• Wind: Everywhere, always and stronger
• Green: And blue, and grey but foremost green (light green, dark green, turqoise, oilive, blue-green, azur…)
• Stinks: honestly, the sulfur smell in those thermally active areas might be useful to lose weight… you’ll definatly lose your appetite
• Kiwis, kiwis and Kiwis: a) inhabitant of New Zealand: rather shy but reveals his true ego while driving (crazy in any respect), b) the fruit: tastes way better than in Europe and is -who wonders – green, c) the bird: looks like a gigantic Kiwi (fruit) with a small but long beak, night active, can’t fly, looks rather confused
• Coffee: I didn’t expect this but the coffee here is great. The best Cappuccino ever (so creamy….)!
• Outdoor sports: Kiwis (a) are the most acitive people I ever met. This country is full of Outdoor shops.
• Motion sickness: on the bus, the ferry boat, in the aircraft in the car…

After all that trecking in the Topngariro National Park I went to Wellington (Cities in New Zealand aren’t exactly great, but anyway they’re not the reason for going to New Zealand). there I tried to get some sleep in the middle of drunk Scottish and puking Swedish. the next day I did a short sight seeing tour of Wellington (Botanical Gardens, Downtow, Pier and Wharf) ond once again I met people I knew from the Tongariro NP.

in the evening I took the ferry to Picton  (Marlborough Sounds)via the Strait Bass. It actually would have been a nice crossing but as usual I was sea sick so I had other concerns than the landscape. On the ferry I picked up an American and we went together to what I thought was my hostel (Ok, I wasn’t quite sure where I made the reservation, but obviously it was not this one. But it was nice though…). The moment we arrived in Picton it started raining and wouldn’t stop for the next day so I took the bus to Christchurch. due to the weatherforecasts predicting miserable weather I didn’t go to the Arthur’s pass (although I would have loved to go, but honestly, landslides….).

Right now I reside in a japanophonic (is that a word?) hostel which is partly amusing partly annoying. Anyway, today I went to Lyttleton which is a small fishing village south of Christchurch and went hiking for a couple of hours (again I met Germans. They invited me for lunch). This also was my last full day in NZ cause tomorrow I will leave for Australia. Actually I might have to change my plans for my further journey as it seems to be slightly difficult to leave Bangkok by aircraft these days…

 einem kleinen Fischerort sueflich von Christchurch (wieder Deutsche getroffen und wurde zum Mittagessen eingeladen) und morgen gehts weiter nach Australien.

Geysire) After a long flight from LA I reached Auckland early in the morning. I stayed there until the next evening because I did’t get on a bus earlier. Actually I didn’t like Auckland very much due to the crowds of backpackers in the inner city. But the suburbs are quite nice and I also liked the parks which were quite jungle-like. After leaving Auckland I was heading to Rotorua. I arrived very late and it took me quite some time to find a hostel where I could still check-in. The next morning I got up very early and started my sight seeing tour by walking along the lake where many hot springs are located. Actually the whole city stinks like foul eggs. Afterwards I walked to a park where some Geysers ( are. But I found that the 40 dollars entrance fee were too much so I wanted to go to the forest. But the cashier seemed to have pity on me and gave me the ticket pus a ticket for a maori concert mfor just 10. So I went to the concert and walked through the park afterwards. In the afternoon I took the bus to Taupt cause I wanted to catch the bus to the Tongariro National park the following day. In the Hostel I met 3 Germans with whom I was playing cards all night. I regretted it a bit as I had to get on the bus at 6 am. Arriving at the park I bought my hut pass and a map and wanted to start my 3 day lasting wald when I met 2 Germans again (Lars und Paul , Lars und ich und Ruheperu) who wanted to do the same route (Northern Circuit), so I joined them. The route was quite flat and easy. After passing awaterfall and leaving the forrest we had to cross a plain between the two volcanoes Mt. Ruapehu (2797 m) and Mt. ngauruhoe.JPG (2287m also Mt. Doom from the Lord of the Rings). We arrived at the hut quite early in the afternoon. the two others stayed there as they were quite exhausted as the had to carry all their belongings along with them ( 20 kg each at least!) while I went for another 1 h walt to some springs. When I came back another couple had arrived and shortly after another two Germans, Thomasand martin.JPG arrived. Fortunately I could borrow a pot to cook my noodle soup. Otherwise I would have had to eat oats with condensed milk for 3 days. After dinner we went to sleep quite early. I couldn’t sleep very well cause it was pretty cold inside the hut. The next day the weather was way better as it was less windy and also a bit warmer. We left all together at 8 am. Thomas, Martin and I went faster than the others and passed the first hut after 2 h. There we met the hut warden who was also a German (this country is full of Germans) before we went on towards the Red Crater. but before we had to cross a plain which became famous as the scenery for Mordor (Sarah in (on) Mordor). We also made a side trip to a lake. Afterwards I went on alone because I wanted to climb the Tongariro Summit. When I looked back after a while I saw somebody following me. As the person looked like Martin I waited and ndeed it was him. From the top of the mountain we had a great view over the surrounding landscape. Although it was abit cloudy we could see lake Taupo and Mount Egmont on the horizon. We reached the hut shortly after the others at around 5:30 pm. The next morning I said goodbye to Paul and Lars who went on the bus towards Wellington and went on alone towards Whakapapa Village where I had some of my luggage stored. After I picked up my stuff there I had to realize that there were no busses to National Park (a village) so I started walking wit 25 kg on my back. I was really happy when two Kiwis on road trip stopped and took me there after I had already walked for 5 km. In National Park I met  Thomas and Martin who had made a reservation for me in the youth hostel.For dinner the three of us cooked mashed potatoes with scrambled eggs which was the best dinner I had in a while after 3 days of noodle soup and oats.

When I finally reached LA there were only 4 days left to explore the city which is not very much when you try to do that with public transports. Most of the time one is either waiting for the bus or is stuck in the traffic jam . But as I already know LA quite well and the major purpose of being in LA was to visit Evi I didn’t care too much about that. Instead I just visited some of my favourite sites such as the Getty Museum (also if you’re not such a fan of museums it’s still a great place located on a hill next to Bel Air and with great views over the city. Also the building itself is stunning Getty2). But I also went ot sites I have not visited yet such as the Museum of Contemporary Arts (short MOCA) which I didn’t really like (don’t know why there’s such a fuzz about it) and the Griffith observatory. There I met an old friend (Albert and me, Albert and us). About the Observatory: as its name is indicating it is an observatory on the Hills over LA. We arrived there shortly before sunset and could observe the sun sinking ifirst into the smog and then into the sea.

My further activities were restricted on shopping (again remembering that I have to carry my stuff for quite a while) and see and be seen at Venice Beach and in Santa Monica. I actually saw a VIP (but I don’t know his name, but I definately know him from a movie!). Well and I was on the 53rd floor of the Bank of America building (in case you don’t know it you should desperately watch again Pretty Woman).
After those four days I left LA (not without a pedicure and a foot massage) towards Auckland (northern island of New Zealand).

Most stupidly I completely forgot that I was crossing the date line. Hence I lost Saturday.

I really feel sorry that I didn’t write for such a long time. Thus I feel like you deserve a long blog entry this time. Anyway at least a lot happened that is worth writing about it. In order to continue where I stopped the last time one can mention that the common euphoria ended in a fire on the campus. The local firemen took their time while extinguish the fire. Actually I was quite surprised how fast the election went forgotten. The next day all traces where removed and also the conversations about the new president became fewer.The following couple of days also I did not really do a lot, except of drinking litres of coffee and eating muffins with some friend from Switzerland, Germany or the US. Actually I felt quite home there cause I knew so many people. Furthermore I also did some excursions. One let me to San Francisco (SF) ( foremost because I wanted to visit the University where I had a private guidance through the labs. Afterwards I also had enough time to visit the city in the afternoon.Last Saturday I could convince my host to accompany me to Berkeley. Unfortunately it was a rainy and cold they. Hence we just walked once over the Campus and then went shopping after lunch. Keeping in mind that I have to carry my stuff through a couple of countries I didn’t buy anything.

As election day approached more and more volunteers were  marching up and down the train stations and public places waving election posters. Especially peculiar was that first of all McCain is not a very popular choice in Stanford and second of all that one should vote NO to proposition 8. But actually this was more or less all information one could obtain about this proposition. If desired more one had to switch on television where the topic was discussed (though not exactly in a very objective way) from different angles and quite lots of horror scenarios where drawn. Finally one could conclude that its about the abolition of same-sex marriages. To everybody’s dismay here the abolition was accepted.

The respective day I was spending on the campus at Stanford where an average small German (or Swiss, respectively) town would fit in easily. Thanks to the Hoover tower in the centre of the campus one can also admire the university from above. Preconditioned the weather is nice and the sky clear one can see San Francisco. Hence time passed fast until evening arrived and we went to some election parties. How it looked like there everyone can imagine: way too many people in a room wit a large screen, free beer, soft drinks and masses of sticky sweet and fatty foods.

After the last exam in Zurich I had a couple of hours left to clear out my room and pack my stuff for the travel which was actually more stressful than I had imagined before. Especially as I had to say goodbye to lots of people. But finally I made it on the train to the airport and caught my plane to London. When I arrived it was actually snowing in London and thus pretty cold. Due to  the delayed buses I arrived at  my friend’s  who is living in a student  house after midnight.

The following days I visited quite a lot of sights in London although not some of the most famous ones (I actually did not see Buckingham palace).  What I liked a lot about London were amongst others its museums which are mostly free. Hence in contrast to museums in Germany or Switzerland you really find people visiting them (lots of people actually). I visited the Tate modern (modern and contemporary arts) and the Science museum which where both located in spacious buildings providing lots of space for the exhibits. Actually the architecture of London’s buildings is really beautiful and the city also provides  many parks which are nice to relax (although I found it too cold to stay there too long, but in summertime I think it’s nice).

Something else I will keep in mind about London is the food (who would have thought that, and I don’t mean it ironically). I went out with some friends and we had really good Thai and Indian food (fish and chips aren’t bad either, although a little more heavy ).