Of the 40 days in New Zealand, we spent 4 weeks on the South Island and a little less than two weeks on the North Island. Initially New Zealand was not one of our top 10 destinations, but since everyone was sooo enthusiastic about this country, we felt we should decide for ourselves.

Our arrival was rather unpleasant as described in our first New Zealand entry on this website and it took almost a week until we caught the New Zealand fever. To be honest, it is almost impossible to resist the spectacular scenery: the green pastures dotted with sheep, the glaciers, the temperate rainforest, the fjords, the endless beaches, the volcanoes...

Travelling in New Zealand is easy is every respect: there is an immense choice of different types of accommodation, cheap car rentals and all this is well-organised and very service orientated. Life in rural areas can be so relaxed that you may walk into a hostel, choose a room and then call the owner who may live somewhere else. Who can forget the ever present “honesty box” to pay for bunks in mountain huts, for fruits on a farm, entry on private property…

Of course, this sense of trust and safety we deeply appreciated, as well as the space and the quiet, peaceful life. On the other hand, this leaves little room for surprises and eventually this is what we started to miss after a while. At our previous destinations, just walking down the street usually brought about a funny or exciting moment, something new or exotic! In New Zealand, excitement has turned into big business with over-abundant activities like bungy jumping, skydiving, river rafting, jetboating, canyoning and what ever else there is!

We truly enjoyed immersing into the “backbacker” community for those six weeks, sharing kitchens and bathrooms, shopping at New World or Food Town and cooking every single dinner. The blue or green multi-use shopping bags easily gave us away as a member of the backpacker crowd, a sort of common badge. By the time we left New Zealand, we had cooked almost every single meal over a period of four months in a row, something we both had never accomplished before.

We left in gorgeous autumn weather looking forward to new adventures in China. Funnily, it were the very first and very last hours in this country that offered the only surprise. When leaving on April 21st, we found our flight to Hong Kong cancelled. We were re-routed through Sydney and arrived 12 hours late in Hong Kong. For this inconvenience we received 160 NZ Dollars each. It almost seems like divine justice, since it compensated for the extra expenses we had during our troubled arrival in New Zealand. No worries, as they like to say there.

The highlights of those six weeks were:

(x) The Catlins: endless beaches and rolling green hills, as well as enjoying Saturday night in Colca Bay’s only pub. (x) Overnight Cruise in Doubtful Sound: stunning landscape, excellent service & learning about New Zealand’s fauna and flora. (x) Breathtaking Whariki Beach in Golden Bay with its playful seal pubs. (x) Relaxing at Hopewell in the Malborough for a few days, the highest ranked BBH hostel in New Zealand, well deserved! (x) Tongariro Alpine Crossing, one of the most spectacular treks we hiked. (x) Staying on the Kane’s farm with Colin and Pam learning about farming in New Zealand. (x) Discovering New Zealand’s politics with Julie and Rob in Wellington and meeting with Rodney Hide, head of the Liberal Party.

We spent almost 6 weeks in New Zealand, four on the South Island and a little less than two on the North Island. New Zealand is not a budget destination, nevertheless, we managed to spend 59 Euros per person per day, less than what we had budgeted. This is rather unexpected! How comes we did not spend much more?

First, accommodation is very cheap for a Western country! The type of lodgings labelled “Backpacker” and the BBH association especially offers great value accommodation. Standards can be very different but the rating in the BBH guide is pretty reliable. On average, we spent a little less than 28 Euros per night for a double room with shared bathrooms.

Moreover, car rentals CAN be very cheap: we paid 21 NZ Dollars (11 Euros) a day for a 39 days rental for a big car including basic insurances and the ferry for the car between the South and the North Island. If you start late into the summer, it is crucial to start down south, for instance in Christchurch and return the car in Auckland. Car rental companies indeed struggle with the fact that virtually everyone starts in Auckland and drops off the car somewhere in the South Island. Doing the opposite, we managed to save a lot of money!

Yes, we never ate out, except for a few lunches, because restaurants are as pricy as in Austria. We spent approx. 90 Euros per week on food and drinks per person and cooked delicious meals. Meat and fish are a lot cheaper than back home, but fruits and vegetables can be expensive. Wine is surprisingly pricy in New Zealand, the cheapest selling for about 10 NZ Dollars for okay quality. Better wine was simply out of our price range!

The very expensive part of travelling in New Zealand is all the activities that are offered literally at every corner. We heard young people in some hostels talking about their bungy jumping here and their skydiving there and what not. If you are into these activities, plan enough money, for those activities are REALLY expensive! We hardly bothered, the only crazy thing Gilles did was a Skydive over Lake Taupo, a present from Heidi for his birthday.

Auckland is New Zealand’s biggest and culturally most diverse city: When walking through the centre, it seems like strolling through Hong Kong or Tokyo: 20 % of Auckland’s population comes from Asia. Many of them come here to study or learn English, but most are first or second generation New Zealanders.

After 6 weeks in New Zealand, we realized that it is not worth spending much time in cities and so we only spent two days there, before flying to Hong Kong. This was just enough to visit the city’s highlights: take the ferry to lovely Devonport and a tour through a harbour, explore the museum and the art gallery.

Our hostel was located in the neighbourhood of Mount Eden which made a stroll up this hill a must. From the top, you have a spectacular 360 degree view of Auckland, one of the few things that are free in this town! Our last day in New Zealand was a beautiful autumn day, so we made a trip up the famous 328 metre Sky Tower, our very last sightseeing.

Famed for its stunning coastal scenery, this place with its 144 islands MUST be explored by boat. So we booked an overnight cruise from Rotorua, where we were grounded due to torrential rainfall for two consecutive days, just keeping our fingers crossed that the weather would improve or be different up north. Our boat, the Rock, has a very interesting history - it used to be a car ferry and was transformed into a very comfortable cruise boat to sleep 36 passengers.

Speaking of history - The Bay of Islands was the site of the first European settlement. There, the Treaty of Waitangi was also signed by 46 Maori chiefs and representatives of the English Crown in 1840.

Our group left Wednesday late afternoon in drizzling rain that turned into thunderstorms. That was probably the reason why nobody caught any fish, our dinner. Well, the crew had actually a good back up plan, so we munched away on a delicious meal after all.

The crew consisted mainly of young English people on a working holiday. They were good fun and extremely motivated to make us feel comfortable. Also on board was the very guy who changed the ferry into a cruise boat and the couple who owns the business, also fantastic people. This trip is definitely worth the 165 NZ Dollars. There are a few twin rooms, bit it is mostly four and six bed dorms, but since the trip was not fully booked, we had lots space.

Sun! We woke up underneath a bright sky and balmy temperatures, how lucky can you be! While enjoying breakfast, a group of dolphins followed our boat jumping around for a little while. We then spent the day kayaking to a small island called Peterson, there walked up to the highest point from where we had a spectacular view over Bay of Islands. Those who dared the 19 degree water temperature went snorkelling. In the meantime, the crew collected green mussels and sea urchins, which we ate together with our lunch sandwiches. Not everybody sample the sea urchins though!

After arriving back a port in Paiha, we went straight down to Whangarei where we stay at the Little Earth Lodge, another BBH with a well deserved very high ranking. Our original plan was to go scuba diving at the nearby world famous Poor Knights Island, but our doubts became heavier and heavier. Heidi worried about going 25 kilometres straight out into the Pacific. Her suspicion was justified: after googling a bit she came upon a travel report that mainly talked about people getting sea sick. Moreover, the 225 NZ Dollars (180 USD!) for a two tanks dive seemed simply outrageous: this is even much more than what we paid in French Polynesia! Well, maybe we missed a great diving spot…

The second attraction that makes people come to Rotorua is a strong presence of Maori culture, mostly manifested in over-commercialised evening shows. There, tourists from “different tribes” eat Hangi, food cooked on hot stones in pits dug in the ground and watch various dances. The more famous ones are the “Poi”, where female dancers swing ball tied to the end of a cord and the “Haka”, a dramatic dance with a lot of chanting, facial movements and tongue poking.

