My first week in New Zealand

The weather improved again in the following days and I was able to see more of the city. It is now Sunday and therefore the official first day of my program. The program leaders suggested meeting some of the group participants in advance on Sunday afternoon in the lobby to get to know each other. It turned out that 3 other girls from my room of 8 (Vivien, Brodie and Madlen) were also part of the program, which meant I already knew a couple. When the weather was good, we made our way to the harbor and stopped at a restaurant for tacos. Afterwards we wanted to go to a bar and end the evening, but we didn't realize that you always have to have your passport or a New Zealand driving license with you. Since we didn't have this, we went back to the hostel and spent the evening at Miss Lucy, the hostel's own bar.

The next day's program started at 10:30 a.m. After a short getting-to-know-you game, we all sat down to watch Sahron, the program manager, give her presentation. She was accompanied by Evan and Lea, both former participants in the program. Within the program, we then took care of organizational matters from Monday to Wednesday, such as SIM card + flat rate, bank account, tax number, etc.

On Monday we took the ferry over to Devonport, where we had a dinner date with the program. We used the following days not only for organizational matters but also to explore the city. So we visited an art exhibition, went to an extinct volcano, browsed through the many thrift stores and much more.

On Friday we went to the Bay of Islands, with a short stop at waterfalls. In the evening we met up with a group that had taken part in the program the week before us and simply stayed at the Bay of Islands. However, the bars close very early. But the security guy at the first bar kindly took us to a karaoke bar that was open later.

Slightly hungover, the morning got off to a slow start the next day. But the plan for the day was to go hiking. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the mountain. But what I had never seen before is that you had to clean your shoes before entering the forest in order to protect the forest. The hike was very nice! Strangely, it didn't feel real and more like walking through a film set.

After the hike and a refreshing shower, we went into the hostel's whirlpool before going to bed. At the start of the trip I shared my room with two girls from the program (Brodie from Scotland and Lily from Canada) but on the second night we had a new addition and one of the guys snored loudly all night, so it was a good night's sleep was not possible again. Madlen, Lena (also from the program) and Brodie had planned a boat tour to one of the islands for Sunday, Lily traveled further north with the people from the previous program, while I went back to Auckland.

Tomorrow my flight leaves for Christchurch, where I will see my dad again. I'm already quite tired and will most likely go to bed soon.

Ok nvm, I was just asked by strangers if I would like to play a couple of games with them in Miss Lucy.🤗