Finally. The day had come. :) Departure day. With mixed emotions, Bibi and I left at 10:15 with the Flexibus to Munich. First to the bus station, where we then marched in the rain to the main station and finally took the S-Bahn to the airport. Once there, we had our backpacks wrapped for safety, checked in our luggage and went through security. Exhausted from the long journey, we treated ourselves to a coffee. Then it was off to the gate and finally on the largest passenger plane to Dubai. We had a pretty long wait there. Man, we were so tired and could hardly keep our eyes open. But now we had the 16-hour flight to Auckland ahead of us. We could hardly sleep on the plane either. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we arrived in Auckland. We had to show our work visa and passport and undergo a body check. The Kiwis are very strict when it comes to importing food, sports clothing, medication, and so on. We had to explain exactly what shoes we were carrying, whether the hiking shoes we had in our backpacks had been used on any farms in the last 30 days, and so on. So we took the precaution of removing all edible items from our backpacks. Better safe than sorry, we thought. Lastly, our luggage was searched by sniffer dogs. Finally. That was done. Now Nienke, an employee of Work and Holiday, was waiting for us in the arrivals hall. There were a total of 20 backpackers from Germany and Austria who were all planning the same adventure. We took the bus to the hostel. The bus driver looked really funny with his green dyed hair and cap. :) Once at the hostel, we were able to check in our luggage after a short wait. I followed Nienke's advice and stayed awake until 8 p.m. to avoid jet lag, even though I could have fallen asleep right away. I walked through the city with three other backpackers from Germany, visited the harbor and Albert Park, and finally treated myself to one of the best pancakes in Auckland. Exhausted, I fell into bed at exactly eight o'clock.
After 12 hours of sleep, I was mega rested and felt totally fit. There was breakfast at the hostel. Toast, butter, jam, and cereal. It was sufficient, but not exactly fantastic. The hostel also had a huge kitchen where backpackers could prepare their own meals. The plates and cups had to be washed thoroughly by each person after breakfast. That was new to me. Then at 9:30 we had our information event and introduction to life as a backpacker. How do I apply for a tax number, how do I open a bank account, the best travel destinations in New Zealand, and finally, how to best apply for a job. During the break, Bibi and I visited a nice quaint café, treated ourselves to delicious donuts from Dunkin Donuts, and also bought a SIM card. Now we finally had mobile internet :) In the evening, we chatted with other backpackers from Germany in the hostel, with whom I also shared a four-bed room. Suddenly, we had the idea to go out a bit. The bit turned into a pretty wild party night. Our first stop was a pub. We ordered Heineken beer first. It didn't take long for three New Zealanders to join us. Real Kiwis, who immediately performed the traditional dance 'Haka' for us. This dance looks insanely funny :D They invited us for a few drinks. So it could continue ;) When the pub closed, we moved on to a karaoke bar. The Kiwis we met in the pub were of course right there with us. In the karaoke bar, Bibi had her mega live performance and gave it her all with 'Raining Man' and 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'. It sounded like Britney herself was singing. The evening will stay in our memories for a long time :)
I could hardly sleep that night. Maybe it was because of the alcohol. You never know for sure. Today we had to leave our hostel. Luckily, the day before I was able to book a hostel nearby. It was only a few minutes walk away. When we arrived, we were quite astonished. At first, everything looked normal until we entered our 'room.' It was definitely a dive. Our room was in the basement. It reminded me a little of the Fritzl basement. On the wall, there was a ventilation shaft, above the ceiling the water pipes for the toilet flush, squeaky beds. That's not what we had imagined. However, we made the best of it and set off to get ourselves a snack from Subway. After that, we wrote our CVs and visited the Auckland Art Gallery Museum. Unfortunately, I was very tired from the day before and not really motivated. But the pictures and artists impressed me anyway. At five o'clock in the evening, we fell into our squeaky beds like a piece of wood. Right next to our 'room' was the common room, so I didn't get a wink of sleep starting at 9 p.m. There was everything from harmonica to guitars and singing. So we still had earplugs left. Well then, 'Good night.'
