New Zealand Weekly Update #31

Last updated on Mai 28, 2023

22nd of May until 28th of May 2023

Approximate reading time: 15 minutes

Lets get it started

Hey fellas, time for your weekly newspaper, update and things that have been going on this week. It is crazy how fast the last two weeks passed by, how much of the south island I was able to explore, to see and to enjoy. Even though it has been just two weeks and I just was able to explore part of the island, I am still impressed and flashed. Lots of nature, lots of silent and peacful places and of course also some time in big towns and around lots of people as well. And I was lucky enough to meet at least two new people I shared my time with, especially in Dunedin. And things changed again a little bit since I decided to stay a little longer in Dunedin (the original plan was to go all the way to the south but I just skipped it). Since there has been a lot of travel, a lot of new experiences and adventures, I will not put further sections into this weeks blog (which I normally do, talking about things that I was thinking about that week). I will keep going from next weeks blog on and share some more thoughts and topics that are in my mind. Enjoy the news now 🙂

Along the eastcoast

Monday morning, I just made my way to the Immigration Medical center, since I had to meet a physician and do a chest X-Ray as part of the new visa application. This is necessary if you plan to stay longer than 12 months in New Zealand. And they also checked blood as well. And of course you have to pay for that service 🙂 . A really nice little situation occured, when the doctor asked me after the examination to take a pen and put a little dot on a map of the world. The dot should be on the country where I am from. And you can tell, heaps of people have been here already since there have been lots of black dots all around the world. Well, except some countries like Russia, Australia or UK.
540 bucks later, I had a little walk by one of the beaches, had a coffee and just some time for my own, without any company. And just watched the ocean, felt the wind and enjoyed some time outside of the city.
Afterwards, I went back to my hostel, where I met the owner of the hostel again, Chay. And we agreed to go for a small hike around a wetland area (Travis Wetland). And even though it was not steep, no big mountains around or stuff like this, the hike was pretty nice and impressing. Since years ago, people tried to buy this land, dry it out and build heaps of houses onto this area. But thanks to a lot of activists, this area could be preserved and is now part of many peoples roadtrip 🙂

Beside that, monday was pretty easy going. I went to town in the evening to get some groceries and it was crazy to see how empty the town was already. It was kind of scary and I did not feel really comfortable as well – Christchurch is worth it a visit, but for me, that’s it.
Tuesday, I made my way along the eastcoast to Oamaru, my next stop on the roadtrip. And Tuesday was a day full of driving, since the eastcoast did not catch me that day. I just had a stop at some small spots, had some short walks and moved on. Most of the towns were big, but also sometimes pretty empty especially in the center and I could not feel any special energy

So I went along the eastcoast, did some short stops in Ashburton, where I had a walk at Trott’s garden, a green and well maintained area a litte outside of the city. You can walk the garden for free, but a donation is recommended. This area is used quite often for weddings and events, it is peaceful and beautiful and I have been really lucky with the weather that day. Afterwards, I went the way down to Timaru, a big city with a big harbour where a lot of containers are moved and shipped. And I just had a short walk by the beach, where you can see penguins coming out of the water by evening. Unfortunatelly that day, no penguins for me, so further on to Oamaru. In Oamaru, you can also see seals and penguins, especially by evening. So I had a walk along the beachside and some grocery shopping in town. The town itself was pretty quite and even though you can find some older buildings, there is not such a feeling like being in a city with a lot of history, like e.g. in Germany. The busy places have been the grocery store and the pub. Well, fortunatelly, the beer is a little cheaper than back in Wanaka (about 3-4 dollars per pint…). The hostel itself was pretty good in Oamaru and here I met Natasha, a girl from UK and we found ot the next morning that we have almost the same plans for the way to Dunedin. So we drove along the eastcoast, each one by car, and met by chance on different sports along the road.

The first stop have been the Moeraki boulders, a short drive from Oamaru down to the south. It seems like somebody just threw some ball looking stones onto the beach, it pretty much looks unnatural. And of course it is a popular spot for people to have a stop and take some nice shots. Further the way down, you can find a nice area called Katiki Point, where you can find a lighthouse and have a walk along to the „beach“. And you can see heaps of seals on the ground, enjoying the sun and mostly don’t even care about you passing by. Here and at the Moeraki Boulders as well, Natasha and I met again and had some talks. And we decided, to go for a little hike close to the Katiki point. It is called the Trotters Gorger, a quite easy hike, a little up in the forest. And we decided to climb up a quite steep and exposed area of stones since we had a fanstastic view from the top to the area around us. Well, it might have not been the best idea since it was quite steep and if one of us had slipped away… well, fortunatelly we are still here 🙂 And the view from the top of this rock formation was just stunning and great.
After the track, we said goodbye for the moment and made our way to Dunedin. I just decided to go for another small hike and made my way dto Dunedin afterwards.

Dunedin – impressing and big

Arriving in Dunedin itself felt pretty much really good, since you have some hills around, the ocean closeby and the inner city looks pretty interesting since you have some old looking and well maintained houses around. Especially the railway station and some of the universtiy buildings are amazing to look at and make you feel like you are in a really old city. After having a short stop by my hostel, I went to town to meet Natasha again at a pub. She came to the pub a little later and just showed my two tickets of an outdoor film festival next door. And told me that she was moving into the wrong door, ended up in the cinema and just got two tickets for free since a guy was passing buy to drop off his tickets since he was not able to watch it. So we just ended up watching nice outdoor movies for free in Dunedin, how lucky we have been 🙂 . After the outdoor film festival (which was about Sherpas, guys climbing a bridge crack, ski accidents and avalanches, kayak adventures and a guy doing bike wheelies all day long) I just went back to a pub for a last drink and had a talk with a local from Dunedin. And I asked him about some tipps for the next day, what to see and what to do in Dunedin. And his only, literally his only recommendation was to visit the local brewery. Well, I skipped that one though and just did some different things 🙂
I started the next day by driving to the Otago Peninsula, not far away from Dunedin.

Here I had a short walk by the Albatross center, which was still closed. So I went to a little track, the Harbour Cape Track, a quite easy one but with a stunning view. After a coffee by a small cafe I decided to have a walk in the area of Larnach Castle. Pretty beautiful, a lot of history you can learn about and of course some nice views from top of the tower as well. Definitly a recommendation to see. Back to Dunedin and to the Tunnel Beach, so called because you can make your way to the „beach“ through a little tunnel. The waves are crushing onto the stones, huge waves. And a steep walk back to the car as well, but definitly worth it. And since it was not steep enough, I’ve made my way to the steepest street of the world – Baldwin street. And gosh, honestly this one is really steep, you could try to run it up but make yourself ready for some sore muscles later on 🙂
In the evening, me and Natasha went for some pool by my hostel since this was for free for customers of the hostel. And after she left, I just had some more pool games with my roommate Jack from the UK. And some nice talks as well until about 1 am the next morning.
Friday was supposed to be a pretty chilled day in town, I had a look around the public art gallery, walked to the botanic garden in town and had a short stop by the railway station as well. Dunedin is worth it a visit for a couple if days though, since you have some really nice buildings.

In the evening, Jack and me went to a rugby game in town. Highlanders vs. Reds. The stadium was not fully booked but the atmosphere was great. Before the game, some bagpiper players moved along the field and played some really nice music. After that. the game was going on. And even though I am not really into rugby and don’t know about all the rules, it was really exciting, since the Highlanders (Dunedin) just made a couple of points seconds before the end of the game and won the game last minute wise – the whole stadium just was on fire! What a nice event. And afterwards of course a couple of beers with Jack 🙂

Silver Peak Track – the Devil is calling

Saturday, last day in Dunedin, last day for some activities. So I decided to go for a hike, wich I expected to be quite easy-going – well haha. So I made my way out of Dunedin and to the starting point of the Silver Peak Tracks, where you have a couple of options to hike different routes. I decided for the track to the Jubilee Hut and back (one way about 9km). And it was pretty easy going the first kilometers. A little up in the forest, later more exposed with a stunning 360° view, which I also did not expect. After about 6.5km, I reached the top part of the hike, still 2.5km to go. Down the so called „Devils Staircase“. And I was wondering why someone would call this section like that. Well, I felt it later on the way down and especially the way up. Steep as fu**, exposed and definitly not a beginner trip anymore. All the way down to the valley and after I crossed some small creeks and made my way thorugh mud, I reached Jubilee Hut. A small one in the middle of the valley and the option to hike even furher and also to make a loop hike out of it. But I went the way back, up the way at Devils Staircase and just enjoyed the view from the top again. Just stunning, just 25 minutes away from the big city Dunedin. And with some sore muscles and a smile in the face I met Jack again. Some beer, some talks and to bed at about 10pm, since I my alarm was set to 3 am in the morning, to watch the semi-final game of icehockey between Germany and the USA – and it was worth it 🙂

After a stunning, stunning, again stunning game (and Germany made it! just seconds before the game was over, Germany shot a goal, made it to the overtime andmade it straight to the final game – jesus!) I had some breakfast and made my way back to Wanaka. And this was the first time I had a look around the area of Alexandra, Clyde and Cromwell. And I definitly have to come back since you drive kilometers and kilometers along the river, surrounded by huge mountains and gorgeour landscape – just 45 minutes away from Wanaka. There might be heaps of options to go for some nice hikes – I need to find out later on 🙂

What else to say?

Well, this roadtrip was stunning, exciting, sometimes I had to adjust my plans a little bit. I am happy, tired and excited for more. But for now, I am really happy to be back in Wanaka. From next wednesday on, I am supposed to work with Ocula as an Eyewear Specialist / Retail Assistant. And I hope I will enjoy working back in optics again and might improve my skills and make some new and memorable experiences as well – and in the end it might be helpful for me to be able to apply for the residency a well.
Well, this was just a short and dirty recap about the last week. From next week on, the posts might be a little shorter and more informatinve and intense again. Enjoy your week, have a lovely time and support Germany (Sunday 28.05.2023 evening german time), first medal for Germany in a world championship in icehockey for 70 years! Great news 🙂

Your DingyInternational
Felix