Of course, tourists are asked to join in some Maori singing and a “chief” was appointed to present the visitors. He had to give a speech addressing the real chief of the village and do the traditional nose greeting, which is pushing each others nose and not rubbing.

Despite the fact that these dinner shows are purely aimed at large tourist crowds, we decided to dish out the 80 NZ Dollars. We followed the recommendation of our hostel and went to the Mitai Maori Village, named after the family who runs this very lucrative business.

We must say the food was excellent and the show itself tried to introduce us to traditional Maori life style, culture and weaponry. We particularly liked the part on Moko - tattoos - that traditionally mainly covered the face and the buttocks. One technique was to literally chisel (!) them into the skin, we cringed thinking of the pain this involved. Luckily, the chief who lead through most of the presentation did so with a good sense of humour and a dash of irony, so it hardly ever was embarrassing. However, this is certainly not something we would do twice.

The real lives of Maori nowadays are less spectacular, although compared to other minorities, they gained a remarkable fair representation in politics from early on. It is obvious though that Maoris do not belong to the upper crust of New Zealand’s society, especially when looking at the statistics on juvenile crime: sadly, young Maoris are over-represented.

We had hoped to buy some wood carving here in New Zealand that the Maori are so famous for. Unfortunately the pieces we liked were either too expensive or too big to be mailed off, and not that impressive at that, especially compared to what we saw for instance on the Cook Islands.

In case you wonder where this nickname comes from, wander through the street of this small town and the odour of rotten eggs says it all. This is geothermal country with exploding geysers, bubbling mud pools and the omnipresent smell of sulphur.

The potential of this thermal wonderland was recognized from early on. Tourists travelled here to marvel at the geothermal landscape as early as the late 19th century and spas were built around 1902, promising cure from gout and rheumatism.

Unfortunately, fall finally caught up with us here! After five weeks of mostly sunshine and blue skies, it rained us in: it simply did not stop, with temperatures dropping to uncomfortable levels, even during the day. This is especially unpleasant in a place where almost all activities are outdoors. As a consequence, we feel it is slowly getting time for us to move on towards the heat and humidity of Southeast Asia. Of course, once there we will immediately start complaining about the climate. That is for sure… Well, anyway, less than one week to go before we fly to Hong Kong!

We used the rainy day to visit the Museum of History and Art with a strong focus on Maori history. The most impressive part was the section on the 28th Maori Battalion that fought in Greece, Italy and North Africa in World War II. It pays a very strong, very emotional, very personal tribute to the many Maori men whose life was wasted in this horrid war.

One of the displays quotes Rommel, the German general leading the Africa Corp. When he was asked by Hitler what he needed to win the war in North Africa, Rommel answered: “A battalion of Maoris”. These men fought with all their courage for a country they did not even know, a country that sent them to the deadliest missions there were. It makes you angry and sad to learn about this.

Heidi had a similar sensation when she visited a former Japanese labour camp two hours west of Bangkok, where the roads were lined with cemeteries of young Dutch and New Zealanders who died in Japanese forced labour camps, building the infamous railway line along the River Kwai.

Unfortunately, on the second day the weather did not turn any better, it became even worse! So we could not visit the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland as we had planed. Instead, we got very active planning our trip to Southeast Asia. Finally, we have the time to read travel reports we had downloaded a long time ago.

New Zealand is THE country to try some adrenaline-pumping activities, like bungy jumping, jetboating, white-water rafting, paragliding or … skydiving!

Heidi simply rejected any of these activities, but I really wanted to experience skydiving, so she offered to invite me to a jump for my birthday. My first attempt in Wanaka was shattered due to bad weather so I tried my luck in Taupo, just showing up at the airport on the way to Rotorua. “Cool, you are on the next flight, wait two minutes and we start the briefing”.

Skydiving? Basically, you jump from a plane at 15.000 feet, tied to a tandem instructor, during 60 seconds of free fall at more than 200 kph you drop down to approx. 5.000 feet and then hope the parachute will work!

As usually in New Zealand, everything was extremely professional, friendly, with a big focus on safety, nonetheless without killing the necessary extravaganza for such an activity. Taupo Tandem Skydiving was no exception. After a short briefing and a check with the tandem instructor, 6 tourists, as many instructors plus eventually a cameraman for each of those who chose to be filmed hopped on a small plane.

About 15 minutes later, we had reached the jumping altitude. Increasing altitude, increasing tension: “What I am actually doing here”? Of course, Mike, “my” tandem instructor, kept repeating all safety aspects and what was going to happen, just telling me: “You cannot do anything wrong, just do as good as you can”.

Then a small light turned green, the door slid open, which meant we were about to jump. Mike pushed both of us up to the opened door, with both our legs already outside the plane. “Turn your head for the photo” and actually before I could really start thinking, I felt someone pushing me outside and found myself in the emptiness…

Fascinating! Exhilarating! Sooo scaring! I have the impression all my senses are about to collapse and at the same time, a small voice in my head just keeps on saying: whaooo! Our bodies start turning, then stabilize, and then start turning again, in the other direction. The speed! We are so fast I can hardly breathe.

The cameraman reaches us, grabs my hand and makes a sign “thumb up”. I respond in a similar way, at least I try. Then Mike points downward: there is a big cloud below, becoming bigger and bigger and … No, we do not crash, we just keep falling through this big cloud. I breathe again…

After what seems an eternity, Mike opens the parachute, an immense impact slows our bodies. And then, we are just hanging in the air, it is kind of magic! We can breathe again. Mike removes my glasses, so I can enjoy the landscape even better. Of course, he makes us spin in circles, once in each direction, each time moving from a vertical to a horizontal position, with speed increasing dramatically. Just long enough to paralyse totally and then everything is back to normal.

The landing is extremely smooth, sliding a few meters on our bums. Back on earth but not to reality, I am still totally overwhelmed! It feels like weighing nothing and looking at my own self. At least for a few seconds, trying to understand what has just happened!

Will I do it again? Tempting!!!

“In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” (JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings).

It was not only pure patriotism that brought Peter Jackson to film his much acclaimed, many Oscars-winning Lord of the Rings Trilogy - Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers & The Return of the King - in New Zealand. Hardly in another country would he have found the diversity of spectacular landscapes to realize this film!

True, New Zealand provided an immense support throughout the whole project, with several hundreds army personnel acting in some of the immense battles displayed throughout the movie, with a Minister of the Ring (!!!) appointed to the New Zealand government at the time of release, etc…

Moreover, the consequences of the Trilogy on New Zealand have been immense. The first direct impact was to boost the local film industry. But it has also had a real positive impact on tourism, prompting many people, who watched the movie, to visit the very country where those spectacular landscapes can be found.

Of course, you can now find a copy of the book: “The Lord of the Rings: Location Guidebook” by Ian Brodie in any Tourist Information. It precisely describes which scene was shot where, even with GPS coordinates! And for sure, many agencies now run “Rings tours” to the main locations of the movie, especially near Wanaka, Queenstown and Tongariro National Park. New Zealand’s businesses are very creative to create needs and to ensure that tourists will spend a little or a lot more!

Nevertheless, tours are definitely not necessary! Quite a few times, Gilles could identify landscapes he had seen in the movie, which he enjoyed watching more than once! The region near Wanaka was of course one. We even wondered what had happened to the zillions sheep grazing all around. Were they also dressed up as Orcs?

But the climax was definitely reached when we did the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, where Peter Jackson shot all the scenes in the Land of Mordor. There, he surely did not have to bother much about special effects: the landscape is at times almost exactly as it can be seen in the movie. And the atmosphere is also not that far off. This is simply amazing!

