Day 8 | 18th October 2016 Auckland, Henderson, Piha

Today was Piet's birthday and we had been thinking all the time about what we could do. Nils, a roommate, gave me the tip to hitchhike, so we stuck out our thumbs and hoped that someone would pick us up. The guys were initially a bit skeptical, but we wanted to give it a try, so we took the bus to Henderson and tried our luck. 1 minute later, a couple picked us up who had the same plan as us, namely to go to Piha Beach. It couldn't have gone better, because Ben and his girlfriend were super nice and spoiled us with food and good music.

They even showed us another beach first, a bit secluded from all the tourist locations. Amazing! The sand was black and glittered, and there were these little curled up shells everywhere, and I won't even start talking about the huge waves, it makes the Mediterranean seem pretty calm in comparison to the waves here.

But not enough yet, before going to Piha, Ben knew another waterfall nearby, which we reached after a 2-minute walk. It was amazing, the first waterfall here in New Zealand and such a big one too - Kitekite Falls. And finally: Piha Beach, which we could first admire from above and then up close. Unbelievable.