We left the aussie for their neighbours : the Kiwis!!! We rent a spaceship for three weeks : not as comfy as Karmela but once we unfolded the back seats we had a real bed with our sleeping bags. Here we go with a new home on wheels...
- We spent a couple of days in Auckland, the biggest city of NZ. We climbed the Harbour Bridge, we went to a rugby game to support the Auckland Blues vs Western Force as french specialists (remember this quater-final last october...), we tasted our first Hokey pokey ice cream...
- We celebrated St Patrick's Day with "our" Patrick, an irish guy we met on the Trans-Siberian train last august. He behaved as a perfect host introducing us to all his friends and showing us around the best irish places in town for a dance or a pint of Guiness... no wonder we had an irish hangover the next day!!!
- We were driving around Nortland and Coromandel Peninsula for a week or so : windy roads, green hills, wild bays. It reminded me of the scottish Highlands or Ireland... or even France. We did a walk to the Cathedral Cove and came back to the car all wet because of some tricky waves...
- We spent two days in Roturoa. So touristic... We visited a Maori village but it was not really genuine. We still enjoyed the Haka dance (remember this quater-final last october...). We spent a whole day walking around the thermal site called Wai-o-Tapu which was great. It was a visual (incredible colours), sound (bubbles, geyser...) and smelly show!!!
- We crossed Tongariro National Park, 80 kms south Taupo Lake. We did the one-day walk called Tongariro Crossing : that was awesome!!! It was kinda a lunar scenery with lava flows and uncommon colours (yellow, blue, red). Splendid.
- We spent a couple of days in Martinborough, known for its vineyards. But the reason we were there was nothing to do with wine for once... That's where Sarah, a kiwie girl we met in the Trans-Siberian last august, lives. She welcomed us in her house with Felicity her flamate. And Pat flew over from Auckland so we could recreate the vodka train atmosphere. That was awesome!!! It was like we knew these two for ages!!! We had a hard time doing a pub crawl (there are only two of them in town), cooking french food, tasting kiwi wine, sharing a vodka time, playing chilian pictionnary, spending a day in Wellington, driving to Cape Palliser or Lake Ferry, observing lazy seals, jumping like kids on a trampoline... before relaxing in the spa. Thanks Sarah for your hospitality : we had a great time!!! We are looking forward meeting you again in France... with Pat of course!!! Guess we had to practise our "river dance" routine by then...
We reached the southern island by ferry. It's known to be wilder and rougher... which is true!!!
- We started with a trek in Asbel Tasman National Park. A lovely day walking on a narrow track and following the wild coast : nice beaches and clear water.
- We were driving down the west coast : Pancake Rocks, Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers, Jacob's River (we spent the evening with Jonathan - Stef's brother - and his wife Felicity)... Nice but rainy. The mountains stop the rain coming from the ocean so it's like very green!!!
- We had a "rendez-vous" in Wanaka with Joan and Rob, Sarah's parents. They hosted us in their beautiful house on Wanaka's heights although they didn't even know us!!! It must be something to do with genetics to make people feel at ease so quickly... We had a wonderful time with them swaping stories, drinking wine, enjoying either kiwi or french potatoes dish, spending a day on the lake on their boat, having a picnic on a beach, learning some history bits from Rob, being mothered by Joan (thanks for the laundry)... We had a great time just like we did with their daughter!!! Thanks a lot for everything!!!
- We went to Milford Sound and did a boat trip in middle of the fjords, waterfalls, glaciers... It was foggy but impressive : we enjoyed it a lot!!! We even saw a couple of seals again...
- We were drinving up north back to Picton via Queenstown, Mt Cook (highest summit of NZ - 3754 m), Pukaki and Tekapo lakes (amazing blue!!!), Christchurch... either rainy or windy. Wild and green.
Back on the northern island, we had a last dinner with Sarah before getting back to Auckland and catch our flight to Papeete for our next stop : French Polynesia.
Three weeks with the Kiwis and we haven't seen a kiwi... maybe next time.
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Photos Nouvelle-Zélande
Carnets de voyage Nouvelle-Zélande
Vidéos Nouvelle-Zélande
Carte Nouvelle-Zélande
Guide de voyage Nouvelle-Zélande
Santé Nouvelle-Zélande
Billets d'avion Nouvelle-Zélande
