Good day mate!

Forgive us our silence during the last weeks.
We were busy driving around New Zealand, looking for nature untouched by Japanese tourists (wha-wi-loo, a tree!! Girl making a peace sign next to tree - ... - *flash flash*) and free-camp spots on numerous curvy sideways in nomansland (sheepland would be more accurate). We drive and stop all around the country, while reading all the brochures and books about NZ. These guide us to and through magnificent spots but sometimes we ended up at random "scenic lookouts" which were nothing more than a few stairs up in the middle of a random cornfield or valley.

At a certain point we were so distracted by all the stop-and-go's that we forgot to close the trunk, so we had to drive back again a few kilometres to check if we didn't lose any important equipment. Luckily we didn't, but unluckily we discovered a crack in our dream van's windshield. A 30 cm financial bummer, but that little thing was nothing compared to the disaster and ruins that a major earthquake left behind in and around Christchurch in 2010: the centre was wiped away, houses were ripped apart and avalanches took many lives with them.

Meanwhile we made the jump from the North to the South Island, enjoying the still warm early autumn weather in an easy-going off-season period. We've been hiking a lot (for some reason they call it tramping here), seeing amazing glaciers, mountains and cliffs. Especially Mount Cook and it's  Tasman Glacier were utterly scenic.

On the other hand we've not been overwhelmed. Impressive views were scattered all around the countries in South-America, so we were too spoiled upon arriving in New Zealand

Hiking there was friendlier for our money belts and visa cards. In Kiwiland we pay more for three days of hiking (you need permission passes and so on) than for five days in South-America, with food, (cooking) guides and donkeys!

As we were trying to spice things up for the Easter weekend, we headed into Dunedin. We were astonished to see pubs closing around midnight for Easter! "Dear Jesus Christ!" (quote dM3) Our Lonely Planet predicted some great parties, but the team of authors clearly never were in South-America, Leuven or the well-known Brussels bars Celtica, Java Bar or Havana Club. If you don't know what we are talking about, please visit us when we'll be back in Belgium.

Anyways, our bond with the nature has been strengthened dramatically these weeks. Sleeping under clear skies in open fields surrounded by rivers and being welcomed by sandflies around our cooking gear. Struggling through icy water up to our waist in dark limestone caves. Standing on the windy top of a mountain after hours of climbing in burning sun rays. Trying to escape from the rapidly changing weather conditions.

To sum it all up, we're enjoying NZ as we are embracing nature every moment, while avoiding pricy yet worthless trips, choosing our own food, ways and dreams.

"Good day mate!"
GR4 & DM3