There are many reasons to enjoy New Zealand. Someone who enjoyed the Trilogy Lord of the Rings will surely recognize many of the scenes in the movie while discovering this country.

Established in 1887, Tangariro National Park was New Zealand’s first national park. It is also one of the most active volcanic areas in the world, the last eruption dating back no later than 1996! Mount Ruapehu, the highest of the three volcanoes of the area with 2.797 meters, is the most active one. But Mount Tongariro, 1.967 meters and Mount Ngauruhoe, the youngest one, 2.287 meters, are also still active.

The Tongariro Northern Circuit, a three days walk, is classified as one of New Zealand’s Great Walks. Many ambitious hikers choose this option. Nevertheless, we opted for the 6 to 8 hour Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a hike passing between Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe.

If you may wonder what is so great about tramping through an area full of volcanic stones, come and see! The display of colours at Red Crater is mind-boggling, very much like the bizarre rock formations. Add swift moving waves of steam coming from vents in the ground and the strong odour of sulphur and you have the cocktail that makes that area so popular with visitors… On top of that, there are the lakes, their bright blue or emerald colours providing a sharp contrast to the immediate environment.

Equally fascinating is that you pass through various vegetation zones, from none at higher altitudes to Alpine scrubs and finally, after leaving Ketetahi Hut, through dense Podopcarp forest, some kind of temperate rain forest.

As always, New Zealand’ Department Of Conservation makes sure that the trail is superbly maintained and well-marked. It was also the most crowded hike we have ever done, since it was on a weekend and a gorgeous autumn day with nothing but blue skies. Sometimes, if the climb was bit tricky, you would need to wait for the “traffic jam” to dissolve in order to move further on.

Nevertheless, this hike was also one of the most extraordinary we have ever done. Lord of the Rings addicts may find it interesting to learn that this was there that all the scenes in the Land of Mordor were filmed, with Mount Ngauruhoe being Mount Doom.

Visiting New Zealand’s capital turned into a very special experience, for various reasons!

First of all, we were invited to stay with Julie and Rob, where we enjoyed each others companies over great food, first class New Zealand wine and discussions touching everything from farming to world politics. We also learned a great deal about New Zealand politics from them. We had met Julie in Bolivia about 6 months ago and kept in touch. She also arranged for us to stay with her parents on a farm in Wanaka, for us city people this was an unforgettable experience. We already wrote about it…

Moreover, we had the opportunity to meet a most charismatic member of parliament, Rodney Hide, leader of the Liberal Party. During his final days at university, he worked closely with our friend Barbara Lence, now a professor at the University of Vancouver, who initiated this contact. This was surely a very unique moment: being able to talk to a political leader.

While at the “beehive”, the very name for New Zealand’s Parliament, we joined a free tour through the various buildings of parliament and immediately afterwards observed a session in parliament with members of the opposition asking members of government rather challenging questions. To watch this “questioning session” was a rather uncivil affair with MPs shouting and interrupting each other while one was invited to speak.

At this session, Rodney Hide quizzed the Prime Minister about her minister of foreign affairs, who not only publicly opposed her free trade deal with China but also made some racist comments towards the Asian community. Rodney called him “a racist xenophobe”, a choice of words usually not accepted in parliament. Rodney was only asked to rephrase this question, nevertheless we must respect the courage of a politician fighting against unacceptable positions.

Altogether, we were surprised by the extremely lean administration: one chamber only, no provincial governments. If only European countries would move that way…

Te Papa is Wellington’s most interesting asset, a giant museum covering everything that concerns New Zealand: history from the Maori arriving about 1.000 years ago to European immigration in the early 19th century, with a strong focus on the relationship between Maori and the Pakeha, the Maori word for Europeans. A whole part of the museum is devoted to the evolution of the fauna and flora. There is so much to see and learn at this place that we went there twice and still had the feeling we only touched the surface.

Of course, we took the famous red cable car up the hill and strolled down through an impressive Botanic Garden with the path finishing at the rose garden.

These two days were very special for us, because they were so different to everything we experienced in the last two months. After saying good bye to Julie over an excellent coffee at Cafe Astoria, we headed north to Tongariro National Park for some serious hiking.

Of course lots of hostels make this slogan part of their promotion, but here at the Hopewell it is a fact. There is no better place to spend a rainy day on a comfy coach in front of a wood fired stove with a well-groomed cat curled up in your lap. We came here to experience what it is like to stay in the very BBH hostel that had received the best rating in the year 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, a mere 97 to 98%, year permitting.

So we travelled the windy road along the shores of Kenepuro Sound, one of the many sounds within the maze of giant Marlborough Sounds with a total of 1.400km of coastline. Apart from the usual activities like hiking, kayaking, fishing, here is a very new one is added: collect mussels and oysters on the beach and have them for dinner! A delight, especially knowing the prices for oysters in Europe…

During our three days here, we joined forced with Erez & Ora from Israel and Henni & Adam from Germany, who also only met each other a few days earlier. While the ladies explored the waters in their kayaks, the lads went fishing. They were eaten by sand flies, their boat drifted far off, since their chosen fishing spot was too deep to anchor, but they did not give in until they arrived home with enough fish to feed us all. While the men were at sea, Henni, Ora and Heidi soaked in the hot tub searching the horizon for their ambitious fishermen!

Later that evening, Heidi collected mussels and oysters to be cooked for dinner, also the guys brought some back, tiny ones, again. Energetically we turned to preparing the meal, but when the first spiders, worms and crabs appeared from between the mussels our enthusiasm faded quickly. On top of that, the owner of the hostel provided a huge bowl of really nicely cooked big mussels and we decided to return two of our three buckets to the ocean. Nevertheless Gilles opened his two dozens of oysters and devoured them with great pleasure, while the rest of us frankly could not quite see what was so great about swallowing slimy, salty little animals. Luckily, Gilles did not hurt himself opening them. Actually, he even taught guests from Malaysia, who wanted to go about this business using a hammer!

Of course we did a few short hikes, but mainly we spent our days and evenings in the super comfy communal area looking out onto the bay reading or working on our laptop. During those three evenings, we shared dinner with people from Holland, Germany, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, New Zealand, Israel, Great Britain & Canada, who all came here for one reason: to enjoy the serene atmosphere of this hostel. More active minded people could of course walk the four day Queen Charlotte Track, which passed not to far from here.

The movie “Darwin’s Nightmare” dealt with the heavy consequences the introduction of the Nile Perch had on Lake Victoria in Tanzania and eventually on the people of the area. During our trip, we repeatedly have heard about the problems arising from introducing animals and plants not native to a region or country. Usually guides, who conduct tours through a bird sanctuary or nature reserve, bring this issue to the attention of the visiting overseas tourists.

In Patagonia and especially Tierra del Fuego, we saw with our own eyes what incredible damage beavers brought in from Canada have caused. In the absence of natural predators, they multiplied at an uncontrollable pace and did what they are meant to do: build dams! The size of these dams is incredible and naturally, they fulfil their function, that is to say flood vast areas. More beavers mean more dams and hence more flooded areas that turn the countryside into a wasteland because all the trees simply drown. Yet, what we heard in New Zealand is clearly reaching another dimension!

New Zealand broke away from the southern super continent Gondwana that existed about 500 to 200 millions years ago. It became an independent group of 800 islands, not linked to any continent whatsoever. Thus no mammal had set foot on what is now New Zealand when the Maoris settled here, about 1.000 years ago. They found mostly fauna and flora endemic to New Zealand, especially many birds, often flightless, that had no predators.

The Maori brought dogs and rats from other islands. However, it was the Europeans colonization of these islands that introduced mammals on a large scale. Amongst these, rabbits were the first “settlers”. They soon became a terrible plague: since six rabbits eat the same amount of grass than one sheep, one can imagine the kind of passion farmers developed for these cute bunnies!

