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Traveldiary chapter 12 [November 2005 - June 2006] as PDF (New Zealand) |
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Photos: New Zealand North Island - New Zealand South Island | More about New Zealand: chapter 32 |
New Zealand/Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud
We arrived in New
Zealand on November 12, 2005 and returned to the
same YHA Hostel in Auckland where we
had been staying for 3 days before going to Vanuatu. During the first week we
were mainly busy sorting out pictures and writing our travel diary about that
visit - these stories do not only take a long time to read, they also take a
very long time to be written!
They city of Auckland sits on a hilly narrow
strip of land between two scenic harbours; the western one opening towards the
Tasman sea the eastern towards the Pacific ocean. They proclaimed it "the
city of sails", as hundreds of sailing yachts can be seen on any
sunny day pushed around by an ever present strong wind. The skyline recently
gained a new landmark, when the 328 meter high Skytower
opened for the new millennium.
The area around our youth-hostel
edged the city centre and was also very popular with students from Asia, which
resulted in the establishment of uncountable little cheap eateries representing
every country between India and China. Especially Korean and Japanese
restaurants' employees often spoke very little English, but as they mainly
served (language-) students from the same countries, they usually didn't have
any problem - only with us...
A number of similarities to Australia were
quite obvious, as for instance the many shops and companies that have
established themselves here too. As most big Australian cities, Auckland
offered free public transport in the city centre and everywhere a strict
non-smoking policy was enforced in any public building, accommodation and restaurants,
sometimes even outdoors. On the other hand, we found that the Kiwis were much
more strict in observing rules and regulations and one doesn't get by with the
trustful "it's all right Mate" easily, as we always heard in OZ.
Here, every membership-card or whatever, was carefully examined. Some
procedures seemed really bureaucratic and old fashioned, as were office
equipment or sanitary installations. Roads and buildings were not as shiny and
well maintained as over the Tasman Sea. Here we saw bridges that were literally
rusting and rotting away and we felt we had to hurry crossing, as we were
afraid to find out whether the wood or the iron would collapse first.
New Zealand's economy is doing all right,
but it's running on a slower pace than Australia's. Many suburbs are
newly being built in brick at once. As in Australia, they are usually
wooden structures surrounded by a thin facade of bricks. Older houses were
entirely made of wood and we found them more charming. They are often standing
on stilts, because of the big chance that the earth may tremble.
With 1,2 million inhabitants, Auckland is
New Zealands biggest city, but it's traffic is much worse than in
Australia's big 5. To make things worse, many Kiwis, including drivers of
public buses, drive like maniocs - they are certainly "the Germans of the
Pacific".
But we can also say good things about bus
drivers: they were very helpful and often dropped us off just in front of the
door, where we wanted to go, provided there was no police around. Generally
speaking, Auckland wasn't that pedestrian friendly, but there was one thing
that should serve as an example for the rest of the world: if
traffic lights turned green for pedestrians, on most junctions it was
possible to walk diagonally right across the intersection.
None of the other tourists we had talked
to said, they had fallen in love with Auckland, but they all loved the rest of
the country. So, we knew right from the beginning, that the three months visa
we were given on entry would not be enough time for us, and we applied for
a visa-extension. Although New Zealand was the first country that stubbornly
insisted that we needed an onward ticket out (and so we bought a refundable
ticket to Brisbane), it was easy to get our visa extended. Even though it is
normal to take 2-3 weeks to proceed, the decision was forwarded by courier
and not by ordinary mail. We were granted the 9 months we had asked for and the
letter explicitly mentioned that we could get an additional three months plus
an explanation on how to proceed in case we would be interested to get a
residency visa. It seems they are pretty keen to extend their 4 Mio.
inhabitants with new immigrants, although they most probably target
working people and not globetrotters...
New Zealand has a modern approach in
handling applications for immigrants and tourist's visa as only one form has to
be filled in for people living in the same household, no matter whether they
are a couple (married or not) or people of the same sex and the application
fee of NZ$ 85 (Euro 48) has to be paid only once,
automatically including the applicant, its partner and children.
Now we were given plenty of time
to travel, so we had to look for some means of transport. As we
neither know how to fly, nor how to skip a sailing yacht, we opted for a car
again - just as plane-loads of other tourists do, that arrived at this time of
the year! Again, the models looked different and had other names than in other
parts of the world but at least we were used to drive on the "wrong"
side of the road by now. Most cars had automatic transmission but we
favoured a manual. We were delighted to find out that various private
car-fairs were held every week. However, we soon discovered that most cars were
not being sold by their actual owners, but by money hungry unofficial dealers,
pretending to offer the car of "their sister/uncle/brother/friend or
departed traveller, if not of a deceased relative". Of course, most of
these shiny 10-20 years old vehicles had little more than 120'000 km on their
clock and engines or tyres were always new(ly painted). We've seen bodies and
engines including batteries, lovingly coated in oil, so they would look
just great!
But we wouldn't despair; we found out that
old cars are also being traded at auctions. This was one of the most
interesting insights into the car-dealership-Mafia, as we recognized some
apparently private guys, who had offered us a car the day before, advertised on
the Hostels noteboard. They had come to bid for moving wrecks that went for 200-300
dollars. After brushing them up and covering up the most obvious faults, they
would try to sell them for 1-3'000 dollars more.
So we put hopes on finding a good car in
the paper. Occasionally, between all the crooks, there was really a honest
owner trying to sell his car. The good ones that were offered for a good price,
had all sold before we rang. We still got the chance to see some and were
in for some more special experiences; the car offered by a lady working for an
embassy wasn't the worst: it had quite a lot of scratches outside and looked
like a rubbish bin inside and what a staid Kiwi housewife offered, looked
inside like a real rubbish dump and the paint looked as if it had never ever
been washed. Then, the engine was hardly visible under the dust. Her
husband invited us for a test-drive and didn't hesitate to sit on the pile of
paper and other rubbish, indicating that they had cared for the car in the same
manner.
As always: we were determined to find that
needle in the haystack and so we took the train to the big car fair at
Ellerslie a second time. With some good luck we noticed a lady with a child
among all those crooks, offering her good looking station wagon for
4'500 $. It was a bit too dear for us, but we asked for her phone number and as
we didn't find anything better afterwards, we contacted her later at home
and finally got that car for 3'300 $ (Euros 1'880).
So we became the new owners of a still
very good running Ford Telstar 1994, that had 136'000 km on the odometer, which
can be proven. It is not uncommon for cars to indicate false (manipulated)
mileage, we were told by the previous owner, who works in the financing
business. More often than not, she has to refuse a credit, not because of bad
credit history of the buyer, but because the prospective deal is worth much
less money than asked for, because the odometer has been manipulated. Luckily,
there is an institution called "lemon check" that helps verifying
this quite easily, at least for cars that haven't been imported as second hand
cars.
Suddenly, our four feet could comfortably
rest above four wheels and we were ready to start discovering Aotearoa, the
land of the long white cloud, as Maori named New Zealand.
After finally finding the way out of the
city, we made a brief stop at touristy Devonport, which also could be reached
by pedestrian-ferry. From there, we continued to Orewa, where we stayed for three nights in
a Backpackers place that was up in the green hills but barely out of Auckland's
suburbs. From there, we made a day trip to Whangaparaoa peninsula (just wait
till we describe the place with the longest Maori name in the world). It is an
interesting mix between new urban developments, especially retirement villages
and giant shopping centres and unspoilt nature with beautiful coastline. The
red Pōhutukawa, that
are so typical for northern coastal areas and who are also dubbed
"Christmas tree" (as they open their flowers then), started to be in
full bloom now.
Our next destination was the Bay of
Islands, to which Yuki, a Japanese girl that had stayed at the same Backpackers
as we did, joined us. We were amazed how many hills and therefore: how many
sharp bendings we had to master on our way up north. A second surprise was how
much traffic moved the same way, but that was probably because it was a
Saturday. On the way, there was a bee-farm that was quite touristy but it was
interesting to see the assiduous bees at work behind the glass wall. North of
Whangarei we followed an impressive scenic loop along the coastline from where
we could already see many islands. The next attraction was quite special: New
Zealand's most photographed loo, designed by Austian born artist and
"eco-"architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. It
was the public toilet in the village of Kawakawa. Hundertwasser
lived near here in an isolated house without electricity from 1973 until his
death in 2000. The WC building incorporated many recycled materials as mosaics
made of scattered tiles, glass bottles, ceramic pillars and round shapes, as
are typical for his style.
In the afternoon, we arrived in Paihia, in
the beautiful Bay of Islands,
which was a small but very touristy beach-front village. Here we left Yuki
behind, after we had double-checked whether she had not only understood that we
are nudists, but that we had booked ourselves into a naturist place for that
very night. Indeed, she hadn't been aware and after explicitly asking her,
whether she was ready for a new experience and wanted to join us, she politely
replied: "thank you for asking, but: NO
thank you." As she was exceptionally open for a Japanese, we
felt that if this offer would arise again to her after a few months more
travelling, she might take it.
But for now, we were the only guests at Nature's Orchard, just off the mainroad
near Kerikeri. The hosts Fiona and Lyn rent out a cosy double storey annex to
their house, which offered more luxury than we needed. It was situated in the
midst of a small orange orchard and had a swimming pool and hot spa to enjoy. A
beautiful peacock came visiting quite often and one night there were also some
camping guests. Here we quickly learned the lesson that the hole in the ozone
layer is even worse than above Australia and we got a bit sunburnt. For our
skin, we were happy that it rained quite hefty the next day, as it often did up
in the Northlands, which reach into the subtropical zone.
