On the way through NZ, part 10: Wellington

New Zealand’s capital labels itself as the coolest little capital in the world and while I didn’t visit too many capitals yet, I’m tempted to agree that it does look like a cool city, but there is this “but”…see further below. Most of the world’s capitals are freakin’ huge compared to tiny Wellington, but that doesn’t mean the city lacks necessary transport systems, infrastructure in terms of shops, restaurants and so forth. However, even though I’ve been there three times by now, the city didn’t manage to fascinate me yet or really provide me with memorable places and events. Likely I never emerged in it like I should do as young person…well, I’ll surely be over there in the future soon. For these reasons this post will rather be a short, generic summary of my impression about it, and I’m 100 % sure other travellers on the net will have blogs telling you more about the local micro brewery culture, the best clubs and other details I’ve missed all these times.

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On the way through NZ, part 9: The Forgotten World Highway and Mt Taranaki

After leaving the Tongariro National Park there were two options: Heading down to Ohakune and investigate the opportunities doing a journey on the Whanganui river or driving to the Taranaki area to climb the famous extinct volcano, which is NZ’s most climbed mountain. When we figured we likely will go kayaking at the Abel Tasman National Park in the South Island and thus wouldn’t need to do it here, our first stop was Taumarunui, a dull township you probably won’t find in any travel guide. The reason for going there was filling up the petrol and starting our trip on State Highway 43, also known as “Forgotten World Highway” as it features tiny villages which look they didn’t develop in the past 50 years, old mines, old graves, an old tunnel and so forth from NZ’s pioneer times in the late 19th century. Continue reading

It’s not over yet…

Firstly: Happy New Year! Yeah, I know. I screwed up. I’m embarrassed enough, you don’t need to tell me. I resurrected the blog only to let it die another time. That’s not the idea at all, I’m aware of that. So, here comes the second try. If you haven’t lost faith in me totally yet, I’m very pleased – or, if you’re a new reader, I’d like to ask you to stay, because there will be things coming here worth reading…provided you’re interested in New Zealand and the world nowadays.

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Save heeeaps – part 1: Accommodation

I already mentioned something about saving money here is coming up, and here we go. That goes out to everyone who intends to stay here for a while, no matter if it’s two weeks or six months.

Let’s keep it short and neat for the first part: Obviously you have to stay somewhere while being here. NZ offers a huge variety of hostels, which can be rated from “Uargh-disgusting-WHY-DO-I-STAY-HERE-AT-ALL?” up to “Are you sure this isn’t just a small 5-stars hotel which lacks a few services and where I have to cook for myself?”. Continue reading

On the way through NZ, part 8: Tongariro National Park

Arriving in National Park Village, which is located in the centre of the North Island, was my personal first highlight – I looked much forward to see the impressive, alien landscape the three (still active!) volcanoes formed in the Tongariro National Park, one of the places most worth visiting when travelling this particular part of NZ. This settlement lives almost purely from the tourists visiting the National Park, of which almost everybody is planning to do the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a well-built hiking walkway over the alpine pass formed by Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro. Of course this was our goal as well, so we arranged transport by the hostel we stayed at and went to bed early the day before. Continue reading

On the way through NZ, part 7: Taupo

The beginning of the year 2014 should also mark the “real” beginning of my journey through New Zealand.  On the 4th of November, I popped into my car in Auckland and headed South, the first (only brief) stop being Te Aroha, a small, cosy town, where my travelmates decided to stay over New Year’s Eve as they didn’t feel like spending theirs in Auckland. On the same day, I spontaneously suggested filling the day with an activity before proceeding to the famous town Taupo: Whitewater Rafting on the Kaituna River near Rotorua! Continue reading

On the way through NZ, part 6: Coromandel Peninsula

After finishing my internship in late December, the Christmas days offered – almost – the real start of my journey through NZ. After looking for some travelmates, two other German guys responded soon and we were off to the well-known and popular Coromandel Peninsula, which is located roughly 2 ½ hrs away from Auckland. As a famous holiday destination for travellers and locals alike, Coromandel offers beautiful beaches but also native bush land and mountains. I planned a four day trip for our small group, beginning in the South West in the township of Thames. Continue reading

Waaait…I’m still here!

My goodness, it has been over 2 month since my last post here…time is passing by so quickly, I’ve lost track a good while ago. Oh, and I switch to English now for my further posts, as I met heaps of people who were interested in reading this, but you’re not going anywhere with German as soon as you leave “Central Europe” 😉

This resurrection won’t be too long either, maybe just giving you a glance about what’s going to come:

  • Further compilations of the places I travelled to and any outstanding things, while I’ll try to keep everything in a nutshell – I know some people think my previous posts were too long
  • My beloved trivia about Kiwis and New Zealand
  • And, kinda new, recommendations on getting discounts, useful advises etc. for those who would like to come here one day

I hope that’ll do for most of you, haha, I should find out who many individuals are actually behind this little word “most”! Stay tuned, the first new post will follow by the end of the week at the latest.

Unterwegs im Land, Teil 5: East Cape und Gisborne

Mitte Dezember wollte ich ein letztes Mal die Gelegenheit nutzen, noch während meiner Arbeit einen weiteren Ausflug in einen mir noch unbekannten Teil dieses faszinierenden Landes zu machen – angespornt durch unsere beiden liebenswürdigen, niederländischen Agenturpraktikantinnen (ich bin mit einer Agentur hierher gekommen, Empfehlung an der Stelle: Nur für Praktikum empfehlenswert! Bei normalem „Work & Travel“ reicht ein Hinflugticket, Selbstständigkeit und etwas Kenntnis über behördliche Angelegenheiten völlig aus) ist meine Wahl auf die entfernte Ostküste der Nordinsel gefallen. Continue reading

Es ist ein Japaner!

Als mein Agent noch vor meinem Reiseantritt meinte, ich solle mir doch ein Auto nach der Ankunft hier zulegen, habe ich ihm zunächst innerlich einen Vogel gezeigt. Ein Auto sehe ich als kostspielige Anschaffung an, die i. d. R. mehr bequem als notwendig ist, abhängig vom Wohnort natürlich. Nach kurzer Zeit musste ich jedoch feststellen, dass ein Auto in Neuseeland durchaus seine Berechtigung hat: So kann man auch ohne gut herumkommen, insbesondere, wenn man per Anhalter fährt oder mit einem der beiden Busunternehmen speziell für Rucksackreisende (wen es interessiert: Straytravel und Kiwi Experience) fährt, jedoch geht einem dann ein deutlicher Teil Flexibilität verloren – somit war die Entscheidung kurz vor Ende meines Praktikums gefällt! Der neuseeländische Markt ist überschwemmt mit japanischen Importautos, welche in der Regel für die kleinen Geldbörsen erschwinglich sind. Continue reading