An update from my work and travel stay in New Zealand

Starting from the beginning, the flight, especially the 14-hour layover in Hong Kong, wasn't as bad as expected. The airplane food was sometimes unidentifiable, but the first dinner was really good (rice, spinach, and lentil stew). The airport in Hong Kong wasn't as big as expected, but it had many comfortable seating areas where you could sleep well.

Upon arrival in Auckland, we had to go through customs as the entry requirements in NZ are very strict. Because one of us didn't clean her hiking boots properly, we all had to go through additional screening, which went relatively smoothly. From there, a Sky Bus took us directly to the hostel "The Attic Backpackers". The three of us stayed in a 6-bed room where one bed was already occupied. The room was relatively spacious, but the windows couldn't close properly, so it was always cold. The weather here is around 12°C, very windy, and there are occasional short rain/hail showers. On the first day, we only briefly explored Queen Street and went to bed early because we were very tired. The next few days, we explored the harbor, took a closer look at Queen Street, admired the view from the Sky Tower in daylight and at night, and conducted our introductory workshop at our partner office IEP. The staff at the hostel are really friendly and helpful. They explained various travel options, showed us some highlights, and since one person I traveled with urgently needed a job, one of the employees used her contacts to help her find a job.
Yesterday, on Saturday, July 30, 2016, the other two have already left, one is doing an Au Pair for 4 months and was picked up by her host family, and the other bought a bus ticket and headed south. However, since I am still doing a two-week language course and will only be picked up by my host family in 2 hours, I had an extra night at the hostel. So yesterday I was alone all day, so I went out, got a coffee at Starbucks, and wanted to sit in the nearby park. What I saw was really beautiful, but I didn't get far because you get approached directly here when you're alone. After a nice conversation, he gave me the tip to go to Mount Eden because the view is beautiful. Said and done! After many stairs and steep climbs, I finally made it to the top. I'd rather not tell you how my shoes looked afterwards. But the view is really beautiful, especially because the sun was shining. However, this didn't last long, as soon as I started my way down, the rain started again. Now I was at the exit, but was the bus stop to the left or right? I decided to walk to the left, but after half an hour, I gave up and turned around. 5 minutes from the exit to the right was the bus stop. Yes, I have a bit of bad luck here, when I want to activate my SIM card, the mobile network provider's server is down and I can't call my host family; my towel was stolen after the first night; today, since I have some time, I took a little walk to the harbor because I found the view so beautiful, wasn't paying attention and was lost in thought, and whoops - I stood ankle-deep in a huge puddle (socks wet, shoes wet, feet wet - everything wet) and so on.
But now I'm looking forward to finally being able to go to my host family and I'll waste some more time

I keep updating pictures on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/alina_prsbr/