In New Zealand's history, Waitangi is the most important place,
because it is here, where the treaty between the local Maori chiefs and the Pakeha, the
British intruders was signed 1840. The Maoris valued the profit and prestige
the Europeans brought and concluded that accepting nominal British authority
was the way to get them. When the white people came, Maori, who had themselves
arrived as settlers from Polynesian islands 600-1'000 years earlier, they were
a proud people with a highly developed society and culture. Today's generation
of Maori have adapted in many ways to the culture of the white people, to
the good and to the bad, as alcohol and other drugs were not known before.
There is just enough culture left to be marketed for tourism, which usually
boosts semi-traditional dancing (in church approved costumes and painted tattoos)
and semi-traditional food from the earth oven called hangi (in aluminium
containers and electrically heated).
Every now and then tensions arise between
Maori and Pakeha, but our over-all impression is that Maori are very well
integrated into New
Zealand society.
We saw them holding supervisor-jobs quite often and their Kiwi-slang was often
more distinctive than if white or Asian immigrants spoke. Today's
population-mix consists of about 68% Europeans, 15% Maori, 6% Pacific
Islanders, 10% Asians and 1% others.
Along scenic roads, we continued
northwards till we reached the narrow northern tip of Aupouri Peninsula. Half
way up, we stayed at a nice hostel in
Henderson Bay from where we explored the huge sand dunes behind
90 Mile Beach. At
the end of the road (= the end of New Zealand) was Cape Reinga light house,
superbly situated on a steep hill from where you can see the Tasman sea and the
South Pacific ocean meet. Back in the Backpackers, we set off to some beach
walks and discovered some more sand dunes. Not all were of the same golden
colour, some were snow white and others almost pink. In the morning we could
enjoy a fresh bread we had been ordering and that came now straight out of the
bread-maker. In addition, we could enjoy a percolated coffee thanks to a Bodum
plunger, an equipment provided by many Backpackers. All that made us strong
enough to help a French traveller who had a flat tyre. Only two days ago,
Heinz insisted on buying the missing tool, as he had discovered that we would
not be able to change a wheel in case we'd have a flat tyre. Brigitte had been
rather careless about it, since we had a set of good tyres. But one never knows
and: voilà! The French guy was glad that Heinz had persisted, as the very same
tool was missing in his car.
Via Kaitaia and another nice and hilly
scenic drive, we reached Kohukohu, where we stayed at Treehouse Backpackers.
This was clustered to a slope of rainforest and included several small cottages
and a big communal house. The next day we crossed the fjord on a ferry to
Rawene. Further south, we soon came into dense forest, where the tallest Kauri trees can be found. The biggest was
named Tane
Mahuta (god of the forest) and it measures 51 meters with a
very big straight trunk. It's age is estimated to be between 1'200-2'000 years
old. A very impressive sight indeed! Some of the Kauri trees host up to 30
species of parasite plants, such as moss, fungus, lichen or green plants.
As in many other parts of New
Zealand, the forests are very dense and rich on beautiful tree
ferns of which 80 species exist, if we include all
types of fern, the number doubles. Growing up to 20 metres high, tree ferns
look like palm trees. But there is actually also a native palm endemic to New
Zealand: the Nikau.
Further south, we stayed at Helensville,
where we found a house dealer who put nearly 40 houses on display in his big
yard. They had been moved here and were now resting on barrels waiting for new
owners. Only the smallest ones were left in one piece, but most were cut in
half or even into 3 or 4 pieces, ready for transport to a new property. As most
houses are simple wooden buildings without insulation and double glazing
windows, it's easy to cut and relocate them on big trucks. Most houses here don't
have cellars, maybe a concrete floor, but often they rest on stilts in order to
be earth-quake proof.
From two superbly situated viewing
terraces, it was possible to observe breeding gannets near
Muriwai Beach. The single standing rock the colony had initially populated had
become too small and so many birds were breeding on top of the cliffs on shore,
some just next to the viewing platform. These were quite big waterbirds with
beautiful faces.
To avoid the holiday rush on the road, we
wanted to stay in a naturist camp for about two weeks over the New Year's
period. Heinz proposed to check out Oranui in
West Auckland as this was on our way. Brigitte initially refused to consider
this place, as she wanted to be as far out of Auckland as possible. However,
when we went there on a week end, she fell in love with that place immediately
and insisted to reserve it right away for holiday.
After that we spent two days at the City
Garden lodge in Auckland's noble suburb of Parnell. We had to pick up some mail
and invest in Mövenpick ice ream and in French Restaurants.
On December 14th, we left the city again
and enjoyed the beautiful coastline along the Firth of Thames. Thames was a
charming little town at the base to the Coromandel Peninsula.
From there, the road followed northwards sharply along the coastline with many
red flowering "Christmas trees" contrasting with the water.
From Coromandel Town, we went out to
discover the northernmost part just in time before heavy rains arrived. We
ended up staying for 4 nights at Tui Lodge Backpackers, two of them only
waiting till the heavy downpours finally stopped. We passed our time talking to
the other guests and Brigitte managed to bake a wonderful gingerbread for all,
composed of ingredients all found in the communal shelf, where guests leave
behind what they dont want anymore.
We were lucky to continue on a sunny day
that revealed wonderful views from the top of the hill down to the island
dotted gulf between the Coromandel and Auckland. On the eastern side of
the peninsula, we could visit a natural arch on the beach, called cathedral
cove still in beautiful sunshine. We avoided "hot water beach" where
flocks of people dug holes into the sand at a certain time of the tide.
We didn't feel like filling our bathing
suits with sand and went instead to Katikati
Naturist Park where we arrived in the rain. For the next
two days that was quite a common sight, but as they had sauna and spa pool, we
got wet anyway.
Still strange for us to find such a big
resort near empty, knowing that school holidays had begun and learning that all
accommodation and camping spaces were booked out for the week over New Year.
Again, we were lucky and the sun was back on the day we left, so we stayed on
until the middle of the afternoon.
The distance to Rotorua,
our next destination, was not very long. Here we stayed at another
nice Backpackers place and without asking, we got exactly that kind of
room they "don't have", if people explicitly ask for, as they
prefer not to have spoilt luxury travellers staying there. We were given a
pretty posh and big en-suite room with queensize bed. Also here, the hostel had
a very good atmosphere and we easily got together with the other travellers
exchanging tips about the many thermal parks Rotorua's surrounding has to
offer. The only one that was for free was Kuirau, right in the heart of the
city. Already here we could see steaming ponds and bubbling water holes.
Virtually every tourist will come to see this town, where sulphur steam can be
seen and smelled in many back yards. Across the middle of the North Island, the
Australasian and the Pacific plate
rub and therefore create a fascinating but dangerous ring of fire with
many volcanoes and thermal activities. Earthquakes occur almost monthly,
but thanks to the geology and the way buildings are constructed, even strong
ones usually don't cause any damage. Today, geothermal energy is used to
produce electricity and hot water. Of course the natural hot water has too many
minerals and is therefore not suitable for every-day's tap water.
Together with Connie from Berlin, we
visited Wai O Tapu thermal
area. According to the brochure, there was a geyser scheduled to erupt daily at
10:15 am and we wondered why? After purchasing the $ 23 ticket, every visitor
was directed to a tribune that had been built around the cone of a
geyser. In time, a park-warden arrived and explained to the crowd that without
human interference, Lady Knox Geyser would erupt at unpredicted times about
once every 2-3 days in various forces. But to please the tourists, he would now
drop some "soap type organic substance" into the cone and thus the
fountain would be activated at medium strength within the next few minutes. Wow
- what a circus: everybody was soon able to take the very same picture - some
posing in front of the fountain. For us, the other sights of the thermal park
were far more impressive, as for example the large boiling and steaming
'Champagne' pool, craters and sulphur holes, colourful mineral terraces and
bubbly mud pools or ponds in the most eerie colours.
On the way back, we soaked in thermal
water at Waikite Valley
that was diverted from a small steamy river. The vegetation around it was
incredibly green whereas the area around Wai O Tapu had been rather dry. The
water was collected almost boiling hot and had to be cooled down, which
was done by spraying it up into the air as fountains. The three of us
rented a hot-tub that was in a cabin opening towards the other side of the
valley. The water felt very soft and it was a relaxing 20 minutes before the
heat got too much to our heads.
As these thermal parks are really
fascinating, we invested in another entrance fee and visited Orakei Korako. This
one featured big silica terraces that are mineral covered fault
scarps created by an earthquake long time ago. There was a very colourful
algae that grows only in high water temperatures. There were big bubbling mud
pools and there was a geyser, which didn't erupt when we were there, as it was
left to nature.
After we, as well as Connie, had
unsuccessfully tried various Backpackers places to reserve for X-Mas, we all
changed plans and the three of us found beds in Tongariro National Park.
Together with thousands of Christmas-shoppers, we squeezed through a
supermarket, filling our bags with delicious food and then went on. We passed Lake Taupo, which
is a huge crater lake, formed by one of the greatest volcanic explosions the
earth has probably experienced. How big must this volcano have been, if it's
crater, which is now lake Taupo, has approximately 40 km in diameter? It's
eruption must have taken place about 27'000 years ago and may have
buried the entire North Island under up to 100 Meters of ashes.
In miserable weather we reached the
Backpackers place in the village that is simply called "National
Park". During the winter (not now, even though the weather felt like that)
it is a ski resort but in summer, most people come here for hiking on the three
volcanoes. In a straight line of about 20 km, snow covered Mount Ruapehu 2797 M
towers before Mount Ngauruhoe 2287 M and Mount Tongariro 1967 M high. One walk
is particularly famous and considered the finest one-day trek in New Zealand:
the Tongariro Crossing.
As weather in this mountainous region is
always unpredictable, many people wait for a week or two and sometimes
still have to abandon this project. During the first 25 days of December, it
was only possible to do the walk on three or four days. Otherwise it was either
too foggy, too windy, too rainy and cold or a combination of all. Even if
you can set off in good weather, conditions can change with alarming speed.
Most trekkers get bus transportation to one end and pick-up from the other.
As tour operators are responsible to bring back as many sheep as they
dropped off in the morning, they normally make the decision whether they
provide transport, at 7 o'clock in the morning. Already on our second day, the
weather had become nice, but as the wind blew with 120 km/h on the saddle of
the volcano, the Backpackers lodge cancelled the trip.
On the third day, the 25th, we
got a Christmas present and we were chauffeured to the base of the volcanoes.
There were some clouds around, but they seemed to disappear.
Energetically, our group walked up the first barren lava slope with many tall
lava clods turned into stony sculptures. Then came the most strenuous part with
an hour of climbing up very steeply to the foot of Mt. Ngauruhoe's cone.
Suddenly, a strong wind caught upon us but we're sure this was much less
than it would have been yesterday. From behind, fog was coming in
frighteningly close and we tried to hurry up. This wind felt ice cold and
Brigitte's fingers quickly went numb, even with socks on hands, as she
didn't travel with gloves. When we reached the top, we could see right down
into "red crater" which was a very spectacular view, even though it
wasn't red of lava as Yasur in Vanuatu. With this strong wind it was not
tempting to rest and look down for too long, as we were almost afraid of
getting blown down if we approached the steep rim too much. Even though; forms
and colour left by lava were most impressive! We just walked a bit further, now
downhill steeply, and three tiny lakes became visible. Those were the Emerald
Lakes and their different colours became more spectacular as we approached them
from above. Everything became pleasant, as we now had reached the volcano's
windsheltered side and the clouds and fog miraculously disappeared within only
a few minutes.
Now we were very happy and decided to have
our pic-nic lunch here. Only difficulty was to decide whether we should rest at
the blue, at the bright green or the deep green little lake. It was just
magnificent!
Shortly after we continued our
hike, a German couple joined the path from the side. What a surprise: we had
met them already four times here in New Zealand. The remaining three hours of
the walk were very easy, slowly leading down to the pick-up point. After the
bus had brought the happy crowd back to the lodge, everybody queued to get a
session assigned in the spa pool, as the management didn't want to have the
nudes mixed with the prudes. We soaked together with Connie before we started
to prepare another gourmet Christmas meal. Already the two nights before, the
three of us did some fancy cooking and also all the other travellers formed
little groups preparing exquisite meals together.
As was to be expected, our muscles went a
bit sore the following days but we were lucky not to have one blister to our
feet.
The next day we waved good bye to Connie
and all the others and turned north again, where we soon found warm summer
climate again.
We stopped in a farm hostel in Te Kuiti, near Waitomo caves, which we visited
the same day. A guide led about 20 people into a wonderful limestone cave,
which was very narrow in some parts and very wide in other, where there was
even a tiled floor. Because acoustics are just formidable in there, various
concerts with famous singers had been held. Upon invitation by the guide, one
tourist: a lady from Hong Kong gave a short proof of that with her
wonderful voice.
Waitomo cave is also very famous for its
glow worms. A river flows through big parts of the cave and ten thousands of
glow worms attached to the ceiling above the water illuminate this section so
brightly, we could see our surrounding. The guide now led us into a boat which
he was gently pulling on a rope over the quiet cave-water. It was fascinating
and felt like gliding along under a very intense milky way.
The whole life-cycle of these glow worms,
which are actually insects, is very interesting. In the larval stage, the fungus-gnat, as
it's called, produces greenish light to attract its prey. Beforehand, they
weave 20-30 sticky threads that look like pearl beads. If an insect gets
stuck, the caterpillar-like glow worm larva reels in the thread and eats its catch.
The larval stage is the only time the insect can feed and after about 6-9
months it's fat and pupates. After about two weeks a fly without
a mouth emerges and within two days it mates and the female lays about 120
eggs, before the adult fly starves. Only three weeks later new larva hatch and
the cycle starts again.
Not far from Waitomo, another attraction
could be explored in Otoroganga. There was a Kiwi House
and native bird park. In the Kiwi house, night and day were reversed and so we
could observe two Kiwi birds in their active time in their enclosure.
Heinz felt a bit sorry for them being in a cage and leading a life as inmates.
On the other hand, here they tried to breed more of these flightless birds as
they have become endangered mainly because of the many new predators, which
were all introduced into New Zealand. Once there must have been millions of
them running around, but today only about 30'000 remain and if humans cannot
succeed in breeding help, they might be extinct quite soon.
There were also Falcons, Owls, Ducks, Pukekos and other birds, Geckos and other reptiles in big
enclosures. All animals were kept as natural as possible and their meals were
often served alive after closing hours, because many visitors get distressed
when confronted with the natural circle of catch and prey. Still, some
leftovers of the prey could be seen in some cages.
Now our holiday had come and we went back
to Auckland Outdoor Naturist Club ORANUI,
which is situated in a suburb west of the city and literally surrounded by new
housing developments and a school. The club exists already for 50 years and
used to be in the middle of nowhere. Still, there seem to be no problems at
all; as there is only a gate for cars, pedestrians can just walk in. Inside, it
feels like in a natural park in the midst of the city. There are some very tall
pine trees and a little river flows through the grounds. A tall bamboo fence
provides wind-shelter as we have also seen it on many orchards. It's probably
New Zealands biggest naturist ground by size (11 Ha) and by members
(250). As it was very quiet during our stay, it didn't feel that big. They
have three cabins for rent of which we took the biggest one, as only this was
equipped with 4 hotplates and a baking oven. The one hotplate and microwave
version of the cheaper huts didn't tempt us.
We were under the impression that half of
the members were overseas born, but on the other hand, among the real Kiwis
were also some Maori members.
The weather continued to change frequently
between sunny, rainy and very windy but temperatures were usually above 20°C
degrees and towards the end of our stay they raised, so we didn't even leave,
when our cottage was reserved by somebody else, but moved for 3 days into a
smaller cabin.
There was a nice club house, a big pool,
sauna and jacuzzi to enjoy and great shopping possibilities almost on our
doorstep, as a railway station and a cyber café.
We discovered that all three bakeries that
were within walking distance had closed for the New Years holiday. Never mind,
the bread Brigitte baked almost daily was anyway much better, as NZ is just
another country where "real bread" is hard to find. We wonder: what
is the best invention "since sliced bread"? As they say here...
Otherwise we feel that it's much easier to
find decent and affordable quality food in New Zealand than in Australia. Not
only fresh fish and live mussels could be found almost everywhere,
probably thanks to the Maori population. Also a wide selection of superb
cheeses and pâté is readily available and so it was easy to feast our two weeks
at Oranui away, even though the weather was not always perfect.
One afternoon we drove out along a road
called scenic drive that passed very near the club. Driving through intense
fern forest and mastering many bending, we enjoyed spectacular views to the
city, as well as down to the ocean, before we reached the black sand beach at
Piha, where many surfers rode on the wild waves.
After almost 3 weeks, we left Oranui in Auckland. The next three
days, we stayed at a Backpackers hostel in Tauranga.
Together with neighbouring Mount
Maunganui, it is one of New Zealand's fastest growing regions
and a popular holiday destination due to its rather mild climate and lovely
setting on the water.
There were many nice beaches to choose from and so we were totally
surprised that we were approached by a family as soon as we had put our towels
and trousers down. We had first met in Oranui only a few days ago.
If the sun was out, the weather quickly felt hot. Those days, we
figured would be quite limited and so Brigitte considered, it should be the
duty of the next owner of our car, to re-gas our air-conditioner. However, as
air-conditioners of cars don't get weaker slowly, it stopped working here and
now! Sweating like a pig, Brigitte changed her mind and we tried to find a workshop, at
the same time as dozens of locals who had also waited until the summer heat had
come and their air-conditioner had broken down. But we were lucky and found a
small Autoelectrician-workshop that felt pity and did the job on the spot.
When walking along the seafront promenade of Mt. Maunganui, we
were making fun of the locals we saw sitting romantically in their cars,
enjoying the view, whilst munching down their newspaper wrapped dinner.
Tauranga and also Mt. Maunganui were lined with restaurants hoping to attract
those people who were willing to spend more time eating.
Now, we started our big tour around the East Cape. Along uncounted
kiwi fruit orchards, we reached the pretty seaside town of Whakatane, before
continuing to Opotiki.
The Backpackers we stayed at, was called Beach House and such was its location.
It was only a small but cosy place and we spent the evenings with all the other
guests, some of whom we met again further down the road later.
As we waited till a day of rain passed by, we could enjoy the
coastal scenery in good weather again, and saw it in green and blue, as
most of the East Cape road bent sharply along the shoreline.
