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Gerbie on tour27
New Zealand, part 1: North island
Contrary to what some of you thought (though luckily not everybody), after reading the previous newsletter, I am enjoying myself very much over here in this beautiful country. There's plenty to see and the locals are very friendly. That story was just one of the things I observed, without having anybody in particular in my mind, it was just about one of the things on this continent that didn't appeal to me very much.
The first few days I stayed in Auckland, by far the biggest city of the country, but so big, especially on territory that it is not easy to see a lot. Apart from visiting a cricket match, 8 hours sitting in a stadion, funny to do, but only once in your life, there wasn't muh worth mentioning.
Before setting of from Auckland, I had to decide which way I was going to travel around this country. I assume you will understand I didn't choose one of those backpackerbuses mentioned in the previous letter. But the choice still had to made between a rental car, the regular buses, train, hitchhiking or buying a second (3rd, 4th, 17th) hand car. That last option seemed fairly attractive, but after hanging around for a couple of days without succeeding, I chose to combine a few options.
Firstly I took the bus towards Hamilton, a little city, but without any attractions, after that I continued hitchhiking to Taupo. The place is fairly central on the north island and has a huge lake, with the same name, next to it. And apart from a lot of adrenaline activities, it was also very possible to just walk around and enjoy the lake, the river, the woods and a nice waterfall.
Further down to National Park, a tiny hump, obviously on the edge of a national park. Getting there I had to shelter from the rain on some point and ended up sitting in a field under the wing of an airplane. Not the most obvious place to look for shelter, but over there the only option I had. From National Park I have walked a very nice track, the Tongariro crossing. As you can expects there were hurds of people walking there, but it was definetely worth it. In over seven hours of walking, about 17 kilometers, we crossed two volcanoes (though not completely over the summit), firstly uphill at the side of a little stream. After a real climb ending up on a flat bit on top, where any scifi movie could be filmed, after that some Emerald lakes, obviously not very suitable for anything but a nice picture, with the volcanic activity there. Through some fields, past hotwater springs and decending through a forest towards the end, again at the side of a little river. Very impressive everything, some of the views were too magnificent for words.
‹ˆ
Next stop New Plymouth, on the west coast, where I decided to miss out on climbing the volcano over there, but it was a nice town to pass a day. I learned the expression "If you can see Mt. Taranaki it will rain, if you can't see it, it's raining" to be very accurate.
On the west side of the island apparently it does rain quite a bit. The weather resembles a Dutch (or British) summer a lot actually. Days with sun, but hot days are exceptional. Plenty of rain and wind is the rule, not the exception. Much to my liking by the way, I'm glad I'm here and not in the Australian heat at the moment.
After a short stopover in Wanganui, a little nice town, where it rained once more, I got to Wellington, the capital. I always like capitals, be it only for the fact that there is plenty to see and learn about the country itself and it's history. Visiting the parlement was very interesting and the huge Te Papa museum nearly took up a complete day. Several exhibitions on Maoris, art, history of the country, earthquakes, migration and several other things that made and still make New Zealand what it is today, everything a big learning experience.
After a visit to a football match (the only New Zealand club in the Australian soccer league played a match in Wellington, even though they are from Auckland, can you still follow it?) on my last night, I took the overnight ferry to the south island, where I am at the moment. More about that in my next letter again.
For now: goodbye,
Gerben
Contrary to what some of you thought (though luckily not everybody), after reading the previous newsletter, I am enjoying myself very much over here in this beautiful country. There's plenty to see and the locals are very friendly. That story was just one of the things I observed, without having anybody in particular in my mind, it was just about one of the things on this continent that didn't appeal to me very much.
The first few days I stayed in Auckland, by far the biggest city of the country, but so big, especially on territory that it is not easy to see a lot. Apart from visiting a cricket match, 8 hours sitting in a stadion, funny to do, but only once in your life, there wasn't muh worth mentioning.
Before setting of from Auckland, I had to decide which way I was going to travel around this country. I assume you will understand I didn't choose one of those backpackerbuses mentioned in the previous letter. But the choice still had to made between a rental car, the regular buses, train, hitchhiking or buying a second (3rd, 4th, 17th) hand car. That last option seemed fairly attractive, but after hanging around for a couple of days without succeeding, I chose to combine a few options.
Firstly I took the bus towards Hamilton, a little city, but without any attractions, after that I continued hitchhiking to Taupo. The place is fairly central on the north island and has a huge lake, with the same name, next to it. And apart from a lot of adrenaline activities, it was also very possible to just walk around and enjoy the lake, the river, the woods and a nice waterfall.
Further down to National Park, a tiny hump, obviously on the edge of a national park. Getting there I had to shelter from the rain on some point and ended up sitting in a field under the wing of an airplane. Not the most obvious place to look for shelter, but over there the only option I had. From National Park I have walked a very nice track, the Tongariro crossing. As you can expects there were hurds of people walking there, but it was definetely worth it. In over seven hours of walking, about 17 kilometers, we crossed two volcanoes (though not completely over the summit), firstly uphill at the side of a little stream. After a real climb ending up on a flat bit on top, where any scifi movie could be filmed, after that some Emerald lakes, obviously not very suitable for anything but a nice picture, with the volcanic activity there. Through some fields, past hotwater springs and decending through a forest towards the end, again at the side of a little river. Very impressive everything, some of the views were too magnificent for words.
‹ˆ
Next stop New Plymouth, on the west coast, where I decided to miss out on climbing the volcano over there, but it was a nice town to pass a day. I learned the expression "If you can see Mt. Taranaki it will rain, if you can't see it, it's raining" to be very accurate.
On the west side of the island apparently it does rain quite a bit. The weather resembles a Dutch (or British) summer a lot actually. Days with sun, but hot days are exceptional. Plenty of rain and wind is the rule, not the exception. Much to my liking by the way, I'm glad I'm here and not in the Australian heat at the moment.
After a short stopover in Wanganui, a little nice town, where it rained once more, I got to Wellington, the capital. I always like capitals, be it only for the fact that there is plenty to see and learn about the country itself and it's history. Visiting the parlement was very interesting and the huge Te Papa museum nearly took up a complete day. Several exhibitions on Maoris, art, history of the country, earthquakes, migration and several other things that made and still make New Zealand what it is today, everything a big learning experience.
After a visit to a football match (the only New Zealand club in the Australian soccer league played a match in Wellington, even though they are from Auckland, can you still follow it?) on my last night, I took the overnight ferry to the south island, where I am at the moment. More about that in my next letter again.
For now: goodbye,
Gerben
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Anyway, I'm glad you are enjoying yourself. I look forward to the next update.
Re:
I always like to hear that people are really reading them. It doesn't take that much guts to do it this way, just a bit of common sense and some experience. Anybody could do it, it's just that not many do....
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