Kia Ora from New Zealand

Now we are sitting here, in our hostel in Bay of Island, looking back on our first week in New Zealand. What we have already experienced - even though we had no idea when we arrived in Auckland a few days ago - is simply mind-blowing.

What we did in the first week:
We sang karaoke with Maoris
We watched a real Haka in an Irish Pub
We drank wine with NZ celebrities
We walked on Mt Eden and Onetreehill
We fell in mud and took a lot of pictures
We fell in love with New Zealand
We were so tired
We didn't know anything...

N - new
E - english
W - windy

Z - zea
E - earthquakes
A - adventures
L - lazy
A - amazing
N - nature
D - dream

Little excursion about 'we dont know yet'
Just having nothing planned, a feeling that is almost indescribable. You lie in bed or cook something in the hostel, you have no appointments or stress, just fuck off and chill. What we will do tomorrow or where the next journey will take us - who knows? You can just do what you want and where it takes you. Even the fact that we don't have accommodation for the next night doesn't worry us at the moment... What we also don't know yet is whether we should buy a car or travel by bus first? We don't know. Whatever, it will show. And it seems to us that we are always in the right place at the right time.

After what felt like a week of travel time via Munich and Dubai, we were finally able to welcome the sacred land of the Maori early Wednesday morning in all its glorious colors and shapes. The first impression was characterized by friendliness, harmony, chillness, and cheerfulness.
Staying in our first hostel, we had to familiarize ourselves with all the backpacker stuff for the first time. Shared shower, shared kitchen, finding things in the backpack (not so easy), and so on...

Small tip for all the seasoned backpackers: less is more and also plan space for hand luggage in the backpack....

In the first few days in Auckland, we strolled around Auckland City, attended the information event at our Working Holiday office, and even on the first evening, we had the opportunity to experience a Haka by a real Maori up close in an Irish Pub. A Haka is a traditional war dance in NZ and every Maori can do one. By the way, Maoris are the indigenous people of NZ. Dark skinned, tattoos, and a bit more solidly built. In Australia, they are the Aborigines. However, the Maoris live among the people, while the Aborigines live outside in tribes.
At the information event, we were also given tips on how to open a bank account, how to find work, where we must travel, how to behave in the frequent earthquakes, what to consider when buying a car, etc.
Life here in NZ is really expensive, a beer is $5, coffee is $4, breakfast at McDonald's is $7-10.... Even accommodation in a hostel can cost $100-150 for a week. Soon we will have to look for work on a farm, in a restaurant, or something similar... or we go woofing (doing farm work without payment, but with full board)

Waiheke Island, October 15th
From mud to wine tasting

At 10:00 am, we took the ferry from Auckland to Waiheke Island. Colorfully dressed and in high spirits, we naturally took a seat right at the top deck, which turned out to be a bad idea as the wind blew us right away from the ferry. Downstairs in the cabin, a well-dressed man of around 50 approached us. He asked us where we are from and when we mentioned Austria, he was immediately thrilled. He gave us his card 'Vineyard STONYRIDGE'. He is the owner and we should definitely come to have something to eat and go wine tasting. And there is even a party this afternoon. We thanked him warmly and promised to come. Good.
Arriving on the island, we got on the bus and wanted to go to the Rocky Bays. Whether we got off too early or too late, we didn't know. We were now standing on the street, nothing in sight. But incredibly cool streets and everything green. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't kind to us and it started pouring rain. We ran along the street - no idea where to go. And out of nowhere, a little café appeared, the waitress with a hairnet greeted us with the words 'Poor ones, coffee?' Our saviors of the day... When the rain got lighter, the tour continued. Somewhere, we found a detour into the jungle, which we naturally took. Full of enthusiasm, we trudged through the roots and vines, until I suddenly slipped and my whole backside landed in the mud... Whatever, we were in New Zealand, that happens... :)

After visiting the beautiful beach at the Rocky Bays, we got hungry. A taxi took us to the vineyard of this unknown man.

When we arrived, we felt a bit uncomfortable - everyone totally chic, everyone totally beautiful, everything totally expensive, where were we? And we with our dirty hiking shoes, sweaters, and my dirty pants... Wtf.
Right at the entrance, Steve (that's the unknown man's name) greeted us and told his waitresses 'for these ladies, no wine charge'... We thanked him politely and ordered a glass of Riesling and took a seat at a table. After a delicious meal, Steve invited us to join him at his table and introduced us to his friends. One is a famous comedian in NZ, the other is the organizer of big events in NZ, and we were right in the middle... After a few more glasses of expensive wine and a little tour around the vineyard and helipad, we said goodbye to Steve (who also had a birthday on that day, as we learned from his friends) and made our way to the bus and the ferry... What a day!