Manly, beautiful Manly!

11. Feb 201511. Feb 2015 ~ Nina ~ Leave a comment

I payed Manly another visit last Saturday, this time with my bike (which you can take onto the ferry for free). Arriving in Manly around noon I made my way up, up, up the steep hill to get to North Head. When I finally reached it, I was rewarded by this:

What a stunning view of the city and the sea! I also rewarded myself with an iced coffee at the cute café up there (probably the 20th during my travels, but as long as I keep active it hopefully won’t show)…!

Going downhill to secluded Shelly Beach was so much more fun. A quick change into my bikini and “ziiiisch …” I joined the saturday crowd for a swim to cool down on this hot day.

The Australian Open of surfing started off that day, too, and later that afternoon I watched the juniors (girls) riding the waves from Manly Beach. Another reason why Manly has become my favourite destination around Sydney is the fact that they have 6 beachvolleyball nets at the beach. Today they had a fun tounament going – just like every other saturday. Wish I could have joined them…

The 30 min. ferry ride back to Cicular Quay at 7.30 pm was spectacular, as the sun was setting behind the city:

Cycling through Sydney – the Rocks to Cogee return

7. Feb 20159. Feb 2015 ~ Nina ~ Leave a comment

My butt hurts! No wonder, I have been cycling through Sydney for about 5 hours and I haven’t been cycling in 3 months… it was great though! I rented a well maintained 21 gear bike at ” Bonza bikes ” in the heart of the Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney, which is located btw Opera and Harbour Bridge. The YHA Harbour is the only budget accommodation in this pretty area and offers superb views from the rooftop terrace. I took off rather late (12ish) and started the tour by driving along the coastline, passing the Opera House and the Botanical Garden, riding along Woolloomooloo Bay, Bushcutters Bay, Double Bay and Rose Bay (the latter three with countless yachts) and then cut through to Bondi Beach, which is large, but not all that appealing. It took me a while to accept that riding on the coastal path south wasn’t such a great idea. It wasn’t that crowded, but there are plenty of steps and although the bike was light it was annoying to carry it up and down. Making my way round on the streets, though, usually meant that I had to go further uphill… Hell, yeah, Syney is hilly!! Passing through Tamarama Beach, Bronte Beach, Waverly Cemetary, Clovelly Bowling Club (Bowling? It looked like boule with bigger boules! On the grass! Three fields! Crazy.) and Clovelly Beach I finally stopped at Cogee Beach, which is quite big, but not as bustling as Bondi. Instead of joining the sunbathers on the beach I decided to take a dip in Wylies Pool, a saltwater rockpool at the southern end of the bay. It was magical! I took five rounds surrounded by a few locals and couldn’t believe my luck. So refreshing in every sense! I must have spent over an hour there before I headed back to Bronte, cutting through to Queens Park, Centennial Park, down Oxford road and through Hyde Park, ending up at the Opera House. It’s weird, but as a cyclist I feel so much more like a local. It made me feel like I belong here and know my way (well, thankfully I’m able to read a map). What’s true, though, is that by cycling through a city you get to see a lot at the right pace and definitely a lot more than the ordinary tourist. I really wouldn’t mind staying here for a longer while. I LIKE this city!

What a wonderful day!

6. Feb 20157. Feb 2015 ~ Nina ~ 1 Comment

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes!! I had a wonderful day!

The day before I did something you shouldn’t do as a traveler: I bought myself a dress (I know, more luggage. Something else will have to be thrown out… and I will most probably get rid of it in Buenos Aires, because I won’t really wear it thereafter). It was my birthday present and it did it’s job: it made me feel special yesterday! And I even got a compliment for it from a random lady on the street.

Plus, two people individually took a guess at my age this week and came up with 31/32! Apparently travelling is doing me good…!

I am in Sydney for a week and I’m glad I was here for my birthday. It has a special vibe to it. Yesterday I took the ferry to manly and enjoyed beautiful views of the city. I took a stroll at the beach, watching the surfers (plenty) and even some beachvolleyball players and chilled at a café. It was wonderfully warm and I was grateful for the clouds as the sun can be really scorching. I headed back in the afternoon to get ready fo the night out: I took myself to the opera! Madame Butterfly! It was most enjoyable. Not only did I like the play and the opera house, which is truly a masterpiece, it was elevating to see the harbour dipped in light and the ships going by while sipping a glas of sparkling wine (or two, for the occasion). When it was finished I walked home through the pleasant evening air, the full moon rising behind the opera house.

P.S. Of course “the golden ones” had their performance again!

