After passing by Otago Peninsula on our roundtrip through New Zealand we explored the South Lands which is called the Catlins. Here you can watch amazing sunsets, see waterfalls and the best swim with the smallest dolphins in the world.
Strolling through the hilly coastline of New Zealand feels like walking in heaven, at least to me. The grass is green, the sky is azure blue and cute little sheeps decorate the view. Fluffy clouds just pass by. You can hear the sound of the waves splashing against the cliffs. The sun is warming your face and a nice breeze flows around your body. The sweetest smell of nature surrounds you.
This was my first impression of New Zealand but now back to the serious stuff. Where to stay , where are the best hiking routes and where to spot the best wild life. The Otago Peninsula is the home of some very rare species like the Yellow-Eyed Penguin, Fur-Seals, Sea Lions and the Royal Albatross.
Japan’s cities are very clean and Japan is often cited as world leading in recycling. However, it is no co-incidence that Japan is good at recycling. Japanese people produce tonnes of plastic trash every single day. Actually it is even worse than in China. Everything you buy is wrapped in several layers of plastic so they have to be super efficient in recycling if they want to keep their cities clean. After traveling in Japan for 3 weeks we want to share our zero waste travel tips for Japan with you to be a good example and fight the plastic waste.
We spent 3 days in Osaka and never had problem finding some delicious vegan food. Osaka might not be a Mecca for vegans, but for the short time you will probably stay there you can find some really good vegan food in the city center. Like all vegan places in Japan, the opening hours are irregular so before you go somewhere make sure the places are really open on that day. Business days for restaurants in Japan seem almost random, some are closed on Monday and Tuesday, some on Wednesday and Thursday and some on Sundays. Therefore we also noted the opening hours of every restaurant below. Here is the list of the best vegan food in Osaka.
Nara, the first capital of Japan, is a one of the highlights of almost every Japan Itinerary. We really loved to stroll around the Nara Park and explore all the impressive temples. Below you can find a short summary about where to stay, our highlights and vegan food options. If you scroll down you can find a Google map with all important places marked. You can import this map to your own Google Maps and find all the places easily during your trip.
After all the jungle we really needed some beach. So we decided to rent a car and explore the tip of Borneo. We found an amazing camping spot which is called Secret Place. As I saw the place I immediately loved it.