Walking in a Cloud

Regula and I am spending a few days on the Island of Madeira. Having arrived only yesterday, we plunged right in, and took a hike to the islands highest peak, the Pico Ruivo. It is almost 2000 Meters high and promises a breathtaking view of the island. Unfortunately it is not only attractive to humans, but also seems to be a prime hangout for the clouds of the region. So we spent the day walking inside a huge cloud that had positioned itself smack over all the high peaks of Madeira. Clouds are so boring when seen from the inside, it is not even funny. Our guide book warned us that the path was in very bad repair and that one should ask about the condition beforehand. Since we went on a guided tour, we assumed that this had been taken care of. And indeed, about 3 years ago, the EU has spent aboul half its budget for mountain-path-repairs here in Madeira. Almost the entire path (3 hrs walking) from
Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruvio was covered with neat stone tiles and there was a metal railing on the side of the path.
As we arrived on the top of Pico Ruivio we could almost see the sun, there were only about 50 meter of fog left above us. I am sure the view would have been stunning. And I could have taken a pitcure like the one on the right which I found on WikiPedia. Grrrrr damm-you clouds.

NZ Day 22: Das Ektische

When I first read about Akaroa, a town at the bottom of an old crater, I imagined something much more dramatic than what I saw today. Akaroa is on the Banks peninsula right next to Christchurch. The Banks peninsula was formed by two volcanoes about ten million years ago. Erosion was hard at work on both mountains, they used to be an 1500 meters high now the highest elevations is about 1000 meters, but still pretty impressive.

We spent the entire day driving out to Akaroa and back to Christchurch along the summit road. Not a very eventful day but the views were incredible. The weather was a mix of clouds and sunshine which turned the green landscape into mystic collage of bright light and dark shadows. With such weather conditions there is not all that much CGI necessary to create Lord of the Rings like sceneries. A wonderful conclusion to our stay on the South Island. Tomorrow we will fly back to Switzerland. Bye Bye New Zealand.

NZ Day 21: Meeting a Kiwi Bird

Seeing free roaming kiwi birds is very unlikely. We weren't so lucky. Kiwis have become a highly endangered species since various animals, introduced over the last 200 years compete for their food source, steal their eggs, eat their chicks and kill adult birds as well.

In recent years the kiwi has become a national icon for New Zealand and there is quite a lot of activity going into protecting the few birds that are left. There is for example one program where people pick eggs out of kiwi nesting sites. The eggs are then put into an incubator. Once hatched, the chicks are equipped with a little transmitter and set free on an island without predators. After one year the grown birds are again captured on the island and brought back to their original site.

As my birthday project, we set out to at least see a captive kiwi. Meeting a kiwi in the flesh is not that easy since the birds are very shy and most active at night. After some research we decided to go to the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. They have a large kiwi house with a reversed day night cycle, making it quite likely to actually see a bird out and about.

As we came to the kiwi site there were panels advising us to be quiet and also to not touch the birds. So we went in, careful not the make any noise. It was quite dark inside the enclosure. At first I did not see a single bird. I was already thinking about leaving again when Regula caught sight of a first kiwi. It was busy foraging at the other end of the enclosure. It seemed quite aware of our presence and hid itself as soon as we made a sudden movement. As time went by, we saw more birds walking around in almost complete silence. They used their long beaks to burrow holes into the ground looking for food. Some did not seem bothered by us at all and came quite close to the walk way. They look enormously cuddly with their furry feathers and their round form. Too bad there were all these "Don't touch the Kiwi" panels, so I can only assume they must be at least as fluffy as the kiwi Regula got from a local arts shop the other day. I really hope the preservation efforts are successful so that some day, when we come back to New Zealand, we will see kiwis out in the forests again.

NZ Day 20: It's One World

When we went shopping in New Zealand for the first time, we were quite quick in picking up the essential bits of food. The only part where we lingered was the chocolate department. Cadbury, Nestle, some Lindt and lots of Mars candy. We were longing for something familiar but we did not have it in us to go for Lindt. Swiss buying Swiss chocolate on their second day in New Zealand was just too much. So we ended up with a package of mini Milky Way bars and a bag of Maltesers. But when I tasted the Maltesers they did only almost taste like our Maltesers back home. The same problem with the Milky Way bars. The package revealed that the candy was produced in Australia. I guess tiny variations in the quality and origin of the ingredients were causing the taste differences. A New Zealander in Switzerland would probably experience the same but downside up. If I was ever to emigrate from Switzerland, I would use my visits back home to stock up on "Swiss Taste" Maltesers and Milky Way bars.


Today we arrived in Christchurch to use our last two days to explore the city and take a look at the Banks peninsula. I felt as if I was in the US when I saw that a Westfield Mall was located right next to our motel. It seems the US is having quite an influence on the retail business in New Zealand. Next to the Westfield mall was even a Borders book store. Inside it looked exactly like the US version. Except for some displays where it said New Zealand Books on top. I wonder if for an American the New Zealand Borders would also have that same effect the Australian Milky Way bar had on me. Maybe there is that tiny detail they did not get right. I did not spot it. The design guides of Borders are probably more thorough than the ones of Mars Inc.

NZ Day 19: Aoraki/Mount Cook

There are only about 200 People living in Mount Cook Village for real. All the others come as tourists with only Mount Cook in mind. Too bad, that the highest peek of New Zealand is often shrouded by clouds. People traveling on the cheap take it with a grain of salt and either wait for better weather or just leave without having seen the mountain (as we will tomorrow). But then there are those who pay a lot for a few pleasant days at the Hermitage Hotel. Even these guys can not make the clouds go away, but they do quite a lot to keep their customers happy. They have for example a 3D cinema and a digital planetarium to entertain both their guests as well as the ticket buying masses.


So we ended up watching a 3D movie on Mt Cook and walking through an exhibition detailing the history of the mountain and people climbing it. I learned a lot about the first successful ascent to Mount Cook. Several New Zealanders had been working towards climbing the mountain. In late 1894 they learned of well known English mountaineer coming to the island to attempt the first ascent. The New Zealanders accelerated their plans and on Christmas Day 1894 they achieved the first ascent to Mount Cook. The English mountaineer was not amused and didn't even attempt to do the climb. Instead, he did the first ascends to Mts Tasman, Silberhorn, Sefton, Haidinger and Sealy to repair his ego. In March 1895 his Swiss guide Mathias Zurbriggen made the first solo ascent to Mount Cook. They even named a ridge of the Mountain after him.

The Maori call the mountain Aoraki and sinc they were first to name it, the name was officially changed to Aoraki/Mount Cook in 1998.