Auckland, New Zealand - 14th October 2016
By: Apperveilchen
I just landed in Auckland after 30+ hours of travelling and am checking out the city before collapsing in my hostel bed. I am glad I pre-booked, many people seem to have trouble finding a place to sleep.
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Posted Jan 31, 2017, 11:27 am Last edited Jan 31, 2017, 11:29 am by Apperveilchen
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Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand - 16th October 2016
By: Apperveilchen
On the western point of Cape Reinga starts 90 mile beach, a long beach that stretches until Kaitaia, but isn't actually 90 miles long but only 55 miles. The reason for the name that I heard was that there was a farmer who let his cows walk this stretch and they usually walked 30 miles per day and needed 3 days for this treck, so it had to be 90 miles long in his mind. However, as I can tell you, walking in sand takes more effort than walking on grass. It's open to cars nowadays and you are allowed to drive 100km/h.
Any way, what does one do in the sand? Sandboarding!
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Posted Mar 5, 2017, 6:43 pm
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Hobbiton, New Zealand - 21st October 2016
By: Apperveilchen
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”
Guess where I am in this picture!
Yes, in Hobbiton, yes, it's fake, it's not even quite the version of the LotR movies because after the filming of those movies, this area of a sheep farm was returned to it's natural state, but still, tourists came, wanting to see the area and when Hobbiton was rebuilt for the Hobbit movies, it was made to last so there'd be something to actually look at (and make money with). Yes, there are lots of tourists being led on an exactly timed guided tour of the grounds, yes, it is ridiculously expensive, no, one can not actually look inside Bag End, rumor has it that Peter Jackson had it deconstructed and plan to retire in it wherever it may have been re-constructed, but despite all this, I had a truly magical day at Hobbiton and it all felt very, very real. Part of that is probably due to Peter Jackson being quite obssessive about the smallest detail, so he had trees planted and Hobbit holes built that are just seen for a tenth of a second in the movies but had to be perfect anyway and these details are what makes the place so magical to me.
There are actually different sizes of Hobbit holes, so was to make the actors standing in front of them seem large like humans or small like Hobbits and dwarves.
Supposedly, these big trees are partially what made this land the first choice for the movie set.
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Posted Apr 1, 2017, 12:01 pm
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Huka Falls, New Zealand - 23rd October 2016
By: Apperveilchen
Here in New ZEaland one can find lots of rivers with this amazing turquoise colored water, and Huka Falls in the sunlight are amazing. The fall is only 11m deep but the real attraction is that the wide river has to go through this narrow canyon to get there and thus builds up amazing power.
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Posted Apr 23, 2017, 5:23 pm
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Kaiteriteri, New Zealand - 30th October 2016
By: Apperveilchen
This beautiful beach is in Kaiteriteri, close to the Abel Tasman National Park. Unfortunately it's still a bit too cold for swimming.
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Posted Jun 5, 2017, 11:59 am
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