Back north to Blenheim (~ Jan 7th)

As mentioned I booked a bus to Christchurch and was on my way to Blenheim. Friends of mine had recently gotten jobs on a vineyard close by and I planned to meet them there to work together.
The bus left in the morning with a very chatty bus driver telling us many things about the towns we were passing and talking about the roads and so on. Other than that the ride was boring.
We finally arrived back in Chch and I had to understand how the new cool complex for public buses works. It had bays you could only enter, if a bus was there and the sections were numbered and had letters to somehow categorize them aswell. I finally found the bay I needed and took the bus to my hostel close to the airport. I chose that one, because I had gotten a relocation car from Chch Airport to Blenheim. Relocating means you don't pay a rental fee and take a car from A to B (where it's needed). Problem is, that the insurance has a high excess fee - so I payed extra to make that zero. And of course I had to return it with a full tank, so that cost as well. So not completely for free after all...
I stayed for a night in a very new hostel. They had "sleeping pods" and no bunk beds. So basically all beds were built into the wall and had many nice gadgets to play with. USB chargers, dimable lights and a fan/ AC which was horribly loud. And all beds had blinds to make it dark and not be disturbed by the outside. Also under each bed they had lockers which were lockable with a pin you could set yourself! That was neat, no key needed! And big enough to store my backpack and stuff. Nothing had to be laying around!
Unfortunately they were really long and in the back was no light. I used my phone and found a camera in the back! Apparently someone had fogotten it all the way in the back... I hope he or she gets it back and didn't leave New Zealand already! D=

I didn't forget anything there, but sadly my SD card "broke". I was using my tablet, then answered a text on my phone and suddenly my tablet said the card isn't readable... Whaaaat?!
I tried taking it out and putting it back in, putting it into my phone, nothing... damnit... Not good! Many fotos, music and stuff was on there. Luckily my dropbox sychronises all my fotos from my phone, so they are somewhat safe and not all lost. Still VERY annoying and uncool.
Later I was able to use the laptop of Oliver (one of the friends in Blenheim) and get some of the files, fotos and music back. But they were all renamed (into a series of letters and numbers), so it'll be fun to get them all sorted....

Other than the cool beds, the place had a big common room, which looked cool, was nicely designed, though the kitchen wasn't good. They had all sorts of neat tech in there (dishwashers and many cupboards), but the dishwashers were constantly full and no one bothered washing because there were dishwashers. The cupboards were almost all empty and only consisted of a few pans and pots, which were all small. So you couldn't make a bigger portion of pasta, if you were cooking for a group for example... And the fridges were also too small for the size of the hostel. But I managed. A nice touch was, that they had secured plenty of space for "free stuff".

After a night in the sleeping pod I went to the airport and picked up my ride. It was a big toyota, like an SUV. Crazy. So I rolled up to the hostel next to backpackers cars (all very used, some with ducttape holding parts together etc) and then my flashy big car, all new and shiny. I had hoped to find people to share the ride with, but it didn't work out. Apparently no one went up the same route at the same time as me...
So I drove alone. After making a few rounds in Christchurch to get fully used to the left hand drive again and to the big car, I headed out to the north once again taking the same road I had taken not even a month ago.

This is the car I drove up to Blenheim

In between I stopped somewhere to finally get the bluetooth working to enjoy my music and it worked! I was starting to head into the no radio zone so I needed some entertainment. Unfortunatly the roads in the centre of the island are all small and now of course overrun with cars, trucks and busses, since the coast highway was closed because of the earthquake last year. And some trucks drove very slowly through the terrain. Most of the time the roads were great and no issues other than sharp curves and the road going up and down all the time. I used the cruise control alot, which makes driving soooo much easier and relaxing. Additionally I had an automatic, so I didn't even have to shift gears.

On the way I did 2 short stops, one at the crossing between the road to the west coast and the other to the north, the second at a small waterfall. I did a short walk there and took a few fotos. Nothing big. I was more concerned into getting back on the road before I end up stuck behind a truck again!

The waterfall I stopped at on the way to Blenheim

After I walked down I got this view of the waterfall

About 4 hours after leaving Christchurch I finally arrived in Blenheim. The last hour was only flat terrain so everyone started speeding. Sometimes even big trucks started racing with over 110 km/h past me. The limit is 100 km/h in New Zealand. I was quite suprised but didn't want to go faster and just put on the cruise control and relaxed, singing along to my music!