To fight the rabbits, the early farmers imported new predators, like cats, stoats, weasels, ferrets and the now most hated animal: possums. But these rather had a feast on the abundant endemic birds, many of them flightless and their eggs, than on the much quicker rabbits. Many birds have therefore become extinct or close to extinction.

Numerous projects have been launched to protect endangered species like the Kiwi, Black Stilt, Weka, Kea, Albatross etc… mainly by protecting the eggs and breeding birds in sheltered areas. Also Penguins and Seal colonies enjoy complete protection and their populations are slowly but steadily recovering.

But more challenging projects are underway: one location for such an endeavour is Secretary Island, New Zealand’s fifth largest island, located near the end of Doubtful Sound towards the Tasmanian Sea. All animals not native to New Zealand are “removed” from there, which means they are poisoned, trapped, and hunted down: rabbits, weasels, ferrets, deer, stoats etc...

After this onslaught, native birds to New Zealand, many near extinction, are reintroduced on the island. The project is already a success, with the island almost being “pest free”, the term coined for this undertaking, and endangered native animals are steadily recovering.

We have heard nature guides enthusiastically lecturing about it. Of course, it is all grand if these beautiful birds survive. Nevertheless, to us there was also a sour note to it, like the biblical search for the Garden of Eden on the one hand, but also a smart idea to create a future tourist cash-cow, like some kind of “Jurassic Park”.

There are many locations all over Zealand where such “pest free zones” are being established. Another approach to get rid of this pest is simply running them over in a car. New Zealand’s roads are littered with dead animal cadavers. Once, we stopped to chase a confused and injured possum of the road. We got pretty blank stares from drivers passing by…

We toured the whole South Island in three and a half week and managed to explore all the highlights thoroughly, which meant spending long hours in the car in between - Something every traveller to New Zealand had predicted. Since this country was the first destination we had not prepared a great deal, this had to be done while in the car or reading at night before or after writing our entries for the website.

This way, our days became even busier than they had been in Latin America. They still included the usual routine: finding a room, food shopping, doing the laundry, getting things fixed, cooking - all in all things we truly enjoy to do, but on the other hand, we felt a bit drained. So we decided to take a short break from the road. We also both have been carrying kilos of books around we have wanted to read, fiction but also guides to prepare our trip to southern China, Laos & Cambodia, but were unable to even open them!

Nelson, a quaint little town in the north of the southern island, was the place we chose. Of course we could not quickly fall into a routine of just doing nothing, so we walked the Maitai River to the city limit and gasped at the sight of the beautiful houses on its banks. Heidi also strolled through beautiful Queens Garden and neighbouring galleries, something she had missed: we have not been in a town to speak of in more than two months except the 36 hours in Christchurch.

We selected “Accent on the Park”, one of the highest ranked hostels by BBH and also by the Lonely Planet. Well, the place is certainly overrated! It is brand new but its old fashioned décor makes it already look faded. Their ad brags about their quality linen, but the kitchen is tiny considering the size of that hostel. Every evening, you have a crowd mulling around 15+ square meters with big knives, pots full of hot water and pans sizzling with cooking oil. Probably the owner had hoped that most people will eat at the adjacent bar-restaurant. This also explains the posters warning everybody that it is strictly forbidden to consume alcohol not purchased at the bar. Now paying 69 NZ Dollars for a tiny room without bathroom and having to sneak in a glass of Shiraz to go with our dinner, we find really irritating!

Nelson hosts a museum of a very different kind, the World of WearableArt or WOW. A young artist from Nelson had the idea to create pieces of art that could be worn and modelled. This was back in 1987 and has been a success story ever since. Now this show has become an international event held in Wellington every year under a different theme. There, artists present their design in a show featuring lighting, music, choreography and special effects. We could not get take her eyes off these intriguing costumes and since we will not be able to make it for the next show in September, she watched the entire DVD giving an overview of the last few years. “Art has to be taken off the wall (…)” Suzi Moncrieff, the woman behind this idea, once said. How true!

Wharariki Beach is something you need to see to believe it. We were totally unprepared for this visual feast, since we had planned to go the opposite way, out to Farewell Spit. This peninsula, a sea of sand dunes, is a popular breeding ground for seabirds and thus can only be accessed with a tour. Luckily we were advised against this six hour trip in an eco-bus (!) that goes all the way to the tip of the peninsula with two little stops in between. So instead, we went to discover the area west of the peninsula on foot, which is so much more scenic. Moreover, it does not cost a penny.

The trail initially passes through green pastures on gentle hills and then suddenly enters a small plateau of rolling white sand dunes. A splendid vista! We waded through the fine sand towards the edge of the dunes, where they abruptly drop onto an immense, completely flat beach opening into the Tasman Sea. Off its shore, two giant rocks dominate the view. They appeared to have been chiselled by a giant, featuring formations that make your fantasy go wild. Down at the beach huge caves penetrate the limestone adding to the stunning scenery.

While we were soaking all this in, we noticed a family down at the water waving us over. They had come across a few fur seal pubs playing in a tidal pool and going wild. These gorgeous creatures leaped like dolphins, clapped their fins together while swimming on their back, jumped onto each other and did all kinds of crazy manoeuvres. Some swam ashore, propped up on their little fin-legs and curiously looked at us.

This performance climaxed when the two children threw a piece of kelp, sea weed, into the pond. The pups all tried to bite into the kelp pulling it from each other and at one point four seals had their teeth sank into this string of kelp playing tug-of war. When the children got a hold of the kelp and pulled it ashore, the cubs came out of the water demanding their kelp back. It was simply hilarious!

The incoming tide eventually gave them easy access to the whole wide ocean probably reminding them that there were other fun things to do out there and they left us behind almost heartbroken. This experience was similar captivating as stroking the baby vicuna in Bolivia, something unforgettable.

The amazing scenery of Golden Bay was matched by our home for two nights, “The Innlet”, a hostel that we highly recommend. It offers different types of accommodation and this time we treated ourselves to a self-contained unit with a bedroom, living-room / kitchen and bathroom, all together for 80 NZ Dollar a night.

Only 10 meters across the lawn is the main house with double rooms, dorms, the busy communal kitchen and a living room to socialise if we chose. There is a large lawn with deckchairs to relax, a hot spa down near the creek and the rainforest starts right at our porch. This place is truly unique with super-friendly owners. Dalia from London presently manages the place with a great sense of humour and professional efficiency.

Not too far from the hostel, various trails start towards the northern beaches. On our first one we got lost immediately after we started, ending up climbing over fences, being almost electrocuted and scaring the poor sheep.

One day, we trekked the northern part of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, the least travelled bit of this three day trek, which is one of the most popular ones in New Zealand. Coming from the north by car involved a long drive on a gravel road over a steep mountain to get to the entry of the track at Totaranui. This is why most trampers approach the trail by water taxi.

Nevertheless, the delightful hike through the rainforest and resting on deserted golden beaches was certainly worth the windy road trip. While we were walking this comfortable, well maintained trail, we recalled our hike through Madidi National Park in Bolivia. There, the guide was cutting the way through the undergrowth with a machete and mosquitoes had a ball. Miraculously we have almost not encountered an insect problem in New Zealand. If we had not seen the so feared sand flies on two occasions, we would think they are a myth.

Most people start this trek from the south, first taking a water taxi and then hiking and often kayaking parts of it, especially around the Tonga Island Marine Reserve with its seal colony and abundant seabirds.

On our way up the west coast, Hokitika, New Zealand’s jade capital, was a must stop-over. Carefree, we toured the shops because having a car makes souvenir hunting so much more irresistible. What will we do with the ever growing box of artwork, jewellery and knickknacks? The latest idea was sending it from Hong Kong to Bangkok, our very last stop before going home, because the costs for sending such a heavy parcel to Europe are frightening.

