"Oh my God! They killed Kenny! Bastards!" Blame New Zealand!
We arrived in Auckland a few days before our new travel partner, so we took the opportunity to check in with Meike and Scott who we had met on the crazy train ride to Bulgaria back in July. They had just finished their own trip through Europe and Central Asia. We checked into a backpacker hostel, catering to the hordes of travelers who invade New Zealand when it's summer there and winter pretty much elsewhere. Jonas felt really old for the first time when he couldn't sleep because of the obnoxiously drunk backpackers singing karaoke "All Night Long" in the bar right above our room.
The young and adventurous gather for a whole industry of adrenaline inducing sports that has developed around the country. Amongst hundreds of pamphlets advertising "Activities Galore", we first located a white water rafting company that took the three of us down the rapids of the Tongariro River. Of course we screamed with joy and got very wet, but somehow we had expected more. We wanted MORE! So we went back to the pamphlets and located the ultimate thrill - kayaking. In Rotorua there is a 7 meter waterfall and a crazy company that lets beginners paddle down the drop. To make sure you actually move down the river and through the chaotic rapids they give you a tandem kayak and a highly professional guide, who ends up doing most of the paddling and all of the stearing. No rollercoaster ride could possibly compare to falling down a waterfall strapped into a ducky.
We also tried the national invention of the Zorb, a huge inflatable ball that swallows you before you are rolled down a hill in hysterical laughter. It was so addictive we just wanted to do it again and again. Our empty wallets meant it was time to stop. We avoided all advertising for skydiving and bungee jumping from then on.
Having loved the ease and freedom of traveling in a campervan in Australia, we decided to repeat the experience. For nine days we drove through national parks and forests, in-between volcanic peaks and rolling green hills inhabited by hundreds of grazing sheep. The areas we visited were overwhelmingly volcanic. In the geothermal parks we spent a lot of time avoiding hot smoke and water coming out of the ground and looking at each other with accusatory eyes whenever it smelled like sulphur. After a few days we had seen such a plethora of fantastic sets that we felt like experts at volcanoes, seismic acticitiy, silica, and bubbling mud pools.
One of the absolute highlights of our road trip was the Tongariro Crossing, a 7-hour trek that begins next to the perfectly symmetrical cone of Mount Ngauruhoe, moves through craters and summits, passes emerald-green lakes and ends in a thick rain forest. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in New Zealand; in the harsh moon landscape of Tongariro National Park they shot the scenes from the Land of Mordor, home of the evil Lord Sauron. Realizing we were actually climbing Mount Doom, we rushed out to see the movie as soon as the trek was over to detect the real from the digital.
We celebrated a very different Christmas in 2001. We located a remote spot of the Tarawera Forest where we parked the campervan. Selecting a tree had never been so easy. With red balloons serving as Christmas balls and a somewhat improvised buffet set up on the van's detachable table, we felt like a highly unusual reincarnation of the three Magi as we exchanged presents in the dense woods.
New Zealand is famous for being "clean and green". The fact that not even 4 million people inhabit the vast country probably helps to preserve its rich heritage. We only traveled around the North Island. Apparently the South Island is even more beautiful. Hard to imagine.
