Kia Ora!
After a bit more than a week in New Zealand, it's time to have a first look back: The trip started on December 28th in Frankfurt with a flight to Dubai, UAE.
You could even spot the Burj Khalifa (the highest building in the world) as a thin needle from the airport (over the "s" of Emirates).
The flight to Auckland was operated on an Airbus A380 - definitely a great moment for little Boris since it was his first flight in a two-level airplane (even though in the insight it doesn't make a big difference ;-)
Flying eastward to NZ, you cross the international dateline twice, also enjoying the sunset two times.
We planned on meeting with Torsten (another really good mate from Freiburg, who works for a year in NZ) and his girlfriend Franzi on the Eastcape - the part of New Zealand which is the farest east.
On the way, we stopped in Tauranga where Torsten and Franzi let us stay a night in their place.
After a bit more than a week in New Zealand, it's time to have a first look back: The trip started on December 28th in Frankfurt with a flight to Dubai, UAE.
You could even spot the Burj Khalifa (the highest building in the world) as a thin needle from the airport (over the "s" of Emirates).
The flight to Auckland was operated on an Airbus A380 - definitely a great moment for little Boris since it was his first flight in a two-level airplane (even though in the insight it doesn't make a big difference ;-)
Flying eastward to NZ, you cross the international dateline twice, also enjoying the sunset two times.
Not having had that much sleep on the plane, my eyes were quite small as Chrissy - a very good friend from Freiburg who already lives in NZ for 5 years - picked me up at the international airport in Auckland.
We planned on meeting with Torsten (another really good mate from Freiburg, who works for a year in NZ) and his girlfriend Franzi on the Eastcape - the part of New Zealand which is the farest east.
On the way, we stopped in Tauranga where Torsten and Franzi let us stay a night in their place.
Since Chrissy planned on participating in a Triathlon at Mt. Maunganui - a town just next to Tauranga, we used that stay for a little "location" visit as well.
Mt. Maunganui is a small stripe of land, with beaches on both sides and a small hill at his end: the "mount".
Due to the long beaches it's definitely a surfers paradise ...
... and quite nice houses next to the beach.
After the quick stop we continued our voyage eastwards - most of the times along the coast to meet Torsten and Franzi on the campground the farest east in the country, where we celebrated New Years under a beautiful, starlit sky.
And the day after we had a beautiful sunrise ... the first ray of lights of the new year ...
Our trip continued along the coast not without trying one of Kiwi's national sports: surfing
And handling the preparations and the wave, you see right away who is the Pro and who just pretends to do some whitewater-surfing ...
... but at the end everybody had lots of fun with the boards and under the self-built hut on the beach.
After the beach we split up and Chrissy and I drove back to Tauranga, experiencing the first rainy day before we stopped in Rotorua, a city which is known for the dynamic geothermal-active area it's located in.
And while Chrissy used the day before the competition to chill and relax, I headed of to the Karangahake Gorge, to see the leftovers of one of the greatest NZ gold-mining regions in an astonishing surroundings.
You even had the chance walking around in the old adits - a great playground for big kids.
On Saturday January 5th was Chrissy big day: the Port of Tauranga Half-Ironman ...
which was the New Zealand Championship at the same time; probably one of the reasons for the big field of participants and maybe one of the reasons for Chrissy's tautness before the start.
But after the race was started (just in front of the "mount") and everything went well with the swimming, there was a big smile on her face, that stayed until the last round of the half-marathon and the crossing of the finishing line.
And since the goal to beat the personal record was fulfilled, the coaching stuff was very happy as well (probably because he already knew that there was a thermal bathing session planned the evening :-)
Torsten and Franzi came back from their hiking tour on Saturday evening, so that we could enjoy a great Sunday morning breakfast together before we took off to Waitomo, a village which is located in the middle of a Karst landscape, famous for it's caves visible on the surface ...
and the ones hidden in the ground. What made them really special is the quantity of glowworms (see picture above) on the ceilings and the walls of the caves giving you the impression of being under a clear-blue starlit sky. To experience that we took part in a blackwater-canyoning tour
which was a lot of fun and perfectly rounded up this first great and diversified week. From Waitomo, Chrissy had to drive home, since work is calling and I took a bus to Auckland where I picked up my car.
