The first days

The backpacks of my friend and me have been packed and shouldered, all important people have been farewelled, tears have been shed, and lots of luck and fun have been wished... And now we were sitting here, at Hamburg Airport, waiting for the plane that should take us to Dubai for now.

It was 9 pm when we were able to board. We had window seats. Next to us only an older gentleman with a bad mood and coughing fits that spread his bad breath. Well, that's how it is and we didn't want to complain. Eventually, the food came. Rice with vegetables and beans, which did not fulfill my bad expectations (fortunately) - it tasted good! However, the beans soon showed their effect and the plane became a methane gas bomb. Fortunately, it was only 2 hours until Dubai at that point.

Upon arrival, we had a 4-hour layover. The fatigue and bad mood made it seem endless. Enough time to go buy water and explore the airport a bit. Large and more to be considered as a shopping mile, but what else is there to expect from Dubai!? Conclusion: Impressive!

Still not having slept and barely able to concentrate, we then boarded the next plane towards Auckland via Brisbane at around 7 am German time. After a few hours, sleep overcame me and I was gone. At some point, breakfast was served, which ripped me out of the sleep I had just started - not very appetizing and fragrant. Then lunch - even less appetizing and more fragrant. My mood faded completely. I had imagined the 16 hours to Brisbane and then another 3 to Auckland differently. But it wasn't just me, the faces of the others looked depressed, everyone just wanted to arrive and eat and sleep properly - at home, on dry land!

I had completely lost my sense of time, was it day or night, in which time zone are we, etc. From time to time, one would doze off briefly, only to wake up again because a baby was crying somewhere or someone bumped into my seat while going to the toilet.

Then finally, Auckland in sight, only 20 minutes until landing. Finally, a feeling returned that I had missed - anticipation!

Landed, finally! We grabbed our carry-on luggage and got out, off to passport control. Despite lack of sleep and brain power, one had to concentrate on so many things: Did we fill out the Arrival Card correctly and not forget anything? Do we have all the documents for the Working Holiday Visa to get the right stamp? Where do we need to go regarding buses, etc... But everything went smoothly. The people are all very friendly and accommodating and can deal well with backpackers like us!

Finally on the bus, only 30 minutes to the hostel. I hardly noticed the area, my friend was in a similar situation - Wi-Fi on the bus and lots of Pokémon and PokéStops (yes, we play PokémonGo). Then the bus stopped: Backpackers please wake up and leave here for YHA International Auckland - or something similar. Grabbed our luggage and off we went, about 500 meters to the hostel.

We arrived, it was Wednesday and 3 pm New Zealand time ( +12 hours compared to German time). Check-in, the man at the counter explained everything - I just said 'Yes, thank you' and left, I hadn't understood anything, I was too exhausted. Once in the room, which is a double room, we first threw our luggage in the corner and went to bed. No chance, we needed water and food, because there was only breakfast here. So we went out again, quickly went to the nearest supermarket and bought something to eat and drink. Strange, only Asian stores here - are we really in New Zealand!? Well, we had gotten the most important things and were on our way back. Shoot, where did we have to go again!? Google Maps couldn't help us, after all we didn't have (yet) mobile internet here. So we had to search and ask people. It worked, we arrived. Into the room, quickly shower, eat, and then brush teeth. That was the plan, but we didn't get to brushing our teeth anymore, at 8 pm we simply fell asleep while eating. I woke up at some point during the night, took the food off the bed, opened the window, and then continued sleeping. Let's see what the next day brings...