To Auckland and Beyond!

I´ve been pretty lazy really when it comes to both taking photos, and spending time in front of a computer to bother adding to this blog. Luckily I have been ill for 3 days, which has given me the perfect opportunity to not do anything for a change, hide from the sunshine, and sit at a computer.

However by this point I´m not feeling very inspired when it comes to writing stories of our adventures.........which has never been my strong point anyway.

Needless to say we´re having a great time, and after just getting back from 10 days in Australia (I didn´t even take my camera!), we are back in Hokitika, and thinking once again about whether it´s time to look for some kind of income again, or just opt out all together!

Here are some shots from our trip to the wonderfully weird North Island of NZ. As I mentioned I´ve been lazy as hell with my camera, and havn´t taken photos of any kayaking, mountain biking, surfing or other fun stuff!

So here are a few landscape shots from the past couple of months!


Most things on the North Island seem to steam and bubble in some way. The earths crust here is built to the usual dodgy Kiwi building standards, so all the heat from the centre of the earth keeps escaping!



Even the mountains spit out smoke! Red Crater on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.

Mt. Ngauruhoe.....another active Volcano!

Hillevi on part of our long 5 day trek done in 3 days with the Volcano Mt. Ruapehu in the background.

Sunset over Mt. Raupehu

The Emerald lakes.

After catching up with friends in Taupo and Rotorua for 2 weeks, we hit the road ´to Auckland and beyond!`. Heading up to the far Northern tip of the North Island we came to 90 Mile Beach. A stretch of about 100km of official NZ Highway (only at low tide!) with a speed limit of 100km/h.

This led to about 2 days of entertainment and donuts blasting up and down the sand.

Romantic sunset shot!

Hillevi washes up after breakfast on the highway.

To get to and from the beach the ´Highway` follows (actually is in the middle of) a river for about 10km. Once again the speed limit is 100km/h.

We then headed back down south to Hokitika, working our way along the coast line!

South Island NZ

It was quite hard to drag ourselves away from the paradise that is Hokitika, but thinking we should see what else NZ has to offer we finally hit the road and headed south through the Glaciers towards Queenstown.

Finally after only 7 weeks of waiting, our van and home was finally fitted with it´s new motor and road worth again......... warranties are wonderful things!


Our new home is only 12 years old and we have just added this extension of a covered terrace area with a wonderful view!

Lake Moke, our home just outside Queenstown for a week.

Queenstown is a great wee spot where you can do just about everything from jumping off cliffs to drinking coffee! We opted for the cheaper options disappearing into the mountains with some food and a tent for a few days.

Hillevi on the Steel Creek Alpine Crossing between the Caples and Greenstone vallies.

Hillevi washing in a mountain stream.

What can I say! The Majority of the walk was through a hugely varying forest with limited views. So I didn´t have much choice but to photograph trees! I´m sure the ents live around here somewhere!












After getting our fill tramping, kayaking, fishing, mountain biking, Frisbee Golfing and Job Hunting in Queentown, we headed on South to NZ´s Southern most island, Stewart Island. Ever original with names, we landed in the only town Oban, where despite only having 22km of roads, and 380 inhabitants, they still have 300 cars! Kiwi´s just love driving!



The local in Oban are well know for being friendly and welcoming!?!



Hillevi takes a break at the local telephone tree for a break, and tries to decide whether to order a taxi just for the hell of it!



Again we were stuck in the Forest all day as part of our 3 day trek, so when we finally got to an opening I couldn´t resist getting a cliche shot of a pier.




Back from the island we worked our way through the Catlins towards Dunedin. Not sure what to do, we randomly stopped for the night in Curio bay, and not only being treated to a spectacular sunset, we found the place full of dolphins, seals and penguins!

First thing the next morning we headed out for a swim in a sheltered area of the bay, and spent a freezing half hour bodysurfing with about 15 dolphins......unfortunately we were too occupied to take any photos, so you´ll just have to believe me!


All throught the Catlins we found deserted beaches to set up home on.