Darek Kay

Sabbatical #08: Christchurch

2026-03-30T20:24:53+02:00

“It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life.”

― The Lord of the Rings

Now that I've explored the north island of New Zealand, it was time to head over to what many describe as "the better island". Initially, I had planned to stay in Christchurch for two nights, take a bus to Twizel, and borrow a small camper van from a friend. As these things go, the car engine broke a week before my arrival. Even though the peak season was coming to an end, the accommodation and rental car situation was still challenging. I managed to book one of the few available cars — for a small fortune — but I had to wait for three more nights to pick it up. I have rushed through the last two and a half weeks, so I wasn't too sad about the forced rest time.

Exploration

Christchurch isn't that exciting, but it has its own charm.

The city tram is an interesting way to do some sightseeing, but to be fair, the stops are all within a walkable distance. For longer distances, you can use Lime or — better and cheaper — Flamingo scooters.

The New Regent Street is a short pedestrian street with 40 cafés, restaurants and shops. Its Spanish Mission architectural style makes it a popular tourist destination.

The botanical garden is a great place to enjoy some nature on a sunny day. A rosarium includes countless rose species.

The Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial is a memorial for those killed in the fatal Christchurch earthquake in 2011.

The Riverside Market is a popular food market amongst tourists. I visited it a few times and all the food was great.

As other places in New Zealand, Christchurch is also full of graffiti art.

Here are some more shots I got during my time in Christchurch.

International Antarctic Centre

Christchurch is one of only five Antarctic gateway cities in the world (next to Chile, Argentina, South Africa and Australia). It makes sense that there is an International Antarctic Centre and a corresponding exhibition to learn more about that continent.

The Hägglunds field trip is a major attraction. Hägglunds is the company that built Bandvagn 206: an all-terrain carrier, initially built for the Swedish Army, and later used to navigate through Antarctica. A 15-minute ride simulates all the challenges the vehicle faces on the rough terrain.

The Storm Experience simulates the weather conditions in Antarctica. The room is usually -8°C cold, but every few minutes, a storm cools down the room to chilly -18°C.

The Little Blue Penguin (Kororā) is New Zealand’s smallest penguin. The Penguin Rescue holds up to 26 of those cute animals.

Experiences

It's possible to rent a kayak on the Avon river, which winds through the botanical garden. It was rather chilled, but a good preparation for a longer kayak trip that I've planned.

Over three weeks after my last session, I finally got back into a bouldering gym!

I've had some shoulder pains for the last few weeks, so I decided to get a Thai massage for the first time in my life Unfortunately, it didn't solve the issues, but it was good nonetheless.

Fauna

The paradise shelducks are endemic and common across New Zealand. They are highly monogamic, and I almost always encountered them as a pair. A guide mentioned that once a paradise duck dies, their partner might follow soon after. It's poetic and sad at the same time.

The California quail is an introduced species. I encountered a family in the botanical garden.

Sabbatical #07: Waitomo

2026-03-12T20:05:42+01:00

“I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can't turn back.”

― The Lord of the Rings

Black Abyss

Waitomo is mostly known for their glowworm caves. Most people book a short boat ride to view the countless New Zealand glowworms (Arachnocampa luminosa). I probably wouldn't include this activity in my trip if there wasn't a much more adventurous alternative: the Black Abyss, a caving tour.

After putting on a wetsuit, you start with a 35 m abseil into a pitch dark cave. While you're waiting for the others, you can already admire the first glowworms.

Next, you do a short zipline inside the cave, with more glowworms above you.

After a short break with hot chocolate and a cookie, you jump with a big tube into the dark, refreshing water.

What follows is a short light painting photo session.

For the next hour or so, you are swimming and/or floating on your tube through the big cave. Despite the wetsuit and the hot chocolate, it was freezing cold, getting worse over time. My teeth were chattering, slightly distracting from the otherwise awesome experience.

Once you reach a dead end, you form a "tube train" with your group, and the guide slowly pulls you all back to the starting point. You can now once again enjoy thousands of glowworms in what feels like a star-spangled sky. You also learn a few interesting facts about those creatures. Glowworms are not related to fireflies in any way. It's mostly the larvae that exhibit the largest bioluminescence. They use this technique to attract prey, and the hungriest individuals will glow the strongest.

There's also a small waterfall, which makes for another great photo opportunity.

After you give back your tube, you'll continue the caving tour by foot, following more narrow passages.

Finally, you are given a decision to leave the cave the easy way, or climb your way out on cascading underground waterfalls. I probably don't have to mention, which option I've chosen 🧗

I expected this to be the highlight of the north island, and I wasn't disappointed! While I've had many "first time" experiences in New Zealand, this tour combined a couple of those in a 4–5 hour time span.

Omaru Falls

On my way to Waitomo, I did a short walk to the Omaru Falls.

I can imagine the waterfall looking nice during sunshine, but after rain it's just a brown soup falling down. With long exposure, it still looks interesting, though.

Fauna

There are no (new) birds this time, but I've made some other encounters.

Another cicada

A single goat chilling at a river.

