Blogs from National Parks, New Zealand, Oceania

Oceania » New Zealand » National Parks January 14th 2016

Reise-sexperten 13.000 Kilometer waren wir unterwegs. Von Süd nach Nord, nach Ost nach West. Stellenweise den gleichen Weg zurück, weil wir irgendwas vergessen haben oder einfach doof waren. War trotzdem schön. Und ihr habt ja jetzt auch lange genug warten müssen. Das wars auch schon wieder mit dem Blog, bis zum nächsten Mal! Kleiner schlechter Scherz beiseite, ich erzähl euch natürlich was wir so erlebt haben. Ein bisschen zumindest, wir müssen ja jugendfrei bleiben. Es ist gar nicht so einfach wo man anfangen soll, noch was man eigentlich erzählen soll, ohne dass der Text zu lang wird. Highlights in Spiegelstrichen zu nennen wäre ne Idee, verliert aber den Zauber meiner Erzähltechnik. Ich mach einfach beides: Es war einmal der 4te Dezember 2015. Wir hatten den Schlüssel unserer Wohnung in Dunedin (die Stadt, welche im Jahr 1999 ... read more

Ohakune

Oceania » New Zealand » National Parks November 23rd 2014

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FandF

Leaf, Fred and I took the 5 hour train from Auckland to Ohakune, and Kris and Nick drove with all their camping gear. (We stayed in a cabin). We arrived in Ohakune, a small town in the central plateau national park, to torrential wind and rain. It was not possible to see the mountains at all through thick clouds. First 2 nights Kris and Nick also rented a cabin. The Central Plateau of North island has several snow capped volcanic peaks, and there is geothermal activity. Mount Ruapehu last erupted in the 1990s. The first day was pretty cloudy and so we could still not see the volcano peaks. We were lucky to have Kris Nick and Leaf as guides, who knew shorter safer alternatives to the Tongariro Crossing. We had a nice walk through the ... read more

New Zealand

Oceania » New Zealand » National Parks April 25th 2014

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Antonin

New Zealand... read more

Of paddles and footsteps

Oceania » New Zealand » National Parks March 3rd 2014

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jackbloggs

So it finally starts again. The time has finally arrived to finish work and be free once more to travel the world! With 6 weeks planned in South Island New Zealand and then 4 months in South America there are so many adventures to be had, and this time with someone to share every exciting and exhausting moment with. Becks and I are on a mission to do all The Great Walks in New Zealand to give our travel a bit more of a twist. We start with a 5 day paddle on the Wanganui River. I did the first two days with A dozen or so of us from Palmy Hospital, opting for a sea kayak to attack the rapids (and the canoeists) with. It was a great amount of freedom being able to navigate ... read more

Take me away - a secret Place - a sweet Escape

Oceania » New Zealand » National Parks April 27th 2013

Julia, Julian und Antonia

Jutonia

Hallo unsere Lieben in der Heimat, erstmal ein großes Sorry, dass wir unseren Blog so lange vernachlässigt haben. Bevor wir nun am 7. Mai weiter nach Bali fliegen, müssen wir euch unbedingt noch erzählen, was uns in fast vier Monaten Neuseeland passiert ist. Am 17. Januar flogen wir von Melbourne nach Auckland. Dank Julian Stegmaiers Bemühungen, ein Vehicle zu kaufen, konnten wir unsere Reise direkt starten. Das Vehicle stellte sich als ein 20 Jahre alter Campervan heraus, der unser Herz im Sturm eroberte. Nach drei Tagen an den pechschwarzen Stränden von Piha folgte Julian dem Ruf eines weiblichen Kiwis und ließ uns prompt allein. Zu zweit ging es Richtung Cape Reinga, unser erster Roadtrip im eigenen Auto. Entlang des engen, kurvigen und steilen Highway 1 (der Antonia fast in den Wahnsinn trieb) sahen wir grüne Hügel ... read more

Shakespeare Regional Park

Oceania » New Zealand » National Parks February 7th 2013

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LtGoose

06-07/02/13 - Set off for Shakespeare Regional Park 1st thing which is on the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsular, only a short drive and we very soon had a wet on the go with everything set up after only half an hour. The northern part of the peninsular is New Zealand Defence Force Land used by the Army and Navy. There are still pillboxes and anti tank trenches left here from the Second World War. A beach on that side is called Army Bay. Walked the Tiritiri Trek, which at only two hours was more than enough in the heat and with the climbs involved. Fantastic views taking in the park, Tiritiri Matangi Island and Rangitoto Island. Cooled off in Te Haruhi Bay after. From the water looking back you see a sandy beach, beyond which ... read more

Lake Waikaremoana

Oceania » New Zealand » National Parks » Te Urewera National Park November 10th 2011

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SorgardtJansson

So the first of the 4 walks we were planning to do was Lake Waikaremoana (which means something along the lines of the lake that behaves like the sea). To get to the lake from Rotorua was a bit of a mission considering it is about 40km on a gravel road up through the mountains. Anyway finally made it there and on Monday mid-day we started our 42km long walk. Lovely scenery and only a 3 hour walk the first day. Second day a longer walk, around 6 hours… a lot up and down but beautiful views and we even managed to go for a swim or more for a quick dip in the lake. The third and final day we started early and did a 580 m ascent and then down we managed a 9 ... read more

Mount Egmont Trips

Oceania » New Zealand » National Parks » Egmont National Park September 23rd 2011

JudysInNZ

Da wir dieses Wochenende wieder "babysitten" mussten hatten wir wieder Zeit die naehere Umgebung zu erkunden. Am Freitag erkundeten wir mit Nico&Jerome den Lake Mangamahoe, der nur eine halbe Stunde ausserhalb von Stratford liegt. Der See war sehr schoen und der 2 stuendige Wanderweg um den See herum war zwar teils anstrengend aber auch sehr entspannend. Danach gingen wir gemeinsam nach New Plymouth um einen Pub zu testen. Am Samstag erkundeten wir erstmal aus versehen die gegend zwischen Eltham und Hawera, auch nur 30 min von uns entfernt. Spaeter gings dann noch etwas auf den Mount Egmont, der ja nun wirklich fast in unserem Garten liegt ;) Dort werden wir wahrscheinlich noch oefters kleine Wanderungen unternehmen. So wie auch am Sonntag als wir wieder den Berg erklommen haben. Auf die Spitze haben wir es zwar noch ... read more

Hiking in Fiordland

Oceania » New Zealand » National Parks » Fiordland National Park May 1st 2011

Ramo1985

As a keen hiker, I can't resist sharing some of my favourite hikes in the Fiordland area. The region provides a range of varied, challenging opportunities, and is also home to the 'Kepler' and 'Routburn' tracks, both deemed 'Great Walks' and therefore attracting hundreds of thousands of hikers a year. However, as I have eluded to in a previous blog, I have a 'love/hate' relationship with hiking in New Zealand. Justifiably, the DOC (Department of Conservation) are keen to preserve the natural habitat and prevent erosion. Therefore they regulate tourism by declaring a dozen or so walks 'Great' and charge fees for participation, consequently spending this vast income on maintenance, conservation and accomodation. This means that the DOC can control tourist numbers in the popular areas, and also leaves dozens of equally special hikes across bot ... read more

National Park

Oceania » New Zealand » National Parks » Tongariro National Park April 18th 2011

YD84

Chilled out for 3 days in the National Park and did nothing. It rained for 2 days straight and I really just wanted to relax after the long journey I've been on. Basically read and watched tv. I did get up very early to watch the FA Cup semi final at 4am. Felt very disappointed and just went back to bed.... read more

Brief history of New Zealand

The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year...more history

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