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Claire and KarstenClaire and Karsten
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viajou para 12 países Leia mais
  • ViajanteSouth-East Asia
    Dia 150

    Hobbiton

    19 de fevereiro de 2015, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    FANBOY POST!!! (Claire had nothing to do with this nonsense!)

    On Thursday I had the honor to visit the Hobbiton movie sets where most of the outside action in Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogies within the Shire were shot. It was SO COOL!! And totally not overpriced *cough*. 44 Hobbit holes were built here, all with incredible attention to detail in a kind of romanticized 17th century agricultural setting. Very Picturesque.

    There are differently sized ones. The smaller scaled ones were used to shoot scenes with normal sized characters like Gandalf to make them look bigger and the big ones to make Hobbits look smaller. Inside they all are empty as the inside action was filmed in the studios in Wellington.

    You get to see Bagend, Sam's home, the place where Gandalf let's off some fireworks for the kids, Bilbo jumps over the fence in the first Hobbit etc. Really great to see all those places for Nerds like me. But there were mostly normal people in my group ;).

    Being there just wants you to read the books and watch the movies all over again. Did i mention that it was SO COOL?    Leia mais

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  • ViajanteSouth-East Asia
    1
    21
    Dia 150

    Rotorua

    19 de fevereiro de 2015, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    OK, this town is officially crazy. Fascinatingly so! You just walk down the street and a part of the sidewalk is closed off. And when you get closer you hear and see why, as water is audibly boiling just under the stones and little amounts of steam come through.

    Then you walk on into a park and see loads of hot springs, mud pools and pools in which you can put your aching feet. And intermittently - depending on the wind - you are surrounded by the smell of rotten eggs, in other words there is heaps of volcanic activity going on here. Feels weird to see all this steam, but the moment you don't see it anymore is when you should get worried we were told, so all good there ;).

    On our second day we hitchhiked to the famed Wai-o-Tapu volcanic wonderland. Amazing! Awesome colours, lot's of hot water and mud, active fumaroles and steam vents. This volcanic field is so active, it provides 5 per cent of New Zealand's energy supply.

    On our last evening here, we went to see the other thing Rotorua is famous for, the Maori culture. In opposition to Australia, the native culture here is very visible and embraced. We booked an evening in a village which includes explanations and demonstrations of the rituals, customs, music, dance and the famous haka as well as a traditional meal cooked under earth. Overall a great evening, although quite big groups of tourists which give it a bit of a weird feel.    Leia mais

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  • ViajanteSouth-East Asia
    2
    Dia 147

    Tongariro Alpine Crossing

    16 de fevereiro de 2015, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Wow, New Zealand you ridiculously good looking country!

    While carnival in Röttgen was at its absolute height (D'r Zoch beim Born vor der Tür) we got up at 4.45 local time to catch our bus to the Tongariro National Park. There, we were to undertake one of the worlds most famous and spectacular one day hikes, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Distance: 20km, covered altitude: almost 2000m up and down, hiking time: 7-8 hours.

    We saw some pictures before, so we roughly knew what to expect, but we weren't prepared for these smashing views! The trek starts with 5 km of relatively easy, plain walk. That is followed by a very steep climb for about an hour, which doesn't even cover a full kilometer of distance. But once we were done with that we got our first spectacular views on Mt. Doom (pic 3) from Lord of the Rings. Quite fitting to choose this mountain as Mt. Doom as you walk through a pretty Mordor-y landscape all the time. It is always on your right during the first part of the trek but was covered in clouds at the start. After a short walk through a crater, another steep ascent to the top of the red crater followed. While the first climb was laid out with planks and steps, the second one was mostly gravel and therefore quite slippery. The same is true for the super steep descent from the red crater. But the view from the top is absolutely worth the few scares of falling. After that you see and smell 3 volcanic lakes of stunning blue. And from there it is mostly downhill. After half the descent you start to feel legs and knees shaking and you still got 4 km to go ;).

    At the end we were quite happy to be done but boy was this worth it. After we said goodbye to our fellowship of the ring we treated ourselves to a Good George IPA and pretty much went straight to bed.

    Weather conditions were perfect! Although it was mostly covered we had no rain and only little wind. But the cover also protected us from the sun and kept the temperature down which was a blessing for our stamina.

