Report from 26 April to 10 May 2024
From: New Zealand
Working in libraries in New Zealand
Antarctic Centre in Christchurch
Dolphin swimming
a guest in a municipality
Our last post ended with us being driven out of our paradise - on the shores of Lake Tekapo.
The plan is to fly home soon. The flight hasn't been booked yet. But the days are numbered. We are currently still in the centre of the South Island. The plan now is to head north and experience a few last things. Then take the ferry over to the North Island, visit a few friends of friends there. And then off towards Auckland to sell our van there.
Labour
And so we drive from our paradise lake to Christchurch, where we were a few weeks ago. But this time we are travelling here mainly to go to the library. New Zealand has really good libraries. There's one in every major city (OK, there aren't that many major cities). But the libraries always have cheap printers, workstations, free internet and usually free electricity. Nobody looks at you funny if you just sit down for a few hours and use the internet and electricity. And you can use all of this even though you don't even have a library card.
That's just mega mega great for us. If only because mobile data for the mobile phone is in New Zealand. That's why we regularly visit libraries.
From time to time there are some really breathtaking libraries. One of these is the library in Christchurch. Firstly, it's an insanely great building, and then it's right by the sea. On the upper floor there are seats with a view directly onto the beach and the sea. As if that wasn't enough, you can borrow various devices such as a sewing machine, 3D printer, an direct garnment printer, a badge maker and and and and.
In other libraries there are opportunities to commission 3D prints. Or there are small rooms where you can work undisturbed or hold workshops. In Blenheim there is even a Lego meeting on Sundays from 10am to 4pm. And then there are also the so-called "community puzzles" in some libraries. I am hopelessly addicted to the community puzzles. "Community puzzle" means that there is a puzzle on display for everyone to work on who has a straight list. The puzzle is gradually completed by the community of library visitors - as a joint project.
I digress. Karli and I are not here in the library in Christchurch for our own amusement. Before we head north, we need to do a few things on the PC. And the best place to do that is in a library. Our goal is to sort and upload GoPro videos, write texts for blog posts, upload and format everything on our blog and so on. We spend three whole days (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) in the library from early in the morning until late at night. We're not getting as far as we'd like, but at least the backlog has been cleared.
Antarctica Centre
Before we leave Christchurch, we visit the Antarctic Centre. This is a kind of interactive museum about Antarctica. However, supply flights (today) and expeditions in the past actually take off from this site (from the surrounding land). Apart from a lot of exciting knowledge, you can also find other exciting things in the Antarctic Centre. For example, a few blue penguins that are no longer able to survive in the wild. And there's the opportunity to ride on one of those Hägglunds, an allterrain vehicle that's been built to conquer the rough terrain on the ice. And there are huskies that you can even stroke. Did you know that huskies are no longer used in Antarctica because they are an introduced species and they want to minimise their impact on the ecosystem? I'm not sure whether these petrol-guzzling caterpillars have less of a negative impact on the ecosystem.
Swimming with dolphins
But that's not all in terms of great animal encounters. One of the things we definitely want to do here in New Zealand is a dolphin swim. Now that a trip home is on the cards, we might as well throw some money out of the window!
To do this, we travel to Kaikura. The dolphin species that lives in Kaikura is known for being very curious and playful. They like to jump and are interested in you when you enter the water as a human: they look at you, watch you, circle you. Provided they feel like it. It helps if you put on a funny show for them: For example, diving, making noises or swimming in circles. You can find lots of videos of the dolphins in Kaikura online. An unbelievable number of dolphins cavorting around you, not even an arm's length away from you. Dolphins that circle you over and over again and perform fantastic jumps. Simply enviable.
Unfortunately, our dolphin swim was a little disappointing. We were in the water for more than 30 minutes in total, spread over 4 dives. In these 30 minutes we saw a total of 1 minute of dolphins. That is 29 minutes of swimming in the water and doing funny dolphin exercises to amuse the other visitors on the boat. The exercises, which as I said were designed to attract the interest of the dolphins, didn't work. Our dolphins were simply in a hurry and didn't stop anywhere to rest and play. They swam around us and were gone again so quickly that you hardly noticed them in the murky water. I had thought about making a time-lapse of this time, but on the GoPro you can just see 29 minutes of blue water as we paddle back to the boat, continue our journey and hop back into the water. A lot of money spent and nothing happens. Except that every other person on the boat is now puking their guts out.
But that's life.
Happiness is the difference between expectation and reality.
If I expect the day to be mega bomb, I'm disappointed when it's not so great. If I don't have high expectations for the day and then suddenly something fantastic happens, I feel happy.
These days, Instagram and the like have set our expectations incredibly high. Everyone only ever posts the best moments and we expect our lives to be like the pictures on social media.
The reality is often far removed from this.
I'm a little sad that I didn't take a series of photos on this topic right from the start of our trip. In Southeast Asia there were so many situations where breathtaking pictures of fantastic landscapes, beaches and sunsets were taken. The photos show a person in front of an incredible background. What is not shown are the huge crowds of people around them. Only a small section of the whole is shown in these photos. And this section is often the opposite of reality. A long queue of people instead of a deserted place. Mass processing instead of individual holidays. A good example of this is the boat dolphin tour we did in the Philippines. (see this post here). It felt like a 20-boat chase behind the school of dolphins at the time.
