🇳🇿 The geyser. The yellow-green lake. The emergency room. Days 31-35

So on Saturday I took the water taxi to Picton early, carted my luggage to the Atlantis Backpacker Hostel and checked in. The Dwellington in Wellington was nice and clean, this hostel was creepy and really unappetizingly dirty. After all, three or four kitties also lived there, all of whom were quite old or disabled.

I escaped outside, had a moderately good meal at a Thai, strolled through town, bought a new t-shirt (why do I always mess myself up with grease stains???).

Eventually my back hurt so much that I went back. It got really bad, I couldn't walk anymore, I wouldn't have been able to get on the top bunk bed and because it was always short lumbago, I ended up lying on the disgusting floor. The owner, Shiree, is a truly kind soul. She gave me her private bedroom. On the one hand I was very grateful, on the other hand it was so dirty that it was hard to bear. I pulled out my silk/inlay sleeping bag as a barrier. Before that, Jade, a smart woman from Queenstown, had worked on my pressure points and relieved at least some of the tension. We sat and talked with Christian, who comes from Halle. It was nice to speak German again in between.

On Sunday we were at the ferry back to the North Island at 6:45 a.m., Christian also rode it and told about experiences of his four-month journey through the countries of Southeast Asia. During the crossing we saw dolphins twice - so beautiful!

In Wellington I drove him to the airport after I had clarified with the ferry company that I would get about $350 back for the unused car tickets and that Europcar, where I should definitely go, was looked at completely without understanding. Wouldn't everything be clear?! Ha ha. Yes.

Due to the very heavy Easter traffic, I went to the Mairenui Rural Retreat, just an old house that is pretty much alone in the middle of nowhere.

My favorites were the wraparound porch and the stove. And all the antique (uncomfortable) furniture.

I don't know why they so onomatopoeically call this a retreat. 55€. Charming accommodation. I grilled lamb and had a tomato salad with corn on the cob.

In the evening I made a fire, it was cold and rainy outside, that was nice. Even if I'm quite a shit, so alone in the big old house 🫣

On Easter Monday I had breakfast with the hosts at their home, Sue and David. The two have traveled extensively and have spent a total of six years in Europe. I pulled off and there was a loud, ugly, grinding noise coming from the front right. I looked, not a branch, not a pebble, nothing to see. Hm. I drove 10km to the next gas station, poured a can of water over it, still. In this situation without a phone on the holiday, stupid! The gas station attendant tried to contact the New Zealand Automobile Club but couldn't. No workshop open. I finally reported it online to the ADAC. After an hour I got an email saying they couldn't help me in New Zealand.

I drove on, what else. It scraped and rumbled, and stopped after about 30km just open it. Self-solving problems are my favourite.

I drove through a very bizarre landscape, it looked like a desert of grass. A huge area. The street, I checked, is also called Desert Road.

My goal for the day was Lake Taupo, also huge.

I was famished and set my sights on a fish and chip shop. So I ordered snapper and two scallops because they were only $2.90 and I was curious. If I had known what I was getting I would have ordered ten! So delicious. Large and simply perfect in consistency. I ate it with relish on the lake shore, eyed enviously by various birds.

The other people always order fries, that's a huge portion and so much fat! I find the fish completely sufficient and gnaw off the breading as far as possible. In Taupo itself I checked into a motel, walked along the shore and enjoyed a salad of beetroot, avocado, tomatoes and feta cheese in the evening. Add red onions, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice. Simple and good.

By the way, the eggs are sold out in all supermarkets here 🐰🐣

Tuesday. Started with rain but became typically bright sunny and nice at noon. Breakfast had a very good, creamy chicken and mushroom pie, which is becoming my favourite. Like ragout fin in puff pastry, only better. Fresh pies are available from the bakeries along the way. Don't buy the packaged ones, but the fresh, loose ones😋

Before Rotoura, I turned off to Wai-O-Tapu, a geothermal park.

I wanted to see my first geyser. I saw it, but was oddly disappointing. Of course, i.e. without tools, the small geyser only spits every 2-3 days, here a portion of washing powder is used daily at 10:15 a.m., which triggers the eruption. Which is then 1-2min short and absurdly produces soap bubbles. Like I said, weird.

Then I walked two of the three possible paths through the park, Diclo brought me back to the starting point.

It was quite an interesting new experience to see it steaming out of the earth, hearing masses of boiling mud bubbling in craters,

Contemplating yellow-green lakes (PH value 2, temperature, 14 degrees), walking around rocks speckled yellow with sulfur, crossing simmering terraces on a jetty. But it doesn't grab me thematically, Dörthe may forgive me (she's a geologist).

No wonder Sulfur keeps popping up in literature, I couldn't help but think of Hell and the Hellmouth. The stench, the large vapors that blew around you there made me feel a bit sick🤢

I trotted on, took detours down side streets, and eventually ended up back on the Pacific Ocean. The Tasman Holiday Park is not nice (a bed in a container with a large glass door without toilet or water, but that's okay), but cheap at €57 and I have to look more, the money is slipping through my fingers because of these overnight prices. But I don't want to experience something as scary as the hostel in Picton ever again. shudder. The big advantage: the park is right on the ocean and the beach here is long, beautiful, clean and rather empty.

I went to a pharmacy for the wound on my foot and was given an ointment that was supposed to kill all bacteria.

I finally booked accommodation in Fiji and the first night in Tokyo.

The following night was horrible. Apart from an even softer bed than usual, I had pain all over my body, especially in my foot and leg, swollen lymph nodes, headache, nausea, shortness of breath.

On Wednesday morning, it quickly became clear to me that I couldn't go on like this, I felt really miserable. I drove to an Accident & Medical Center that also treats tourists. A kind of emergency room without a hospital. At 8:30 a.m. I was charged 150NZ$, then I was told to wait in the car. I don't know why.

I was so exhausted that I slept for three hours in the terribly uncomfortable car. The number lasted a total of 4.5 hours. The doctor looked at the wound, said it was an ugly purulent inflammation and prescribed an antibiotic.

I got that and swallowed the first capsule right away and then I had to drive the 130km to the next accommodation. I shouldn't have done that, I wasn't really able to drive. But I was lucky, I arrived safely, I just took my cell phone and the pills with me, went to bed and slept almost through the night for 3 hours. I was at capsule number three and things were going a little better, but not well. So I've booked accommodation just 3km away for two nights and I'm going to rest.