Living in NZ is not as simple as it sounds...
after traveling here for quite a while, I got familiar with few kiwi social ground "rules". For example, you should always have small - midsize talk with people you make contact with along your day (cashiers, drivers etc.). It's considered rude if you don't. For a proud rush-all-day israeli guy like me it's difficult to adapt to such customs. Good thing I'm friendly :)
one other thing is working hours. All the stores here closes at 5pm. Even restaurants and coffee shops. The big supermarket chains are open until 8pm but that's it! They got so much free time!

now for the news:
after the lake Waikaremoana track, I traveled to Taupo. Taupo is a small city situated by New Zealand's largest lake. Standing on the other side of the lake, snowy Mt. Tongariro provides a picture-like view.
Taupo considered one of the best places in the world for skydiving. As you've already seen, I took the challenge and jumped from an airplane 15000 meters up in the skies (felt like out of space!). The weird thing was, it wasn't even scary. I was the first one to jump. When they told me, I just walked to the door and jumped!
the free fall lasted 1:05 minutes and felt like nothing I've ever experienced. You see the ground getting closer at unbelievable speed!!
when the guide opened the parachute, I got to see the breathtaking view of the lake, huge mountains and green fields by the city.
this ride was totally awesome.





on the next day I had the Tongariro crossing. Ranked as the most intense one day track in NZ, I can now say it's probably one the best scenery as well.
the Tongariro is 2000m high active volcano located on the southern end of the Taupo lake. The weather over there is crazy!! constant 2-8 degrees wind of 40-80 kilometers per hour!! so you have to keep walking almost constantly to keep your body warmth. In fact, it was so cold that speaking or just breathing through your mouth made your teeth start frosting and you sometimes loose the fealing in your palms!
as always, the girls lagged behind with some israeli people we met on the way. So I joined a group of Dutch people, which where very nice. The wind on the peak was so strong everybody had to lay on the ground so the ground so it won't blow us of the cliff!! The views were astonishing! It was a clear day with the most unusual clouds. There were hot colorful sulfur lakes on top of the mountain, snowy peaks, vast craters and brilliant lookouts.
7 hours later I arrived the parking lot on the other side of this huge rock - tired and full of sand and small stones (which were carried by the wind on the peak).


Mt Tongariro


climbing the mountain




sulfur lakes and crazy clouds!

next stop - Napier. A small harbor city on the east coast. This city has charming relaxed atmosphere but nothing much to do for an on budget traveler. It is located in a district called hawkes bay, which is full of vineyards and host some of New Zealand's best wineries. So we visited one of them for tastings - the wines were splendid. :)

on the way south to Wellington we spent three nights at HIT houses (christian families). One was in woodville. A 80 hackers farm of sweet old couple who adopt many bandoned children. They currently have 8 of them - all polite and charming.
the other house was in Paraparaumu. A fancy beach house of very nice couple. They put alot of effort on making us feel at home and it really felt like it.
it's really hard leaving these amazing people when I go on my way.


the farm in woodville


our hosting family in woodville

Wellington is a pretty cool city. We visited their zoo and museum, been to some impressive buildings and nice viewpoints. Then, we took the ferry to the southern island.


Wellington

3.5 hours on the ferry brought us to Picton. It's a tiny harbor town in the northern side of the southern island (sorry for being complicated :) )
we did some hiking to see the famous sounds and I have to say god was very creative when he made this area! great green hills coming out of the ocean, forming narrow path of water (looks like a calm river), beautiful bays and small islands.
hiking is about all you can do in Picton and we didn't like our hosting family, so left to Kaikoura after two nights.


