Leaving New Zealand

Hallo,

These are my last days in New Zealand. I will leave New Zealand on the 9th of April, continuing to Fiji. I will be on the diving boat for 10 days hopefully doing a lot of dives in warm, clear water and sunshine.

So saying "Good Bye" to New Zealand, what could my summary look like...?

New Zealand has:

• a very vast as well as beautiful landscape
• a lot of well maintained but also over-promoted tourist attractions
• too many tourists during the season
• a weirdly, restricted attitude to alcohol
• overpriced accomodation
• decent white wine
• a very impressing coastal scenery
• very expensive restaurants and food
• an unpolluted and carefully protected environment

New Zealand does not have:

• interesting food
• cheap and good kiwi fruits in the market :-) (though one might expect otherwise)
• a lot of public transportation
• a reliable weather forcast
• good red wine
• stable weather conditions
• any interesting culture to indulge, other than the culture of the Maori, which is not very visible and hard to find
• historical buildings in the european sense :-)

New Zealand on the one hand captures you with its natural beauty, vastness and emptiness, but on the other side challanges you with other things as e.g. very expensive food, limited public transport and limited accomodation or harsh weather conditions.
I personally think that New Zealnd was not the easiest place to travel, at least as a backpacker over a longer period of time. At times, this was more challanging than travelling throughout Asia.
I take with me many stories to tell, though.

I am sending you my regards!
I wish you that spring arrives soon and that you are all well!
Take care! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Renate