My first impression of New Zealand

I have to say I’m really impressed with New Zealand and I’m not easily impressed. And this is even before I’m starting my tour of the South Island. Here are the things that have impressed me so far:

·         The people. So friendly and helpful. And they smile a lot. J

·         Air New Zealand. I’m so sorry dear Lufthansa, but my new favorite airline is Air New Zealand. So nice planes, friendly staff, good service and good food. If they would operate in Europe I would use them all the time.

·         Auckland Airport. My new favorite airport (it used to be Munich). So nice, clean, great restrooms, terrific lounges and super friendly staff. It is a pleasure to wait here.

·         My hotels in Auckland and Christ Church. Clean, nice, not expensive (for a western country) with possibilities to cook for yourself.

·         All tourist brochures. You can find one for every kind of activity, for every part of the country and they are all free, including ALL maps. (When I was in Frankfurt I needed to pay for the city map in the tourist information – how stupid is that?).

I REALLY like this country already now! Hmmm wonder where this will end?? J

BUT…..

I’m now in Christchurch and as you all know the city was hit by an earthquake in February. When I arrived here I went for a short walk in the close surrounding. It made me really sad. It gave me the same feeling as I got when I came to Phi-Phi Island in February 2005, just a couple of months after the tsunami.  I mean – you read about the catastrophes in the papers, but you can never fully understand what has happened until you see it. It didn’t even feel right to take pictures of the city. But I took one – of the beautiful clock tower. I got so happy when I saw that it was still standing. Then, just before I took the picture, I realized it was not totally unharmed. See below. I do hope they will be able to rebuild the city soon. It seems to be a really nice place when you look at the parts that are OK.