Category: New Zealand

After the West Coast and the Southern Alps, it was time to hit the East Coast for the last part of our NZ adventure. Steampunk and Penguins Oamaru was our first stop on the coast. The small but charming city is home of a Victorian Quarter with a lot...

After our epic adventure in the Abel Tasman National Park, it was time to head down the West Coast before crossing over to Wanaka and beyond. Rainy West Coast The West Coast greeted us with rain and wind which is not unusual for this part of New Zealand. Our...

After we had dropped Hazel’s parents and sister-in-law off at the airport we headed northwest to Whanganui for three nights. Relaxing Whanganui The next day we explored two nearby gardens in beautiful weather. The Bushy Park Wildlife Sanctuary is home of a lot of birds in a protected cold-tempered...

Leaving Hot Water Beach and the Coromandel Peninsula behind us we headed South towards Rotorua. Karangahake Gorge However, on the way there we stopped at the Karangahake Gorge. The region was once full of mining activity. While strolling along the gorge we came along what is left of it....

As promised seven years ago we are back in New Zealand. An early flight from Hobart via Sydney brought us to Auckland. Up North After spending the first night near the airport in a nice Airbnb with three super friendly cats we were heading north for a few days....

And so our five and a half weeks in New Zealand came to an end. New Zealand hasn’t disappointed us and kept up with our high expectations. It’s definitely a country one visits because of its natural beauty. Where else in the world can you find snow-covered mountains, sandy...

Leaving Coromandel Peninsula behind we drove straight through Auckland (which we saved for the last few days of our New Zealand trip) towards Whangarei but not without a stop at Piora Falls, a chess factory and some shopping for Hazel. The next day started with a morning exercise for...

A fifty-kilometre drive brought us from the campground to Rotorua the tourist capital of the North Island. First we had a look at the local market which was set in the middle of more steaming and stinky holes. Afterwards, we walked along Sulfur Bay for more thermal sightseeing (there...

After the three hour crossing of the Cook Strait on the Interislander Ferry we arrived in Wellington where we were welcomed by Peter and Kathy, which we first met a few months earlier at a friend’s wedding in Switzerland. They invited us to be their guests for the next...

Unfortunately the rain which started the evening before didn’t stop during the night and so it was still raining when we got up which meant that for the first time we needed to pack our tent in full rain. As you can imagine this was good fun to start...