    You obviously see pictures below but none of them can really capture the beauty of this place.    Leia mais

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  • ViajanteSouth-East Asia
    Dia 146

    Taupo

    15 de fevereiro de 2015, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After our magnificent lunch in Hamilton, we got on the bus to Taupo. A volcanic hot spot (not in the technical sense dear geographers) in the center of the northern island. It welcomed us with a dribble of rain and a perfect double rainbow. We knew we were in for a treat here...

    Our first full day here (Saturday) we spent hiking to the local Huka falls and then further to the "Craters of the Moon" a local field with volcanic activity such as boiling mud pools, active steam vents and obviously some craters. As this was our first encounter with volcano stuff here in New Zealand we were pretty amazed, but we were told pretty quickly that this is nothing compared to what we will experience in Rotorua. Geological fun fact: this field only became active after the worlds first geothermal power plant was built just a few kilometres away, the construction of which caused geological shifts on the local scale.

    Sunday we pretty much did nothing during the day to prepare for what was still to come...however, we were invited to Jen's absolutely fabulous birthday BBQ. Jen and Alex were also in Taupo to join us on our trip on Monday.    Leia mais

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  • ViajanteSouth-East Asia
    1
    Dia 144

    Hamilton

    13 de fevereiro de 2015, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Our first night we spend in Hamilton. Having not much time here we only walked a bit around town - especially nice were the public pianos that everybody was allowed to play -, strolled along the river, saw the statue of Riff Raff and had a great lunch at a local craft beer brewery, named Good George. The IPA was great!Leia mais

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  • ViajanteSouth-East Asia
    Dia 143

    Waitomo

    12 de fevereiro de 2015, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    On Thursday we left Auckland and headed south, with the Waitomo Caves being our first stop. Here we visited the Aranui cave, known for its magnificent stalagtites and the famous glowworm cave. Unfortunately, in the latter taking photographs were was allowed. But it really looked absolutely fantastic.Leia mais

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  • ViajanteSouth-East Asia
    1
    Dia 143

    Auckland

    12 de fevereiro de 2015, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Kia Ora New Zealand!

    Monday night we arrived at Auckland airport and were immediately picked up by Alex and Jen, the amazing English/Kiwi couple we met in Vietnam and later again in Siem Reap, who would host us for the following 3 nights with all inclusive service.

    After catching up and a good nights sleep, we spent our first day with Alex in NZ around Auckland (Jen already has to work, tough world), mostly enjoying amazing views over the city, the isthmus and the surrounding volcanoes, islands and the sea. We took the ferry to Davenport, climbed a little hill there and on the summit got showered by the first rain since Chiang Mai. Later, we headed up the Southern coastline for a bit up to One Tree Hill, the one from the U2 song. Great views all along, especially of the amazingly turquoise ocean. Luckily, the sun had come out by then, so we could really enjoy it.

    The next morning, still with Alex, we went on a walking tour around the city, like the ones in Australia. Those are generally free and work on a tip basis and have been very good so far. They also enable you to see most of the sights of a city while getting information beyond the lonely planet and seeing things you usually would have missed. After a fish and chips lunch we bought an excellent IPA at a craft beer market and explored hipster Auckland for a little bit.

    Unfortunately, this was already the end of our trip to Auckland. A nice city, that at least in summer has more than enough stuff going on to never get bored. New Zealand is also slightly cheaper than Australia, so we have the feeling of striking bargains all the time which is of course just self delusion, but that's fine ;).

    Fun fact: some kiwis walk barefoot in the city. Just because they can and nobody cares...    Leia mais

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  • ViajanteSouth-East Asia
    Dia 140

    Australia wrap-up

    9 de fevereiro de 2015, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Obviously, there won't be too much to write here, as we spent only 10 days here and it isn't vastly different from Europe. However,

    - everybody is freakishly polite. Every "excuse me" because you wanna walk pass somebody is answered with "oh, so sorry mate, have a good day."

    - and everybody talks to each other. While we would try to get out of a conversation as soon as a stranger approaches us on the bus, here people engage in the conversation and sustain it till someone gets off the bus for example.

    - public transport could use some improvement, as one could expect in a vast country depended on the car like Australia.

    - the accent is tough. "Haw arr ya, mate". Rumour has it, that it is also hard for actors to imitate. Every accent uses a distinct number of face muscles. British English for example uses around 70. However the Australian only uses 10! That is at least what we were told ;).

    - in Melbourne, when there are working areas in public spaces, they wouldn't restrict the access with red and white pastic ribbons but with strings of cute triangle flags, like for a birthday party.

