Hawaii - Down Under - Land of the Kiwi - Down Under

Since our last entry, we have been lazy, visited one of the most impressive and beautiful cities in the world, embarked on a quest for elves, hobbits, and a certain special ring, and lazied around some more.

Hawaii - Waikiki beach

Even during our trip planning, we knew that taking a little break now and then would help us process the impressions we gathered. The days at Waikiki beach had the desired effect of refreshing our constantly-moving selves. For once, the days were not filled with new experiences, long hikes, and countless hours in the car, but with doing laundry, cooking something delicious, and enjoying a beer or two on our balcony. Nevertheless, we did explore Waikiki a little: in four days, we took a hike along the famous beach and up to Diamond Head, the Waikiki mountain, and visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial. The memorial included the tour of an American submarine from World War II and the historical account of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which marked the beginning of the Second World War for the United States. This memorial once again reminded us that the United States has been involved in wars throughout recent history and continues to be today. This undoubtedly has a significant influence on their culture, self-perception, and patriotism. It is not easy for us, as Swiss citizens, to truly understand this situation. However, the American people assured us multiple times that we would not have to go to war in the future: if we were attacked, the USA would rush to our aid and protect us.

With our departure from Honolulu towards Sydney, we finally left America behind and looked forward to Thomas's birthplace.

Down Under for the First Time - A Short Visit in Sydney

After a twelve-hour flight, we planned to explore the city. We had studied the map carefully. After leaving the hotel, we just had to follow George Street and we would arrive directly at the opera house in about 30-40 minutes - Thomas was sure that we couldn't get lost. But after about 45 minutes without seeing the opera house and the surroundings no longer looking like the city center, we paused and consulted our offline map. What the map showed us was not exactly what we hoped for. Our assumption was correct - following George Street should have taken us to the opera house within 30 minutes. However, we had chosen to go right instead of left right in front of the hotel. Those who have done the math in their heads already realized that instead of half an hour, we were on the road for about two hours until we reached our destination. Instead of enjoying the sunset, night had set in. However, this did not diminish our admiration for the opera house and the Harbor Bridge. And despite or maybe because of this longer-than-planned stroll, Karin instantly felt very comfortable in Sydney (Thomas always feels very comfortable in Australia).

In Sydney, we met dear Marc. Marc has been living in Sydney for over 20 years and was able to show us a different side of the city. Karin got her sausage platter (we were in a German restaurant), and Thomas got his gin and tonics at the Palmer & Co bar. The gins and tonics slid down just as smoothly as the mojitos in Vinales. However, Karin learned from her experience and switched to cola (only cola) early on. The next day, she didn't have a mojito or, more precisely, a gin hangover. After Thomas had Kater's spaghetti à la Marc, the initial signs of this hangover were also gone. The visit to Bondi Beach surprised Karin. She had not imagined such a beautiful city beach, and she enjoyed watching the countless surfers (in the water and out of the water). Every time a surfer gave Karin a seductive look, Thomas looked at Karin's left ring finger. Those who have seen "How I Met Your Mother" know this effect: Karin could still see the surfers, but the surfers could no longer see Karin.

Thanks again to Marc, meeting you (again) was truly a lot of fun! Let's hope we can meet again in Switzerland in December. Apparently, we still have to stock up on our gin supply by then.

New Zealand - South Island

From Sydney, we flew with Emirates to Christchurch. The flight was truly an experience, and in the economy class, it felt like we were flying business class (at least for those who have never flown business class before). In Christchurch, we picked up our campervan and set off to explore the island (of course, on the left side of the road). We planned to spend about three weeks on a road trip, first heading south from Christchurch and then taking the ferry to the North Island towards Auckland. And that's exactly what we did. Our travel route can be described in a bit more detail as follows:

- Christchurch: A gloomy mood seems to hang over this city. We can only speculate that this is related to the 2011 earthquake and the extensive destruction it caused. Among other things, the namesake of the city is still half-collapsed, and the church cannot be visited - pigeons now live there.

- Arthur's Pass: The visit to Devils Punchbowl Waterfall was beautiful. This is certainly due to the waterfall itself, but the atmosphere was equally important, and the waterfall will remain a fond memory for us: we were alone on the observation platform, and it started to snow - unfortunately, words and pictures cannot capture this moment.

- Franz Joseph Glacier: A hike took us about 700 meters from the glacier. The before (glacier 15 years ago) and after (glacier today) pictures depict the image that we know all too well from Switzerland. How long will the remaining glacier last?

- Moeraki Boulders: Big rocks lying on the beach, not moving. Sounds banal, but somehow amazing!

- Abel Tasman National Park: Only accessible by boat. Here, we were able to take a beautiful four-hour hike. When the boat docked and the people were sent off for the walk on the beach, another couple got off next to us, and that was it. We could explore the national park almost alone.

