Deutsch
Michael Fischer
In spring 2004 I decide to discover New Zealand together with Nicole and Tim. We choose January for our trip, which is midsummer in New Zealand. The total journey by plane takes approximately 24 hours. In order to endure the long trip as comfortable and indemnified as possible we pre-book our flights with a two days stop-over in Malaysia. Also a suitable vehicle for New Zealand is found and booked soon. Our start is planned for Saturday, January 22, 2005, eventually.
10 days before our take-off Nicole finds out that she cannot travel because of an urgent operation. So what should I do? I can make such a long trip only with two companions. To reschedule the trip is not that easy . I decide to look for another escort. And actually I am lucky: my former assistant Nico is unemployed (unfortunately) and he can fill in for Nicole spontaneously. The airline refuses to release Nicoles flight ticket for Nico, but the threat to cancel two further flights convinces the travel agent.
It is January, 22, 2005, and very cold (0°C) when we take off in Frankfurt at noon. 10 hours later finally we reach Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia in the morning. My adventure starts with deboarding the plane. For my transport from the seat to my wheelchair the stewardess brings something similar to a camping folding chair with wheels. Unfortunately I am too large for it. All the long way through the airplane Nico has to support the upper part of my body and Tim has to carry my legs.
We dive into a new, strange world. Due to the closeness of the equator we are greeted by a powerfull oppressive humidity, already 27°C warm at sunrise! My companions heave me into the minibus which gives us a lift to downtown, 70 kilometres away from the airport. As the trunk is full, my wheelchair is wedged on the co-driver's seat. On the trip through endless plantations of lush green palm trees I entertain supposition, that our driver has several lives: his style of driving tells me that he hopes for a better life in the near future.
We move into our camp for our two-day stay, which is our hotel room in the 20th floor. The air-conditioning cools down the air to a comfortable level and the windows absorb the noise of the endless traffic. Our hotel is quite nice: on a terrace in the tenth floor is a swimming pool with an artificial waterfall and a little tropical park. The breakfast buffet offers goodies for almost every taste of the world: fresh, already peeled and cut tropical fruits, bread, cake, omelet, Asian rice, noodles, Indian food, coffee, tea, fruit juice and much more strengthens us for the adventure tour through the city.
At noon we leave the cool rooms of our hotel and dive into damp
35°C warm air. Kuala Lumpur (in English "muddy river mouth") - simply
called KL - is with approximately 1.5 million inhabitants the largest city of
the country. It seems that each inhabitant has either a car or a motorbike and
the acoustic noise pollution is really frightening.
Pedestrian crossings are extremely scarce. You have to cross roads between the stinky and loud metal boxes like a rabbit. With a wheelchair this is a very big challenge. The height of a curb is at least 30 cm and thus forms an additional obstacle. Under these conditions, we arrive at our first destination quite laboriously, but still alive and unharmed!
From 1996 to 2003 the Petronas towers were the higest buildings of the world (452 meters). Today only the new skyscraper Taipei 101 with 508 meters is higher. The towers were completed 1998 and both have respectively 88 floors and 76 elevators, 37,000 tons of steel were needed for the construction. Together they have 32,000 windows. In the height of 170 meters (between the 41st and 42nd floor) both towers are connected with a steelbridge, which was released for the public in the year 2000. It is 58 meters long and wheighs approximately 750 tons.
We actually find a wheelchair accessible subway, the PUTRA Line. The stop is only 200 meters away from our hotel. But to get there we have to cross a six-lane road without a pedestrian crossing, climb two huge curbs, take care for grids on the pavement, where the gaps between the bars are so wide, that a wheel of my chair could be trapped. As soon as we reach the elevator at the station everything is wheelchair friendly. The ticket to the centre of the city costs only 30 cents. At our destination at least 20 women in long dresses leave the elevator, which is allowed for a maximum of 10 persons. We wonder why they do not use the escalator, until we discover the sign, that this is forbidden for people in long dresses.
