MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Iʼll hear you thinking ‘wait, thats almost a 3 week ago?ʼ And yes, thats true. So letʼs keep it short this time:

I had a surprising Christmas in Wellington and a few days later I arrived in a magical national park called Abel Tasman. One of the most beautiful places Iʼve seen in New Zealand so far. I was astonished by the fact that I had the feeling that I could stay there for a long period of time. No sooner said then done. I stayed for 2 weeks.

Basically, I have a Holiday in my Holiday. I go to a place and decide to stay longer, because, why not? I had a few days to do absolutely nothing and just get a tan at the beach. I made a few new friends by the magic words ‘chocolate fondueʼ. I want to thank Konrad Egli For inventing this beautiful ‘friend makerʼ. I keep this little chocolate pot around just in case I need new friends

New Years eve, Far away from home, family and friends. But at least I can say that this was a night like no other. We spend the night playing silly games. I had a lot of banter with these folks and we watched the stars at the end of the night (because there was no firework). I was surrounded by amazing humans which I can call friends now.

The day after New Years we were on our way to the beach for a new years dive when I got stung by a bee underneath my foot. BUMMER. Not the most humble-bee Iʼve seen. So for a few days I had a fat fat foot and couldnʼt do any activities because I couldnʼt walk ‘normalʼ. But apparently people told me that I never walked normal before. THANKS. But because I had my little holiday in a Holiday, everyone left me, and my fat foot. And thats how it goes from now on;

Leanne: Why are you leaving?You are traveling so fast.
Everyone: Why are you staying? You travel slow..
Leanne: Do you think we catch up at some point?
Everyone: Nope, because even a turtle travels faster then you.

So I thought it was a good idea find a good ice ‘breakerʼ so I could become friends with my new roommates. So I decide to break the ‘iceʼ by breaking the doorhandle… twice. And thats the point where I found my love for breaking doorhandles and Jim beam.

Anyway, I did spend a few more nights in the lovely Abel Tasman doing some activities because my fat foot was not that fat anymore. I did an amazing horse track on the beach and went swimming with our giants. Abel Tasman national park, best time so far, amazing!

Did I already mention that is was a amazing place?  And Iʼve even met some new friends, who were also on the stray bus (no I didnʼt turn them on because I had chocolate fondue) where I spent my last days with in the national park and after that we left to a place called Westport. Never thought that I could have such a good time in a place called Westport. We went out with our to the beach for a giant campfire with our stray driver Moose. Good times!

But luckily we didnʼt have to stay more than 1 night so we could move on to a more beautiful place Franz Josef.

O Lovely Franz Josef! Beautiful wet place. I mean itʼs really beautiful, but wet, really really wet. The landscape is different every day. When its cloudy you could barely see the mountains and when it was sunny you could see all the way to the glacier. And because it was really rainy Iʼve only seen the glacier from my hostel once (In 7 days, for 1 hour). Stunning place but the major reason I didnʼt want to stay longer was because of the rain.

So after a week of rain and seeing my tan vanish it was time to move on to Wanaka to get my tan back. So as soon as we left the Franz the clouds disappear and we drove in to the sunny side of the South Island. And I know I said before that Abel Tasman was the most beautiful place Iʼve seen, but I think Sir Tasman and Wanaka have to share the first place. Its a completely different world and nature.

It was time to face my fears. Planes and flying. So Iʼd fly own plane. Easy eh? The learned me how to start, steer, fly and land the plane. It was terrifying but it felt so good when I finally put down the plane on the ground myself. And donʼt forget about the views!

And after facing my fears I went out for a walk to the famous tree. The Wanaka Tree. The award winning tree. Or more the award winning photo of the tree. So I went out to capture it by myself. Not so easy as it looks. Because right after my flying experience it started to rain for a couple of days with a really strong wind. So at one night, I crawled out of my comfy hostel walked to the tree and captured that beautiful creature. It was really busy with other people trying to get a good shot. Well, at least I can say I have a shot!

And then it was already the last day in Wanaka. I spend the day getting attacked by ducks, did a bit of reading, walking, eating ice cream, crepes, burgers and toasties. You have to spend your money on something when its sunny outside right?

It was time to move on. Queenstown was the destination. But before we were even on the road I heard that the bus has broken down (AGAIN) and that we had to wait for 2 hours for a new bus. When we were Finally on the road it was a short drive into Queenstown. It supposed to be summer in New Zealand right now, but Iʼve seen more rain than sun the last few weeks. I want my fabouless tan (ok more lobster tan) back! Iʼam going to spend 2 weeks in this place of adrenaline. For the first few nights I am meeting up with a few friends Iʼve met on the way from Abel Tasman, and I even catched up with someone from one of my first stray trips! How cool is that?

So sweet as, thats it for now! Yes I know I said this post was going to be short.. Sorry, I am just getting so exited about the South Island!!

Take care!