Whanarua Bay was only 88 km on, but
the location of the next hostel was too good to be missed, as it was right down
by a secluded bay and as close to the water as it could be. Although the inside
of the house wasn't that great, it was the location and it's balconies on
different levels that made it so special. Our hosts were a Maori family
and they let us use their kayaks in the sheltered natural harbour, which was
great fun. Although Brigitte hadn't been brave enough to get into the sea at
Tauranga, here we had no choice but to get our bums wet if we wanted to use
these boats. Those modern kayaks were purposely built with holes, so we sat on
some kind of plastic slice of Emmental cheese. Another tricky thing was to
steer that thing straight over the water. Sofar, we had only experience in a
double canoe and if we couldn't paddle where we wanted to go, it was always
Heinz' mistake! But here, miraculously, Heinz floated straight ahead, whereas
Brigitte's canoe was turning round in circles.
In the end we both managed somehow to explore the inlet along its
rocky shores that often had little caves.
When we continued our trip, Michael a German cyclist, asked us to
carry part of his luggage to the next hostel along the road. As most
people living around the cape, also the owners there were Maori and although we
didn't stay, they offered us coffee + cake. Their house was also
superbly situated on a rocky beach and we would have been tempted
to stay, but the place was booked out, as they only had 10 beds. So we
enjoyed an hour mingling with their guests and taking in the view before we
went on to East Cape lighthouse. Several hundred steps needed to be climbed,
before reaching the top from where we had a nice view down to the very blue
ocean.
Now the road over the hills led a bit inland until we hit the coast again
at Tokomaru Bay. Here
we stayed at another charming Backpackers, this one was situated a bit on a
hill overlooking the village and the bay. There were 3 funny open lofts,
each sleeping two. They were partioned off by curtains and had windows on two
sides and instead of a door they had a ladder up. With only 15 beds, it was
very intimate as well and we had great fun with the other guests. As we stayed
four nights, we met up with several people we had already seen in previous
hostels and even the cyclist caught up with us again.
Liz, a 60 year old English lady was temporary caretaker and she
was constantly around making jokes with the people from all walks of live,
between age 20 - 70.
Compared with Australia, there is a big difference in the way how
the Backpackers Hostels here appear: they are much cleaner and cosier, but
the biggest part of the difference lies in how travellers to New Zealand
behave. Most visitors know how to have fun without need for a daily party and
visit to the pubs. They rather enjoy a deep revealing discussion with other
guests from all over the world. On the other side, for many Backpackers to
Australia, the visits to bars and pubs are the highlights of their trip it
seems.
In New Zealand, there is an association called BBH (Budget
Backpackers Hostel New Zealand), which consists of more
than 360 Backpackers Hostels throughout Kiwiland, with an average of less than
30 beds. They were in general clean, cosy and very sociable. Their quality
standard was quite high and this was also due to the rating given by the guests
that were staying the previous year.
The backpackers that stay at these places in New Zealand, are in
general more mature, and we don't mean "old", as the average
tourist staying is below 30 years old. Almost everybody talks to each
other and often we engaged in deep discussions with 20 year olds.
Of course, there are also a handful of 'party-places', but they
are an exception, as are those visitors who often drink lots of booze.
Curiously, we met quite often people in their early twenties complaining
about the Backpackers places in Australia, where only the young and the
party-freaks go.
Here, somebody that only opens a tin or eats 'baked beans on
toast' is a rarity, normally a local. But this was a common sight in OZ. But
here, even those complaining about their tight budget can regularly be seen
cooking with olive oil, balsamico vinegar and fresh meet, fish and
veggies. Some even carried plungers or coffee pots along for their quality
coffee.
Sofar, we hadn't come across a hostel here, where we were handed
out only a basic cutlery set as in some Australian hostels. Most kitchens were
well equipped and many travellers revealed themselves as good hobby-chefs
engaging often in real cooking competitions. Here at Tokomaru Bay, for
instance, every night several Backpackers had lobster for dinner, thanks to Liz
who knew a Maori couple that caught and sold them. You will understand that we
didn't only sit and watch.
We also appreciated that many hostels opted not to provide TV, in
order to create an even more sociable atmosphere, and this worked! It was
much nicer to talk without a constant background noise of shooting and
screaming from the TV and here most fellow travellers agreed that those violent
movies are mainly inspiring violence instead of giving education.
At first, we sometimes watched TV, as it always reveals something
of the national culture. We were surprised (and shocked) by the low level that
was not even higher when it came to the national news that were being broadcast
on state owned TV1. Any tabloid focuses on more serious subjects of importance
to the world. The one hour "show" usually started with New Zealand's
most shaking events like:" a prisoner released from jail,
police stopping speedy drivers or drunk youths, shark sightings along the
coast, small accidents on the road or at sea or in the household, their
following court cases, treatment of and interview with victims. How a
child was healed of his mysterious illness and another one given the
wrong prescription. An actor using a water-pistol against paparazzi and what
famous person is pregnant or having an affair". Each of these very
important subjects could take up to 15 minutes, separated by advertisements.
Sometimes they sacrified one or two minutes about the real world, outside of
these islands, before coming to the real highlight of the show: sports news. A
Chinese immigrant figured that Rugby will always be more important to Kiwis
than whether Iran starts an atomic war!
Well: our problems concentrated on the weather and when the next
period of rainy days was over, we enjoyed our drive under blue skies but
shortly before reaching Morere
hot Springs, we had to dive into a very black cloud that
poured down on us as if we were in a waterfall for several kilometres.
Nothing better we could do than soaking in the natural mineral
water. A superbly designed roof on stilts covered various pools in the
rainforest. They had different temperatures and we whiled our time away talking
to the other bathers until we were all wrinkly.
We stayed at the same hostel we had been on our last trip and
after the owner had told us where we could find the old guest-books, we even
found our own entry, made exactly 13 years and 3 days ago: on 22.01.1993.
The next place we visited was Napier;
Brigitte's favourite town. Big parts of the city had been devastated in an
earth quake 1931. The entire city had been rebuilt in Spanish inspired
"Art Deco" style that had been in fashion then. We enjoyed wandering
the streets and admired the ornaments that decorated most buildings in the centre
and also in neighbouring Hastings. Many of the decorations on the buildings had
simple geometrical forms and were often painted in pastel colours.
On our way further south, we passed a hill, called "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu".
It is registered as the
longest place name in the world and translated from Maori,
it is a shortened form of: "The hilltop where Tamatea, the man with the
big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as landeater,
played his flute to his loved one".
We crossed a sea of hills that never seemed to end. Because all of
the forest that once covered these hills has been turned into furniture or fire
wood, the landscape looked naked and brown. In many places erosion has washed
the soil away and landslides were frequently covering parts of the road or
washed out sections of it.
We stayed overnight at a farm-hostel in Pongaroa, before reaching
civilisation again in Palmerston North.
From there we continued to Wanganui
that was similar in size but much more charming for our taste. In another nice
Backpackers place, we were lucky to get a double room with a romantic
bay-window overlooking the Whanganui
River.
Only a few days ago, the movie "River Queen" starring
the Whanganui River had been released and the New Zealand tourist board only
hopes that a new mass of "River Queen" tourists soon will flock into
the country, now as the hysteria of the tourists wanting to see the places
where the "Lord of the Rings" movies had been recorded, is ebbing
out. For us who have not much knowledge of famous actors, it is quite
unbelievable how so many people undertake expensive journeys just to follow
their favourite star's footsteps.
Never mind, we followed this river valley as far as the
little unsealed road would take us and it really did have great
beauty! As the source of this river came from Tongariro National Park in
the centre, we stayed over night at the same place as on X-Mas. When leaving
the next morning, we could admire the three volcanoes once more from a
distance. Mount Ruapehu had much less snow now than 6 weeks ago.
Crossing another "sea of hills" on a gravel road,
we made now our way to the west coast where we were rewarded with some nice
coastal scenery. Soon we reached New Plymouth.
Behind that city, there is the second highest volcano of the country (after
Ruapehu), Mount Taranaki/Egmont with 2518 Meters. More
often than not, it is hidden in clouds and thus not everyone will see it. There
is a saying: "if you see Taranaki it is going to rain, if you don't see
it, it is raining".
New Plymouth has 50'000 inhabitants and occupies quite a nice
seaside location, although the heavy industry around the harbour doesn't make
for the most charming backdrop.
On the next day we set off to venture around the volcano. After
driving up for 20 km, we came into fog but found it still interesting to walk
in this rainforest, as it had very special vegetation, due to its frequent
rain. Higher up, there was no more greenery; only black ashes.
That day, clouds persisted only on one side of the mountain
and so we drove down and around and later took another road up on the sunny
side. There was also a very scenic spot on the small artificial lake Mangamaroe
on which black swans and (normal) ducks were swimming between the tiny islets
on which tree fern and other Kiwi trees were growing. We found this idyllic
spot with the towering volcano in the background thanks to the freaky old bloke
from our Backpackers place. He had given his accommodation a very special
character by decorating everything with old push bikes.
From there we went back to Wanganui, where we were lucky again to
get a room with bay window overlooking the river and as before,
we saw the rain coming down until finally a rainbow appeared in the
evening.
Although the weather wasn't that perfect, we went to stay for a
while at Te Marua,
Wellington Naturist club in Upper Hut, 40 km out of the capital. Here we got a
small but very nice room that had been renovated tastefully and the work
had only just finished last week. Sofa, curtains, bedding; everything was
made in matching colours. The location of the club was in the midst of a
residential area and next to a school. There was even a bungy-tower from where
you could see into the grounds from less than 100 meters away but nobody seemed
to bother. The camping area was set up perfectly landscaped up the valley with
a small rivulet flowing through over which a 20 meter long pedestrian bridge
connected both sides of the property. There was a big swimming pool and a well
equipped kitchen for campers and those guests of the cabins like us, for whom
the microwave in the room was not enough.
