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November 2002 Timeline: December 2002 January 2003

More of Mount Taranaki
Egmont Village, 1 December 2002 		Mount Taranaki Peak
Egmont Village, 1 December 2002 		Kiwi Green
Wanganui, 1 December 2002 		One thing is for sure....
Wanganui, 1 December 2002
Gorgeous, isn't it? I spent a whole morning finding a spot without power lines and the mountain in the background....
With a collar of clouds surrounding it....
 Reminded me of the Scottish Highlands....
 ...there was no silence of the lambs...
Cubic Sheep
Wanganui, 1 December 2002 		One side of the fence....
Wanganui, 1 December 2002 		Brutal haircut
Wanganui, 1 December 2002 		Screaming sheep on the one side:
Wanganui, 1 December 2002
Straight out of Picasso's cubic phase, come these sheep... Fresh, but phenomically bad haircuts...
...stared over to the other... The sheep were sheared and then put over to the other side of the fence....
 Just look at that cute sheep's forehead....
 'Run, run away, they have big razors! It's so cold! Maaaaaah'
Look upon what's yet to come
Wanganui, 1 December 2002 		Bird of Prey
Wanganui, 1 December 2002 		National Park
Tongariro, 1 December 2002 		Tongariro Crossing
Tongariro, 2 December 2002
'Maaaah! What the hell happened to you over there!'
The falcon that flew across the landscape never made it closer to me again....
This area simply is called 'National Park'...
 Got up early at 6am the next day to walk the 'Tongariro Crossing' which people call 'the best daytrip in New Zealand' - it was actually more than that... maybe one of the most amazing daytrips I had ever taken....
Ruapehu
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Ant Trail
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Soda Springs
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		River Stones
Tongariro, 2 December 2002
Ruapehu erupted a few years ago and took an entire skiing area with it....
The Tongariro crossing is a one-way trip. So its best to leave your car in Taupo and then just take a bus that drops you off one side and picks you up on the other side.... You have plenty of time, so just let the largest crop of people walk ahead and stay back and enjoy more on your own....
 In my bus to Tongariro I met two German girls that I joined on the walk. One of them, Ines took this photo... Later a Bavarian dude joined us.... It seemed that the entire region was taken over by the German Alpenverein....
 Lots of volcanic rocks with beautiful colors....
Mountain Drama
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		New Strategy
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Mordor
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Juli in Mordor
Tongariro, 2 December 2002
Once up on the first main part of the hike, the view back was dramatic.
Whenever someone was in my photo, instead of just taking the picture, I directed them... 'If you are in my photo, you might as well, do me a favour' - And they all happily obliged... The guy here was also from Bavaria....
 The area higher up here was used to film Frodo's and Sam's trek into Mordor....
 Nothing special, just a photo of me after the two main ascents of the Tongario Crossing....
Mt. Ngauruhoe Crater
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Eye of the Sky
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Crater
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Angel Snow Patch
Tongariro, 2 December 2002
Looking down into the Crater
Opening up in the clouds was a brief look into the blue sky....
 Unfortunately, Mount Ngauruhoe in the back was covered in clouds.... It has the honor to serve as Mount Doom in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings....
 At least that's what it looks like in my eyes.... The ground was extremely hot here.... We knew we were on a hostile mountain....
Blue Lake
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Vista!
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Emerald Lakes
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Gabriel, Ines and Corri
Tongariro, 2 December 2002
Tongariro's Blue Lake...
Corinna and Ines in front of the blue lake and the emerald lakes....
 One of the most stunning views I've seen.... Especially if you are rewarded with their view after hiking up the mountain....
 About to start a snowball fight....
Scheh wars! (So far)
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Lake Taupo
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Clouds are letting loose
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Grey River
Tongariro, 2 December 2002
Two-thirds of our path was now behind us... now all we had to do was walk down into the valley towards Lake Taupo....
Lake Taupo as seen from heading further and further down....
 So... the rain started pouring hard... and the last three hours of our walk were spent wet, wet, wet....
 Warm, hot, smelly grey muddy water.... There are hot springs around but they are on private land, what a shame, would have been a great way to warm up....
Waiting for the Bus
Tongariro, 2 December 2002 		Roturoa
Roturoa, 3 December 2002 		Rainbow Colors
Roturoa, 3 December 2002 		Smelly Fog
Roturoa, 3 December 2002
Down at the end of the crossing, the groups of people waiting for the bus to come... Everyone was absolutely dripping wet, but the smile on everyone's faces shows how fantastic it was to walk the Tongariro Crossing.... My camera was totally wet, but - hey - it's a Canon with an L-Lens.... so all it showed was some dampness on the front lens and that was it...
Next day I arrived with a massive stiff muscles from the hike at Roturoa, a highly active thermal area in New Zealand....
 Was nice, but nothing special after I had seen Yellowstone National Park a few years before....
 Up in a thermal park in Roturoa.
Dolphins!
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Two dolphins
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Smoke blowing from it....
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Dolphin
White Island, 4 December 2002
I was going to go to White Island at 6am in the morning, but because of some engine trouble the boat wasn't going to leave until noon. I almost gave up on it as I wanted to head to Auckland, but at the last minute decided to go anyway.... Wow... Just the way there was amazing, when suddenly a flock of Dolphins appeared and swam with the boat....
