Mexico - Tulum

Tulum, the last stop on our tour. Located on the 'Mayan Riviera' on the Caribean coast, an ideal place for some sun at the end of our trip to put the final touches on the tan and relax afer all the 'hard work' of travelling..... Plus (as you should have expected now, after reading previous entries) a good base to explore some more Mayan sites....

As there is a little Mayan town set at a cliff top, overlooking the aquamarine blue of the Caribean, protected from attacks from the inlands by surrounding walls. Not the biggest of sites, but in terms of location and views (the grey-ish white of the stones against the dark blue of the sky and the bright blue of the sea) probably the most stunning. And, it has a beach at the bottom of the cliffs it is set on.

The other site we briefly visisted was Coba, about 50 kilometers away from Tulum, an very popular destination for tour buses from Cancun and Playa del Carmen. To such an extent that climbing the largest pyramid felt like walking the stairs in a large department store, in one big file.... However, as the site is set in a very large area of muggy jungle, after a while the masses get dispersed (or have left) which means that you have the site to yourself again. With the benefit of an increased probability of seeing some of the abundant wildlife - snakes and butterflies in our case.

Now thoroughly 'templed out', we went back to Tulum and spent the remaining time on the beach, lying in the sun (and shade of palm trees) on a comfy cushion in the white sands, every now and again dipping a toe in the very clear Caribean to cool off. We both agreed that it was the nicest beach we'd ever been on and an appropriate way to finish.

What was left was a 'last supper' (including some of our Mexican favourites: sopa Azteca (a spicy tomato soup with tacos), prawn cocktail, ceviche, enchilladas with salsa and the ubiquitous flan) in the little restaurant that in our short time in Tulum had become our favourite locality. Then packing our bags to commence our 30 hour trip (several plane trips and a bus, plus waiting time) back home. Reality and normality are awaiting.....

Mexico - Merida

Merida is the capital of Yucatan and has 2 million inhabitants. It is known as the White Town, but frankly, don't try to ask us why, since we don't have a clue. Unlike Campeche, the traffic is horrendous, the houses are poorly maintained and it is overrun by tourists. The one benefit this had for us was that it was the perfect place to complete our 'souvenir' shopping, but that was about the only benefit we could find. For the rest it was a slight disappointment after Campeche, even though the travel guide had predicted that we would fall in love with the place. One noteable exception, a small fish restaurant (Blue Marlin) only open for breakfast and lunch, which did the best ever prawn cocktail and ceviche.

However, we didn't only go to Merida for its attractions, but to use it as a basis to visit the two main Mayan sites in Yucatan - Uxmal and Chichen Itza. Both cities were at the height of their power about the same time and had tens of thousands of inhabitants. Chichen Itza is the more famous (also because it is within a daytrip from Cancun (or 'USA on the Sea'), but Uxmal is the more strikingly beautiful. This is due to by Uxmal's architrectural style, which is very geometric and repetitive. Images of the god of the rain (with a massive hooked nose, attractive) are repeated in regular patterns (giving the buildings an almost abstract quality) which is even further accentuated by the occasional iguana that sunbathes on the structures. The buildings themselves are also amongst the more beautiful around, with the most impressive being a large, oval pyramid and a 'governmental' palace that would not be out of place on a square in Paris or Rome.









Chichen Itza, on ther other hand, has a mixture styles for the several buildings, that include the largest ballcourt in the Mayan world, a big, square pyramid that is a physical representation of the Mayan calendar and an observatory. Iguanas were not present, probably because all the available space was taken by tourists (thousands of tourists that had left the beach behind for a day to 'do some culture') and souvenir sellers, who were out in their hundreds (even though it was apparently illegal to sell stuff on the premises of the site). In the evening a 'sound & light spectacle' took place, where the buildings around the main plaza were the main 'actors' in a re-enactment of life in Chichen Itza in Mayan times. Few of the beach tourists were left (the clubs in Cancun beckoned), but for the ones left it was a nice way to spend a warm evening.

Moving on, the last leg of our trip had arrived. Already. Four months had flown by, now Tulum was waiting as the last stop.....

Mexico - Campeche

Campeche is a small colonial town on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. And where other town and city centres in Mexico can get ruined by traffic, they have managed here to keep traffic limited. Combined with the efforts to preserve the colonial buildings (including support for the inhabitants to maintain the colourful paintwork of their houses), this makes it a very pleasant town to spend some time. Which we duly did, wondering through town, having a look at the local museum which houses a beautiful collection of Mayan art, enjoying the fiesta the locals had put on in the elegant main square, in general wandering aimlessly through the picturesque village and taking full benefit from the pool in our hotel.