Kiwiness

4. Feb 2015 ~ Nina ~ 2 Comments

Once again I was amazed as to the friendliness of the Kiwis – I’d like to call it the kiwiness. It endet as it started: with a very friendly customs officer. Have you ever met a customs officer with a friendly nature and a smile on his face chit chatting with you about your vacation, the weather, his country and if you’ve enjoyed being there? Well, it has certainly only happened to me in NZ and I still can’t get over it!

Not quite the same, but similar: I took the bus #29 from the Christchurch airport back into town when we had dropped off the car. The driver listened to opera which gave the bus ride a whole new experience. At some stage he turned around and shouted to the back of the bus: “the lady who bought the return ticket, where do you want to get off?” I shouted my station and that’s where he stopped for me – I didn’t have to keep track or press the “stop” button! He even showed me the direction to the YHA. Perfect!

Wanaka, West Coast, Wanderlust, Wine & Whales

4. Feb 20154. Feb 2015 ~ Nina ~ 1 Comment

Now that I actally have access to free, unlimited and reliable wifi, I’ll give you a wrap up of the two wonderful past weeks in NZ.

Wanaka was a very relaxed place with many Kiwis spending their vacation there. Our hostel is my no. 1 for this journey: the Wanaka Bakpaka has recently been refurbished, offers great views of the lake and has a good vibe.

Unfortunately I did not meet the owners of the Rippon Valley vineyard – certainly a great place to live, with great views of the lake and delicious wines…

On our way to Franz Josef we must have past over 20 one lane bridges, indicating how few the traffic is on the west coast! The sea is amazing and just behind throne huge mountains covered by rain forest! And at the top, Franz Josef glacier disgorges… but much of the glacier has melted and those of you who’ve already been there would be shocked as to how much has gone. If you want to walk onto the glacier you now need to take a helicopter, a rather costly affair! The day we spent at Franz Josef was the only rainy day we had in three weeks (and we were the only ones geared up with rain jackets and rain trousers while walking up to the bottom of the glacier, where the clouds and the rain prevented a proper look at it). Luckily, it was much better at 7.30 the next morning and we could actually see the glacier!

Hokitika was a pleasant stop to satisfy our daily 11 am hunger. We had the most delicious raspberry chocolate muffin at the “fire brigade” along with the daily flat white and long black!

The YHA Westport could have been my first choice if it weren’t for the bunch of teenagers (17-19 year old germans and brits are hard to take, especially in the morning)… but the room with ensuite bath on the first floor was lovely. And the walk along the coastline was beautiful: Wanderlust enthraled us again in Abel Tasman and the Marlborough Sounds. With the southeaster blowing like mad the kayak trip in Abel Tasman was far mode adventurous than expected. It was nothing like a leasure paddle and it was a bit of a challenge to cut across the waves from onetahuti beach (“now paddle as hard as you can…”, our guide told us). Once we were further out we fought our way along tonga island (saw some seal mums and their little ones) and moskito bay to bark bay for lunch. Since the waves constantly poured over us there was no way I was going to take out my camera! We decided to walk the second part on the abel tasman coast track and had a very pleasant overnight stay at the aquapackers houseboat in anchorage bay, walking back to marahau the next morning.

After a pleasant stay in Nelson, where we enjoyed some good food, town flair and listened to passer-by playing the piano on the pavement, another two days of walking on the queen charlotte track with stunning views of the Marlborough Sounds and a hilarious evening with three Kiwi ladies at Furneaux lodge followed:

We chilled in Picton, playing an appallingly round of minigolf (does that ring a bell, V.?),

and sipping some wine at several of the wineries around Blenheim.

The Kaikoura coast was all about animals: seals playing in pools

Albatrosses,

A large (18m – as large as the boat!) Sperm whale

and a crowd of playful dusky dolphins.

A marvellous three weeks, thank you Iris!!! (Eeeexcellent!)

The golden flip flops (aka jandals)

1. Feb 2015 ~ Nina ~ 4 Comments

One of the hardest decisions in preparing for the journey was the “shoe question”. I know, I know, women and shoes… My goal was a 15 kg backpack. In the end it was 15,6 kg and that’s because – after careful consideration and consultation with friends (I was careful to only ask the less outdoorsy and more city related friends to get the right answer ;-)) – I packed a third pair of flip flops: the golden ones. I was absolutely not sure how often I’d wear them. But, even though we did focus on the outdoors in NZ, they already had three performances. So I can definitely recommend “to go for gold”!

PS: for some reason New Zealanders call flip flops “jandals”. They are a bit weird sometimes ;-).

Hokey Pokey and Sea Salt Caramel

1. Feb 2015 ~ Nina ~ Leave a comment

…are two of the most popular ice cream flavours in Wanaka and of course I had to have them! Hokey pokey (Vanilla with toffee) is the most popular ice cream, but sea salted caramel is definitely my new favourite. It’s salty, yet sweet. You’ve got to try this!