Today I got up at 6:30 to catch the ferry at 7:30 to the Rangitoto volcanic island. My roommate Alessandro from Italy came with me. He’s a nice guy, about 33 years old, and he is on his holidays in New Zealand. We had nice conversations on the ferry and arrived at 8 o’clock on the island.

In the beginning it was a bit raining but we were prepared and enjoyed the view of the amazing rainbow.

Our first stop was at the Lava Caves (the caves we thought they were the lava caves )

Actually it was this small hole right behind me. We went into the cave for about 20m but then realized, that we needed a torch. Neither of us had got one, so we returned after 20 minutes.

Then we found the right entry to the Lava Caves, and, of course,  it was much bigger.

After that we went up to the summit, and from there we enjoyed a stunning view over Auckland’s skyline and the Motutapu Island. Our next stop was in Islington Bay Wharf in the very  east of Rangitoto Island, right opposite Motutapu Island.

On Motutapu Island (we could cross over to the next island by walking on a small bridge), I went for a swim, we lay in the sun and ate something for lunch.

For our way back we took the coastal track, a track which provided stunning views of the beautiful landscape along the coast. We arrived in time for the ferry departure at around 3 o’clock and off we went.

Back in Auckland we decided to go up the Skytower and to visit the Skycity. When we had arrived there, we purchased a ticket for 18 Dollars each, and took the lift to the Main platform (186 m high). We stayed there for a while, enjoyed the view and watched all  the skyjumpers jumping down from the Skytower.

Then we went up with a second lift to the Sky Deck (220 m high, highest point you can go to without jumping.) Took some photos there. It was an amazing view of Auckland from up there, you could really see every single building, the harbour, the islands around Auckland, the mountains of Auckland (Mt. Eden, One Tree Hill, Mt. Wellington etc.) and we recognized a lot of them.

We returned by lift and went to the Skycity (a huge casino with lots of very noble restaurants). We didn’t gamble today and returned to our hostel soon.

There Nani already waited for us and we started to cook our dinner.

Today I had worked the whole day long  (10 hours) on a public holiday and I was really  exhausted when I had returned home. :/ After I had taken a shower I got to know some very nice Indian guys (7 actually) Radhar, Gogne, Vamar, Sahib, Anno, Ravi and Jamal, who are also staying at this hostel and I have learned a lot about Indian culture and tradition. They let me try  three different meals (they cooked them for me and were very happy about it). They were so friendly and happy, it was just amazing. One time two of them had an argument about a different view on women. One of the others intervened saying that both of them were right and he succeeded to smooth out the differences. Then they all were friends again. When I asked the troubleshooter, if they always do it like that in India, he agreed. That was really very impressive and amazing, an Indian way of dispute. I had a lot of fun with these guys, and they invited me to their homes, families and friends, if I will come to India one day. I think it was the best and most interesting Easter I’ve ever had: drinking Lassi (Indian yoghurt-drink, I’ve got the recipe now ), eating only with my right hand (it’s their culture to eat like that, and honestly, it made me feel happy to eat like that, you feel the food, the temperature and the structure of it ) and taking crazy pictures.

Everybody of them wanted a picture of him with me on his side so it took us a while to finish the process of photographing.

Today we got up at 9 o’clock at Anna’s house. We decided to walk up Mount Eden, which is located next to the CBD in Auckland. It was a bit of a walk up there but the view was just awesome. 😀 We had lunch up there and returned at three o’clock. No couchsurfer had replied till then, and so I decided to call the woman, who had given me a ride in Auckland last time. She said, I am welcome to stay for one night. Sandra is a 71 year old woman, who was born in New Zealand and lives in St. Heliers. I tried to get a ride from Anna’s house to town. A really friendly and nice guy picked me up, and we had a good talk. He decided to give me a lift along the Takamari Drive, which is a really beautiful road along the coastside.

So I arrived at Sandra’s place around 7 o’clock and had even met another woman on the way, who was going to visit Sandra as well. So we arrived together at her really beautiful house, after having enjoyed some good conversation with Kristin. After she had left for home, Sandra and I decided to get some food in town.

red curry with chicken

So we had lovely Thai food for dinner and then I helped her to repair her computer and figured out some other things for her. She was really happy that I could help her with different things. I watched some movies from her big TV.   Tomorrow I will go to Auckland and will apply at Tradestaff for another job.

nice tv

                                  really comfortable place to stay

This morning we got up at 4:30 am to help the son of Katrin milking the cows. So we started milking them and did it for nearly 3 hours. After half an hour I have learnt the proper technique to cup the teats of the cow. First of all you have to feel where the teats are with the right hand, in your left hand you hold the milking-machine. Then you have to cup every teat of the cow. Sometimes they just have three teats or they have a mark on their legs, so that you know you have to be very careful to cup the right teats.

It was a really exciting and useful experience and in the end we had milked 505 cows altogether. After that we went back into the house and enjoyed an amazingly fresh and natural breakfast with the family.

Then we continued our trip, drove to the nearest hot water beach and spent a nice time over there.

Today was the last day of our roadtrip and we came back to Auckland.

For the night we could stay at a friend’s of Till. It was her birthday and we had a lovely time.

