Te Anau, Ti amo

I will start with a small anedocte to explain why I knew I would love NZ. When Alberto wants to convince me to go to any place, he usually says the following: "Benj, we should go there, this is super good, there are blabla... and there is even a park there!!!!!" Well, for me NZ and especially the Southern Island is a place with only parks!!!

I arrived 4 days ago and I am already in love with the country, this is the most stunning nature I have ever seen.


After a ahort day in Queenstown where I'll be back in 2 weeks, I went to Te Anau, a place famous because it is on the road to the Milford Sound, one of the highlights of the Southern Island. I did not go there but to another one called Doubtful Sound because there are less tourists and it is deemed to be even more beautiful. Before getting there I did a half-day trek on a famous track and I saw some astonishing views of the lake that was my site of the night. Check the photos here as well as the video (for my parents so it's in French) I did and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Today I arrived in Wanaka on a clear sunny day and to be honest I got once again amazed by the beauty of the landscapes. See the video and the pictures and hope you enjoy it.

This is just so true

and it's Oscar who said it!!!

Bye bye Australia

Things have gone so fast. Lionel arrived (lionel, thanks so much for taking care of me when I was half dying and it was great to travel a bit with you), my ears got crazy, no time to rest and we are on our way to Melbourne and Cairns, saw Nemo and his family (check the photos of Lionel) and a shark (AWESOME) then back to Sydney and hop, it's time to board for Queenstown.

It has been hard to leave Australia because I really had a nice time there and I met really nice people but most importantly I had time to know them and this makes it even harder to leave.

I have spent my last night with my flatmates, we went to an oktoberfest party. Ahhhh those Germans having fun (singing weird songs, hammering nails in logs or dinging bells)!!! Well, I guess this is the nice diversity of Europe.... Anyway really good evening, the photos are in the Sydney album.

I was asked where do I put Australia with regards to the other countries I have visited. Well, since I had a life more similar to what I would do in Amsterdam I would say that I would put it next to Loas and Cambodia simply because it would not be fair to compare my experiences. I was not really backpacking like in South East Asia and I got much more time to know people which as I said made it hard to leave. Overall I had a really good time in Oz, I saw beautiful landscapes, a orange/red sky that did not happen since 70 years, surfed, saw lot of wildlife but more importantly my batteries are now ready for another half year if intensive traveling which will no doubt bring me a lot.

As for the bread and except the good bakery my flatmate knew this is not good and NZ is pretty much the same so far so I would put them just above Thailand.

Finally I wish I could have stayed in Australia and if I had to start my round the world trip now I would take 2 years, spend one in Oz (and work 6/9 months) then continue my journey. This is to show how I liked living in Australia.

I have updated the photo links on the right hand side. Check the end of the pictures of the trip of Lionel they include the pictures under the water from the Reef and check Sydney for the pictures of the sand storm and the BMWs.

South America

I know there is still 3 fantastic destinations before getting to this continent but I'm getting more and more excited about South America.

The fact is I met 4 South American (Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru) and each of them has been so friendly and awesome that it gives me support to practise/improve my Spanish to be more or less ready when I am there. They all told me many things about their countries (which I admit I know really bad) and I really feel like extending my stay in South America in order either to visit more than what I have in mind so far (Chile, Argentina, Peru and Bolivia) or to take more time to visit these 4 countries.

Thank you to each of you 4 to present me your continent and countries and I hope to see you either there or somewhere else!!!

Daniela from Brazil


Ricardo from Chile


Erika from Colombia



Susan from Peru

First pictures from Road Trip

Hey All,

The raodd trip is almost over and we arrive in Melbourne tomorrow.
It has been a lot of nature and so so weather but above all a lot of fun.

Here are the first pictures without comments I hope I have time at some point to add them.
Album Leo in Oz
Enjoy!!!

Benj