The glamorous little Masjid Jamek Mosque is
situated not far from our stop, exactly at the place, where the first settlers
arrived. There the two rivers Gombak and Klang flow together, a place which is
assumed to be the place of birth of Kuala Lumpur. The mosque is opened for the
public. Before you enter, you have to remove your shoes and wash your feet.
Although I have clean feet and I do not wear shoes, I am not allowed to get in
with my wheelchair.
It is different in the Chinese temple nearby: I can roll in, there is only one step. In spite of the overwhelming splendor of the Chinese Pagode the incensed, humid heat pushes us forward.
In the neighbourhood we reach the grandest Hindu temple of Malaysia. The Sri Mahamariaman Temple was constructed in the year 1873. The decoration and ornaments are prepared in time-consuming detail. Handmade carvings with golden inlays and other noble materials even from Italy and Spain can be seen. Unfortunately again wheelchair access is denied.
In the middle of China Town we pass a narrow lane, in which the tables for the
evening market are arranged one after the other. In the damp heat lies a
disgusting stench of rotten fish, meat and other left overs. I hold my nose and
breathe through my mouth. Dozens of rats flee from us. We breathe a sigh of
relief when we reach Petaling Street. 
Here the shops are opened all day long and shopping is an
absolutely new experience. All sorts of imitations like handbags, souvenirs,
watches, clothes, furthermore spices, fruits, vegetables and a lot of other
stuff can be bought. Do not pay the announced price! Here you have to bargain!
A native told us to offer only 10% as a first bid. It is incredible, but it
works! Tim drives a hard bargain and gets a pair of (original?) sports shoes
for 50% off. They are even 70% cheaper than in Germany.
After the noise and crowd a visit to the nearby park
Taman Tasik Perdana, also called Lake Gardens, can be
recommended. We enjoy the tranquillity and quietness in the public park, which
was founded already in 1880. This popular recreational area is almost 100
acres large and in its centre is situated an artificial lake. The lush green
is composed by blooming flowers and bushes, which are roofed by high, shady
trees, on which we even find apes. We visit the largest bird park of
south-east Asia: a gigantic area with trees and shrubs, little rivers and
waterfalls is covered with a net. Most birds can fly around freely inside,
without escaping. The animals are accustomed to people and therefore they are
not shy generally. Some can speak and say hello to us.
We enjoy the sunset on KLs TV Tower Menara. With a height of 421 meters it is the fourth-highest in the world. The outlook platform is 376 meters over the city. In front of us we look down on an endless sea of lights. Directly in front of us glitter the Petronas towers. Further away we discover the blue illuminated, lightning roof of the National Mosque of Malaysia. This distinctive building is situated next to the Central Station, which was built in the year 1910 in moorish style and looks like a palace.
The eventful days can be finished comfortably thanks to the rich choice of different cuisine. Not only Malaysian, but Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese and many other restaurants await their guests. The food is excellent value for money and very delicious. For less than two Euros you can eat and drink more than enough.
After two adventurous days in KL we return to the airport by taxi at night. Our driver heads for his next life so fast in a curve, that I bang my head on the window and twist the frame of my glasses. I leave the new world, which is so strange for us, again with the aid of a camping folding chair and disappear in the jumbo jet towards New Zealand.
It is supposed, that the first Polynesian people - the ancestors of the Maori - reached the country in double hull canoes after crossing thousands of kilometers of open sea between 1000 and 1100 anno Domini. They called it henceforth Aotearoa, which means the "country of the long white cloud". It must have been a planned emigration, in their canoes the newcomers also transported dogs and agricultural crops, for example sweet potatoes. The Dutch navigator Abel Tasman discovered in 1642 as the first European the current New Zealand. Over 100 years New Zealand was ignored, until James Cook from Yorkshire in England reached the islands in 1769. The European people began to settle at the beginning of the 19th century. In the years from 1839 until 1843, about 19,000 colonists settled in Wellington, Nelson, New Plymouth and Wanganui. At this time, also the city Auckland was founded.