I already took a warm shower at 6 o'clock. Then we set off relatively early because we were really hungry for breakfast. What is the fastest solution in such a case? Yes, of course, McDonald's breakfast. I had a classic Kiwi breakfast with sausages and scrambled eggs. After that, we didn't really have a plan for what we wanted to do. So we strolled to the harbor first. That's where we had the killer idea. We wanted to take the ferry to Waiheke Islands. Said and done. On the ferry, a nice New Zealander approached us. The owner of a popular and upscale winery on Waiheke Islands. How convenient that he invited us to his winery right away. Once we arrived on the mainland, we got on a bus. Among others, there were three Japanese people who all had a very dark expression on their faces, which is why the bus driver said, 'Hey guys, this is only a happy bus. You have to smile.' We were doubled over with laughter. :D We then got off at the wrong stop. There was absolutely nothing there. We had ended up in the middle of nowhere. So we hiked along the way. It didn't take long before it suddenly started pouring rain. At first, I found it quite funny. Finally, we reached a small, lonely café. There was absolutely nothing else around. But that was our salvation. We were soaking wet from head to toe. We waited until the rain stopped and in the meantime treated ourselves to a well-deserved coffee. When the sun came back out, we decided to walk back to the bus stop. The ground steam from the strong sun. It looked like a steam sauna. Since no bus would be coming anytime soon, we decided to walk toward the beach. Suddenly, we came to a rainforest. Of course, we couldn't miss that. And then Bibi had her little mishap. Suddenly, Bibi slipped and ended up in the mud with her whole body. It was naturally very wet and muddy, so she was covered in dirt from head to toe. We were doubled over with laughter. We obviously couldn't get on the bus like this. So we turned back and continued toward the beach. Finally. The view was amazing. Absolutely stunning. The rock was made entirely of shells. I had never seen anything like it before. Then we took the ferry back to Auckland to the upscale winery 'Stoneridge.' There we were greeted by winery owner 'Stephen' and immediately invited to a glass of Riesling. Since Steve was celebrating his birthday, there were lots of celebrities invited. We felt really under-dressed. Then we were even allowed to sit at the celebrity table. We had a great conversation and Brooke, a comedian, and Steve wanted to invite us to spend the night. I politely declined. 'Why?' Brooke asked. 'Because I have no toothbrush with me,' I said. Steve and Brooke found that pretty funny. 'She cannot stay because she has no toothbrush...' they joked :D We took a photo with Steve and said our goodbyes. A little tipsy, we took the ferry back to Auckland. Man, what an exciting day :D
We started our day motivated with a super-duper protein-rich breakfast. We cooked ourselves a delicious scrambled eggs with everything we had bought. Eggs, avocados, toast, dried onion, cheddar, and apples. Unusual combination, but it was really tasty. We also had vegetable crackers. We were the most creative cook-queens ever. Fully energized, we hiked to Mount Eden, an extinct volcano. We underestimated the long walk ahead of us. But it was worth it. The view from the mountain was gigantic. The crater was very impressive. We could see the whole Auckland from up here, as the volcano was in the middle of the city. Because we hadn't had enough hiking yet, we also wanted to climb One Tree Hill. A looooong walk through Cornwell Park finally led us to the hill or rather mountain. As the name suggests, it's not a hill with just one tree on it - no - it is the resting place of John Campell, a famous personality who, among other things, dedicated Cornwell Park to the New Zealanders. The view from up there was just as magnificent as from Mount Eden. We could see the whole of Auckland. Unfortunately, it was a bit windy and cold, so we quickly sought refuge. We also had to hurry to catch the bus to Bay of Islands. By the way, we had to book the bus first. Back at the hostel, I did that right away. Unfortunately, there was a small mishap. I accidentally booked the bus for the next day. I panicked for a moment because I was afraid of not having accommodation for the coming night. Luckily, I was able to correct that over the phone with the bus company, and fortunately, there were still exactly two seats available for that day. So no need to panic. The journey to Bay of Islands took 4 hours. But the beautiful landscape made the time fly by. Bay of Islands is located north of Auckland. Beautiful beaches, much warmer than in Auckland, and best of all, a really comfortable, clean hostel, a super soft bed, and a pool for half the money we spent on the lousy hostels in Auckland Who would have thought that
