Meow!
The addresses of most hostels and shops mentioned in the following account can be found here - please note that all information is from March/April 2004 and may well be outdated, wrong, or misleading. I've also hyperlinked some of the pictures to reduce loading time for this page - if you click on any of the links you'll be taken to the picture. Hit the browser back button (or use those mozilla/opera mouse gestures) to go back to this page. All pics are 800x600, 72dpi and usually about 70-90kb. Please remember: all rights to the photos on this website are reserved and belong to me. If you'd like to use one of them you have to obtain written permission first. Higher resolution/bigger size versions of the pics are also available on demand.
Getting there
08.-10. march 2004
First things first: getting there. It all started out as expected: German public transport sucks. I had booked a train seat from Trier to Frankfurt airport but when I got to the station I learned that the train wasn't running. Great. Instead, there was a bus shuttle service to Koblenz and from there those stupid passengers could catch the next train. An inquiry at the "service" desk brought to light that yes, the next bus was to leave in a couple of minutes but no, of course it wouldn't reach Koblenz in time for me to catch the train to Frankfurt. I should have taken an earlier bus. That's how they handle such things in Germany: just make it sound like it's the customer's fault. I should have: a) known that they would replace the train with a bus (divining or clairvoyance is a prerequisite for using German public transport), b) consequently travelled to Frankfurt a week earlier, and c) then camped at the airport for a couple of days. Sorry guys, my fault. Seriously, that "service" was so lucky I didn't punch him right away, the only thing that kept me were the BGS-cops hanging around in the lobby. Anyway, I finally made it to Koblenz (and thus Frankfurt) in time by bribing the bus driver to go slightly faster than allowed (cost me 10 Euros). How fucked up is that? Having arrived in Frankfurt, my anger slowly ebbed away and I settled into peaceful holiday mode. The following report will be inspired by this flowery atmosphere, no hitler-ratings, no f-words (well, almost none *g*), just love, peace, and the pursuit of happiness.
The flight itself was another proof that infidelity doesn't pay. I had betrayed Emirates and booked Japan Airlines (JAL) because they were 80 Euros cheaper and it included a free night in Tokyo. I even was so clever as to enquire how much leg room they got on their planes. What I didn't take into consideration was that they might simply lie about it. The seats are really tailored to suit 1,20m Japanese dwarves, they don't fit aryan-sized middle europeans. The food wasn't spectacular either though you have to admire the speed and the quality of the cabin crew. The second leg of the flight (Tokyo-Christchurch) was handled by Air NewZealand and much nicer. Better seats, better food quality - though the quantity still sucked. I was quite starved when I finally got off. The lesson learned is as follows: Fly Emirates - they have high quality seats, good inflight entertainment, excellent catering and they're cheap as well. And there won't be so many Japanese people on the plane ... I really came to hate them during the flight. Call me racist, I don't give a shit, but they're all nuts.
Speaking of racism ... Germany has just proven that Germans are the real "Untermenschen" ... simply follow the discussion evolving around the "Rechtschreibreform" and you'll know what I mean ... man, I wish Morgenthau had prevailed back then.
Christchurch
10.-12. march 2004
Beautiful NZ! Well, at least beautiful customs girl. *ggg* Please marry me! In the airport lobby I met my friend Stefan, who had been holiday working in Oz before and flown over the night before. He'd spent the night on one of those comfy benches - just imagine that, in Germany you'd go to jail for ten years just for thinking about doing that. We took the bus down to CHC city and the more I saw the more I felt like I had caught the wrong plane: it looks sooo English. Incredible. Christchurch was a good place to start the trip: it's a nice city, not too big, but with enough options to choose from. The climate is pleasant as well but there are fierce winds from time to time. Having arrived downtown, we headed straight for the hostel. Stonehurst ist quite central, quite big, quite professionally run (24h reception, licensed, travel agent, etc.) but nevertheless clean and quiet. A decent place to start from. I was really astonished at the quality of the hostel though I quickly learned that there's no comparing NZ and Oz in this category: Almost all backpacker hostels I stayed at in NZ were really clean, well kept, and cosy. This is certainly partly due to there being less people overall in New Zealand compared to Australie but also partly because there are less purely party-oriented travellers. Fortunately NZ doesn't seem to be so attractive to those nice 18-20 year old English that I came to hate so passionately whilst journeying in Australia. There's still enough arseholes around, so beware of the "central" or "party" places. Oh yes, and there's probably a great many people who won't like this hostel because it "lacks atmosphere" - well, for my part, the world would be better off if it "lacked hippies" ... .
