It might be the nicest city in NZ,m but I had my worst hostel experience ever! Niels dropped off the campervan while I stayed on the horse farm. Therefore, I had to use public transport from Te Anau to Queenstown. It is a very scenic drive, especially when Lake Wakatipu comes up.

Queenstown is a little town situated by the lake and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. It is definitely has some of the most stunning scenery I have ever seen. The city has many restaurants, laid-back cafés and fancy bars. It’s a pity that I only have 15 days in Queenstown. You could easily spend 4 days checking out some nice walks, restaurants cafés with their great selection of coffees, cakes and biscuits. The city is also famous for its many adventure activities like bungee-jumping, skydiving, skiing and much more. Therefore the city attracts many young people who are seeking adventure, and know how to party.

The time passed by very quickly whilst visiting a few cafés, exploring the city center, having the famous Fergburger (gourmet hamburger) and going for some beautiful walks along the lakeside.

Hoping it would be much quieter, I chose a 4-bed female dorm. But sharing a room with 3 young girls is not always a good idea. The first night the girls came back making a lot of noise. But that wasn’t not enough. The next night I was woken up because of weird movements and noises on the bed above mine. It took me a while before I understood what was going on above me (it seems a male was invited into the female dorm). A few hours later the two other girls came back (at least they were alone) and, without any consideration, they switched on the lights and packed their stuff. Without a lot of sleep I got up early and left for the airport.

This experience taught me a lesson and the next time in Queenstown, it will be a private accommodation 😉

Scenic drive and Lake Wakatipu

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Why isn’t life always as easy as getting a job on a horse farm in NZ… On our way to Milford sound Niels spotted a cowboy at a petrol station. He made me ask the cowboy, if he needs help with his horses. For obviously reasons he was very confused and told me to call him the next day. But I never did so. Instead we drove by the horse farm the next day. Andy – the cowboy – offered Eva a job straight away. Now I was the one being confused. I asked him if he doesn’t want to know about my horse riding skills, experiences and so on, but he only answered “No, you told me you can ride horses”.

Two days later Niels dropped me off at the horse farm, not without checking-out the place first. I got her own room and started working the same day. I got introduced to the horses and the daily work, which was split-up between Emma, Andy (see section people) and me. A usual day on the horse farm was as follows: breakfast sometime between 6:30 and 8:30, feeding the chicken, ducks and horses, getting the horses ready for the trek and taking the tourist for a beautiful 2 hours ride. The surrounding landscape is picturesque. On the top of the hill you have an amazing view over lake Te Anau with its snow-capped mountains. After coming-back we had lunch and got the horses ready for the next trek. Furthermore, we did farm work like draining, grooming and training the horses. Luckily, it wasn’t high season yet, hence the average amount of horse treks were only 1-2 a day which left us with enough time to do other stuff. I also learned how to ride a quad-bike because Emma and Andy are starting a second business with the quads. Most evenings ended by watching “Lonesome Dove”, a western series of the 80´s.

The 9 days on the horse farm passed by way to quick! I could have spent more time with Emma, Andy, and the horses but I was also looking forward to meet my awesome Dr. MueWi in Melbourne.

@ Andy and Emma: Thank you so much for the great time, you made a dream come true. Every time in future when I use one of your tips and tricks regarding Natural Horsemanship I will think of you guys!!!

Amazing views of the surrounding mountains while horseriding Continue reading →

If you are in New Zealand you have to pay a visit to the Fjordland National Park. Next to the Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park it was a highlight while staying in New Zealand. The drive starts in the nicely situated town Te Anau which is surrounded by mountains. From there it took us around two hours to drive all the way to our campground at Milford, where we met our favorite Finnish family again. The drive up north itself is already one of its kind. Endless numbers of look-outs with spectacular views made us forget about the windy streets.

The most spectacular stops were “The Chasm”, which is a waterfall running through a deep canyon. The mirror lakes, which perfectly reflect the surrounding snow covered mountains. And last but not least a place in the middle of a great meadow where we had a nice view into the canyon towards Milford Sound.

On our way back we stopped at the Divide for a 2 hours walk to the Key Summit, which offered spectacular 360 ° views of the Fjordlands.

@ Peppi: Thanks for the sunnies

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