First day in Auckland (02.10.2016)

Published: 07.10.2016

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We overslept our first morning in New Zealand by staying in bed until half past eleven. After a good breakfast (fried eggs with the best toast I've ever had), we checked our social networks and were surprised to find that a former classmate had commented on my post on Facebook, saying that she was also in Auckland and that we should meet up.
An hour later, she was actually standing in front of our house. I only knew her from the politics class we had taken together for a year. Jasmin had taken several courses with her. Nevertheless, it felt like seeing a good friend again after a long time. Crazy! On the other side of the world, you meet an old classmate.
Anya drove us to the city center, which is about half an hour away from our house by car. There, we exchanged our German money for New Zealand dollars before going out for lunch. We ate at Burgerfuel and Anya told us that almost all New Zealanders pay great attention to a very healthy lifestyle, which is why the fast food chains here are not comparable to those in Germany. At Burgerfuel, I had the best vegetarian burger of my life. It was topped with a pumpkin patty, red cabbage, red onions, shallots, lettuce, and some delicious sauce.

After we were full, we got a SIM card for our phone so that we wouldn't have to rely only on WLAN for the next eight months.

We spent the next hour strolling through stores, where I admired the beautiful things but didn't buy anything (proud of myself - my backpack is already full enough) and then took a short break at the harbor.

After the short break at the harbor, we headed to Mount Eden Summit, a volcano in the heart of Auckland, from where you have a breathtaking view when you reach the top. The photos speak for themselves.

Anya was far from done with the list of things she wanted to show us, so we went to Mission Bay, where we had Mexican food for dinner overlooking the sea. Anya told us that recently, orcas were spotted here.

After dinner (I had only eaten half of my taco, but I was full), we made our way to Bing King - a small mountain in Auckland - in the dark. It's beautiful to be up there in the evening/night because the lights of Auckland are shining and give you an indescribably beautiful picture. We sat up there for quite a while before Anya had to take us home again and we decided to go hiking on the weekend.