In 1995 I went with my mother to New Zealand. In Cape Reinga on the norhern tip of the North Island we felt almost like in the South Seas. Later we switched between the cold Pacific and the underground hot water of the namesake beach, before passing through the thermal wonderland of Rotorua. On Cape Kdinappers we walked on the beach between thousands of gannets before we took the ferry through the Marlborough Sounds (great Sauvignon Blanc territory) to the beautiful coastal walk in Abel Tasman National Park. For me the super-green Great Coast Road between Westport and Greymouth depicts one of the great coastal roads worldwide. It brought us to the region of the Southern Alpes. A helicopter whisked me away to the ices of Franz Josef Glacier.

My most memorable sunset ever came on Haast Beach: My mother and I had just braved heavy rain on our beach walk through a forest of driftwood, colossal waves thundered on the beach. Low-hanging clouds formed a velvet curtain. Just minutes before the sun would drop into the ocean, the clouds suddenly burst: It’s hard to turn our heads away from the wild ocean. But just now, the snow-capped peaks of the Southern Alps, are glistening in the last rays of the evening sun.

Our road trip continues too Milford Sound and the hilly greens of the Otago Peninsula. I was still not done with the „Land of the Great White Cloud“: My second visit to New Zealand with my wife let us do the Tongariro Crossing, possibly the most spectacular day trip, passing an active volcano and cater lakes of unbelievable colour. 

On my third visit in 2017, a business trip, I could add some culinary delights to my New Zealand experiences. After visiting Cap Palliser, the rugged and beautiful southernmost point of the North Island, I ended ny weekend with a delicious wine pairing in Martinborough, a cosy wine town with great Pinot Noirs. The ones from Schubert winery found their way even into the First Class cabin of a European airline.

From all places in the world I had the pleasure to visit, there is no other which offers such a condensed and varied form of natural beauty. So much beauty paired with so much seclusion. with all major geopolitical challenges as remote as possible. For me, New Zealand would be my favourite destination for escapism.

Wo does not nurture a dream of starting his life from scratch at a beautiful end of the world? 

On a beautiful Saturday summer afternoon a ferry takes me across the bay of Wellington to pretty little Eastbourne, full of fish an d ships joint and little shops. I stroll along the beach, then I almost stumble into this cosy second-hand bookstore. The bookseller proves to be a Swabian compatriot who had already implemented his dream of starting from scratch. Martin quotes from the last book of his favourite author Bruce Chatwin, „What am I doing here?”: 

„Man’s real home ist not a house, but the road, and that life itself is a journey to be walked on foot.“