After sleeping till late, we were a bit shocked by the gloomy red sky. The smoke from the bush fires of Australia blew right over. Nevertheless, my brother Andi and I walked up and down the mountain quickly. We later tasted wine at a wine shop. In the evening we enjoy the ride on the steamship TSS Earnslaw. When we arrived at a farm there was a delicious BBQ buffet and we could watch a sheep being shorn.

On our last day in Queenstown, we still had to try what appeared to be the best burger. We were queuing for a while, but it was worth it. The burger was not as tasty as the best I had in Waterford, Ireland, but it came very close. In the afternoon we drove over Glenorchy to Paradise to Diamond Lake. The ride was very exciting. At the lake, however, we were eaten by sandflies. Especially me and Tracy who had a little over 50 bites. And that was just the beginning.

The next day we walked around Glenorchy and drove then to the Moke Lake. There Andi was going for his first time of horse riding. The ride at Moke Lake with the mountains in the background was beautiful. The same day we drove to an open campsite on Lake Pukaki with a view of Mount Cook. I was in this breathtaking place five years ago. But a lot has happened. Above all, the water level was much higher.

Andi and I booked skydiving for the next day. Because of the strong wind, it was cancelled for the next couple of days. Instead, we drove to Tekapo and treated ourselves with a warm bath in the hot pools. After another night at Lake Pukaki we went to Wanaka. Since it was late afternoon, we only hiked part of the Roy’s Peak Trail. We also saw the Wanaka Tree that was half sunk in the water.

The next morning, we have done some grocery and went on the journey to the Fox Glacier. We arrived in the last few meters and were able to refuel Sam and plug it in with electricity again. We walked a part of the way to the glacier. However, almost all roads were destroyed due to the many storms here. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see the glacier because of the clouds. But we were rewarded the following day. The sun was shining, the sky was clear and we had a great view of the Fox Glacier and Mount Cook from the viewpoint. For lunch we stopped at the village of Hokitika. Our way continued over the Arthur’s Pass where we also saw the bird called Kea. There were also many construction sites on the road because of the destruction of the storms. Nevertheless, the landscape through which we drove was simply breathtaking. In the evening we grilled delicious porterhouse steaks and kale chips. It was almost 12 degrees outside. Surrendering to my urge to move, I trained my Tabata strength training despite the cold.

The next few hours we drove to Kaikoura. There we found a free campsite in the middle of the city. So, we decided to have a little rest here and ate fish and chips for dinner. In Kaikoura you can do great dolphin and whale watching. Since we already saw some whales and dolphins on all our trips, we decided against them.

Once more we crossed the South Island from the east to the west coast until to the Pancake Rocks. As with my first visit here, these were impressive to look at. When I arrived at the Freedom campsite, I quickly got into my camper. There were a lot of sandflies here and I had already enough stings and bites. The next morning a very likeable man with his snack stand were at that place.  He offered fresh pancakes and a very delicious coffee. So, we enjoyed our pancakes at the Pancake Rocks.

We drove over Lake Rotoroa to my brother’s second hometown. Nelson. There we looked for our hike in Abel Tasman National Park. After spending the night in Motueke we went to our Aqua Taxi the next morning. Somewhat away from the sea we got into a boat that was pulled by the tractor on a cart. The tractor drove the boat into the water and so we took a small detour over the Split Apple Rock to Bark Bay. There we got out of the boat onto the beach and started our hike to Anchorage Bay. After 4 hours with lunch and a stop at the Cleopatra Pool we came to the beach at Anchorage Bay. The hike was beautiful. Since we still had some time before our Aqua Taxi left, we cooled off in the beautiful turquoise sea. After another night in Motueke we drove back to Nelson. There we had lunch with my brother’s former host mother. Andi showed us the city including his favorite brewery.

The next day we drove to Blenheim which is the wine capital of the Marlborough Sound region. Unfortunately, the wineries were very far away. So, we could only visit one close from our campsites. In the town we found a wine bar where we tried the regional wines. New Zealand is very good with white wine. But here too we found a delicious red wine which we had to buy right away.

We continued from Blenheim by a small detour of 5 hours via the French Pass to Picton. The roads were very winding and not always paved. With our faithful companion Sam, we made it and so we arrived in Picton. There we were warmly welcomes by friends from Andi. We really enjoyed the evening with delicious dinner and wine. Also, we were allowed to spend the night in the neighboring empty house. There we had each a room for ourselves. After more than a month always sharing a room or a bed, I really enjoyed the big bed all for myself.

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