A captivated T-Rex in Te Kuiti

Sabbatical #06: Tongariro National Park

2026-03-10T19:42:06+01:00

“One does not simply walk into Mordor.”

― The Lord of the Rings

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is regarded as among the top ten one-day treks in the world. The hike (or as New Zealanders call them: tramp) covers 1126 meters of elevation over a distance of 20.2 km and takes between 6 and 8 hours to complete during summer. The extreme weather and an active volcanic landscape make it even more difficult. Some people take it too lightly (as I can attest), resulting in this track having the highest number of search and rescues for hikers in New Zealand. I'm used to 7–12 km hikes of moderate difficulty, so I was slightly concerned, but in the end I took on the challenge.

The usual approach is to leave the car at the Ketetahi car park, get a shuttle to the beginning of the track, and then walk back to your car. The weather was perfect and the journey could begin.

During the first third of the track, you're passing the eastern base of Mount Ngauruhoe: an active volcano that was used as Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings. The landscape starts more like Rohan, but soon enough changes into Mordor.

As if the hike wasn't challenging enough, you can opt in for a few side quests. The first one is a short walk to the Soda Springs.

After clearing the first bigger climb, I was thinking "it's not that bad", only to meet this nice cardboard lady to tell me this was the easy part. I overheard a few people contemplating their decision to do the hike.

The next climb is indeed more challenging, but still doable. You are rewarded with a few minutes on flat surface, which looks like a desert.

The next short detour from the main track leads to one of my favourite views of Mount Ngauruhoe ("Mount Doom").

Right before the steepest climb of the hike you are once again encouraged to turn back. After high-fiving this nice fella, I continued my journey.

As I was climbing up, the view was getting even better.

From the Red Crater summit, you can see the iconic Emerald Lakes. The color is caused by minerals from the surrounding thermal environment.

To reach them, the biggest challenge of the hike has to be completed: getting down the steep and stony road. Most of the injuries happen during this part.

You can also do it the Hobbit style.

After passing the next section, look back for another stunning view. In the right upper corner you can see the Red Crater summit and the path leading down. The light and shadow reminded me of Gandalf riding in front of Minas Tirith.

There is one final climb to complete. At this point, the first half of the hike was over. While it has been physically exhausting, the ever-changing spectacular views made up for it. The second half has been far less enjoyable. The 10 km downhill road didn't raise my heart rate like the climbs did, but it was a real challenge for my knees. I could see my destination most of the time: it's the short vertical line in the upper middle part of the next image. Due to the endless zig-zag road, I didn't seem to get any closer.

The last part of the official track was a subtropical forest, but it was still downhill.

It took me exactly 7 hours to complete the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, with additional 13 minutes to get back to the car park. I only took short breaks, mostly for taking lots of pictures.

More importantly, I've proven that one does simply walk into Mordor! Although I wish I had the Eagles for the second part. The journey through "Mordor" felt similar to what Frodo and Sam went through 😄

White Water Rafting

The next day, I was planning to relax and recover from my hike. However, I learned about White Water Rafting in Turangi, so no chill day for me 😆

The weather was "perfect": the first day of my travel with heavy rain. I preferred that to a sunny day, as I didn't have to care about sunscreen, and it also added a little bit of mist, making the rafting more mysterious.

The track included 60 rapids in a 13 km stretch, with the highest level of 3, which roughly means "thrilling without being too extreme". It was still a lot of fun, and the scenery made us feel like being in Jurassic Park.

There was one spot where we were allowed to jump into the refreshing 10–12 °C water. Say no more! It was indeed very cold, but the adrenaline made it bearable.

Tawhai Falls

In the south of the Tongariro National Park are the Tawhai Falls, also known as "Gollum's Pool", after the Forbidden Pool from The Lord of the Rings. I've recreated the famous fish scene from the movie with a long exposure shot.

Huka Falls

On my way to Tongariro, I had a quick stop at the Huka Falls. The interesting cloud formation adds to the scene in my opinion.

Fauna

During the rafting tour, we were lucky to see 11 blue ducks, incl. two chicklets. They are endemic to New Zealand and there are only around 2500–3000 of them left, which classifies them as endangered.

Kiwis usually call blue ducks by its Māori name whio (pronounced /ˈfiɔː/), which comes from the male's high-pitched whistle call.

Obviously, I didn't have my camera with me during rafting, so all that's left is a memory.

I also took a better shot of an Australian magpie in Taupō.

Sabbatical #05: Rotorua Lakes

2026-03-03T22:26:46+01:00

“When in doubt, follow your nose.”

― The Lord of the Rings

As a Lord of the Rings fan, visiting Hobbiton was non-negotiable. Everything was booked out for February, and I was almost considering changing my trip route. Fortunately, there were some external provider tickets left, incl. a bus transfer. This led me to the interesting city of Rotorua.

Hobbiton

Hobbiton was the village of our favorite hobbits from the Tolkien world. After the filming of The Lord of the Rings had finished, the temporary movie set near Matamata has been disassembled. Hobbiton was later completely rebuilt for The Hobbit, and knowing the potential, it was turned into a tourist magnet.