Our dreams come true after only ten more hours of flight, the
shortest of our trip. Half an hour before landing the stewardesses walk
through the gangways between the rows of the seats and nebulize huge amounts
of disinfectant spray. The Kiwis (these are the inhabitants of New Zealand)
are very anxious about import of seeds, plants or animals, which could damage
their endemic flora and fauna. Therefore random inspections of the luggage are
made after landing, clay at the soles of shoes is checked and food remainders
are destroyed.
To my surprise I am received at the airport of Auckland without my wheelchair being available in front of the plane. Fortunately the wheelchair from the airport is larger than the camping chair in Asia and I can use it to get to the baggage claim area. All suitcases are already there, but no wheelchair! I run scared. The ground staff looks for it almost half an hour. The wheelchair is found, however a wheel is missing. Fortunately the runaway appears after another 10 minutes . My chair is damaged because of the crude treatment, but yet usable!
In the arrival hall we meet Frank, who hands over the rented vehicle to us. Similar to a van, which is used for selling ice cream, the white, unique monster waits for us on the parking lot. You have to push a button to start the automatic control: very slowly one door after the other opens at the stern, subsequently a gigantic platform folds out and sinks to the ground. The reversal motion of the platform together with me into our new companion does not go more quickly. My wheelchair can be fixed with four belts behind the front seat passenger on the left hand side! Yes, thanks to the English influence left hand traffic is applied here. For our driver Tim this is no problem in the tin with the automatic gearbox.
On our first trip we reach a Backpacker-Hostel in Auckland. Originally for hikers with a rucksack a close meshed network of these low-priced lodgings was built up. Often you find beautiful old villas, farms, former cloisters or schools, which are used as a hostel nowadays. Dormitories , 2-, 3- or 4-bed rooms with private or shared bathrooms are offered. Some are even barrier free. In each hostel is a common room, as well as a living room with television, a completely equipped kitchen with refrigerators, oven, micro wave and cooker, often terraces with barbecue, hammock, herb garden and much more. We meet people from all over the world. Sometimes we talk together in English one hour long before we realize, that our vis-à-vis comes from Switzerland.
On our first morning in New Zealand, we have breakfast in the garden, like almost every morning. Already at about 10:00 am the strong sunbeams burn through the clear, almost always windy air. Although I am not sensitive, a sun light protection factor of at least 12 is recommended! Wide awake my strong companions lift me into the white noise mobile by hand. From now on they avoid using the electrical platform. It takes too much time! We go downtown to discover Auckland, the largest city of New Zealand. The imposing Skytower surpasses the multi-storey buildings in height and is with 328 meters the highest building of New Zealand. The city seems to be very tranquil. In pedestrian areas close to the university, street musicians entertain the crowd, on the pavements experts play chess, tables and chairs on the places before the cafe bars invite people to relax. We sit down in front of a pub and order three glasses of beer. But the service informs us: alcohol is sold only inside, they do not have an extra license for selling alcohol outside. Our next stop is the automobile society of New Zealand (AA). There we receive general information as well as a hotel guide booklet.
In the late afternoon we reach the waterfront. Beautiful yachts, cozy restaurants at the pier and gulls give us a relaxed atmosphere. Between the new buildings, again and again we find interesting old constructions like the Ferry Building from 1912.
Behind the clearly arranged city you can see more than 50
grass-green hills, which resolve from former volcanic activity. Mount
Eden is Aucklands highest volcano (196 metres). Because of its
fascinating outlook from the parking lot on the summit, only two kilometers
south of the center, we see a lot of tourists enjoying the wonderful sunset.
We are astonished that our white bus is able to get up the steep road! We look
over the city and find out that most of the buildings do not have more than
two floors. The area of the city seems to be infinite. Auckland is one of the
most thinly populated cities of the world - it covers twice as much as London,
inhabits however only one million persons. This corresponds to about
one-quarter of the total population of New Zealand!
