We finally made it to New Zealand, one of the furthest destinations possible from Switzerland (without leaving the planet). Many people say that New Zealand is almost like Switzerland, so we are trying to figure out if that is actually true.
New Zealand
Blog posts from New Zealand
Museums, Restaurants, and lots of Wind in Wellington
Every journey comes to an end eventually. After returning our campervan in Queenstown and an incredible flight along the Southern Alps we arrived in Wellington. We already passed by Wellington earlier on the trip but because our return flight is from Wellington and we did not want to leave the campervan unused for three days, […]
Diving and Boat Cruise in Milford Sounds
The Fiordland National Park in the Southwest Corner of New Zealand is the most remote and inaccessible region in the whole country and home to fjords, high mountains, narrow valleys, dense forests, beautiful lakes, epic treks and the Kea, one of only few species of parrots that live in high-alpine regions. The most visited of […]
Sunrise Hike to Roys Peak at Wanaka
After crossing the Southern Alps via Haast Pass, we arrived in Wanaka in the early evening. Wanaka, just like its neighboring Queenstown, are two small cities at the lake side which compete for the tourists’ dollars with activities like kayaking, skydiving, and all those other things you basically can do at any other place in […]
South New Zealand’s West Coast
As we only had around 8 days left with our campervan, we had to decide whether we want to drive down the east or the west coast of the South Island. Both have its attractions, but because parts of the road at the east coast were still closed due to previous earthquakes, we decided to […]
Hiking and Kayaking at Abel Tasman National Park
Famous for its golden beaches, beautiful bays, rocky cliffs, and its marine life, Abel Tasman National Park is a paradise for exploration both on water and on land. The almost perfect weather during our stay in the park added up to the experience. Tourism at Abel Tasman National Park As in many places that we […]
Crossing the Cook Strait
As the weather at Tongariro National Park was awful and the forecast for the next few days was not convincing either, Ilinca and I decided to travel to New Zealand’s South Island one day earlier than we planned. After a winding four hour drive down to Wellington and a beautiful three hour ferry ride over […]
Hidden Volcanoes at Tongariro National Park
Everybody who has seen The Lord of the Rings knows Mordor with its volcano Mt. Doom. While the volcano in the movie looks slightly different than Mt. Ngauruhoe, a perfectly shaped volcano, it served as inspiration for director Peter Jackson. And many other filming locations for Mordor also lie within this National Park. For […]
Mud Pools, Geysers and Champagne Pool at Wai-O-Tapu
In the vicinity of Rotorua, there are several thermal hotspots where you can witness the volcanic activity that once formed New Zealand that that still causes volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. One of those hotspots is Wai-O-Tapu. Wai-O-Tapu Active Volcanic Zone The earth’s crust at those hotspots is very thin, therefore we strictly had to walk […]
Glowworm Caves in Waitomo
Because we only have 17 days to get from Auckland to Queenstown, we do not have many days left on New Zealand’s north island. After leaving Auckland, we were heading south towards Rotorua but on the way we stopped first at the Glowworm Cave in Waitomo. As no photography is allowed inside, there are no […]
Eating Raclette in Auckland
Our 3.5 hour flight from Melbourne to Auckland was the most comfortable flight ever, because we received a free upgrade to business class in Emirates A380. Once in Auckland, we met our friends Antoinette and Mike who settled down in New Zealand about 4 decades ago and spent two wonderful days at their home in […]