Up north

This is a picture post so no exhausting reading for you this time! Some pictures of our trip to Ahipara, Shipwreck Bay, 90 Mile Beach and Kaitaia:

Heute gibt es mal nur Bilder zum Anschauen. Das war ein Ausflug weiter in den Norden nach Ahipara, Shipwreck Bay, 90 Mile Beach und Kaitaia:

The view from a bridge in Boradwood which should actually be closed because one of the wires is starting to break
der Ausblick von einer Brücke in Broadwood, die man eigentlich schließen sollte, da ein Seil schon am Abreißen ist

All of us on the bridge
Wir alle auf der Brücke

a typical view in New Zealand
eine typische Aussicht in Neuseeland

Shipwreck Bay - one of NZ's top surf spots
Shipwreck Bay - einer der besten Surfspots in Neuseeland

the serious business of taking a picture of yourself in the car mirror
selbsterklärend.

the beginning of 90 Mile Beach (actually 90 kilometre beach, but that sounds strange)
der Anfang des 90 Mile Beach (eigentlich 90 Kilometer Beach, aber das klingt komisch)

driving on 90 Mile Beach
mit dem Auto über den 90 Mile Beach

looks almost like a ghost...
sieht fast wie ein Geist aus...

Small adventures around Kohukohu

Walk up to the top

Imogene, Blossom and I started a trip up to the top of the property to enjoy the view from above. We took Bill with us, one of the eight dogs. After about half the way, there was a little pond where we wanted to stop again on our way back down. The girls warned me that it would be a long hike with steep parts, but compared to the walk at the Waitoru farm, it was pretty relaxed. You get rewarded with breathtaking views of Hokianga Harbour:

Imogene, Blossom und ich sind zu einer kleinen Wanderung hoch auf das Grundstück aufgebrochen. Wir haben Bill mitgenommen, einer ihrer acht Hunde. Es gibt eine wunderschöne Aussicht von oben:

Waiora Gardens

I had a look what I could do in Kohukohu and the Waiora Gardens caught my attention. I wrote a mail that I would like to come over for some yoga and the next morning, Angela called to tell me that a German yoga teacher was staying with her and doing a yoga lesson. This was actually my first proper yoga lesson and it totally showed me that yoga does not have to be exhausting. Yoga is for everyone, no matter how flexible they are or if they are not flexible at all. The final relaxation, Shavasana, is my favourite part. On one hand, I am very much looking forward to Shavasana every lesson, on the other hand I feel a little bit sad because I know the lesson will soon be over. I really enjoyed Nadja’s lesson. Angela prepared a lovely Indian dish for all of us after yoga and I spent some time talking to Sofie who lived in my home town during the last year. And we happen to meet at the other end of the world. Crazy.

Ich stieß auf die Waiora Gardens, die ab und zu Yoga in Kohukohu anbieten. Nachdem ich eine Mail geschickt und mein Interesse bekundet hatte, bekam ich am nächsten Tag frühmorgens gleich einen Anruf, dass momentan eine Yogalehrerin aus München da ist. Also machte ich mich auf zu meiner ersten richtigen Yogastunde, die mir gezeigt hat, dass Yoga nicht anstrengend sein muss. Yoga ist für jeden, egal wie flexibel, unflexibel, egal wie alt oder jung. Am meisten freue ich mich immer auf die Endentspannung, Shavasana. Anderseits bin ich auch immer traurig, weil ich dann weiß, dass es bald vorbei sein wird. In den Waiora Gardens habe ich auch Sofie getroffen, die das letzte Jahr in Regensburg ihr Fachabi gemacht hat. So klein ist die Welt.

 
Stefanie arranged for me to attend the yoga classes in Kohukohu held by Helen in a side room of the church. They take place every Friday and Tuesday and I cannot tell you how much I was looking forward to it each time. It showed me how unflexible my body is and how good it feels to work with it. Yoga is certainly something I will continue practicing.

Stefanie hat dann noch dafür gesorgt, dass ich zu den Yogastunden direkt in Kohukohu gehen kann. Unsere Lehrerin war Helen und ich kann euch gar nicht sagen, wie sehr ich mich immer auf Dienstag und Freitag gefreut habe. Ich habe gemerkt, wie unflexibel mein Körper ist und wie geht es mir tut, mit ihm zu arbeiten.


Baking cookies

 

There was quite a heavy storm with lightning during my second week and you could not really do something on that day so the twins decided to bake cookies - baking, finally again! I’ve been missing it since Kerry and I had the vegetarian tea party. We had a recipe for “Melting Moments“ cookies, mhhh, actually two cookies glued together with icing. The outcome was very delicious, but they did not really last long.