A very big club house hosted a library, two TV lounges upstairs,
ping-pong table, indoor boules, sauna, jacuzzi and more.
The first day, an English couple: Jane and John were our
neighbours, just as two months ago in Oranui and so we spontaneously had dinner
together. During the 11 days we stayed, there were usually between 10-25 people
together, many of whom owned caravans. We didn't get to talk to many of them,
but one we certainly will remember, was brother Simon. He told us that he had
joined the nudist club 20 years ago whilst he belonged to a
religious order. Two years ago, whilst helping with the clean-up after a
storm he met a lady on the fence, who has her house next to the club. And so it
came that he left his life as a monk and married at 63 but today he is still
fearing that the priest will find out that he is a naturist.
As the weather got warm and sunny during our stay, we enjoyed
the shade of the big trees and weren't motivated to go out too often. But
one sight-seeing trip we did, was back over the hills to Cape Palliser. The
drive was very nice but the real highlight was a seal colony. We pictured many
of these lazing creatures sunbathing on our behalf.
On February 20, 2006 we packed up and drove down to Wellington.
First we visited the Kiwi-Family we had met at Morere Hotsprings. Gill and
Grant and their daughters live in a big house in the suburb of Days Bay and
they spoiled us with lunch. Later we continued around the bay and drove into
the hustle and bustle of Wellington downtown.
The city offered all the amenities that you can expect of a capital but it
hadn't grown in a well designed way. Still, we found it had a more
charming character than Auckland and we walked around the windy streets -
it seems to be very windy all the time. We took the cable car to the
viewpoint and visited some museums, sat in the library, in internet-café's and
restaurants.
On February 23, 2006 we boarded the ferry to the South Island
. Just as the line of cars was being directed into the vessels big
"parking lot", a sudden thunderstorm unloaded over Wellington . Thus
the beginning of the journey was quite shaky but as we entered the Marlborough
Sounds, the clouds disappeared and we had a wonderful sailing through the
fjordlands to Picton.
What once was only a loading port, had become a touristy little seaside village
with a few nice street café's. After a shopping stop we followed the twisting
and very scenic coastal road called " Queen Charlotte Drive " 40 km
to Havelock. Here we stayed overnight and were astonished how much this
sleepy hamlet had grown.
The forest-clad Marlborough Sounds looked untouched and most
beautiful but every now and then a house could be seen on a bay. Many
places could only the reached by boat, but there were also some roads leading
far out to the fjords.
There were many options for tourist accommodation but most were
very dear. On the other hand, there were also some Backpackers Hostels including
the two best rated BBH associates. Our curiosity, paired with our wish to
linger in the beauty of this landscape, inspired us to make reservations in the
latter two places. At first we drove on the very scenic road along Kenepuru
Sound and reached Mohana Lodge situated in a small bay.
Throughout New Zealand , many popular hiking treks lead for
several days through attractive areas and the Marlborough Sounds has two of
them. They are usually designed such that hikers can easily hike from one
overnight stop to the next. Usually these are basic campgrounds or simple huts
with a few bunk beds. But here on "Queen Charlotte Track" everything has been done
to improve the creature's comfort. Along this trek 5 different boat companies
compete to get the hiker's luggage from one overnight stop to the next, so
people need to walk with their lunch pack only. Later at Milford trek, we even
saw that you could have your luggage airlifted by helicopter. Those that really
wanted some hardship could camp in a national park campground but why should
they? Here on the "Queen's trek" hikers could also choose between
luxury resorts, B&B's or Backpackers for any night they wanted to spend.
Mohana Lodge Backpackers was one of them and they also spoiled their tired
guests with delicious but low priced meals. Due to its high client's rating in
the BBH guide, in addition many guests started coming by car just to while a
day away in this beautiful and superbly located house. We belonged to those. We
only just made a baby-hike, sunbathed for a while on a secluded viewpoint and
took advantage of the kayaks that could be used for free.
From here we drove later to the other side of the Kenepuru
peninsula and stayed at Hopewell
Lodge. This Backpackers catered rather for touring travellers
who came to relax or engage in some small holiday activities like
walking, kayaking, relaxing in a hammock or soaking and chatting in the
spa pool that was situated right by the fjord. Some liked it at sunrise, others
at sunset, in between or even under the starlit sky. The owners Linley and Mike
provided also the necessary know-how and equipment to collect oysters from the
beach or to catch fish. On top of eating these delicacies, the hostel served 20
kg of fresh green lipped mussels every second day. To sit together with
everyone on a big table was great fun.
As in most good hostels, there was no TV but a guitar that was
being used quite often, when everybody sat together in the evening around the
logfire. Also here we met a very interesting bunch of people and although
English was most often spoken, in fact more than 70% of the guests were German
speaking natives, 20% came from England or North America and less than 10% from
the rest of the world. Not many Kiwis stayed in the small Backpackers hostels
and the owners didn't seem to be sad about this, as some locals apparently
caused problems when drinking too much which spoiled the atmosphere.
There was internet access and a rare kind of washing machine using
hot water. Everybody was fond of the heavy and crusty continental style bread
that could be ordered and that kept the three "bread-makers"
(machines!) almost continuously working. As this bread was far better than
what could be found in New Zealands bakeries, the 22 guests ordered
up to 12 loafs a day. You see: even for a backpackers' price we got royal
treatment and a million dollar location; no wonder that 65% of all guests prolong
their stay at Hopewell .
Here in New Zealand many hostels know and fulfil the preferences
and wishes of their preferred guests so well, it is not
surprising that some of these "traveller heavens" in fact
became almost little ghettos for a predominantly German speaking crowd. Prices
in these Backpackers ranged from about Euro 13 p. person in a double room
or E 9-11 in a dorm, which normally had only between 3-6 beds.
After 5 days, we drove the two and a half hours windy gravel road
around the fjords back to the main-road and continued then over forested hills
to Nelson. Here
the main road was tree-lined and had quite a number of street café's. We got
the impression the little town had remained small and quiet.
Now we headed to Mapua
Leisure Park. It was here, where we had decided about 13 years ago, to
drop out and save for the trip we are on right now. Even though some things had
changed and the camp-ground was now "cloths optional" for only two
months per year (Feb./March), this place had still something magic to us. It
was situated on a tidal river mouth right on the beach. Feeling the
sun unhindered on our skin in this beautiful landscape, provided us with
just the right environment for thoughts about braking some taboos and we are
still convinced that we did the right thing when we quit our jobs and sold
everything almost 7 years ago to leave on 12.5.99 when Brigitte was 37 and
Heinz 39.
This time we were again in the process of forming our future
travel plans. To us, Mapua is still a wonderful place and this not only because
there were sandflies that didn't bite; it also is reflecting the great
tolerance of New Zealand s society. All of the 50 plus chalets and motel units
had been taken over the weekend, mostly by non-naturists. Many also just used
it as a base and went to some function in the area. Although many Kiwis are
quite prudish and rather keep their swimming gear on even in the shower, they
normally don't have a problem if others bare it all, even if they stay on the
next site, but they wouldn't stare at them either.
By Monday the crowds had left and the remaining guests were
predominantly naturists, at least until the next weekend. The sauna was a good
place to socialise, as it was heated daily at a certain time and many long-term
guests were there and loved to tell stories.
After a few days, we continued to Blenheim, where
we had to take part in "NZ Census
night". Now we found out why the total number of the population mix of the
census 2001 always had added up to about 120%. The residents are levelled to
100% but as the government want to include anybody who is in the country at the
"count day", e.g. tourists, language students, business delegates or
airline crew etc, the number adds up and up... As this survey was carried out
on March 7, 06, which was still the hight of the tourist season, the number of
people got a bit out of proportion, because the 4 million Kiwis receive a total
of about 2 million visitors annually. Some small touristy places probably have
increased their population several times over that day.
Such a place was Kaikoura, our next destination. Along its coast it is
possible to get quite close to several seal colonies and schools of dolphins
can be seen quite regularly. The biggest business, however, are whale watching
tours that draw big numbers of tourists. As we had seen plenty of whales in
Western Australia six months ago, there was no money to be made with us.
From here we went zick-zacking over the mountains from the east-
to the west- and back to the east-coast. First we came through a very scenic
river valley with many "one lane bridges" along the road. We stayed
overnight at Hanmer
Springs, a resort village that is famous for its thermal pools. It was
funny to watch the bathers arrive in their cars wearing swimming costumes and
towels around their waist, but even more so to see them leave the same way,
wearing maybe a T-shirt over the wet stuff. It was quite cool and windy here,
but due to peer pressure, they preferred not to get changed in the wardrobe.
We were lucky that someone directed us to a small natural
hotspring on a river, where we could bare it all, as the young local lady had
done, who was already there when we arrived. After an hour chatting in the warm
water, we tried to hop back into our cloths quicker than the sandflies could
bite us. Then we continued over Lewis Pass and later reached a very nice
Backpackers hostel outside of Westport. It was a so-called "Eco
Lodge" with solar power, composting toilets that didn't smell and drinking
water collected from the roof.
Not far from there, we visited the rock formations called "Pancake Rocks"
in Punakaiki Np.
on the west coast. It's easy to see why this name was given, as the many
limestone formations looked like stacks of pancakes indeed and there were also
some amazing blow holes rushing the crushing waves up into the air. We visited
on a very busy Sunday morning and considering the nice pathways and visitor
centre that had been built, it was a pleasant surprise that there was no
entrance fee.
