Dariusz Winkler

It's time for a dev blogger's favorite topic: blogging about my new blogging setup. After migrating my blog from Hexo to Eleventy, building a photography website and creating a personal one-pager, it was time to find a new digital home for all my projects.

I enjoyed the busy city life in Melbourne for a few days, but soon the adventurer and nature seeker in me took over again. It so happens that one of the best road trips in the world is around the corner: The Great Ocean Road. It is also the world's largest war memorial, dedicated…

After five weeks in New Zealand, it was time for a change of scenery. Following my original plan and given the proximity, Australia was the natural choice. However, I had to shorten my stay to reach Japan in time for the cherry blossoms. I decided to split the next two weeks betw…

On my way to the last stop in New Zealand, I spent a good amount of time at the Ōhau Point Lookout, which is known for a nearby fur seal colony.

There aren't many interesting stops on the 4-hour drive from Westport to the Abel Tasman National Park (apart from the overall high New Zealand baseline). However, the T-Rex Tree is a low-key spot I had to check out. Just imagine the Jurassic Park music and a big roar, which I wo…

The West Coast (Te Tai Poutini) is the most sparsely populated region of New Zealand, with a population of only 33 000 people. At the same time, it is the second-biggest region of the South Island. Yet it can get rather busy, with thousands of tourists taking the Haast Highway to…

Wānaka is a smaller, less commercialized resort town compared to Queenstown, with a population of around 13 000, but it's as exciting.

Milford Sound is not only the most famous tourist spot in New Zealand, but also one of the world's top travel destinations, attracting up to 1 million visitors per year. It's often referred to as the 8th World Wonder. With such a reputation, my expectations were high.

Queenstown is a small town with a population of under 30 000. However, with hundreds of thousands of people visiting this town each year, it's one of the biggest tourist hotspots in New Zealand. There are two main reasons: it's an entry point to the Milford Sound, and there are a…

The next three days of my journey, I've spent in and around Twizel. This region is called the Mackenzie Basin, which includes a few popular tourist spots. It's also where my friends from Germany now live, and I was excited to see them again after a long time!

Dunedin is a former Scottish settlement, which becomes apparent after a quick walk through the city. The name is an anglicization of the Gaelic name for Edinburgh. It is counterintuitively pronounced /dɐˈniːdɘn/ (duh-nee-din).

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 th…

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 c…

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 an…