Oz'ome in Sydney

We arrived Sydney yesterday, checked in @ "Original Backpackers" in 76 Victoria Street & instantly fell asleep in our 10-people dorm after a looong day. As we woke up 'round 7am, the temperature was already 20 degrees celsius and rising. But nonetheless, after fueling up with muesli and filling our camelbacks, we went downtown to see the sights and get a glance at the biggest city in Oz.

Of course, we had to take the compulsory pictures in front of the Sydney Opera Building.

Did you know that it took 14 years to finish the Opera House? The first brick (or sandstone) was put here in 1959 and they did not finish building until 1973. (Source: Tim Torvatn, NTNU)

It is quite cool to have been here though! The buildings are quite impressive. But due to the large delay, the architect was expelled from Australia.

Since the weather is quite warm here in Sydney, we had numerous icecream breaks during the day. A new icecream has just hit the market here - it carries the extremely segmenting name "Golden Gaytime". For me, it did not taste very well, even though it might look so in the below picture.

Eating the ice cream did not lead me into a golden gaytime era, luckily for Mari.

It is Xmas time in Sydney these days. Here Mari and our Swedish friend Lisa pose in front of a giant plastic tree downtown.

Coromandel, baby!

After two days on the road and onboard ferries we made it to Coromandel on the 27th. Coromandel is the NZ analogue to Soerlandet, Ihla Grande - in other words this is a very beautiful place. Since the weather gods seemed to be in a good mood, we decided to try our tent for the first time - which I must say was a success. Just look at this happy camper:

1x Happy Camper @ Hahei Holiday Resort

The two big attractions in Coromandel are Hot Water Beach and the Cathedral Cove. The Cathedral Cove is a church-like hole in the mountain through which you can walk, run, jump on one leg or whatever you might desire. The fact that it is situated on a beautiful beach of course makes this geological phenomenon a natural tourist attraction. After an hour of walking from our tent at Hahei Holiday Resort we got there. Here are a few pics:

Christian fancied this beach along the way to Cathedral Cove

Mari in front of the Cathedral Cove

Christian walking through the Cathedral Cove. Awesome, dude!

The 2nd big tourist attraction is the Hot Water Beach, which is, as the name suggests a beach with hot water running through the sand so that you can make your very own spa bath. This is how it works: Some volcanos develop huge underground reservoirs of superheated water. Over time, this water will escape to the surface — cooling on the way. There are two fissures at Hot Water Beach issuing water as hot as 64ºC (147ºF) at a rate as high as 15 litres/minute. This water contains large amounts of salt (NOT salt water), calcium, magnesium, potassium, fluorine, bromine and silica. There are other hot water springs nearby but the location of these two springs on the beach make them unique.

At low tide naturally heated thermal mineral water bubbles to the surface for all to enjoy, simply dig yourself a pool, mix together a little hot mineral water with cool sea water and enjoy a hot spa on the beach. It’s easy to see why Hot Water Beach has been voted one of the top 10 beaches in the world.

Yup, just dig your own spa and chill out / get seriously sunburned

Since we did now have a shovel, we were not able to dig as deep as we wanted - we just got to dip our toes. Also, the place was kinda overcrowded, so we did not stay there very long. BUT nonetheless - we can say "been there, done that."

Instead of being lazy in a self-dug hot pool we went snorkling in Gemstone Bay - home of giant stingrays and crayfish. The rented snorkling gear at a fair price at a local store and set off into the bush to find the bay. It was incredible - 20 m sight and fascinating marine environment. We saw both crayfish and stingrays - but luckily we didn't pull off a Steve Irwin and got stung in the chest.

A stingray (djevlerokke paa norsk) waiting for his next victim - it might just be you

We'll bring you some more pics from our snorkling adventure later.

In 5 hrs we go to Australia - or "Oz" as they call it down here. The weather forecast for Sydney is jolly good, almost too good, with 30-40 degrees C. We will of course keep you posted as our journey continues - so make sure you check our blog every day! :)

Seal kayaking in Kaikoura

After a couple of great days in Christchurch we are now spending time in Kaikoura, which lies on the east coast about 150 km north of Christchurch. This is the place where the brochures state that "the ocean meets the sea" - which is true. The views are absolutely magnificent, this is definietively a place you should consider visiting on your way around the south island.

The main attraction is a seal colony about 1.5 km from the YHA hostel we are staying at. Here you can meet fellas like this one we met as we strolled along the coast line by foot:










Howdy, dudy! Who's the man?

The best way to experience the seal colony is not by foot, but by sea kayaking. Therefore, we teamed up with a local guide and a few germans and englishmen and set out to sea. Even though the waves made Mari a little naughtious, we had a great time. A few shoots:

Mari smiling - "I just saw a seal"!

Thumb(s) up for sea kayaking!

Is that David Beckham over there?

This guy suddenly showed up from nowhere for a bit of air and to get a good laugh as he saw the stupid tourists.

Ignoring the guy in the front, notice the beautiful mountains in the background. The brochures were right - this is the place where mountains meet the sea!

