastal road that runs along the Rimutaka Forest. After a short shopping and refueling stop in Lower Hut, it is already past 11 p.m. before we decide on a semi-suitable site: secluded at the start of a blocked 4WD road in a very windy river valley just before it flows into the Pacific. As we set up the tents, a car turns off the main road towards us, which only leads to a secluded parking lot right by the sea. A farmer asks if it's not too windy here, but at this time of night she doesn't know what to do. A good option before 10 p.m. would probably have been directly in the Rimutaka Forest Park, which is then closed until the morning... She wishes us a good night and drives off into the night along the steep private 4WD road over the last range of hills off the southern coast. The strong wind makes cooking impossible. The tents are braced as well as possible on the stony ground. Everyone makes a couple of fluffy toasts and then it's off to the sleeping bags. The tent walls only slowly shake us into a light sleep.

Day 21

North Island - Near Rimutaka Forest - Friday, 21.01.2005

Slightly overcast, storm at first, no rain.

The storm wind rattles the tent all night. Around 8:00 in the morning I doze off. Everything above me is shaking. My sleeping mat is suddenly shaking too - huh??? Why is the mat shaking now too? HD probably has the same thought at this moment, which probably only lasts 2-3 seconds. We have just witnessed a weak earthquake. (Back in Germany, Howie finds the exact data on the Internet: 5.5 on the Richter scale on 21.01. at 8:02 approx. 60 km from our position).

This is the first time I've consciously experienced an earthquake! Wow!

One by one we all wake up and get ready for another day of driving. We head north along the west coast via Lower Hut and Wellington on the No 1 highway. After about 4 hours (or 5) on the highway, we reach Dessert Road. This leads through the steppe-desert-like surroundings of New Zealand's largest volcano, Mt. Ruapehu (2797m). Running parallel to this desert road for 35 km is the country's largest military

military training area in the country. At around 4 p.m. we reach a marked spur road which we follow for about 5 km through wasteland and dry desert streambeds towards the summit of the volcano. Several times we pass places where two-wheeled cars would certainly have had problems, although the road is officially open to such vehicles. At some point we stop at the beginning of the steeper volcanic cone and cook (once again under very windy conditions) rice with canned corn, tuna and chicken herb sauce. HD flies the kite he brought with him for the first time, which sweeps the fragile cooking area under my folding table away by a hair's breadth. The landscape is once again unique and breathtakingly beautiful.

We follow the Dessert Road to Turangi, a tourist town at the southern end of New Zealand's largest freshwater lake, Lake Taupo. Here we plan to stay for two nights at a campsite equipped with a kitchen and sauna. Finally, showers again... The Tongariro-crossing trek is planned for tomorrow.

Day 22

North Island - Turangi - Saturday, 22.01.2005

Sun, few clouds, little wind.

The alarm clock rings at 5:30 am. We crawl sleepily out of our tents, throw in some breakfast, pack up our prepared rucksacks with food and water and walk to the main road. The "Earlybird express" we ordered picks us up at the fire station at 6:20 a.m. and we set off through the dawn towards Tongariro National Park. The bus driver prepares us for the 8-hour hike. All names are noted for safety reasons and special features are pointed out. At around 7:30 we reach the parking lot at the start of the route, which is at an altitude of around 700 meters. In addition to information boards, there is also the luxury of plum toilets, which are very popular. I feel that the number of hikers taking on the track is already quite high. But this is only the vanguard. Larger bus companies probably only arrive at this parking lot an hour later...

So off we go. This time with a wonderful morning atmosphere, light wind and, above all, without rain and heavy luggage! The path is easy at first and leads through barren wasteland towards the large volcanoes. Part of the way is along beautifully laid out plank paths equipped with anti-slip mats. Simple but brilliant!

