I remember well when I first arrived in Australia I wasn’t sure if I can find work, I was prepared to leave after a month if I couldn’t find a job because I would run out of money. But I had big luck. It worked out all well. From the 20 months I spent in Australia I worked 14 month and travelled 6 months. I can’t really say anything bad Australia, except the truck drivers, they always rushing and not leaving much space when they pass a push biker. Okay, I should not drive on the Highway, I will give my best to avoid Highways in New Zealand. Also snakes scared me often, but this will not happen in NZ, because there are no snakes.

After spending so much time at the same place (the farm where I worked) and had all the comfort (bed and hot shower) and benefits (free fruits) I could not imagine to leave before 2015. But in the end it happens quick and I was happy to leave, because the work got so boring. My girlfriend Yen decided to come with me to New Zealand, we booked the flight tickets before Christmas. This time I payed 300 $ for the ticket plus 50 $ for the bike. Yen bought a second hand mountain bike and I got a package of spare parts from Germany for my bike. So we were ready for new adventures, we just had to get to Brisbane, where our flight was going to Christchurch. I cycled this way from Brisbane to Childers already three times, it’s not a nice route and it’s most of the time on the Highway. We decided to hitchhike. Yen was standing at the Highway with a sign for Brisbane and after one hour a ute stopped and driver asked us if he could take us to Sunshine Coast. We took this lift and Chest, the driver, dropped us 100 km before Brisbane at a petrol station. From there we got a lift on another pickup till Brisbane in just 10 minutes. The driver was a student and excited about his first hitchhikers and talked to us without out a break and even missed his exit. In Brissie we stayed at a friend in West End. He has a fancy apartment just by the river and Aldi was around the corner (I was dreaming to go to Aldi to buy some german chocolate before I leave). After three days in Brisbane we cycled with our bike boxes to the airport. We slept on a couch in the airport and took our plane on Sunday morning the 7th December to NZ. After 3,5 h flight we arrived in Christchurch, on the flight we saw the Southern Alps, which was very impressive. I can’t wait to go there.

I wish all readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Next update will be around April 2015.