Kurzer Zwischenruf
Servicewüste Doitschland? Kann ich bestätigen. Latest and greatest example: DHL. Ich habe was in NZ bestellt. Wird hier vor Ort mit DHL Express, also dem teuren Premiumservice, geliefert. Oder halt auch nicht. Krieg ich eine sehr dubiose SMS: Wollte die erst löschen, aber das „NZ“ am Ende der Sendungsnummer und die Tatsache, dass ich wusste,…
Rucksack orgasm
Saturday morning started with a shock. I was up early to capture Mt Ruapehu in sunrise and was attacked by one of NZ’s most dangerous animals on our terrace: This is a carnivorous snail and it can catch and devour its prey in seconds – don’t let the harmless appearance fool you! Sunrise was nice…
Ohakune, we love you
Decision time, again. Too many decision times on this vacation for my taste, but what can you do? At least I’m good at making decisions. My body is fat and untrained and ugly and white, I don’t have any tattoos or piercings, I don’t know how to shoot a gun, I’ve never beaten a woman,…
And Taranaki sunset def rule ok
The only good thing about „weather events“ like this storm is that there’s a good chance of dramatic sunsets, and the Taranaki coast is of course just the right spot for watching it. So I tore myself away from the horrible news and we went off to enjoy 45 minutes of the best nature has…
Taranaki still rules
The next day (Wednesday), the images on TV were getting worse. I won’t repeat it again, but large scale destruction of vast swathes of land, especially on the East Coast. Prepared, aided, and abetted by Big Ag and Forestry. Unfuckingbelievable. Taranaki got off pretty light, there were local power outages due to storm damage, but…
The Getaway
Cyclone Gabrielle was closing in fast and by now it was clear that it was going to hit from the East. So we decided to move our asses as far West as possible, which meant New Plymouth. I was lucky and managed to snatch up a beautiful flat on ABB for three days where we…
Palmy rocks, part 2
Because WordPress sucks, I had to split this up. Here’s part 1 about Palmy, if you care. Arapuke Forest Park That’s still not all! We also explored the nearby Arapuke Forest Park and did an improvised loop track, combining the Sledge Track, Arapuke Road, and Back Track Loop. Also well worth the effort, there were…
Palmy rocks! (and wordpress sucks)
It’s a bit hard to top the post-Zealandia emotional high that I get from seeing so many birds, especially parrots. Because we have the same mindset – destroy what destroys you. 🙂 Anyway, we were headed to Palmerston North that day, a town that we’ve never visited before. Our loss for sure since it’s super…
Birds galore
So, very late arrival and thus late departure the next morning. Kinda sorta. First things first, a very delicious breakfast at Neo Cafe on Willis. Pistachio Pancakes for the win! After dragging our fat and well-fed carcasses back to the hotel, we managed to find our car in the garage, checked out and took off…
And finally, a ferry crossing
In Reefton, we took refuge at the Dawson’s Hotel, which was friendly, clean, and comfortable. Just what we needed. Dinner at the pub/hotel was ok, too – pleasantly surprised to find so many veggie options on the menu. Breakfast was another round of our MRE, leftovers from the hikes that did not happen – and…