However, Campeche was also our point of departure for a two-day trip to Calakmul and the Rio Bec sites, two areas of Mayan sites deep in the Mexican inlands, near the border with Guatemala. This time we chose to go by ourselves, getting a car from the local car rental company. In line with our previous experiences (remember Malaysia's wonder of technology and our little chugger in New Zealand) we were shown to a Nissan Tsuru. Basically a model that either never made it to the European markets or if it did - our combined knowledge of cars does not stretch that far!

But not to worry, it fulfilled its duties without problems, covering around 800 kilometers in two days, even dealing effortlessly with the countless 'nopes' (traffic humps the size of a small hill) we came across. Another prominent feature of driving through Mexico turned out to be police and military control posts. Every entry or exit of a highway (don't be fooled by the name, this is nothing more than a two-way road comparable to a rural road in Europe) was manned by a group of serious looking policemen or soldiers, keen to have a look in the car and the boot. What their exact purpose was we never knew (our Spanish didn't stretch that far, neither did their English), but we decided to be safe and treat them with the utmost respect ('Si senor, claro senor!), so we made it through without any issues.

Our route led from Campeche through Edzna via Balamku (and others) to Calakmul. Edzna is an important Mayan site in the Northwest of the Yucatan. Here we tagged on to a group of Americans that were shown around by a guide (apparently the same guy that Mel Gibson used in his latest movie as director to get a better understanding of Mayan practices - he was able to enlighten us on the forms of human sacrifice: decapitation, tearing the heart out or being shot by a bow and arrow). The Americans were mainly there to do some hunting, so for them it was only a brief excursion into Mayan culture. Edzna was one of the prettier sites we had seen so far with a great pyramid, nice plazas, some massive underground caverns where the Mayans used to collect water (this is one of the driest parts of Mexico and there are no natural rivers) and a few striking cross-eyed masks depicting sunrise and sunset (apparently, deformation (elongation) of the skull and being cross-eyed were signs of beauty for the ancient Mayas). Also, this site was still inhabited, albeit not by Mayans, but tens (maybe hundreds) of iguanas, from little ones to ones measuring close to 1 meter/3 foot head-to-tail, sometimes fiercely fighting for their territory.

From Edzna the route continued along a long road to two smaller sites (Becan and Chincanna), where we spent the night for an early start the next day. For, the route from our hotel to Calakmul, one of the largest known Mayan sites with over 7,000 structures over 70 square kilometers, led for 60 kilometers through a jungle full of wildlife. There was even a possibility we'd see jaguars - unfortunately it remained only just that, a possibility. However, bright yellow-coloured toucans and hundreds of turkeys (not the ones that find their way onto the Christmas table, but the ones that are fodder for the hunting Americans, brightly coloured like a peacock) were out, so we had to slalom over the narrow road to reach our destination Calakmul.

This World Heritage Site has only 'recently' been discovered and opened up, with the vast majority of the 7,000 structures (say 6,975) still to be excavated. In reality this means that there are only a few structures visible and reconstructed, among which the highest pyramid in Mexico. With our keen ambition to climb everything that could be climbed we set off to the top, from where we had a great view over the jungle and into Guatemala (although admittedly it is hard to tell where Mexico stops and Guatemala starts). The way down, though, was less of a pleasant experience, but eventually we made it, JP on hands and knees.

From Calakmul we went back home via Balakmu, a small site where a well-preserved piece of stucco is the main attraction. Depicting jaguars, kings, fish, snakes and many, many more symbolic animals and references, this was one of the most beautiful sculptures we have seen, once more emphasizing the amazing abilities of these people.

Slightly 'templed out' we made our way back. Apart from nopes and soldiers nothing too dangerous crossed our way, so we set down in good time for a meal (JP's birthday meal) and Margarita on a terrace overlooking the Zocalo (main square), where the locals where enjoying a local band. A nice ending to a few great days in and 'around' Campeche....

Mexico - Villahermosa

Before continuing along the Mayan Way, we made a quick excursion to Villahermosa, a short bus-journey to the northwest of Palenque.

