Activities around Kaiteriteri & Abel Tasman NP

Sooo, here is some information about our activities... =P

We went down to the beach every day of course and went for a swim or lay down in the warm sun - I knew that the sun in New Zealand is very strong and after my bad sunburn used heaps of sunblock... Therefore, I didn't get burnt!

This is pure sun & fun!!! ^^ Warm sand, waves rolling ashore and slightly cooler wind. Paradise!

Some people of us also went for a walk at the beach. The weather was almost perfect every day so we had plenty of oppourtunities to choose from.

At the beach in front of the small island near the coast: Ian and his wife Marleen

Also, we went out fishing in the boat we found in the garage! I had a wonderful time and caught my first fish ever... It was a small Spotty that was smoked later. I didn't eat it though ^^

We got up very very early that morning and we were lucky! "My" fish on the fishing rod after coming back to the shore!

Somebody mixed up the fairy tales I think. It was a frog that had to be kissed to become a prince!

In the evening, we went out to the rocks at the end of "our" beach and looked for crabs, mussels and an octopus! Finally, we succeeded and caught a big crab and a starfish. =) We didn't cook them though ...

Later, on our last day, we went out with the boat again to see "Split Apple Rock" which is very famous here and one symbol of the Abel Tasman National Park that begins right after Kaiteriteri, in Marahau!

But we also went for a walk on the Abel Tasman Coast Track! We went all the way up to Stillwell Bay which is about 2 hours away from Marahau. After a short break, we went all the way back to the car we had left in Marahau!

Ji and me in front of the sign at the Entrance to Abel Tasman National Park!

The track went through dense bush and partly through rainforest!

The stunning view back to Marahau

Kayakers down at the beach...

... and huge ferns right beside the track!

Every now and then there were bridges over creeks flowing down the mountains

Finally, we had a stunning view on Stillwell Bay - our destination!

James' partner's family lives in this nice house in Stillwell Bay [James is a son of Manatsu's hostparents']!

On our way back: sunset over Tasman Bay!

This was a unique experience really and I don't know what would have happened or wouldn't have happended if I hadn't taken this chance to visit Abel Tasman and Kaiteriteri! It was a very positive contribution to a unique exchange year in New Zealand!

If you should read this sometime: Thank you so much Helen, Rex & Dyneta, I had tons of fun and I enjoyed this Easter weekend very very much! This was my best Easter ever!!!!

So, there you go - tons of pictures as well! I hope you like them but I guess it's better having seen that in reality!

See you later then!

Chris...tian =) =) =) =)

Introduction to Kaiteriteri

Hello, here we go again!

So, as probably everbody knows [because I tell everybody no matter whether they wanna hear it or not], I was in Kaiteriteri over the Easter weekend with a friend's family!

This weekend was probably the best Easter weekend I have ever had!!! And it was / is one of the major things that contribute to my unique exchange year down here in New Zealand!

Well, but I don't wanna talk too much - here are some pictures!!! =P

This is the superb house we stayed at! 3 bathrooms, 6 bedrooms, pool table upstairs, kitchen and lounge, garage and garden (you couldn't exactly tell where it ended and where the estuary began!).

The view out of our room's window - we were in the Middle of Nowhere!!!

The way down to the beach - our private beach, just for ourselves!!!

A beach just for ourselves...

... and sooooo beautiful!!!! =)

Well, ehem... that's very stunning already but I'll write another post about activities because it is just soo much we did over there and I'd rather post two entries than one big one... ^^

So, look forward to another post!!! =P

Chris...tian

Pictures from Race Unity Day

Hi there!

Finally, I got all my recent pictures burnt onto CD and therefore I can now publish some of them on my blog. Here are some from Race Unity Day:

Scottish Dances

The Candle Dance performed by a Philippino Dance Group

Arabian Belly Dance

It was quite a cool atmosphere and I liked the Easter Island Dances best - as I already mentioned before - but I didn't take any pictures of them. =( Just videos... ^^

Right, then I took some pictures of the Nelson SBL Buses:

So this is the normal buses I usually go to town with! They're quite cool...

Guess what I saw... A REAL London doubledecker bus! Sightseeing in Nelson - the British way!

Okay, so that's all for this topic! I'll send some more pictures about Kaiteriteri Beach and my Easter Weekend over there but this belongs to another topic that's why I send two separate posts!

Righteo, have a great time everybody!

Greetz,

Chris...tian ;-)

Friendz, Isel Park, Nelson Airport, Race Unity Day, French, ...

Hi there! How are you doing?

I'm pretty good over here and there are already so many things to write about again!!!

Let's start with friendz ^^ Well, my best friend over here is Manatsu from Japan. He's living with his family in Monaco (which is a peninsula here, not that Monaco Europeans may think about now!). His family invited me to go camping with them at Kaiteriteri Beach which actually is the best and most beautiful beach over here. =) I am really happy about this and when I asked them if I needed to bring a sleeping bad or a tent they told me: "Nooo! We're staying in a house, 100m from the water with a stunning view! We can go there sometimes since the owner wants to see it being used. We know them very well and they are the richest people in this region actually." Man, that'll be great "camping"!!! ^^ lol.

I'll send some pictures after I having come back but my holidays are quite busy. As I say: "I want to make the most out of my time here as it is "just" half a year!" =)

Therefore, this is my schedule from 5th April to 1st May:

05/04/07 - 09/04/07: "Camping" at Kaiteriteri Beach

11/04/07 - 13/04/07: Visit my penfriend in Dannevirke, North Island

16/04/07 - 01/05/07: Trip around New Zealand, from Auckland straight down 2 Queenstown

AND, English teachers: do not be confused! In New Zealand - Aotearoa, the dates are actually written like this. The way how it is written is American, the order in which they put day, month and year is European! ^^

Well, yep, then I was in Isel Park in Stoke which is a really really wicked park! I've actually never seen anything like it! People back in Rietberg: Nelson would get the "Landesgartenschau" without changing anything!!!