Except for some cities the density of population is very low in
New Zealand. Because of the high amount of rainfall the country is very green
and idyllic. Although it is relatively small, it possesses an enormous natural
wealth: untouched subtropical forests, volcanic crater basins, volcanoes, mud
pots and geysers, clifty coasts with golden sand beaches and spectacular
alpine landscapes. At the same time the multifarious landscape offers an
enormous abundance of animals and plants. Almost 90 percent of the plants are
endemic. Originally there were no mammals on the islands so that birds had no
natural enemies and lost therefore - like for example the died out Moa or the
Kiwi, which still is found nowadays - the ability to fly. On our trip, we see
it again and again: birds move courageously before our white rolling companion
undaunted by death. They walk around in the middle of the road, leisurely,
accelerating just in time and then step aside a little bit in order not to be
killed by our tires.
In former times both islands were covered almost completely with forest. A copse of lichens, mosses and fern trees existed. Some of the ferns were higher then 10 metres. Slash and burn applied by the Maoris and much worse the interference of the European immigrants has disturbed the sensitive balance in New Zealand. The import of different mammals as well as plants, threatens the domestic flora and fauna.
Between 1837 and 1840, for example the first
possums were brought to New Zealand in order to start up a
domestic fur industry. Until 1930, the number of the night active marsupials
increased exponentially. Since the middle of the 20th century people are
trying to get rid of the plague - however without success. With more than 70
million animals, the population of the possums takes first rank before that of
the sheep (50 million). According to estimations they consume 21.000 tons of
vegetable nourishment every day. This is a danger for the survival of the
domestic forest and the animals, which live from berries and plants. Dead
possums on the roads, the victims of traffic are designated as "road pizza".
Again and again we see those on our round trip.
New Zealand is distributed over two tectonic plates, the Pacific and the Australian plate. Because these plates move permanently and bang together, there are some volcanoes, geothermal zones and again and again earthquakes in New Zealand.
On the third day we go to Rotorua where we find one of the largest and most accessible geothermal areas of the world. Steaming clouds billow over cooking mud pots, which remind us of mashed potatoes forgotten on a hot stove. Encrusted mineral deposits at the edges of the water basins bloom in wonderful colours. The zone was settled first by Maoris, who used the hot sources for cooking and bathing. The birds at the water sides are freed of the laborious breeding because the earth contributes even sufficient warmth. The graves on the cemeteries must be constructed above ground because the ditch in the ground could unearth a further hot source. The hotels are equipped with geothermal heated baths. The sulfur hydrogen that steps out of the earth crust smells terribly like old eggs all over the city.
Waimangu
The volcanism of the last few centuries built the canyon of Mount Tarawera. The valley is five kilometers long. 1886, after a devastating night with several powerful eruptions the chain of volcanoes was divided in two halves. At the same time the Waimangu thermal valley was born. Approximately 19 kilometres south of Rotorua this thermal area is one of the latest of the world and also the largest and richest regarding the vegetation of New Zealand.
In the visitor center at the entrance we find out that this nature park could be visited extensively without any problems with the wheelchair. But even at the first few meters the gravel walk is already so steep that Tim has to hold my wheelchair firmly and Nico has to push against my chair from the front. Behind the first curve, the Emerald Pond emerges. It was built in the eruption of 1889 and is a cold water pond that covers the ground of the southern crater. The lake is brown and hidden partially under algae. We learn that the lake changes its colours to blue and emerald at certain times. The reason for this depends on the different plants. Mainly the lake is fed with rain water. Its water level corresponds to the ground water table of the environment. In the average the depth is only two meters.
The path meanders further on through a valley grown-over by
shrubs and endemic plants. The vegetation has regenerated slowly since the
eruption of 1886. This process is interrupted regularly by small eruptions.
The eruption 1917 created the Frying Pan Crater Lake. With a
diameter of 100 meters it is the largest hot water lake in the world. It has
an average depth of six meters. The average temperature is approximately 55
degrees centigrade. The water is acidic, the pH-value 3.5. The carbon dioxide
and the sulfur hydrogen gases awake the impression of steaming hot water.