Villahermosa is nothing special as a city, it being a provincial centre and at the crossroads of many routes through Mexico. The reason for us to visit though, was to see Parque la Venta, a combined animal and archaeological park. The former houses many of the species indigenous to Mexico, including jaguars. The latter is a development where many of the most important findings of the 'la venta' site (about 100 kilometer to the west of Villahermosa) have been brought to.

La venta was an Olmec place, a truly lost civilisation. Hardly anything of these people is known or understood, who were at the peak of their power around 1000BC. Their sculptures are less detailed than those we had seen before, making them almost abstract in their appearance, but beautiful nonetheless.

On the way out, we ran into a local political event. Apparently the council elections were due and two contenders were wowing the crowds for their votes. Mexico still being a fairly (or very) macho society, this didn't involve any policy statements, but the candidates strutting their stuff to the sounds of a band they had each recruited to accompany them. With the younger of the two inviting his adoring female-supporters to join him, under the ongoing shrieks of excitement from the audience. Encouraging to see that they select their representatives for the right reasons.....

Mexico - Palenque

In our previous entry, some time ago now, we said we were on our way to Palenque, home to some of the main Mayan sites. In fact, we were about to start the 'Mayan Way', an unofficial route mainly through the Yucatan Peninsula and Campeche Province that would lead us along the most important historic sites of this amazing pre-hispanic culture.

We had already been introduced to some 'modern-day' Mayan experiences in the villages around San Cristobal, but now it was time to delve deeper into the history of this civilisation.

The Mayans had their '20 centuries of fame' between 500BC and 1500BC, after which the arrival of the Spanish brought an abrupt end to their power. For those who remember from a previous entry, this is contemporary with the subsequent civilisations that developed in the central part of Mexico (Teotihuacan, Toltecs and aztecs), with whom an ongoing exchange of goods and ideas took place.

During this period, several cities in an area that now spans part of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and part of El Salvador rose to and fell from power. As such, it was not one empire, but a constellation of several 'city-doms' that each ruled over several vassal towns and their surroundings. Comprehensive trade took place between these cities, as did regular warfare.

Mayan religion, architecture, science and art have similarities with the activities in the centre of Mexico - they also built pyramids, worshipped the sun and moon, had extensive calendars to predict earthly events and drive agricultural activities, played the ballgame and used human sacrifice to placate the gods often. Still, for all their similarities it is distinctively different and the sites that are evidence of this were waiting for us.

However, first a bus-ride to Palenque. Our guidebook had promised us an amazing journey, with a road winding itself through the mountains, every now and again raising itself out of the clouds that continuously cover the jungle (which is appropriately called cloud forest). Admittedly, this promise came through, but sometimes you can have too much winding. After 5 hours of shaking, it felt like the whale-watching experience all over again. Needless to say that the remainder of the day was spent recovering, relaxing and sorting out our next few days.....

The first day in Palenque, the Mayan ruins were on the list. The site is in the midst of the jungle, at the bottom of the foothills of the range we had crossed the previous day. An amazing setting.... The first impressions, however, were defined by the howl of spider monkeys. These apes, roughly 60 centimeters/20 inches long make a noise that one wouldn't expect given their size. It is sort of a harrowing howl, like a ghost from a bad B-movie. Unfortunately no sighting though. But there was enough else to see, with temples, main plazas and government buildings partly restored. Incredible to see what these people were capable of doing, with man power only and without the wheel to lighten transport.

The site also contained some extensive waterworks in the form of partly-canalised rivers that would have provided the inhabitants with needed water. The part which wasn't canalised ran through the jungle, forming beautiful pools that were used for swimming and bathing. Along one of these, we were surprised by a hummingbird, that was hovering in the air, stocking up on nectar from the flowering trees. Amazing!









The second day in Palenque we did not spend in Palenque, but about 150 kilometers 'down the road'. Here there are two remote sites, Bonampak and Yakxilan, that have only been properly opened up for tourism in recent years. And still the journey there is quite an adventure, involving a long car journey through small villages and for Yakxilan an hour-long boat trip through the jungle. Because of its location, Yakxilan has perhaps only 100 visitors a day. It has the ruins of a main central plaza, an observatory and a so-called Acropolis. Wandering through the site, wondering about the architectural achievements and marvelling at the wildlife (more spider monkeys, and this time not only howls, but also sightings) was great. We did feel like proper explorers (although the group of a noisy French family challenged that illusion).

