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  • Claire and Karsten

South-East Asia

A 182-day adventure by Claire Read more
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  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler

    Chiang Mai

    January 13, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    After the Pai footprint sneakily wouldn't upload without telling us you'll now get 2 for the price of one!

    After having ridden the 762 curves that separate Pai and Chiang Mai for the second time we spent most of the rest of Friday in the hotel room cause it was pouring outside. Even when we just went for a quick bite (pic no. 1) we were drenched thoroughly.

    Luckily, the forecasts were wrong for the following days as the weather improved mightily. We started the day with the fabric market that we didn't go to the day before cause Claire couldn't miss the opportunity to buy nice, cheap fabric to use "one day" to sew "something". Karsten spent Saturday mostly at Julians place to write and send his first application to Brussels! Claire in the meantime had herself a nice day ;). She visited around Chiang Mai a bit more, mostly on the back of a scooter and had some great coffee. In the evening we hit the Saturday night market which draws a huge crowd of tourists. But they have some nice stuff, so slowly wading between the masses was only half bad.

    Sunday was some of the same, with the Sunday night market followed by our last beers with Julian. Before Karsten was lucky enough to find a bar showing some American football. Just all those Patriots fans were annoying!

    Monday We had presumably our last cooking class in southeast Asia, finishing our cooking adventures with a class in a beautiful organic farm ambiance - famous for its bathroom facilities. We even got an hour to relax in hammocks after stir frying and devouring some pad thai for lunch.

    Now that we are writing this it is 4 AM in the morning and our plan to save accommodation for a night by taking a night bus spectacularly backfired, leaving us stranded outside Ayutthaya cause we are too scrooge to pay taxi and an additional night. So we decided to make a statement and wait at the bus stop till the minibus service picks up at 6 AM. Yeah, we're that stubborn.... ;).    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler

    Ayutthaya

    January 14, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We staggered out of bed after a 2 hour nap from 6-8 am and after a quick breakfast made for the historical park. Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam till the end of the 18th century, so it had lots of old stupas commissioned by kings along the centuries, starting in the 14th century, to pay tribute to their fathers, brothers or themselves ;) We walked around the ruins for more than 4 hours; the lady at the counter of the furthest was definitely thinking that we are crazy falang (white people) going all the way by foot... The rest of the day we rested and read about the next city where we go to... Bangkok!Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Bangkok

    January 17, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We made the quick 1.5 hour bus ride to Bangkok the next morning and after we settled into our hostel set out to explore this city.

    The first stop was the infamous backpacker area of khaosan road. Or as the locals call it, falang (= foreigner) road. A really impressive crowd of travelers gathers here in the numerous bars, clubs and hostels. We had really good street food in a side street and then wanted to walk through the old town to the main station to pick up train tickets.

    That's when the ugly side of Bangkok hit us twice. Luckily we were kinda prepared, so all we lost was 50 cents and 30 minutes of our time. One tuktuk driver didn't take us to the agreed destination - the tourist information - but to a grossly overpriced travel agency that had a sign saying tourist information. Apparently not a protected term in Thailand ;). So we feigned some interest and quickly left after hearing the price they demanded. 1850 THB per person! That equals roughly 45 EUR. We paid 1500 THB for both of us at the train station. But not after we barely avoided another scam at the station. When you enter you see another "tourist information" right away, whose personnel brings you to the "only" place to buy the combined train and bus ticket necessary to get to Krabi. Luckily, we were suspicious by now and so Claire stayed in the main hall "to buy water" as soon as we spotted official looking ticket counters. There the combined ticket was roughly 12 EUR cheaper for the same service.

    But we of course wouldn't let this influence our mood! So, the next morning we went to the national museum which offers free guided tours. For real, no scam! And it was really interesting. We learnt a lot about Thai history, Buddhism and the Thai monarchy. Afterwards we had quick looks at the 3 famous temples of Bangkok and later made for 2 impressive shopping districts. We didn't buy anything, but others certainly did. So many opportunities to buy whatever you like.

    On Friday we had an organization day and on Saturday we went to the vast chatuchak market. THE market in Bangkok. You can find about anything there. Just not the specific things we were looking for ;).