As already mentioned, I have booked the tour with a bus transfer, and it was absolutely worth it. Our bus driver, Ngata, provided an entertaining, engaging and informative environment during the entire trip. I've learned a lot about the history of New Zealand, the Māori culture, but also the "sweet as" Kiwi phrase (which means something like "alright").

Another sunny day in New Zealand really brought out the green color of The Shire. Umbrellas were provided as a shield against the harsh sun, and having learned my lesson, I gladly took one.

To make Hobbiton as "real" as possible, much of the things you can see is real. For example, the honey jars contain actual honey collected within the village.

What makes Hobbiton come alive are all the cute hobbit houses. While the doors can be opened in theory, the houses are usually empty inside.

The only exception are two houses on Bagshot Row, which offer a way to explore the interior of a hobbit's home. Our guide emphasized that it's not a museum, so we were encouraged to feel at home, e.g., lie in the tiny beds.

Fun fact for all the movie nerds out there: I did bump my head on the ceiling unintentionally, but not as hard as Sir Ian McKellen.

The tour ended with an ale from The Green Dragon Inn (noticeably altering my state, as I rarely drink alcohol 🥴) and a buffet lunch inside The Party Marquee. I joined a family from the US, and I learned from the mom about a Lord of the Rings movie location tour on the south island. I guess my journey through Middle-Earth doesn't end here!

Exploration

While Hobbiton was my main thing to visit, there's just so much more to do and see around Rotorua.

Rotorua visitor center building

The Māori culture is omnipresent in the city.

I love how even the smallest towns have beautiful murals on their buildings. It's rare to see graffiti vandalism in New Zealand.

The city itself is known for geothermal activity, incl. geysers. The hydrogen sulphide gas gives Rotorua its "rotten egg" smell. It's bearable and you kind of get used to it, but I wouldn't like to live there.

You can visit the Kuirau Park in the middle of Rotorua for free, which gives you a first glimpse into the impressive natural spectacle.

Those pools can reach 100 °C, so you will find warnings everywhere.

For an even better experience, there are more geothermal attractions in the area. I decided to go to Wai-O-Tapu, one of the more popular spots.

The Whakarewarewa forest (also called Redwoods) is a great place for a hike, offering routes of all lengths. The name comes from the Californian Coast Redwoods, one of the tallest and longest-living trees on Earth. It is indeed a little bit intimidating and definitely worth a visit.

Maunga Kākaramea (Rainbow Mountain) was slightly disappointing, but it probably looks better during sunshine.

I did a hike around the Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake) and Lake Rotokakahi (Green Lake). Kiwis are definitely not the most creative with namings. It was nice, but the missing sunshine didn't bring out any of the promised colors.

While the Blue Spring in Putāruru is technically not part of Rotorua Lakes, it is one of the most popular day trips. The reason is that it has some of the purest water in the world. The source supplies around 70% of New Zealand's bottled water.

Experiences

Rotorua offers many interesting activities to choose from. Despite all the exciting offerings, I have mostly focused on nature and socializing. Except for the highest commercial rafting drop of 7 meters, I do not regret that decision.

Fauna

Let's start with the Eurasian chaffinch, which — as the name suggests — is a species that has been introduced to New Zealand.

Another introduced species is the song thrush.

The welcome swallow seems to be common in Rotorua. It is native to Australia and believed to have flown to New Zealand in the twentieth century.

I've seen some black swans along the way.

The Australasian swamphen (also known as pūkeko) can be found everywhere, incl. city parks.

The pied stilt didn't care about the high temperature of the hot pools.

The New Zealand scaup was the only (new) endemic species I have spotted. They're called "Maoriente" (Māori duck) in German.

I can't identify those parrots, but I did catch them in-flight after listening to their songs for a while.

At Hobbiton, I've seen some butterflies, which I believe to be the Monarch species.

Takeaways

Because of its central location, Rotorua is a hub for backpackers. Most of them are traveling by bus, so the demand for people with cars is high to get to some remote spots. I've planned a day trip and asked around if anyone would like to join me. Two people happily did, and we even picked up another person during the trip. While I do love solo traveling, spending the day with other people really made my day.

Fun fact: Because of my jet lag, I've been waking up between 5 and 7 am, so I didn't set up my alarm clock. Well, my body finally took what it needed and I slept for 10 hours, missing our agreed schedule. It still did work out in the end, though.

Sabbatical #04: Coromandel Peninsula

2026-02-19T01:44:09+01:00

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

― The Lord of the Rings

After staying in Auckland for three nights, it was time for a road trip on the north island of New Zealand!

Driving in New Zealand

Signs often remind drivers to use the correct side of the road

I felt prepared for my journey, but there was one thing I was concerned about: driving on the "wrong" side of the road. I prefer to travel by train or bus whenever possible, but in New Zealand, it would have been too limiting and too stressful. I don't have that much driving experience, and maybe that's what actually helped me — despite the massive jet lag I still had. The technical part of driving while seated on the right side of the car was surprisingly easy, as if it didn't make any difference at all. Everything is mirrored except for the pedals. A giveaway for tourists coming from right-side driving countries are active windshield wipers on a sunny day. ~~I am proud to announce that it didn't happen to me even once! 😎~~. Later, I have found out that the controls weren't actually inversed, so there's nothing to be proud about 😅

As for the participation in the road traffic, it wasn't too bad, either. In the beginning, I've followed the Japanese "pointing and calling" technique to constantly remind myself of the traffic rules. After a couple of days, it felt completely natural. At one point, I even started to enjoy driving.

