to ford or not to ford

Today we travelled from Rotorua towards waitomo to check out the caves.

We have borrowed a really nice book from A with day walks in New Zealand, and we decided to do one of those. We drove up in our car, and everything was working out ok except that we had some difficulties finding the starting point as we only had the book and not the local map.

In the end we managed to find where to start, and we had a really great journey (pictures to come!).

The hike was pretty challenging although it was overall flat (coming back to starting point). It was really good fun to get close up to a waterfall, and this one had quite a bit of water in it on our visit.

A funny thing that happened that we won't forget that easily is what the word ford means. To most of us I think it means a make of a motorcar, but in this case, ford as in the verb was being used. So coming up to these fording points, we had gone to great lengths, trying to keep our feet dry. No more of that was possible to get across these "unbridged bridge crossings" . Some comments like "Are they having a laugh?" were heard from the back of the walking group. A good outcome of it is that our fording skills have improved, and that we will research and read our maps more carefully before setting off on hikes in new terrain in New Zealand.

First days in our campervan

On the Monday it was time to stay goodbye to A&I and leave Auckland.

We were really excited to find out what the camper van trip of our journey would be like. We checked in at the rental station and went through the vehicle thoroughly (thanks Paer and Erika for good advice).

We travelled out from Auckland towards the Coromandel peninsula and the Hot Water beach. We came there pretty early in the afternoon, which was good as we hadn't got the hang of the transformations of the van yet (think donald duck, goofy and mickey mouse on their camping trip for those of you who know Swedish Christmas TV traditions)

Hot Water beach we did at night, which was a really cool, no actually, hot, experience. We were almost alone on the beach and could dig very close to the well, so the water that came out was really hot, actually too hot to sit down in.

playing in the waves :-)

Digging for hot water in the night, really fun experience in the dark.

After hot water beach we drove down to Rotorua, where we went to a maori run museum and looked at Geysers and maori handicraft. After that we went to the wai-o-tapu geothermal park, which was really interesting. It really made it clear how much power there is in the ground from the earth's crust.

Our last activity in Rotorua was the top one for Henrik so far. We flew in a hydroplane from 1953 over the lake rotorua. For both of us it was the first time in a propeller plane, and we really (especially Henrik) enjoyed it.   photo updates are here now...

Snorkeling and more

During our weekend in Auckland we decided to head to the north, to the area that is called the northlands. A&I have a great setup in Auckland and were able to provide us with a full equipment to go snorkeling, fins, masks, wetsuits and all.

On the way to the sea we went past Matakana where there was the saturday market stalls. Very fun to walk around and check out all the stalls. We also prepared ourselves for the snorkeling by eating some really yummy vietnamese spring rolls and buns.

At the goat island marine reserve we got ready to get in the water. It was really good to have the neoprene as the water was only around 20 degrees. We had a great snorkeling and saw lots of interesting plants and fish. It was really fun and once we gotten used to it we could dive down from the surface to look closer at things further down at the bottom.

buying oysters on the way back from the diving trip. We also stopped at the sawmill brewery and  bought some really nice beer and ales.

First days and first impressions in Auckland

After having spent a couple of days in Auckland we have learned to find our way around a bit better and caught the bus in to central Auckland (Britomart).

First day we went in to get some things that we needed for the camping trip and also two sweaters from ice breaker (thanks for the tip Ev)


After that we went up in the sky tower which provided breath taking views and good photo opportunities. After standing behind the glass and already feeling the high altitude we asked ourselves how people could do the jumps and walk-arounds. I guess if you sign up there is no real way back ;-)..

In the afternoon we headed out to Devonport and climbed the little hill, which gave an even better view of Auckland than what we had from the sky tower, and also a nice walk.

In the evening we went out with A&I for a nice meal of sushi, yum.

The next day we started slowly but made it to Rangitoto Island. This is an island that came up from the sea only 600 years ago during a volcanic eruption. We took the trail to the volcanic crater and walked on the west side of the island back.

When we were going to leave the island something funny happened. The ferry company had had a mishap of some kind (breakdown or something) and missed sending out a ferry for the last scheduled run of the day. At last someone called them up and made sure that the ferry came, but we got a bit delayed back for the BBQ dinner on the terrace.

waiting for the ferry at rangitoto (tons of seagullls on the bridge)

Arriving in New Zealand and first day

We had a good flight over from HK although we didn't sleep that much. I think the excitement of being so close to our final destination took over. Selina was reading a lot and Henrik was watching documentaries and films on the little screen. Two really good episodes that stuck were Stephen Fry's Planet Word on the evolution of languages, and another one about the currency crises in 1998 by BBC and Ayn Rand, All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace.


We got to NZ at noon where A kindly picked us up from the airport and took us back to the flat. In Auckland we are staying with A, I and Oliver the cat (seen on picture below)

On the first day we went down to explore Kohimarama beach and had a nice meal of fish cakes and frites, and caesar salad.

Towards the evening our energy was really flagging, so Henrik barely managed to stay awake through the barbecue. A good nights sleep should make wonders for next days discoveries.

Last day in Hong Kong and starting in NZ

The time in Hong Kong went by really fast.

The morning of our last day, we had breakfast with our auntie and got to try the starfruit from the tree in the garden, very yummy.

We noticed that our bags had become a bit lighter now, which is really good for the rest of the trip and makes the carrying easier.

We caught a taxi to the yuan long station and then went in to Hong Kong to meet up with our friends. We went for another great dim sum lunch (we were really being spoilt by this when in Hong Kong). It was really nice to catch up with everyone and hear what they were up to.


After lunch we met up with some more friends. We took a pretty casual approach to it and said that we would stay in the simply life cafe in IFC. It turned out really well and we got a chance to catch up with many of the people that we wanted to meet.

Happy New (chinese) year at IFC in Hong Kong

Start of trip

The trip has started.

On Saturday we had beaming sunshine when leaving Zurich. Due to some busy support work packing had been postponed, and we were very glad to be traveling on Saturday afternoon instead of Friday evening as we initially were thinking of.

The flight to Hong Kong went via Munich, where Henrik enjoyed some local food and wheat beer before starting the longer part of the flight. When we came to HK the rain was tipping down (first time for Henrik to experience Hong Kong winter weather). Now we know that the roofs on bus stations etc. are not only there to protect from the strong sun in the summer!

On our first day (Monday we went to visit some friends at the ICC tower). We had a very yummy lunch including cha siu bao (buns with meat inside)

Tonight in the evening we met up with our family for a meal together in Sheung Shui. Before that, we visited an uncle that has opened a cafe where we tried the drinks. We also really enjoyed the sawdust pudding :-).

Hello blogging world!

The first post to start the blog that we will use for our trip.

It is getting nearer to our departure date. Tickets and camper van are booked. Some nervousness before the journey is finding its way into our lives, but mostly we are very excited to get started with our adventure.

Tonight we started our weekend with going to Cafe Schober and having Flammkuchen, Gugelhopf and Apfelstrudel (notice the focus on desserts :-) ). Cafe Schober was a really nice experience with full Christmas decorations and live music on the piano.

We have started to read our guide books and also to think about what we need to pack.

Daniel and Ev have very kindly lent us their backpacks, thanks a bunch, they will be much easier to carry than our normal bags.

Tomorrow lists will be made and after that, packing can commence.