On the other side of the lake, we discover a steaming monolith. It is named Cathedral Rock because of its pointed towers. This massive lava product is at least 60,000 years old and therewith very much older than the Tarawera volcano.
Lovely crystal walls beside the trail show that under favorable conditions together with the warm grounds sulfur crystals and sulphates can emerge in this zone. The crystals are very fragile, some can be dissolved by rain or destroyed easily by little pressure.
The outflow of the Frying Pan Lake has a temperature of approximately 50 degrees centigrade. The deposits at the edge of the river include traces of antimony, molybdenum, arsenic and tungsten. These minerals together with the blue green alga yield the spectacular colors as well as orange, brown , green and yellow, which you can see at the water sides of the hot water springs.
Impressive quantities of ascending hot water can be seen at the
Inferno Crater. It has the shape of a cone placed upside
down. The water is blue and is partly darkened by fascinating clouds of steam.
The geyser itself cannot be seen because it is on the ground of the lake. The
water level climbs and falls regularly in a cycle of 38 days: in the first 21
days, it fills up to the edge and then has a depth of about 30 meters. In the
following two days it overflows. At the same time the water temperature
reaches about 80 degrees centigrade. The water is extremely acidic with a
pH-value of up to 2.1. During the remaining 15 days the water level falls
gradually to eight meters under the edge. We were there a few days after the
maximal level.
For the return to the entrance of the park you can use a shuttle bus service. Both assistants carry me wih my wheelchair next to the driver into the bus. We cannot get further into the bus, there is not enough space between the rows of the seats. The door closes no longer and Nico stands on the first step of the entrance. Never mind - with an open door and Nico close to the abyss we drive back through the jungle.
We travel further south. Two kilometers north of the city Taupo
the water of the Waikato River - one of the main rivers used
for producing electricity - thunders through a narrow canyon. At its exit
approximately 400 tons of water per second rush over a sharp edge and spout
down 10 metres building chaotic, wildly spuming swirls. A deafening roaring
and an impressing view shows us the powerful force of the water.
Lake Taupo, the largest lake of New Zealand, is situated 360 meters above sea level and offers a fantastic view of the volcano landscape of the Tongariro National Park, which lies approximately 30 kilometers south. The geological baby Lake Taupo saw the light of day 2000 years ago when a large volcano broke out and spited 24 km³ of rocks, debris and ash into the sky - ten times more than in the eruptions of Krakatau and Mount St. Helens together. After the eruption a large part of the North Island was covered with a layer of pumice stone up to 5 meters thick, and the ash was hurled 50 km high into the atmosphere so that it was carried around the entire earth. The historians are able to determine the exact year of the eruption, it was 186 AD. At that time the sky in China darkened. The Romans indicated a blood red coloring of the firmament. The empty magma chamber in the underground collapsed and created a gigantic steep crater that filled with water and forms the current lake Taupo. Entire beaches consist of eruptive rocks as light as feathers, which are blown over the lake by strong winds.
Three magnificent volcanoes rise up to the blue sky: the broad
shouldered Mount Ruapehu (2797 meters), where you find the
main skiing resource of New Zealand, its smaller brother Mount
Tongariro (1968 meters) and between both of them the perfectly formed
Mount Ngauruhoe (2287 meters). Together with Nico , I take
part at a sightseeing flight. We see a breathtaking landscape: semi-dessert
plains, extremely clear lakes and streams, steaming fumaroles, original rain
forest, ice and snow. The vegetation of the extensive plateau west of the
volcano consists of scrubland and golden tussocks while at the east side in
the rain shadow of the mountains the fields of lava debris seem to be endless.
This thick ash layer was built at the eruption 186 AD. First of all 1995 and
then once again 1996 the highest and most massive of the three volcanoes,
Mount Ruapehu ejected an ash and dust cloud twelve kilometers up into the
atmosphere and at the same time emptied the crater lake at its foot. Powerful
mud and debris currents, which are called lahares, ran down the hill. Because
of the eruptions the ski season had to be shortened, but they caused no
durable damage. The black ash cloud offered a spectacular contrast to the
immaculate white snow summit.
