After a very comfortable flight from Santiago to Auckland we arrived around 04:00 am and did not look forward to the security control as we had the feeling they will take us apart.
Of course we had to go through the special line and had to show our hiking shoes, answer questions and our tent had to be x rayed.
But we did go through immigration much faster than expected and the airport personal is very friendly and professional.
We took a bus to Auckland City center and wondered around with two other backpackers so find a hostel. We found a really nice on, I believe called the Happy Kiwi where we were able to store our bags and we all went to have breakfast in town. There we four got a reality check about New Zealand prices. We all came from South America and were used to pay $5 for a meal. In New Zealand a breakfast costs $13 and coffee $3.5.
But we have to say that the Kiwis know how to make coffee. They are just delicious.
The weather was overcast with fine rain and wind, so we also had to get used to cooler weather.
We just walked a little around town which is amazingly clean and has a big Asian influence. There are plenty Sushi places and Asian restaurants.
Around lunch the jet leg kicked in and Robert and I lied down for an hour or so. Before we continued waling around the city and trying to find travel companions for our three weeks in New Zealand.
Above you see the Auckland Sky Tower where you can jump down attached to some cables who would slow you down before reaching the ground, so you would land on your hands and knees.
For dinner we met again with the Irish bloke (his name pronounced like Donna, but I am sure it is written differently) and Steve from England. We went to the supermarket were Robert found 2.5 KG of beef for NZ$ 0.69. This was for sure a mistake, but as poor backpackers we did not tell.
For the evening we had Irish mashed potatoes, broccoli and beef stroganoff. It was delicious. We still had enough beef left to make a roast to have it as cold cut for sandwiches.
After dinner we checked emails again and Rahel a couch surfer from Austria wanted to meet us regarding renting a car together. It was much harder to find travel companions than expected and the experience we had in Australia more than 10 years ago. So we met with Rahel for a beer in a pub. We were connected fine and decided to meet the next morning at 10:00 to meet and also meet another girl that Rahel met earlier that day.
We loved the sign above and Robert of course wanted to find out what would happen.
We met Rahel and Taylor from the US outside their hostel in the morning. The plan was that the girls either wanted to sleep in the car or use the sleeping bag that they bought for NZ$ 15 from a shop called "Warehouse". I was already worried how comfortable that might be, but Taylor said she slept with 4 people in a small car in Sweden or so. As they apparently knew what are they getting into we did not worry about their comfort anymore, we knew we had our camping gear. The hostel had a travel desk, so we got information about rental cars. With all the information we went to the girls. First Taylor said she might only stay until Wellington and then both said they will stay also with us on the South Island, but maybe not for the entire time. So we payed for the rental car, got our luggage and saw the below sign behind our hostel, we thought it was funny.
Somebody picked us up to drive us to the car rental to get our car and went food shopping before we left town.
Please click on the following link if you want to see more pictures: Auckland
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