Arrival: Auckland and the Bay of Islands

So here it is. The first entry in this blog. Hopefully there will be a few more to follow but they will probably appear with some time in between.

After 30 hours of flying, I will first go to bed for some rest. I will be staying at a home stay in North Shore for the first 4 days, which is north of Auckland. I will be welcomed by an Asian family and sleep off the jet lag.

During the first few days, I will open a bank account, apply for an IRD number, and take care of all the organizational stuff.

On the third day, I stumble into the bathroom and hear a splashing sound. My host family has caught fish and is keeping them in the bathtub for consumption.

After four days of organization and visiting the sky tower, I set off to the Bay of Islands with the kiwi experience bus. I meet amazing people on this journey and spend three days in Paihia.

On the first day, I go skydiving as the weather, according to the forecast, only allows it on that day. I decide to go for the highest altitude that can be booked, 16,000ft. It's an amazing experience and I highly recommend it.

On the second day in Paihia, we take the bus to Cape Reinga. Along the way, we visit a waterfall and a rainforest. We also slide down huge sand dunes and have freshly caught fish on the way back.