…living in and dreaming of…

as central christchurch was still off limits after the earthquakes, the world buskers festival was happening in hagley park this year. which took away the street feeling of the performances but had the advantage that the audience could easily switch between the different stages. the shows included comedy, theater, stunts, acrobatics, music and more. one [...]

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after blenheim the scenery changes again with rolling bare hills while the road leads over the dashwood pass. i took the turnoff to marfells beach, another d.o.c campsite and the first one which i left again after i had a look around. the place was completely taken over by locals who seemed to want to [...]

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all the way back towards picton along the queen charlotte drive, one has still the view of the sounds. picton is a very small town and which gets its importance because of the ferry to wellington that departs here. the small place gets quiet crowded before the departure or after the arrival of a ferry [...]

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it started raining again and didn’t stop for 2 days, but on the last the of the year the weather got better. i cycled towards nelson and wasn’t sure if i would find a place to stay as the town would be rather busy. half-heartedly i asked at two hostels, earned just some sympathetic looks, [...]

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as i was getting weary of the main road, i took a left turn into a gravel road and exchanged the rather smooth surface of the road with gravel but had only 2 cars within an hours drive. the scenery was untypically sparse for new zealand but not without character. the next morning i bought [...]

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the next day it was only a couple of kilometers until we reached bob’s place. our host arrived 5 minutes later with material for a structure he was planning in his vegetable garden. he had made already quiet an effort to create a level area for the tents and outdoor toilet with view of the [...]

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i arrived in greymouth and checked in at the yha as the weather was getting worse. without asking i got a bicycle discount as a low carbon traveller. the common room looked like the drawing room in an old english country house with comfy couches, tons of books and even a piano which was fun [...]

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arriving in christchurch after midnight, there was little else to do after assembling the bicycle then to get some hours of sleep in the designated rest area. bicycle touring seems to be so popular in new zealand that they even have a bicycle assembly area with a bike stand to assist while piecing the bike [...]

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since i arrived in australia i was looking forward to this city and at times it looked like i won’t have the time to see it. so i was glad to spend at least my last days in oz here. a couple of people from the farm in hillston were also in town and i [...]

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sydney turned out to be an exciting but also an expensive place to stay. i decided to go inland for the cherry season and arrived in hillston which is about 500km west of sydney. the camp ground was already buzzing with people and the season about to start. after filling out the paper work and [...]

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