New Zealand diaries
A simple chowder
That what we ate in New Zealand was a truly bad choice. The chowder was recommended to us as a traditional dish. I thought to myself, ‘maybe the cook had a bad day.’ After I came back home, I looked through the recipes on the internet and tried to repeat that, what I recalled. And indeed, the recipe I have carefully applied, gave back a genuinely delicious as well as a nutritious meal.
Christchurch. Bringing England there did not work fully …
Christchurch was one of the first regular English colonial settlements in New Zealand. In fact, this is the oldest city established by the English. The first European settlers came to the area around 1840. The colonization process was officially and legally organized by Canterbury Association and sponsored by the Church of England.
Hobbiton movie set
The first original Hobbiton movie set was dissembled after the ‘Lord of the rings’ trilogy filming came to an end. Yet again, the movie set was created as the Hobbit saga was filmed. This time, however, a decision was made to preserve its vast majority and make it available for the saga fans and tourists.
Ruakuri caves
Waiting to sight see Waitomo caves in a spur of the moment, I decided to make a surcharge on the original ticket (reserved some time ago from at home) and visit another complex of Waitomo caves called Ruakuri caves located around two km distance from the main cave. In the aftermath, an excellent decision.
Milford Sound
Today it is time for the cherry, a spot listed by some as one of the most beautiful tourist destinations worldwide.
It is the Milford Sound or Piopiotahi in native Maori, a fifteen kilometers long fjord located on the West Coast of New Zealand South Island. It is by far not the only place worldwide where we can find a long strait of water surrounded by hills or mountains formed thousands but thousands of years ago by a glacier. Yet the Milford Sound is unique
Wai-O-Tapu. Intoxicating
One of numerous natural wonders you man contemplate in New Zealand is Wai-O-Tapu. It is a ring-fenced reservation covered with collapsed craters, boiling pools of mud and water located on the New Zealand Northern Island. You walk a forest and bushes down and up the hill. From time to time, you stop at a lake or a crater of not-typical color from dark mud to candy green or blue. As many of the waters are hot, toxic fumes are all around you.
A couple who came from England
During our two-week stay in New Zealand, we once visited a town that seemed totally deserted. In high season it was popular with surfers. But with a heavy storm on approach, there was not a soul around us. It was like we would have reached the end of the world. The name of the town was Collingwood. The storm was still away. We took a walk. Just a walk around. No plan. No specific idea. No map.
A glacier walk
I thought we would just walk and take photos. The surface where we landed was quite flat, and the slopes did not look very steep. Crampons we had on our shoes made walking on the ice quite easy. Only later, I realized that we were following a scenario. After one hour of easy walking around, we approached some ice formations that from away did not look high, but in reality, they were. It also turned out, there were more guides on the glacier than only our lead guide, who accompanied us from the beginning.