It took us a day to figure out our modus operandi. From then on, I did the planning and Stefan the cooking. Not too bad. We decided to check out the South first, before it got too cold. The only problem was that a lot of people seemed to have similar thoughts. Cars were especially hard to get and very expensive. Since I wasn't to keen on driving on the wrong side of the road, we decided to travel by bus. When I finally succeeded in booking a hostel room in Queenstown we jumped straight (friday morning) onto an "Atomic Shuttle" to start our trip (45$ from CHC to QTW). These shuttles are small buses that do hostel pick-ups/drop-offs. They're also fast and cheap and the drivers all appear to believe they are Michael Schumacher. Notwithstanding, the drive from CHC to QTW was quite pleasing, there's some beautiful landscape to be seen.
Queenstown
12.-14. march 2004
Queenstown is a small town and also known as the "adventure capital" of NZ. To me, it looked and felt like some pic:Swiss mountain village. The landscape is beautiful and if you simply ignore all the hip young adventure people and the stupid tourist shops it is a nice place to stay. The town centre is located right at the lakeside (pic:1 and pic:2) while some living areas stretch out into the mountains.
Our hostel could only be reached after a steep climb but the pic:view was very rewarding. The hostel itself was good and bad at the same time. When we arrived there we followed standard procedure: check-in, get room key from girl at reception, go to room, etc. The room we got was very nice, as were the kitchen, the adjoining living room, and the people we shared the room with. (I'd never thought I'd come to describe a Bayern München supporter as "nice", but hey, it's possible *g*.) When we came back from our mountain trip next day we found our stuff outside our room and some Israeli people inside. The reception girl had apparently fucked things up (women!) and either given us the wrong keys or entered a different room number in the computer. Anyway, we had to move to another room, which was dirty and noisy. Add an "extremely" to those two adjectives and you get a description of the kitchen and living room.
I've already mentioned the adventure capital thingy. Well, I do think that all those people who go for bungy jumps and sky dives and stuff do so precisely because their normal lifes are dull and boring and they don't have the courage to do anything out of the ordinary whilst at home. Having made this point it becomes immediately clear all these activities which make QT so attractive to most people don't interest me a bit. So what did I do there. Easy enough - walk up a mountain. It's called the "Ben Lomond Track" and it's beautiful. The peak is at 1800m if I remember correctly and the view over Lake QT and the surrounding area is fabulous (see also: pic: QT from up above, pic: view from the peak, and another view from the peak.):
The way up was spectacular as well ... some sudden changes of pic:landscapes and pic:shrooms, which Stefan forced me to photograph.
Te Anau / Milford
14.-16. march 2004
We headed on to Te Anau then by Stray bus and the Journey was quite ok. Quiet and relaxing, none of the usual young people getting on my nerves stuff. The driver did his driving and abstained from pretending to be an entertainer. We dropped our packs at our hostel at noon, then headed for Milford, did the Cruise, and returned to Te Anau in the evening. So I'll start with Milford and end with Te Anau.
The pic:way to Milford is quite spectacular: pic:mountains, pic:waterfalls with mysterious holes, and one of those tunnels they got rid of in Europe 400 years ago. Seriously, if anything is to happen in this hole, there's gonna be heaps of deaths. Just look at the Swiss and Austrian Alps for examples.
Milford itself is basically just a quay, a shitty cafe, and legions of sandflies. The air is thick with them so you should wear long clothes and drench yourselves in sandfly repellent (ask the locals which brand). It was probably quite a wise thing to spend the night in Te Anau and not in Milford as I'd originally planned to do. Nevertheless, the cruise is definitely worth going on, rest assured! It costs about 42 dollars, takes 2 1/2 hourse and I experienced one of the most amazing views ever. We got lucky with the weather as well, it had rained in the morning but there was mostly sunshine in the afternoon. There were spectacular rainbows to be watched in the pic:waterfalls that rush down from the pic:mountains into the sund. Unfortunately, the pharmacy guy at Te Anau fucked up two of my four memory cards causing me to lose the most beautiful pictures I'd taken so far. Screw you. Back to the sund: there's pic: menacing mountains towering to the left and right, waterfalls rushing down, and the pic:peaks glimmer in the sunlight if they're not pic:engulfed by white clouds. For the girls: there were pic:seals taking a sunbath as well. The nearer you get to the sea the colder the wind blows but I reckon it's even pic:colder up in the pic:mountains.