Bonampak is only 'down the road'- say 50 kilometers. Here the Mayans used a natural hill to build a three-tiered temple against it, with steps going all the way up. What is unique though, are the murals that were discovered here. A small temple consists of three rooms and here the original wall paintings have been preserved. The vibrancy of the colours and the drama (or is it cruelty?) of the pictures - one can easily see PoW's being tortured by having their nails pulled off (with a fountain of blood springing from them - nice touch) - make a great impression. Worth the trip!

From here it was back home, through the same villages and over the same speedbumps (they love them in Mexico, the more and the higher the better, must be a secret agreement between their government and the manufacturers of suspensions). Our first taste of the Mayan way made us want more.....

Mexico - San Cristobal de las Casas

A short flight and bus-trip brought us into a different world - Chiapas. A mainly Mayan area in the mountains, trying to be independent to some extent. San Cristobal is at the heart, a lovely little colonial town with a few nice churches, a well-preserved main square (Zocalo) and surrounding streets. It has a hippie feel to it, a welcome change in pace after Mexico City.

Besides this, the main attraction are the villages in the surrounding mountains, which are still mainly traditionally Mayan, albeit to different extents. The most traditional being Chamula, a ´village´ of ca 75,000 people over 150 square kilometers, whose inhabitants follow the traditions as closely as possible. They have water and electricity, but for many other things they rely upon the ways of their ancestors. They call themselves catholic, but they have adopted a mix of Catholic saints with Mayan rituals. The church in town is a Mayan temple, where locals together with Shamans engage in complex rituals to clear their souls and bodies when ill, or to ask for assistance when needed. The rituals include the offering of food (eggs, sometimes chickens), drinking coca cola (traditionally this was done with a sugercane-based concoction, but coca cola has the same burping effect which means the illness is leaving the body) and lighting large amounts of candles, while the Shaman is praying to the gods. As they need the money from the tourists, we are allowed in the Church to observe these very personal moments. It is hard not to feel an intruder, but at the same time it is very moving. (We were not allowed to take any photos of inside the church or of the people in this village as they believe a photo removes part of their soul)

The main economic activity in Chamula is agriculture, so there is a large market where all sort of fruit and vegetable are on offer. It is mainly the women who do this, as they look after the ´home´ while their husbands are working the fields or engaging in some political activity. Besides food for themselves, the market has the usual tourist offerings - textiles, woodcarvings, stone sculptures, pottery and nick-nacks. Never has either of us seen such a colourful market, with the reds of the tomatoes contrasting with the blues of the traditional female dresses and the oranges and yellows of the tourist-scarves.
As said, Chamula is a very traditional village, for example women cannot vote (except in the federal elections), people get married very young and have 6 to 8 children (birth-control is not allowed), for healthcare they go to the Shaman (the hospital is only a last resort) which means that the life expectancy is lower than in the rest of Mexico and the level of education is relatively low. Still, it is a very strong community (people who convert to another religion than the ´Mayan catholicism´ get expelled from the village - and end up selling crafts on the street in San Cristobal) and very interesting to visit. It made us wonder about the cultural variety that still exists in this world and how fascinating it is!

One valley further is Zinacantan, a village of similar origin, but one that has adopted many of the ´western influences´ with regards to voting, healthcare and education. However, even here the people live a very traditional life in (partly) clay huts where the women weave and prepare food on wood-fires, while the men work the land (in this case to grow flowers). As the crow flies only 4 kilometers, but the difference feels like 100 years....


Back to San Cristobal and to the bus station, from where we would go to Palenque and around, home to some of the main Mayan sites in Mexico.....

Mexico - Around Mexico City

After the hustle and bustle of city life, it was time to start exploring the ´real´ Mexico, because as is the case with many capitals, Mexico City is not a true reflection of the country.

Fortunately, the ´basin´ in which Mexico City is located, is one of the main areas of early settlements in Mexico (one could say it is the cradle of Mexico), so many ´big´ civilisations had important settlements here. There are several key sites worth visiting, each within a 2 hour return trip from Mexico City, so, off we went, having our first encounters with the Mexican country-side.

As we are on a sort-of budget, we had decided to do most of the travelling by public transport, eg undergrounds/tubes to the main bus terminals and from there by coach/private bus. And unlike their European counterparts, both these systems actually work - they are clean, fast, timely and cheap (2 pesos (= 10 pence or 15 eurocents) gets you all across Mexico City by tube and 50 pesos (by now you should be able to work out yourselves what this is in your currency) leaves you 60 kilometers out of town. Plus, in the bus they show movies, albeit more often than not in Spanish, which is not so useful for us two, that now manage to order food in Spanish and say hello, but that´s about it.....

