This morning in the supermarket kids where walking around in short and without shoes, same as many adults do, its anyway plus 5 degrees. Roads and lift (robe tows) are super dangerous but if you bike without a helm you get a ticket. Funny country is New Zealand.

Riding the clubfields in NZ is great, even if the snow conditions are not the best. I don’t think roads to ski areas can be more beautiful than these. Mikaela and me did a freeride competition in Craigiburn and got both 1st. Beside freeriding and riding half pipe we played golf with friends, and went climbing at Casle Hill, a small green hill full with big rocks in all kind of forms, surrounded with mountains covered with snow.

Hereby the song from Jesse Brand I recorded last week http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwRV7EQzSdQ
We drove the south coast and past the most southern point of New Zealand where we almost walked into see lions because they look like dead threes if they are asleep. It´s so windy that even the threes are growing in the wind direction.
From the coast we drove up to Wanaka to go snowboarding in Cadrona (thanks to Amber for the lifttickets) and watched a part of the wintergames. The other days we went bouldering and running, because I’m not patience enough and I get crazy by sitting in the car to long. There are beautiful tracks like the Rocky Mountain track, my favorite one, it is steep and have a super nice view over lakes, valleys and rocky mountains.
Now we are driving up the west coast to the club fields where we will ride a freeride competition and do lots of hiking and riding. Below also a photo from the 80s party…

In my first off piste run in New Zealand my snowboard broke because I hit a stone. But I’m a lucky boy, a few days later the distributor of Nitro New Zealand came to Round Hill, the ski area where I was and he organised a new Nitro board for me:)

After the hike next to Mt Cook we drove back to Lake Tekapo for an amazing 80s party. I looked terrible (good), and some looked even better.
Two days later we visited a friend, Stef Zeestraten in Wanaka and continued to the wild South West, the biggest national park of NZ; the rain-forest in the Fiords. We stayed for some days for hiking. Most of the time it was cloudy and lots of rain, but very impressive. Big waterfalls, one over 260 meters, huge threes and birdsI never saw before. The one moment the sun came out for one hour we where standing on the key summit mountain and got a 360 degrees panorama view. Clouds passing by with huge speed. Steep white mountains came out over the green rain-forest.

Now we are working at Last Light Lodge, Restaurant & accommodation. We are creating a garden in exchange for a bed and food. It is a great place with nice and interesting people and it is good to work again. Yesterday night I recorded the cook, he is also a great musician.

Last week we where on the road again with our Hippie Camper, we saw penguins, clay cliffs and glaciers. We drove from Lake Tekapo over Timaru to Omaru and the road up to Mt Cook village, from there we started our mission to the Muller Hut (1960 m.).
The hike was steep. The last part was extremely icy and about 40 degrees steep, a very hard hike without crampons and ice ax. An experienced couple with full equipment who where in front of us turned around because of the ice, luckily we had snowshoes and just after sunset we arrived at the hut. We stayed up there for 2 nights. The landscape is amazing up there, a view to Mt Cook and Mt Sefton. about every 20 minutes a huge ice avalanche broke down from these mountains! Next day in the afternoon a group of Kea papagais came and atacked our materials, they say the smartest births on earth.
Safe down, tired and hungry we planned to drive straight back to Lake Tekapo but could not resist driving up to the Tasman Lake. Such an amazing landscape was hidden behind the ridge. We could see a part of the Tasman glacier and in the lake we saw amazing ice sculptures that had been broken down from the glacier.

Yesterday we had a crazy 80s party in Lake Tekapo. There I survived a street fight, thanks to Michael

Photos by Iris Kammerhofer and Irian van Helfteren

My last blog was about a 12 hours stop in Malysia… Back to reality:

37 hours after leaving Munich I arrived in New Zealand, 3 hours later Mikaela too. We rented a Hippie Camper Deluxe and stayed the first night in Christchurch, we got invited by a women we met on the street to stay in there garden over night. So we felt welcome in New Zealand.

