Places
Hollyford Valley
My favourite place in New Zealand – or maybe in the world – is the south-western part of the South Island. Fiordland is an incredibly beautiful place not only with fiords, but also with beautiful forests and a great landscape with mountains up to 2700 metres tall. It is also a very wet place which is why there is a rain forest here that in most parts is primeval and protected within the Fiordland National Park. Several walks – from very short ones to multi-day tramps – lead into the wilderness.
Catlins Waterfalls
In the south east corner of New Zealand’s South Island, there is an area that doesn’t get too many visitors because it is a little further away from the main tourist routes: the Catlins. The Catlins are not only famous for the beaches with their wildlife, but also for their waterfalls in beautiful forests. I really can’t decide which of the waterfalls is the nicest; for this posting I decided to choose the McLean Falls.
Mount Cook National Park and Sealy Tarns
The highest peak of the Southern Alps is Aoraki/Mount Cook (at the right edge of the image). The National Park named after it offers some very nice walks, one of which leads up to the Sealy Tarns and – if you have enough time and energy – further on to the Mueller Hut where you can stay for the night.
Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd
Leaving Christchurch with its heavily damaged city, my first stop is Lake Tekapo. While this lake and the town of the same name on its shores lie pretty much in the middle of nowhere, it is a busy place.
185 Empty Chairs
I am back in New Zealand and start my trip in Christchurch. The city was damaged heavily during my last visit here by the disastrous earthquake on February, 22, 2011. Large parts of the city were destroyed and 185 people lost their lives.
Abandoned Railway Bridge
The winter is gone, at least for now. On a beautiful day, I again drove my car south just a few kilometers to the village of Tudorf.
Snow on Graves
We have had some fresh snow. So I drove my car to a small valley some 25km south of Paderborn, the city where I live. There, in the “Valley of Peace”, is a small chapel, the Chapel of St. Meinolf with a small graveyard right next to it where members of the Mallinckrodt family rest.
A Glimpse of the Winter Sun
The new year of 2013 started dull and grey with few bright moments. Today, I decided to spend some time inside some of the churches of the city, trying my two new lenses – more on that in another post. Paderborn is quite well-known for its Catholic tradition. One the many churches right in the city centre is the Martkirche (literally Market Church) which is located at the Rathausplatz close to the town hall rather than where the market is located these days.
Winter Made A Flying Visit
In the middle of December, winter made a short visit to the city where I live, adding the right atmosphere to the Christmas market in the city. With fresh snow, everything also seems to slow down a bit and things go a little quiet. This is particularly true for this nice place right in the city centre, the Geissel Gardens.