Ven island – the perfect destination for a day trip

Ven is a tiny island in the Øresund stright, belonging to Sweden. Being an island it can be visited only by ferry, and there are three possible departing points towards Ven: Landskrona (in Sweden, with scheduled departures all year round), Helsingør in Denmark, and Copenhagen (only on summer time).

Me and my girlfriend took the ferry from Copenhagen. The tickets we booked online with only a couple of hours before the departure; then all we needed to do is to get ready and show up at the ferry a bit before its departure time. There is no check in or requirements regarding any arrival time prior boarding.

The ferry is not huge, but it has a sort of a restaurant and place for bicycles, if one wants to take the bike with him/her. However, there is a 90 Dkk fee for the bikes, the same fee one pays for renting a bike on the island of Ven.

I have not mentioned that the little island of Ven is a perfect destination for tour on bike. Thus there are many tourists who take their bikes with them or rent them on the island. We decided to rent bikes on the spot, so after a ride of about one and a half hour with the ferry we arrived on Ven. There we walk for about five minutes uphill until we arrived at the shop where the popular yellow bikes are rented. There is a huge parking lot full of all kiind of bikes (tandem; with support for kids; classic etc.).

The weather was not great but the enthusiasm was high; it was the first time when I was about to start a trip on bike. So we took a map of Ven from the bike shop and we were gone. There are many tourist on bikes, and very few cars. There is harmony and relaxation because no matter the way one take there is no risk of getting lost. There are few houses, many cafes and beautiful nature. Our first stop was a little harbour, just under the old church of Sankt Ibb. There are many little shops with ice-cream snacks and possibility for picnic. After an ice-cream, we head to the church from where we took a beautiful picture and stunning sight. Then we continued riding around the island, discovering many cozy places and beautiful nature. However, due to the weather we didn’t stop for picnic, but we stopped for lunch a Pumpkin Delicatessen and Cafe. It was a very good experience: I had a great pizza with goat cheese and many glasses of organic apple juice, one of the best I have ever drunk. After the lunch the sky broke and and we head back to the harbour, not before we returned the bikes.

The ferry from Copenhagen lives at 09:15 and returns at 16:30, so it is important not to miss it. If missed, there are many camping opportunities on Ven.

There are many positive aspects about Ven, and it might be worth it to visit it for more than one day, but we didn’t have more time; yet, we want to go back there one day.

Christchurch – a boring city for tourist!

This is the post ever with no featured picture! It is not a mistake, but it is the effect of my stop in Christchurch.

I knew and I acknowledge the difficult times a region or city has to recover after earthquakes – in this case the big ones from 2012, but the image of the city now, make me doubt about its offerings for tourists even before the earthquakes.

We stay at a hostel located at about 10 minutes walk from the center of the city, so we decided to walk around the center and enjoy the sights. However, from the moment we had a chat with the receptionist, I kinda had the feeling that there is not much to do here as a tourist; the receptionist started -when talking about the city- with the mall, restaurants, and ended with the cathedral; Nothing more. So, once outside the hostel, we headed to the city center. Seeing that nothing interesting appear, we got disappointed but hoped for the best the closer we got to the central area!

However, we got into the center, but there was nothing appealing. Even the streets alone are unappealing and ugly; there were not even as nice as the city centers of the small towns we had driven through down here. So disappointed, we turn back to our hostel, not before having something to eat on Victoria St.

We had planned to spend a bit more time tomorrow in Christchurch, but I have the feeling I have seen enough, so we will have a coffee and then we will hit further south.

Hope the next stop will be as exciting as the rest of the places we have visited in New Zealand before sopping in Christchurch.

From Taupo to Napier!

Rain and cloudy today! These have been the two major coordinates of today! Not my favorite ones! In this context we have had to find some stuff to do.

After a great morning running session along the Taupo Lake, we took off to the Wairakei Terraces and Thermal Health Spa. There we spent about three hours. Most of the time spent there was amazing, especially the pools and the massage; the walk around the so called geyser and vegetation is not worth, so save the money!

From the spa we went back to the Acacia Bay, but because of the weather we shot two pictures and then left to the central Taupo for lunch at Piccolo Restaurant.

After the lunch, with the clouds surveying the region we decided to head to Napier. As soon a we set the address on the GPS we learned that there are about 150 km between the two cities. Moreover, we understood that we will drive mainly through the nature since at the exit from Taupo there is a traffic sign indicating that the first petrol station will be after 130 km!!! Our thoughts proved to be true when we found ourselves driving around green surroundings, with interesting vegetation and many slopes and S curves. Even though there was an deserted area, we meet also a police car checking the traffic…to our big surprise.

