Week IV

New Zealand – Taupo to Wellington

Alright, in the end everything is different. The first excursion was more a walking with a huge backbag on the side of the street than tramping on a track in the backcountry. Although, I left the small day bag with stuff I wouldn’t need in the bush in the lodge in Auckland, the backbag was still heavy. Also, it was hot like, well, you know where.
Nevertheless it was a good test for me and my equipment. I got to use my tent, went to a nice lake at the end of a long walking day and got into the luxury of a hitchhike possibility by an retired farmer who just got back from hunting with his dogs. I stayed a bit in Turangi, a small little town along a nice river – with a Burgerking but not more else. I planned to head south along the east route of the famous volcano crossing there. Then it started to rain.
The weather forecast was quite uncomfortable. That’s why I decided to forget about the three to four days in the mountains and head directly towards Wellington. Now I know, Wellington is touristy and you can go out till late possibly every day but Auckland seems really sleepy in comparison in my opinion. I went to stay a bit at a friends of a friend of my mother further in the north of the city which was a very welcome experience. Unfortunately the days of sunshine were few and it started pouring down again. I decided to use the next fine day to take the ferry and head over to the South Island and to rent a car for some time. The advantage would not only be the less time it would take me to go to the places I wanted to, but also as I could leave as much of my stuff as I wanted in the car. Quite handy when you’re just planning a one- or two-day trip.

Around Turangi and my latest jump-pic at 1500 meters:

Next is something about the South Island and Steward Island ..although the jump pic is already from down here..