    All in all, Bangkok is fascinating, overwhelming and certainly buzzing. But all those scams going on certainly leave a bitter taste in your mouth.    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler

    Surat Thani

    January 17, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Just wanted to show you some pictures from our night journey by train.

    Also, while waiting in the station, at 6PM sharp everyone suddenly stands. Just took us a second to realize that the kings anthem will be played. Fascinating!

    We then got on the train, had our beds made for us and ate in the restaurant car.    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Krabi

    January 18, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We chose to go to Krabi, a small city on the mainland, because it is a good starting point to go to different islands and we still haven't decided where we want to go exactly. The town itself has nothing special except for its traffic lights and zebra crossings.Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Rai Leh

    January 19, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    After two months inland, we finally see the sea again! This beach is on the mainland but only accessible by boat since it is bordered by huge karsts. It is of course beautiful: blue-green water, white sand, karst formations around, like the beach of your dreams (with more people, and including us ;). Perfect for people who love climbing, kayaking, swimming and sunbathing and had actually been voted into the top 10 of beaches worldwide. About the sunbathing, we encountered for the first time unhealthily tanned people. Probably laying on beaches since two weeks, dark as Nutella (with a layer of shiny oil, as the french Nutella - FYI german Nutella is matt and harder than the french one). It is also the first time we see so many fat tourists. So yeah, we are not travelers anymore, we now entered the tourist era.Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler

    Koh Lanta

    January 25, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We decided to not do island hopping but just stay in one place instead. Our choice was Koh Lanta as we hoped it wouldn't be too crowded as other islands. And it turned out to be a great choice. We are staying in a bungalow very close to the beach with great neighbours and a great host. So we intermittently take a trip to surrounding islands and have lazy days.

    The first trip we made was to 4 small surrounding islands whose names you never heard. There we did some snorkeling, saw bats but mostly enjoyed some great beaches with perfect water. One was a secret beach to which you had to swim through an 80m long, pitch black tunnel. Sounds more adventurous than it is if you share tunnel and beach with like 200 Thai kids being there in the same time ;).    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler

    Koh Phi Phi

    January 25, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    The second trip we undertook had us going to the famous Koh Phi Phi islands with some snorkeling - Claire saw a shark! - and then stops on "The Beach", actually called Maya bay but must renown for being the location where the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio was shot. Wonderful location but absolutely packed with tourists by the time we were there. After that we could relax for a while on the bigger of the 2 islands: absolutely beautiful. You can definitely still see why this paradise has become the spoilt tourist hot spot it now is. Just look at the water!!

    Tomorrow we'll be taking the night train back to Bangkok.    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler

    Thailand wrap-up

    January 29, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    - There is this thing here called "playing the Chang lottery". Apparently the alcohol content of beer isn't regulated. So you never really know what you gonna get. Watery or strong. So sometimes 4 beers can do you in :-D
    Chang means elephant and is the main beer brand.

    - Bangkok's full name is 168 characters long and is the longest city name in the world. It reads "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udom Ratchaniwet Maha Sathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit" which means "City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Visvakarman at Indra’s behest"

    - you can find a 7eleven shop every 100m (except if you are looking for one ;)

    - there are overweight people in Thailand. Indicating a bigger wealth than other southeast asian countries

    - cats and dogs are often dressed up with little sweaters or costumes

    - the Thais love their king. It is not simply the official pictures in golden frames on the side of each big road or placed in front of important buildings, that could be pure megalomania, but they do have t-shirts or pictures in the rear view mirror with his face, or have a book about him second in the top 10 best sellers

    - people were generally smiling and eager to help, genuinely friendly

    - in Thai you add the word "kaa" as a mark of respect at the end of a sentence. You hear it quite a lot ;).    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Bangkok

    January 30, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    And this is how we spent our last days in Bangkok, to conclude our southeast Asian adventure. Off to New stuff!

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Sydney

    February 1, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We left Asia with a tear in one eye - because this part of the trip is over and cheap beer is no more - and a smile in the other as we now get to explore two new countries. We landed in Sydney on Friday and were picked up by Adam, the husband of Karsten's sister. At their home in Chipping Norton, a suburb of Sydney, we then waited for Frauke who had no clue that we were coming. We think the surprise was a great success!

