Published: 03.01.2017
Since we didn't want to spend New Year's Eve in the middle of nowhere, we rented a house/villa in Wellington with 8 other people over New Year's Eve. The view from the house over Wellington was breathtaking, but that didn't matter much on New Year's Eve, as New Zealanders don't enjoy fireworks and rockets as much as Germans do. No, there were only about 5 rockets to be seen at midnight.
In addition to celebrating New Year's Eve, we also made our own Lord of the Rings film set tour in Wellington (because over $100 for a guided tour is definitely too much). We also visited the National Museum of New Zealand (which was free) where we could see things like a real, dead, preserved giant squid.
On the night of January 2nd to 3rd, we then took the ferry to the South Island. The trip was not only uncomfortable due to the very rough sea, but also because of the snoring people in the sleeping compartment.
Anyway, we arrived safely on the South Island and are now trying to find a paid job here.