It is summer when we are at the foot of Mount Ruapehu. We see gigantic huge lava chunks and cannot imagine that the amount of snow in winter is sufficient for skiing.
Only once our driver Tim reaches the maximum speed of 100 km/h with our white monster, but we are scared, that the cylinder heads could get damaged. Slowly and safely we reach Taumarunui without any problems. Here we start our next adventure tour, called the Stratford Heritage Trail or the Forgotten World Highway. Soon we realize, that the description "Highway" is an exaggeration for this bumpy, not always asphaltic road, which meanders over a distance of 155 kilometers through hilly landscape, through jungle, grassland and nature parks. Again and again we must stop and listen to the raging, chirping, whistling and creeching, that we hear from nature. We admire lovely valleys, huge tree ferns, peculiar formed mountains and take photos of innumerable sheep. After six hours we reach the city Stratford, situated at the foot of the next volcano, the tank is nearly empty and our ears are deafened. Our cook Nico conijures - like almost every evening - our delicious dinner made of fresh vegetables, salads, fish and other animals, which are not fast enough to run away.
At the next morning we get to know, why the one refrigerator was so empty in contrast to the others the evening before. Not only milk and yogurt are frozen, the tomatoes could be used as bullets and the beer bottles are burst. Actually refrigerators in New Zealand can look like refrigerators in Germany (but not always ...)!
The region Taranaki catches your eye, when you look on a map of New Zealand. It
is a peninsula with Manuga Taranaki in its center, situated in the west of the
North Island. Mount Taranaki is a symmetrical formed volcano cone. The
snow-covered summit, 2518 meters high thrones over the subtropical coast.
Taranaki means "summit without plants", a quite suitable description for the
upper half of the mountain. The last time the volcano broke out was in the year
1755. Usually the summit is hidden in clouds. Domestic maintain to say : "If one
can see the mountain, it will rain probably, and if one cannot see it, it rains
already." We are lucky: we do see it and it does not rain!
Slowly we travel south and visit the Nga Manu Nature Reserve in Waikanai. In a large, almost completely barrier free park, we observe many domestic birds in huge cages, for example the wood pigeon, one of the largest species in pigeons of the world, and the kaka, which is domestic on the north island. Also the famous kiwi lives in this park. The shy bird spends the largest part of its life (namely 20 hours per day) sleeping - even the whole time of our visit. The Tuatara - also named living dinosaurier - is a survivor of a type of reptiles, that existed already 255 million years ago. It is estimated that the animals can become up to 120 years old.
The wheelchair accessible "bush walk" takes us in an unique, untouched nature, which existed here everywhere in former times. On wooden footpaths and wide paths, we penetrate into the jungle, breathe the musty, damp air and listen to the concert of the cicades before we return to the civilization.
Rugby is one of the most popular sports in New Zealand. There exist more than 500
rugby clubs with about 150,000 active players. We learn that, when we try to book
our next lodging in Wellington. Because of an international rugby competition
there are no vacancies in hotels, motels and guest houses in the vicinity of more
than 100 kilometers to the capital. We have a lot of luck and find a room
downtown. Wellington has 400,000 inhabitants. It has the nickname "the windy
city", for the Cook Strait between the North Island and the South Island acts
like a gigantic funnel, that bundles the wind. As usual on our trip we do not
have the average weather and therefore also only weak wind. In the lively
pedestrian areas, we see rugby fans again and again, who dress up like people do
during carnival. The city lies in a large bay and covers several hills. Only some
streets are horizontal, most of them are really steep. Both assistants have to
push hard on our tour through the city and the botanical garden. Yet the lovely
outlook over the city recompenses their efforts.
We leave the most southern point of our trip and cross the mountains with a breathtaking speed of 35 km/h; our large white Japanese box cannot move more quickly. Even trucks with trailers filled up with hundreds of sheep overtake our snail. The strong sun beams melt the asphalt of the roads already. Damage of the road surface is repaired in the following way: take fluid asphalt, pour it onto the defective road section, shovel a lot of gravel on it, place a sign "attention" at the side of the road - that's it!
