new zealand

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"ka roa, the haere!" is maori and means, that the journey is long. this journey was planned as a 3 months bicycle journey. so it should have been my third bicycle journey and my first alone. i started in christchurch and made it to timaru. then it was already too boring for me. and i didn't like the country at all. so i decided to shorten my trip and change the way i travel: i rented a camper. you can check the route i traveled here (interactive map with googlemaps). the few pictures i took you can find in the photo galery). at the end i was a month in new zealand and happier to go back home than ever before.

what i did not like about new zealand:

• the people are not really open and it's hard to get in touch with them. the best people i have met were people from abroad.
• the country isn't really nice! in the centre are mountains which are a desert, where nothing grows. around these mountains, where all the forests are cutovered, there is agriculture which makes a very, very boring landscape!
• and every small piece which is not a city, a part of the desert or agriculture is declared as a national park, forest park, scneic reserve or whatever. you may find these are interesting things to see - not really.
• the tourism industry is huge and makes it even worse. in every backpacker, camp site etc you find tons of colored brochures about expensive activities you can make in new zealand. in every ugly place you can buy these activities for a lot of money. sometimes you pay even more than here in switzerland, where the landscape is even better. even if you want to see penguins you have to pay for it...you really have to pay for every little thing - unbelievable. without the tourism indutry, new zealand would be nothing and would have nothing than sheeps.
• the cities and cultures is a mix between american and english. so what dominates every small village and big city is fastfood! and even the food in the more expensive restuarants isn't really good. especially pizza is a thing they cannot make. i have had pizza several times there and i have never had a worse pizza in my life before. the other food contains a lot of fat and calories. the best you can do is to eat at asian places.
• going out is not worth being mentionned. i was there in high season. some places, like taupo, had so many bars - but all of them were empty. no people ad thisin high season.
• the sun kills you. you get even sunburn with a 50spf lotion. all you can do is to stay in the shadow and wear long clothes - even when it is 30°C and above.
• this was the most boring trip i have ever done in my life. and it was not only because i traveled alone. at the end i really hated new zealand and i was never happier to get back home.

and because this trip was not nice at all, i don't want to write more here. if you're not sure if you should go to new zealand or not - just don't!

news & reports read interesting news & reports and see some nice pictures from my bike journey.

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route tracking track my route online in the interactive world map.

photo album take a look at some interesting pictures in the photo album of this journey.

time & weather local time, current weather situation and weather forecast.

preparation on this page you will find the most important preparation steps for this journey.

touring bike take a look at the touring mountainbike, with which i will travel in new zealand.

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direct access url:  http://newzealand.voegeli.li