…and twice on Sundays
Day 200-200 bis – Papeete, Tahiti I left Matamata Sunday morning by an early bus and if some humidity clung to my eyelids, it was surely the dust in the atmosphere. Or the pollen. Yes, let’s blame the pollen. The first bus dropped me in Hamilton for around an hour, the reward being that the…
Good-Bye New Zealand
Day 199 – Matamata, New Zealand Today was a quiet day. I went with my host on the dogs’ walk, with a very fine weather. It was muddy though, from the previous day’s rain, so they had to jump in a trough on the way back to get clean-ish. I packed my bags. I baked…
Blue Springs
Day 198 – Matamata, New Zealand It is difficult to describe my experience of the Blue Springs. It should have been a simple, delightful walk by a small river with unusually blue waters. But it was more than that. It was the green plants growing in the blue water; the lush exotic species growing on…
Gold mining
Day 197 – Matamata, New Zealand This day has revolved around the gold mining theme. (Well, until we left for the Mount.) First, we went to the Karanhagake Gorge. The hills surrounding the Gorge were exploited in the 19th and 20th centuries by several gold and silver mining companies. They are now riddled with tunnels…
Eeling down the stream
Day 196 – Matamata, New Zealand We started the day by going to a blueberry farm. Our visit wasn’t exactly planned, by which I mean that the person in the farm who extended the invitation told our guide roughly 5 min before we arrived. That translated by telling us a lot of history about the…
A taste of Christmas
Day 193 -Matamata, New Zealand Since I’m spending my last week in New Zealand with a family, I’m fortunate to be able to participate in Christmas preparation. Sunday started with a carol service at the local church. I knew only one of the hymns, but with a stuffed nose and a strong French accent, I…
Waiting for the bus
Day 192 – Matamata, New Zealand I’ve finally uploaded the Tongariro pictures! My day started at quarter to three in the night, when some clumsy lout came to find his bed in my dormitory. Light, noise, everything. Fortunately I went back to sleep quickly. I dropped the behemoth to the rental agency at the airport,…
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Day 191 – Manukau, New Zealand I was awoken before 6 am by a creaking door. Or maybe the wind, or the people getting up, but the door creaking next room over kept me from crashing back to sleep. So I ended up getting up way earlier than I had planned to. My plans, after…
Tongariro National Park
Day 190 – National Park, New Zealand Edit: I updated the article. Yes, National Park is the name of a village. It’s strange, but at least easy to remember. I picked up my rental car in Wellington under rain and wind, because hey, why should I be lucky with the weather all the time? But…
Kaikoura
Day 188 – Kaikoura, New Zealand I woke up full of enthusiasm for my plans of the day. Well, after lingering on my morning cup of tea, that is. The thing to do in Kaikoura is to walk on the peninsula, there is a track at the bottom of the cliff (which may depend on…