WAITANGI, NEW ZEALAND — I appreciate the irony of a German, moving to Germany writing about Germans in New Zealand, but they’re everywhere! What are they all doing here? Continue reading “Germans!”
WAITANGI, NEW ZEALAND — We spent today at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the site where Maori and the British came together on February 6, 1840 to sign the treaty (Tiriti o Waitangi in Maori) that founded the modern country of New Zealand. Today was also the day I came nose-to-nose with a Maori chief. Continue reading “Chief for an hour”
WAITANGI, NEW ZEALAND — We decided to leave Auckland a day early. We told our hostess that we didn’t need the the extra day in Auckland we thought we’d need to recover from jet lag, which was true, and that we were eager to start exploring the Bay of Islands, which also was true. Continue reading “Out of the city and into the storm”
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND — My brain has a hard time with Polynesian and Maori names: Roto-rooter, Ratatouille, Ringo all stuck in my brain as I asked for information about Rangitoto Island, today’s destination. Continue reading “Finally hiking”
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND — It finally happened: Our first rain day. We had planned to take the ferry to Rangitoto Island for hiking, but that plan was off. Time for Plan B. Continue reading “Exploring Auckland”
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND — Today’s the day we left the United States. We gave our shoes and boots a final cleaning and then caught our 7 a.m. shuttle to the Honolulu airport. Continue reading “Kia ora, Aotearoa”
Next stop: Munich 