Driving the clouds away
Woohoo! The new car is checked, registered and ready to go after buying $140 petrol. This might become an expensive endeavor, but as soon as I hit the road, I know I have made the right decision in buying a car for my time in New Zealand. The freedom! My first…
Culture clash; life in a tribe
One of the young men spoke English. He was to be our guide while we visited the Himba village. Since it is hard to visit an authentic Himba village, we settled for the tourist version of it. These people genuinely live here, but they are used to visitors, questions, and…
A night in jail
I’m going to Christchurch to stay in jail. Yes, voluntarily. In the suburb Addington, about a 20 minute walk to the city center, they’ve transformed a jail into a flash backpackers. Jailhouse accommodation offers privates and dorm beds. Most of the building still looks like it used to, but with…
88 days diaries: There’s no escaping Gumeracha
I survived my last day. In the morning I had the shed to myself. There was nobody. It was quiet. At 8AM I already had two customers, brothers. They wanted 8 boxes of second grade. I just didn’t have 8 boxes. The boys were not in a rush, so as…
Weekly travel theme: round
In Australia’s outback there are a lot of curious places. One of them is a town that fully believes the aliens have landed. In the coffee shop you can find articles that tell you all about it. I wonder what would happen if you addressed your mal to space… This…
City of recovery
Christchurch is a city that’s recovering from the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. We are a few years further now, but the damage is still visible throughout the city. It is strange to see empty plots where once there’d been buildings. Some buildings still stand, but have obvious damage. You…
Crossing hills
“Walking? Are you sure?” the girl at reception said in a French accent. “It’s really steep!” She stared at me with a frown on her face. Of course I went anyway. There is a gondola that takes you up the hill for $25. If you want some exercise however, you…
Roving around Rovaniemi
The Arktikum museum in Rovaniemi, Finland, deserves more time than I could give it. Being on a time limit I felt like I had to rush through the exhibits. The different sections of the museum showed a lot about living in the arctic. There was a replica of an old Sami…
Great Ocean Road by campervan
The Great Ocean Road is best done when the sun is shining and the temperatures allow for a swim in the ocean. However, since summertime is limited, I ventured onto this scenic road in autumn. The wind was strong and cold and I was dressed in jeans and lots of…