After almost two hours we entered Napier. The city was threatened by dark and heavy clouds, but they got away with the time. The city is nice, having a special charm due to its architecture and proximity to the sea. We had a walk in the windy and chilly weather and then had dinner at Mister D Restaurant.

Tomorrow we plan to visit some of the attractions in Napier, afterward we’ll travel many km to Wellington. We are waiting forward to this trip.

Whakarewarewa & Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland

Today’s ride was a quite short one, with short distances driven back and forth around Rotoura.

First we hit to the central Rotoura to drink a coffee and enjoy something to eat. The state of mind was shaky due to the rainy weather; first day of rain since we arrived in New Zealand, and not the last one!

Sipping from the warm coffee we decided to first head to Whakarewarewa Maori Village. It is at only four km away from Rotoura and we wanted anyhow to visit some Maori villages. The ticket we bought from the iVisitor in Rotoura; if you buy it from there you get a discount of 5 NZD per ticket; with these money saved we paid out coffee ;-)!

Then we headed to the park through the light rain. Rotoura smelt like rotten eggs since we arrived, and the closer we came to the village, the strong the smell was! There is no need to look around you, trying to figure out the reason; it smells this way because of the sulfate; and the closer one came to the Whakarewarewa village, the more will “enjoy” this smell. This is because there are also some geysers apart from the Maori culture. We missed the eventual eruption of any of the geysers, but we saw them and listen to the Maori stories told by our Maori guide. However, by far the most exciting experience was participating to the Maori program. There were sang local songs and danced haka. To my excitement I took part -together with other men from the audience- to the haka dance on the stage. Moreover, anyone had the chance to take pictures with the members of the Maori group.

The Maori show was the last ting we did in Whakarewarewa village. From there we headed to the geysers from Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. Rain again! Not very strong rain but annoying! At the park the rain was very light, however it had an sort of negative influence over the visit, because it affected the view of the beautiful and colorful geysers. No eruption here either; the only one happening here take place at 10:15 everyday; so we missed it. However, the walk around the geysers was exciting. It allowed us to see different and strange geysers with many colours and shapes. The last one we visited was the one that impressed us the most; it is called Devils Bath and it has a great green colour; it is breathtaking, and it is an attraction in itself. The park has also a big diversity of products, and the prices are not bigger than the ones down in town.

Once we finished we had a frugal lunch at the cafe inside the souvenir shop, and then we left the place for Taupo. On the way there we stopped to see the Huka Falls. Amazing place as well, and very close to central Taupo.

The falls was the last touristic thing we did; the rain got stronger and didn’t let us visit much. Tomorrow the weather is expected to be more or less the same, but no matter what we will find something to do; beside we will hit to Napier.

I’ll be back tomorrow ;-)!

Home at The Hobbit!

I’ve just visited The Hobbit….huuuuuura! Well, he wasn’t home but I still enjoyed to be around his domain!

Everything starts down the hill, in Matamata village at the Information visitor center, a building that looks like a hobbit one, but bigger :-)! There we boarded the Hobbiton tour bus, with the tickets we bought online. The bus was half empty, but who cared; the views on the way up to the Hobbit Movie Set were breathtaking, and supported by the info from the driver.

First stop: the Movie Set Souvenirs area. There we picked up our guide, and without getting off the bus we drove further to the Movie Set. On the way sheep and beautiful scenery; I love it!

With such natural beauty to drive by, the time is flying! When we arrived at the desired places, the guide took over! Our guide’s name was Jessica, and she us very entertaining and well prepared despite her very young age. Generally the tour offered enough info about the place, movie and back stage; all these combined with “breaks” for picture sessions. However, sometimes taking pictures was a changing activity due to the high number of visitors willing to take pictures as well!

We had the right and the chance to visit only one house: Hobbit’s one. Different than in the movie, but I let you explore it live…

Then, after more pictures, we were offered a New Zealandish beer for free; it was perfect after an circa two hours tour.

Then we packed our memories and our ocular pictures and boarded again the bus; this time to the way back in Matamata. However, there is a 15 minutes stop at the souvenir place, so everyone can have an extra memory!

This was for today; tomorrow we hit the road to Rotorua and Taupo! Lets see what we can do there!

