Island of the Long White Cloud Tue 28/01/03   Caught the Airport bus at 10 am and got onto the Quantas flight at 12:35 to Auckland where we arrived at 17:25 (2 hours time difference). Got the "Air-Bus" into town, a rather steep $18 return, and checked into the Bamber House Backpackers, an old wooden mansion in Mount Eden, with nice interior, friendly staff, a pool! Walked up the Mount Eden volcano for sunset and took some pictures of downtown. Then returned to Mount Eden to buy some food for dinner and to look around the restaurants and pubs in the very nice area. Ended up eating in and chatting to some of the other new arrivals. Auckland has got a nice feel to it, the air seems clearer and cleaner than in Syndey and the whole city seems much greener. Exploring Auckland Wed 29/01/03   Walked into town and along the way found out about car rentals, which turned out to be trickier than I though as most companies have a minimum rental period of 4 days. (I was looking for a car for 2 days to go up to the Poor Knights Islands) Downtown seemed quite manageable with the main area around Queens St. and the Wharf, which is where I ended up around lunch time looking at some awesome sailboats which had come to Auckland for the Louis Vuitton Cup (which constitutes the selection procedure of the challenger to the America's Cup currently held by New Zealand) where Oracle BMW racing had just lost to the Swiss sailing team Alinghi. The sailing fever has realling taken a hold of New Zealand at the moment with "Team New Zealand - Loyal" flags flying from buildings downtown. If New Zealand succeeds this would be the second consecutive defence of the America's Cup, previously only accomplished by the United States. Another interesting twist is that the Skipper and half the Swiss team are the former Team New Zealand from the 2000 Cup, competing against a newly built Kiwi Team around the young Skipper Dean Barker. (By the time I acutally rewrote this Team New Zealand had already lost 3 races of the America's Cup to the Swiss Team Alinghi headed by former Team New Zealand Skipper Russell Coutts.) The whole wharf area is bustling with visitors and boast some very fine pubs and restaurants. I however chose the quite affordable sushi takeout instead, with New Zealanders enjoying a huge selection of excellent and good value for money sushi. In the evening walked to Sky Tower where I was planning to take some sunset photographs, but got clowdy in the end (the weather can change completely within 1 hour) so I just had some coffee and whilst sitting in the cafeteria enjoying the view met four very funny and nice Brazilians (a couple Patricia and Marcos and a Mother visiting her daughter) and started talking to them. They ended up giving me lots of tips which places I should visit in Brazil and insisted that I must come to Brazil! Ended up leaving the tower at 10pm and Patricia, Marcos and I carried on to a place called the Kuja Lounge which is on the top floor of the Westpac building on Upper Queen Street. There we talked some more about Brazil and travelling and in the end went for a Kebab and got a lift back to Bamber House with them! After this enjoyable evening I decided to change my plans and go to Brazil instead of some places in Central America!	no map Bamber House 22 View Rd. - Mt Eden - Ph: 09 623 4267
Tree at Dusk on Mt. Eden View of Crater and Downtown Ferry Building Yacht in Wharf View of Harbour from Sky Tower View Straight Down Khuja Lounge
Going North to Whangarei Thu 30/01/03   Took forever till I had walked to the rental car agency on the Strand, only getting the car at around 11:30am. Headed straight up north towards Whangarei (which seems to be proncounced as "thongaray") and gave a group of 3 Czechs a lift there. Arrived in Whangarai at 3:30pm and quickly nipped into town to buy a replacement for my swimming trunks and a box to ship stuff back to Germany in. Didn't succeed in obtaining the swimming shorts but did manage to get a box and find out about prices for sending stuff back to Europe. Shortly after which I drove out towards Ocean Beach along some small and very windy roads, but in the end the drive was rewarded by a beautiful and nearly empty beach with a magnificent view of the Whangarei Heads. Left the beach at around 7pm and drove to the Abbey Caves on the way back which turned out to be quite an adventure, with noone else around I climbed around inside the "Organ Cave" wading throung the small river running through it and taking some photos with bulb setting, using only the headlamp to illuminate the surface of the rock within the cave and to capture the glow-worms at the same time (worked somewhat but didn't manage to capture the eerie atmosphere in the caves). Diving the Poor Knights Islands Fri 31/1/2003   Rose early and got picked up from the hostel at 7:10am to drive out to Tutukaka from where the dive trips to the Poor Knights Islands are launched. The service and professional manner with which Dive Tutukaka operated was impressive and the dive gear they were renting also being very well maintained and of good quality. (first time I used a dive computer) On the boat I met another German called Gisine who had also stayed at the Bunkdown Lodge, and talked to her about diving, as she had just finished her divemaster in Byron Bay, Australia. The first dive was quite amazing as we surfaced inside an air bubble within an underwater cave at 7m below the surface! The visibility of the water with about 25m was refreshingly clear in comparison to the Great Barrier Reef and the colour of the water seemed to have a very intense blue colour than in Australia. The Poor Knights are renowned for their good visibilty and richness of marine life as both the island and the aquatic environment surrounding it have been protected for many years. During the dive saw lots of fish and several moray eeels, but as I had forgotten to bring my underwater camera there will be no pictures of the dive site! Whilst relaxing on board before our second dive we drove the boat into Riko Riko cave (an echo cave), which was so large that it could hold a japanese submarine during WWII for several weeks whilst the crew were doing repairs to the vessel. The second dive we swam along the underwater wall of the island, spotting two types of ray and on the way to the boat got passed by a huge school of intense blue maumau. After a short stop off in Whangarei on the way back to pick up my car at the Bunkdown Lodge, I quickly got going on my way back to Auckland driving on the scenic route rather than the Highway I came on. Spent the night at Auckland Central Backpackers on Queens Street.	Bunkdown Lodge 23 Otaika Rd.- Ph: 09 438 8886
