ok, I had to leave New Zealand in a few days when I came to Taupo. And something was itching ... I was looking forward to going home, but there was something not done yet. And this is what I did: I survived !

this is a very special experience: heli-hiking to the Franz Josef glacier means: you'll go on top of the glacier by helicopter and there you walk for 2 hours on the glacier with cramps on your feet. How do we imagine the surface of a glacier - flat and wet? It is not that flat ... here are some pictures the black spot in the middle of the glacier i

Back to the northern islands - 920 km. The right time to leave Queenstown, because they expect snow in a 2 weeks time ... church of the Good Shepard at lake Tekapo a very popular setting for picture-taking the very blue water is made of rockdust grinded by glaciers Waitaki district on the way from Queenstown to Christchurch impressive by it's simpl

on the way from Taupo to Rotorua you drive on the 'thermal highway'. The earth's crust is made up of a patchwork of interlocking plates. Here on the northern island of New Zealand the edge of the indian-australian plate is pressing on top of the pacific plate. So there is much tension showing in steaming geysers, colourful lakes, volcanic craters a

Fox-Glacier looks like the Alps with cattle in front - no, it's the Southern Alps in New Zealand Lake Matheson If I turned the picture upside down - would you know it? Mount Aspiring NP This very old bus - it got us around the southern island, no kidding. view from deers height, Queenstown another view from deers heights and a LOTR (Lord of the rin

after about 40 hours of travelling from Auckland to my homevillage ... I had the urgent need for a long sleep. But I was greeted by this sign at the entrance of our village and by my neighbours in our garden. So we had the first outdoor barbeque of this year and I had happy 5 more hours celebrating before taking more than a long nap ´ Lieber Peter

We spent our second volunteering week in the Waipoua-Forest, 3 hrs-drive north of Auckland. It was all about Kauri-Trees. Real giants of the forest ... The Ranger Stephen is very passionate about the vision of conservation: restoring the old flora and fauna of New Zealand (the time before humans interfered) as much as possible. And he wants to plan

Queenstown from Bobs Peak and here on Bobs Peak is the Skyline Luge they say the Skyline Luge is a fun filled gravity ride ... And this are Heidi and Fabian having a fun filled gravity ride :-) no denial - in New Zealand autumn is on it's way, it's getting colder soon it is time to go home but first there are another 10 days Milford sound and Nils

Beautiful New Zealand ... the southern island has a variety of impressions for you. In my next articles you'll find beautiful nature in very different kinds. For instance Abel Tasman: The Abel Tasman Coastal Treck is one of the great walks in NZ of the Department of Conservation. So it's the right place to go for a walk. We did 24 km on our first d

After the volunteering work around Auckland two other volunteers and myself decided to go to the southern island of New Zealand traveling around on a 'Hop on hop off'-bus. From Christchurch north - Kaikoura with Sealife, Picton and Nelson with famous Wineries, Abel Tasman NP in the north and around to the westcoast, bonecarving in Barrytown, the Fr