From Coromandel Peninsula to Matamata, via Waitomo Caves!

Today has been the day when we left Coromandel Peninsula and headed south to Matamata as end destination. It is an 320 km driving distance according to our GPS. Yet we didn’t drive strait to the destination, but we stopped at the Waitomo Caves to explore some of them  and especially the Glowworms Cave.

Driving in the Coromandel Peninsula is fascinating: many beautiful views and a road with a lot of slopes and S turns; I loved it. Once one arrive at Thames. the road settles and becomes more “boring”, with flat roads only. However, the way our GPS chose for us to get to Waitomo Caves took us through a lot of secondary roads, I would say. There have been many roads where we drove alone, and there were many segments of road with very narrow roads.

It took us about three hours to get to the Waitomo Caves from Coromandel Town. At the caves we stopped with the thought of exploring all the three caves shown in most of the pictures with the caves. However, once in the tickets office we ended up buying a two hour tour with the tube in Glowworm Cave. It’s so because we are not very into all that theoretical part about caves, where one gets explanations about the history of the cave, creation etc. We wanted something more fun and interactive, and of course we wanted tese the Glowworm Cave, with those little worms lighting up the sky of the cave. There were two companies offering more or less a similar tour, but due to availability we had no choice but going into the caves with Footwhistle. It costs 139 NZD/person, for what they say it is a two hours tour, but it was actually about one and a half hour. The tour was fun and the cave they took us in was amazing too; we arrived at points where the water was 7 m high but we were actually 400 feet under the entrance level.

We were done with the visiting the caves at 5 PM, and because we still had about 100 km more to drive, we took of to our destination: Matamata. Driving there was more fun, that the previous segments, with some parts being quite similar with some from the Coromandel Peninsula. On the way there are not places worth visiting so there was not stop in our one and a half hour drive.

Matamata seem to be a tiny place, with everything they have run around the fame of The Hobbit. We visited the “central” part of the village, with the Broadway Street and stuff, and now we waiting forward to visiting the hobbit house tomorrow morning.

Keep tuned, I’ll be back with details.

 

Exploring New Zealand – Coromandel

Three days ago I arrived in New Zealand for the first time in my life, being ready to travel across it for 20 days; I am not alone, but with my girlfriend.

The first two and a half days I have spent in Auckland, and it was awesome. However, today we have got to the moment to pick up the car we have prebook it before our arrival here: a Toyota RAV4, from Budget. The staff from Budget in Auckland (Beach Rd.) were very nice and the car is almost new: only 11.150 km on board. However, whoever choose to come down here with a driving licence not in English, have to think twice. I had one issued in Denmark, but with everything in Danish, and they were about to cancel my booking. In the end they found someone to translate my driving licence; it took one hour and it costed 69 NZD.

Going further into my day, driving on the left side of the road was something not known to me, so it was full of fun…however I got it pretty easy. I was surprised though by two things:

• the limit speed in the highway -100 km!!! and,
• the design of some segments of roads. For example the one to Coromandel Peninsula…it has segments of road very narrow and very close to the edge of the steep edges of the road; moreover there are no parapets.

We drove from Auckland to Coromandel Town. The driving occurs mainly on the highway, but there are also the last 60 km that are dome on the peninsula and the scenery is fabulous. I stopped every few km to take pictures.

Once in Coromandel, we went to our motel booked before coming here. There are not hotels or stuff like that. Coromandel is pretty much like a village, but a very nice one. Moreover, the design of some of the houses and public institutions are very nice, remembering me of the ones seen in the american old movies with cowboys. So far here I have been to the beach and I “went out”. The beach is not covered with sand but with little stones; however, it is very nice the view and the driving to there.

For eating out everyone coming here must visit Mussel Kitchen; it is amazing. For evening I tried Pepper Tree…very good as well!

This was for today! Now I am going to bed, ready to take off tomorrow to the Waitome Cave, Hamilton and the settling at Matamata.

 

 

Home at one of the Queen(s) of the Sky: Jumbo Stay Stockholm!

You know those stories about the forbidden fruit and the obsession that one day, at least one day, you will manage to get it? Well, this is my story. I don’t love so many things in my life, but I don’t know for what reasons I love flying and I am fascinated about planes; even more, or maybe I sould say, worst, I like reading/researching airplane crashes. But enough with my obsession for planes, because I am sure now you can link the subject of this post with me!