Our last destination on the west coast was Punakaiki, famous for its Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. Without question, the limestone rocks are quite a sight: thin layers of rocks, clearly separated, look like a huge pile of pancakes. Deep down below there is a system of caverns through which the ocean rushes in an out. Sometimes the surf is so strong that the water is pushed through narrow crevices all the way up, very much like a whale exhaling.

At this miracle of nature, we were reminded of the “marvels of humanity”. At that very place, we ran into Martin from Londonderry, who was working at Casa Azul in Puerto Varas / Chile, when we stayed there four months ago. This feeling: “we are all from the same tribe going to the same places”, found a new climax the next day. At an internet café in Motueka, we ended up sitting next to two young Austrians we also met at Casa Azul. Only the day before, the three of us had talked about them. It felt almost a bit too much of a coincidence!

Punakaiki was also the scene of a bit of an adventure, the first one since we have come to New Zealand. Heidi and Martin hiked the short “Truman Trail” to the beach and planned to return trekking along the ocean back to our hostel. What started as a cheerful undertaking with crawling through caves, climbing up and down cliffs and watching the sun paint the cliffs and rocks in gold and red, became rather stressful after a while. We simply could not find the trail back inland and kept climbing more and more cliffs only to arrive at more bays without exist. With the sun quickly disappearing on the horizon, Heidi grew nervous, but Martin kept his calm and eventually guided us through the bush back to the Te Nikau Retreat, our hostel.

Our trip further north to Westport was framed by spectacles of different kinds of rainforest towering over one side of the road and mist moving in from the ocean on the other, lingering like heavy smoke over the beaches.

At Westport, we went inland following the scenic Buller River. About midway to Golden Bay, we allowed for a fun thing to interrupt the lengthy drive to Golden Bay. We crossed New Zealand’s longest suspension bridge (110 meters) and trekked the fascinating walks on the peninsula across.

Leaving Wanaka behind, we travelled straight up the West Coast enjoying the very scenic route. First, the road follows the shore of Lake Hawea, then turns and embraces the northern shore of Lake Wanaka. The steep slopes of mountains bordering these lakes all show the typical “furrows” carved by the glaciers.

After crossing Haast Pass, the vegetation turned greener and greener with temperate rain forest lining the road. For long stretches, there is dense rainforest to the right and dunes and ocean to the left. There would have been great walks, but once we left the cars big clouds of sand flies immediately surrounded us… So we sought refuge in the car. But even jumping in and slamming the doors shut did not prevent these beasts to come in.

Naturally, we checked out the Fox and Franz Josef Glacier. Nevertheless, they are really a sad sight with the glaciers’ face being covered with dark soil. Moreover, the area around it is full of debris that was pushed into the valley by the ice. After seeing Perito Moreno and Upsala Glacier in Argentina, we considered walking up to these glaciers a mere physical exercise.

Staying at Backbackers “Chateau Franz” in Franz Josef Village was a disappointing experience. Talking to the Australian couple sharing the “Ski Hut” with us remains the only the pleasant memory we have of that sad place. The village is a short string of businesses that sleep, feed and entertain tourists or take them on helicopters over the glaciers providing a permanent noisy coulisse.

Just for Heidi’s fellow Austrians: yes, it is THE Franz Josef you are thinking of. The Austrian Julius Haast, who travelled the area around 1865, is to blame for it.

Among the many interesting things we learned about farming, one blew our mind: New Zealand farmers do not receive any subsidies from their government anymore. Needless to say that they are not happy that these eventually ran out, but for us it was the living proof that the criticism of the European Union’s farming policy is more than justified.

Citizens of the European Union indeed finance overproduction with hundreds of billions of Euros. The consequences are appalling: crops being destroyed, fields being left uncultivated or cheap European Union exports destroying the local economy in developing countries, especially Africa.

Other differences we detected were the size of the farms and the fast changing style of farming. If we thought a farm with 700 hectares, 3.500 sheep & 250 deer was something big, well, how about one with 20.000 sheep?

When the prize for lamb was going down 10 years ago, many farmers turned to raising deer, something we had never heard of before. But also the prize for deer is now on the decline. For lamb the current development is even worse: this is no longer a profitable business except for a few very big farms: a lamb now sells for 45 NZ Dollars but it costs 52 NZ Dollars to raise it! The smaller the farm, the higher the deficit will run…

Some farmers are therefore turning to growing winter crops and make an income by providing grazing grounds for cattle trucked in (!) from the Otago Country in the southeast of New Zealand for about 10 weeks during the winter.

Another big issue is water, which has even reached a country that has plenty of this resource. Farmers have to prove that they use the water taken from rivers very efficiently. Although various intelligent technologies have been developed over the years, the most efficient one seems to be those huge machines, hundreds of meters wide that irrigate the fields and work fully automatically. These “monsters” need perfect conditions in their working diameter, so all stones have to be removed from the ground and all trees cut down, which seemed to us a bit controversial.

Also amazing is the wide range of fruits and vegetables produced in New Zealand, which becomes evident when shopping in the gigantic American-style supermarkets, with equally freezing temperatures inside.

How did we end up staying on a farm with the loveliest family? Way back, when we travelled through Bolivia, we met Julie Kane from New Zealand. She was on that same horror flight to Rurrenabaque at Bolivia’s Amazon basin, which took two attempts and two days to get us there.

After a few months, an eMail invited her Bolivian travel companions to visit her and / or to stay at her parents’ farm near Wanaka. There, we spent three very relaxing days with her wonderful parents Colin and Pam, who hosted us in their big, comfortable house and took us around the farm and on a trek to Bob Roy. We loved every minute of that stay, the cosy house, the great food, the amiable atmosphere and learning so much about farming sheep and deer!

The farm has been in Colin’s family for 5 generations and this very fact is commemorated by a plague outside the gate to their house “Grand View”. We learned that in former days there was a clear distinction between “Highland farmers” would consider themselves higher in the social ladder than “Lowland farmers”. We wondered if the sheep then were equally class conscious, especially with the Merino sheep in the highland producing such fine wool, whereas the lowland sheep produce wool to make carpets.

For us, the size of the farm was sheer enormous: 700 hectares, 3.500 breeding sheep and 250 breeding deer! That means of course as many lambs and as many young deer per year on top of that! These are dimensions almost unknown in Europe. All this, Colin is managing by himself, with only a few contractors once in a while.

Wanaka itself is a nice little town on a lake of the same name, a popular tourist destination. One day, we walked along the River Clutha. Seeing kayaks coming down the river, we truly regretted not having done the same ourselves. This is a very scenic ride, especially at this time of the year with the leaves turning golden and red. Apart from that, the river just moves fast enough that you do not have to paddle too hard but on the other hand is calm without rapids, just perfect for beginners as we are.

We also went on a trek to Rob Roy bravely starting out in the rain, but after more than an hour we quit, nevertheless enjoying the exercise we got from it.

From what we had heard and read about this small town, it was clear to us that a very short stopover would do, just to see for ourselves what New Zealand’s adrenaline-activity capital was all about...

Queenstown’s scenic backdrop is the majestic Remarkable Mountains and Lake Wakatipu. Around these has evolved a mammoth number of adventure pursuits: skydiving, bungy jumping, white water rafting, river surfing, white water sledging, canyoning, paragliding, skiing, mountain biking, mountain climbing, and what not! It seems the whole purpose of Queenstown’s businesses is to siphon off what some tourists’ seem to have in excess.

Our only activity was taking the Skyline Gondola up the mountain from where you have a great view of the dramatic mountain ranges and the lake and some of the many activities offered, like bungy jumping or paragliding.

It is quite a scenic place, but it was all a bit too much activity for us and when looking at the prices on the menu of some restaurants, we turned pale and decided to leave quickly, because a very cosy home stay was waiting for us on a farm near Wanaka!