The stream flowing through Isel Park

A marvelous bridge over the stream

This tree appears to be a redwood but it is just a usual pine - I think ^^

There also is a footpath around the Nelson Airport which I walked down with Manatsu and of course I took heaps of pictures!

The footpath around the airport

That's me in front of the sea right behind the airport

Then, there was a really cool event called "Race Unity Day" which was really multicultural! People from all parts of the world performed on stage such as Tahitians, people from the Easter Islands and Maori! I guess I'll have to send some pictures at some stage! After that, I visited a friend (Matt) at his house in Stoke. They have just moved here from Adelaide, Australia and I absolutely like that family! So easy-going... Matt's father speaks French fluently and really good German, his grandma also speaks a little German!

They told me my English was way better than some New Zealanders' English (!!!), that I am very informed for my age and that my views on things like George Bush are amazing. Well, people in Australia and in New Zealand don't like him that much, some may like him though.

Those compliments made me feel really proud and after all, Matt's grandma invited us to come over to Christchurch and visit her sometime! That day was soooo cool. I really couldn't stop smiling... ^^

Well, at school, I now have French permanently which I am really glad about. Today, I did a presentation on my exchange with Riberac in Southern France. They really liked it and I was told that I rock when I got some cookies out of my bag! ^^ I really enjoyed that.

Tomorrow, we're gonna do some French music (Kate Ryan - Desenchantee, Aux Champs-Elysees, ...). I love that!!! =P


Okay, well, I think I gotta go now then!

Have fun,

Chris...tian =) (man, that's a good rhyme)

PS: Best regards to our English teachers at the GNR in Rietberg! I hope you enjoy reading this and that you ain't that confuzed about the informal language I use... ^^ lol. Kidding... But no worries, mate! She'll be right! =P Cheers... See you later.





---> That was New Zealand English of course! That's no informal language!!! =) cu

New Zealand Plants

Hello again!

For my grandpa, I took some photos of New Zealand plants and flowers.

Here they are:

Strange fruit!

I have to admit I don't know any of these plants' names! Sorry... But I thought the pictures are nice...

I hope you like them!

Chris...tian =)

Tahuna Beach, Nelson, Monaco

Hey everybody!

What have you been up to during the last week?

Weeeelll, I have been at Tahuna Beach and walked all the way to Nelson and here are finally some pictures. I hope you like them!

This is the way down to the beach - lovely isn't it? I think this is gonna be my desktop background when I am back in Germany ^^

This is me after having gone for a swim at the beach. =)

This is the coastal route from Tahuna to Nelson ...

...awesome landscape, don't you think? ;-)

Then, I visited Manatsu and his hostfamily in Monaco - here are some more pictures:

This is Manatsu in front of his hostfamily's house in Monaco =)

This is at the beach in Monaco at low tide - also the place where we looked for half-crabs in Marine Science! ^^

Okay, well, I am currently in that Internetcafe here in Nelson again and I have just bought some tramping shoes for my trip from April 16th to May 1st! =P

I'll send some more pictures later, have fun though!

Chris...tian =)

Sad news =( Well, not just sad... ^^

Hey guys!

How are you?

Well, over here it's not too bad but I have got a huge sunburn on my back and even a sort of bubbles on my shoulders. I think I will have to go to the doctor's with that because it hurts so much! =(

But otherwise, everything is sorta fine and the weather is still nice. However, I cannot really enjoy this ...

So, I booked my trip during term holidays now and I will be away from April 17th to May 1st! This trip is certainly gonna be awesome and I am really looking forward to it.
I will take the plane to Auckland on April 16th then and on my way back, I'll catch my flight down in Queenstown via Christchurch to Nelson (if you like to look it up on a map, you're more than invited!).
The flights cost between 140 and 165 New Zealand Dollars which is about half in Euros. That's quite good though.

I also booked my flights for Australia and we'll be going from Nelson via Christchurch and Sydney to Brisbane, Queensland. =) I hope that this will be fine as well but I am quite sure about this. The flights cost $516 (= ca. 255 Euro) - ALTOGETHER!!! That's so great...
My final journey back to Germany will then be:

Nelson-Christchurch-Sydney-Brisbane-Singapore-Frankfurt-Paderborn !!! =) Well, a long break in Brisbane included... ^^

We just came back from a trip with New Zealand Studies and we learnt some more facts about Nelson History which was quite interesting tough. We were told about Nelson Jail where some men were hung and that some people say they've seen shadows rushing through the buildings around midnight. ^^ And one girl died in Nelson Girls' College quite some time ago and a builder saw her ghost, dressed up in the early school uniform. He told her that she couldn't disturb him and right in front of his eyes, she is said to have vanished. =P
I don't know whether we should believe it or not but it's a quite nice story, don't you think?

So, I have got Lunchbreak now and I will go and have some food as I am quite hungry right now. Then, I will have another two lessons - English and Health Promotion.
I"ll just see how it goes - in Health I got an "Achieved with Excellence" which I really didn't expect because it is the subject I would consider most difficult for Exchange Students or in general for people who don't speak English as their mother tongue. So, I am quite glad about that! =)

Ok then, gotta go!

I'll catch up with you guys later on!

Have a great time and be happy about not having this awful sunburn!

Chris...tian =)