24 October - 10 November 2009

After a beautiful three hour long ferry through the Marlborough Sounds and after crossing Cook Strait we arrived in Windy Wellington, our first destination on the North Island.

As it was a Saturday and many people had convinced us the North Island would be warmer than the South Island, we sat down on a terrace to have a drink. Maybe Kiwis are a bit tougher than we are but after our first drink we decided to go to a warmer place inside! An article in the newspaper mentioning an ultra right wing nationalist gathering that was to be held on a camp ground we almost had decided to go to opened up a good conversation with two friendly Wellingtonians and ended up from a few beers around beer time to a night out in a funky club. The next day, still a bit shaky, we hang out in one of the many nice cafes reading and chilling, a typical Sunday!

On Monday we visited the impressive Te Papa museum and bought a lot of backcountry food as we were planning to do a four day hike in Tongariro National Park. However when we arrived in Ohakune in the park, not uncommon, the weather had other plans and forced us to change our plans. It happened to be that the only ski area in NZ that was still open was just 15km from our door. We decided to wait one more day to see if the weather would change.

And it did! So the next morning we suddenly had to terminate a skype call with Sharda's brother Frank as the skies had turned clear and blue, which meant we were about to go for some volcano skiing! After a half hour drive through dense rainforest we saw the first snow on Mount Ruapehu, with 2800m the highest volcano on the North Island. Although only two lifts were open, we enjoyed the skiing in great spring snow conditions. Especially after we met a jovial local outdoor guide named Colin, who showed us around some great off-piste runs. Although not equipped with the best skiing technique this bold Kiwi was fast and furious and we had to push hard to keep up with him.

At the end of the day, on his advice, we decided to climb the last part of the volcano all the way up to the edge of the crater. This turned out to be rather tough. It's about a 1.5 hour steep climb from the top of the upper ski lift at 2300m with your ski boots on and carrying your skis on your shoulder. Unfortunately Sharda had to stop after an hour as the skis were a bit too heavy and painful on her shoulder. For the few people that climbed the Schwarzkogel in Kirchberg (Michiel & Peter) it's even a bit longer and tougher than that one. After I saw her wedeling down into the depth gracefully I pushed on for another half hour until I finally reached the edge where I could look into the crater, which was partly filled by a frozen lake. After some quick pictures I skied down as several clouds were coming in fast that have could limited my visibility and orientation and a safe route back down. I can tell you, nothing is better than skiing down a beautiful steep and virgin off-piste slope after a tough climb. The last part just before the car park I had to slalom the pumice stone as the snow was melting pretty fast down there.

The next days we spent near Taupo and Rotorua, a region characterized by thermal activity. We enjoyed the nice and warm thermal hot pools and visited the Craters of the Moon and The Hidden Valley of Orakei Korako to see geysers, mineral pools, steaming earth and other beautiful things made possible by nature. Sometimes we had to keep our thumb and point finger on our nose as the farts of Mother Nature smelt like rotten eggs.

On Omata beach on the Coromandel peninsula we enjoyed a beautiful sunset on a deserted beach with a cold beer in our hand and together with a few cow we were camping on a farm across the dunes. The next morning by accident we participated in a big cycle race and for two hours had to maneuver between 2000 semi professional cyclists. It was a tough race and at moments pretty exciting (especially when the guys were trying to overtake us downhill), but in the end we were able to beat even the fastest Lance Armstrong wannabee and proudly finished first. As a two time Amstel Gold Race participant and recreational cyclist I was stunned by the politeness of the Kiwi cyclists as they not even cursed once when we blocked them or provided them with some nasty diesel gasses while going uphill. We decided to celebrate this victory with some delicious cakes and cappuccino before the second part of our (day) Tour de NZ was about to begin; the climb of the Pinnacles, which I already told you about in the 'Tramping in NZ' story.

Our last week in Aotearoa we spent in the beautiful Bay of Islands and in Northland, the most northern part of NZ. In Tutukaka (yes indeed, they have a lot of strange Maori names up there) we decided to go scuba diving (Sharda) and snorkeling (myself) on the Poor Knights Islands, by the late Jacques Cousteau named as one of the top 10 diving spots in the world. And we can agree with that! Although pretty cold (water temperature of 14*C) we saw incredible beautiful schools of fish swimming between the snorkelers on the surface and the divers at the bottom of an impressive natural 8m deep arch.

Up north we decided to chill for a few days at lovely Spirits Bay, where we camped just a stone's throw away from a beautiful and windy beach. Here I even dared to take a dip into the lake (the sea was still a bit too cold and rough for me).

And then we finally arrived in Auckland after two months and nearly 6500km of travelling together it was time to say goodbye to our beloved Happy Crab. Although warned by tourists and Kiwis alike that one day in Auckland is one too many, we stayed here for three nights and actually really liked it. We booked a room in a hostel in the bit posh suburb of Parnell, where after some drinks and a copious dinner we had one of those strange coincidences you'll never believe.

A couple of days before Sharda told me she knew that the brother of a girlfriend of a very good Irish girlfriend (are you still with me?) now lived in Auckland and that it might be a good idea to try to contact him for some inside do's and don'ts of Auckland. However we forgot to send an email and moved on without thinking any further of it. Although she had only seen the guy once about 10 years ago in Ireland, here on the streets of Parnell Sharda asked an in my opinion complete stranger suddenly 'Can I ask you something?'. The guy said 'Yeah sure' (with Irish accent). Sharda hesitated a moment out of embarrassment but did ask him 'Are you Evelyn's brother?'. Now the guy (Tim) seemed to be stunned and a bit shocked and mumbled 'Yes I am'. It's a small world after all! Unfortunately Tim was too busy to join us but he gave us some good tips for drinks and dinner.

The next day we just strolled down the yacht harbor when we saw a large yacht for hire (including mobile Jacuzzi). Sharda wanted to know what the rental price was for the day as it looked like a perfect bachelor party for our Sydnian friend Adrian and asked the guys on deck. Before we knew we were invited on the yacht and were offered spicy sausages with Turkish bread from the BBQ and some cold beers by the friendly and funny manager of the yacht named George, a Lebanese Greek.

Later that day we headed for Ponsonby, another nice suburb, where we had some drinks on a terrace and later a lovely dinner at SPQR, a great restaurant recommended by Tim. And so a fantastic road trip in NZ came to an end, but we finished it in style with a glass of champagne, a dozen oysters on ice and nice paella.

Jordi & Sharda