The West Arm of Doubtful Sound is also the location of an underground power station that was built in the late 1960s to supply energy for an aluminium smelter (!) near Invercargill. The idea behind the project was to use the 167 meter difference in altitude between Lake Manapouri and Deep Cove near the ocean.

All that was needed for this project was a tunnel dug through the mountain to allow the water drop down these 167 meters to drive turbines. The project was heavily opposed then because the initial plan was to raise the water level of Lake Manapouri by 40 meters. The protest against destroying such a jewel of natural beauty for producing aluminium was so massive that this plan was dropped and a compromise was found.

The power station was indeed built, however without raising the level of the lake. Moreover, most of the “works” are underground. The power plant now has even become a major tourist attraction. Parts of the power station are of course noticeable when you approach West Arm, but it definitely is not disrupting the scenery or a real bang in the eye.

So, this is the living proof that reasonable economic development can be achieved with the utmost concern for the environment!

If the name Doubtful Sound seems weird: Captain Cook wisely refused to sail into the sound, since there seemed to be no easterly winds to take the boat back out again. He thus named it Doubtful Harbour. The Doubtful Sound, at the very heart of Fjordland, is absolutely massive and to do an overnight cruise was the wisest decision ever!

We find it difficult to describe this experience because this trip was simply overwhelming. Every second of it was exciting, fascinating and informative, thanks to the nature guide on board, who provided a great deal of information on the region’s fauna and flora as well as its history.

The journey starts by crossing Lake Manapouri in a small vessel. Now this is not some dull, ole little pond but New Zealand’s fifth largest lake, studded with islands and a maze of side arms & coves. On top of that, the shore is lined with mountains and smaller green hills that provide the scenic background for this first part of the trip.

The boat meanders through all this amazing landscape until you reach the end of West Arm. There, you have some time to wander around the little museum and then hop on the bus that takes you across Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove. At this “gate” to Doubtful Sound, our boat was waiting at the wharf. By that time we had experienced a magnificent cross section of wilderness: a lake, an alpine pass and a fjord.

The next 24 hours were an unforgettable treat for all our senses. We enjoyed gourmet food, excellent and professional service and passed through outlandish scenery of temperate rain forest and valley after valley grinded down by glaciers only 2 million years ago.

In the afternoon, we took a little excursion in a smaller boat and went close to shore to get a close look at the vegetation that our guide explained in great details. Large podocarp trees compete with the beech, fern and moss inhabit the lower level of the forest. What is fascinating is that all this grows on solid rock! The trees that grow on these rocks, scraped smooth by glaciers, depend on the build-up of leaves and moss mould for nutrients. It is a truly alien sight. In the late afternoon, we reached the Tasman Sea and ventured a tiny bit into the ocean, which was extremely calm that day.

A cove in a sidearm provided the shelter for our overnight stay and finally it downed even the most resistant passenger that we were at a very, very remote place. This feeling was enhanced when we entered another arm of the fjord the next morning. What followed there seemed like a little exercise for stressed city dwellers: the engine as well as the boat’s generators stopped and we were invited to stop talking, moving around and taking photos. It was a remarkable experience to stay quiet for almost 10 minutes: all you heard was the sound of the birds and the little streams of water coming down the mountain. These few minutes were simply magic!

The only attraction we missed on this trip was due to the incredible good weather: the temporary waterfalls all had gone dry. One would have dropped a 1.000 meter straight down from a cliff, making it the highest waterfall in the world.

On the trip back, going across Lake Manapouri, Heidi had a very interesting conversation with the skipper, learning a lot about the people working on the boats. Furthermore, she learned that the TV serial “Dancing Stars” was also a big thing in New Zealand, but here they danced to tunes of “Sound of Music”.

In our enthusiasm, we probably repeat ourselves, but we can only recommend this trip, not only because of the scenery, wilderness and remoteness one can experience, but also because the whole trip is very professionally organised, with enthusiastic, hard working staff and excellent food.

In Te Anau, the gateway to the Milford Sound, we stayed at Rosie’s Homestay (one of the highest rated BBH), which we only can highly recommend. The first afternoon, we just went on a two hours walk around Lake Te Anau to Brod Bay to move our lazy bones after spending hours and hours in the car.

The owner of Rosie’s suggested taking the 10:00 am cruise the next day and this was the thing to do. There is a 09:00 am tour for those who absolutely want the fjord to themselves, but at the end of March the sun is too low at that time in order to enjoy the breathtaking scenery.

Not many places on earth receive more rainfall than Fjordland, 6 meters per year, BUT we had nothing but sunshine for the entire three days of our stay. Blue skies, a bit of a breeze and balmy temperature accompanied us on this wonderful experience. To call this place spectacular does not do it justice, but we are running out of descriptive adjectives, especially after having been to the Doubtful Sound as well. Milford Sound, as well as Doubtful Sound, are actually fjords, because they were carved out of the hard granite by glaciers and then flooded by the ocean. Well, when they were named, this distinction did not exist yet and neither was the word “fjord” part of the vocabulary of the English seafarers who first poked their nose into them.

The Maoris were actually the first to put up camp out there, doing some whale spotting. Early European whalers and seal hunters followed their tracks. The constant rain and especially the very nasty sand flies made life very uncomfortable and nobody lasted here long.

Our small boat, the MV Friendship, took us along the narrow passage with steep, almost vertical slopes plunging into the sea. The highest mountain, the 1692 meter high Mitre Peak, is the best example of this. We also passed several waterfalls and we went so close that those outside were taking a very cold shower.

The vessel carried only 20 passengers that day, so we had lots of space and this intimate environment encouraged getting to know our fellow passengers. We had a truly exciting exchange with a young man from Eritrea, the first person we ever talked to from this country. It gave us some crazy ideas. There is for instance excellent scuba diving, he told us. On top of that, according to him, the region is completely peaceful now. So in the evening, we started talking about further trips…

When we came back to the wharf after a good two hour cruise, the place was packed with tour busses and we praised ourselves for leaving so early, which by the way was 07:30 am, in thick fog that slowly lifted and revealed mountain tops touched by the early morning sun.

Naturally most people come here to tour the fjord by boat, but this area is also popular for trekking or tramping as they called it in New Zealand, with the Milford & Kepler Treks probably being the more popular ones.

Driving back to Te Anau, we stopped at “The Chasm”, where, after a little walk, you come to a spot where the Cleddau River has created the most bizarre rock formations. The little walk is truly picturesque as well. However, when we arrived, there were 11 tour busses at the parking lot and the little path was crowded with mostly Japanese tourist groups who even on this short 15 minutes trail were coached by their guides at two different spots!

Another fabulous little walk was the to Cascade Creek: this is a 40 minutes walk through a forest of red beech trees, but the amazing thing is that the entire floor and all fallen trees are covered by a thick layer of moss. We loved this little stroll!

Before we reached our last overnight stop in the south, Colac Bay, we stocked up at a huge supermarket in Invergarcill. We mention this, because it was an experience in itself. After seeing only beauty for the last few days, we now felt like being on a different planet when shopping in this commercial hub of 50.000 souls. To put it mildly, the city has a rough edge that can be seen in people’s appearance!

Continuing our trip along the south coast, we stopped at Curio Bay and very scenic Porpoise Bay surrounded by steep cliffs and a strong surf. Unfortunately we did not see any of its resident Hector’s dolphins.

Slope Point, the southernmost point in New Zealand, and Waipapa Point were other places we checked out. The latter has a little colony of sea lions that was quite active, yawning, moving a meter, dropping their full weight on another sleeping sea lion, more movement than we had ever seen before. We must admit this time New Zealand clearly scored over Argentina, after having been so critical about penguins watching.

In Colac Bay, we spent the night at Dustez Bak Paka’s, which offers very basic rooms next to the campground. Dusty is a true character who worked 25 years on a fishing boat and an endless source of information. He also runs the village pub right next to the camp site and since it was Saturday night everybody was there for beer, watching rugby on TV and a good chat.