Getting around the Coromandel Peninsula means taking State Highway 25: 270 km of winding and hilly roads with almost 1000 curves. So many car accidents happen here that a "Stay alive on 25" road safety campaign has been started. It was basically one curve following another, but again, it was quite okay. I guess the scenery made the trip worth it.

Now some insights and fun facts around driving in New Zealand:

"Slow vehicle bays" are common on curvy and/or tight roads. I've used them both to let others pass me or to pass others myself. I love that concept!
"Passing lanes" are sporadic ~1 km long lanes to overtake other cars. The sign always states to "stay left unless passing". Once, a slow car intentionally moved to the right lane to let others pass — a tourist following their habits I assume. Interestingly, it is allowed to overtake other cars from both sides in New Zealand.
The traffic cone per capita is 42. Okay, I've made up that number, but they are everywhere. There are lots of "road works" with hunderds of traffic cones on the side of the road and nothing else. People usually drive 80 km/h through those 30 km/h sectors.

Pro tip: put on some Lord of the Rings music to make the trip even more epic! 🧝‍♀️🧙‍♂️

Even a short traffic jam looks like a fairy tale in New Zealand

Exploration

I drove around the entire Coromandel Peninsula and stayed in Coromandel Town and Tairua. The entire route is scenic and offers lots of lookouts along the way.

Am I the only one who sees a huge duck here?

A sundown at Coromandel Town

I was considering to visit the Cathedral Cove or the Hot Water Beach, but they seem to be overrun by tourists. I've learned from some locals about the New Chum Beach and decided to go there instead. It is a deserted beach and ranked among the Top 10 beaches in the world. There are no buildings, roads or infrastructure. You can only get there by boat or a 30-minute hike, which is what I chose to do.

The beach is only accessible at low tide, as you have to pass through a stream of water. When I arrived, it was deeper and wider than expected, but after putting on my swimming shorts, I've got to the other side.

People hesitating to cross the water

Then, the actual hike began, following the rocky coast and a coastal jungle.

Finally, I was rewarded with a beautiful view of a huge beach with only a few people.

As a child, I could stay the whole day in the sea. Somewhere along the way, I have lost the enjoyment of outdoor swimming. However, I could not resist here, having a piece of the beach all to myself. That was my first swim in the Pacific Ocean!

On the way back, I've climbed (literally) to a lookout for an even better view.

Despite putting an SPF 50 sunscreen twice, I've got an unwanted reminder of my trip for the next few days. The sun really is harsh here (not that I wasn't warned about it before).

Experiences

I also did a few activities during my short stay on the peninsula.

First, I took a trip with the Driving Creek Railway — a narrow mountain railway. It was constructed by Barry Brickell, who dedicated his life to this project, among with his passion for pottery. I was fortunate to be on a tour with only two other passengers, making it even more enjoyable. We had to stop multiple times to change the direction and get over steep passages. At the top of the track, we've reached the Eyeful Tower (pun intended), with a great overview of the region.

A much bigger tourist group on another railway

This reminds me of a Studio Ghibli anime

For the next day, I have booked a zipline tour with the same company. Riding all eight ziplines with a total of 200m was a fun experience. The highlight were two tracks where it was possible to go upside down. I don't know why no one else dared to try it, as it made the ride so much more exciting!

Zip-lining the 'down under' way

In Tairua, I've booked a boat trip to the Aldermen Islands. In the last century, the access was strictly restricted, mostly to the Department of Conservation and other environmental organizations, making the islands a perfect place for fauna and flora that can't be found anywhere on the mainland.

After seeing lots of birds and learning more about the islands, our skipper got us to a beautiful snorkeling place. Most of the passengers were Kiwis, and it was fun to see how everyone — from children to grandparents — immediately went into the water. I've never snorkeled before, but I was more than curious to try it out. After getting a quick introduction, I (literally) took the plunge and jumped off the boat into the refreshing ocean. It was a weird feeling to have the face underwater, and yet being able to breath. However, I've had difficulties breathing calmly, and my mask filling with water made it even more challenging. Our skipper brought some Kina (sea urchin) from the sea floor, both to bait the fish and to have us try it. Kina is considered a New Zealand delicacy. I've enjoyed the experience of tasting raw, fresh sea urchin, but I doubt I will ever eat this slimy and crunchy meal again 😅

A rock resembling a Maori guard, watching over the islands

Fauna

On my way to New Chum Beach, I've encountered two variable oystercatchers. Their name refers to the frontal plumage, which differs based on the latitude of the habitat. They are endemic to New Zealand.

Cormorants can be often spotted near the sea.

While we all know gulls as food-stealing creatures roaming populated areas, their natural habitat looks more like that:

Here's a high key photo I like of what I believe to be a flock of ducks:

Finally, all woods were full of cicadas. In the Driving Creek, there were so many of them, that sometimes it was difficult to talk to others.