Glowworms in Organ Cave More Glowworms Self Portrait with Flashlight Panorama Inside Cave Surface of Rock with Flash Rock Formations (Headlamp) Exit of Cave Surrounding Landscape Poor Knights Middle Arch Riko Riko Cave Entrance to Riko Riko Cave Inside Riko Riko Panorama of Islands Tree at Sunset near Auckland Landscape on Panoramic Route
The Great Barrier Island Sat 01/02/03   Got up quite early and sought out a nice place to have breakfast, before dropping off the rental car at 8:30 on the Strand. Succeeded and found a small cafe on the corner of Pardell St. and Heather called Mink Cafe which served an awesome muesly with fruit salad! The car rental company ARF Rentals (60-64 The Strand, Parnell, Ph: +64 9 368 5724) was not only the best deal I could find but the people working there were also very friendly and gave me a lift to catch the Airbus (which is the cheapest way to get back and forth to the airport). Caught a small 9 seater airplane to Claris on Great Barrier Island with Mountain Air at 10am and from there took the somewhat overpriced shuttle to Tryphena where I stayed at the Dorms offered by the Irish Pub (There is only one Irish pub on the island). Great Barrier is located about 90km from Auckland in the Gulf of Hauraki, and was recommended by my sister who had spent some time there during her stay in New Zealand several years ago. The Island is a getaway mainly for Kiwis with only few foreign visitors knowing or willing to take to time to travel to this little tranquil heaven with a resident population just short of a 1000. There is no central electricity or sewage system so all houses produce their own electricity, often by diesel generators supplemented by solar power, and have septic tanks. After having checked into my room I rented a mountain bike for the afternoon and went off to explore the beaches and tracks of the island. This afternoon ride would turn out to be one of the most physically demanding days I have had during my travels so far. I started off cycling along the tarred road back to Claris where I bought a detailed map and got some advice on where to go from the tourist information, I then carried on along the road to Port Fitzroy stopping at two beautiful beaches along the way, especially the farther one, hari beach was magnificent. Met some nice New Zealanders who lent me their snorkelling gear and had a swim in the bay, but did not see too many interesting things. Cycled back up the hill and continued to climb towards Windy Canyon but took a left before the Canyon onto the Tramtrack Trail which leads back towards Claris, almost in a strait line, past the hot springs. My thoughts were that if they could drive a tram along there then I would be able to do the same with a mountainbike, despite it being a hiking only track. Turned out I was slightly mistaken and would be carrying the bike for some longer and very steep stretches along the track. My first stop was a waterfall and a rockpool where I lost one pair of sunglasses. Without going into too much detail, after lots of carrying and pushing I finally reached the hotsprings, which are in a beautiful setting and are really quite hot, at the time I was more interested in getting some drinkable cold water so I carried on back to Claris where I finally could fill up on water at the local sports centre. From there I returned on the main road to Tryphena which I reached before dusk. Felt great to actually go out and do some mountainbiking again! Hand an excellent pub dinner and some pints of Murphy's before wandering off into my dorm which at this stage I had all to myself. Windy Canyon up to Mount Hobson Sun 2/02/2003   Started off in the late morning by picking up a rental car and then Gisine from the ferry terminal, whith whom I had arranged to meet on GBI. Drove back up the island towards Port Fitzroy and stopped off at the Claris Texas Cafe for some food, after which we hiked up along some magnificent scenery on the Windy Canyon and up to Mount Hobson, in brilliant sunshine. The return trip on the Palmers Track took us about 3 hours after which we drove down to Hari Beach for a short break in the sunshine. In the evening had another excellent dinner at the Currach Irish pub and had an early night. Off to the South Island Mon 3/02/2003   Drove to the southern tip of the island but ran out of time and didn't make it down all the way to the beach. So drove back towards Tryphena and dropped Gisine off at Medlands Beach hostel and shortly after gave the car back before heading out to the Subrinski Line / Sealink ferry terminal. (Sealink is the only company which offers a combination ticket flight / ferry for 115 NZ$) Got back into Auckland at 4pm (4 hr crossing) and caught a cab to the airport (best deal is discount taxis Ph: 09 529 1000 as they offer flat rates and the best km prices). Got there in time to catch the 6:20pm flight to Christchurch where I arrived just before 8pm and checked into Charly'B Backpackers. Went to the Arts Centre for some excellent seafood tapas and another pub on the way back to the hostel for a pint. Only after a couple of hours in Christchurch I already like the place, it is known for it's strong English influences and around the town centre there are many old houses and churches which strongly resemble structures in the UK. More New Zealand adventures in part II	Pohutukawa Lodge Tryphena - Ph:09 429 0211
Interior of Plane to GBI Beach on GBI Tramtrack Trail Kaitoke Beach at Dusk Panorama from Top of Mt. Hobson Whangapoua Beach from Mt. Hobson Windy Canyon Richard Gisine at End of Palmers Track Tree at Hari Beach Second Beach at High Tide Panorama Hari Beach at Dusk Sunset at Pha Beach Christ Church Cathedral at Night