Christchurch is one of the oldest cities in New Zealand. Old means from the mid 19th century. Some buildings, the cathedral and the university mainly, have been build in an old-englisch style. But if you imagine Christchurch like one of those beautiful small towns in England, like Oxford, Stratford, Exeter, Cambridge, Canterbury, etc. then you are wrong. The university buildings are quite nice but otherwise it's a pretty modern city with little old charm. An interesting fact for physicists is that Ernest Rutherford studied here for some time. Since he had a couple of disagreements with the local university folks of his time he got his laboratory assigned in a small room under a stairway. This room can still be visited today, it's knows as "Rutherfords Den". But in later years when he made his famous ... read more

We did not have time to go down the South Island west coast to see the famous glaciers and Fjordland or even Queentown were also too far away. Instead we spent more time on the east side of the Southern Alps, around Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki, and Mt. Cook. The weather was as good as it can be. We had great views across the turquise green water of Lake Pukaki, a beautiful sunset, and a clear and sunny visit to New Zealands highest mountains, Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman. We had a really good times those days. Always in the nature under open sky, coming before the first tourists come, staying longer than anybody else, enjoying sunsets made only for us. And not to forget all the nice camping dinners with red wine and lots of ... read more

With all the wild camping and hiking once in a while we were looking for indoor accomodation with showers. In Greymouth we got a lot more than this! Run as a Backpackers by a local couple Global Village is a place of great atmosphere. When we arrived and steped into the lobby we felt like being in someones living room. A nice fire was crackling in the fireplace, gentle music was playing in the background, and people sat on comfortable sofas reading or chating. We we got to see our room we could hardly belive it. It was completely in african style decor with pictures, wood carvings, and other affectionately chosen interior and accessories. It was easily the nicest room I had during my whole journey! And everything else was just perfect, too. Let alone the ... read more

On the way to Abel Tasman National Park we came across some nice places in Nelson Bay. One night we camped next to a beach. In the morning we discovered all kinds of wounderful subjects in the sunrise.... read more

The two hobbits had a rather fruitless attempt on reaching Mount Doom this time. Sauron sent all the bad weather he could provoke, the clouds, the rain, and the wind had us turn back at the famous Tongariro Crossing. We felt a little bit 'doomed' and we were happy to get back to dry area afterwards...... read more