Goodbye Auckland

One day before Mathilda brought us together, I changed hostels again. I had heard a lot of good things about Haka Lodge. However, what awaited me far exceeded my expectations! Very friendly staff, clean facilities, hygienic sanitary facilities, large kitchen, stylish interior design, spacious dormitories, comfortable beds, (mostly) functioning WLAN and open-minded people (with an above-average number of Germans). Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos inside, but maybe I'll capture some tomorrow before I leave. Otherwise, you can see them on their website. Haka Lodge is a relatively small hostel chain with five locations in New Zealand. Their hostel in Bay of Islands is particularly praised for its great location and views. Maybe I'll check in there too!

Two days ago, when I bought Mathilda, I also met the German couple, Katarina and Lucas, from Kassel. We cooked at the same time that evening and hit it off right away (literally! hehe). The two of them have been in New Zealand for a week now and bought a car one day before me. However, theirs should be one size bigger and also certified with the 'self-contained' label. This means that the van has drainage/sink, toilet, and 'shower'. The advantage of such a label is that you can park at all designated campsites and also 'freecamp' elsewhere. So, it is allowed to spend the night in the car wherever it is not explicitly prohibited. In New Zealand, this is only the case in Auckland.

Since we have similar goals and plans (namely, none :p), Katarina and Lucas asked me if I would like to work together as kiwi pickers. I agreed to the plan and today, Friday, we are driving together to Tauranga, where the plantation is located.

Then I'll see how the internet connection is set up there and whether it's worth writing posts every day about what kiwi picking is doing to me. If I have the opportunity, I will also upload pictures of their van here, as it looks pretty cool from the inside!

That's it for now with this logbook entry. I'm now going to upload various pictures from the past few days. Including the storm that raged in Auckland and my visit to the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Goodbye, it was as always a pleasure to write for you.

Yours, Henrik