The Great Journey Archive - Page 4 of 17

The End of the Sixth Age

Feb 29, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey

Here are some more impressions of the incredible journey with my parents. 🙂

Napier is too big of a topic to share among the other situations. That is why here you’ll find only some teasers:

After some great days in Hawkes Bay we went on to the ‘smelly’ city Rotorua. I, an ‘old stager’, have adapted to the ever-present sulfur smell, but for newcomers it is quite hard to oversmell it. 🙂

After the last light had wafted over the clouds…

…the moon came around for a peek.

In Wai-O-Tapu we once more saw colours and shapes you can’t just come up with inside your head. You just have to have seen it.

Tourism.

From Rotorua we also parted and went up, to the far north, to Kerikeri. At the places I visited with Celine back then, I now stood next to my parents. And it was just as nice, especially so at the oldest buildings of New Zealand.

One day, we crossed over from Paihia to Russel.

You just have to have seen the oldest church in New Zealand. 🙂

The Rainbow Falls in Kerikeri.

The 3 nights in the Northland we didn’t sleep at a regular house, but in a caravan. The same was situated on dreamlike premises…

At Cape Reinga, where the Maori believe the souls of the dead travel over to the afterlife, my camera went down the same path. She was taken by a gust of wind with the tripod and smashed into the ground and was not to be used anymore after that.

The next day I bought a new one, as I can’t cope without a camera…There is always a way, even if it is a hard one.

New Zealand in a nutshell.

In Bulls there is not much to see, but instead, there is a lot to read. The city is very creative in naming their facilities…

C hildcare A nd L earning F acility 😀

And thus, that was it. The sixth age…
Thank you, mum and dad that you were with me and that you are with me.

Adventures of the Everyday Travel

Feb 21, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey

You notice, I don’t have much time on my hands to take care of my blog in all the details.
I and my beloved parents still drive through New Zealand in giant leaps and have some adventures here and there. That’s how it was planned, after all. 🙂

Thus, we met Mount Cook, the tallest mountain of New Zealand, all cloud-clad and stood in awe:

At our next stay in Canterbury we were guests to an elderly farmer’s residence and she showed us around her lively farm the next day. The sheep are still somewhat shy, but I got a little closer for a picture:

Back in the North Island, when having some pizza, a most special guests made its appearance. It was a weta, which was big in size:

Wetas are not dangerous to humans, as long as they are some of the smaller varieties. This 7 centimetre long specimen is not a giant weta, after all. 😉

In my beloved botanic gardens in Wellington I found some shapes and motives I would like to share with you:

Our special experiences proceeded with observing a freshly hatched butterfly. Our hosts take the caterpillars inside the house and supply them with a plant to pupate, so soon they can witness them hatching:

Underway on the Forgotten World Highway we saw, besides exceptionally beautiful landscapes, the usually rather shy Mount Taranaki almost without any clouds to shield him.
Also, we spent a visit to the Republic of Whangamomona. New Zealand presents you with the nice ‘quirk of administration’ that allows you to get a ‘highly official’ stamp on your passport…

In the ‘foreign country’ Whangamomona. 😀

The Legendary Dreamland

Feb 13, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey

Tired. The head is buzzing. But we arrived again.
We have some tea and go about our duties. A road trip is hard work, you can say that…

We write postcards, copy pictures, send the best of those and munch some New Zealand sweets.

Unfortunately I can’t give you too much details as time is running short, buuuuut pictures do tell much as well. 😉

Our trip continued to the Milford Sound.
Incredible is but a weak expression for what we saw there…

The Mirror Lakes on the way from (or to) Milford Sound.

A short night we spent in Invercargill, before we went onwards…

I kept my word!!

On our way through the Catlins we visited a selection of attractions that were worth visiting despite the grey weather…

With a great tripod, long exposure waterfall shots do come out better. 😉

In Dunedin we stayed at an Airbnb place as the FIRST ever guests (we didn’t realise until the end), which appeared straight out of a fairy tale. The owner must be one of those sweet-old-artsy-fairy-godmother-type-people.
You felt just like in a dream… I hope I could capture the style to some extent in the pictures.
Awesome!!

Meanwhile, we arrived in Twizel and continue the travels by tomorrow. Always onwards, a new adventure for each new day. It shall not get boring for Papa Bear and Mama Bear. ;P

Sincerely,
Little Bear. 😀

A Significant Interim Report

Feb 9, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey, Updates

Sunset over the fjordland:

One more of times, we arrived at our destination. Every day another great car trip, incomprehensible landscapes and always a different stay.
At the end of each day there is not much time left for the internet, you are tired and you need your sleep for the next even more exciting day.

