Highlights of New Zealand

From May 3rd to June 19th we were on the road in New Zealand, we tried to express a summary of the most important experiences and encounters in pictures and words.

First, if you want it to be like at home, you’d better stay there. And otherwise it helps “always look at the bright side….”

We saw a lot of accommodations, many were great, all were clean, and ALL had something nice. We drove a lot of kilometers and the roads were in very good condition. Also the paths to the sights, absolutely well maintained and maintained.

The landscape is incredibly beautiful, varied and huge. From the gentle meadows to forests that are used for forestry, miles of wine-growing areas, kiwi plantations, tangerine trees, huge fern trees, breathtaking limestone rocks, bubbling hot geysers, bubbling mud fields, waterfalls in ALL variations, majestic volcanoes, imposing steep rock faces, beaches as far as the eye can see and beyond, botanical gardens and war memorials even in the smallest village. On the fields there are whole walls of trees as windbreakers, sheep, cattle, red deer and from time to time horses can be seen everywhere on our drives through New Zealand. We were also able to catch a glimpse of the Maori culture.

The whole island is definitely always green, even if it was fresh, windy and wet in late autumn.

The sounds (fjords) have to be experienced, they are indeed indescribably unique.

The storms in February 2023 swept away villages, fields, roads, railway tracks and entire hills in the Napier area???? Tractors, cars and roofs were rediscovered somewhere further down in the most bizarre arrangements in the landscape ????????

We were allowed to see jumping Dusky dolphins, huge sperm whales, super cute sea lions, birds in all their glory in the wild. Even kiwis in the breeding stations.

Culinarily, we didn’t find any New Zealand common thread except pies, fish and chips, oysters, lobsters and burgers. But Asian cuisine is represented in all variations and really delicious. Charly brought us closer to the subtleties of good cuisine in Auckland on the food tour, absolutely recommended. The coffee, wine and beer culture is top and fun. Many independent breweries offer guided tours in their production halls and always have delicious snacks to offer and freshly tapped beer, cider or gingerbeer.

You get used to left-hand traffic quickly, at some point also to getting into the car on the right side, in the supermarkets you can buy everything, including Lindt chocolate, the alcohol is available in the liquor shop and from time to time there is good bread in a bakery. It is easy to travel, the people are very nice, happy to help and are also up for a “chat”. The warm encounter with Kathy and Ian in Christchurch will remain in our hearts.

All bookings worked, there was not a nasty surprise, everything else is very unagitated and works perfectly. With the New Zealand dialect you will eventually get along. Since a “Biid” (pronounced) is a bed and there are so many idioms that you have to understand first.

And here are the pictures to the text… first a size comparison, there are about 5.1 million people living in New Zealand, so they have enough space 19 /km2 in NZ and 210 /km2 in Switzerland.