Posts Tagged With: RTW

Hobbiton (The Movie Set Tour): December 14

Posted on 14.12.2012 by luftikus2001

We have dedicated a whole day for a fantastic visit of Matamata’s world famous sheep farm: HOBBITON – The Movie Set of “Lord of the Rings” & “The Hobbit” !!!

…we had a “private” tour (which would cost almost triple the price of a regular tour) for a very simple reason: nobody had booked the timeslot, we had chosen. However, immediate slots before and after ours were guided tours between 15 and 30 people. Luck, luck, luck! So, we enjoyed a 2-hour tour with our guide Cameron…lots of interesting stories. We also had a chance to talk to some “people behind the scenes”: gardeners, bar keepers, waitresses.

Pictures of the day:

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: hobbiton, new zealand, RTW | Leave a comment

The Trip to Mount Doom (aka Tongariro Alpine Crossing): December 10

Posted on 12.12.2012 by luftikus2001

Continuing with our tour of middle earth, this time in the center of the north island in the volcano area. The volcanoes Tongariro and Ngauruhoe were used as Mount Doom filming loctaions in LoTR.

Due to the eruption of Tongariro at the end of November only half the route is currently open, with the walk requiring trampers to turn round at the red crater and head back along the same track. But with Tongariro still venting a large amount of steam and throwing out the odd rock we could understand why the route was partially closed.

After a 1.5 hour walk through a valley full of signs of lava flows, the walk then steeply climbs up to the southern crater, which could also double for a moon crater. After crossing the crater it is more steep climbing up scree rock to the red crater with views then over to the blue and emerald lakes, and steam cloud of Mount Tongariro.

Described as New Zealand’s best one day hike, the hike took us 7 hours there and back.

Pictures of the day:

Most photographed sign in NZ: A “skiwi” 🙂

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: mount doom, new zealand, RTW, tongariro | Leave a comment

Day Five/Six/Seven/Eight: Goa

Posted on 07.11.2012 by luftikus2001

Day 5 & following: Goa, Goa, Goa

We have arrived in Goa…had quite some flight from Kolkata via Mumbai. After a warm welcome and 50 minutes trip by car, we arrived in our beach resort The Leela Goa. Indian-style reception (including coconut drink) and another “procedure” for check-in and explanations 🙂

…relaxing time in a wonderful hotel. The resort has a fantastic garden, pool and very enjoyable facilities, such as spa, beach restaurant and beach sun lounges underneath palms. The food is T.O.P. (tasty, original, plenty). The hotel does its best to get rid of the mosquitoes. So far (touch wood), not so many bites. The weather is dry, warm and blue skies…

We decided to “leave” paradise gardens for a trip in Goa’s surroundings. We hired a taxi to bring us to a spice plantation (very interesting, how many spices can grow at one farm…and many of them, we all do know: cinnamon (Zimt), lemon grass, ginger (Ingwer), nutmeg (Muskatnuss), turmeric (Gelbwurz)), Old Goa (catholic churches and cathedrals from the Portuguese colonial times) and Fort Aguada (some bricks on top of a hill, plus lighthouse 🙂 ).

The Leela organized a BBQ dinner at the beach: choice of lobster, beef, chicken, lamb, fish, veggies, and rice 😉 …accompanied by Cuban flamenco dancing (we tried our best).

Pics of the days:

Categories: General | Tags: goa, india, RTW | 1 Comment

Welcome to our travel blog “Round the World”

Posted on 16.10.2012 by luftikus2001

We have now entered our final preparation phase for an amazing trip. On November 1st, Michelle and Rene will take off for their first tour around the globe: 25 flight segments, 10 countries, 4 road trips and 1 cruise in 123 days.

This is a snapshot of the itinerary:
Zurich (CH) – Mumbai (IN) – Kolkata (IN) – Goa (IN) – Hong Kong (HK) – Shanghai (CN) – Sydney (AU) – Christchurch (NZ) – Auckland (NZ) – Adelaide (AU) – Melbourne (AU) – Sydney (AU) – Hong Kong (HK) – Tokyo (JP) – Kyoto (JP) – Hiroshima (JP) – Osaka (JP) – Honolulu (US) – San Francisco (US) – Los Angeles (US) – Houston (US) – Buenos Aires (AR) – Patagonia (AR) – Iguacu Falls (BR) – Ushuaia (AR) – Antarctica – Buenos Aires (AR) – Frankfurt (DE) – Zurich (CH)

Watch our video on YouTube:

This blog will inform about destinations, experiences and highlights of our tour. Stay tuned for stories, photos and clips. We are looking forward to sharing our memories and to stay in touch with families, friends and visitors via this platform. We speak English and German, comments in Spanish and French may be answered as well 🙂

CU soon…

Michelle & Rene