Random pic of the day: Car I saw in the Christchurch - amazing license plate

Christchurch (~ Dec 21st)

Thanks to my lift I was dropped off directly at the hostel. When I told him the name he wanted to see if it was the same hostel he once stayed in and when he saw the neighbourhood he remembered it and told me it's a nice place ;-)
A German girl who was just returning helped me get inside with all my luggage (you had to buzz the door or use a code to get inside). I met her later again for a little stroll through Christchurch. She showed me some sites (like the main cathedral, which is still pretty much destroyed from the earthquake 2011/2012).
Back then there were 2 big earthquakes, which devastated a big parts of the city. Now many people live more outside and the central part of the city is really open and empty. Most old spots of the buildings are now car parks and just not really pretty (instead of making them green areas or whatever...)
Max (the guy who brought me to Christchurch) told me everyone has a story about his night, when the earthquake struck. His was, that he couldn't sleep and wanted to grab a smoke, but because he was out he walked to an 7/11 and was on the street when the streets and land started shaking. The store was destroyed and his appartment as well. So he said you could think smoking saved his life, but he pointed it more to his sleeplessness.
After that earthquake in the end of 2011 many afterquakes happened, so many people got used to them. Later someone said, that sometimes he and his brother would watch TV, when the earth started shaking no one moved, when it stopped, they were still sitting on the couch and watching TV. It bothered no one... That wasn't too good, cause then in 2012 another major earthquake took place, closer to the earths surface and in daytime, so when one of the office buildings collapsed, it was full of people and many more died in that earthquake than the "stronger" one in 2011.

So anyway, you can still see, that the city has to recover. Many constructions sites , some buildings still in ruins, some just being torn down. And containers. Containers were for many people a popular way to "build" something quickly, such as shopping places, living spaces and even a church. Similar to what I have seen in Hamburg, where some classrooms are entirely made out of containers and many living places for refugees were also built out of containers.

One of the pieces of art on the walls, of course making a parking area more attractive...

The next day I did some shopping and walked around Christchurch some more, visited the botanical garden and later actually met up with Sönke to see "Star Wars Rogue One", the newest movie about a Galaxy far far away. Sönke and Ronja had a tattoo appointment the next day, so he was excited and couldn't stay for long, so he left and I once again said bye untill Christmas.

Some green thingy in the botanical garden

"O sole mio!" - a little fun boat ride on a canal through the botanical garden

The next morning I headed out to do a free tour of Christchurch (recommended by Sönke). These are nice and cheap possibilities for travelers to explore a city, they offer the tours in different cities, though I imagine there are by now several different companies doing them. By now I also did one in Sydney (Australia, Melbourne also has a free tour), but there is also one in Wellington and Auckland. You could of course not pay anything, but the tourguide isn't paid, so they are dependent on the tips of the people attending. So many give generously. Which made me think about maybe starting a similar business in Hamburg, if there isn't one already. The guy was friendly and told us alot of things and of course showed us around Christchurch, with its container shopping mall, container church and the different buildings which were bought for only 1$, because of the severe earthquake damage. Some smart investor buys it and tries to renovate it or tear it down to build a new building. But none of them are finished yet, if I remember correctly...
Many of the open walls (which were once covered by the neiboghring building) are now artwork, many street artists have painted, drawn or whatever on the walls. That is in fact cool. Just walking around and suddenly seeing a big painted elephant, on another wall a woman with feathered hair and so on.
At the end of the tour the guy started talking about the future of Christchurch and got a little dramatic. It sounded almost as if he was comparing the city to a phoenix: "Like a phoenix, it shall rise out of it's ashes and come to new glory! It will be a cultural hub for everyone, great art and more beautiful than any other in New Zealand!" That was a good ending, I had a feeling others were indifferent about his passion. I don't know. But it was worth it, if you ever go to Christchurch I can recommend it (I don't know if there are tour guides who aren't as passionate/ good as he is).

This building still has the old fassade! On the rest of the building is gone, so rebuilt by containers!

The new modern church in the central district of Chch!

The entrance and side of the building is made of containers, the roof built out of special tubes, so it is light and pretty much earthquake safe

The glas of the front window is made out of old church windows, which were destroyed in the earthquake

xxx empty white chars, each representing a person, that died in the earthquake, to the left is a small info board and on the back a list of everyone, who died there

The old cathedral, they are still discussing, if they will tear it down or just repair it

The church wants to replace with a new building, but the community and some others want to repair it

Many cranes, building sites and some new buildings, you see this alot in Christchurch

Another piece of art

Actually some of the oldest buildings, which survived the earthquake and are in the middle of Christchurch!

On the tour were all sorts of people, seniors from Australia, students from Australia and from the USA, backpackers from european countries and of course germans. One of them I hung around with later and had some lunch. Back in the hostel I got a free sleeping bag (2 asian guys had left in the middle of the night with 10.000 alarms) and left different things in the room, saying good bye, cause they're leaving back to their home country. I didn't get which one, they just said home and otherwise didn't speak alot of english (or didn't chose to). Then new people moved into my room. We talked and 2 of them were german students, who were studying abroad in Auckland and travelling aroung the south island for the summer break. They got a good tent, sleeping bag and mattresses almost for free from other people, who were also leaving back home. Apparently many people leave New Zealand from Christchurch.
In the night again at almost the same time as the night before again an alarm went off. It was the new asian guy in my room, who jumped off his bed and took his packed suitcase etc. to leave without a word. Weird thing was, that he came back at about 7am. We were wondering if he missed his flight or something... But we didn't want to wake him. Anyway he was back and I had to leave. Well wanted to. I had looked online for a good spot to hitch a hike to the south (before christmas all buses are expensive or booked out...). I took a bus all the way to the edge of the city and waited. It slowly started drizzling when a car stopped and took me to Ashburton, about an hour south of Chch. It was Arnheim, a half dutch half australian guy, who offered me to call him in case I didn't get a ride to Dunedin that day. He dropped me off at a busy road towards the south in Ashburton where I again dropped my bags and got ready for a long wait. Luckily it had stopped raining, though it still was really cloudy and didn't look too nice.
I only waited about 15 minutes when another car stopped. In the back a mountain bike, so just one seat left for me. David was his name, he works in Blenheim and is a biologist, interested in small birds and is a very active guy, doing many outdoor activities. He of course was on the way to his family for christmas, they live just a little west of Dunedin and he knows Dunedin well, because he lived and studied there. On the way he showed me a little around Oamaru. Well he just drove around and told me there was a great steampunk museum. I was interested, though of course didn't want to make him stop for me and had no clue if I could or wanted to spend a night here.
We drove on and finally arrived in Dunedin. Here again he showed me a few things, such as the steepest road in the world. Well the steepest residency road of the world (though I remember some very steep roads in Italy!). Anyway he drove up there! It was crazy! That road is really freacking steep! I felt like in a rollercoaster driving up, ready to rush down! But n the top there's not much to do/ see. Houses to the left and right, just a little view. But a few nice things saying it's the steepest residency road in the world. The street was big enough for him to turn around and drive back down again, slowly of course. He said in the past people actually died doing stupid things like jumping in garbage cans and rolling down the hill...
Another thing he told me was, that the cycle lanes in Dunedin are broad because once a famous professor was run over by a car, while riding his bike. That's why they made the cycle lanes broader, so this won't happen again (I guess). You could still see the old marks, which were nearly half as wide as the new ones!
He then dropped me off at the hostel, because it was basically on his way on to his family. I got out and checked into the hostel for a day, before going to the campsite to celebrate christmas with Ronja and Sönke =)

Near the Cathedral, that artsy thing in the background is a popular meeting place, closeby the "wizard of Christchurch" walks around and gives speeches!

FYI: The wizard is a old man, with long grey beard who walks around in a wizard robe and has a staff of Gandalf!!! Oh and he gets paid for doing that from the city...

I only saw the wizard for a short bit, he rushed past me, so I couldn't ask him any questions...

A ferry ride and the hitch hike south (~ Dec 18th)

My week in Wellington was over and I had turned my back on the north island for now. Time to visit the south and see whats going on there.
The ferry ride was ok. Many people around (of course germans as well) tried to sleep or were engaged in talking, I tried getting a little bit of sleep myself and visited the upper deck to have a nice view around Wellington and see the ocean. Unfortunately I didn't see any dolphins or whatever, because it was getting dark soon.
Once the ferry arrived we were taken by bus to the terminal where I got my luggage, including my Guitalele, which was alright, and the bus diver told us she'd take us to the hostels for free! Awesome! (because it was raining) I took the bus all the way to my hostel and luckily I called ahead I'd be late, so I could get inside and was able to go to sleep quickly. The owners had hid a note telling me which room and bed I could have and leaving me the door code and so on for the stay.
The next day I paid and planned my next move. Sönke and Ronja were traveling by car onward and were expecting to meet me latest in Dunedin, maybe in Christchurch. So I extended my stay in Picton, hoping to get a bus, though these were all booked or very expensive. I hesitated and decided to probably hitch a hike. But that was still a few days ahead.

You might be able to tell, but it was crazy windy on the deck above! After all, we were still in Wellington ;-)

Nothing much to see.. just the Peninsula on which the studios and the WETA Cave are on

In the hostel we were able to take bikes for free and of course get infos, maps and so on about the small town. So I grabbed a bike and started driving around town. I decided to check out a viewpoint and visited the ocean during the afternoon. Supposedly they had a Maori village at that viewpoint, though no archeological survey was done and just a few "holes" in the ground showed that people had lived here, who dug them.
The view was nice and you could see the ferry moving through the amazing fjord towards the small town Picton. In all: this landscape was breathtaking.

The old Maori hut sites

View from the top, before wakling down to the "beach"

A slight turn to the left reveals this, a small Maori Totem reveals that a site once was here (though that was placed much later)

Even further to the left, all the peninsulas and so on, behind that is Picton, where I started my bike ride!

Down on the beach, just a short walk from the parking pot at the top

How I would love to know how to sail... no borders, just being able to go wherever you want to (as long as food and wind don't run out)

On the way back I encountered these birds, it was a mother with little babies

though I took many pictures none on which you can see them... vampire birds maybe?

In the evening I made some dinner and got to know some people. Some were on bicycle tours around the world and had visited alot of places. Though I can't imagine doing that. Because it seems they were almost constantly on the road, they must have saved alot (really alot) of money, the one guy I met had not worked in over a year and a half and was only in "expensive" countries (he flew from Turkey to Australia then New Zealand, of course you don't have travel expenses, but still accomodation and food has to be paid etc). I don't know how he did it. Anyway I also met some people from France and the USA, who I had a nice dinner with.
After another day of relaxing I checked out and I was ready to try out hitchhiking.
From the lady who runs the hostel I got a hint, where the best spot to wait is (at the street where the ferry road and main town road meet). So I dropped my bags there and held up my sign: "Christchurch"

I stood there waving my thumb and waiting, after about 10 minutes a car stopped! The guy wasn't driving all the way to Christchurch but to Blenheim (pronounced: blennem). Cause I didn't know what he meant (I didn't get his pronounciation) I simply agreed and got in (very smart ^^' ). He was a nice guy, Toby, who was on a working trip in Picton and Nelson and actually lived in Christchurch, but was taking a flight down there and not driving (the car was rented from Nelson). He said he wanted to improve his karma for hitchhiking, because he used to hitch a hike some times in the past now and wanted to get some in the future and so stopped for me ;-)
Because of the earthquake the direct highway to Chch (Christchurch) was blocked and there was a huge detour through the inner part of the island. So instead of a 3 hour drive it takes about 6 via the inland route. He dropped me off at the junction where the detour starts and where there was a spot for cars to stop after a turn (so they were slow!). Great place to wait!
Unfortunately my karma seemed to have failed me and I was waiting... I always smiled at the people and tried to stay in a good mood. For 15 minutes. 30 minutes. After 45 I got some food and still tried to wave my thumb and show my cardboard sign indicating my destination. After about an hour finally a guy stopped and took me all the way down to Chch! He was even so kind to drop me at the hostel =)

He, Max, was a fresh police officer in a small town a little south of Chch and had attended a wedding near Picton, so was on his way back home. I can imagine him being happy to find me, because the route through the island turned out to be very... boring... Nothing much to see. No spectacular mountains, some nice forests, but nothing special if you have been to New Zealand. So pretty average I'd say for Kiwi standards.
And because of the hills etc the radio doesnt always work, so a partner to talk to is definately a good thing!
We talked about our travel experiences, his trips to europe and how he got into the police. He also told me the most probable time a police officer in NZ has to fire his gun, is when a sheep is running on a highway. Running after them only results in hilarious youtube videos and isn't too effective, so shooting is most of the time the easiest and best solution. We talked about other things, like the gun laws, university stories and had a good time. I missed out to ask about any contact details to maybe stay in touch...

We drove all the way through to Chch, I invited him to dinner, but he said he'd get dinner at his parents who live close by. So we parted ways. It was a nice trip and I wish him well =)
So after a little more than 7,5 hours I had reached Christchurch at about 6 pm.

Greetings from Picton! Hey Mate! That's a Weird spot to hold your club...