Takeaways

I've been always drawn to try new things, but the last few days pushed it to a new level. I'm becoming more and more a Yes Man, taking up any opportunity that arises. I'm loving the freedom and all the new experiences!

Sabbatical #03: Auckland

2026-02-15T22:33:42+01:00

“This is it. If I take one more step, I'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been.”

― The Lord of the Rings

Kia Ora!

Jet lag

As usual, I was unable to get any sleep during my 16-hour flight. My plan was to go to bed at 23:00 local time and wake up 8–10 hours later, magically adjusting to the new time zone. Well, (un)surprisingly, it didn't work out. The first few days, I was waking up at 3–5 a.m. But the lack of sleep and the fatigue wasn't the only problem: I was dizzy and had headaches most of the time. Additionally, due to my planning mistake, I've got one day less to adjust.

In total, it took me seven days to get back into a somewhat normal sleep cycle.

Exploration

Most people only visit Auckland for one or two days or skip it entirely. I wouldn't call the biggest city in New Zealand boring, especially as a street photographer, but it's true that it's not super exciting compared to the rest of the country. I still wish I had one more day to explore one of the islands in the Golf von Hauraki, though.

The Viaduct Harbour and the nearby Wynyard Quarter are one of the main tourist spots.

The Auckland Domain is the oldest park in the city. It's a great introduction into the "New Zealand green" color palette.

If life gives you jet lag, you watch the sunrise at Maungawhau (Mount Eden), the tallest volcano and the highest natural point in Auckland. I decided to make the best out of the situation and grabbed a Lime scooter (my second time ever) in the middle of the night. I've also used the chance to get a little experience with left-side driving. The last 15min or so I had to walk, but it was an easy ascent.

I arrived right before the sunrise. The only other people were joggers or people with dogs, so it was rather peaceful. I wasn't sure if I will see the sun at all, as the whole sky was covered by clouds. Fortunately, there was a small gap, making the moment even more magical.

“A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night.”

The Sky Tower is an iconic landmark in Auckland. With 328m, it is the tallest structure in New Zealand, surpassing the Eiffel Tower by 4 meters.

There are glass floors one can walk on for a little bit of thrill.

Experiences

Speaking of the Sky Tower, I also did my first adrenaline-based activities of my sabbatical.

On the SkyWalk, you walk around the outside ring of the Sky Tower, with no handrails. As this is not terrifying enough, you are ~~peer pressured~~ encouraged to do some extracurricular activities, like leaning forward/back or walking while looking up. It was way more intense than I have expected!

The SkyJump is a controlled free fall. You descend for about 11 seconds, reaching around 85 km/h, before landing safely on the ground.

I'm glad I did both! While the SkyJump offers a quick, high-intensity rush, the SkyWalk maintains a high adrenaline level over a much longer period.

I also visited the Wētā Workshop Unleashed. Wētā is known for their movie visual effects, especially for Lord of the Rings (LOTR) and Avatar, for which they have won several Academy Awards and BAFTA Awards. In roughly two hours, you learn a lot about animatronics, costumes, scene building and more. There were only a few things from LOTR (their Wellington experience is focused on that), but it was still fun and informative.

It takes several months to years to create one figure like that.

Actors have to sit for hours during the face casting process.

Fauna

The only bird I have seen in Auckland that is native to New Zealand was the silver gull, and — as expected — they were everywhere.

At Mount Eden, I have spotted a yellowhammer. It's interesting and disappointing at the same time to visit New Zealand only to spot a European bird, which was brought to the country in the 19th century.

Last but not least, there are lots of Australian magpies. Fun fact: those birds are not related to magpies, the naming comes only due to the visual similarities. Unfortunately, it's an invasive species, but it's not as bad as the common myna.

I also saw this little bug. AI recognition suggests a cicada, but it doesn't look like all the other cicadas I've seen.

Story time

While I despise Musk, I did appreciate the (free) fast Starlink connection throughout my flight. Being able to stream a TV series at 37.000 feet over the Indian Ocean from my home server is astonishing.

Takeaways

Similar to Qatar, people in New Zealand are welcoming and kind. I feel like I need to mention it specifically, as I am not used to it. Don't get me wrong, most Germans are friendly as well, but we usually don't show that level of involment or interest. You won't ever hear "Hey, how are you doing?" from a vendor in Germany.

Except for the jet lag, it's been a great start into my New Zealand journey!

As I focus on actually doing stuff here in New Zealand (the FOMO is real), I will continue to publish new posts with a delay.

Sabbatical #02: Doha

2026-02-09T16:52:20+01:00

“Home is behind, the world ahead and there are many paths to tread, through shadows to the edge of night, until the stars are all alight.”

― The Lord of the Rings

My journey began with a few obstacles. After boarding the plane to Qatar, it took more than three hours for the departure. First, we went for the mandatory de-icing. Then, there was a medical emergency on board, which took so long that a second de-icing was necessary. Safety goes first, and it was all beyond control, but it's been exhausting nonetheless. Now, let's talk about things one can influence: why did we all suddenly stop caring about basic hygienic behavior soon after Covid-19 "was over"? It was the biggest coughing concerto I've heard in months, and no one cared about wearing a mask or even using their sleeves as cover. I wore my mask for almost nine hours, which fortunately prevented any transmittance.