After just under an hour, we reach a small canyon and the first steep climbs. We pass another refuge and then it's time for the big climb up a bumpy gully. Finally, we reach the edge of the south crater and take our first break with breakfast. Matthias, HD, Doris and Michael want to attempt the climb to the very steep summit of the highest volcanic cone. Howie decides against the detour and we decide to stay on the main route and allow ourselves more time for the individual views. At around 9:30 am, Howie and I walk across the flat ground of the south crater. It is very sandy and until recently there must have been water here as the ground is pleasantly soft and springy. If you walk a little away from other hikers, it is strangely quiet here at the bottom of the crater. There are no plants rustling in the wind, no animals - just silence.

We continue and climb back up to the crater rim. Suddenly the view of the "red crater" opens up: until now, the rock colors ranged from ochre, beige, brown and dark grey to black,

brown and dark gray to black, reddish tones dominate in this much steeper crater, offering a fascinating sight depending on the sunlight. The edges of the crater are also much more rugged but also more varied in their shapes. After enjoying the view from various points, we first descend another steep, rolling slope. From here we have a great panorama of various turquoise-blue crater lakes and the vast surrounding volcanic landscape. It is also very windy up here, so we are glad we took our windproof jackets with hoods with us.

We are now taking giant strides towards our lunch break. Doris has now caught up with us again. The arduous climb to the main summit was too steep for her. After our rest at the edge of the largest volcanic lake, we walk along the central crater towards the long descent. On the outside of the central crater, we soon hike through an alpine heath-like plant cover. We can now see clouds rising again and again on the northern flank of the mountain. These are emitted from hot sulphur springs which are privately owned by a Maori tribe. We are unable to get a direct view of this sacred land, which we very much regret. Instead, we now walk steadily downhill over very high steps, which is very strenuous. Suddenly we descend a wooden staircase around the corner - and I'm standing in the rainforest! Before, there was nothing to indicate this sudden change in vegetation; from above, the alpine semi-shrub layer looked exactly like the forest surrounding us - it was simply crazy. Together with Doris, I take a look at a small waterfall where I refresh my feet. In this otherwise barren landscape, this waterfall is something very special. Not to be compared with the diversity of its colleagues on the Routeburn Track...

It's not far to the final parking lot where Howie and the buses are already waiting for us. After about 20 minutes of catching our breath we get on, Michael comes out of the bush just in time to catch the early bus back with us. He tells us about his impressions at the summit of the main volcano. Matthias and HD arrive at the campsite an hour later on the late buses at around 5 p.m., where we all get some rest and, after a nice dinner with delicious canned beer in the campsite kitchen, retire early.

Day 23

North Island - Turangi - Sunday, 23.01.2005

Pleasantly warm, sunny day for a road trip

After waking up, having breakfast and packing our tents dry in the sun, we hit the road at around 11:00 am. From Turangi we drive along the large Lake Toupo to Toupo - a tourist metropolis. In the urban area we take a look at the Huka Falls, which form the outflow of the lake and are on the borderline of canoeing technology but are probably too violent for us. It is impressive to watch the masses of water in this rocky channel until their final plunge of approx. 7-8 meters.

We continue in a north-easterly direction along "Route 5". At Waiotapu there is a collection of hot pools. One of these pleasant hot pools can be reached by turning right before a "gully filling station" via a cul-de-sac. This one is

Not far from the main road and there just for us. The hot water comes from a side stream and mixes with the cooler water of a slightly larger stream in the undergrowth. This is a wonderful place to take a dip and choose the right water temperature for you. The water is so hot in places that we have to keep looking for cooler spots in the larger stream. It's very pleasant, although it has a sulphurous smell and you shouldn't keep your head under water because of hot pool parasites - but it's still simply brilliant and beautiful here!!!

After 11⁄2 hours, we continue on the dirt road towards Rotorua. At the entrance to Rotorua, we visit a Maori village with adjacent geysers, mud pools and hot springs. The visit is quite interesting, as is the entrance fee of 22 dollars. We are particularly impressed by the carvings in the meeting house and the war canoe. We were also lucky with the Pohutu geyser, which poured out an impressive continuous fountain for us. Doris and Michael were lucky enough to see one of the rare nocturnal birds in the Kiwi House on a guided tour. I wasn't so lucky beforehand, oh well. Instead, I treated myself to a nice "triple ice cream" after strolling through the visitor center. It was a little big for the small, sticky cone, but very tasty and refreshing.

