Sydney, Australia

I have decided to spend a couple of months in Australia and get to know the country. First stop: a visit to my uncle and his wife in Sydney. They have an apartment near Coogee beach in the eastern suburbs. I started by doing some walks in the area: Coogee to Bondi, over harbour bridge and Spit to Manly. Really hot weather and great scenery!

Lorikeets

Coogee beach

Downtown Sydney

Spit to Manly

View back to the city

Heading north again

After hiking the Milford track, I hitched all the way back to Hamilton via Te Anau, Wanaka, Christchurch, Picton, Wellington and Taupo.

From Queenstown to Wanaka

Wanaka

Christchurch Cathedral ruins

Owhiro Bay, Wellington

Wellington from the Radar Station

The Milford Track

I had intended to hike the 8-day Dusky Track, but due to the rainy weather, I decided to find something shorter. I managed to get a place on the Milford Track, which was very lucky as normally you have to book months in advance. The Milford Track is a 3.5-day hike which begins with a ferry ride across Lake Te Anau. A map of the trail is available here.

The track passes through pristine coastal rainforest, then goes over the Mackinnon Pass and all the way down to sea-level at Milford Sound. Seeing the waterfalls after so much rain was very special. It's a great walk and highly recommended!

Walking the Milford Track

Heading south

I wanted to visit Fiordland in the south-west corner of the South Island of New Zealand. To get down to this remote corner of the country, I decided to do a little roadtrip. On my way south (see "NZ route" tab), I visited some friends in Taupo and Wellington. I flew from Wellington to Christchurch and hitchhiked from there to Queenstown.
Hiking in Tongariro National Park, near Taupo.

Wellington from Brooklyn Hill

Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown