Hanga Roa
Day 203 – Hanga Roa, Easter Island, Chile Things are a lot clearer. First, I found someone to confirm the time. My calculations were right, we are 2 hours before Santiago. Then, I found an (open) ATM, and I got some money to pay my hostel and a few groceries. Finally, I got a sim…
Rapa Nui
Day 202 (I think) – Easter Island, Chile Oh, the joys of taking a plane at 3am, being served a full meal at 4am, and landing after 6 hours (or was it five?) at 1pm local time. Well, when I say 1pm, I’m not so sure, because that’s what my booking said, but my boarding…
…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…