Te Anau is a small village with heaps of shops though (for its size at least!). There's supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants, ... . Beware of the pharmacy though - do not let them burn your memory cards on CD! The hostel we stayed at was nice as well, our room had its own kitchen, living room, and balcony. Te Anau is a good place to chill out and also a decent starting point for a couple of tracks. pic:Lake Te Anau is huge and pic:beautiful, as is the pic:landscape surrounding it. There also were beautiful sunsets and sunrises:
Invercargill
16.-17. march 2004
I haven't got much to tell about Invercargill. It's not very attractive but then, on the other hand, it is also less touristy than other cities. Boring might be a good adjective to describe it. The hostel was really the best thing in this town. There we met a couple of interesting people for example a Canadian guy who was travelling by bike. Hats off! But apart from that, nothing happening in Invercargill. We decided to head to Surat Bay next, mostly because most of the other people didn't go there "because there's no pub". So it sounded just like paradise to me and I for once I was right!
Surat Bay (Catlins)
17.-20. march 2004
Most of the big buses don't run through the Catlins because some parts of the road are still rather adventurous, i.e. gravel (but they are busy building "real" roads). But then the Catlins are one the nicest areas of NZ and you should really stay there for a couple of days. Take some precautions though: there is only one ATM in the Catlins (in Buldatha) so make sure you got enough cash before going there. There isn't much you could spend your money on anyway, but still ... .
We stayed at Surat Bay which is near Owaka, a really small village. There is a decent cafe and a small supermarket though so we didn't have any trouble surviving. If you're not travelling by car you will have to hitch a ride with one of the other hostel guests from Surat Bay to Owaka which never was a problem for us. Surat Bay itself is, well, a bay. The hostel was lovely as were the extremely friendly and helpful neighbours (the owners were away on holiday so the people from the shed next door took over). Surat Bay Lodge is right on the beach, you got sea lions in front of your bedroom window and they're pretty big! Be warned, these beasts can also move surprisingly quick despite their rather strange bodies. Apart from fighting sea lions and hanging around on the beach you can try some of the walking tracks or canoe up the river. The latter sport becomes especially demanding if your host uses the wrong tide-timetable and you have to work against outcoming and incoming tide. :-) We also spent quite a lot of time at the hostel itself because it a) was pretty cosy while it was raining outside and b) we met some really nice people there. Ok, I confess, I do instantly fall in love with any woman who provides food for me but even leaving that aside they were still nice (for nice pictures click here: nudge nudge). >:-) The pictures below were taken from the top of Jacob's hill at sunset. From the hostel it's only a short (20 min) walk up there and well worth the effort ...:
Dunedin
20.-23. march 2004
While Christchurch looked and felt quite English Dunedin is definitely Scottish. Apart from that it's a lively university town with some nice cafes though I was told that it can be pretty quiet during the term breaks. After a couple of days away from civilization it was very refereshing to have a bit of city around me. In High St there the Arc Cafe which has lots of vegan and vegetarian dishes and also offers free Internet access. Unfortunately the connection is so slow that it's actually unusable. I could watch my beard grow while I was waiting for my emails to open. But still, a nice place to hang out. For the pretentious arseholes among us "Echo" in George Street has a nice collection of records and cds. Vitamin freaks should check out "Replay" in the Meridian Mall they do excellent juices and smoothies. Our hostel was very recommendable as well: a former hospital with heaps of ghosts, a fat cat, nice facilities, and friendly staff. They even do your washing (and ironing) for you so we treated ourselves to some luxury and decided to detoxicate our underwear and stuff ... .
And if we still needed proof that NZ is a small country we found it in Dunedin: here we ecountered a lot of people we'd met in Queenstown or Invercargill. And since Bremen was still continuing its winning streak the conversations with the Munich supporter were especially pleasant. ;-)
Dunedin also a good starting point for any trips to the Otago Peninsula. I'm not too sure wether it's worthwile going there: the tourist information in Dunedin tries to sell you expensive bus trips and if you haven't got a car that's the only way to do it. There is a bus by "Southeastern" running (purple flyers) a couple of times each day but it it is not very reliable: drivers tend to ignore their timetables and aren't really keen on gaining any passengers/customers. So be it. We went there by car (I do like "Munichians") but we weren't too enthusiastic: there are surely more interesting, exciting, and accessable places in NZ than the Otage Pen. Most of the property is private and you have to pay extra for everything.
