29 April 2012 – Hitchhiking… you should know, where you want to go
Jan and Sasha took Malte and me closer to Tataka, but only closer. After lunch at an outdoor pool in the sea, we had to hitchhike the last 50 km. Since hitchhiking is allowed and very common in New Zealand, we just waited some minutes for a lift to Kaiteriteri. Actually we thought that every road leads to Takaka but while waiting in Kaiteriteri we realized that we are actually at a dead end. That meant that we had to go back. Luckily we found some Taiwanese who brought us back to a junction to Takaka. Late in the evening we arrived in Takaka, where Michel, a friend I worked with at ISC in Constance, was already expecting my arrival.
30 April 2012 – Climbing with Michel
Arrived in Takaka, I could sleep in Michel’s van. Luckily my sleeping bag was good enough to keep me even warm at about 0 °C, when you think your breath is freezing in your nose. After surviving the night, we went climbing just a few meters beside from the campground. The rocks were pretty good but my climbing skills very bad. Nevertheless, it was a great day and a good feeling to go climbing again after a few month.
01 May 2012 – Test drive to the Farewell Spit
Since Malte (alias Malton) and I wanted to buy Michel’s van to drive down the west coast of the south island, we made a quick test drive to the Farewell Spit, the most northern point of the south island. Actually only a lot of sand, sand and sand. But at least a good test drive, which took us the doubts about the car car.
Next stop The West Coast…