In this respect, I am happy that here in Kaikura is a company that cares about the animals and environmentally friendly tourism. Instead of chasing the dolphins, they look at what makes the animals happy and that's what they give you as a visitor. And if the dolphins have a day when they don't feel like seeing you, then that's their right. I still prefer that a thousand times over the hustle and bustle. In fact, we were lucky enough to be allowed to go on another tour the next day at no extra charge - it was a bit better. But then I was happy about what I got to see instead of being sad about what I didn't see! Because I saw a dolphin in the wild!!! It felt like it was less than an arm's length away from me. And we also saw an albatross on the first day! The Royal Albatross, a species native to New Zealand, is the largest seabird in the world. And one of these giants simply settled down next to our boat and watched us attentively for an eternity.
It is my decision how I assess things.
Blenheim
We are back in Blenheim. The town is on the northern tip of the South Island. It's not far to the ferry from here. It's really arse cold. In the morning we have frozen windows and frost. And we're still sleeping in the car! It's just cold! We only stay 2 nights in Blenheim: we take a trip to a wreck, do a few things in the library and then take the ferry across.
Bob and Kristie
In Wellington I want to visit Kristie and Bob. I enjoyed meeting them at the woofing in Takaka (you may remember the house on the mountain with the incredible view).
Kristie and Bob live in something like a large shared flat or a commune. It's hard to say which, but somehow both are a bit true. The property is next to a river, with steep, green hills to the right and left of the property. You feel a bit trapped in a ravine. Somehow it feels wild and a bit enchanted. Greenery sprawls around. A huge vegetable garden. And there are funny projects from former residents all over the property. For example, a pizza oven, a huge barbecue spit or a bathtub under which you can light a fire. Not to mention the whimsical figures. This shared flat has existed on this property for more than 15 years (nobody knows exactly how long). The residents change from time to time, but there are always between 5 and 20 people living here. They are spread over two houses on a beautiful plot of land. There are also a few old buses that are no longer able to drive. There are always people living here. In New Zealand, using discarded vans and buses as homes is nothing special and can be seen again and again.
In the commune, everything is very simple. there is no mobile phone reception. for a few years now, thanks to Starlink, there has at least been internet. The house is not insulated and the windows are only single glazed (but this is actually the rule in New Zealand and not the exception). It's now cold as arse. At night as well as during the day. As I'm writing this, Karli and I are sitting on the sofa in Bob and Kristen's living room. We're already wearing 4 layers of clothes each and have still wrapped ourselves in a blanket. It's really, really cold - arse cold. But luckily the commune has a really great hot tub.
We go for a bike ride in Wellington with Kristie. We stop in a wooded area just outside and look for mushrooms. Then we cycle further into the city - it's my third time in Wellington and it's only now that I feel I really understand the city - it's somehow built into a mountain. You're pedalling along and look down a side street and suddenly a panorama opens up - the road drops steeply down a mountain, there's a valley below and behind it is the next mountain, which opens up a view of the mountain behind it. Unusually small white dots - houses - are dotted between the green of the mountain.
Rollercoaster of emotions
At the moment I'm going through another rollercoaster of emotions. In Dundedin (last post) I was so tired of travelling. I was saturated with new places, new impressions, just everything. I was so tired of travelling. I just wanted to be somewhere and stay there. To have peace and quiet. The longing for routine.
At Lake Tekapo, my personal paradise, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Even though it was only 3 days, I was able to recharge my batteries and restore my inner balance.
Then in Blenheim I was suddenly totally sad and angry. But the biggest problem was that I didn't see the reason. That I didn't understand who or what I was sad and angry about. There's a lot of chaos in my head. It's like a huge puzzle 🧩🧩 whose overall picture I can't see. Am I angry at Karli or myself? Am I angry because the journey will soon be over? Am I ready to let the journey come to an end?
Big changes are on the horizon. Karli is flying home. And I've decided to fly home with him. But somehow I also want to stay here in New Zealand. My gut feeling somehow says that I'm not ready yet. But without Karli, I don't want to stay in New Zealand either. I start thinking about the journey home. Where do Karli and I want to live? How do I envisage my professional future? Are there any new hobbies I'd like to try out? I'm afraid of having to deal with culture shock again in Germany. The culture shock of coming from Asia to New Zealand was terrible and much more intense than I expected. I've fallen into these emotional holes from time to time over the past few months, for example in Wellington (see here).I think I fall into these holes whenever I feel like I don't have enough control over my life. I know, sounds crazy for a world traveller, doesn't it? But during the culture shock of travelling from Asia to New Zealand, I had to relearn how to navigate a Western culture. I didn't know where or how to do things. I had the feeling of running into walls and being a victim of my circumstances. The thought of travelling back to Germany opened up such an emotional hole in me. I no longer feel like I'm free to do whatever I want. Instead, I have the feeling that I have to do what others or society expects of me. Even if I can't name exactly what that is.
Then again a few days later, at Bob and Kristie's, my brain is flooded with completely different thoughts. I clearly feel the fear of missing out again. Also known as "fear of missing out" or FOMO. I have the feeling that now that the end of the trip is so close, my head is struggling with it even more. Don't get me wrong, I'm still obsessed with new places or sights. But I still feel like I've missed out on one or two experiences or realisations. For example, working here, staying in one place for longer. Feeling what life is like here in New Zealand. Getting to know people and their lifestyle and seeing what you can take away from it for your own future.
As I said, it's a rollercoaster of emotions. A lot of things are changing at the moment and there are many more changes on the horizon. I don't know where they will take me yet.
📷 Here are more great pictures:
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