Imechapishwa: 28.04.2017
Our journey has now come to an end. We look back on many places, moments, events, experiences, and people on this journey. We take with us many things personally from this adventure, and hope to transfer something from New Zealand to our everyday life in good old Germany.
When we think back on the eight weeks with the Kiwis, there are some things that have always stood out to us and have been very present, which we have collected here:
- There are free, clean, and well-maintained public toilets everywhere
- Everywhere you find relaxed, happy, and joyful people
- 'Seize the day' is the self-evident motto of life here
- Here, you thank the bus driver when getting off for the good and pleasant ride
- New Zealand has a vibrant, colorful, and diverse landscape with a wonderful flora and fauna
- Pedestrian lights make a sound like a starting shot, so that you don't miss when you can walk across the intersection. We particularly loved the ability to cross the intersection diagonally to save waiting for a light
- Green thinking/healthy lifestyle is highly valued here, but countless plastic bags are given out when shopping
- Vegetables are too expensive, sweets are too cheap
- Hitchhiking rate 1-2-1-10 (but always picked up within 1 minute)
- A 20-year-old car is not a vintage car here because used cars of any age are very popular for everyday use
- Instant coffee culture in hostels and households, as proper coffee is only enjoyed in cafes
Finally, we would like to list all the people who accompanied us on our journey, sometimes seeing them twice or crossing paths. We apologize to those we can no longer remember by name, but we share a unique experience with each and take it home with us.
Julia
2 Hamburger
Stuart
English couple
Australian
German camper family
The Kieler Group
The two holiday park owners + dog at Tongariro National Park
Chris
Sebastian
Brynie
The Dane
Bruno
Nathalie
Klara
Chelsea, the Canadian
Florian
Christin + Martin
Doubles from Freiburg
2 Christians from Whangarei
The Wanaka resident + Swede + dog
The dancer from Munich
Jack + Lincoln
4 Hamburger
Wouter
Jochen
Maris
Couple from New Plymouth
DOC Ranger
French couple
Biggi
Tobi
Phil + Sally + Kathie
2 crazy Swiss
Mia
The Munich resident
Jenny
Lisa
Valerie
Heather
Steph
Claire
Andrea
The 2 Argentinians
The Englishwoman
Lisa
Esther
Freya
Isabelle
Julia
Julia
Alisa
James
Chantal
The editorial team would also like to thank Kevin for the wonderful journey. For countless card game evenings, motivation boosts during challenging walks, great photos, new experiences that always popped up along the way, conversations, delicious dinners (including pasta carbonara that made us so happy after 8-10 hours and countless kilometers of walking), as well as new learned dishes, great hostels, and so much worth seeing that we take with us from this time.
With this, we now conclude our last blog entry and leave New Zealand after eight beautiful weeks. However, we do not say 'goodbye', but rather 'see ya, New Zealand', because 'you always see twice in a life'.