Via Greymouth and a very steep pass road, we drove up to the
settlement of Arthur's Pass. We stayed in a cosy Mountain lodge where
a log fire was kept burning around the clock. As autumn was slowly approaching,
the nights started to get chilly and so all those backpackers we had been
staying at on the South Island sofar, had had a log fire in the evenings. Of
course up here, at 925 meters above sea level, it was quite a bit colder than
on the coast but we still felt it was a bit overdoing to keep a fire going
during the day when temperatures reached 15°C degrees outside. For hiking,
however, these temperatures were ideal but we still started sweating quite
soon as we climbed up Scotts track to enjoy spectacular views of the
surrounding valley, snow capped mountains and glaciers.
Also the drive out from Arthurs Pass towards Christchurch was most
beautiful with several little lakes and very different looking mountains.
In Christchurch
we could stay with our friend Graeme whom we hadn't seen since he visited us 6
years ago in Costa Natura. He lives now with Donna and her daughter Grace.
After coming back from a 16 year round the world trip, he now owns
Vagabond Backpackers in the city centre. It was nice to see him again and
we exchanged lots of traveller tales. Only twice we went to the city
centre which was pretty charming.
But because it was both times on a
weekend, many people where out on a pub-crawl and it become even more obvious,
that New Zealanders have a serious drinking problem. Even after the streets
gets quit again, broken glass can be seen as remaining
witnesses everywhere, as it is a habit all over New Zealand to throw empty
bottles on to the road, be it in the countryside or in the towns.
Another day, Brigitte got even two birthday surprises. Because
Heinz had asked Graeme to sneak with a birthday present for her out of the
supermarket where the three of us were shopping, he and Donna later also
organized a beautiful birthday cake that delighted Brigitte very much.
After 5 days we continued to Akaroa, a popular weekend destination on the Banks
Peninsula . As French originally settled it, most street names and many
restaurants and shops still had French names. What was on offer, was
(unfortunately) mainly Kiwi style. Never mind, we now had managed to get a 3
day reservation at "Le
Bons Bay Backpackers" that is famous for its communal gourmet
style dinners. It's kind of amazing that the owner Gary, who already cooked
meals for his other uncountable guests and us 13 years ago, still enjoys doing
it and even improved his skills so much, all Backpackers in New Zealand talk
about it.
A maximum of 17 people can stay here and normally all of them sit
down on the big table to enjoy the food from the 6-8 exquisite gourmet platters
that all come freshly prepared onto the table. Washing up of dishes is
done by the guests who continue chatting to each other all evening, sitting
around the log fire thereafter.
Also during the day this was the best we cold do, as the weather
became foggy and drizzly. Autumn had definitely started and this weekend summer
daylight-saving time had been abolished.
Still, the forecast promised a couple of sunny days and so we took
the opportunity and booked at Pineglades
Naturist Club in Christchurch. This place was again in the midst of an
urbanized area and here the gate even remained open day and night. This club
didn't look like a campground, but rather like a small village with lots of
neat little houses with a small campground in the centre. Quite a number of
people lived here permanently and although the club can look back on 50 years
of history, many things looked new and very well maintained. There was a very
modern and big clubhouse, a separate building with sauna and a huge spa pool.
Further, somebody opened a kiosk selling ice cream and snacks. The members were
very active on the sports-fields. Many tended wonderful gardens, not only
around their own house, but had created an arboretum and a beautifully
landscaped stone-garden with fountains for all to enjoy.
After spending the first night in a small cabin, we couldn't resist the
temptation to move into what the club called the "big bach" (Maori
name for hut). It only cost $ 10 more and this was now a proper house with
lounge; kitchen and separate bedroom, there were beds for 6 people but no
bathroom inside.
Despite a cold wind and the average temperature being only about 13° C degrees,
it felt sizzling hot sunbathing on our sheltered terrace. After 5 days at
Pineglades, we left with more suntan than we could had expected, at this time
of the year.
By continuing along the inland scenic way south, we passed many farms and only
a few still bred sheep. New Zealand has changed: also cattle, deer, ostrich's
and the latest fashion: Alpacas
are now common. Alpacas are relatives of lamas and especially
“life-styler”, often immigrants, favours them. In case this trend hasn't swept
Europe as yet, we explain that these are usually 40-50 year old drop-outs that
usually had held quite successful jobs but now they prefer to think about their
life quality and prefer to take an easier task and change to a new life style -
whatever that may be. This has become so much of a fashion; it generated a new
business all in its own. Because many of them prefer to find a house in the
countryside, real estate agents sometimes now advertise properties by
simply writing on their signs "lifestyle for sale" ... This can mean
they try to cash an old farm for good money, as many of the new “drop out's”
are quite well off.
We stopped in Geraldine, a small
village that was quite touristy. Buses to Mount Cook usually stopped here to
give the "package crowd" the unique opportunity to find the rarest
souvenir in the country.
As we reached Burkes Pass the next day, we drove into sunny weather, as the
clouds stuck on one side of the pass which is apparently very common. Soon we
reached Lake Tekapo, which we
could enjoy in its beautiful blue colour with autumn trees lining its shore.
We stayed at Kay and Brian's place named Aoraki Naturally, just 17 km further
on. As they have contributed many articles to the English "Naturist
Life" magazine, just as we did, Kay welcomed us, as if she had known us
for years. Having read many of her articles, we felt the same. This place was
situated in the middle of a "hot pan". The pan's floor was actually a
high plateau surrounded by mountains. It was a very barren and dry land and
often when we woke up it was foggy or cloudy. By 11 o'clock, the sky had become
clear and the air warmed up. We could sunbathe in view of the last clouds that
now looked like frozen waterfalls stuck on the side of the mountains. The sun
felt really warm on our skin but after sunset it got ice cold almost
immediately.
We rented a room in a former shed and there was a kitchen and lounge with a log
fire in another one. One evening, it was quite late, when suddenly two parties
of Backpackers arrived, after they hadn't found any other accommodation, due to
some canoe-event. As all 4 left before the fog lifted the next morning, they
didn't even get a chance...
Aoraki Naturally was closing down soon, as Kay and Brian are going to open a
new naturist resort called Wai Natur near
sunny Blenheim around October 2006.
We wanted to make an excursion to Mount Cook, and Brian advised us which day to
pick. Apparently, visibility is not often very good, and if he can see the
mountain from the house, time is right - there might be no second chance soon.
So, we were lucky and admired New Zealand’s highest peak Aoraki /
Mt. Cook (3754m) already as we approached it. It was
towering behind Lake Pukaki that was filled with glacier water and was
reflecting together with other snow-capped peaks. Located at the end of the
road, was a settlement named Mt. Cook that only consisted of tourist
infrastructure.
We hiked up to a viewpoint over Tasman glacier, which looked
magic in the last sunlight. The ice of the glacier tongue was not really
visible as it was almost covered by gravel. On the glacier lake, however, some
floating icebergs reflected a bluish light.
Heading back to the east coast, we followed the very scenic
Waitaki River valley. On this river, a giant hydro-electric project with 6 dams
had been realized, so we followed the blue water lined with golden autumn leafs
till we reached Oamaru. There were various
places, where penguins could be observed coming ashore before dawn. We
had the chance to see several of the endangered yellow eyed penguin
hopping up the rocky beach on their way to feed their waiting chicks.
There were many observation shelters/viewing hides strategically placed on
promising locations.
Another special sight were the Moeraki Boulders;
big round stones on the beach of Moeraki. At high tide, most were
covered by water, whereas at low tide, they were all laying exposed.
They could measure between 40-300 cm in diameter and were the glued reminders
of sea-decay, often showing a kind of seam in quartz that held the hollow
interior together, as we could see of those that had broken open. Why they
are round, we didn't quite understand - maybe YOU find it out in the scientific
explanation on the website, und tell us in simple terms …
Shortly before Dunedin, the hills that had been very dry up until
here, suddenly became green. In this town, we got a somehow special room
in a Backpackers hostel. It had a 2 by 3 meters big and 1 m high podium on
which a couch had been placed. From there, we had a superb view down to the
hilly city. Dunedin was a sweet city, not
only because Cadbury's factory was in the middle. Lots of old Victorian stone
buildings gave this university town a charming character and there were many
ethnic restaurants offering tasty food at student prices.
Only 60 km down the road, we stayed at Happy Inn Backpackers, run
by Tony, a Swiss drop-out. He shared his alternative lifestyle with his guests
(probably more labour than Alpacas). He let them have organic vegetables from
his garden, baked bread in a wood stove and gave lessons in Tai-Chi, Yoga
or juggling. He renovated and created much of the hostel by himself, as for
example the one room he made look like a rustic Swiss alp hut.
The most special thing was a former iron steam tank, which he converted
into a very original sauna. Very unusual for New Zealand, this sauna could
be used in the buff and as Tony liked it to be full, when he heated it up, he
usually invited also a few European neighbours if he didn't have
enough guests. The best of all was that Tony washed the dishes of
everybody; doing your own dishes was strictly forbidden!
He believed in the Buddhist Philosophy and often if he argued
whether man should be eating meat or not eat anything at all, we were not sure
if that was what he believed in, or whether he just wanted to
be provocative in order to start a discussion.
Along gravel roads, we ventured out to discover the here very
green hills along the Catlins coast, where cows and sheep were grazing (we
didn’t see alpacas anymore). At Curio Bay we stayed at a very
new Hostel, superbly situated right on the beach. It had only one five-bed
dorm and two Doubles. Seals and schools of the rare Hector Dolphins could
regularly be seen, sometimes without even leaving the house. On the other side
of the peninsula, only 10 min. walk away, some more 'yellow eyed penguins'
could be seen coming ashore before dawn.
