march 07 - 19

march 7 tuesday

we decided to stay as long as we need to get over the on the road blues. so we were in no hurry. i did some laundry or rather tried to but gypsie just took it off my arms and threw it into the washing mashine. she had to go to cheviot to pick up jane (one of the four westhighland terriers they have) from the doctor. so i went with her to buy some more food. i was specially keen on flour and yeast to bake a little. that i miss a lot. we again invited cees for dinner, had a delicious homemade pizza and i also did some buns and a loaf of bread. we talked til late and cees supplied us with some more books to read. very important!

march 8 wednesday

and so reading was what we did all day long. sometimes i need that. the book by ruth rendall was fascinating. we were almost alone on hawkswood, no other guests, cees wanted to travel on (very sad, that i don´t like about travelling. to learn to know people and part after a very short time!) and gypsie had to go somewhere with her husband and they would not be back until late. i finished the book in the evening and had not moved all day long. amazing how hungry you can get without any sport! we had lamb and risotto for dinner and gave the new zealand television a try. but it was so boring that we turned it off soon and talked instead.

march 9 thursday

and today i am writing this. almost done and i definitly need some exercise. so we will take off for a little luggage free bike trip soon and decide afterwards if we are going to stay here tomorrow (yes!!!) or head for chrischurch.

march 10 friday


the bike trip yesterday was quite hard. we took the wrong road which lead us straight into the kaikoura mountains. it was uphill all the way and after 13 kms we decided to head back. which was a real good decision as we later found, cos it was a dead end road just leading to a remote farm, gravel of course. anyways. we went "home" and just discussing what to have for dinner when gypsy came in and handed us two premium steaks, some potatoes and vegetables from her garden... we couldn´t believe it! thanked her and had a frugal meal.
this friday would be our last day at hawkswood, we decided and even though we felt we had to leave we were very sad about it. i did some laundry, helped gypsy, cooked some jam from her plums and also a german plum cake and of course we had to pack again... a lot of new trampers were arriving during late afternoon. excited voices everywhere. that made it a little easier for us. had pumpkin and potatoes for dinner and talked about what we were doing with the rest of our trip til late.


march 11 saturday

we woke up to a bright and warm morning. after breakfast we had to say good-bye to gypsy and john. we all were very very sad. erk took some pictures and i had to pull myself tight not to break out crying. there we went, on the road again. after we had biked for about half an hour gypsy came after us to had us a fax she just received. instructions from lindsey, how to find him in christchurch. we were quite touched by this!


met a couple on a tandem in cheviot where we supplied and checked mails. first time after ten days and our parents had been a little worried already...
after that we rode on for another 20 km and had lunch in a forrest with a view. the weather changed, wind picked up and made cycling rough. but we struggled on. and made it to waipara. the tandem couple had told us that there would be a nice camp and it was true! but i couldn´t appreciate it, missed gypsy and hawkswood too much. the kitchen was not really comfy and a guy came in while we were eating, doing his dishes not saying hello or anything and guess where he came from... went to bed early being tired from cycling. had to get used to it again. (81.52 km 4h48)march 12 sunday

the sky was overcast and a little rain fell but we started nevertheless knowing a bed was waiting for us in christchurch. first we went downhill for about 20 kms and then the landscape changed - canterbury plains. i did not like them. reminded me of northfriesland. plains always depress me and these ones were heavily agricultural used and only seperated by ugly thuja hedges... whatsoever. as we arrived a little early and rain began to pour down we decided to have lunch at macdonalds (once a year..). it was ok. we arrived at lindsey´s and sara´s around four in the afternoon, learnt to know bridget (6) and katy (4) and were given an internet flat connection! heaven! talked til late with lindsey. unfortunately sara had to work at night. (58 km 3h18)

march 13 monday

went to town by bus but i am just so full of seeing things that we just went to the hairdresser´s, had an opulent lunch and strolled a little around. went back early and had a nap before emma and peter (friends of lindsey and sara) arrived for barbeque.

march 14 tueday

we were allowed to stay. erk went to town again and i just wrote and relaxed. went to the zoo in the late afternoon. wasn´t to bad for a zoo but we didn´t see the kiwis in the dark room... prepared to leave for the westcoast next morning but decided against cycling the arthur´s pass.

march 15 wednesday

biked to town very early to catch the bus to greymouth at 8 a.m. as i saw the road i was very glad that we decided against cycling. the first stretch was a continuous slight uphill through the endless plains and afterwards two steep narrow passes. day was overcast and cold. arrived in greymouth at lunchtime and went to the "global village" hostel to camp there. nice hostel. we were both so tired and feeling sick that we just slept, read and ate.

march 16 thursday

on the bike again. the road along the coast was beautiful but quite hilly. weather was nice and after a long ride we reached punakaiki (that´s where the pancake rocks are - but we decided to have a look at them in the next morning without the people in the tourbusses). erk found a 20$ bill in front of the info center and we went down one more hill to a quite nice motor camp. just the other people staying there all seemed to be in a bad mood and unfriendly... (49.29km 2h54)





march 17 friday


we had a look at the pancakes. amazing. two different materials formed rocks and the softer one got washed away during the last thousands of years. after that it was hills again. i felt sick and tired. but after we had lunch in chesterton where we met two nice guys from germany we decided to go over the next two hills to westport because the camp was ugly and there was no supermarket. we finally reached westport. very tired and talked about the future again. we settled on just cycling the beautiful and easy stretches and going by bus otherwise. erk booked the k-bus for the next morning to tataka in the golden bay region and we felt asleep soon afterwards. (62.59km 4h05)


march 18 saturday

had a whole day busride. talked to a nice german girl and reached tataka climber´s camp late and again very tired.


march 19 sunday

moved to pohara top 10 holiday park directly at the tasman bay. relaxed, walked the beach and enjoyed the sun.