Rain, Rain, Rain And a Cold

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That pretty much sums up what i have seen the first 10 days in New Zealand. When I touched down on Friday last week the weather was great and I was happy to have left Sydney where it had gotten colder and gloomier the last days. But colder and gloomier it was supposed to get in Kiwiland also. In the evening light rain started coming down developing over night to a full blown storm, so bad that it would be known as the worst of its kind in 10 years. Well, I had the privilege to witness it and what would follow where 10 days of wet misery. Life is a bitch and then you die... On top of that I developed a cold the first night which left me with a sore throat and fever. You can just imagine how I was enjoying New Zealand to the fullest. I drove up north skirting the east coast shortly and then heading west to see some of the Kauri (giant trees, some of them more than a 1500 years old) forests. As rain was just everywhere and streets become flooded I deceided to head back to Auckland and ultimately further south. Besides driving and sleeping and trying to recover from the cold I really didn't do anything except cursing my luck.

On Saturday I took the car ferry from Wellington (south tip of North Island) to Picton (north tip of South Island, becoming confused, eh) which was actually a very pleasant 3h ride especially the last portion of the ride when the weather started clearing up briefly and we headed into the Queen Victoria Sounds. Very beautiful scenery which I hope you can also get a feel for from the pictures. I headed west quickly after boarding deciding to sleep over in a small place near Nelson. In the night it started to rain ferociously and I thought: Great, here we go again. But when I woke up in the morning the sun was actually shining and ever since the weather has been pretty good to me. I will make my way south west now with the next major stop being the Franz Josef Glacier. I'll keep you posted.

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Photos

Orewa Beach
One of the rare moments of sun. I woke up at Orewa Beach camping park to have this view from my camper.

Kauri Tree
These are giant old trees of which there are only a few left in NZ.

Opono Beach
West Coast of North Island

Flooded Streets
All that rain left the streets flooded

Ferry
At Wellington harbour

lonely Tree on a Rock
Funky, huh?