North of Auckland – Norckland

by FroeWiNew Zealand, North IslandPosted on No Comments

The grass is greener on the other side (of the world)…. The day has come: Picking-up our new home for the next 5 weeks. We got an “upgrade” straight away to the premium brand. Right from the start Eva wasn’t satisfied with the “upgrade” because it wasn’t cozy. Everything in the camper seemed to be alright but nothing was well thought-through. The two employees convinced us (mainly Niels) give it a try. The camper was new, a German brand and a diesel, so we gave it a try.

The journey started. Heading north to the black sands of Piha at the west coast of “Norckland” (north of Auckland). The view of the coast as you drive down is great as well as the beaches themselves. On the way we hardly saw any cars and the beach was completely empty. Not fare from the beach we stayed on a shabby D.o.C. (Department of Conservation) “campground” with dumping toilets.

The first night came and we soon should find out why noone else wanted our premium brand camper van: it wasn’t possible to sleep in the camper (neither in the top bed nor in the bottom one). The top bed was designed like a hammock, which is nice for 2 hrs but not for more. The bottom one is even more of a disaster: you basically sleep on a metal frame. The next morning our choice was easy: the camper needs to be returned. It took us only 1 hour to drive back and after some discussions and waiting time we were happy to received the camper we booked.

It was love at first sight and everything changed. This time the journey started with a great feeling. The next 6 days we explored Norckland. Starting on the east coast with a cruising tour to the famous Bay of Island, where the dolphins played around our boat on a perfect sunny day. Then we headed further up north to Cape Reinga the place where the Tasmania Sea and the Pacific ocean meet. We walked in the sand dunes at the 90 Mile Beach, wandered around the Waipoua Kauri Forest with its gigantic trees, and were enjoying our camper. Only the windy roads were a bit of a downturn. The 1.000 km from and to Auckland with an average speed of 40 km/h took us about 25 hours, which is insane (in European measures).

Our home02_Bay of Islands01

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Auckland – The city that always sleeps

by FroeWiNew Zealand, North IslandPosted on One Comment

People walk, talk and work slow! during the week most shops close at 5 pm (apart from grocery stores, restaurants and bars) and after 7 pm the city is deserted. Auckland is the biggest city in New Zealand with around 1,2 Million people. But it feels more like a small town. Everything is unbelievable relaxed. The busiest Café-restaurant and bar district of Auckland (Ponsonby) which is supposed to be “damn cool” is still too quite for us: On a beautiful and sunny Saturday afternoon in spring only a few people were sitting in the Cafés and bars. Besides a crazy group who are having a “pub golf” it was disappointing empty. After the last month in South America, where most things are exciting as well as exhausting it’s a complete change and it seems we need to get used to it.

Walking through the CBD feels like being in Asia. The high number of Asian people is unexpected. In the streets you mainly hear mandarin. Chinese grocery stores and restaurants are on every corner with products, we have never seen before.

Everything in Auckland is very nice – but nothing is stunning although the environment is beautiful. Auckland has two lovely harbors, a lot of water, great parks and its close to gorgeous beaches which makes it a perfectly situated city. But still we didn’t fall in love with it. Sorry Auckland!

Crazy group having a pub golf in fashionable PonsonbyIMG_3639

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French Polynesia – Fakarava

by FroeWiFakarava, French PolynesiaPosted on 3 Comments

Last but not least Fakarava was scheduled. When we arrived our welcome committee – Charlot and Florian – were already awaiting us. We met them a few days ago we on Tikehau. Going for a 9km bike ride to see the lagoons in the north without seeing anyone is normal on Fakarava. The way was gesäumt by palm trees. Unfortunately the snorkeling at the northern tip of the Motu wasn’t as nice as expected (bad visibility) but the beach totally made up for it.

Last day we got entertained by huge nurse sharks, black tips and sting rays eating fish directly on the shore next to Relais Marama (our lodge). While snorkeling Niels (my beloved boyfriend) wanted to kill me. Standing in the water with a perfect sight of what was going on he directed me straight to one of the huge nurse sharks. Thus the shark and I met eye in eye only 30 centimeters apart in the shallow water (I could see all of his teeth). Luckily the shark seem to be even more scared of me than I was of him: he immediately turned and swam of to the open water.

Lagoon at the northern tip of the Motu (next 6)01

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Meet Maëva and Matt

by FroeWiPeoplePosted on No Comments

Fiji is a small place. For the first time we met Maëve and Matt on Wayalailai. As it turned out they nearly had the same itinerary or were following us (which Niels is still very convinced about 😉 Being in the 20ties both are working travelers. Maëva is abroad for nearly one year and Matt even for more than 2 years. They met while fruit picking in Australia. Their “relationship” seems to be based on pure hate, but somehow it works out very well. On Mantaray Island Niels and Maëva became dive buddies for life. Even though Maëve tried to kill Niels several times by diving far deeper than they were supposed to, following turtles or sharks without paying any attention to the Dive instructors signs or by simply making him laugh and therefore losing his regulator.

Meet Roman and Mus

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Oxford Dictionary: Multicultural Couple = Mus and Roman. Being from the Republic of SingaCzech (defined by a staff member at the Barefoot Resort as a mix of Singapore and The Czech-Republic) they are living in Sydney, Australia at the moment. Without any doubt Mus is the most valuable person to Niels who we met during our trip – she is a real doctor. Unlike Niels she can actually heal people! Roman “The Engine” is in charge of the propulsion power especially while kayaking. He is the logical brain while Mus is the heart behind project “Team International”. We spend a great time with them and hopefully will meet them again in Sydney!

IMG_7619

Meet Emma and Andy

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Emma is the daughter of Andy, who is the stereotype of a Cowboy (John Wayne must have had him as a role model). He has a rough voice, wearing boots, jeans, a shirt and of course a cowboy hat at all time. Eva was treated like a member of the family and felt at home straight away. Both of them are practicing “Natural Horsemanship”. Natural Horsemanship is a special way of working with horses based on their natural instincts and methods of communication. Horses are herd animals and they interact with each other through body language.

The horses they use for the treks are all standard breads (either trotter or pacer). Most of them would have ended as meat without Andy or Emma. They managed to get them all well balanced so that even people without any experience can ride them! This especially amazing, if you think of the horses previous job as racing horses. They like to share their knowledge and taught Eva some very useful basics, which she will definitely use back home. Thank you guys for the amazing time. I wish I could have stayed longer!!!