{"id":768,"date":"2018-12-02T23:26:44","date_gmt":"2018-12-02T23:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jochenhemmleb.com\/web\/?page_id=768"},"modified":"2018-12-02T23:26:44","modified_gmt":"2018-12-02T23:26:44","slug":"new-zealand-north-1996-97","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jochenhemmleb.com\/web\/en\/tours-expeditions\/new-zealand-north-1996-97\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand North – 1996\/97"},"content":{"rendered":"

It must have been around autumn 1995 when one of our professors at the Geology Department of Frankfurt University complained that nowadays students prefer doing their diploma thesis close to their homes. \u201cAlright then\u201d, said Barnim Schulze-Fielitz, Michael Credner and I, \u201cHow about a diploma thesis with a fieldwork area that is as far away from Germany as possible?\u201d Thanks to Professor Georg Kleinschmidt, who had a flair for far-away destinations (10 expeditions to Antarctica!) we got what we asked for \u2013 on New Zealand\u2019s South Island…<\/p>\n

In autumn 1996 the three of us flew to Christchurch, bought a car and drove to Arrowtown, where we were able to rent a house as our basecamp. We wanted to spend four months working in the field for our thesis, then spend two months traveling this incredibly varied country.<\/p>\n

The more accessible and logistically easier North Island I visited in early 1997 together with my mom: Auckland \u2013 Cape Reinga \u2013 Ninety Mile Beach \u2013 Bay of Islands \u2013 Orewa \u2013 Coromandel \u2013 Rotorua \u2013 Taupo \u2013 Mount Tongariro \u2013 Waitomo Caves \u2013 Napier \u2013 Wellington. Beaches, forests, islands, hot springs, geysers, volcanoes, caves, Art Deco…<\/p>\n