Einer meiner freien Tage war völlig verregnet, also haben die Zwillinge und ich Kekse gebacken. Endlich mal wieder backen! Die „Melting Moments“ Cookies waren echt gut, aber dafür auch schnell weg.

 

A different kind of Halloween

Halloween started with a yoga session and Imogene and Blossom dressed up as two princesses, I became a Hawaiian girl and Kerrin was kind of the Grinch. That was the first time we did trick-or-treating-in the sun. I am used to freezing weather at this time of the year in Germany. The people in Kohukohu were not really prepared with sweets, but it was fun anyway. In the evening, we went to a music night at the local fire station - one of my highlights while being in Kohukohu.

Halloween war dieses Jahr ganz untypisch. In Deutschland ist es meistens schon dunkel und sehr kalt um die Zeit, hier in Neuseeland sind wir bei strahlendem Sonnenschein auf die Jagd nach Süßem oder Sauren gegangen, verkleidet als Prinzessinnen, Aloha-Mädchen und… ähm… der Grinch?

 

It’s been a lovely time here at Night Sky Lodge and I will always remember it. One part of me did not want to leave and the other part, the traveller, wanted to go on and explore more places. I decided to go on, but I will keep the places and people in my heart.

“All that water in the boat does not mean we are sinking“

Alternative title: My first time sailing/ Das erste Mal Segeln

Sailing has been on my New Zealand bucket list (yet to be published) so my heart made a little jump when Stefanie told me I could come with them. She phoned Daniel for me to ask if he could come earlier and take me out on his boat before the racing starts. She ensured me that Daniel was a good sailor and we won’t probably capsize. Hooray!

Stefanie hat mir angeboten, dieses Wochenende mit zum Segeln zu gehen - da konnte ich natürlich nicht nein sagen. Sie hat einen recht guten Segler, Daniel, für mich angerufen und er hat eingewilligt, ein bisschen mit mir zu segeln. Sie hat mir auch versichert, dass er gut segeln kann und wir wahrscheinlich nicht kentern würden, zum Glück!

She told me to wear light clothes in case we do - it was not an easy task. I had to choose between jeans, jeans shorts, my thick yoga pants and my working trousers. My working trousers are the lightest of them so I kind of had no other choice. The girls lent me a lighter rain jacket because I would have surely drowned with one of my jackets.

Ich habe mir eine leichte Regenjacke von den Mädels ausgeliehen, denn mit meiner wäre ich wahrscheinlich zu 100% abgesoffen.

The girls told me “I hope you will capsize“ - wow, thank you for your abundant support. That makes me feel better right away! If we capsized, I would have liked the girls to see it so that at least two could have had a good laugh. All the guys around me were wearing life jackets and looked like they knew what they were doing. Stefanie brought me a life jacket as well so at least one thing I did not have to worry about anymore.

Die Mädels wollten uns unbedingt kentern sehen - danke für eure mentale Unterstützung, Mädels. Ich hab euch auch lieb. Stefanie hat mir dann noch eine Rettungsweste gebracht - okay, ich würde vermutlich nicht untergehen. Schon mal eine Sorge weniger.

 
Let’s press the fast forward button - Daniel and I on the boat and wow, I did really enjoy it. Being carried over the water just by the wind is an amazing feeling. Daniel told me when it was time for me to turn - which meant watching my head not to be knocked over by the sail and changing sides of the boat. Apart from a few clumsy turns where my foot got stuck in the rope, I hope I was not a too bad passenger.

Einige Zeit später waren Daniel und ich dann auf dem Boot und mir hat es richtig gefallen. Ich musste nur regelmäßig auf sein Kommando “turning“ hören. Dabei bringt er das Segel auf die andere Seite, ich muss auf meinen Kopf aufpassen und meinen Hintern auf die andere Seite des Bootes bringen. So weit, so gut.

“All that water in the boat does not mean we are sinking“ - okay, you are the boss, I guess I will believe you. I felt really safe on the boat and could tell that Daniel knew what he was doing. He even saved us from capsizing one time. I was allowed to do quite a lot of steering. Such a good feeling to control where the sail boat goes! We did two races and I think we won the first one, but I can’t really tell because the others were so far behind that it did not seem like a race anymore.

Daniel meinte: „Das ganze Wasser im Boot bedeutet nicht, dass wir sinken“. Na wenn er das sagt, muss es wohl stimmen. Ich habe mich die ganze Zeit sehr sicher gefühlt und hatte das Gefühl, er hat wirklich Ahnung, was er da tut. Ich durfte sogar mal das Boot steuern. Wir haben auch ein Rennen gewonnen, wobei das niemand so wirklich mitbekommen hat, weil die anderen so weit zurücklagen.