    - public barbecues (with gas) are available in parks. Imagine that! In Europe someone would burn stuff other than food on it all the time or would've complained about the dangers of publicly accessible gas tanks.

    - you notice quite quickly that you are not in southeast Asia anymore (pic 3) ;). But the perks are also obvious: drinking tap water, you hail the taxi and not the other way around, cars stopping at the zebra crossing for you etc.

    - teenagers have adopted the look of the 90s, fashion is an eternal circle... Doc Martens, back elastic "tatoo" necklaces, bellyfree tops, etc.

    - we both seemed to have opened businesses in Melbourne    Leia mais

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  • ViajanteSouth-East Asia
    4
    Dia 140

    Melbourne

    9 de fevereiro de 2015, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Our last stop in Australia was Melbourne, voted most livable city 4 years running. At the heart of the identity of both Sydney and Melbourne is a fierce rivalry much like between Düsseldorf and Cologne. Real in the past, fun in the present. To not take sides in this ongoing discussion we will not tell you which city we preferred, no matter how many times you ask. It's Melbourne.

    While Sydney definitely has the more iconic landmarks in opera house and harbour bridge, Melbourne has a very diverse cultural scene, combined with lot's of sports, hipster bars and stuff like that. But don't worry Adam, we'll always root for the Swans!

    Upon returning from Apollo Bay we first had to get to our couchsurfer who unfortunately lived in deep suburbia but made more than up for his blunder by taking good care of us, like picking us up from the local station and providing us with a comfortable bed ;).

    We then went straight back into town to meet other couchsurfers who couldn't host us but still wanted to meet up. We didn't make it quite in time for the public swing dance class but arrived for ice cream shakes. One could think it was planned that way but it was really just the way it played out ;). After we walked around the area south of the Yarra seeing the art museum, the botanical gardens up close as well as the rod laver arena and the huge cricket ground from afar.

    Funny story: one of the founders of Melbourne was called John Batman and the name Batmania was in the discussion for the name of the city. Also, when asking the local Aborigines for the name of the local river, the aborigines - thinking the stupid white people never saw a river before asking something hardly understandable about it - answered "a lot of water". Sure enough, the English then basically named the river "water", or Yarra. The aboriginal name is something completely different.

    The second day we took a guided tour through the city like the one in Sydney and saw most of the landmarks including many back alleys with heaps of great graffiti artworks and hidden bars. One called Berlin having 2 rooms, one styled in socialist style for the east of the city and one in Western style.

    We were also lucky enough to be there in time for the St. Kilda festival. A mostly free, open air art and music festival with no real beer stands. Quite different in that regard ;). But with beautiful weather and a great location directly on the beach we enjoyed a couple of hours listening to music, strolling along the beach and the stalls selling crafted stuff and checking out a local community garden, much like the Prinzessinengärten in Berlin.

    On Monday we just packed our backs, ate at a Hare Krishna restaurant - because cheap - and made for the airport to fly to New Zealand. The final stop of our great adventure, this time for real ;).

    Quiz: this man on the second picture is not an anonymous hipster or Sigmund Freud but an important local historical figure. Who is he? Hint: he is referred to as the australian Robin Hood.    Leia mais

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  • ViajanteSouth-East Asia
    3
    1
    Dia 137

    Apollo Bay

    6 de fevereiro de 2015, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    With Australia being unjustly treated as a mere stopover on the way to New Zealand we had no real plan what to do in the time between Sydney and Melbourne at first. But luckily our friend Sam, a Canadian guy who we met in Melaka, Malaysia, set up camp for a while in Apollo Bay. A small town about 3-4 hours south of Melbourne.

    So, we got there on Thursday, enjoyed the nice weather on the beach with a pizza, made dinner for ourselves for the first time in a while, went to one of the local pubs and were later invited to a movie night with movies Mr Born would approve of: Jennifer's Body, 7500, and the contemporary classic Teeth. Hilarious!

    On Friday we hitchhiked for the first time in trying to get to the 12 apostles, a highlight on the Great Ocean Road on which to drive is a highlight in itself. These are rock formations out of lime- and sandstone just in front of the cliffs that form the coast there. Absolutely spectacular! The hitchhiking itself worked quite well. To get there we got halfway with an Australian who was very hard to understand and a Chinese couple. On the way back we had to hold out our thumbs for about an hour until a mobile home car filled with 2 Chinese women who hardly spoke any English and 2 kids whose English was significantly better picked us up for the 80 km ride.    Leia mais

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