On the rest of the drive to Auckland, we travel through the "Shire" - in the original! It consists of undulating grass-covered hills, some of which are very steep, with characteristic individual trees and groups of trees in addition to sheep. This type of landscape around Hamilton is simply crazy cute.

We reach Howik, a district of Auckland, at around 22:00. Kassia and Chris live here in a typical New Zealand single-family wooden house, where Matthias has been subletting for 6 months. We can get accommodation here for our Auckland days. The evening is quite long in their living room with Kai pirinja with rum, cola, ice cubes and lemon concentrate...

Day 24

North Island - Auckland / Northland - Monday, 24.01.2005

Sunny, pleasantly warm

We have a leisurely breakfast at the large dining table, sort out some luggage that we can leave here and set off on our last round trip to the Northland. Matthias suggests a beach car ride and a visit to the Kauri Forest near Waitangi as a highlight. No sooner said than done. The Northland is very hilly, so progress on the roads is relatively slow. The long beaches on the west coast are a real alternative to make some distance. However, a 4 WD drive is probably a prerequisite. Although the beach itself is firm and easy to drive on at low tide, some of the access roads are very deeply washed out or steep and require the vehicle to have sufficient ground clearance. We take a break at Dargaville, a small town on the west coast. Here we have to drop off a parcel for Hellen at the post office. We had forgotten to drop off two packing bags and a bag of fittings in Murchison. With Hellen there are now problems with the negotiated price that was to be given to her in cash. Originally, a price of 170,- NS$ per boat and week was agreed. Plus a small fee for equipment - minus a discount for longer rentals and because of the number of boats. Now, however, they want to charge an additional 12% tax, which of course we neither calculated nor agreed to.

agree with. After all, the boat rental is already a price-determining factor for our trip anyway...

With Hellen's neighbor Tony, Matthias is able to organize a cash transfer to Hellen - which is a relief for all of us. After we have avoided these organizational obstacles in Dargaville, we take a look at the main road. Then we drive to the beach at Bayly's Beach. The water is just running out, so we drive north along the beach between the dry and sparsely vegetated edge of the dunes and the water for about 2 hours. Of course, we also take a break from swimming in the afternoon to look for shells and fly kites. We can't decide to go surf paddling for various reasons. For one thing, the tide is low (small waves and the potential danger of being pulled out). On the other hand, unloading, loading and packing up means a certain amount of time has to be deducted from the daylight if we want to go to the Kauri rainforest. Even so, it is very nice here on the beach. We are almost alone here. There's a light, warm wind, the sun is shining and it's simply very pleasant. Just great!

After an hour, we reach the northern end of this beach. To get back onto the road network, we have to drive up a steep, washed-out, stony driveway between the dunes. On the second attempt, this is no big problem for our L-400. We continue towards the Kauri Forest. It is already evening when we reach the park. Here everything is full of rainforest again. The road winds its way through crazy botany. The flagship of this forest community are the kauri trees. They are incredibly old, the oldest specimens are estimated to be over 2000 years old. In the past, a rubber-like raw material was extracted from them. The precious wood, which is easy to process, is also in great demand. As the remaining stands are now under strict state protection, there is now only one way to legally obtain the coveted wood. Aerial photographs are used to try and identify places where logs have sunk into the ground. In certain places, where no decomposition process takes place due to a lack of oxygen in the soil, experts can make a find and then negotiate with the landowners about trial excavations. If a usable log is actually found, the salvage and price of the log is negotiated again. All this effort is then of course reflected in the price level of the precious products.

