Christchurch and Nelson Tue 4/01/03   Got up quite early to catch the Intercity bus to Nelson but missed it by 15 minutes and ended up having a look around Christchurch during the daytime. Walked around the CDB and sought out the Bivouac shop which I had seen the night before to look at some Arcteryx Jackets. This Canadian outdoor company makes some of the best and most comfortable outdoorwear and as their stuff is incredibly hard to find in Europe I decided to treat myself to a Windstopper Jacket. Looked around the second hand book stores for a copy of "The Lord of the Rings" but didn't find anything useful and evetually caught a bus at midday to Blenheim and from there on to Nelson, arriving there at 7:30pm. And stopping off at the Tramper's Rest Backpackers, a most enjoyable setting with an incredibly helpful and frienly host called Allan. (who moved to Nelson from Windermere in the Lake District a long time ago) Ended up going out to a Victorian Pub some 5 min from the Hostal which had live jazz on that evening but made my way back early.	Trampers Rest 31 Alton Street - Nelson - Ph: (03) 545 7477
Abel Tasman National Park Wed 05/02/03   Went shopping in the morning and bought food supplies for the 3 days I would be hiking in the park, and got everything else I needed off Allen, the owner of Trampers Rest, namely a camping pass, a cooker, gas, cutlery and a bus ticket to the park entrance in Marahau. Left Nelson around 1pm and arrived in Marahau about 1:30 hours later, getting off to a good start with some lunch at the cafe in Marahau. Started walking at 3pm and managed to get to Bark Bay on the evening of the first day. Along the way I was puzzled and slightly displeased with the huge number of visitors with daypacks that seemed quite unfit for hiking any part of the tramp. My goal hence was to get to the northern tip of the park as quickly as possible to avoid bumping into too many day visitors. Along the way I met a dutch guy, who also suffered from woefully inadequate supplies and was going to have toast with peanut butter for the entire 3 days he planned to spend in the park.  Ended up giving him a pack of instant noodles for dinner and some of my spaghetti with pesto, which I had been eating almost throughout my entire cycling trip in France during the summer of 2002. During my first night camping I quickly found out about the immense number and variety of blood sucking insects that seemed to be swarming around us at dusk and was extremely happy to have brought an insect repellant that actually seemed to work. (you just have to make sure you apply it EVERYWHERE) From Bark Bay to Anapai Bay Thu 6/02/2003   Waitangi Day, a disputed national holiday marking the birth of "British" New Zealand, went rather unnoticed during my trip from Bark Bay to Anapai Bay Campsite. Started off early as I had to cross a beach at around low tide 7:30am (which turned out absolutely unproblematic and could have been done at high tide as well) and walked on towards the Awaroa Inlet where the Awaroa Lodge provided a very pleasant setting for a small lunchtime snack. (The lodge is superb but only offers doubles from NZ$100 upwards and gets booked up months in advance) With the place getting busier I decided to walk on and wait at the Awaroa estuary for the low tide at around 7:30pm. The estuary really can only be crossed 1:30 before and 2 hours after low tide so I spent the afternoon lying in the sun and chatting to some other travellers all waiting for the tide to subside. Thanks to my long legs I was the first person across the estuary but had to tip-toe to not get soaked shorts, which I didn't quite manage to avoid but with the crossing behind me I could get going towards Anapai Bay which lies to the north of Totranui. The latter is the last stop of the water taxi and home to an enormous campsite that is a hugely popular choice with the campervan families due to its relatively easy access by road from the other side of the park. Not exactly my scene - so quickly passed the place and carried on to Anapai where I would be sharing the Campsite with 2 other tents! The place there was brilliant only a few metres up from the beach set within a small forrest and after a coolish first night the second turned out to be noticeably warmer. Whilst I was lying in my tent I heard some scratching noises outside and on investigation it turned out to be caused by a possum which was trying to get at my food, which I had hung onto a branch in a tree. Since possums live in trees actually getting to my foodstuff posed no serious challenge to the very persistent and unfearful animal, which I finally did suceed in fighting off. (After which the food would be stored inside the tent) With the increased temperature I decided to not wear all my clothes, as I had done the night before, and paid dearly for that mistake as I was bitten in my tent more than fifteen times in places where I had not applied any insect repellant... (I am sure you can imagine a few hotspots - and yes, the ankles were fine) Round Trip up Gibbs Hill Fri 07/02/2003   After the two long days of hiking I decided to have a lie in and start my day trip at 11am. As I was going to return to Anapai I would be walking only with a daypack, a welcome change to the rather heavy backpack I had been carrying the days before. Set off in the direction of Totranui and made arrangements for my trip back to Nelson on the following day. Then backtracked slightly and power walked up Gibbs Hill. From there decended towards Whariwharangi Bay and then on to Separation Point, where there were no seals when I got there. Evetually made my way back to Anapai via Mutton Cove arriving back at my tent at around 6pm. Had an extremely early night as I was still feeling quite exhausted and did not get bitten by any insects about which I had gotten quite paranoid at this stage - bloody sandflies! Return to Nelson Sat 8/02/2003   Again starting late I packed up all my gear and the by then significantly lighter backpack and walked back through an incredibly dense patch of subtropical rainforrest with some old growth trees to Totranui where I caught the 12:30 ferry back to Kaiteriteri from where the bus to Nelson departed. Spending the extra money on the return trip by boat proved well worth it as I got a good look at the entire coastline and some seals on the Tonga Ilsand Marine Reserve. Despite our late departure we made up a fair bit of time on the return journey and I was on time for the bus back to Nelson where I arrived back at around 5 in the afternoon. Bought some food to go with the leftovers I had from the trip and cooked dinner back at the Trampers Rest. After having eaten went back into town to have a look round some of the plentiful bars and pubs together with another guest from the Trampers Rest. (wow it rhymes too) Some nice places but from my first impression not as interesting and versatile as the nightlife in Christchurch.	Abel Tasman National Park / Trampers Rest - Nelson
Stillwell Bay (Abel Tasman) Torrent River Medlands Beach (Bark Bay) Bark Bay in Morning Awaroa Inlet Rainforrest near Awaroa Anapai Bay @ Sunset Possum Trying to Steal My Food Phone Pole Covered with Cicadas View Over Whariwhatangi Bay Mutton Cove Seals on Tonga Island Abel Tasman Park from Plane
Tranz Experience Sun 09/02/03   Left the lovely Trampers Rest at around 7am to catch the Intercity bus to Greymouth at 7:30. During the trip we stopped off at the Pankake Rocks and the Blowholes National Park for Breakfast. Walked down the trail to the rock formations and took some nice pictures together with a half European half Maori guy I had met on the bus. He was on his way to Greymouth to learn the trade of Jade carving, with Greymouth being home one of the few schools offering such an education. The town turned out to be rather boring especially on a Sunday morning, fulfilling the low expectations set by the guidebook. After having looked at lots of Jade stonecarvings in a book on the bus I felt compelled to look around the shops selling it there, but didn't find anything particularly interesting or worth the money, so wandered back and waited for the TranzAlpine train to arrive. Left Greymouth just before 2pm starting our climb up towards Arthur's Pass with a few stops here and there to pick up more passengers or because the rails had gotten too hot (no joke, above a certain temerature NZ regulations require the track to be checked before a train can pass!). Spent most of the time on the outdoor viewing plattform enjoying the scenery which was pretty decent but not a serious competitor to the views you would get in the "European Alps", apart from them being less populated and in parts more arid. Arrived really late into Christchurch only to find out that I had lost the bed reservation at Warners on the Squqare 20 minutes earlier and hence had to find another place to stay, which surprise surprise turned out to be Charly B's. Quickly checked in and made my way to the hungry hog or something like that, where I stumbled into the "Speights Coast to Coast" party, an event that had taken place on the preceeding Friday and Saturday. The Coast to Coast race involves cycling, running up a pass, canoeing and cycling all the way from the west to the east coast of New Zealand. (very cool - both the party and the race!)	Charly'B Backpackers 268 Madras St. - Ph:03 379 /8429
Blowholes & Pancake Rocks West Coast at Pancake Rocks Surf on the Rocks Rainforrest on West Coast Detailed View of Flora Panorama View of Pancake Rocks TranzAlpine Train TranzAlpine Locomotive Side of Locomotive (colour changed) View over Roof of Train into Southern Alps Start of Canterbury Plane