Fortunately, all of that would be soon forgotten 😊

Exploration

Souq Waqif is a traditional market in the center of Doha — calm during the day and vibrant in the evening. While it is slightly touristy, locals also buy their groceries here. There's also a bird market, with all kinds of birds (like parrots, chicken and pigeons). I went there a few times, as my hotel was nearby, and it was a great experience each time.

Katara is a cultural center in Doha. The complex is amazing in itself. Like many parts of the city, everything is new/modern, but with a traditional look. There are many places to visit, most (if not all) for free. I went to a fine-art gallery and a post stamp exposition (mostly due to a colleague being a collector himself), but my highlight was a photography exposition. Not only was it about street photography, but it offered an interesting twist: two works from two different photographers were presented as a diptych — a juxtaposition of two independent images with shared properties.

The Pearl Island is an artificial island and rather posh. There was a full moon the day I visited, which offered some additional photographic opportunities.

The Qanat Quartier, located on the Pearl Island, is a Venice-inspired district (including a small Rialto bridge replica). It was nice and I did get some Venice vibes, but I wouldn't consider it a must-see spot.

I didn't visit the Museum of Islamic Art, but the building and the surrounding park are amazing.

I did however visit the National Museum of Qatar. The architecture is spectacular and can be admired for free. The museum offers an interactive insights into the Qatar history, fauna and flora.

Before catching my flight to Auckland, I went to the Box Park with its colorful containers.

Next to the Box Park is the Mina District, and boy do I wish I had discovered it earlier. It's a treasure for all the minimalism and/or street photographers.

Experiences

The time was too short to do any thrilling activities, but I still had a few heart-stopping encounters. While the public transportation in Doha is great and dirt cheap, the city is not built for pedestrians.

After taking some dubious paths on the Pearl Island, I arrived at a roundabout with a constant car flow. While a British couple turned around, I moved on, knowing there was no other option without walking back a long way. On the way to the National Museum of Qatar, I got stuck for some time between two busy three-lane roadways, along with a tourist couple.

Fauna

The most common bird I've seen was — unsurprisingly — the pigeon. But I'm always up for a good pigeon shot, and this one I like in particular:

I've also spotted a laughing dove:

A bird, that I've seen for the first time (and then pretty much everywhere) was the common myna. Unfortunately, it is an invasive species, and like many countries, Qatar is actively hunting them to lower their population.

Apart from birds, there were lots of stray cats roaming the streets. Here's a funny juxtaposition (no, the person did not try to catch the cat):

Food

It wouldn't be a travel without trying some local food. Here are some noteworthy mentions:

Majbous (also known as Kabsa), basically chicken with rice and spices
A Qatari crêpe (eggs, cheese, chilli and Oman chips)
Margoga, a vegetable stew with raw dough

The last two I've got from the Souq Waqif street food ladies.

Story time

As a preparation for my 16-hour flight to New Zealand, my plan was to sleep late. The plan worked too well, as I nearly missed my check-out time after ignoring both my alarm clocks. But that was just a beginning, as my pick-up driver in Auckland asked me if I was already past the immigration. Let's just say: the next time that I will travel to a destination with a significant time difference, I will tripple-check the booking dates 😅 After letting my hotel know that I will check-in a day later, I moved on slightly annoyed at myself.

Takeaways

As someone who has only traveled twice outside of Europe (both time to India, work-related), it took me a little time to adjust and overcome the sensory overload. Some of my observations:

In general, people are way more communicative and friendly than in Germany.
There are fewer tourists compared to Europe.
There are (free) toilets everywhere.
I was more careful and respectful with my style of street photography. Apart from some questions about what I was doing, I've had no issues.
I am overall happy with my travel setup, especially with my sling bag.

After spending almost three days in Doha, Qatar, I wish I had planned one or two more days. I had some more spots on my list that I didn't manage to visit, e.g., Education City or Banana Island (gotta love the names).

All in all, it's been a great start to my sabbatical!

You'll notice that it took me exactly one post to abandon the highlight/lowlight/learning section, as it's difficult to name just one. I was considering a chronological journal, but using categories might make more sense. Let's see how it goes.

Sabbatical #01: Getting ready

2026-01-29T16:59:27+01:00

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

― The Lord of the Rings

Last year, I made a decision to take a five-month sabbatical (an extended leave from work). Tomorrow, my journey will finally begin! 🌴 I mostly want to travel the world, but I will also focus on self-discovery and pushing my personal limits.

Route

My goal is not to visit all the tourist hotspots or collect as many countries as possible. Instead, I will focus on experiences that I enjoy: exploring new places, hiking through nature, observing animals in the wild and seeking adventures that get my adrenaline pumping. Of course, I will capture all these moments with my camera.

My current travel plan is as follows:

Qatar: 3 nights
New Zealand: 5.5 weeks
Australia: 2.5 weeks
Japan: 6–7 weeks

At the time of writing, I don't know yet what countries I will visit after Japan, but I'm planning to stay in South East Asia for the last few weeks.