We take two beautiful walks into this jungle on well-maintained paths. The biodiversity is completely different to the forest we experienced on the South Island on the Routburntrack. There are again lots of ferns and interesting undergrowth where the kiwi bird also feels at home. If there were no path here, the forest would be almost impenetrable. Suddenly we are standing on a platform from which we can see the trunk of one of the oldest kauri specimens about 20 meters in front of us. Wow....! This trunk is said to be around 55 meters high, 6 meters in diameter and weigh several tons. The main trunk alone measures approx. 17 meters up to the base of the crown. - Crazy! -

An hour later we are standing in front of a group of four kauri trunks, which are also known as the four sisters. These trees also have a firm place in Maori mythology.

It is getting dark as we admire the sunset from the high coastal road just before our overnight stop. There is little traffic on the road and we are high above the overgrown, caked (like soft sandstone) dunes. The sun slowly sets behind a windswept pine tree over the sea and the blaze of color

reflects this wonderful evening atmosphere in the most magnificent way. Suddenly a car stops in front of us on the country road and the driver asks us if we have broken down. Fortunately, we can say no. The driver turns around, wishes us a nice evening and drives back to nowhere. From our vantage point, we can't see any farmstead or other dwelling. Nor did any cars pass by during our stay. When we stopped, only a farmer, who was busy repairing a pasture gate, packed up his tools and disappeared in the opposite direction. How the driver knew that we were stopping on the road remains a mystery to us. However, the helpfulness and friendliness behind this experience is something we have seen time and time again in New Zealand.

We drive on past a group of bathing lakes close to the coast, which are only a few dune widths away from the coast in the hinterland. In addition to official bathing beaches and waterskiing facilities, there is also a campsite here. However, we want to camp in the wild for another night and drive along the small country lane to its end. There is a wonderful view of the hinterland here. However, it is already dark and we take great care not to attract too much attention from the farmhouse with its dogs, which is only about 150 m away. Matthias is not worried that the farmer might make trouble. I still feel a little uncomfortable spending the night on other people's land without asking. And so we fall asleep in this quiet seclusion.

Day 25

North Island - Northland - Tuesday, 25.01.2005

Sunny, light wind, summery warm

After a quiet night without wind, rain or storms, we enjoy the view as we take down the tents and head for the beach at the small beach town of O....... (I always wanted to look up the name again...editor's note) There is not only a public toilet here (as at all beach access points, by the way) but also a relatively easy access road to the beach. First we have breakfast in peace and quiet and have a good view of the nearby surf. It seems borderline high to me. At high tide, I would dare to look out over maybe two crests, but everything behind them looks menacingly high, steep, enormous, huge and overpowering. Not to mention the background noise. Doris is the first to get changed and take a seat in one of our three remaining boats. She bravely makes a start (which really impresses me with these wave crests). With the exception of Howie, who still has to take his knee into consideration, we are all quickly changed and make the pilgrimage to the waterline. After a certain acclimatization phase, I dare to get into the boat, take the first 2-3 wave crests and slowly get a feeling of joy. Slowly I dare to go further out without losing sight of the beach. Even though the water is now rising, I want to avoid a possible drift as quickly as possible. I view the breakers directly in front of me with great respect! After all, I always put my trust in breaking surf wave crests which often allow me to surf 100 - 200 meters back to the beach in one go. After 1 - 2 rolls I also gain more confidence. It is strange that in some sections there is relative calm for a few minutes. Shortly afterwards, however, steep and breaking mountains of water up to 3 meters high can pile up just as quickly in these places! After about two hours, we are exhausted, the tide is out, we load the boats and head back to one of the bathing lakes.

