Gold rush

Gold! Gold has been found!

Amazingly, about 150 years ago, this cry did not refer to the unique landscapes of New Zealand, which are just as valuable as the yellow precious metal.

But no, in 1864 the gold rush began in New Zealand, which brought wealth to few and death to many. The memory of this era is preserved here in Shantytown, where a gold mining town with some original and many restored buildings serves as a tourist attraction. We ourselves washed real gold there and rode up the mountain in a 121-year-old train.

Nevertheless, we recommend interested people to visit Ross, which is just a few kilometers away and has a similar charm and extensive information on the topic, and it's completely free.

Another insider tip that both of us were totally excited about: The National Kiwi Centre in Hokitika. The name says it all: Finally, we were able to observe real kiwis! Unfortunately, no photos were allowed there, so you'll have to believe us that it was simply beautiful. But what we were allowed to photograph were gigantic eels, which were between 85 and 100 years old and up to 2 meters long. We were allowed to feed and pet them, who can say that! And we also learned how to fish here: In an artificial pond, you could catch crawfish from the water and then release them again. (Sorry to anyone who's now doing a warm-up choreography out of reflex ;-) ) And the best part: All of this only cost 21$ per person!

Today we reached the glacier region of the South Island. Unfortunately, both towns deeply disappointed us in terms of atmosphere and friendliness, and we quickly came to the conclusion that we find 450$ per person a bit too expensive for a hike on the glacier. So we only hiked within sight of the two big glaciers Franz Josef and Fox Glacier.