Heading back to Auckland Mon 10/02/03   Called Quantas in the morning to inquire wether I could get onto the earlier plane which apparently had seats but not in my booking class, so took a (fat) chance and went out to the airport around lunchtime and got on the plane, which arrived into Auckland at 3pm. Made it to the Auckland Central Backpackers just in time, as they cancel reservations whithout creditcard at 4pm and checked into a more spacious dorm room with a view of the harbour. Quickly sorted out all the stuff I wanted to send back to Germany and made a couple of parcels which I would take to the post office the coming day. Then wandered to find some dinner at an awesomely cheap chinese place near the top of Queens St charging NZ$4.50 for a filling dinner. Then went to the cinema to see "The Whalerider" an adaptation of a book by Witi Ihimaera I had read some days before. The movie was quite good but not as outstanding as the book. Not much going on in the evening on Monday in Auckland. Last Stop Bamber House Tue 11/02/03   Posted all my stuff in the morning, (NZ$ 160) and took the bus to Mt. Eden as I would be spending my last night in the place I liked best on the North Island - Bamber House, which incidentally was also the place I had picked for my first stay purely on the basis of what I could find on the internet. Tried to do some work on the old website and then headed back into town to look at the sailboats from Team New Zealand and the Swiss Alinghi which would be racing in the America's Cup. On this particular day they were shown outside of the water for the first time. Looked at some interesting displays about the technology used and the different duties taken on by the crew on display in the Alinghi boathouse, but didn't get to see the Team New Zealand boat. Went to Victoria park afterwards and had a look round Vicotoria Market, which turned out not so interesting, so bought some cheese, bread and wine to celebrate my last evening in New Zealand. At this point I was getting somewhat excited at the prospect of entering the final and longest stretch within my trip around the world - Latin America.

no map Auckland Central Backpackers 229 Queen St. & Darby - Ph: 09 358 4877

View Auckland Downtown from Ferry Team New Zealand Building Team Buildings Harbour