Ocean meets sea II

Tomorrow morning we take the ferry back to the north island around 1pm, after which we have not quite decided what to do. We might go for a surf along the west coast, but that is yet to see. ;)

Mountainbiking in Christchurch

We arrived Christchurch around noon yesterday after a 200 km drive along highway 73 from Arthur's Pass. The scenery was absolutely beautiful - if any of you guys are planning to roadtrip 'round on the South Island, you should consider taking this route.

Waking up at YHA this morning, we had to figure out how to spend the day. The alternatives were: arts museum, historical museum, aviation museum, church museum, navigation museum, museum museum and mountainbiking in Bottle Hill Forest just outside Christchurch followed by a spa bath. Of course we went to all the museums. Not.

The tracks weren't quite as good as in Rotorua, but they still provided us with heaps of fun.

Christian riding along the beach

Last 3 pics: Mari "GunnRitaDale" Jonassen showing off

This afternoon we are going to do some vining and dining. Henrik and Lonely Planet highly recommend a vegetarian restaurant named Dux de Lux, so we'll be heading there later tonight. Also, YHA has provided us with drink vouchers in various pubs, so probably tomorrow morning is going to be a tough one. :)

Tomorrow we head on to Karikoa (spell check on that one) to do some whaling and/or swimming/drowning with dolphines. My plan is to Free Willy 1, 2 and 3. We'll keep you posted!

We proudly present our Holden Vectra

Since quite a few of you guys have requested us to post a few shots of and facts about our car, we hereby give you some of both. Our Holden Vectra first hit the road in 1996, it has a 1.6l engine, 4 doors, 1 trunk, 1 CD-player that also takes MP3-CDs (wow!), WOF until 2006-12-12, heavily insured, safely driven.

Pretty scenery, pretty car, pretty kar

A Holden Vectra also goes fine to a skirt

More pictures from Avalanche Peak

Yes, life is indeed good

Mari with wind in her hair

Mari pointing at .... something

Photoshop away the guy in the middle, and you have yourself a postcard view

Christian running like another crazy-Heidi in the alp meadows

Christian climbing the final meters to the top

Is this a postcard view or what?

The Kea parrots were really tame

Pictures from Franz Josef glacier

Christian on the top of the glacier. Notice the rain forest in the background.

Our excellent guide showing us how to get things done on the glacier

Struggling our way up the glacier

Mari smiling happily at the photographer - I made it to the top!

Christian - also smiling to the photographer.

Avalanche peak

Today we had an amazing trip in the southern alps. We were lucky and woke up to clear blue skies and sunshine today. The trip we walked were called the Avalanche peak, it was a really steep track. We had to climb around 1000 meters to get to the top, but the view was just incredeble there. It was not much wind either so we could actually eat lunch at the top and enjoy the view. You had a 360 degree view, and there was just mountains as far as you could see. It was also pretty cool because on the top there were a lot of parrots. Not exactly what you expect to see on a top of a mountain:) They are called Kea and are really pretty, but because people are feeding them so much they are starting to depend people. So they wasn't exactly shy, if you didn't watch your lunch the Kea's would definitively eat it. I think the pictures will speak for it self. It was really amazing!

Another pic from the summit

Christian enjoying his lunch view

I kinda got the LotR feeling when I was up there. My precious got this shoot as I was dreaming of alves and hobbits.

Summit hug

Christian was very happy as the fog drifted away

Mari having a minor break on the way up

Christian climbing the steep hills of Avalance Peak

Another shoot with a great view, except from the guy to the right.

Mari philosophying

From the very start of the track @ 747 meters above sea level.

Arthurs Pass!

We have now arrived Arthurs Pass and it is really beatiful here, but a little cold since the place is around 1000 m.o.h. (I guess it is around 1 degree now). We arrived this afternoon, so today day we only went for a jog but we got a feeling on what to expect tomorrow. The valley is full of rainforest and with high mountains around it and today it have been clear blue skies and sun as well, so the view around here is really amazing. The plan for tomorrow is to walk the Avalanche peak, which goes up to one of the mountains around here, but we are dependent on how the weather turns out tomorrow. So we are crossing our fingers that the weather will still be nice. The trip is around 8 hours back and forth and it is very steep, so it can only be made in nice weather.

Franz Josef Glacier walk

Today we did an 8-hour guided glacier walk on the Franz Josef Glacier. Despite the fog and heavy rainfall it was a great experience - it is pretty special to walk on a glacier in the middle of a rain forest. Unfortunately, the internet cafe I am reporting to you from has no support for my Cybershot - so pictures will come later. Meanwhile, you might learn a little about the history of the glacier:

Julius von Haast, geologist and explorer, named Franz Josef Glacier in 1863, after the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Approximately 7000 years old, and a remnant of a much older and larger glacier which originally swept right to the sea, Franz Josef Glacier extends 12 kilometres from its three feeder glaciers in the high snow fields of the Alps. Today the terminal face is a mere 19 kilometres from the sea and just 5 kilometres from the township.

On our way to the glacier we passed these beautiful falls

I got this shoot of the glacier from my private chopper

Early Maori called this place Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere - The Tears of the Avalanche Girl (Hinehukatere). Hinehukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her lover, Tawe, to climb with her. Tawe fell from the peaks to his death. Hinehukatere was broken hearted and her many, many tears froze to form the glacier.

Tears or not - we had a great time. Tomorrow we head for Arthur's pass to do some tramping for a couple of days before moving on to Christchurch.