(Day 652 on the road) I guess I can't be lucky with the weather all the times on my hikes here in New Zealand. During the last one, a four-day circuit around the cone-shaped volcano of Mt. Taranaki near New Plymouth, it was pretty much raining and storming non-stop. New Plymouth by the way is the self-proclaimed "most livable city in New Zealand", whatever that means. The town didn't seem all that appealing to me, and a quick check on the world's most livable citiessomehow doesn't quite include New Plymouth (but places like Vienna, Vancouver or Zurich. Funny that. I set off in a drizzle, and when during the late afternoon the clouds cleared I was somewhat hopeful that the dire weather report I had seen earlier was wrong as usual. But despite a few spells ... read more

(Day 641 on the road)After the Lake Waikaremoana hike, my plan was to spend a few days in the city of Taupo and the lake of the same name, before hiking the four day Tongariro Northern Circuit, another one of New Zealand's Great Walks. Driving over to Taupo, I hit the button "Tourist Attractions nearby" on my invaluable GPS. The very first entry was "Napier Ocean Spa". Perfect! Less than an hour later I was in the pretty coastal town of Napier and in the hot waters. And when I found out that they also had a sauna of top of the various thermal pools in a setting right by the sea, well, what can I say. I spent the next few days hanging around in Taupo waiting for better weather to start the hike, but ... read more

(Day 629 on the road)Rotorua stinks. Literally. The town is situated smack-bang in the middle of New Zealand's most active geothermal area, and everywhere you go the earth is smoking, hissing and steaming, basking the city in an omnipresent strong sulphur odour. It is actually quite a strange sensation to walk around downtown and see steam coming out of the ground in various places. Not surprisingly, the thermal activity with its range of geysers and steaming lakes plus a stronghold of Maori culture (the first settlers of New Zealand) draws tourists in their thousands to the area. On top, the thermal activity also means that the area boasts a number of hot mineral pools - very much to my liking! In fact, less than ten minutes of arriving in the city I had lowered myself into ... read more

(Day 618 on the road)I am on the move again. After taking it easy for the last few weeks in Australia with good friends of mine, I have finally arrived in New Zealand. I haven't been so excited about any country in a long time and am thus very happy to finally be here! After a considerable hold-up at check-in for my flight from Sydney to Auckland (I was not allowed to board the plane as I only had a one-way ticket to NZ; they made me purchase a completely unwanted ticket out of NZ) I soon touched down in Kiwi-land. And being upgraded to fly business class on the new Airbus A380 was an unexpected and much welcomed luxury compared to my usual mode of travel: Freshly squeezed celery-apple-carrot-ginger-detox juice, delicious canapés on free-flow, quality ... read more

(Day 595 on the road)Melbourne is easily the most agreeable and cosmopolitan city I have been to since I left home. Miles apart from the chaos and pollution of some Asian metropolises like Manila, Jakarta or Bangkok still vivid in my memory, Melbourne just has a great feel to it. The mix of different people living here from all over the world is incredible, and the city's location right by the ocean doesn't hurt either. I thoroughly enjoyed the week I spent here. Even better than the city itself was the fact that quite a number of my friends, colleagues from university and people I met during my trip so far are living in Melbourne. After always starting afresh with the countless people I meet all the time on my journey ("what's your name, where are ... read more