The next day we drove up to Lake Tekapo to work in the ski area Round Hill for the next two weeks as ski/snowboard instructor. Two days later we stood up with snow on the roof of the Hippie Camper, on the roof froozen drops, on the windows and on top of our sleeping back a thin layer of ice. I got sick and slept for no more than 3 hours each night! Having been so deprived i am thankful for the hospitality of my couleges, who graciously allowed me to spleep in a real bed. and who taught me how to write in english;)

Now I feel graet, today I hiked my first mountain in New Zealand. New Zealand is WILD, last night there were some earthquake, sometimes tops fall off the mountains. I will find what I’m looking for. Lots of wild spots to go crazy 😉

On the way to New Zealand I had to cross through the jungle of Malysia. I fed myself with fish and strange fruits. After three weeks hiking I lost myself in the jungle.  That moment there was a horse, this horse showed me the way through the jungle and we passed by strange creatures. (See Photos)         

I had an amezing time in Karnten. It is really crazy and funny what happen if you put 10 overactive (some very talented) creative sporters in one house.
Last days I have been in Salzburg by Farah how showed me the best nightlife and daylife of Salzburg, I fergot how beautiful Salzburg is. And I went river surfing first time of my life, firtst on a small river the ‚Alm‘. Next day in a big fatt wave, where the cahallenge was to not hit the trunks and branches how coming down all the time. I was so stoked that I made it.

Thanks Farah for these super nice days! Tobias another friend from Salburg brought me to Munich with my 4 big bags with my work, sport and survivel gear for the summer and winter. In Munich I leave my summer gear by friends (the most welcoming people from Munich 🙂 and I will fly in three hours with snowboard tent and sleeping back over Sidney to Neu Sealand. In three month I will com back to Munich, pick up my summer stuff and leave my winter gear to visit france for two mont before the winter in Austria start again. Yes my life is a mess and without help from my friends it would be not so funny. Instate I’m always ready to help them.

Yesterday I organized a sponsoring from Hippie camping cars. So I will travel the next three month with Mikaela my girlfriend from Finland how I will meet in Christchurch with a little hippie camping car.

Life is amezing

The last three weeks I did not write, because I was too motivated for sport (or party) every weekend and evening. Last weekend we went to kayaking in Slovenia to the river Soca, where the water is turquoise blue. We went by bus and car, but the bus had broking before we arrived to the Soca. On the right moment a friend showed up so we had a transport for kayaking. One night we slept in Italy on a beach from a sea high in the mountains, alone in peaceful beautiful nature. Watch photos.

Two weekends ago I biked with friends up to a hut in the Karavanken (mountains in the south from Kärnten) where we stayed over the weekend. The first weekend in June I went with Iris (my Austrian ‘sister’) to a 50s years party in a castle in Steiermark where we have been dancing almost 12 hours.

There are still three weeks left for my flight to New Zeeland, they expect the most snowfall since 20 years 🙂 

I hiked the Kölnbreinspitze (3000m.) to go snowboarding a bit. It is cold in Austria and snowing in the mountains.

The last 60 meters where very steep, two ‘Lammergeier’ circling above my head. In the moment I arrived the top I it went fogy and I saw max 5 meters. My hands where almost frozen because I didn’t brouht gloves. But it was worth to hike, thanks Mountain Hardwear for the super good quality down jacket, Ghost Whisperer and a new bag pack.

These ‘Lammergeiers’ (see pictures) births are very seldom, they die off in Europe because people thought they kill lambs and even kids so they shoot them all. They recultivate them in the Swiss Mountains. Now I saw them in South Austria. They get 285 cm wide, they eat bones and break them by throwing them on stones. They are mostly brown /yellow because they paint themselves with clay like Indians do 😉

In July I fly together with a film crew to New Zeeland to produce the world’s first interactive 360° documentary. An example of our first promo 360° movie: http://www.northernalps.com/

We are still looking for partners

Yesterday I discovered a new river for wild water kayaking. A narrow steep river, just possible to kayak direct after heavy rainfall.  

Did ever a horse cough in your face? In my face yes: