Wandering Fractal

Geyser in Te Puia. Rotorua is a city in a highly volcanic area. The first thing you will notice when arriving is that the whole city smell like rotten eggs. Volcanic water and fumes comes out from everywhere. I visited the Te Puia, a park run by the Maori of the nearby village. It mixes geysers and bubbling mud with a presentation of Maori culture. Another place to visit is the redwoods forest. More than a 100 years ago the government decided to plant various tree species to determine which one would grow better on New Zealand soil. The best species would be used for timber exportation. The redwoods forest is now a great day hike place. While walking on its trails you will encounter a huge mix of trees, from native ones to the Californians sequoia. Volcanic mudd in Te Puia. Small volcanic pond in the city. Volcanic spring in the Redwoods forest. The sulfur in the water keep the dead branches from degrading and gives the water this beautiful blue color. R

Tuvalu dancers and singers. First stop in New Zealand: Auckland. Biggest city with a population of 1.6 million. I wasn't too fond of the place, too hipster for me, but I was lucky to be there during the Pasifika festival. Held once a year, it gathers all the pacific island countries for a big cultural exchange. I could experience traditional dance, food and crafts. Meat and vegetables slow cooked in a buried hole. Hawaiian dancers.

The path we took and the place we visited. It's more than 1'800 km of train and boat. in 3 weeks Fortunately we had the Japan Rail Pass which made the trip affordable. After 5 weeks in Japan it's time to say goodbye. I left just at the start of the cherry blossoms period. The plum trees started to lose their flowers and let the cherry trees steal the show. Next stop: New Zealand. Plum blossoms. Cherry blossoms.

Kyushu is the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. We went down to Kagoshima. A city around a bay with an active volcano at its center. From there, we took a ferry to the island of Yakushima. We spent a few days hiking and soaking in natural hot springs. The best onsen of those three weeks was, without a doubt, the Hirauchi undersea hot spring. It's a group of pools that are under the sea during high tide. At low tide the pools fills up with spring water bursting from the rocks. If you're shy don't go there, cause it's unisex and you can't wear a swimsuit, just like the bath used to be in good old times. Dolphin from the Kagoshima aquarium. Three times a day they let them play in a closed part of the sea around the aquarium. Thus we could see them for free. Trail close to the summit of the Miyanoura dake. It's the highest peak of Yakushima and the whole Kyushu region (1936m). Yakushima is famous for it's forest covered in moss.

The Torri seen from the mountains. Miyajima is an island in the bay of Hiroshima. It has the famous Torii (sacred gate) in the sea. We spent a night on the island in a traditional house. During the day, there's a lot of tourist, but at night it's a completely different atmosphere. The village is desert of people and only the deer are roaming the streets. So if you want to go there, I would highly recommend to stay a night on the island. One of the many deer living on the island. At low tide, you can walk to the Torii. The sea floor is covered by coins of 1 Yen that people stuck in the cracks of the Torii. Yes, I like moss.