 
Coming towards the end, Daniel told me to steer towards the beach again or to just follow Stefanie. I followed Stefanie who suddenly got stuck in the mud and before I could react, we were stuck as well. Luckily not as bad as Stefanie so we were able to get out again, but she wasn’t so lucky. Well, that was the first time in my life I was stuck in the mud, but did not get muddy at all. After a long and muddy fight, Stefanie sailed her dirty boat back to the beach. What an adventure!

Am Ende meinte Daniel, ich soll wieder Richtung Strand steuern oder einfach Stefanie folgen. Stefanie steckte aber plötzlich im Schlamm fest und wir ebenfalls, bevor wir richtig reagieren konnten. Wir sind leicht wieder rausgekommen, sie aber leider nicht. Schade, dass ich kein Bild von ihrem Boot voller Schlamm hatte. Daniel ist dann noch einmal hinausgesegelt, um ihr rauszuhelfen. Mein erstes Mal Segeln hat auf jeden Fall unglaublich Spaß gemacht!

Rawene

It’s a short ferry ride from Kohukohu to Rawene. Located on the south side of Hokianga Harbour, it was New Zealand’s third European settlement. Just like Kohukohu, it became a timber centre with a mill and shipyards.

Rawene liegt südlich des Hokianga Harbour und von Kohukohu erreicht man es mit der Fähre. Es war die dritte europäische Siedlung Neuseelands.

 
When I boarded the ferry, I was greeted by the captain - just another example that New Zealanders always come and start a conversation with you. His name was Dave and he invited me to see his office at the top of the ferry. That was probably the best ferry trip I ever had, especially because of the talk with Dave. He explained that he had a house in Rawene, but he preferred his home on wheels, a caravan. I would consider him a real kiwi. The ferry was approaching Rawene and we said goodbye until my trip back to Kohukohu.

Dave, der Kapitän, lud mich ein, mit in sein Büro zu kommen. Das war wahrscheinlich die beste Überfahrt mit einer Fähre, die ich je hatte. Man hatte einen sehr guten Ausblick von seiner Steuerzentrale. Er hat mir erzählt, dass er zwar ein Haus in Rawene hat, aber seinen Wohnmobil dem Haus vorzieht.

 
Dave had pointed out the way to the Mangrove walkway to me. You will pass the Clendon House on your way, former home of Captain James Clendon, the first US Consul of New Zealand. It is only opened on Sundays so I went along and came across a neat and tiny beach. The Mangrove walkway will explain all the different aspects of Mangrove trees to you and I really enjoyed it. You come across a little lagoon, but don’t expect too much. Like usual, New Zealanders do not like loop walks so you will have to go back the way you came - in case you missed something on your first way! 

Dave hat mir auch gezeigt, wie man zu einem kleinen Weg entlang der Mangroven kommt. Typisch für Neuseeland ist es natürlich kein Rundweg, sondern ein Weg, den man dann auch wieder zurückgeht - für den Fall, dass man irgendwas verpasst hat.

the lagoon

The Village Arts Gallery is not too big, but quite interesting. You could see a lot of pieces of art with the message “Stop the drilling“ and you could notice the influence of Maori culture. Rawene is not very big so I just walked up and down the streets and enjoyed the different views from there. During the weekend, you can try to do sailing.

Man merkt hier in Rawene den Einfluss der Maorikultur. In der Kunstgalerie findet man Werke von lokalen Künstlern, genauso wie in Kohukohu. Am Wochenende kann man in Rawene sogar segeln.

normal Sunday-ship-painting

Back on the ferry, I went up to Dave’s office again (I changed his name) and I had a very good chat once again. We talked about the South Island, Germany, his caravan, airbags, weetbix and a lot of other stuff. He had been working since five in the morning so he was keen on finishing work. I imagined what it must be like to drive a ferry every day as a profession. He had his office which is kind of different to the ones we know, but even he has to use the Internet in order to report how many passengers are on each ferry ride. He could meet all kinds of different or interesting people on the ferry or he could choose to stay in his office and not to talk to anyone.

Zurück auf der Fähre habe ich mich dann wieder mit Dave (Name geändert) über alles Mögliche unterhalten: die Südinsel, Deutschland, sein Wohnmobil, Airbags, Weetbix… Ich habe mir vorgestellt, wie es wohl sein muss, Kapitän einer Fähre zu sein. Einerseits fährt man jeden Tag dieselbe Strecke zigmal, andererseits hat man die Chance, alle möglichen Leute zu treffen.

the office