Luck in Misfortune

'According to this, you have to be at the Check-In 1 1/2 hours before departure'. We are sitting in the bus from our hostel to Auckland Airport and as always, when you're in a hurry, the bus seems to take its time. Finally, the bus stops and we hurry to the Check-In area. We still have exactly 15 minutes left. That should be enough... So we scan our passports and go through the automated Check-In step by step... 'What does this mean, allowed baggage: 0 and to pay: 240$?'. We ask an officer for help and it turns out that we only booked the seats online, not the baggage. But there's still a chance that we can change our ticket, the officer tells us. So off to the counter! Luckily, we're next in line. But the recommended Check-In time has actually passed...'One hour in advance is enough', the man at the counter tells us as he calmly types something into his computer. So we still have half an hour left. 'I can change your ticket for a total of 170$, otherwise you would have to pay 440$ for round trip.' Well, we gladly accept this offer! A few minutes later, we return to the Check-In machines with visible relief on our faces and go through the procedure again. But once again, Check-In is not possible. We still have 9 minutes left. Another officer helps us and looks at the mystical signs that appear on his computer screen. Apparently, he deduces the following: 'Apparently you don't have a visa for Australia. But that's no problem, you can apply for it at the counter up front, it only takes 2 minutes.' I sprint to the counter. Of course, this time there's a long queue waiting for me. Ok, being polite won't help now! I grab the next available counter. The woman across from me looks at me with a stern face. Gesturing wildly and with a trembling voice, I explain my problem to her. 'I can assure you, it won't take TWO minutes. If you're lucky, it will take 10 minutes, but sometimes even half an hour' is the cold response. Damn! 'That will be 60$.' Ok, that doesn't matter anymore! A few minutes later (it felt like hours to us), the 'nice' woman hands us our baggage tags, apparently she has also checked us in. Now, off to the baggage drop...which is already closed for our flight. Damn! Damn! DAMN! Once again, we ask an officer for help. Apparently, she realizes the seriousness of the situation and has a little sympathy for us. She guides us to the excess baggage station. Apparently, there's still a chance that our baggage, for which we just paid 170$ extra, will still arrive with us in Sydney. After a short exchange of words with the colleagues, everything is settled. 'Ok, follow me!' We quickly leave the Check-In area and are escorted through all security checks by the officer herself. When we reach the gate, she says goodbye with the words: 'You're lucky, apparently they haven't started boarding yet.' I really didn't think I would ever step foot on this plane...

And I actually thought that it couldn't get any worse than the day before when the bus from Turangi to Auckland practically left right in front of our noses - at 4 a.m. Fortunately, we were able to take the next bus (which left 12 hours later!) without having to pay again...

The previous two weeks had been so great! As mentioned in the last blog post, we earned our roof over our heads through hard (cough), physically demanding (cough cough) work under the strict regime of Tim! Well, what I actually mean is: we cleaned for about an hour in the morning, and for the rest of the day (except for a little bit of reception work) we could lounge on the couch and watch TV series. And Tim is a very funny and pleasant employer and owner of two dogs, who, due to his British background, likes to have a (couple of) beer(s) in the evening and often uses the f*** word. He also shares Richard's love for Star Wars. Hazel and Indie, who follow Tim around everywhere, are the cutest, funniest, and calmest dogs I've ever come across! Hazel, the 'lazy dog' and thus the namesake of Tim's first hostel, likes to spend the whole day lazily lying on the floor, and she is (due to her seniority) Indie's boss, who likes to defy Tim's strict instructions not to go into the kitchen! Oh, I miss them...

Turangi itself has two main employers, the local (and only) supermarket and - the prison. That says it all, really! It's even more surprising that there are five hostels in this small town (which means that there's approximately one hostel per resident)! The reason for this: Turangi is the closest town to Mount Tongariro. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is one of the nine New Zealand 'Great Walks' and is therefore very popular among travelers! Of course, we didn't miss out on this seven-hour adventure (especially since the shuttle was free for us)! So it happened that one sunny morning, we got into Tim's shuttle to embark on a journey to the land of Mordor! We climbed the 'devils stairs' (which were truly devilish), walked through volcanic landscapes, admired the stunning views, slid down slopes, fell on our bottoms a couple of times (I actually managed to do it 5 times!), marveled at the turquoise Maori lakes (the absolute highlight of the hike for me!), and conquered the winding, never-ending way back! The Tongariro is definitely one of the highlights of our trip in terms of natural beauty! Even though we were completely exhausted after the hike...

The past two weeks (including Tongariro) have been the most beautiful and fun of our journey so far. We found a small, cozy home in Turangi and the 'Off the Track Backpackers' and also met the funniest and most interesting people here. I was also able to expand my young repertoire of experiences, for example, I had the opportunity to try out a jaw harp (unfortunately, I have to admit that I'm not a great hope in this area) and helped prepare a traditional Dutch dish. We met people who were traveling by bicycle or motorbike. People who are almost at the end of their work and travel year, or who have just started. And people who are exploring New Zealand in a 17-day fast track or just making a stopover in Turangi because they want to visit their relatives in Wellington during the holidays. We also met travelers from all over the world, including - Weimar (and once again I asked myself: why am I traveling to the other side of the world?!). That was quite surprising, but even more surprising was the fact that we didn't know these two! 

We had the best time with Henri (with plenty of rolled rrr) from Finland and Maxi, Julian and Anna from Germany. Sometimes we stayed up until half past four in the morning, playing cards and Monopoly or watching movies together. I also learned a lot about the Finnish school system, the Finnish mentality (funny that all the Finns I've met so far claim that their countrymen are rather cold and distant, when they were so nice and open themselves) and was able to expand my musical horizons with a few Finnish bands...

And then there was Christmas! If you're wondering how Christmas is celebrated at the other end of the world? Definitely at 20 degrees Celsius plus and with many artificial glitter Christmas trees. On Christmas Eve, we visited Tim's other hostel. Everyone had prepared something from their home country. So I had the culinary pleasure of tasting a South Korean noodle dish, a Japanese stew, and a Belgian butter cake - which was literally almost entirely made of butter (and tasted like it, too).

In any case, I miss Turangi and the familiar atmosphere of the hostel. It now becomes clear to us how anonymous our current hostel in Sydney is. Wait a minute, Sydney?!? I still can't believe that we're in the Australian metropolis right now! And this will probably last for a while! But more on that later...

And - Spoiler - it won't be the last time we visited Turangi...

As you can see, it STAYS exciting...

Cheers,

Maggi&Richi, Monday 03.01.2017, 22:52 Sydney