Through hilly grassland with overclouded mountains in the
background we travel towards the north to the Hawke Bay. From the hill
Te Mata we look over the bay and see the city
Napier at the horizon. With approximately 50,000 inhabitants
it is the largest city of Hawke's Bay. The climate is Mediterranean and the
site is beautiful. The speciality of this place however is its aggregation of
little art-deco-houses, which is the largest worldwide. At the morning of the
3rd February 1931, the city was shaken from the heaviest earthquake measured
in New Zealand (7.9 on the Richter scale). In the next two weeks over 600
minor eathquakes followed, so it was difficult to rescue survivors. 258
persons died. The center of the city was destroyed totally. Almost all
buildings where made of brick and therefore could not withstand the natural
forces. The more flexible wooden buildings resisted the first trembling, were
destroyed however from the fires, which broke out and were fed by heavy wind.
In the earthquake the ground was raised at some places up to two meters. Thus
30 square kilometers of new land emerged - enough space for an airport, new
farms and an expansion of the city. If you look inland, you still can see some
former sea cliffs in the middle of the countryside.
All this happened in a major economy recession, but the city took advantage of the situation and wiped the slate clean: the spirit of the age was the art-deco-movement, most buildings were built in this style. The simultaneous reconstruction gave the city a rare stylistic uniformity - and made it to one of the world's largest aggregations of art-deco-buildings. The variety of the buildings seems to be endless. Blossoms, suns and zigzag-lines decorate the facades.
On our sightseeing tour we discover real German bread in a shop-window! Wholemeal bread with sunflower seeds and even pretzels are offered. We are really happy and enjoy these delicious things after almost three weeks on the opposite side of the world!
Our next point of interest is the town
Gisborne. It is the most eastern city of the world. Here the
sun rises first every day.
In Opotiki we find a beautiful backpacker hostel, 20 meters away from the sandy beach of the Pacific. The still active volcano White Island lies about 50 kilometers in front of the Bay of Plenty and can be seen, when there is clear weather. Late in the evening we sit outside on the terrace, listen to the waves rolling on the beach and observe the twinkling stars in the sky. We even find the Southern Cross, but we are disappointed however because it is crooked. We are really certain that this is not only because of our extended beer consumption.
In the western Bay of Plenty the wealthy costal city Tauranga and its suburb at the beach Mount Manuganui are very important. Presently they are one of the fastest growing cities of the country. Mount Manuganui at the foot of the inactive volcano cone is a very commercialized touristic place and attracts the people with its 20 kilometers of golden sandy beaches.
On the opposite side of Auckland, in the Hauraki Gulf, we find the long, fissured Coromandel Peninsula with its wonderful sandy beaches, white reefs and its outstanding climate. The peninsula offers a magnificent coast, hills, with rain forest and solitude. At the east coast are white sand beaches. Here we spend our last weekend. The peninsula seems to attract numerous hippies, artists and dropouts. You can find (or at least smell) people, who smoke joints (illegally).
In the middle of the east coast is the Hot Water Beach. For a perfect bath it is important to arrive at the right moment - the best phase is approximately two hours before or after low tide. Then you can dig a hole into the sand and relax in the ascending hot water, while the waves of the sea make for some refreshment. We are there at Sunday and the beach is quite full. But Nico takes a bath in the pacific waves.
After three weeks at the end of our tour, once again we go west
to the Tasman Sea. At Waikato Beach the unique North Island
of New Zealand says good-bye to us with a splendid sunset.!
Galaxy Motors : Wheelchair Accessible Cars, Auckland
Mobility Motorhomes: Mobility Motorhomes
Accessible Kiwi Tours : Handicap Tours
New Zealand: Travel Information
Budget Backpacker Hostels New Zealand: Budget Backpacker
Hostels New Zealand
New Zealand Tourism online: New Zealand Tourism online
AA New
Zealand: AA New Zealand
In the following map you find our tour marked in pink.
Content