PetrA,
this si fuckin' GORGEOUS!!!!!

After 5 weeks of hitching and tramping through both islands, I must say it's a really nice country... Definitely worth the 24+ hour flight ;)

Serge, if you like nature and you don't need luxury hotels to enjoy yourself, you should definitely visit NZ some day...

PetrA,
if I liked luxury hotels,
I'd never leave home
;-)))

I don't give a fuck about accomodations as long as the scenery/food/culture is worth the trip.

I tenatively schedule NZ for 2005,
it's a MUST SEE part of the world!

Good to hear that... The nature is definitely a must-see...

Serge,

My offer of guided tour of New Zealand for you and Susan still stands, readdy to pack my bags when you say the word:) Otherwise im looking forward to our trip to brazil and antartica:)

you flew all the way to new zealand and didn't take the extra 3 hours to drop down under?!?!?!?!?

2005 will be the year to go down under!

maybe we'll drop there from Antarctica-
it's MUCH closer from there!
;-)))

I definately want to go. Everyone tells me you need at least two weeks.

Petr tell us more about your trip. Weather, where you stayed, cost, people, culture, etc. I'd really like to know. When is the best time of year to go?

Dianna

Dianna,

It really depens what you want to do in NZ but if you are there for the nature, you need at least a month. And you still won't be able to see the whole country. People usually come for 3+ months. I spent the last week of Jan in north island and the whole Feb in south island.

As for accommodation, in the big cities like Auckland and Wellington we slept in hostels (which are called backpackers in NZ), otherwise we stayed in a tent. Our goal was to spend as much time in the countryside as possible, preferrably as far away as possible from people and civilisation. There is nothing like if you can go up to the mountains where you can actually drink water right from riverstreams... Where you can spend days without bumping to another human being... That was really refreshing. Plus hiking is a good way to exercise... Especially when you have a 20kg backpack on your back walking 10-20km a day. ;) I lost about 8kg of weight in four weeks (I'm 1.75m, 68kg now)...

As for locals, they are really nice and friendly. And that's why hitching is sooo easy in NZ. :)

The whole trip cost me like $3k including a flight ticket from/to Europe... The best time to visit NZ is January/February.

some more pics http://www.prowebsro.cz/nz2/

Hope you enjoyed New Zealand its a great place to live! :rokk: