And the topic begins...

Hello everyone,

It's been ages since I wrote my last entry! :o I apologize sincerely!

From now on, I promise to release an update at least every two weeks.

This entry starts off interestingly because it will be the first part of my one-month trip with my brother Hannes!

I will try to describe as many details as possible, but I have to leave out some parts for youth protection reasons. Just kidding! It would just take too long ;)

Hannes is currently finishing his final exams and will be starting 12th grade.

So it all started on the first day of his summer vacation. He boarded the same plane as I did four months ago and also flew via Dubai to Auckland.

On June 29th, we hugged each other at the airport in the morning.

Our first stop was the Hot Water Beach in Coromandel. For that, Hannes had to sit for another three hours! :D But this way, he could get to know Mathilda and we both had enough time to chat.

When we arrived at the campsite, we booked a night in a caravan with real beds. Hannes could recover from his long flight there. But that wasn't all for the 'day' because after midnight we went to the beach again. It was quite cold, but the Hot Water Beach doesn't get its name for nothing. We dug two small pools with just our bare hands, which were filled with hot spring water. We sat in our swimming trunks and looked at the stars.

In the following days, we visited Cathedral Cove, the Blue and Green Lakes, did the Redwood Treewalk, and climbed Castle Rock, among other things.

The thermal wonderland in Wai-O-Tapu was a real highlight where we took some beautiful photos.

In between, we stayed at luxurious campsites that allowed us to relax in the hot pool in the evenings. We also cooked balanced meals quite often!

The next big event (after my mother's birthday of course!) took place on July 6th in Matamata. There we experienced a journey through the Shire, to be more precise: Hobbiton, the capital of the hobbits. It is a live set from Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' movies.

Our New Zealand guide welcomed us with a perfectly rehearsed 'Good day' and told us many interesting insider information about the movies, the filming location, and the dark sides of Peter Jackson as an employer over time. At the end of the day, we had a cold beer at the inn 'The Green Dragon Inn'. Our guide found it amusing that the German tourists, as always, rushed to the bartender first (wonder who that was;)).

When we arrived back at the starting point with the buses, Hannes and I were completely in the 'Lord of the Rings' fever and bought the best movies of the two film trilogies at the Warehouse. Only in the evening did I realize that my little travel laptop didn't have a CD drive :D 'Shame on me'! Well, fortunately, we were able to return everything without any problems.

We then spent the next two days at McLaren Falls Park, where camping is allowed. There you can see waterfalls, sheep, and glowworms (the real ones)! In German, they are often confused with 'Fireflies', the flying glowworms. The glowworms are actually tiny worms with a luminous green head. There are two really great paths in McLaren Falls Park where you can see a lot of them at night. It was a real joy to watch them up close and see the fascination in Hannes' eyes :)

On July 8th, we had completed our 'Eastern route' through Coromandel, Tauranga, Rotorua, etc., and drove back towards Auckland. Now we wanted to explore the winter-less north of New Zealand (Northland)...

I will tell you about that in the second part of our trip! ;)

Your Henrik