White Island in the background...
 The most active volcano in New Zealand....
 Up Close just next to the boat... A short while later we encountered a huge sunfish... If our tour was going to be over then, I'd still be tremendously happy.
Safe Nesting Place
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Seagulls
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Nice Seagull Photo
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Former Mining Station
White Island, 4 December 2002
Most of White Island is inhabitable and the air is polluted and acidic... This side however has been turned into a nesting grounds.... There are no predators...
Bird Airport....
 I am getting good at those....
 White Island has had several lives in the past as a mining colony.... In the end however, a poisonous cloud wiped out several lives here....
Smoke from the crater
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Surface of the Moon
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Tour Guide
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Wood and Iron
White Island, 4 December 2002
Rising next to the ruins of the mining station....
An old boiler rusting in the middle of White Island...
 Explaining us how to use our gas masks....
 The air here is so acidic, it has destroyed almost everything - however any wood has remained absolutely impeccable.
Camera and a Gasmask
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Starring at the eruption
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Walking up towards the crater
White Island, 4 December 2002 		At the crater....
White Island, 4 December 2002
Is really all you need.
We were getting closer to the crater....
 Hearing the noise and the rumbling and feeling the hot ground shake underneath our feet.
 What a sight!
Lake and Eruption
White Island, 4 December 2002 		The second group
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Always take a geologist along
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Sulphur Stream
White Island, 4 December 2002
A poisonous green lake and next to it the eruption hole... Rocks flying out of it... And the smoke erupting in rumbling explosions, expanding and contracting... Amazing and a bit scary....
...looking into the crater....
 Eric from Germany is a geologist and explained to me all the different layers of iron, their coloring and substance and what this tells us about the volcano...
 Rotten eggs, anyone?
The scale of it all
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Rust
White Island, 4 December 2002 		More Rust
White Island, 4 December 2002 		Face says it all!
White Island, 4 December 2002
The crater in the back.... And a small tour group....
This is not wood... This is iron that the air has turned into a rusty sculpture...
 Peeling off like paper mache...
 Dolphins! Sunfish! Crater! Abandoned Mining Ghost Town! That was the crowing end to my vacation... Now all I had to do was rush for Auckland...
Whakatane Harbour
Whakatane, 4 December 2002 		Auckland's Radio Tower
Auckland, 4 December 2002 		America's Cup Preraces
Auckland, 5 December 2002 		Piha Beach
Piha, 5 December 2002
In the back is humpback island, which has been turned into a wildlife reservation park and is only open to the public between Christmas and New Years. In the front on the rock is a sculpture of the Lady of the Harbour... There was a nice story about it, but I wasn't paying too much attention....
Arrived before 10pm... No restaurant was open, just a Kebap store.... Kiwis go to bed early...
 Too bad I arrived in a week where everyone was resting for the finals in the Louis Vitton cup....
 Before getting to the airport I made a stop at Piha Beach... Can you recognize it from somewhere?
More Piha Beach
Piha, 5 December 2002 		Holger's Farewell Party
Hollywood, 8 December 2002 		New Best Friends
Hollywood, 8 December 2002 		I think....
Hollywood, 8 December 2002
It was used in the Piano... After my trip here, I rushed to the airport and then flew back to LA... Great vacation!
At the halfway house... The whole place was packed... and so many people were speaking Austrian or German.... Holger is leaving to Madrid after living in Hollywood for eight years....
 Janice and her new best friend....
 ...this picture sums it all up... But no worries, we are not as frat boyish as it looks here....
'Family' Reunion
Los Angeles, 11 December 2002 		The Bank of Scotland at Night
Edinburgh, 19 December 2002 		Scott Monument and Balmoral
Edinburgh, 19 December 2002 		Another year, another OWL Christmas Party
Edinburgh, 20 December 2002
The Outs, very old family friends were visiting LA and I met up with them in LA, munching on oysters and fish at McCormick and Schmick... When I was younger, my mum and Inge would swap the rebellious kids over the weekend to get peace of mind....
With the castle in the background. After losing my N4500, this had to be done with the Canon S110. Turned out to be quite good actually...
 The Building on the right is the Balmoral, Scotland's most prestigious hotel...
 Vicky and Andy from OWL....
Munich Christmas Party
Munich, 22 December 2002 		Hans' Van from Julep d'Orange
Munich, 22 December 2002 		Winter in Munich
Munich, 23 December 2002 		Orchester Buerger Kreitmeier
Freising, 23 December 2002
I went with Vreni and PW to a Christmas party at Hans' flatmates. He just returned from Montreal.
The photo on the background of Hans' van was made by Jerome when I was in Montreal on the same day when we went to the Julep d'Orange to photograph cars. I am sitting in the van on the left of the photo....
It was warm this time when I visited Munich. Blue Sky, 10 degrees celsius. Made it easier for me to get acclimatized.
 The brains behind 'Schultze und Schmidt'!
Inga and Fraenk
Freising, 23 December 2002
At the oddly (and idiotically) named 'Pornstarparty' at the Lindenkeller in Freising.
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