Wenn Auckland suddenly doesn't look so ugly anymore

After days of seemingly endless bus rides, we finally found ourselves back in Auckland to plan the rest of our journey from here. I have to be honest - I didn't miss this city. Even though the sun was shining this time and there were pleasant 22°C, the mass of buildings still felt like a punch to well-being. So what else could we do but go on a hike far, far away from this oppressive something? Our path led us through streets and corners of the city that we had never seen before. In our first week in Auckland, we had already experienced that the view gets better the further you get away from the center. This time it didn't get better. Rather worse. The desolation was practically written on many people's faces and none of the cafes looked like a place where you could come out healthy. But after countless kilometers of disillusionment, at least our destination was finally in sight: Mt Eden. As a small, green hill, it would have been almost invisible among all the buildings. It seemed almost out of place. But when we finally arrived there, all the oppressive impressions of the way there were forgotten. Green meadows and blooming bushes lay peacefully in the sunshine, something you wouldn't have thought possible in Auckland. Full of anticipation, we hiked up to the top. Although it was bustling with visitors, this view was unique. A sea of residential areas and high-rise complexes stretched out to the horizon. In the middle of it all was the Sky Tower, towering above everything else almost majestically. And suddenly Auckland didn't look so ugly anymore. From above, from a distance, it really had something impressive about it. When you wander through the streets of this metropolis as a small, insignificant person, you have no idea just how big Auckland actually is. No wonder that more people live in this one city alone than on the entire South Island of New Zealand. No matter where you looked, there was simply no end in sight. It almost felt like time was standing still as we watched the cars from afar. Everything was moving so slowly, and the feeling of being cramped in the city was gone up here. I felt free and was glad to be able to see the city with different eyes now, thanks to the new perspective. Well, I guess I learned something for life again: changing perspective can't hurt from time to time. Especially when it can hardly look any worse. It's a shame that a hike with such a beautiful destination always has to have an (unpleasant) way back.