Picton sounds

Kaikoura looks like a scene from lord of the rings. Huge snowy mountains coming down steep slopes to turquoise water bay. In the middle, they built this town.
this bay is the capital of all the marine life in NZ and host many seals, dolphins, whales, albatrosses and special fishes.
we went on seal colonies hike, which was beautiful, though the seals were pretty far.
now it's raining hard so we stay indoors...

photos taken from the front porch of our hosting family house:




tomorrow I'll be leaving to Nelson (back to the northern shore) and hopefully have christmass eve with a christian family.

happy Hanukkah everyone! :)

New Zealand is by far the most beautiful land I have ever seen. The typical landscape consist of small hills everywhere, covered with green grass and scattered groups of trees of various kinds. You often see huge groups of ships / cows cover those hills. Just eating and chilling. The skies are unusual as well. Multiple layers of spectacular clouds makes the skies look like a 3D picture.



since leaving Auckland, we started using the "HIT" option. HIT is an organization of loving israel christians (mostly senior couples) which are willing to host israeli travelers at their homes. As a traveler, it's a very interesting and cheap accommodation. These people love israel so much! They support every move isreal does and believe with all their hearts that we are the chosen people by god. I always find myself having long and deep conversations with these nice people about religion, politics and society matters - it's just fascinating!
the houses are usually quite comfortable and in one case it was an 8 acres of amazing farm. This couple just finished building and decorating their new house by themselves and I just wish you could be there to see it. Indescribable.


Dorothy and Hans - our second HIT hosts

from Auckland we traveled to the Coromandel peninsula. We had a one day track called pinnacles. It's basically climbing up a 1200m high mountain and get to see the ocean on both sides of the peninsula. There was no one but us on this track and the girls were lagging behind, so I walked by myself and felt so good reaching the top! I even climbed freestyle (with my bare hands) to the pick rock. The view was awesome!!
one other attraction on the Coromandel area is the "hot water beach". It's a beautiful as-seen-in-movies beach where you can dig yourself a hole in the sand and get a spring of boiling hot water!! And it all happens only 2 meters from the freezing ocean water. It's soo cool!! When I finished digging my hole, it started raining - imagine how great that was!


a part of the pinnacles panoramic view


hot water beach!


people digging holes and relaxing

my next destination was Rotorua. Rotorua is a city known for it's seismic activity. The odor of sulfur (= gofrit) is noticeable all over the city - even in my backpacker room!
but the cenery worth it. Gazers, colorful boiling hot springs, steam coming out from holes in the ground and on top of all - the lake.
The Rotoruan lake is about 4 times larger then the kineret. One part of it is stinking yellow sulfur water and the other one is outstanding clear and deep blue water. There is unexplainable thin and clear pattern dividing the two kinds of water, as if they can not mix together from some reason!
thousands of seagulls, ducks and swans swarm the lake. Most of them will come near you if you offer a piece of bread.


Rotrua's lake - kinda' like paradise anit it?




hot spring sulfur pools

next stop - lake Waikaremoana (I will never know how to pronounce this name properly). Along this lake, there's a 4 days track, considered to be among New Zealands top 7 tracks.
since the first km I knew we have two problems:
1. Our bags are way heavier then what they should (mine weighed about 25 kg!)2. one of the girls is in very bad physical shape.
because of these reasons, we were very slow and had too many brakes.
I was very surprised to know most of the trackers were 60+ years old couples. It was even more surprising to see them pass by us as if it's a piece of cake :)
my excuse, which is also my main lesson from this track is that their bags weighed 10 -15 kg (much lighter then ours!)
the track was amazing though. The lake is situated 600m above sea level and the first day was practically climbing a 600m mountain (1200m above sea level overall). On the right side, I had the outstanding lake view and on the left there was the forest I was walking in. The trees were of unformiliar kind with strange huge branches.
by the end of the first day the weather had changed from clear and sunny to thick fog and rain. A cloud covered the whole area. Now I could only see white on the right side and scary ass movie forest on the left.
we arrived the hut 4 hours late, tired and wet. Same thing was the second day. Fortunately, the last two days were shiny ones.


morning view


afternoon view


scarry forest


25 kg of high quailty gear

from lake Waikaremoana we hit Rotorua for one night and then moved to Taupo.
today we had a small walking root by the lake and just chill for a bit.

