23.10-27.10.2016

A dream came true when we saw the beautiful bay outside our plane's window! We are finally in New Zealand! The journey here was pretty tiring and the first flight... oh well... a rip off! Having been spoiled on the way to Japan, we assumed the airline would provide all the meals. Soon after discovering we have to pay for the films on board, we realised our food didn't come cheap either. We made our entertainment programme worth it and watched as many films as we could! Our stopover was Melbourne where we had to spend the night at the airport. We found pretty comfy sofa benches and managed to get some sleep. The other flight went quickly and we got the yummiest breakfast ever (frustrating, as after the last flight we obviously didn't expect it and got breakfast at the airport!). After a thorough (and pain in the neck) bio inspection at NZ airport, we were finally free! We spent the first night in Ponsonby Backpackers Hostel, which wasn't great, but the atmosphere was ok. Went for a quick area explore and the first burger in a month (couldn't resist it!) For the next day, we had booked the Haka Lodge hostel in which we settled for nearly a week. We absolutely loved it - the looks, cleanliness and the people! It was like a fresh breeze being able to socialize and talk to others! - And cook some meals which don't come from a sachet! Unfortunately, looking for a camper and staring at the screen in hope of new adverts devoured a lot of our time in Auckland. It got us a bit frustrated, as we really felt like getting out and about, but on the other hand we didn't want to waste too much of our time here in NZ being stuck in one place, without a transport. We did a lot of walking though - loved the harbour and the cilos park. Also ended up going to Auckland museum (and stupidly spending money we didn't really intend to spend), believing a proof of temporary address would give us a free pass like we misread on the leaflet. We also had a few unsuccessful viewings of some even more unsuccessful vans - we managed to get completely drenched having decided to run to the viewing point; and another time, wasted most of our afternoon waiting for someone who was really late and spending ages on the bus. We stopped being as optimitic looking for vans as we had been at the beginning, realizing how many people needed them and what the costs are. But... one beautiful Thursday, on 27th Oct, we set up a meeting with Chris and Soph (a couple of skii instructor travelers from England) and agreed to buy their camper! We met them on Friday to sort the docs out and were really greatful we got the camper from such nice people, too. After finding a way to withdraw the money and going through the nitty gritties, the four of us treated ourselves to lunch and drinks to celebrate! Success! Time to explore now! :)