Equipment

I've decided early on to travel carry-on only. I will be changing locations a lot, often using public transport, so a lower weight and size is highly appreciated. This decision lead me down the rabbit hole of "one-bag traveling" (although I will be traveling with a backpack and a sling bag). It all comes down to taking only the bare necessities and minimizing the weight and volume as much as possible. I tested my setup on Tenerife last December, giving me the confidence that it's feasible. I won't share my full packing list, but I want to highlight some relevant decisions.

Patagonia Black Hole 32L backpack. With only 760 g, it's one of the lightest options I could find, while still fulfilling carry-on limits.
Think Tank Vision 13 sling bag.
Alpin Loacker merino wool clothes.
MacBook, mainly for planning and photo/video editing.
Peak Design packing cube (small) and ultralight packing cube (x-small).
Minix P3 with plugs for all the countries I will visit.
Fujifilm X-T5 camera with four lenses, covering all the situations I will encounter.
DJI Osmo Pocket 3 camera. I only took it because I still had some place left and I think there will be a couple of situations where it will come in handy.

Most airlines in Asia have a 7 kg limit for the main carry-on item. To fulfill those requirements, I will put all my camera gear and my laptop into the sling bag, which counts as a personal item and usually doesn't have any weight limits. In total, my baggage weights "only" 12.5 kg + 1 l of water.

Journaling

Photos and videos will cover most of my journaling needs, but I also want to share some experiences with my family, friends and colleagues (👋). I have stolen the idea from a colleague to share one highlight and one lowlight in each post, but I will be also adding a learning and a quote from The Lord of the Rings 🧝🏻. It's my first travel blog, so the structure will probably change over time.

I was thinking about using an app like Polarsteps, but I prefer to keep full control over my content. Instead, I will document my journey here on my blog. I'm planning to post updates every 1–2 weeks, but I don't know if I will be able to keep up.

If you want to follow my journey, you can subscribe with RSS to all my posts or just the travel-specific posts. If you're not using RSS, check my travel posts from time to time.

Highlight: The wait is finally over 🥳
Lowlight: Leaving my home, friends and family behind for five months 😞
Learning: I should have tried to finish all the tasks well before the last day 😅

Grab browser links and titles in one click

2025-01-03T11:56:06+01:00

When I copy a browser tab URL, I often want to also keep the title. Sometimes I want to use the link as rich text (e.g., when pasting the link into OneNote or Jira). Sometimes I prefer a Markdown link. There are browser extensions to achieve this task, but I don't want to introduce potential security issues. Instead, I've written a bookmarklet based on this example extension.

To use it, drag the following link onto your browser bookmarks bar:

Copy Tab

When you click the bookmark(let), the current page including its title will be copied into your clipboard. You don't even have to choose the output format: the link is copied both as rich text and plain text (Markdown). This works because it's possible to write multiple values into the clipboard with different content types.

Here's the source code:

function escapeHTML(str) {
  return String(str)
    .replace(/&/g, "&amp;")
    .replace(/"/g, "&quot;")
    .replace(/'/g, "&#39;")
    .replace(/</g, "&lt;")
    .replace(/>/g, "&gt;");
}

function copyToClipboard({ url, title }) {
  function onCopy(event) {
    document.removeEventListener("copy", onCopy, true);
    // hide the event from the page to prevent tampering
    event.stopImmediatePropagation();
    event.preventDefault();

    const linkAsMarkdown = `[${title}](${url})`;
    event.clipboardData.setData("text/plain", linkAsMarkdown);

    const linkAsHtml = `<a href="${escapeHTML(url)}">${title}</a>`;
    event.clipboardData.setData("text/html", linkAsHtml);
  }
  document.addEventListener("copy", onCopy, true);
  document.execCommand("copy");
}

copyToClipboard({ url: window.location.toString(), title: document.title });

Open Graph images: Format compatibility across platforms

2024-11-17T14:31:05+01:00

While redesigning my photography website, I've looked into the Open Graph (OG) images, which are displayed when sharing a link on social media or messaging apps. Here's an example from WhatsApp:

For each photo that I publish, I create a WebP thumbnail for the gallery. I wanted to use those as OG images, but the WebP support was lacking, so I've been creating an additional JPG variant just for Open Graph. I was interested in seeing how things have changed in the last 2.5 years.

I've tested the following platforms: WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Discord, Slack, Teams, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing, Bluesky, Threads and Phanpy (Mastodon). Here are the results:

All tested providers support JPEG and PNG.
All tested providers except Xing support WebP.
No tested provider except Facebook supports AVIF. WhatsApp displays the AVIF image, but the colors are broken.
"X, formerly Twitter" didn't display OG images for my test pages at all. I don't care about that platform, so I didn't bother to further investigate.

Those results confirmed that I could now use WebP Open Graph images without creating an additional JPG file.

A guide to bookmarklets

2024-11-04T20:01:05+01:00

I'm a frequent user of bookmarklets. As I'm sharing some of them on my blog, I wrote this post to explain what bookmarklets are and how to use them.

