Dunedin, week 2.

Hi there!

I didn't quite finish the last blog post, so here comes more pictures from our journey, and some updates on how Dunedin is treating us so far.

When we drove from Westport to Wanaka we had a few stops along the road.
First we stopped by Pancake Rocks, and also ate yummy pancakes at the café - of course!

You can clearly see where the name of this place comes from...

After Pancake Rocks we drove a bit further and ended up walking to Franz Joseph Glacier, we got as close as 500m. But I thought is was more beautiful from afar, because up close it was dirty and "just a pile of ice with sand on". But here comes some pictures. It only took 1 hour fast walking there and back again.

The sand pile behind me is part of the glacier, but it is coverd in sand... so I think the two pictures over is better.

So, what else has happend since we came here.. well I went to the beach one day, and some one was not so happy with my choise of sunbathing place.. This "guy " just came straight towards me, and I had to grab my things and be ready to hurry away, if needed.

 And as you can see, when down at the beach, we are only 4897 km away from the south pole!! No wonder that the wind is freezing down here...

 Here is Mr. Rossy that didn't like to share the beach.. Didn't stay long though.. just to scare me off, and then he went back to the sea again.

This friday we are, hopefully (depends on if Geir is on track with his CCNA study), going to a horseshow thing here in Dunedin. Ride the Rhythm. I think it is quite a big deal, because a lot of famouse show jumpers from Australia is coming, and there is a band playing afterwards. I hope we can make it, and I do believe it's going to be a great deal fun!

Geir has decided that he wants to take the CCNA test monday 4th february, so then we are back on the road for a couple days. The test is taking place in Christchurch, so we decided we can stay there one night after he has finished his test and look around.

Our Journey

Our Journey started in Aukcland city, where we stayed 4 nights at YHA backpacker hostell. We didn't do to much in Auckland, but we walked around in the city, and finally Geir got to buy some new shoes! :D We saw The Hobbit at the cinema, Geir almost fell asleep, and I almost froze to death, but I like the movie so I think it was worth it. (I just bought the book, so now I'll get to know what happens in the next 2 movies too!)

After 2 days in Auckland we bought a car so we could travel around, when ever and where ever we wanted. We started driving north on wednesday 16th jan. If you go to Geir's home page gtufte.com you can see our itinerary. Our goal for that day was to drive as far north that we could, but when we came to Dargaville we got lost and drove 100 km wrong!


On the map picture you can se the white line, thats where we drove wrong, all the way down AND up again.. 

 Even though we both was a bit "angry" for driving wrong, and the hidden treasure was a endangered bird, it was quite beautiful down at the beach.










That sort of ruined my spirit, but when we got back on track it was all much better. We found a nice motel in Ahipara and stayed there till next morning.

 This was our view from the motel in Ahipara.

Tuesday 17th we drove from Ahipara and all the way up to Cape Reinga, and we are so glad we did! It is by far the most impressive and beautifull place we have seen here in NZ.

After a few days on the road we went to Matamata, and this is the town where The Shire is. We found out that it was a bit expencive, but we also agreed that we would regret it if we didn't go. It was really nice to see those hobbit holes and we got to see some of the places Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies was filmed.

 I actually fit inside, Geir - not so much!

 In front of the most famous hobbit hole, Bag End.












Bag End.

After the tour around in The Shire, we got to The Green Dragon and got a drink!

Cute hobbit hole!

More pictures will come later! 

Dunedin! :D

We have arrived at our final destination for the next 5 month. The apartment is very cute, just big enough for the two of us.

Here is our kitchen. As you can see, just big enough.

The bedroom is big, and to the left is a desk where we can study. Through the door is our bathroom and laundry room. 

This is the rest of the kitchen/livingroom. 

I just wanted to let you know we have arrived in Dunedin, and that we are okay in our cute appartment. I'll give you a update and upload pictures from our adventures around New Zealand a bit later, now I'm going out to enjoy the sun!

Auckland, day 3.

We haven't been doing to much lately, one of the reasons are jet-lag, and also Geir is working on his preparations on the CCNA exam he's taking. But we have walked the main street and searched for more comfortable shoes for Geir, but didn't find any. Yesterday we went down to the harbour and just sat there looking at the water and the boats coming and going. The time down at the harbour was very nice, love sitting down there and just do nothing but eating ice cream and relax.

The weather this weekend has been nice too, sunny and 24 degrees celcius, but this meens that it is very warm to stay in the city, so we are hoping to get out of here as soon as possible. We have found a place we can go look for a car, so we'll be going there sometime soon. I think we both are very exited to get down to Dunedin and settle in in our appartment and to get the feeling of how our life down there is going to be.






It was really nice to talk to my family on Skype today. I think that Skype makes long journeys a lot easier for both parts. I can talk to them almost when I want, and they can see that we are doing fine and get to hear about what we are doing.

Auckland, day 1.

We have finally arrived in Auckland after a somewhat long plane trip. We both was sick for a while , but not at the same time fortunately! Geir didn't feel to well from London to Hong Kong, and I was unwell from Hong Kong to Auckland. I also experienced plane legs! Jeez, both my legs was fat as a logs! When we got out of the airport we went to the hotel and droped of our luggage and went for lunch. Totally delicious after that crappy food we got on the plane! After lunch jet lag caught up with us, and we fell asleep.

Woke up 5 am this morning!! So now we are well rested and ready for the day. Talked to Geirs parents on Skype this morning, which was very nice. So now we are packing up and going to town!

Take off!

The day is almost here, we are finally leaving to morrow..and we are so excited! Not sure if I'll be able to get any sleep tonight, but I hope so, or the 32 hour trip will be very long and exhausting. Just finished packing, and I still have lots of space in my suitcase.

So, until we have touched ground in Auckland, we say so long!

Packing list!

I found this travel blog and in here there was an awesome packing list (for women, I'm assuming that men don't plan their packing as much as women, or simply that they are much more chill about it). There are a lot of options, and it is also options for all kinds of travel. You mark the things that apply to your trip, and then you have made your own checklist to print out. Ingenious!

Back in Gjøvik

Now I just arrived back in Gjøvik, to an empty and cold apartment.. But Geir will join me in a few hours! JAY! :D I'm so looking forward to see him again! It is sad to leave my family, but it is also good to be back so I can start organizing what needs to be done etc.

Our passports is just around the corner too. DHL tracking says they are on their way with the courier since 9am today. I must say, again, how relieved I am to see that this went well! My lesson in all this is to do things properly the first time you try, saves a lot of extra work!

This week, before we start our journey to New Zealand, we are mostly going to focus on packing, cleaning and making the house ready to be alone for 6 months. We also want to try and meet with as many of our friends as possible to say goodbye to them. And I'm just realizing, it's only one week untill we go!!

HELLO beautiful country!

Oh happy day!!!!

This day started off with a slap in the face when we learned that our applications wasn't done and sendt, and also that ther was some papers missing to get the final approval.. I thought that we would not be able to go. Found out that it was a misunderstanding, and I don't even want to think about what would have happened if Geir had not called to check up one their work every f***ing day. But earlier this afternoon we got a mail that said that our applications is approved, and that they are now on their way to Norway with DHL express. So I'm totaly excited that it turn out okay in the end!!!