From here I will tour south to Wellington where I hope to write the next post just before hopping to the south island on Sunday.
Once again I want to wish you a belated Happy New Year and with Greetings from Auckland!
Boris
Mt. Maunganui is a small stripe of land, with beaches on both sides and a small hill at his end: the "mount".
Due to the long beaches it's definitely a surfers paradise ...
... with weird cars on Mainstreet ...
... and quite nice houses next to the beach.
After the quick stop we continued our voyage eastwards - most of the times along the coast to meet Torsten and Franzi on the campground the farest east in the country, where we celebrated New Years under a beautiful, starlit sky.
And the day after we had a beautiful sunrise ... the first ray of lights of the new year ...
wishing you all the very best for 2013!!
Our trip continued along the coast not without trying one of Kiwi's national sports: surfing
And handling the preparations and the wave, you see right away who is the Pro and who just pretends to do some whitewater-surfing ...
... but at the end everybody had lots of fun with the boards and under the self-built hut on the beach.
After the beach we split up and Chrissy and I drove back to Tauranga, experiencing the first rainy day before we stopped in Rotorua, a city which is known for the dynamic geothermal-active area it's located in.
And while Chrissy used the day before the competition to chill and relax, I headed of to the Karangahake Gorge, to see the leftovers of one of the greatest NZ gold-mining regions in an astonishing surroundings.
You even had the chance walking around in the old adits - a great playground for big kids.
On Saturday January 5th was Chrissy big day: the Port of Tauranga Half-Ironman ...
which was the New Zealand Championship at the same time; probably one of the reasons for the big field of participants and maybe one of the reasons for Chrissy's tautness before the start.
But after the race was started (just in front of the "mount") and everything went well with the swimming, there was a big smile on her face, that stayed until the last round of the half-marathon and the crossing of the finishing line.
And since the goal to beat the personal record was fulfilled, the coaching stuff was very happy as well (probably because he already knew that there was a thermal bathing session planned the evening :-)
Torsten and Franzi came back from their hiking tour on Saturday evening, so that we could enjoy a great Sunday morning breakfast together before we took off to Waitomo, a village which is located in the middle of a Karst landscape, famous for it's caves visible on the surface ...
and the ones hidden in the ground. What made them really special is the quantity of glowworms (see picture above) on the ceilings and the walls of the caves giving you the impression of being under a clear-blue starlit sky. To experience that we took part in a blackwater-canyoning tour
which was a lot of fun and perfectly rounded up this first great and diversified week. From Waitomo, Chrissy had to drive home, since work is calling and I took a bus to Auckland where I picked up my car.
From here I will tour south to Wellington where I hope to write the next post just before hopping to the south island on Sunday.
Once again I want to wish you a belated Happy New Year and with Greetings from Auckland!
Boris
7 Kommentare:
hey boris,
alles gute im neuen jahr.... in den waitomo caves mit den glühwürmchen war ich auch..... geniess die zeit....
lg,
denise
Hey! Ein ziemlicher Fotoband, ganz toll! Danke für die tollen Bilder!
Grüße nach down under! Lgf
schön dass du surfen gegangen bist :-)
gutes neues jahr, viel gesundheit und eine schöne reise!!
Like :-)
tolle Bilder, alles liebe zum Neuen Jahr, Steffi
Hallo Boris,
was soll ich sagen.... deine Berichte und Bilder machen Lust darauf den Koffer zu packen und auch mal wieder in den Flieger zu steigen.... O.k. natürlich erst dann wenn die Kidi´s älter sind.
** I wish you a happy new year too, all the best during your trip **
Tina (St. Basius)
Hei Boris! Tolle Bilder! Sieht so aus als ob du schon großartige Wochen hinter dir hast! Wünsch dir weiterhin eine gute Reise und viel Spaß!
Liebe Grüße aus Stuggi!
Birgit
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