Sweet as, bro!

To us, it seems as if the Kiwis (New Zealanders) compete daily to see who can be friendlier. Everywhere you go, you are warmly greeted, asked how you are, where you come from, where you have been, and whether you like it here. Everyone is so helpful, considerate, and respectful that it almost leaves you speechless. You can only stutter weird sentences like 'Um, good thanks and you?' in response and feel a bit silly.

Well, the third week is almost over and we can already look back on an incredible time. We had our first Couchsurfing experiences - from staying in a villa by the beach to a Maori Village without running water and electricity. Now we are sitting in a nice house with a New Zealand family, drinking tea. The house sitter (she takes care of the house, the dog, the cat, and the approximately 100 birds while the family is on vacation in Vietnam) is a nice woman from Upper Austria, Nicole. She kindly allows us to stay here for a few days while we prepare our campervan. We met Nicole through our first CS host Shane, through the Couchsurfing app. Really crazy... Of course, we sent Shane a photo of us and thanked him for bringing us together. Austrians are really 'rare' in New Zealand, by the way. Germans, on the other hand, can be found in every corner of the country.

So, what else have we experienced this week - we once again ended up in Tauranga, the second most beautiful place, where we climbed Mt. Maunganui and had a breathtaking view of the surfer’s beach. We went through several detours to buy a really great car (a Toyota Estima 7-seater, which we are now converting into a really cool backpacker sleeping van with all our love and effort). We got to bathe in TOP SECRET hot water pools and enjoy a mud mask, our second CS host in Rotorua taught us a lot about Maori culture, we experienced the more or less pleasant smell of sulfur in Rotorua, admired many volcanic craters and lakes/ponds in various colors and temperatures, and for the first time we had to endure the slight pain of homesickness - which we drowned in the wild waters while rafting, where we conquered the highest rafting waterfall in Rotorua. Yes, it was a really diverse and exciting week with lots of challenges and fun.

In addition, we have 'bought' ourselves a job at Seasonal Jobs (you have to pay $50 to be referred to employers, a kind of placement fee), and now we anxiously await someone to call us so we can start, because money is needed ;-) It is currently peak season for kiwi tipping, whatever that is. You have to be a certain height, and the taller you are, the better. Good for us :-) We are curious and will keep you updated. Apparently, it is quite exhausting and monotonous, but it earns good money for further travel - and we still have a lot planned. New Zealand is just so big, and there are so many places you simply have to go. We haven't even come close to seeing the whole North Island, and there is also the apparently even more beautiful South Island...

The entire Week #3 will now be presented with some pictures and short descriptions, enjoy and thanks for reading.