New Zealand (E)

A short flight over the Tasman Sea brought me to Auckland on New Zealand’s north island. I didn’t plan to spend much time in New Zealand as the winter weather promised a lot of rain and cold temperatures and I wasn’t planning on doing any winter sports during my trip. I therefore concentrated on seeing some sights on the north island, leaving the south island for a future visit. As expected I was greeted by showers but fortunately it wasn’t that cold compared to winter temperatures in Switzerland.

In Auckland I had the great pleasure of staying at Georgina and Jacques’ place (Georgina and I are friends from Basel & London). The airport shuttle bus brought me directly into the city where I met Georgina in her office. As it was her last day before maternity leave, she said good bye to everyone whilst her colleague Rochelle gave me some excellent advice on what to see on the north island (thanks Rochelle!).

After two days sightseeing in Auckland and yummy barbecues at Georgina & Jacques’ place, I set off on a one-week trip around the north island with the first stop being Rotorua, famous for its geothermal activities. On the way there I stopped to visit the Waitomo Caves where a guided tour took us deep into a cave system filled with stalagmites, stalactites and an unbelievable amount of glowworms hanging from the ceiling above a river running through the cave – it was a fascinating sight and looked like millions of stars shining above our boat.
In Rotorua I went to see the various steaming lakes & bubbling mud holes and enjoyed an afternoon relaxing in the Polynesian Spa pools filled with naturally heated water. To get a bit of exercise I spent a great day hiking through Waimangu Volcanic Valley where more crater lakes steamed, bubbled and smelled like old eggs – one get used to the constant smell after a few hours…


The next stop was Wellington at the southern tip of the north island. On the way to Wellington the bus stopped on the volcanic plateau where I could take pictures of the mighty Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe volcanoes. I seem to be lucky when travelling past volcanoes as, like in Japan with Mt Fuji, the clouds just disappeared once we got closer to them.

There’s not too much to write about my activities in Wellington as it was very rainy and I spent most of the time in the interesting Te Papa museum and reading books in various artsy cafés scattered around town. Windy Welly lived up to its name but I quite liked the laid-back life in town.

To get back to Auckland I chose to take the Overlander train which crosses the north island in twelve hours – enough time to enjoy the passing landscape and amenities of the train such as viewing platforms, lounge area and café. It only rained once during the trip but it lasted for almost twelve hours ;-)
Back in Auckland I was picked up by Georgina and Jacques and their house mate Scotty cooked a superb Sunday roast for all of us.

Thank you very much Georgina & Jacques for being such wonderful hosts during my stay in Auckland and all the good food & lifts into town - the family life I experienced after months in hostel dorms was much needed and highly appreciated!

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The day came to leave for the next and last continent of my round the world trip - South America…