26.7.2019 Arriving, first days in Christchurch

On 23rd of July 2019 we started our journey from Hamburg via Dubai, then Sydney and finally arrived in Christchurch. The strangest thing was that although we left on the 23rd of July, we didn't arrive until the 25th of July 2019.

On the day of departure, we were visited by some friends and family and we simply raised a glass together, which was very nice!

We took the train from Hesedorf to Hamburg and arrived at the airport exactly 2 hours before departure. However, time flew by for reasons that are still inexplicable to us, and we ended up standing at the security checkpoint 20 minutes before departure...

We barely caught our flight and could have almost stayed in Germany, which is somehow ironic.

The first flight to Dubai took about 6 hours, where we had a 5-hour layover at the airport, and then we flew non-stop for 13 hours to Sydney with a 1-hour layover for refueling. From Sydney to Christchurch, it was only 2 hours that separated us. In total, we each managed to sleep maybe 5-6 hours..

We landed in Christchurch at around 1 PM, exchanged money at the airport, and a friend from Germany who is currently in New Zealand picked us up with his car and took us to our hostel. We had actually booked a 3-bed room, but it was already occupied. The hostel owner had another house across the street where we could stay, but another person also lives in that house. Although the advantage of the house is that we only pay 20 instead of the usual 30 dollars, we still paid 30 dollars per person per night because we had already booked through another provider on the internet. In summary, the hostel owner apparently ripped us off a bit.. We had planned to stay in this hostel for 2 weeks, but since we don't have heating in our house, we probably won't stay longer than a week. We'll see.

After arriving at the hostel, we went shopping first. Here in New Zealand, there are supermarkets called 'Pack n Save' and 'Countdown'. We were already a little shocked to find that it is even more expensive here than in Australia, even though the hostels are also more expensive and the minimum wage is unfortunately lower. In the evening, we fell into bed at 7 PM and slept until 6:30 AM the next morning. We just had to catch up on sleep.

Well-rested, we made a rough plan for the coming days and put some of it into action right away. On the first day, we already have an appointment at the bank (29th of July), we need to get a SIM card for the phone, and we explored the area a bit. For the bank appointment, we each need our passport, tax number from Germany, log-in details for the government's website, and phone number. In the photos, you can see Taylors Mistake Beach, which we visited today. With the account number, we can now apply for a tax number online, and only then can we look for work.

Before looking for work, we want to buy a car to be mobile. Next week, we already have two appointments to look at two different cars. We would like to work during the winter because traveling is nicer in summer and we don't have to touch our savings. We are still booked in our house here until the 1st of August, and shortly before that, we will decide whether we want to stay here longer or go to another hostel where it's warm and we have a clean kitchen. Although this house has its advantages (privacy), it also has disadvantages (no interaction with other travelers, kitchen and refrigerator very dirty.., cold). It must be said that the houses here are generally very poorly insulated. Currently, we have about 10 degrees during the day, but the sun still has a lot of power.

We will keep you updated :-)