In short, a bookmarklet is a browser bookmark containing JavaScript code. Clicking the bookmark executes the script in the context of the current web page, allowing users to perform tasks such as modifying the appearance of a webpage or extracting information. Bookmarklets are a simpler, more lightweight alternative to browser extensions, Chrome snippets, and userscripts.

How to add a bookmarklet?

Here's an example to display a browser dialog with the title of the current web page:

Display page title

You can click the link to see what it does. To run this script on other websites, we have to save it as a bookmarklet. My preferred way is to drag the link onto the bookmarks toolbar:

Another way is to right-click the link to open its context menu:

In Firefox, you can then select "Bookmark Link…". Other browsers make it a little more difficult: select "Copy Link (Address)", manually create a new bookmark, and then paste the copied URL as the link target.

Once created, you can click the bookmark(let) on any web page to display its title. Scroll further down to see more useful use cases.

How to write a bookmarklet?

Let's start with the code for the previous bookmarklet example:

window.alert(document.title)

To turn that script into a bookmarklet, we have to put javascript: in front of it:

javascript:window.alert(document.title)

To keep our code self-contained, we should wrap it with an IIFE (immediately invoked function expression):

javascript:(() => {
  window.alert(document.title)
})()

Finally, you might have to URL-encode your bookmarklet if you get issues with special characters:

javascript:%28%28%29%20%3D%3E%20%7B%0A%20%20window.alert%28document.title%29%0A%7D%29%28%29

Useful bookmarklets

Here are some bookmarklets I've created:

Copy Tab — copy browser links and titles in one click (as Markdown and rich text).
Debugger — Starts the browser DevTools debugger after 3 seconds, useful for debugging dynamic content changes.
Log Focus Changes — Logs DOM elements when the focus changes.
Design Mode — Makes the web page content-editable (toggle).

Prevent data loss on page refresh

2024-10-01T17:02:18+02:00

It can be frustrating to fill out a web form, only to accidentally refresh the page (or click "back") and lose all the hard work. In this blog post, I present a method to retain form data when the page is reloaded, which improves the user experience.

Browser behavior

Most browsers provide an autofill feature. In the example form below, enter anything into the input field. Then, try out the following:

Click the "Example link" and use the "back" functionality of your browser.
Reload the page.

Example link

Depending on your browser, the input value might be restored:

Browser	Reload	Back
Firefox 130	Yes	Yes
Chrome 129	No	Yes
Safari 18	No	Yes

How does it work? I was surprised to learn that this autofill behavior is controlled via the autocomplete, that's mostly used for value autocompletion from past web forms. However, if we disable the autocompletion, the autofill feature will be disabled as well:

<input autocomplete="false" />

To learn more about the behavior, read the full spec on persisted history entry state.

Preserving application state

Even with autofill, no browser will restore dynamic changes previously triggered by the user. In the following example, the user has to always press the "Search" button to view the results:

If the web page changes its content after user interaction, it might be a good idea to restore the UI state after the page has been refreshed. For example, it's useful to restore previous search results for an on-site search.

Note that Chrome will fire a change event on inputs, but this is considered a bug as the respective spec has been updated.

Storing form values

As the form value might be lost on reload, we need to store it temporarily. Some common places to store data include local storage, session storage, cookies, query parameters or hash. They all come with drawbacks for our use case, though. Instead, I suggest using the browser history state, which has several advantages:

We get data separation between multiple browser tabs with no additional effort.
The data is automatically cleaned up when the browser tab is closed.
We don't pollute the URL and prevent page reloads.

Let's store the search input value as query:

document.querySelector("form").addEventListener("submit", (event) => {
  event.preventDefault();
  const inputElement = document.querySelector("input");
  history.replaceState({ query: inputElement.value }, "");
  performSearch();
});

This example uses the submit event to store the data, which fits our "search" use case. In a regular form, using the input change event might be a better trigger to store form values.

Using replaceState over pushState will ensure that no unnecessary history entry is created.

The second parameter to "replaceState" isn't used, but it's mandatory. If the argument is left out, the browser will throw an error: Uncaught TypeError: Failed to execute 'replaceState' on 'History': 2 arguments required, but only 1 present.

Restoring form values

My first approach to restore form values was to listen to the pageshow event. Once it's fired, we can access the page load type from window.performance:

window.addEventListener("pageshow", () => {
  const type = window.performance.getEntriesByType("navigation")[0].type;
  const query = history.state?.query;

  if (query && (type === "back_forward" || type === "reload")) {
    document.querySelector("#my-input").value = query;
    performSearch();
  }
});

I'll keep the solution here in case someone needs it, but usually it's unnecessary to check the page load type. Because the history state is only set after the search form has been submitted, we can check the state directly:

const query = history.state?.query;

if (query) {
  document.querySelector("#my-input").value = query;
  performSearch();
}

Demo

Here's an example combining both techniques to store and restore the input value:

Conclusion

Preserving form data on page refresh is a small but impactful way to improve user satisfaction. The default browser autofill feature handles only basic use cases, so ideally we should maintain the form state ourselves. In this blog post, I've explained how to use the browser history state to temporarily store and retrieve form values.