Middle-earth, kiwis, and Maori

Hard to believe: our 4 months in Central and South America are supposedly already over? Too bad. However, we have to admit that despite all the incredible, wonderful, beautiful, and unique experiences, we have developed a huge anticipation for New Zealand. Admittedly, not just for New Zealand, but also for all the European perks that come with it.

But our journey from Buenos Aires to Auckland is not going to be as easy as we had hoped, as demonstrations and strikes are causing massive problems in air traffic. Luckily, our host Rebeca alerts us in time, as her flight to Chile is supposed to depart 3 days later than planned. According to the airport website, our plane is now scheduled to take off at 5 PM instead of midnight....damn it! Fortunately, we can still stay another night in our room.

After a 20-hour delay, we finally take off on the evening of December 19th towards New Zealand. The charming stewards of Air New Zealand, the good food, and the delicious wine provide us with a pleasant journey and we touch down on New Zealand soil shortly after midnight.

Our Airbnb host stays up late to greet us, although it is his wife's mother who opens the door in her bathrobe. However, the talkative older lady doesn't seem to be ready to go to bed immediately, as she leads us to the kitchen, where we find another slightly younger lady enjoying a midnight snack with her. The next morning, we meet more nice people ranging from 5 to 50 years old, and it remains a mystery to this day who belongs to the family and lives here.

Unfortunately, due to the immense flight delay, we only have 1 day in Auckland, so we quickly make our way to the city. Before that, we have breakfast at the café around the corner and feel like we're in a different world...so much breakfast selection! Cappuccino! We love it.

The sun is shining and we stroll through the city until we meet up with Ina at 5 PM. Lisa and Ina have known each other since kindergarten, and Ina currently lives here in Auckland. The meeting point is the Headquarters, a chic bar in Viaduct Harbour. Here, we enjoy delicious white wine and sit on large cushions in the sun by the sea. It could be worse. Afterwards, we have dinner at a restaurant a few meters away - fish and chips for Sebastian and risotto for Lisa. Of course, we also have a glass of wine - today, we treat ourselves!

Happily and full, we drive back to our little house in Royal Oak and have to pack our backpacks again. Tomorrow we're heading to Rotorua!