Westport & Mahinapua




The city of Westport was the next stop, again famous for surfing and kayaking. 
In the evening we made a bonfire and had lots of fun talking and stargazing. What a beautiful starry night sky they have here! I managed to get the shot I was dreaming of since seeing the night sky for the first time months ago! 



I was very lucky to be confirmed for the bus out of Westport the morning of our departure. I’ve been on the waitlist for that bus for days, and it wasn’t sure that I’d be on the bus when I show up in the morning, but luckily I was.  We drove to Lake Mahinapua that day, a small place that only Kiwi drives to. The hotel is exclusive for Kiwi guests and didn’t even had a guest kitchen so dinner and breakfast was included. This is the worst stop Kiwi drives you to, the meals were horrible, dinner with meat was some dry,fibrous pork with pork skin and a sauce that tasted like nothing, aswell as tin-vegetables and potatoes. The potatoes were the best part, I just couldn’t eat the meat. The vegetarian menu was the same tin vegetables with a bit of salad on it. In the morning we got pancakes with bacon, somebody already said they are probably bought pre-made and just nee heating up. She was right! The first load emptied just before me, and they heated up another tray for 2 minutes. While I saw some people taking a bunch of pancakes and heaps of bacon, I had one pice each and that was enough. That night ‚we‘ had a dress-up party and I didn’t participate, the motto was abc-everything but clothes and I don’t like dressing up, partys, drinking alcohol and I hate it even more when people try to convince you with prizes for the best costumes!



A black swan


 Those eels can grow up to 2 metres length!!


 I recently tried out the Panorama tool in Lightroom


 Most lakes here have crystal clear water


 The shot I really wanted to take for month. The southern cross are the four at the top with a yellow one, the two bright ones below are the "Pointer stars" to the southern cross. And by the way, unlike the north star over the north pole the southern cross isn't completely above the south pole but more to the left

(Mahinapua to Franz Josef)
 Cape Foulwind


 Weka, the Kiwi's little cousin
 Why did they took Hamburg (18,123km) on this sign?!
 A group of New Zealand fur seals
 Pancake Rocks, originally underground caves that came up high above the surface


A low cloud

Better put some warm clothes on for the next post, its getting cold :p

Hope you enjoyed this post and my pictures,
Katharina

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