New Zealand Part 3

Day 19 to the end of New Zealand

On Easter Monday, we ended up in the coastal region near Christchurch one last time. We settled in a very cute little town called Akaroa, which is influenced by a French occupation in the 19th century. I simply love the style of these lovely little wooden houses with small front gardens and roses.

We actually wanted to see dolphins, penguins, and whales there again, but the marine animals and the weather had other plans... So we simply enjoyed the nice little town and watched "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" on the mini TV in the campervan, fittingly for our journey. 😉

The last stop of our dreamlike journey through New Zealand was Christchurch. Unfortunately, the city was hit by severe earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, which destroyed many historic buildings. Therefore, the city is characterized by construction sites and new buildings. We were particularly impressed by the great and free Art Gallery with contemporary and historical art. A current and very exciting exhibition was by Julia Morison, a very famous artist in New Zealand. The exhibition was called "Head[case]" and made a strong impression on us. In conversation with a very knowledgeable museum employee, we delved into the subject and exchanged our impressions.

In Christchurch, we also rediscovered our favorite local spot. The C1 Espresso Café is located in the center in an old post office building that survived the earthquake. It has been stylishly renovated and designed by the owner. Food packages whiz through the old pneumatic tube system on the ceiling and land on the guests' tables. The restroom played the Harry Potter audiobook, and the conventional restroom signage was replaced by original Star Wars figures (Nico went to Han Solo, I went to Leia, the staff had to go to the Stormtroopers, and the wheelchair-accessible restroom was signposted by R2-D2). As if that wasn't enough, they also served excellent vegan food, great tea, and coffee.

In the afternoon sun, we explored the centrally located Botanic Gardens, in the middle of which was a rose garden with 100 fragrant varieties of roses. In the park, we could really feel the autumn with all its colorful splendor. As I said, another end of the world!

On the outside wall of the park, many flowers and memorial plaques reminded us of the terrible attack in March of this year.

The next day, we climbed a "mountain" and enjoyed a beautiful view of the sea and the Canterbury region from the top.

In general, we took it easy the last few days. After our previous active activities, it was not surprising that we became a bit tired towards the end.

As this shared adventure comes to an end, we want to reflect on it.

First and foremost, the reunion and the time spent together should be mentioned here. The peace and togetherness of our journey were especially beautiful for us. We were able to add new highlights to our shared life, experiences like swimming with dolphins or hiking around Mount Doom, which will surely stay with us for a long time.

In retrospect, we can also state the following:

New Zealand offers beautiful scenic landscapes from rugged mountains to tropical coastal areas; an extremely diverse plant growth, beautiful bird songs, and lively activity in the marine world.

However, we had to realize that even in this natural paradise, cracks are beginning to appear behind the facade. Coincidentally, this article recently appeared on ORF.at:

https://orf.at/stories/3119281/

In New Zealand, the train network is only very rudimentary. If you don't want to travel everything by bike, you actually have to travel by car, bus, or plane to see the beautiful remote corners of the country.

Of course, we contribute to environmental pollution with our way of traveling, and we are aware of that. However, through interesting and enlightening conversations, and not least the internet, we realized that the livestock industry is responsible for almost 50% of the greenhouse gases in New Zealand. That naturally changes our perspective a little on the idyllic herds of cows and sheep, which graze undisturbed and contentedly all day long in the vast, lush green landscapes. Everyone can draw their own conclusions from that.

I personally find myself in a constant conflict. On one hand, I don't want to further burden the environment with additional greenhouse gases (flying, driving, etc.) and producing plastic waste/garbage while traveling. On the other hand, I want to see the world, get to know other cultures in order to broaden my horizon, and be open to other things and new experiences.

My conclusion from this is that I don't want to give up traveling, but within my means, I avoid waste, walk, take the train, and eat without animal products.

I cannot reverse the emissions of my journey, especially the flights. But what I can do is support organizations with donations that are trying to create projects with renewable energy sources in third world countries. I have pondered this for a very long time and finally came across this website:

https://www.atmosfair.de/de/

Here you can compensate for your flights and support certified climate protection projects. After I return home, I will calculate this and put it into action.

And now to today: right now we are sitting at the airport in Auckland, spending the last few minutes together. Nico is heading back to Vienna and I'm off on one last short solo travel adventure to New York. 😊