So here’s my story:

About one year ago I read about a hotel built up in a plane. It is the project implemented in Sweden’s main airport, Arlanda, where a Swede came up with the creative business idea of turning a huge aircraft as a Boeing 747 which was retired from duty, and make out of it a famous attraction, namely Jumbo Stay Hostel, in Stockholm.

The Queen of the Sky as this type of plane is known as well, has become since then the Queen of the Ground, with many travelers going to stay there by curiosity and interest in experiences otherwise forbidden in normal conditions (fx. Sleep in cockpit), the same way tourists visit royal palaces to experience and admire the way royal families live.

To have the chance to sleep in a plane -more or less like those affording and willing to pay for a first class sleep, when hundred other struggle to sleep while almost standing- that was a big temptation. Moreover, there was the possibility to explore the plane in almost all its compartments, as close as one cannot dream to do in an airport or other environment, due to regulations.

However for me the excitement was high, and since I had first read about this hostel, I was looking forward to the first occasion I travel to Stockholm to book a night there.

According to the standards of a night in a hostel, and to the prices in hostels around the world, a night at Jumbo Stay Hostel can be considered costly. I paid 1194 SEK for one night in a private room for two (including breakfast), where I stayed together with my girlfriend. Yet, even though the price is a bit high, one loving planes or new experiences won’t run away seeing the price list; so didn’t I.

So, all packed for a sunny and nice city break in Stockholm, I arrived in Stockholm’s Airport, somewhere around 20:12. From there are shuttles going to the Jumbo Stay Hostel, of which I knew from home; but I also knew the hostel is only 15 minute walk away from the same airport. Willing to arrive as soon as possible I chose the shuttle, but it proved to be an uninspired idea because although the shuttles should run four times per hour, every 15 minutes, mine skipped the 20:15 time, and so I was waiting for more than those 15 minutes needed to reach the hostel on foot. However, I arrived at Jumbo Stay Hostel, and the way to it cannot be missed because it can be seen already from the bus stop. Push by the excitement I drop my baggage, and I started shooting photos like a soldier shots enemies. The view was nice, but because of my Samsung S3 and even iPad cameras, the pictures are not of high quality. From the shuttle stop to the entrance in the hostel…I mean, to the plane there is a short distance, so soon I was at the door. There an unexpected request welcomed me, and made me smile feeling well-entertained: all the guest are required to take off their shoes before they enter the hostel…like I said, it is an experience similar to those when visiting a queen; wherefrom my link: Queen of the sky – Royal queen. I took off my shoes, and although I could have left them next to the door in a space specially designed for shoes, I chose to take them with me in my room.

At the reception, which is very small and very close to the door, the receptionist welcomed us and gave me and my girlfriend some details about the place; however, my attention was disrupted by the restaurant, which is placed on the left side of the entrance, at the actually head of the plane. I found it very cozy and warm, with those orange chairs, small tables, TV and the customers talking with a low tone.

Like I said I booked a private room for two, with two single beds, on up and the other down. To get to it I had to walk down a hall which is almost identic with those in hotels. The room was small, but not that small not to have place to arrange my stuff for a night. Of course there is no place to dance, but there is plenty of place for the baggage, especially due to the spaces designed similar to the baggage spaces in planes, above the head.

Although it was said there are two single beds, we needed it only the one down, which is big enough for two persons. The room price covers the linens, pillows and blanket as well. One important thing, the mattress is very comfortable, so we enjoyed a lot the sleep. There is a TV as well, but who cared when I was in an ecstatic state just for being there. Still the Wi-Fi high speed connection was more appreciated and welcomed by the internet addict inside me.

This category of rooms comes with the breakfast included in the price; the other meals are not; and because we are talking about food, of course I wanted to try out whatever they had to eat; and what a better moment than the evening of our arrival when we were hungry after all the travelling time. However, when we asked about what we can eat there at that time -around 21:00- we were sent to pick up whatever we wanted from the two fridges they have there. But what could we choose? There were only few very small –on board plane-like sandwiches-, ice cream and some snacks, and of course drinks. However we bought a tiny sandwich and some nuts.

Following the natural way of doing things, after eating we needed to visit the facilities; in this way we discovered them as well. There are nice little spaces, and they come with a message just below the mirror, urging everyone to clean the sinks with their own towels, in order to show respect to the other customers. I found it funny and wise, apart for the part with “own towel”, because then who will how respect to my face and hands?