Our first stop was Teotihuacan, one of the must-sees for every visitor to Mexico. Only an hour outside the centre, it is the first capital of the first really powerful endigenous tribe, which made their way to the area from the North. In a period stretching from 200AD to 900AD they developed into the main power, subjugating many of the other tribes around. Their civilisation, as with all others in this part of the world, was very theocratic, meaning that all aspects of life were ruled by the religion. A religion that was based on the belief that life as such was stolen from death (or, that light was tricked away from darkness), meaning that in order to sustain this, a lot of apeacement was needed. Hence, human sacrifices, mainly of conquered tribes, was one of the more important religious aspects, as was a ball-game called polota (a cross between football and volleyball) and the Sun and the Moon. And in order to place all these religious activities in time, they developed several calendars and an advanced form of mathematics, long before Western Europe did.

For those who wonder why this ´long´ digression into boring religious detail - these aspects are a key part of all subsequent civilisations in this area, so it saves us from writing them again. The main differences being that the bloodthirst becomes stronger (eg the need for human sacrifices) and the pantheon more complex.

Anyway, having said all of this, the Teotihuacanians (or Teotihuacanites, who knows) built a city that at its centre offered space to fulfill all the religious requirements. A city that at the top of its power housed between 120,000 and 200,000 people. A city that was disescted by a 3 kilometer long main road, along which all main buildings were located. Main buildings among which included multi-tiered pyramids to the Sun and the Moon that measured more than 50 meters high and more than 100 meters at the base and a ´citadel´ that was the main administrative area.


All of these have survived in some part, together with a sizable amount of smaller buildings, which combined leave a truly amazing view and experience - imagine walking the Champs-Elysees lined with the Pyramids and the Acropolis. Or something like that.....

The Teotihuacanes had also a religious area ´off-site´, in a place that is now called Cholula. As a guide described it, ´this was really the embassy of Teotihuacan´. Here they built several temples, the main on top of a 66 meter high, 350 meter wide pyramid. Today not much of it is left, other than a few steps, a massive ´hub´ and 8 kilometers of tunnel, of which a few 100 meters are open for exploring. Which we of course did. Now on the summit, there is a church. The first version built by the Spanish, who in their enormous urge to change Mexico into a catholic country thought this to be a suitable place.

Finally, after the Teotihuacanmen saw their empire implode, no-one knows exactly how, the Toltecs became the most important group. Their capital was in a place now called Tula. About 100 kilometers outside Mexico City, the site of the old city is only partially excavated, with pyramids and ball-courts for pelota now on show. On top of one of the pyramids are the Atlantes, 5 meters high stone pilars in the form of warriors, a great sight!


The Toltecs took over some of the religious aspects of the Teotihuacani and added their own twists to it. For example, in front of the pelota-fields they built platforms which would be adorned by the deformed skulls of enemies. Nice.....
The Toltec power didn´t last very long, after less than 100 years they were succeeded by the Aztecs, who built an empire from the area around Mexico City (the Templo Mayor being an important example) - until the Spanish came. And the circle is complete.....

Just to put you at ease - we did not only see temples (or their left-overs) - we also climbed them all. No, seriously, we did see other things as well. So there is Puebla, a city that may sound familiar to some of you (there is a Volkswagen factory there). It was described in our guide book as hardly worth the effort, but it being on the way, we decided to stop off anyway. And we didn´t regret it - a lovely colonial centre with a nice cathedral, many colonial mansions and a lovely small museum. And so there is Acatepec, a very small village we ended up by chance (as we missed our bus-stop, didn´t figure this out till later, couldn´t get across to the driver that we wanted to stop, resulting in a sightseeing tour of the countryside). The baroque church-facade covered in colourful tiles that is one of the prettiest in Mexico. And so there are Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, the two volcanoes we had seen from the plane, but which we now saw from much closer. Truly amazing, with one (we haven´t completely figured out which one yet, although Popocatepetl is the more active of the two, so the chances are that.....) continuously puffing smoke in a clear blue sky. Picturebook-perfect.

And that completed our trip around Mexico City. From here it is the Mayan way, on to San Cristobal and beyond.....