After three days we continued to Invercargill on the South
Island's southern tip. Many people said it was an ugly town, but we felt it
wasn't so bad. We found some nice buildings and also the Bluff
further south with its view-point had some nice scenery, although it was
quite industrialized.
Following the tourist drive southern scenic route, which
led along the shore until it turned inland after 60 km, we slowly
approached the mountains. After passing Lake Manapouri, we reached Te Anau
on the lake of the same name. As this is the gateway to the Fiordland
National Park, there was a fortune to be made in selling
souvenirs, providing food and accommodation to the happy tourists. Most of the
places to stay enjoyed lake views and the main road of the village was lined
with restaurants and shops. From here it was 120 km along a very scenic
road out to Milford
Sound, the main attraction of the area. We were very lucky
to see it on a sunny day, because most days it is raining; 6000 mm (6 M!)
is their annual average blessing of rain (east of this mountains it's only
about 330mm). The fjord is cut out deep from the high mountains and the
vegetation is of course, incredibly green. Moss seemed to cover everything, in
places even the middle of the sealed road. Dozens of streams run down
from every mountain, that mostly were already snow capped now in mid
April. There were clear mirror-lakes and tumbling waterfalls that had carved
out big round holes in the rocks. Most tourists also enjoyed a boat
trip out to the fjord and everyone had to picture the majestic Mitre Peak,
if they got a chance to see it.
We left to Queenstown,
which has developed to become a look-alike St. Moritz. A bit cheaper
still, but with an international airport that is also being called at by cheap
airlines, so it was not exclusively for superrich jet-setters. The scenery with
lake and mountains was really breathtaking, but most people had come here for another
reason: action-sports! In Queenstown,
the "super-active" adrenaline junkies found lots of
possibilities to spend lots of money. Jet-boating, white water rafting
and tandem-skydiving were long established, as was the still most popular
activity of jumping off a bridge or gondola.
To increase the chance that these tough Masochists could pay for
a 2nd and 3rd jump, the Bungy operators fixed a latex rubber cord around
their customer's ankles before they jumped. Years ago, they offered the $
130-200.- kick for free to those who didn't hesitate to jump in the nude, but
as too many budget conscious backpackers lost their inhibitions in the
face of such a saving, they stopped the promotion. Many adventure sports had
actually been invented here and some have now been established all around the
globe. Queenstown was also New Zealand's party capital and as in the rest of
the country, most party-goers needed a party-pill in order to have fun.
It was now the Easter weekend and according to the
national news, a famous Kiwi actress worried a lot because her boyfriend
decided to go skydiving, whereas the rest of the nation was in shock because
petrol prices rose another 6 cents to NZD 1.699 p.lt. for unleaded (Euro 0.88).
But all this suffering wasn't enough to reduce the Easter traffic.
It seemed that everyone was heading to the southern Alps during the
holidays and therefore the Backpacker's accommodation were suddenly packed
again. Not only the locals, but also ten thousands of foreign students were
now travelling around and all had made reservations in the hostels beforehand.
So, we had to phone around quite a bit, till we got places to stay during the
next 3 weeks.
Continuing through mountain valleys sparkling in beautiful
autumn colours, we briefly visited the charming village of Arrowtown, before
heading to Wanaka. The scenery around this village was
equally pretty, but it was much smaller and quieter than Queenstown. Tourism
was also the main income here and in winter they both represent the main
skiing areas. Many wealthy "life stylers" had their luxury
villas in the hills along lake Wanaka.
During the five days we were there, we wore down our hiking boots
quite a bit in this fascinating landscape, either by walking along the lake
or up Mount Iron (559 M above sea level).
Just as we were going to leave to the west coast, the owner
of the "Purple Cow Backpacker's", informed us that the road over
Haast-Pass had been closed due to a mud slide. So we had to check-in again and
as the hostel was still fully booked, we only could get a room to
ourselves once somebody on the other side of the Haas Pass had cancelled
their reservation. Instead of waiting, we made another beautiful 4 hours walk
along the lake.
The next day, as we could get past Haast Pass we
saw how a tiny river had covered 300m of road with big rocks and mud. As soon
as we came to the other side, the vegetation changed dramatically and we
came into dense green rainforest. We stopped quite often, as there were many
walking tracks through moss-clad forest. Once down on the west coast, we stayed
in the village of Haast,
from where we went on a side trip to Jackson Bay, together with three Swedish
girls from the hostel. They usually travelled by bus, so they were quite
delighted to get off the main road for once. We stopped in various places with
nice forest walks, but unfortunately the crested penguins didn't come to the
rendez-vous. Instead, we were rewarded by most beautiful sunset colours
reflecting on the hills.
Our next destination was Fox Glacier. It was possible to walk up the
valley, right to the glacier tongue and the bluish ice was an impressive
sight. The next morning, we walked around little Lake
Matheson that reflected the snow capped mountains in the
background, now the clouds were gone. The path through this dense forest along
the lake was very beautiful in itself and we admired many plants that were
decorated by raindrops from last night that were now glittering in
the sun.
Only 25 km north of the first glacier, was a very similar one: Franz Josef Glacier. The Austrian explorer
Julius Haast named it after the Austrian Emperor in 1865, whereas
"Fox" was named after New Zealand's prime Minister who
visited in 1872. Presently, both glaciers were receding, but not so long ago,
they had been moving forward up to 5 meters per day for a while, which is ten
times faster than glaciers in the Swiss Alps.
Again we walked up to the ice from below, but many people went for
guided glacier walks or scenic flights by helicopters, so the air was
constantly humming.
By the time we reached the tourist accommodation centre of Franz Josef Glacier, it was still
packed with tourists, but this was now the last place where we had to phone
several hostels until we got accommodation in a double-room.
From Hokitika,
our next stop, we travelled very slowly again, as the area of the West coast
was literally dotted with small and charming backpacker's places again. So
many had been recommended to us, that we stopped much more often than
"necessary" to complete our sight seeing program.
In Hokitika, the village was more charming than we had expected
and the brand new hostel named "Bird song", was decorated with huge
and stylish paintings of birds.
Next, we stayed at "Global Village Backpackers"
in Greymouth. This was
the most tastefully decorated place we've stayed at and even though with 40
beds it had been one of the bigger places we've slept at in New Zealand, it had
a very good atmosphere. The owners were a couple in their fifties,
she a Japanese and he a Kiwi, who had travelled all over the world and the
hostel had become a museum of their souvenirs. In every room, including
the bathrooms, they had put silk paintings, batik’s, wooden masks, statues and
lots more and the outside areas were just as tastefully decorated. Also
functional items like carpets, tables, cupboards or hangers were often imported
handcrafted items. The hostel was by the river and it had also nice
outdoor sitting areas, sauna, gym and a spa pool. They let their
guests use bicycles and kayaks plus fishing rods for free and if that wasn't
enough, the owners distributed fresh muffins every evening. There were no other
reasons why anybody would want to hang around Greymouth. In no other town
we had seen so many ramshackle and run down houses with backyards that looked
like rubbish dumps or accumulations of scrap iron, but people were still living
there. Somehow it reminded us a little bit of third world countries, where even
backpackers live in luxury compared to the poor locals.
At the hostel we talked to one of two Swiss guys who had been
rescued by helicopter. It was reported on TV and was another good example how
the media made a major headline out of a minor incident. The two had climbed
the rocks on the side of a glacier behind the barrier. As it suddenly
started raining, the glacier-milled rocks became enormously slippery. His
friend couldn't get a grip and slid down 30 meters, breaking a leg. The media
reported that he had fallen 150 m down and that they had attempted to climb
barefoot. It was just not reported that they had removed their hiking boots to
find out whether they would have a better grip with their bare feet on the wet
rocks. Further, the New Zealand news channel told that the two unfortunate
adventurers wore shorts and T-shirts but didn't mention that they also wore
jumpers and jackets.
Nobody on TV mentioned what puzzled the Swiss most: why a rescue
helicopter had first to be ordered from the east-coast, and none of
the "sight-seeing" humming birds - about 15 in that area, were
equipped with a winch to lift injured people up. One
presumptuous journalist got entry to the hospital room of the guy with the
broken leg, pretending he was a friend. In New Zealand's gossip society,
Paparazzi bother not only the rich and famous!
We travelled to the northern end of the West Coast road, a
bit further up than Karamea, where we visited the Oparara
Basin. It was an area of limestone formations and caves and
after hiking through beautiful rainforest, we reached several natural arches.
One was almost like a giant tunnel: 200m long and 90m wide, with a ceiling
37m above us. A river run through another arch that had more of a cave feeling,
as there were stalactites hanging down over the orange coloured riverbed.
Our accommodation was situated on a hill in a forest
clearing high above the sea. To reach it, we had to walk for 15
minutes between the trees, but we didn't need to carry our backpacks up,
as the hostel owner carried our 50 kg luggage (mostly food) on his 4x4
Quad-bike up the hill on the narrow track.
