Heading South
I woke up to a great sky and decided I’ll hit the road early, no detours… choosing the fastest track, an easy-to-navigate highway. The cliché that there are more sheep in New Zealand than people is surely true. I stopped counting… Farmland, forests and hills make up most of the scenery. Sheep, cows and bulls! […] Read More
Thermal
It was a long day in the car. I underestimated the time it would all take, even if I only drove about 225 kilometers. Most of it was on tiny, windy beach-mountain-beach roads that took forever. I also did not factor in how much time I would actually like to spend in various spots, so […] Read More
Super/Natural
Night came early. It was pitch black at 9 o’clock. I went to the beach and had an amazing experience: The full moon high in the sky above the Pacific Ocean. So bright I cast a clear shadow. The animal sounds. The deserted beach at night. The sea looking like silver and black at the same time. […] Read More
Coromandel Peninsula
I got my car at 10 in the morning, then packed up my stuff, got a coffee for the way and my repaired bag, and ran into Clint and a friend. Final hugs, and off I go. My first stop tonight is Hot Water Beach, however I took quite a detour via the Coromandel Peninsula. Separated by […] Read More
Beach day
Another day at the beach… Waiheke left me knackered, so I scrapped my plans to go visit and hike around Rangitoto today. I needed something more mellow… On to the ferry to Devonport again and over to Cheltenham beach to be lazy in the shade and a bit in the sun. It was windy, not […] Read More
Waiheke
When I first heard about Waiheke Island I thought they were talking about Hawaii. Many names here, taken over from Māori, have a hawaiian ring to me. I only recently found out that they are indeed all related. Funnily, all those polynesian micro-islands in the pacific have been discovered and settled way before the two main […] Read More
Devonport
My host Harvey gave me a number of insider tips for my stroll around Devonport. I took the ferry in the morning, crossing the harbor in less than 15 minutes, and arrived on the opposite site, in Devonport, a small suburb of Auckland, located on the North shore of the harbor, at the southern end of a peninsula. […] Read More
Beach walk
I expected my last day in Sydney to be sunny… but it wasn’t meant to be. It was cloudy, and by the time the bus dropped me off at Coogee Beach, it started to rain…. Desperation! I walked a bit along the beach, then sat a bit under cover in one of the park huts, […] Read More
On the convict trail
I drove out East this morning, my goal being the Port Arthur penal settlement, or the ruins that are left of it. It’s roughly 100 kilometers, if you don’t do any detours. But detours I had planned plenty. First stop: Richmond. A tiny cute little town, basically a couple of houses along the main street. […] Read More
Brighton Bathing boxes
Yesterday, I met up with Rajiv in Brighton, a suburb south of Melbourne on the bay, and we went to the beach. Brighton beach is famous for its colorful bathing boxes. So famous they even have their own web site! They remain from victorian, more prudish times, when they were built on many beaches. Today, […] Read More