bathing lakes. Here we find a shallow, quiet bay - there is no one else to be seen on this warm lake. We wash the salt water out of all our paddling gear before going for a swim and having a lunch break. We then head back towards Auckland on the main road. On the way there, we stop at a beautiful public park on the east coast. This is definitely a nice destination for Aucklanders at the weekend. There are barbecue areas that can be reserved, beautiful shade trees and extensive lawns where, in the late afternoon in the middle of the week, there are few people playing games to pass the time. There are drinking fountains where we can refresh ourselves. Everything here exudes a British charm that couldn't be more British. After taking a look at the many volcanic islands off the coast from the beautiful beach (without surf waves - it's the more sheltered east coast after all), we head to a nearby Victorian country house. Here there is a somewhat overgrown botanical garden with wonderfully large individual specimens of Quercus Ilex, various aurocaria and pine trees as well as a huge magnolia to admire. After a break of just under an hour in this park (which is once again far too short for the many possibilities here), we head back to Howik. In a supermarket that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, we stock up on beer and the last of our breakfast items before spending a nice evening in the living room with Chris and Kassia.

Day 26

North Island - Auckland - Wednesday, 26.01.2005

Sun, summery warmth, city tour

I had a quiet night with HD in the bunk bed in Nutrell's children's room. After breakfast we unload the boats and empty the car a bit. Then it's off to Down Town in the north. After a 30-minute drive, we reach the "One Tree City Park" and drive directly to the viewing platform below a monumental obelisk. This stands on the summit of a volcanic cone in the middle of a park that defines the district. We enjoy the magnificent view of the city center and the urban landscape of Auckland. From here, you can see the volcanic origins, the sheltered bays and the city of Auckland as a whole. Until the year 2000, the "One Tree" that gave the area its name stood on the summit next to the obelisk. An old pine-like solitary tree that was sacred to the Maori. The monument, donated by an English lord, is a reminder of the injustices suffered by this people at the hands of European immigrants, just as the tree was in the past. According to the guidebook, the tree had to be felled in October 2000 for safety reasons. Matthias adds that someone had previously damaged the tree for base reasons to such an extent that there was no other option but to cut it down... Be that as it may, in front of the former location where root stumps and bare earth can still be seen, only a missing plaque reminds us of the tree...

We leave this city park with mixed feelings and drive through vibrant Down Town down Queens Street to the harbor. We park the car in a convenient parking lot right by the container port entrance. A wonderful red metal bar fence exudes historical flair. From here we walk about 20 minutes back to the ferry house at the lower end of Queensstreet. From here you can book ferry trips to all the offshore islands, various parts of the city or simply take a tour. Most of the ferries are

modern catamaran ferries that arrive and depart from the various floating jetties like buses in a bus station.

We briefly visit an internet café and then stroll along the main axis of the city, Queensstreet. At one of the many bank branches (every bank has at least 2 branches on this boulevard!!) we finally settle the money transfer with Helen's neighbor, then part to simply soak up the city life. The traffic lights are interesting: at major road junctions, all car traffic is periodically stopped to allow pedestrians to cross in all directions and diagonally at the same time. An unusual experience for us! The whole boulevard makes a very clean, well-kept and yet pleasant impression. Asian focal points alternate with Anglican ones and there is a balanced mix of small and large stores. An information board points out the absolute alcohol ban in this inner city center. It is not permitted to drink alcohol in public or carry it with you. The fines for non-compliance are NS$ 2,000. Alcohol must also be concealed in private cars...

After visiting a historic town hall, we meet up again at the ferry house where we admire the ferries docking and casting off from a shady bench for a while. After Matthias has returned from extending his parking time, we walk across the central motor yacht marina to the television tower. Next to the "Pride of New Sealand" - a sail training ship - we see beautiful, expensive and large motor yachts. We can also admire a sailing yacht that won the Americans Cup in the 1990s.

When we meet at the TV tower, the "Sky tower", a daredevil jumps down on us from a height of around 220 m (held between a rope construction). The almost free fall ends safely on a landing platform just a few meters away from us. We decide to enter the "Sky Town". Here, the tower, which is the highest in the southern hemisphere, is celebrated according to all the rules of modern marketing. Via the basement (where the mighty foundation columns stand around in a somewhat unreal way) we reach the elevator shafts. A movie about New Zealand's geological and cultural-historical roots gets us in the mood for our stay on the visitor platform. For 18,- NS$ we buy the approx. 40 sec. ride in one of the glass elevators to the top. From here we have a simply gigantic view of the hustle and bustle of the city, the water areas and the surrounding countryside. From here we can also see very clearly the traffic problem that Auckland is facing. As almost all Aucklanders live in single-storey detached houses, which simply take up far too much space for a large city, the development of an efficient (rail-based) local transport system was not worthwhile in the past. The consequences of this can now be clearly seen from here on the expressways.

