New Year's Eve and job search

In Hamilton, we spent 3 wonderful days with Gina and Antonia, whom we already knew partly from Hamburg and partly from Auckland. Our accommodation at Airbnb was really nice and we had a bit more privacy than in a hostel with an 8-bed room.

We celebrated the new year well, but unfortunately, we would probably have had to be in the city for a proper fireworks display. It seems that the Kiwis are not so into fireworks.

On the 2nd, we drove to Napier with great hope of finding a fruit picking job, which is located in the Hawke's Bay region. The climate here is very dry, so there are many fruits growing here. However, our hopes were quickly dashed as many companies were still on holiday until the 9th or will only be hiring people again in February when the apple season begins. But since we had booked and paid for a week in the hostel and Napier is also a really nice place, we tried to make the most of every day. We drove to the famous Ocean Beach, sat on the beach with a beer in the evening, and partied hard in the hostel on Friday and Saturday nights. The feeling with the people in the hostel here is completely different, as it is a working hostel and people usually stay here for a longer time. It's sad that we will be continuing to Wellington tomorrow, as we have really grown fond of the people here in just one week.

Lastly, today we visited a waterfall and climbed a peak called Te Mata Peak, where we had a 360-degree view and could see the beautiful sunset.