    Later that evening we went for her birthday dinner and had the perfect food to start eating Western food again: Pizza all you can eat! Last night we went out with our friend Michelle who worked with Karsten at IUCN. To our great pleasure she showed us hipster Sydney which has some great places to offer with great beer and amazing ice cream. With the "Hop Hog" we tried an award winning beer - the hoppiest we ever had! But to be able to go to social events we had to borrow clothes from Adam and Frauke, cause some places might have had objections against people with outdoor outfits ;).

    Sunday we headed into the blue mountains and guess what we encountered in the beautiful Australian summer. A freakin hail storm!!    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Sydney

    February 2, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    On Monday we set out to explore the city and the famous harbour. We chose to do it this day mainly to stay offline to not get spoiled on the super bowl result. What we didn't expect though was the large number of football fans that spilled out on the streets once the game was over - kickoff was at 10.30 local time - and the effort it took to avoid them. We crossed streets in impossible ways and Claire had to explore if a famous ice cream place was safe, before we could get our delicious treat. But seeing the game with THAT ending - and loads of wings -unspoiled was sure worth it.

    In the morning we had taken a 3 hour guided tour through the city centre where you pay what you think it was worth and what your budget allows you. One German family snuck away at the end without paying so much as a dollar which we found particularly cheap, especially since the tour was really good. We checked off most of the tourist attractions within the CBD - like town hall, the queen Victoria building, Hyde park, Martin square where the matrix scene with the red woman had been shot, the rum hospital, etc. - and around the harbour like the Rocks, harbour bridges and of course Sydney Opera House. Our guide delivered interesting pieces of extra information with his booming voice which sure was necessary in a group of 30.

    After the tour ended we had some amazing coffee/hot chocolate with our friend Michelle, went to lunch in Chinatown and had a look at Darling Harbour before returning home with Adam at the end of his workday. A really great day overall!    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Featherdale wildlife park

    February 3, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    For sure we couldn't leave Australia without a peek at its fascinating wildlife. And since we won't get to do any jungle treks over here it had to be a zoo to get a good look - except for an Ibis or a cockatoo which are everywhere.

    In the zoo we got the see Koalas, Emus, Cassowaries, kangaroos, wallabies, heaps of birds, dingos, pelicans, penguins, Echidnas, a Tasmanian devil, a crocodile and our favourite animal, the Quokka. Highlight for the park staff was a Wombats penis which is apparently that rare a sight that they excitedly took pictures like the tourists in the park :-D. We'll spare you the sight though, pictures available upon request ;).    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Road to Melbourne

    February 4, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Unfortunately we had to leave Sydney already, since our flight to New Zealand is next Monday and we wanted to see at least a little bit more of this vast country. It was very nice though to have something like a home at Adams and Fraukes place for a while and we are truly grateful for their hospitality...and taxi services ;).

    This morning we boarded the 11 hour train to Melbourne. Everybody we told about this plan was incredulous: Can't you get out of the ticket? and why don't you just fly? were common questions ;).

    But flying was never an option for us and in this specific case the train was more scenic, more comfortable and cheaper than the bus. It just takes a little bit longer and an hour here or there is not really a constraint for us. But when looking for a place to stay we did notice that we are not in southeast Asia anymore once again. Instead of around 10 EUR for a double room we'll be paying 20 EUR for a bed in a nice and cosy 10 bed dorm ;).    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Apollo Bay

    February 6, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Melbourne

    February 9, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler

    Australia wrap-up

    February 9, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 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    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Auckland

    February 12, 2015 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 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...    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler

    Waitomo

    February 12, 2015 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 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.Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Hamilton

    February 13, 2015 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 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!Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler

    Taupo

    February 15, 2015 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Tongariro Alpine Crossing

    February 16, 2015 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler
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    Rotorua

    February 19, 2015 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Read more

  • Claire and KarstenSouth-East AsiaTraveler

    Hobbiton

    February 19, 2015 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 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?    Read more

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