Tag 19 • Paihia (Bay of Islands) - Auckland

Just before the end of our journey from the beautiful Bay of Islands to Auckland, we made three more stops in the vicinity of Paihia. The first destination was Waitangi. Here, the 'Treaty of Waitangi' was signed and the Maori were eventually dispossessed. This was mainly due to the fact that the Maori language lacked many terms that existed in English and were translated ambiguously. Later, there were repeatedly different interpretations of the constitution, which ultimately led to the New Zealand Wars. The numerous corrections are clearly visible on the treaty document. After this short excursion, we continued to Kawakawa. Here stands one of the last works of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, namely a public toilet. The toilet is the main attraction in Kawakawa. Hundertwasser lived there from 1973 until his death in 2000. This toilet is the most photographed toilet in New Zealand and is probably photographed much more often than it is actually used. Of course, we only took photos as well. I think it was my most beautiful holiday experience so far... ;-) We had not yet had the opportunity to see a real kauri tree. But on our route was the Waipoua Forest with the most famous of all kauri trees. It is called 'Tane Mahuta'. This tree is 51.2 meters tall, has a circumference at the base of 13.77 meters, and is over 2000 years old. The dimension of such a giant cannot be captured in photos. Before entering the forest, you have to disinfect your shoes. This is to prevent any possible fungi or similar from being brought into the forest. We already had this topic when we arrived in New Zealand. Tourists are directly asked about their footwear. Trekking shoes, outdoor equipment, etc. can only be brought into the country new or cleaned. If they are dirty, they will be taken away at the airport. The immigration officer believed me about the new shoes, but when he asked if I had chocolate with me and I answered NO, he was quite skeptical. Strange... :-)

After endless hours of driving, we arrived in Auckland in the afternoon. Today we are staying in a proper hotel, right in the city center. We have the Sky Tower and the famous Queen Street right outside our door. The city is huge and with 1.4 million inhabitants, it is also the largest in New Zealand. This accounts for a third of NZ's total population. In addition, there are countless tourists and students. Here, there are young people of all nationalities everywhere you look. Vacationers who start their tour here will increasingly feel that there are hardly any people in the other places. For us, it was initially a foreign world after so many days of tranquility. To kick off in Auckland, we just walked around a bit in the Viaduct Harbour area. There are countless bars, cafes, and flashy super yachts here. You can also see many pretty details if you take the time to look closely. The whole area is quite built-up, and you have to search quite a bit to get a view of the Harbour Bridge. The Hamburgers have definitely done a better job with that. ;-) Tomorrow we will take the opportunity to explore the city a bit more and enjoy the last few hours of sunshine before our return flight.