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As I did not expect to be a regular visitor on the other side of the planet, I spent two months down under - in New Zealand. I wasn´t sure when I arrived how long time I would like to spend there but one thing led to another - and time goes fast when you have fun. 

Most of my time I spent on the south island. I cycled the Rail Trail and hiked some of the "Great Walks". I united Routeburn with Greenstone Valley and Caples in a few days hike before visiting Milford Sound. Rakiura and Kepler pleased my senses also - actually I spent Christmas (the time of year my people still call "Yul") on Stewart island. Watching the stars through the mesh of my inner tent on the night of 24th December was so ridiculously different from the "typical" Christmas night of mine up in Iceland . . . 

The local folks that I met were straightforward, no-bullshitting-folks who seemed to live by the basic rule that one needs to sow before harvesting and one must do so as nobody else is going to do it for you.  

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The weather was excellent these two months of summer (mid November into mid-January) and my gear served me fine. The trail is much easier than I would have guessed.  Looking back, I see that I did not need my full grain, heavy Meindl boots. Much lighter ones would have been better. My pack (Karrimor Bobcat 65 - which now rests in backpack-heavens after many years of quality service) was comfortable and spacious enough. I used a Jet-Boil (this was before I found the aluminium tea kettle in Dresden) and it actually fitted, with an extra gas canister perfectly in the side-pocket of the backpack. As I could leave some of my stuff back with Gunni and Ally at the Beaumont Hotel (http://www.beaumonthotel.co.nz/), the total load on my back (with water for the day) was less than 10 kg. Hiking can´t get much easier than this. Well, maybe on St.James Way - but that one can hardly be classified as a hiking trail.

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