2 weeks in one post..hope it's not too much for you to take! - Enjoy!

Well I have to admit I'm never going to be able to catch up on everything that we have done during the last two weeks and I really don't want to bore you... So here's a little line up on that:

31.03: We finally got our car! Yes! It's so great! We picked it up at 10 at the "Explore more" office went to the wharehouse to print out a thank you picture for Keith, then to "Pack 'n Save" to get some grocheries for the road and then went back to Keiths house to get the luggage and take off. Out of Christchurch! Onto the wide and open road. Miri was driving it around town and then the first 2 hours.. And it was such a great feeling! .. at least that's what Miri said ;-) finally she could drive a car again! I just looked out of the window the whole time and couldn't stop being amazed by all the cool looking trees and fields and houses and mountains and rivers... and sheep! It's such a nice drive down o Dunedin and we took quite a while to explore everything that we wanted and also had some picknicks along the way.. Oh how we loved to be independent!


01.04: A day in Dunedin.. uhh they had a chocolate factory! Well it wasn't new to Miri but it was certainly new to Dani and me so we went on one of the tours through the factory and got heaps of chocolate with it! We're all going to get fat.. I just know it! Actually other than that there is not too much to do in the town so we went to the Library for free internet ;-)
BUT: we drove out onto the Otago Pennninsula. Such an amazing place! We saw seals, a huge sea lion and 4 penguins! They were so cute!


02.04:That day Palmy took us to (not on!) Baldwin Street (the steepest one in the world!) and then through the Catlins all the way to Invercargill.. and so we started one of the most amazing drives I have ever done! On this drive it was really true that "the journey is the reward"! The scenery was terriffic! It was called the "southern scenic route" and is a must do for everyone! There were so many little beaches and waterfalls you could take a little walk to ..and then the landscape.. We have never seen something like that! I know that I'm repeating myself but it is like that!

When we arrived in Invercargill we had to find the house of Sarah, the girl we were couchsurfing with.. it was our first time couchsurfing and so we were a little disappointed by the house and so on. But it was al right and we saved the money for accomondation.. ;-)


03.04: We thought now that we're in Invercargill we might as well look around the city for a little bit.. BIG mistake! There is absolutely nothing to look at! It's a city, yes, but other than that.. booooring! Uff.. my efforts to make Miri and Dani move on finally worked out and we took the second (shorter) part of the southern scenic route all the way to Te Anau.. our next stop.. on the way we found a slide, a bridge, some nice beaches, high gras we could hide in (I still ask myself from what..)

So our second time couchsurfing.. at Pauls house.. well to be honest it was not only Paul.. when we got to the house there were about 10 guys partying along and we in the middle of all of that! It was totally unexpected but once we recovered from the shock we had a great time! Really, although the place was a real mess, the guys were just great! One of them - all muscle-bound and tough - even wanted to do our dishes and clean everything for us.. so cute!

We also told them that we had booked one of the boat cruises in Milford Sound and 2 of them wanted to join us.. Nick (from Canada, travelling but at that time working as a shearer with the other guys) and Loui (from New Zealand, also working as a shearer). So yeah.. that was our company for the next day!


04.04: It was way too early but we had to get up anyway to get onto the road by 7. Nick and Loui showed up in time and so we could start driving. It was still dark outside and the road to Milford sound (it's a dead end) was really windy and curvy so it was Miri who drove (Dani doesn't like the curzy roads..). Once it started to get lighter we could see the stunning scenery around us.. and about half way through there was a tunnel.. they also call it tunnel of tears.. the mountain it leads through is completely black rocks and there is water coming through tiny cracks and drip down from the sceiling.. it is spooky!

Well anyway.. what a crazy drive! The road is very narrow and steep. Sometimes you have to slow down to about 15 km/h or less to not loose control of the car! And all of this with an automatic car.. Miri was complaining all the time.. I can still hear her saying: I hate this automatic crap! I want to be able to change the geers myself! But in the end we got there.. the car didn't break down or anything and we even had a whole hour until the cruise started. So what to do? Nick and Loui still weren't sure if they wanted to go on the cruise or not.. I have to admit it was quite expensive.. especially when you earn your money in NZDollars.. but in the end they came with us. Cool! Until the cruise started we walked around for a little bit. About 5 minutes before we were supposed to go onboard Miri thought that it would be good to take some water onto the boat.. We had left it in the car which wasn't parked far from the entrence and so she quickly ran to get it. ..and didn't come back.. for about ..10 minutes..11 minutes..12 minutes..well I don't remember. But we had to go onto the boat! We were all worried about her and when she finally came back she told us what had happened: When she got the bottle from the car one of the shuttle busdrivers told her that we had parked in the wrong spot and that we had to move it otherwise it would be towed.. so she had to drive the car back to the official parkinglot and run back to the building.. wow.. luckily she got back in time! ..and we could enjoy the incredible views of Milford Sound together!
It was cold
It was windy
It was amazing

We also made it back to the house without any problems.. we only took a few breaks in between to have a look around and then mooved on. Miri was done because she was driving the whole time.. but the thing is.. you can't do nothing with a house full of people and so at night Paul showed us a little bit around town.. pubbing ;-) It was Paul, Loui, Nick, Dani, Miri and.. me ;-)


05.04: Safari, here we come! Yes, you heard it! We went on a safari though the countryside! Paul has a fourwheel drive and we went up some pretty steep hills, through rivers, onto muddy surface.. he didn't care.. and his car either.. what a wild drive!

But.. we had to say goodbye.. even though they wanted to convince us to stay another night.. but right the minute we left the next couchsurfer arrived and so at least they weren't bored ;-) So off to Christchurch.. and you know what that town is best known for.. EXTREME!!!!


06.04: Jup, they did it! They booked it the day before.. it was raining the whole day.. it was great!
You don't know what I'm talking about??? well let me give you some hints.. a bridge.. a river underneath.. a rope.. two nervous girls.. what else do you need to know? You probably already know that they did the bungy!!!! Ahhh I would NEVER do that! (I don't think there are ropes for ducks anyways.. it would just pull my feet off my body!) and as a little reward they got a certificate and a T-Shirt. The pictures had to be purchased..

And what do you do after such a successful day in Queenstown??? Right! You do what you're supposed to do,buy some alcohol (just a little bit of course^^), dress up and go out partying!

07.04: After the blood alcohol level had gone we through all our things into the car and drove to Arrowtown. That day you could really sense that fall was comming. The leaves on the trees had this intense yellow color, the wind was freshening and the air smelled like.. fall. Arrowtown, once a cute little town, settled by the remaining population of the lively days of the 1820s when the area was known for its gold resources, is now haunted by tourists over tourists. Apparently some people still hope to find some gold nuggets :-) As you might guess it didn't take long until Miri, Dani and me returned to Palmy and carried on driving. The road to Wanaka winded itself through the mountains and seemed to never end but in the end we made it! One more thing that was on out schedule was the "Puzzling World". But more about that next time ;-) the next days are still to fill..

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