Mexico - Mexico City

The longest transfer of our trip (leaving Sydney via Miami and LA, taking in total more than 20 hours 'air-time', but significantly more travel time, and still we arrived only hours after we left!) took us to a new continent (the Americas), a new country (Mexico) and a new city (Mexico City). The last leg, already, of our trip, but one with a lot of promise of new cultures and new habitats.

Landing in Mexico City, some say the largest city in the world, is quite spectacular - a long approach takes you right over the city (the airport is only a few kilometers out of the centre) with amazing views over the two volcanoes that sort of define the edge of the basin in which Mexico City lies. But don't be fooled by the term 'basin' - at over 2,000 meters it is one of the highest capitals in the world (as we soon would find out being slightly short of breath at times during the first few days).


A quick taxi-ride brought us to our hotel, which was located right next to the Zocalo (the main square). It being Good Friday when we arrived, the city was relatively quiet, with people making their way to the churches to fulfil their religious duties - Mexico is very catholic.

So, jet-lagged (by now we had had 11 hours of sleep in more than 60 hours), we wondered around the centre, lapping up the new atmosphere and impressions: people lighting candles in garish churches, people having a leisurely lunch at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the traffic being spurred on by many police blowing their whistles and waving their hands, soldiers ceremonially taking the national flag down at 18.00 precisely (or at least, as precisely as Mexican standards allow), vendors selling tacos, tortillas, fruit covered with spicy sauces and so on. It was clear - we had left Asia and Oceania behind, we were now in a completely new environment. And with the expectation that this realisation brought, we fell asleep for a long time......


Sort of revitalised we woke up the next morning and went off to the museum that is for many people reason enough to visit Mexico City - the National Anthropologic Museum. Although the name doesn't immediately show it, this is one of the most beautiful museums around. It gives a very well laid-out and fascinating overview of the cultural development of Mexico, from the pre-historic times via the civilisations we've all heard off (but as it turns out, know so little about) - Olmecs, Toltecs, Aztecs, Mayas) to the ruthless colonisation by the Spanish. For us, as newcomers, a great way to learn an awful lot more about this country and provide us with the background for the trip we had in mind, which would lead us along examples of most of these periods.

As Mexico City is vast, it took us quite some time to see all the sites we had in mind, from the south-american pilgrim's destination Basilica de Santa Maria de Guadeloupe to the tourist area Zona Rosa (an area not related to Amsterdam's namesake), from the ruins of the pre-hispanic Templo Mayor just off the Zocalo to the majestic Avenida Reforma and from the murals in the National Palace that reflect Mexico's history to the relative peace of Alameda park. And all the while adapting to Mexico's pace, which is frantic on the one hand (traffic and noise), but leisurely on the other (long lunches and nice evenings on the terrace outside). As you can imagine, especially the latter was to our liking, so very quickly we became used to the three-or more course lunch ('comida corrida'), which takes the better part of the afternoon. And with delicacies as mole poblano (a chocolate-based chili-sauce) on the menu this was no punishment at all.....

Australia - Sydney

From Auckland to Sydney is about a three-and-a-half hour flight, but for us it was an even larger change: from a campervan back into the world of hotels. And to spoil ourselves a little bit, we had made a reservation in a very nice hotel right in the centre of town, about ten minutes walk from Darling Harbour.

Both of us having been to Sydney before, it felt like re-acquainting with an old friend: easy and comfortable. Which was exactly what we were hoping for, after the sensory overload in New Zealand. So, we went to have dinner in Darling Harbour, to see the flying foxes in the Botanical Gardens, to admire (and photograph from every possible angle) the Sydney Opera House, to be impressed by the size and grandeur of the Harbour Bridge, to follow the coming and going of ferries in Circular Quay, to wander through China Town and to have dinner in the Rocks. All very relaxed and nice, whilst wondering how it comes that Sydney has it completely right, seemingly. What a great city!

New Zealand - Auckland

A smooth trip brought us to New Zealand's largest city - Auckland. Even though for New Zealand standards it is a metropolis, it is not so in reality. Which may be proven by the fact that we managed to walk in five hours from one side of town (where it hits the Tasman Sea) to the other (where it hits the Pacific Ocean). Along the way covering large areas of nature.

What this walk also showed, something we did not know before, is that Auckland is built in an area full of old volcanoes, 47 or so in total. Our walk took us over two and gave us views of the remaining 45. Something that came as quite a surprise, but a nice one.