Today we drove from Rotorua to Waitomo because I’d booked my black water rafting for today at 2 pm. When it started we were only 4 guys because 2 hadn’t shown up. After a really rough ride on a small track to the Waitomo Caves we got our gear

( wetsuits, climbing-equipment and helmets) and our first task was to abseil 35 m down on a wall. I jumped over the edge and enjoyed the adrenaline rush.

Then I abseiled down into the caves. Right down at the bottom the guide was waiting for us with black tyres on which we could paddle along small canals through the caves.

It was really funny and our guide gave us a lot of information and showed us a lot. We saw the glowworms and learnt, that the bum is the part of their body which is glowing and not their „poo“ .

It is a chemical reaction. We also learnt, that stalagmites grow from the bottom of a cave and stalactites the other way round, hanging from the roof. On our way through the cave we came along very narrow clefts, we had to pass through, and there were moments, when you really thought, you had got stuck, but we always figured out a way to crawl through.

We had lunch down there in the cave, and afterwards we had to climb up the 35 m high wall again. I really liked the last part of the tour, I realized, that I like climbing very much, just having perfect trust in my ability and strength.

At 7’o clock Till picked me up in front of the office and had good news:

one couchsurfer had replied and had offered us a place to stay for the night. It is a woman from Hamburg, who had moved over here some years ago, and her son had shot some deer, so that we would have deer for dinner.

We arrived there at 7:30 pm, enjoyed a great meal and lovely conversations. They are a really friendly family.

Matthies skinning the deer

feijoas for dessert

Today we got up at 9:00 am and started to drive to Rotorua.

When we arrived in Rotorua it was raining cats and dogs. :/ So we decided to have some lunch in a Thai restaurant and to visit the Polynesian Spa.

So we did and enjoyed a really good time there.

After that we checked in at the Four Canoes Hostel in Rotorua for one night. Tomorrow we will drive to Waitomo and I will do my Dark-water-rafting.

Today we spent the night at Dave’s place, who lives 10 minutes drive away from Napier.

In the morning we started to Napier and explored the city centre with its beautiful art deco buildings. We found out, that there had been an earthquake in 1931, and so a huge part of the city had to be rebuilt. That is why you can still find so many buildings in the art deco style in Napier.

On our way to Taupo we stopped at a huge bridge and walked underneath the bridge on a boardwalk in 65 m height. It was a really good tip from Dave and we really enjoyed it. Our next stop was at some nice waterfalls.

In Taupo we checked out the weather for tomorrow, because we want to walk the Tongariro Crossing, but it doesn’t seem to become so nice. :/

So we drove to a DOC camping-ground in Taupo where we slept the night in our car.

The last couple of days I had been looking for a job in Wellington, went to the museum and enjoyed the windy, rainy city.

I found out, that there aren’t many jobs around for the moment, and so I decided to go back to Auckland to work there for Tradestaff again. I  have got to know a German guy, Till, on Facebook. He has to relocate a car from Wellington to Auckland, and we decided to go on a four-days-roadtrip together. Our first destination is Napier-Hastings which is located in Hawke’s Bay.

We have to be in Auckland on 12. April, and want to spend these days as useful as we can. I will do my Black water rafting on my trip back, and we will do the Tongariro Crossing, if the weather will be fine.

our car

roadtrip-mate Till and me

We are going to stay at a couchsurfer’s in Napier tonight. He’s called Dave and seems quite nice.

Today I got up at 7:30 am to catch my bus at 9:20 am from Taupo to Wellington. We had been waiting for 2 hours (two English girls and me)  at the bus stop, no bus had showed up, when we decided to go to the I-Site (visitor information center) and called Nakedbus. They apologized for their mistake, and we were booked without extra-charging fee for the first bus tomorrow. So we went to check in at the Base hostel for another night. The girls were called Heli (21) and Josie (24). We spent a nice evening together, and went to a Turkish restaurant. We had a meal called cish- grill-plate which was really delicious.

Back in the hostel I enjoyed good conversations with the two girls, who are sisters. At about 9 pm I went to the bar of the hostel and enjoyed a great night celebrating my 21. birthday.

The next morning I got up at 9:30 am, checked out at the hostel and Heli, Josie and I went to a nice cafe to enjoy my wonderful birthday breakfast.  I had a muesli with fruits and joghurt.  For drinking I chose a hot chocolate.

Today the bus showed up in time, and I met the two German girls in the bus again. It was quite funny and we had a good time on the bus ride.

When I arrived in Wellington I checked in at my hostel and did my laundry. Tomorrow I will call Tradestaff to get a job as soon as possible down here in Wellington.

Today I got up at 7:30 am to catch my bus at 9:20 am departing from Rotorua to Taupo. I safely arrived in Taupo at about 11 am and met two nice German girls,  Anna and Julia from Dortmund.

Lake Taupo

We decided to hitchhike to the Huka Falls together and started directly  after I had checked in at my hostel.

Our first stop  was at about twelve midday by a riverside and  I went for a swim. It was quite hard because there were strong currents, but I took it as a challenge and a work out.

Then we continued our trip to the Huka Falls, which were really beautiful and there we spent the rest of the day. The weather was perfect and so was our mood. We had a really nice time, good

conversations and a lot of fun together. Then we returned to our hostels.   I had just entered the hostel, when it started to rain.  Later on the sky looked just awesome.

In the late evening I went out to discover some Taupo nightlife and went to an awesome Indian restaurant.

On my birthday I will catch up with the girls in Wellington again.