the food in NZ is expensive (for a long period budget traveler), so you have to fix your own mills to make it cheaper. Since the girls don't know a thing about cooking - I'm also the chef! I can proudly say that up till now, I'm doing a very good gob. Yesterday, for frieday evening, I made fried mushrooms, onion and chicken breast in soy sauce beside baked potatoes with cheese and oregano. It turned out amazing! :)
Thank you mom for all the nonformal cooking lessons!

as for the local people here, the kiwis (New Zealandian people) are inhumanly nice! They always do their best to help and contribute to society. It's like they are living the real life while we are constantly busy with wars, corrupted governments and all that shit. They find time to improve their everyday life, help endangered animals and find remedies for tough diseases.
stupid middle east!! :)

my route up till now

New Zealand, the land of the kiwis, almost the complete opposite side of the world. Somehow, this side is more peaceful :)
I landed in Auckland airport on November 19th. After being extensively interrogated and checked if I carry food or plants of any kind with me, I was free to go. I looked for the buss to the city and booom!! It cost 15$!!! to get you in proportion, I paid 4$ for 12 hours cross country VIP night buss in thailand.... guess I'll have to get used to it.



on the flight I met 3 israelis: Nimrod, Adi and Keren. They plan on traveling together and seem confused and unsettled about their trip. I shared a room and fixed mills with them. On the first 3 days, I looked for a car and traveled the city. Auckland reminds me of Manhattan though it's cleaner and less crowded.


downtown Auckland


Mt Eden view - the most active volcano in NZ

on the fourth day we took a buss to the bay of islands, which is north to Auckland. The buss picked us up at the backpacker (= guesthouse) and stopped at every touristic attraction on the way: kauri trees forest (some of the trees are 2000 years old!!), hokie pokie ice cream brake, waterfalls and viewpoints.


Northland landscape


unbelievable view on the way to the bay of islands


a huge log next to the kauri tree museum - estimated to be 2500 year old

the bay of islands was awesome! you've got all the marine attractions imaginable in one beautiful bay. I kayaked for 5 hours between the islands and learned three important things:
1. I like islands very much
2. Never count on waves to help you get back to land(!!)
3. Never trust a sunscreen you bought in a market in Thailand - I got burned worst then ever!!
besides kayaking, I had a bicycle trip and met many lovely people at the backpacker.

the bay of islands




when we arrived back to Auckland, the 3 israelis decided to break up. After long and heavy conversations, I agreed to buy a car and travel with the two girls (Adi and Keren).

We bought a car today! it happened faster then I expected and I'm happy for it.
the car is 1990 station wagon subaru legacy. It has 2.2L engine and 4WD. The back sits can fold, providing a larg space - big enough to sleep in it!
now I have to get used to driving on the "wrong side" - they drive on the left.


Our car - you can see how tanned I got on the last week :)

I'll be traveling to the bay of plenty for the hot water beaches and then head south.

south-east asia summery
So the first part of my trip is over. On one hand it feels like I'm traveling for years, but on the other hand I can't believe I'm done here...
now, after 31 days, 2 amazingly beautiful countries and cultures, over 100 hours of buss ride, 2 treks, dozens of temple visits, two marriage proposals from Thai and Lao ladies, 700 of well used dollars, 4.4 giga of photos, many new friends and countless huge and freaky insects, I'll be taking my flight to New Zealand through Hong Kong.
I consider myself very lucky not to have any stomach problems this whole time. I ate very unusual stuff and was fine while many on my trip buddys had all sorts of problems...
I got used to the asian people and the way they live. Suppose it will be strange for me moving to more western and organized country... we'll see about that.

from your man in Thailand - shabat shalom.