Aside from the aforementioned stops on the South Island, three experiences will particularly stay in our memories:

- Kaikoura: Here, we stayed at a beautiful boutique hotel (we got a free upgrade; being on a honeymoon trip has its advantages...) and ate at the fantastic Zephyr restaurant (on July 28, 2018, we were a couple for 5 years).

- Oamaru: We spent the night at a campsite where penguins have made their home. After a successful hunt, hundreds returned home, and we could observe them. These creatures are incredibly cute, except for their somewhat disturbing sounds. No, Karin, we cannot keep a penguin - not even a couple - as pets in Switzerland.

- Mount John: The hike of about 3 hours led us to Mount Cook, where a small, extremely welcoming café awaited its guests. We loved the ascent, the coffee, the view, and the descent. We particularly like the photos with a view of Lake Tekapo, which we can actually preserve, if that is possible.

New Zealand - North Island

The ferry ride is a highlight. Beautiful landscapes on the left and right enchant and make you realize that you are on your way to Hobbiton. The playful dolphins enhance this fairytale impression. We can honestly say that we liked the North Island significantly less than the South Island. However, we did not visit the beautiful parts north of Auckland, as described. Nevertheless, we felt very comfortable in five places:

- Hobbiton: Especially Karin had been looking forward to visiting the hobbit houses. Unfortunately, the village was only open during the day, when all the hobbits were working, so we didn't meet any of the little village inhabitants. But what has been created here truly feels like a fairy tale. 40% of the visitors haven't seen the movies, so we think the visit is still great. However, those who have seen and loved the movies, we highly recommend coming here if possible. Hobbiton has captivated us.

- Te Puia: At the Maori village in Rotorua, we particularly liked the geysers and the insight into Maori culture. When we say Maori village, it is still an actual Maori village today, inhabited by the indigenous people of New Zealand. Our general impression, that there is a (as far as possible) good relationship between the Maori and the white population in New Zealand, was also confirmed here. However, this is only our subjective impression, without having delved into the literature on the subject.

- Waitomo Caves: The sight of thousands of glowworms in this otherwise pitch-dark cave had something almost meditative. Incredible but true: all the tourists in the boat exploring the cave remained completely silent (including Asians).

- Waihi Beach: We actually managed to secure parking space number 1 here. That meant we could park our campervan right by the sea. The beach right in front of it had very few people. A one-hour hike took us to another bay. There, we were completely alone - beautiful! For the record: The hike would have taken an hour if we hadn't gotten lost. It took us two hours.

- Café in the Sky Tower in Auckland: Having a beer at 200 meters above sea level (in Auckland, meters above sea level is the same as meters above ground) during the darkening of a big city is always beautiful. The city lights at night are impressive every time.

In addition to these highlights, we also liked Wellington, which almost reminded us a little of Bern. Instead of the Gurten mountain, there is Mount Victoria, and instead of the Aare river, Wellington is directly on the sea. However, we still felt a little bit at home.

In Auckland, we spent the last three nights of our New Zealand trip. Similar to Waikiki, our focus was on doing nothing. So, on one day, we watched 13 episodes of Homeland and only briefly went to the Indian restaurant across the street. The best thing about staying in the hotel opposite the campervans is that you can go to the toilet at night wearing any form of clothing: you won't freeze anything, and people won't see anything they shouldn't see.

At the beginning of our trip, we received a bucket list for New Zealand. We would like to inform you about our degree of fulfillment:

- Looking out for typical New Zealanders: men wearing rubber boots and hotpants: done (Karin found the butts in those hotpants quite hot, Thomas doesn't analyze men's butts - he avoids eye contact whenever possible)

- Driving at 100 km/h (in New Zealand, it seems like there are only 100 km/h and 50 km/h zones) and having to make an emergency stop because out of nowhere, a bridge with right of way for oncoming traffic appears: done

- Eating Cookie Time cookies every day: 25% achievement level

- Getting drunk and satisfying hunger with a gas station pie: We don't drink alcohol. Only Thomas had a pie (Karin treated herself to a spinach quiche, saying: ew, it looks so gross, I definitely won't eat that); 25% achievement level

- Eating kiwi pizza: not fulfilled

- Eating spaghetti from a can: Finally, we know why some people throw spaghetti in a frying pan, but canned spaghetti not only sounds ugly, it is ugly; done

- Blinking instead of using the windshield wipers or vice versa: done

Conclusion: We didn't achieve everything on the list, but we would give ourselves a pass. We really enjoyed New Zealand, and we will definitely come back one day.

Preview

Australia, here we come! Four weeks in a campervan from Perth and back are waiting for us - we are very excited! We will be back in about 1.5 months. However, we don't want to actively think about that yet. We are enjoying the time as if it were a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Update August 17, 2018: We have already been in Australia for four days and have encountered various small and large animals. We also had the chance to experience the condition of the Australian campground WiFi (what WiFi?), which caused a slight delay in publishing.