03/11/2017 - Arrival in New Zealand

10:00 AM local time in Auckland - the plane began to land. It was more adventurous than we thought. Very, very low-hanging clouds and strong winds made it difficult for the pilot to land, according to his own statement. When there was finally contact with the ground, we breathed a sigh of relief.

The plane taxied to its parking position and the first New Zealand flag waved on the horizon - after almost 1 1/2 days, we finally arrived!

The second flight was as tight and lengthy as expected. Less legroom and tightly packed rows of seats made the flight time pass very slowly.

Soon came the first disappointment. We were looking forward to getting an entry stamp in our passports only to find out that not everyone gets one nowadays. It turned out that our visa is digitally stored on the passport. Oh well, let's move on.

The next stop was the baggage claim. There was a brief moment of concern whether our backpacks were there... and then we saw them. We took them off the conveyor belt one after the other, and then went on to the next security check. Each passenger in the plane was given a form to be truthfully filled out. In addition to personal information and reasons for entering, it asked about the contents of the suitcase (food, plants, dirt on shoes or outdoor clothing, medication, etc.). This form had to be turned in now and each piece of luggage was scanned again. Thanks to thorough research and good preparation in advance, everything went smoothly and we were able to leave the airport without any problems.

We waited for our first host in front of the arrival hall. He arrived a few minutes later and we were already on our way to the first accommodation.

Before we reached it, we made a stop at the bank to open an account. After about 30 minutes, we finally went 'home'... - happy to have a bed again, we settled into our room.