Stepping through the mirror of time

[LaoTze]

From a personal viewpoint I'd be very happy if not a single tourist set foot in NZ for the next 2 years or even longer. Unfortunately so many businesses depend upon tourism that not many would share my enthusiasm for a bit of peace and quiet.

My first trip to Queenstown was in 2004. I loved it to death.

My last trip was in 2014 and I swore I would never set foot in that awful place ever again. It was overrun by the most obnoxious tourists on earth. The ambience was absolutely ruined. Even the tourist outlets had sold their souls in exchange for the tourist dollar.

They'll now have to depend on people like me again. I'll be making a trip there in a couple of months for a winter escapade.

My first trip to Queenstown was in 2002.
A fucking magical town in a magical country.

No one who go there in last 5 years , and never been there before, can imagine how Queenstown was like in early 2000s

In the mid 80s, I was living in Byron Bay for a month.
Impossible to describe how that place was like then.

I was then told I should visit Nimbin.
When I went there, I felt I step into the pages of Fat Freddy comics.
I swear no fucking exaggeration. And anyone who been to Nimbin in those days will agree with me.

The last time I been to Byron Bay was in 2008 and it became so depressing to be in.
I can imagine Byron Bay to be even worse now.

Nimbin was still ok in 2008, but even so, a shadow of what it was.