Now we had seen all of the beautiful rugged west coast, but
as we were so fascinated by this dense rainforest, we didn't want to leave as
yet, because inland it wouldn't look as green anymore. We remembered that
wonderful house in the middle of the Nikau palms and tree ferns, we had
recently seen on an advertisement folder of a backpackers brochure and it
really looked alike the house where we had stayed with some friends we had made
on our last trip 14 years ago. We were curious to find out whether
it now belonged to the "Nikau Retreat Backpacker's"
near the Pancake Rocks and so we decided to check it out. The hostel rented out
rooms in several buildings dotted around the rainforest, and the owner let
us choose between two of them. But then we saw it, almost hidden by trees and
it was neither of the proposed two houses. As "off season" had started,
guests were brought together in two other buildings. However, after
hearing our story, Hamish, the very nice owner who was also a travel guide
author, interrupted that houses' hibernation especially for us and let us stay
there again. We loved it and let our memories come alive.
We had a great evening, as the reception sent two very
interesting guys over to stay in that house as well. One was a traveller from
Switzerland and the other was a famous hiker who called himself "Kingston
Flyer". We had met him already 9 days ago in Haast. He offers re-location
of cars for people who want to hike the 5 day Heaphy Track, driving them almost
500km along a big detour to the other end of the North Western part of
the South Island. He then runs back along the Heaphy track in two days
only, returning the car keys to the hikers as he meets them along the way.
Having heard about his "business" beforehand, we had
imagined he would be a muscly 30 year old; but this skinny and sinewy little
man was close to 70! Presently he was just walking the 1'200 km length of
the South Island. Who thinks old people are frail? In comparison to
him, anybody complaining about sore muscles is a softie!
In the morning, we gained strength from the best bread we
have ever bought in New Zealand and surely it hadn't been baked by a
Bakery but by the Backpacker's. That day we went on a 4 hours walk along some
small river through more rainforest, which was very pleasant, except: suddenly
the track disappeared in another much wider river almost at the end of the
loop. After hesitating for a while, we took our shoes off and braved the cold
water, that wasn't very deep at least. From there, it wasn't very far to the
beach and all around us we started seeing multi-layered rocks, sometimes as
an exposed rock face or as washed out pillars. Now we were very near the
pancake rocks, which we visited along the way again.
The next day we took the inland route towards Nelson-Golden Bay.
As the weather had become quite a bit warmer again during the days (~17°), we
decided to go to Nelson Sun
Club in Upper Moutere for a few days. There was not even a
gate where we entered and it felt like a little hamlet with several full-size
houses on a hillside. This club had about 15 permanent residents and there were
5 rooms for rent in a club house. During the day it felt nice and warm when we
sunbathed on the wind sheltered veranda, but at night it was difficult to heat
the big house with the small wood oven. The members used their inventive
skills and heated all water with wood; shower and jacuzzi - only the washing
machine was left running with cold water, as common Down Under.
Of our trip, the only missing leg was the area around the Golden
Bay, so we drove up to Collingwood.
From there we ventured out to see the 24km long sandbar called Farewell Spit vanish in the mist
as it was like a long but very narrow peninsula.
In rather stormy weather and fighting against very very strong
wind, we also went down to Wharariki Beach
that fascinated us with numerous caves and rock arches. As the rain eased and
the sun appeared, we wanted to take pictures, but for the first time our
digital camera went on strike. As soon as we were back on the carpark, this
thing worked again. There was another couple braving the elements of that rock
holes and stone arch beach and by coincidence we met them again on the carpark
of another attraction the next day. They told us, that the same strange thing
had happened to their camera and now we are not sure whether Wharariki
Beach is some enigmatic mystery place or whether these modern electronic
toys can't stand modest 120km/h winds.
What we were now looking at, were amongst the clearest springs of
the Southern Hemisphere. Pupu Springs throw up to
14'000 lt./sec. to the surface and thanks to a mirror placed below and above
the water on a platform, it was possible to observe the purity of this element
even better.
We also ventured on side roads into the northern and southern part
of Abel Tasman National Park, where we made
some short loop-hikes over and along golden sandy inlets. As the water in the
bays was very shallow, it created wonderful patterns of sandy islands, or
became completely dry in big areas during low tide.
Throughout the country, the Department of Conservation had created
an extensive network of hiking paths, which are very well maintained. They
often incorporate viewing platforms, boardwalks and impressive swing bridges,
making the country's most beautiful parts accessible to hikers even in remote
areas. With a simple plastic- or wire-grid laid over wooden boardwalks or
bridges, they made sure everybody had a good grip even in wet conditions - a
clever invention.
We didn't plan it, but from Takaka, where we had stayed the
night before, it was only a short drive to Mapua, where we decided to stay the next night. It
fell exactly on the 13.05.06, the date of our 7th travel anniversary and you
remember that we wrote earlier on, how Mapua had been the
decision-making point for this trip. To celebrate, we booked a table in the
gourmet restaurant Flax, where we got the finest food and highest bill we
ever had in New Zealand.
Exactly here we also completed our roundtrip around the country
and looking back, we have once more had an interesting trip. On the North
Island, we were mainly impressed by the volcanic areas, whereas the South
Island's most exciting sight for us, had been the fjordlands and the
rainforests. As there were so many charming little Backpacker's hostels,
travelling has been very comfortable and enjoyable. We also realized that New
Zealand had remained a bit backward in many respects, but often in a charming
way, as an English traveller remarked. Things were not as hectic and people
were not that much running after the money all the time, as they often do
in Europe.
Already before we had arrived in Nelson, we had put an add for our
car into a local paper. Only two hours after we had checked into the
"Green Monkey Hostel", somebody rang and came by to look at our Ford
Telstar. Even though the person was very interested, the deal didn't materialize,
as he couldn't get enough money for his old car. As we didn't get any
other phone calls, we decided to try our Good Luck somewhere else. First we
considered Christchurch, but as we heard this town was currently flooded with
travellers trying to sell their cars, and as the weather forecast predicted
snow for that city, we argued that Auckland has so much more population, our
chances of finding a local buyer would probably be much better up there. On the
internet we placed an add in Auckland's "Trade & Exchange"
Paper and on their website and then rushed the 800 km stretch up there in only
1½ days.
As soon as we drove off the ferry in Wellington, we got
a call on our mobile phone from somebody who was interested in seeing the
car. As it got dark shortly after 5 p.m. now, we drove on well into the night.
We stayed overnight in an old school-hostel all by ourselves. As we were
too restless to sleep well, we got up again at 5:30 a.m. and continued our
marathon. By 7 o'clock the rising sun reflected wonderful colours on the clouds
over the Ruapehu/Tongariro volcanoes and we now saw small patches of snow left
on the roadside. Up here and along Lake Taupo, the ground was frozen and on a
petrol station we learned that parts of the National highway Nr. 1 had been
closed a few days ago because of heavy snowfall.
However, we could now continue our way in beautiful sunshine and
we reached Auckland at 13:30 h on Friday, May 19, 2006. Here temperatures were
considerably warmer than on the South Island, especially at night when they
remained at around 12°C instead of 3°C and the days that were up to 20°C warm
instead of only 15°C in Nelson, the South Island's warmest spot.
Looking back to our 3 summer months on the North Island
(Nov.-Feb.) and our 3 autumn months on the South Island (Mar.-May), it was
surprising that we encountered so much more sunny weather on the South Island
where it had rained very seldom only and if, then mostly during the night. It
was also surprising that February and March were much cooler than April and
May.
In Auckland
we checked into Bamber Hostel, because they had a carpark. Of the 15 cars
there, half bore signs in their windows "for sale". Some had
apparently reduced their price by more than half - especially those with
sleeper-vans. The next morning, all of us moved down to Auckland's City Car
Fair in the hope to find a buyer for their vehicles. The atmosphere was now
completely different to November, when masses of prospective buyers outnumbered
the cars for sale by far. Now there were lots of cars for sale and almost
nobody browsing to buy. The biggest section on the car fair was filled with
sleeper-vans in any price range: 25 minibuses, about 15 small cars; station
wagons and sedans in the price range "below $ 3'000" and only one in
the section "over $ 3'000": ours! Despite all this, the people who
had phoned us when we had left the ferry, rang again around 9 o'clock and soon
thereafter they were inspecting our beauty, taking her on a test drive. Could
you believe that this was one of very few cars that changed ownership that
morning? We got paid $ 3'200 for it, which was only $ 100 less than what we had
paid: quite a bargain for a 6 months "car rental". Those with sleeper
vans had much more problems to get rid of them, because now it was too cold for
camping. Often the owners had to let them go as cheap as chips, even though
they had paid up to $ 5'500 for close to 20 years old vans with up to 400'000
km.
We were soooo lucky and for the rest of the day we were just
HAPPY.
The next day we started worrying again, because we had a VERY big
problem to solve: where to go next and after that, in which order and with
which airline and we needed to find a travel agent that was able to book it at
the cheapest price. After three days of brain storming, checking on the
internet and bothering travel agents, we were even happier. We had now booked
three tickets, two of them on the internet, as New Zealand travel agents were
not able to book flights out of another country, but their small islands. Never
the less, they had us sign a disclaimer form confirming that they advised
us not to enter Asia on a one-way ticket as an onward flight would be mandatory
- preferably to Switzerland...
Ten days later, on June 3, 2006, we will have started a new trip,
which brings us first from Auckland to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and then to
Singapore, where we will spend one week each. After that we will fly to Koh
Samui/Koh Pangan, where we want to relax and prepare ourselves for a new
continent: on July 20 we shall fly to Africa. There, we'd like to discover
South Africa and Namibia in the following weeks or months. Depending
on how long it will take till we're satisfied by seeing
enough animals or; if worst comes to worst; till the animals are satisfied with
us... We guess it's a totally new world down there and according to the
guidebook it all sounds ever so exciting! We are looking forward to
experiencing new adventures.
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