This typical pub ambience changed abruptly when a group of young men arrived with their guitar and got things rolling. Everybody started singing and the locals eventually got interested in us. It was an unforgettable night out, the next morning Dusty and other guests met us to bid us farewell, a really moving moment.

The morning we left Dunedin, we spontaneously decided to change plans. Instead of going north to do some cycling on the Otega Rail Trail, we went south. It was the accounts of two people that convinced us the Catlins cannot be missed. What a lucky decision!

This region at the southernmost part of New Zealand is a mix of deserted sweeping beaches that go on and on and on, a rugged coastline, formidable cliffs, watchful lighthouses, rivers, lakes, dense forests and rolling hills in all shades of green dotted with zillions of grazing sheep. If you are breathless after reading this enthusiastic description, so were we when travelling through this spectacular landscape.

With this change in scenery came a change in the tourists we met. Around the east coast, it was mainly young Germans in the famous Backpacker hostels, now there was a much wider range. The climax of international encounter definitely happened in Owaka, where we spent the evening chatting with five visitors from Israel, two Jews and three Arabs. Not that they were travelling together, but we had a lot of fun and even exchanged thoughts on politics without causing any frictions.

On Gilles birthday we did what he loves most, walking along miles of deserted beaches under blue skies and miraculously no wind, plus all kinds of short “nature walks” around lakes and through marshland. The night we spent on a farm 15 kilometres of Owaka in the super comfortable “Falls Backpackers”, which we had all to ourselves. We cooked up the storm to celebrate the occasion: various dips for starters, grouper accompanied by scallops and shrimps for the main dish and berries for dessert. Of course, all this enhanced by very good local wines! The place was like heaven: spacious, super clean rooms, powerful heating when necessary, a well equipped kitchen, but unfortunately it was booked up for the next few days, because of the Easter weekend.

Easter happens so much more subtle here than in Europe, no zillions of chocolate bunnies in the shop windows, so we did not even realize this holiday was around the corner until other tourists casually mentioned it. For the first time we made a few reservations since many New Zealanders use this four day holiday to enjoy the last days of summer, engaging in all kinds of outdoor activities.

In Owaka we walked along Cannibal Bay for hours watching sea lions close up which lazily soaked up the sun. We never made it to “Nugget Point” to see some more wild life, because the weather had changed, with heavy rain and strong winds. We only jogged down Roaring Bay for few minutes before we rushed back into the car. We were rewarded with seeing two yellow-eyed penguins though.

The Otago Peninsula is on every tour’s and tourist’s itinerary, because it offers accessible wildlife watching and scenic view behind every turn of its windy road. So here we go…

Heading towards the tip of the peninsula, our first stop was Larnoch Castle, the only castle in New Zealand. The history of this extravagant place is intriguing: built by William Larnach in 1871, it has seen it all! The splendour of its early days as well as the family’s misfortune, which ended in betrayal and William’s suicide... It was eventually abandoned and in 1967 bought by the Barker family and restored. The garden is truly spectacular and we spent most our time there, whereas the interior of the castle is nothing to write home about.

At the very end of the peninsula is the world’s only mainland royal albatross colony. Who could resist visiting such a unique place? While waiting for our tour we roamed the very informative resource centre with great videos, posters and one display that we will never forget. It was a bag full of items made of plastic, all in all the size of two fists: bottle caps, a toothbrush, pens and other small pieces. All this was found in the stomach of a young albatross that eventually had died, because there was no more room for food.

The informative part of the tour was quite good, but observing the outside breeding area was rather disappointing. Two chicks were sitting in their nest waiting to be fed, but unfortunately we did not see a grown albatross in flight. Luckily, we saw one scouting the ocean surface for food once we were outside the centre. With a wing span of 3 meters, they are an impressive sight.

The other big attraction on the peninsula is the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Conversation Reserve. We were rather hesitant to dish out another 35 NZ Dollars to visit, but gave in to the feeling, since we are here.

Again the same spiel, a brief informative input and then we were taken in buses close to the nesting area. About 70 adult penguins are here all year around. However, since it was mid March, the chicks were all gone and the adults were moulting, which means they are growing new feathers while losing the old ones. This happens every year and it is a rather unhappy phase in a penguin’s life. They cannot go into the ocean but have to wait on land approx. 3 weeks, hungry as they are, until this process is finished and the new feathers oiled to provide the proper protection.

Some of them also looked quite miserable, with their feathers poking every which way, as if they had been through a shredder. To learn all about this was truly interesting, but we saw only six penguins close up, and two others coming back from the sea after a day of feeding. They were really far away, but people in our group went gaga when they waded out of the water. Again, we shook your heads in disbelief remembering the penguin colony near Peninsula Valdez in Argentina, with 300.000 of them shrieking and strutting all around us.

In Dunedin, we finally decided to buy the BBH card, a very efficient and to us unique system for budget travellers. Many hostels in New Zealand are members of an association, but BBH is the biggest with over 370 hostels.

You can join at any BBH, with the card for 45 NZ Dollars comes a little booklet that lists all the member hostels, with a short description, directions and a rating done by BBH members and a phone card worth 20 NZ Dollars. Anybody can stay at these hostels, but with a BBH card you get a discount of at least 3 NZ Dollars per night, which represents actually more than 10 percents.

All accommodations in New Zealand are classified in categories, and each category has standardized level of comfort and services, so you know exactly what to expect: Backpackers are budget hostels, all with shared bathrooms, common areas and kitchen-use, Motels, Hotels, Boutique Hotels and Lodges are more expensive.

Well, needless to say we only stay in Backpackers, where we pay on average slightly above 30 Euros per night. Interestingly, many of the BBH hostels are also listed and recommended in the Lonely Planet, with commentaries in line with the rating made by BBH users.

At this point we needed a boast in morale and St. Patrick’s Day was just the perfect occasion. Down the hill from our hostel in Dunedin was Murphy’s Pub. And this is where it all happened, on March 17th 2008: green beer, Irish music, dancing and … well, lots of drinking, of course! It was our real first night out in months and we truly enjoyed it, especially since it was so easy chatting up people in the pub. After this social event, we ventured out to explore Dunedin’s historic and cultural assets.

Although we must have been in hundreds of old mansions on our travels, we are still attracted by them and always excited. This time it was “The Olveston”, designed by a London architect for the Theomin family, who made their fortune importing musical instruments and clocks to New Zealand.

When this mansion was finished in 1904, it was not only exquisitely furnished, but had the most modern gadgets you can image: in-house telephone, central heating, a combined shower and bathtub (the hot and cold water tabs could be operated with your feet while in the tub) and what about a bean slicer... What we liked most were the many sophisticated “souvenirs” the family brought back from their trips to Asia and Europe: the most amazing paintings and artefacts. The family itself was not only business-orientated but a great supporter of the art, with the daughter being a very talented painter and photographer.

Not less impressive was the Otago Museum, with the most extensive displays of Maori carvings and samples of artefacts from all Polynesian cultures. Fascinating also the exhibits of local fauna and flora: who would guess that originally the bat was the only mammal on land in New Zealand? Who has come within 10 centimetres of a Moa, this giant bird that became extinct about 500 years ago? The Moa was so realistically presented! Everything is so well displayed that we kept going on although we were exhausted.

On our last day in Dunedin, we strolled through the huge Botanic Garden under blue skies and balmy temperatures. Slowly, we started to take on a more positive attitude to our new destination.

Near Oamaru, we stopped at some clay cliffs, since they were mentioned in the Lonely Planet. Those were some impressive rocks formations, even though they surely would have gone unnoticed in south Bolivia!

The heydays of Oamaru were in the late 19th century, when gold was found in Otago. No money was spared to express that wealth. Today, some majestic buildings in the centre made of limestone bear witness of these golden times. Some buildings rather resemble Greek temples, which actually are now ordinary banks.

Oamaru also hosts a small penguin colony, where the smallest kind of these loveable creatures can be seen, the Blue Penguin. Unfortunately, we could not resist the skilful advertising and joined the crowds to see this rather unspectacular event, a small number sliding and scuttling ashore, back to their shelter, after a day of feeding out in the ocean.

Yes, they are cute creatures with only 25 centimetres tall and weighing about one kilogram, but the commotion around it seemed so ridiculous to us, after we had been strolling through a penguin reserve in Peninsula Valdez in Argentina, with hundreds of thousands of them.

These two comparisons are a fair reflection of our present attitude, we feel tourists here are over-guided, travelling is over-organised and sights over-advertised and thus we often long for those days in Latin America where often every minute brought along something exciting and new.

Inland, up on the plateau of Mackenzie Country, we suddenly came face to face with the incredible colour of Lake Tekapo, which together with barren hillside around create a strange landscape. This greenish colour remembered us so well of the lakes in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares in South Patagonia. Because of the ongoing drought in the south of New Zealand, the landscape shows large patches that look parched.

Although it was off season, the search for budget accommodation was nerve racking and finally brought us to the village of Twizel near Lake Pukaki. There, at the comfortable “High Country Holiday Lodge” we spent a few nights, about 60 kilometres from where we had planed to stay! The reason for this high demand was a rowing regatta whose participants had booked up every budget accommodations in this area.

The main attraction in the area is Mount Cook, the highest mountain in Australasia. It is therefore considered a must to visit it up close, which means driving up to Mount Cook Village and then walking for an hour. Of course there are more challenging treks and mountaineering in this region, but we stuck to the easy option…

The trek is extremely simple, like walking through a park. The landscape around is nice, but once you get to the view point, it seems as if you are looking straight into an open coal pit with majestic Mount Cook in the background. It took some manoeuvring to take nice photos of the very mountain.

On the way back, we sneaked into the famous and impressive Hermitage Hotel. However, we wondered if the view was really worth all that money.

While heading towards the east coast again, we shopped great salmon sashimi at a local fish farm and visited a reserve where black stilts are being bred. These beautiful black birds with their incredible long red legs are endemic birds of New Zealand but became almost extinct due to the many imported predators. Lake Ohau was another place we stopped not far from Twizel, amazingly blue coloured like all the other lakes, but what struck us most was how quiet it was there.

Apart from our trips to various lakes, we rolled past endless pastures dotted with greyish woolly sheep. In case we have not mentioned it yet, there are 40 million of them in Kiwi-Land, 10 times more than humans…

In Christchurch, a wild mixture of what seems Anglo-Saxon suburbia and modern ugly concrete, we spent most of our two days there getting used to New Zealand, looking for a rental car and getting Heidi new glasses (for those who do not follow our stories too closely, they were in a bag that was stolen at Mendoza bus terminal).

Most car rental companies advertise cheap rates but do not have those cars available for that price when we called them. Of course it was Gilles who finally found THE deal of the year: 21 NZ Dollars or 11.5 Euros a day for a big, comfortable automatic car with Air conditioning, unlimited mileage and basic insurances. On top of that, the company paid for the ferry to the North Island and we can drop off the car at the airport in Auckland free of charge.

At “Chester Street Backpackers”, we found a homely place for 56 NZD and lots of great tips. So perfectly equipped, we left Christchurch and headed for Bank Peninsula, which was a tedious drive, windy, up and down the hills. When we finally arrived in Akaroa, the view of the bay was overwhelming and the atmosphere in the little town priding itself of its French ancestry was quite charming. For those with limited time, we would say your life will not be different without seeing this place though...

Riding the bus from the airport into the centre of Christchurch, we had a sensation similar to the one we experienced entering Argentina coming from Bolivia. Then, it was as if someone had beamed us back to Europe or at least close to there. This time, we felt a similar irritation: we felt utterly displaced after arriving from the Pacific Islands.

Everything was so Anglo-Saxon, the houses, the street signs, the food, the architecture! It was so suburban USA / Canada: the streets are lined with one-story residential buildings, surrounded by manicured lawns and neatly trimmed bushes and flowers...

Okay, people speak with an accent that Gilles finds very strange and drive “on the wrong side of the road”, but otherwise so far we have not discovered anything completely new or mildly exotic!

Also temperature took us by surprise. After being exposed to heat and sun for months, we were looking forward to a more moderate climate, but it is not! Our first day in Christchurch was so cold that we thought about buying gloves. The following morning at Mount Cook had us shiver at 4 degrees Celsius, whereas in the late afternoon we melted away at 29 degrees!^

Prices here are not very different from Europe. We noticed it when we both went for the long due haircut: Gilles paid 23 Euros (ouch!) and Heidi no less than 78 for a bit of colour and a cut!!!

The positive “whow” experience was the supermarket. After spending 5 weeks in the Pacific, where fresh food was such a rare commodity that we bought whatever veggies people grew in their private garden, New Zealand is simply paradise. The sheer abundance of fruits, vegetable, meet and fish and the wide variety of products in general was truly exciting for us!

“Man spricht Deutsch” is another phenomenon: guests at backpacker hostels are primarily young Germans. It has been so extreme that we started to do some research finding out what brought them to New Zealand. Some simply travel for a few weeks, others spend months on a working holiday, while a few study here and all the latter have friends and family visiting. We also came up with the daring conclusion that only young Germans can afford such a trip.

Last but not least, what blew out mind were the tons of brightly coloured free brochures that can be found in every hostel, café, tourist information. Tourism is so professionally marketed here and right in you face that we look back to travelling in Latin American in sad nostalgia! Here everything is aggressively advertised, restaurants, accommodation, skydives, bungee jumping, flying across mountains, glaciers and fjords in small airplanes, excursion to see wild life of all kinds and what not…

There was certain innocence to travelling through Latin America that we only become aware of now and miss immensely.

Within minutes of our arrival in this country, a lot of things went very wrong, which consequently ended up in us dishing out 280 Euros due to our ignorance and thoughtlessness. Half of that money was taken by the Authorities of Biosecurity from Heidi, the other half by Air New Zealand. It was definitely not what you call a good start!

Disaster number 1: we left Rarotonga on March 11th at 03:40 am and after a four hour flight, we arrived in Auckland. We had booked the onward flight to Christchurch for the same morning. What we did not realize was that by crossing the International Date Line, we lost a whole day and actually arrived on March 12th. Air New Zealand showed no mercy and made us pay again for our tickets Auckland - Christchurch!

Disaster number 2 was even more annoying. New Zealand Customs officials ask you to read and sign a card with a long list of products that cannot be brought into the country. We knew about that and had no food with us, but when they asked if we had been in a forest, we honestly ticked off “yes”.

So we had to line up with the suspicious people. Our walking shoes were scrubbed clean and the questioning began… “Did you bring any food?” - “Of course, not!” - “What about shells?” Heidi was so surprised that she admitted of having shells in her bag. We had to show them the shells and in that small plastic bag, the officers discovered some other forbidden stuff - little red beads, which they identified as seeds. Heidi had gathered those so-called “poor men’s peanuts” weeks ago in Rarotonga and did not even remember having them.

We were given THAT big speech of how these are not native plants to New Zealand and that New Zealand needs to protect this and that …To make the whole story short, Heidi had to pay 200 NZ Dollars for “unintentionally” not filling out the custom form correctly!

We told ourselves to put the story behind us and move on in a positive attitude, which proved not to be that easy…

Believe it or not: we know almost nothing about New Zealand, except that it is so very scenic.

But everyone is so enthusiastic about New Zealand that we plan a five weeks visit … We expect to meet travellers on the way to advise us.