I feel queasy as soon as I step through the 4 cm thick glass panes embedded in the floor. There is nothing below me for 220 meters! You can also use a joystick to control a camera that is attached to the top of the tower at a height of around 380 meters. We can use this camera to check our parking lot at the harbour, which we can't see directly from our position - everything is fine. Suddenly, a skydiver hangs on the ropes for a brief moment in front of the sloping windows of the viewing platform only about 10 m in front of us. She struggles a little, looks at us through the glass a little later, gives a sign upwards and then falls into the depths... - very strange and somehow not for me. After a too-short 45 minutes, we make our way back. At 7:30 p.m. we have a table in

We have booked a table in a Mongolian restaurant to round off our trip to New Zealand. We want to invite Kassia and Chris. After we all get ready for the evening in Howick, we experience an interesting restaurant visit. The food (which is available at a fixed price) can be repeated again and again in buffet form. The special feature: all the meat is laid out raw, collected in bowls and taken to a central pan where many busy hands fry the food. After a lovely evening in the restaurant, we head home for our last night in New Zealand.

Day 27

North Island - Auckland - Thursday, 27.01.2005

Sunny, summery and warm - departure day.

In the morning we take our time to pack our luggage and drive to the airport at around 10:30 am. It takes a while to check in the main luggage, so it's not worth leaving the airport with Matthias. We spend another hour outside by the car under a shady tree. Then we say goodbye to Matthias, to whom we owe much of the success of the last few weeks of travel. After we have paid our exit fee of NS$ 25, we go through passport control. We routinely pass the last hand luggage check before boarding the Boeing 747 to Kuala Lumpur. In terms of weight, we are again at the upper limit but (apart from HD...) we get through fine. The plane takes off at 14:15 local time. The plane is very comfortable. Each seat has its own screen and laterally adjustable headrest flaps! The cabin crew, on the other hand, seem a little overtired, but make a great effort to be friendly during the next 10 hours of flight time to Kuala Lumpur. In the daylight, we take a last look at Auckland and New Zealand's coast and then we're off across the Tasman Sea towards Australia. I have a window seat a little behind the left wing and so I can see the 5th continent's vast bush landscapes with wide, dry river beds and long, dead-straight bush tracks from a height of 10 km.

This is followed later by views of various Indonesian and Malaysian coasts and islands. According to Auckland time, we land at around 0:20 am. We have a 2.5 hour layover. My circulation is pretty much shot. A slight feeling of dizziness, like after a night of drinking, is now plaguing me a little.

The sun has already been down for about 2 hours when we board the Boeing to Amsterdam. The comfort is much more modest, but we have a very nice, almost cozy Dutch flight attendant in our corridor. We fly through the night over the Indian Ocean, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus, the Black Sea and Eastern Europe towards Amsterdam. Here we land safely in the cold fog after a 12-hour flight. It is now 4:45 in the morning. Our flight attendant takes our flight points requests and bids us a friendly farewell. We still have 5 hours to kill. I'm sure that next time I'll try to get to Osnabrück more directly than flying back and forth almost directly over Wallenhorst twice, waiting a long time and then taking the train to Osnabrück.

The flight to Hanover over a dense, closed cloud cover went very smoothly. Until we arrived in Hanover and could only find 4 of a total of 8

pieces of luggage. In Amsterdam, more than half of the luggage was left behind, which caused chaos at the counter. Luckily for me, my luggage is complete except for a pocket knife. Now I'm just looking forward to getting home and sleeping in!!!

Flo