Dunedin also brought about a change in our mode of travel: the trip from Surat Bay to Dunedin was our last one with Stray. We decided to go from Dunedin to Christchurch by Atomic Shuttles because a) the Stray bus would be pretty full and b) it didn't run daily so we would have had to stay another two days in Dunedin. Apart from that the last driver was, frankly speaking, quite a bit looney. Some general advice on travelling NZ: always look out for events! If there's a rugby match on in the city you're going to you have to book at least one week ahead! The big cities tend to be crowded on weekends even without special events but if there's a match or race then the place will be pretty packed. In general it might be a good idea to avoid places like Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch or Dunedin on weekends since this is the time when all those party people rear their ugly heads. Another thing to watch out for are the timetables of the big "adventure" companies like KiwiExperience or Magic. They usually have one or two "recommended" hostels (that are sometimes company owned) - don't stay there. Also if the timetable says that there's an incoming bus on Fridays and the next outgoing bus on Monday you can bet your arse that the Monday bus will be fully booked (as will be the hostels for the weekend). The moral of the story is: if you plan to stay at a specific hostel on a specific date - book ahead! If you don't really mind when and where you will staying next - don't. But some cities, especially Wellington, don't offer too many quality hostels so you might end up in an extremely shitty place (like I did). No whingeing please.
Akaroa
23.-25. march 2004
We managed to get from Dunedin to Akaroa on one day, a thing which would have been impossible in Germany. We took the Atomic Shuttle early in the morning from DUN to CHC, arrived there right on time and hopped on the Akaroa shuttle. Just imagine trying to reach a connection train in Germany ... *shudder*. The drive to Akaroa itself was quite scenic since one of the hills you have to cross to get there offers a splendid lookout over the Banks Peninsula. Akaroa itself was founded by French settlers which explains why most of the entities there have French names. Most of it is tourist stuff nowadays though. Take for example the hostel "Chez-la-mer" - French name in accordance with the tourist myths but American owners who don't speak a single word en français ... . Nevertheless a beautiful spot. It's got all the mod cons (cafes, supermarkets, Internet access) and truly excellent hostels. We were staying at the afore mentioned "Chez-la-mer" which is highly recommendable: you get free breakfast in the morning (including muesli), free bikes for hire, nice staff, a clean place, a beautiful backyard/garden, and a pleasant atmosphere. The people working at the tourist information are very friendly and helpful as well (especially compared to those in Dunedin). And even nerds and misanthropists like me are made happy (for a while at least) by "Bon Email" - the first decent Internet place (self-service) so far running Linux and Mozilla - tabbed browsing rules. Apart from these worldly pleasure Akaroa and the Bank Pen. of course offers a range of activities - from everything water-related to walks and hikes of different lengths to sunsets galore: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Wellington
25.-28. march 2004
Well, Wellington. It's very lively, quite a little bit crazy, and really full of contrast. Nice botanical gardens, lots of LOTR stuff, Te Papa national museum, and of course all the nearby attractions like Kaitoke Regional Park. There are some excellent cafés there as well, but on the hostel side it's looks rather bleak - go for a hotel. I stayed at "Webb's Packers" which was a big mistake. It's dirty and noisy, stay away from this place.
Napier
28.-29. march 2004
A clean hostel at last! How nice to shave and shower after this Wellington hellhole. Napier is kinda pittoresque, the houses are nearly completely art-deco style which is funny to look at at first but gets boring after a while. At least to an ignorant fart like me. Bluff Hill offers a nice lookout, highly romantic.
Taupo
29.-31. march 2004
Taupo is a sleepy little town and a good base for explorations into the beautiful area around Lake Taupo and also for the Tongariro Crossing. There's a nice walkway along the river to Huka Falls and a not so nice walkway (tar road) to Craters of the Moon. It might also get a bit coldish at nights (April) os I had to get some warmer clothings from the local Hallenstein's ... . Beautiful! Charming! No, not the clothing, but rather the veeeery nice clerk who worked there. If you should read this: please marry me!
Hamilton
31. march - 01. april 2004
Hamilton probably was the shittiest place I visited in whole NZ: boring town, disgusting hostel, bad connections. So I won't waste many words on this ghastly place where I only ended up because I couldn't get a connecting bus the same day I arrived. It's all a conspiracy really - the guys at the tourist info at Taupo and Hamilton's hostel owners are behind it. Believe me, I've seen it happen!
Road to the Coromandel Peninsula:
Coromandel Town
01.-04. april 2004
Fantastic! Best spot on this trip. Lovely hostel ("Lion's Den"). Make sure you get to see Cathedral Cove, it's awesome. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Auckland
04.-06. april 2004
Auckland is an interesting place to hang out: a little bit of big city flair downtown, but never really stylish. Close to water & beaches. International crowd. Good food. Chocolate café on Parnell Rd rocks. Hostel City Garden Lodge is highly recommendable.
Author and copyright of this website:
Christian Kohl.
Impressum.
