The South hadn't seen any coldness as of late. It used to be sunshine, rainbows and short showers. But ever since the earth curved away from the sun it became colder. The days grew shorter and the nights grew longer. In the darkness there was nothing to see but millions of stars. Even the moon stayed safely hidden for what roamed around in this cold landscape. The trees thick and tall as ever were whispering in the night by the rustling of their leaves. Newcomers to the woods and wetlands they were saying. Unprepared for such freezing temperatures, how could they survive? The townsmen stayed indoors with the doors slammed shut and the stoves on high. Even the lonely farmer was no where to be found. Leaving his kettle unattended in the wilderness to become an easy prey for predators. It was an eerie sight to behold. The days were short and the nights were full of terror. It was Nothing like the North, the south truly had a winter coming....

I blame it on seeing to much Lord of the rings and game of thrones. I got lizet watching them both as well and she starts to like the fantasy genre after all. I bet it was the beautiful scenery and landscapes that moved her. As did I. It was the main reason to come to new Zealand. Middle Earth. We tried to visit as much film locations from Lord of the rings as possible and with success. We've been to the steps of edoras were theoden ruled rohan. To isengard where saruman rallied his orcs. The forest of farngorn where tree beard lives and probably a lot more that I can't recall. It was overwhelming to see so much nature preserved and untouched. I simply loved it. A boy Scout (padvinder) all over again.

The first 2 nights we stayed in Christchurch in a former jail. Which was actually really cosy. We slept in a cell with heating and a dvd player and we watched Shawshank redemption. Someone stolen our bread and peanut butter which was typical inmate behaviour. 2 nights in a warm cell was the best we had in terms of warmness and proper toilets for 2 weeks. Because afterwards we were going to drive the southern island. We had it all figured out but the snow in the south of the south island messed up our plans. We had to improvise and just drive, this is the route we took:

• Christchurch via Arthurs pass to greymouth / we stayed at an old goldmine

• Greymouth to Franz josef and the fox glacier / we stayed at Gillespies beach

• Fox glacier via haast conservation area through wanaka to Queenstown/ we stayed in 12 miles delta

• Queenstown / we stayed at moke lake

• Queenstown through dunedin to omarama / we stayed at the riverside

• Omarama to Mt cook to Geraldine / we stayed at pioneers place a dark forest

• Geraldine to Christchurch

Along the way we stopped and took detours but this is the main road we followed.

We had rented a car, well a spaceship actually. At least that is what the company let us believe. The only thing that our rental car had in common with a spaceship was the need for fuel. They probably used the same. Every 3 hours of driving we had to full it up. During the day it was fine but during the night it was like the South Pole. No heater and only a blanket to keep us warm. We only stayed at the doc(department of conservation) campsites. Those are the campsites in the middle of nowhere with only a shed for a toilet, nothing else. And during the winter there is (almost) no one camping so mostly we were alone in the deep forest or at a lonely beach with only the stars and sheep accompanying us. And in the middle of the night in the middle of a deep forest you think of all the scary movies you've ever seen. Every sound became a monster or a serial killer. We are most fortunate that we even survived! Once in 2 days we stopped in a little town or big one ( new Zealand doesn't really have big ones) to go to the local swimming pool to shower. And fill up on groceries and water. It was surviving in the wilderness with the comfort of a car, gas cooker and bed in the back.

After a few nights of sleeping Lizet figured that the nights in new Zealand weren't scary enough so she decided to jump off a bridge. With a rope Ofcourse. But because it had rained for 2,5 days straight ( and I'm serious it rained 36 hours it was horrible, constant raining, we sat in the car you couldnt see anything!) she had to wear a jacket otherwise she would have crashed in the river. I asked her what she felt when jumping down and to write it down here:

"Nou, op het begin was ik superbang en durfde ik er niet vanaf te springen want je springt echt in het niks. Ik sprong en pas toen ik beneden was realiseerde ik me hoe eng het was. Ik moest gewoon bijna huilen van angst. Toen ik bovenkwam was ik nog helemaal aan het natrillen van de adrenaline en dacht ik, hoe heb ik dit ooit gedurfd echt supervet!!

And I just stood there watching trying to take pictures. I made so many pictures because I thought that every single stone in new Zealand was worth capturing on camera. Every patch of grass every rock or tree, lakes, waterfalls and the sea. Lizet got fed up with how many times I pulled the car over for another picture. I just got caught up in the fantasy world of new Zealand where I believe magic still exist for some!