So, here is a little overview for you guys, just before I go to bed.
Sadly you don’t get a fully crafted report of what I feel and go through, but instead a little palette of visual treats. 😉

Six Barrel Soda, a Wellington gem!

Crossing the Marlborough Sounds towards the South Island. For the first time in daylight. 😀

Upright for who?? 😉

I kept showing my parents all the places I have been, with all the memories of the good old days attached. 🙂

The west coast. Predicate optional.

Back then, in Winter, there were but little cicadas rataplanning in Punakaiki. 😉

You have to accept my apology for posting less than we’d all wish for in these special times. But one thing is the most important. That is, that we are all happy. 😉

And I am just that, for 1000 good reasons!! 😀

Mum and dad are here now!

Feb 5, 2016 | The Great Journey, Thoughts, Updates

I am sitting on the deck outside the house and have breakfast. Baked beans, backpacker style, and enjoy the Summer heat and the wonderful view on the hills around Wellington.

Dad is sitting next to me, has his first ever serving of baked beans on toast and goes on about teak wood, of which the table is made of and points out one detail after the other about New Zealand’s buildings. Mum is still asleep after the late arrival and the long flight yesterday. Sleep is valuable.

Now I listen very closely, when my parents have something to say or just tell me something about the current environment. In 14 months far from home I have come to value the significance of parents in your life.
Especially when you have lived through times that defined you as a person and often faced your innermost values. I could in many situations give my parents all credit for determining facets of myself.
I want to know more about these wonderful people and want to get to know them better than ever before.

It is just incredible to see the same well-known persons around you, who you haven’t seen in such a while. On top of that in New Zealand, far from the mutual home.

In a too natural manner we walk down the Wellington waterfront, have some coffee in the cafes I not long before had coffee with my friends, visit places where I had wished for my parents to be here, but never thought they would be HERE one day.

I show them many new things, you can say for sure. But I clearly notice that they can show me just as many new things in return, still.
I think, the next weeks are going to be the most special in our lives!

Back to the Future

Feb 2, 2016 | Photos, The Great Journey, Trips

Dunedin is in the past.

Who can remember the picture of my luggage before the journey? 😀 Can you tell the differences? 😛

A part of my Dunedin accompanied me on my trip north, as my dear flatmate Andrej came with me on this great road trip.
We fought ourselves through rain and the dark until we reached the first destination of Hanmer Springs. That’s where it drew lovely Tina. A quirky place where you cannot find much else than the thermal pools and some restaurants. Just the better having friends around then. 🙂

We wouldn’t be able to enjoy our stay too long, as the next night our ferry to Wellington would depart.
So we had another goodbye and went on the stage of our trip…

A river on the way to Hanmer. Almost trivial. 😀

I also found a tube! 😀 But we already knew how to get gas… 😉

There wasn’t much time for photo stops, but sometimes you don’t have a choice.

‘The handsome Andrej.’ A road trip lets the last stage play wake again… 😀

*B A N G*

For we couldn’t find an external cause that might have produced the loud noise, we stopped at the side of the road. After I noticed the back tyre hissing and losing air, it took not more than 10 minutes to be back on the road with the spare wheel.

The tyre had been chafed through. Cautiously we drove from Kaikoura up to Picton without any more incidents and reached the ferry on time.

What can I say? An adventure! 😀

The last red evening sky on the South Island.

The things that (don’t) get transported between the islands…

After a night in the car (we did arrive at 2am with the ferry) we checked in to the flat in Island Bay. Here in Wellington it is the Summer, you could clearly notice.
As I was told later, after we got both rotten rear tyres replaced, I went full blossom as Wellington tour guide.
Well, in the two days we had Andrej should see the most and the best of my favourite city.

It is an interesting feeling, to be back at a place where you went through so much and that is not the same, still… It is hard to look at the present under all the countless memories. But you can discover new things, though:

Six Barrel Soda. The absolute best and most unique soda I ever had! (Who recognises the background? 😉 )

Of course we had to climb Mount Victoria. Wellington from above is almost as spectacular as from within. 🙂

I have talked about my favourite cinema quite often, the Embassy Theatre in Wellington, but you haven’t seen it yet. So this is the grand auditorium with the insane sound system (notice the ceiling speakers for Dolby Atmos).

Also, of course, we paid Te Papa a visit. As animation movie fans we were very happy to see the Dreamworks exhibition, where they showed the origins of their most known animated movies.

Altough we had visited the majestical botanic gardens already at night, but at daylight it is worth it, also. 🙂
Especially worth it is the rose garden, as always…