I met Erika and Adriana (the Italian girls) in Chang Mai.
We took a 12 hours night buss to khon kaen, a non touristic city in the north. The charm of khon kaen is the way local people look at you and behave around you. Kids running to you just to look at you, adults stare and shout while passing by with their cars - just to get your attention.
as we expected, the city wasn't attractive. On the other hand, about 20km from the city there's a village called Chonnabot, which is known for his fine silk production. We visited houses where they produce the silk and silk products.
Erika and Adriana both have the same camera as me, and they are into photography about as much as I am. That was great for all of us because we learned a lot from each other.


producing silk table map

From Khon Kaen we took a buss to Nong Khai, a thai city near the friendship bridge (the only road connecting Thailand and Laos). 4 hours later we got to Vientiane - Laoss' capital city.
Vientiane is a big and almost western city. Nevertheless, there are many well preserved Buddhist temples with friendly monks that always welcome tourists.
on the second day in Vientiane we rented bicycles and visited That Luang temple, which considered the most important one in whole Laos.


That Luang temple


A monk in the temple


Monks selling pepsi near the temple

our next stop was a temple outside the city, where we had a massage by Lao specialists.

after two nights in Vientiane, we traveled to Vang Vieng. The plan was to stop there for the night on out way to Louang prabang, but it changed quickly when we arrived... Vang Vieng is breath taking! huge rocky mountains in strange shapes rise between fields of rice and wooden house villages and amazing river that goes right in front of our guesthous!


The view from out guesthouse balcony

Vang Vieng is a very small town full of restaurants, bars and guesthouses (concept similar to the one in Pai). the atmosphere is very relaxing and you can totally chill out in the restaurants (which play "friends" shows 24/7) or by the river.
we rented bicycles and went to see the famous caves of the town.
the special thing the caves has to offer is Buddha! You crawl through this cave some time and there you find a big statue of Buddha!! It's hard to explain how terrifying it is to see Buddha in a dark cave... (sorry, no photos)


on the way to the caves

the stories about Louangprabang made us leave Vang Vieng after only two nights. 6 hours of junky buss on extremely bad road brought us to Louangprabang. At first we were disappointed. The city is very touristic, expensive (for Laos) and full of 50+ years old couples. Nothing like we imagined it would be.
the tours in the temples and waterfalls made us understand what this city is all about. I'll let the photos talk:


mekong river


the waterfalls


kids in a village near Louangprabang


monk feeding - every day at 6AM

three days later we decided to go trekking in the north. We took a 10 hours buss to Louangnamtha, stayed the night and took the first buss to Muang Sing - a small town where you can have the best treks Laos has to offer. On the way there we met 7 more people with the same plans. We all decided on a 2 days trek.
the first day was 6 hours of difficult roads in the mountains. It was all great until I found out I have a leech stuck to my leg!!! A filthy, disgusting worm that grabbed my leg and wouldn't come off! Erika tried to take it off with a lighter (the traditional way), but she only burned my beautifully leg hairs. After I flicked it several times, it was gone. This experience was actually good because it made me prepared for the next 4 bloodsucking assholes!
the accommodation was a nice village on the mountains, where we had dinner and massage by huge musculant local women - that, was painful.
on the second day we trekked in a beautiful forest along some small river.


the village


our trek group


the second day

After the trek Adriana and Erika decided to go back to Louangprabang because Adriana was sick. All the trek group took the buss to Louangprabang and Cornelia and me traveled to Nong Kjao, where we planed to take a boat to Muang Noea.
as happened before, Nong kjao was so stunning, we had to stay the night there.
o, Cornelia is a 26 year old from Germany.



on the next morning we took the boat to Muang Noea. this tiny town is really amazing. All the people work with boats, rice production and tourism. All next to this river and mountains...
we got this cute bungalo with the best view for only 1$ each and we even had hot water in the shared bathroom!




the main road of Muang Noea


Cornelia, me and dutch couple who traveled with us



Today we traveled to Louangprabang. From here I'll have a 24 hours of buss ride to Bangkok (with a stop in Vientiane).