New Zealand

In the first week of the children's vacation, we flew to New Zealand to visit the girls' grandparents. We first flew from Melbourne to Auckland because the family used to live there. The flight lasted four hours, but it was very pleasant and bearable because there were movies and food. Moreover, a flight hardly seems long anymore when you have already spent 20 hours straight on a plane. Upon arrival in Auckland, we first met old friends of the family at the playground and then went out to eat with the parents' friends. Unfortunately, none of their friends really showed any interest in me. I can understand it, but I found it somewhat rude that they didn't try to include me. That evening, I was really a bit down and wondered if I really wanted to do this for 6 months...

However, the world looked completely different the next day. I met Lisa, a friend from Germany who also works as an au pair in Auckland for 3 months. We had breakfast together at Starbucks and then drove to a beautiful beach with her car, where we even found a swing (every traveler's dream :D). Afterwards, we had lunch together. She then dropped me off at my hotel and I went out to dinner with Rebecca and Mia because James and Charlotte had already flown on to Hastings. It was a very nice evening!

The next day, we flew on to Hastings because James' parents live there. The place was rather quiet and there wasn't so much to experience. We only went up a mountain and visited a winery that Rebecca and the grandfather showed me. On another day, the family visited someone in the small town of Napier. They dropped me off at the beach so I could explore the area. The beach was black and really beautiful. I even knew some people from Germany who were there at the same time! Otherwise, we mainly spent the days with the grandparents and James' sister and her family were also there. Then it was time for the grandparents' golden wedding anniversary. The evening was really nice, it was celebrated in a large, beautiful house of a family friend and everyone was in a good mood. Although I didn't know anyone and the guests were all 30-70 years old, I still had many conversations, which was mostly quite interesting. James and Rebecca later said that I talked to more people than they did haha.

But the evening was also super exhausting for me. Although I drank a few glasses of wine to make it more bearable, after 6 hours of small talk with 70-year-old New Zealanders, I was really exhausted. The next day, we went out for breakfast in the morning, said goodbye to the grandparents, and finally flew back to Melbourne. I hope I get the chance to travel around New Zealand again and especially see the South Island! Maybe Line and I will even do that together at the end of our trip. :)