Beside the fact that I had one of my best ever sleep, I would add that once the sun raised up I was up as well, ready to go out, explore the place and take pictures…as many pictures as possible. Once out I noticed that beside the pictures with the hostel-plane there is a great spot for plane spotting, because just meters away the tail of Jumbo Stay there is a fence separating the airport area –and one of its runway- from the hostel area. In this way I got the chance to take pictures with aircrafts of KLM, Air France and Norwegian Airlines.

There is also possible to walk on the wing of the Boeing 747 hostel, but for this you have to pay, which I didn’t do it, although walking on the wing is a very tempting thing since there is forbidden, or better said almost impossible to do that on a plane.

I bet this hostel, Jumbo Stay, is an attraction of Stockholm in itself, and it worth booking a night there, especially if you arrive late or leave early, when anyhow you plan to find accommodation in airports’ hotels.

So, enjoy it!

Visiting Sofiero Castle or the Schönbrunn of the North (as I would call it)!

It has been almost three years since I arrived in Denmark and I decided to settle her for a while. But despite this fact I haven’t travel to much into the nordic countries, although there are now very accessible to me. To this has contributed in a very high degree the weather which is not very welcoming, and which has driven me to more sunny and warmth destinations. However, recently I was accepted as an exchange student to Lund University, in Campus Helsingborg. This event has just put Helsingborg on my mind’s map, as a destination of high interest. Therefore, few days ago, in one of my free days from work I decided to travel and see what this city looks like.

However, before hitting the road I made a bit of research about what I can do/see and where and what I can eat – since I call myself a foodie, this is a must! As an outcome of my research I set as first priority to visit Sofiero Castle, together with its gardens, and to have the lunch there.

With this in mind, the next day -was a Monday- early morning I took the Øresund train, from Copenhagen Central Station, to Helsingborg. It was a one and a half hour trip. Once arrived in Helsingborg train station I got just enough time to buy tickets for the bus who supposed to take me to the castle, n to board it. The Castle is not so far away from the city center, especially for the ones who enjoy walking; there are circa five kilometers to there, most of the time walking along the shore, which may be a very pleasant walk. As an alternative it can be taken bus number 8, which run that direction twice an hour, and the trip takes circa 17 minutes. Although I love walking, I opted for the bus because I considered I would arrive to late for lunch at Sofiero Castle; beside I was a bit concerned about the route I have to follow to the castle. 

As I said, not after a long ride, I saw myself in front of the Sofiero Castle. There is a visitor fee to be paid at the entrance in the garden, and then it comes the splendid view; a view which seems to me pretty similar to the view one have at the Schönbrunn Palace, in Vienna, although in the case of Sofiero Castle, the distance from the entrance to the building it is filled by nice cut grass, the temperatures are a lot lower, and the tourists are not so many, so it becomes easier to enjoy the visit. Yet at the first sight the way everything is found (big and imposant castle in sight, flowers garden on the right, beautiful and multitude of flowers, nice view over the sea and castle, the little forest etc.) made it easy for me to recall the famous austrian castle.

Yet in spite of the beauty opened in font of my eyes, the first thing I did was to go streight to the restaurant and book the lunch. After I happily left the restaurant I allowed myself to be emerged in the beauty of the gardens.

The view based on a natural beauty, touched each and there by a human hand focused on details, made me feel so easy and excited. I started with the flowers part of the garden, where there where a lot of different plants and flowers, all blooming, and having from spot to spot benches which are placed perfectly to the right points in order to take te best pictures. However the gardens are not huge: it takes about one, one and a half hours to make the whole round of the gardens, but the beauty is at its home. Among others there are two small mazes, japanese garden, melon garden…it look a lot better than the botanical gardens from many european cities.

After I made the whole round I arrived just in time for the lunch I had made reservation, and which was also an important target of the day for me. I spent in restaurant about two hours, and I got out of it excited, very satisfied and full. It was an absolutely feast for my palates, and more details about this you can read in my review I made to it on TripAdvisor, at the following link: http://www.tripadvisor.dk/ShowUserReviews-g189836-d1042543-r294112495-Sofiero_Slottsrestaurang-Helsingborg_Skane_County.html#REVIEWS .

  

After the lunch I decided it was time to go, although the view and the fresh impressions didn’t let me go easily.

However I will not forget, and neither you the ones who want to visit this place should forget that it is quiet, green, with a lot of fresh air and flowers, knowledge through the little info that’s available about each plant/flower…it is absolutely a piece of heaven.