For the rest, Auckland has some nice sites - the Sky Tower (a bit like Toronto's CN Tower, but then less tall), The harbour front (a bit like Sydney, but then less beautiful) and Cornwall Park (a bit like New York's Central Park, but then less sprawling). As this list may show - a nice city, but not spectacular.

What is there, though, is a thorough Polynsian and Asian influence - Auckland is the largest polynesian city in the world (about 30% of its inhabitants!), while walking through Auckland makes you feel like you're in downtown Tokyo. To illustrate this, having a coffee in a Starbuck's (old habits....) we were the only caucasian people, while the other 40 customers were all Japanese. Unexpected, but meaning that an enormous variety of Asian food is on offer, which can only be good!

And that means the end of New Zealand, a country we both have fallen in love with. In the balance, the South Island was slightly more inspiring than the North, also because of the weather conditions, but we have assembled a serious list of 'things to do'. So, borrowing from a well-known actor, it is safe to say: 'WE´LL BE BACK!'

New Zealand - North Coast

The North Island has a lot of coast, it being an island! Some of the most beautiful stretches, however, are to be found on the north-side, the so-called Bay of Plenty. This is where we spent a few days, however not really to soak in the sun, but to explore the inlands.

Tauranga and Waihi were the two ports of call, the former being a sort of Blackpool or Zandvoort of New Zealand and the latter a gold-mining village. Not surprisingly, of the two the latter was very interesting, with the opportunity to have a look at a still 'working' goldmine (apparently they dig about 1 mln dollars worth of gold every week out of something that to us looked like a big hole) and a walk through a former goldfield.

In the late 1800's and early 1900's the area around Waihi was hit by goldfever, which led to the quick construction of several villages along the river that disects the mountains surrounding the village. What became apparent to us, though, was that the destruction of these villages must have occured even faster, as the walking route we followed didn't provide much evidence of previous inhabitation, even though the signs showed pictures of bustling villages that supposedly where there less than 100 years ago. Having said that, the walk was very pleasant and interesting, going partly through some old mine-tunnels and a 1 kilometer long unlit train-tunnel used for transporting people and food the the villages. It is funny how nice day-light is after a stretch in such a tunnel!

From Waihi we departed for Auckland, our last port of call in New Zealand. Not only for us the end of an adventure, also for our little van, that was creaking louder with every mile ....

New Zealand - Volcanic Area

From Wellington we had to make our way to Taupo, the centre of the North Island's volcanic area - a long trip, especially in our little campervan. The first half of the trip promised to be nothing special, but from then on it should become pretty amazing, with the motorway cutting straight through New Zealand's volcanic heartland.

Our time in Te Papa (see previous entry) had visualised clearly that New Zealand is on the cusp of two tectonic plates. As a result, the country experiences very regular earthquakes and shocks. Also, the earth's crust is at places very, very thin because of the plates sliding along, which leads to volcanic eruptions and all sorts of 'geothermal activities' (yes, we read the information carefully), such as geysers and boiling mud. In our next few days we were going to experience all of this upclose.

At least, that was our plan. As soon as we entered the 'volcanic heartland' it started to rain. Which meant that the volcanoes we were hoping to see, were covered in clouds. Moreover, when we checked the weather-forecast for the next few days, it looked like things would only get worse. Which was a bit of a problem, as we had planned to do a one-day hike over two volcanoes followed the next day by a revitalising soak in some hot springs. Neither of these turned out to be feasible. (We later read in the newspaper than this rain/storm was the worst this area of New Zealand had experienced in 150 years!)

But, what is a plan without a backup, so we had some alternative arrangements:
- We spent a wet but fascinating half-day in Wai-o-tapu geothermal valley, where in a very small area the earth shows all its thermal tricks: boiling pools of mud, pools of water that are coloured bright blue, green or orange because of all the dissolved elements and a geyser that reaches about five meters high. Neither of us had seen these phenomena 'in real life', and it was very, very impressive.
- We spent a half-day (when the weather hadn't turned yet) walking along a river gorge with some massive 'rapids' (for the 'white-water' fanatics - about 5 meters high) and hot springs as contributaries and
- We spent time on the Internet (what would we do without the Internet) and in the cinema (to feed our need for some entertainment from 'back home' we saw the Queen together with a slightly geriatric cross-section of New Zealand, but a very good and insightful movie and Mr Bean together with a slightly adolescent cross-section of New Zealand, but a very average and slightly boring movie).

With the weather supposedly turning for the better, we set off to the coast.....