New Zealand
Arrival in Auckland, New Zealand
I landed in Auckland after a three-hour flight. There were no problems at customs. I spoke to a young woman on the plane. She explained to me where the youth hostels were and which bus I had to take. "Okay, thanks."
I arrived at the youth hostel and was able to get a bed in a 4-bed room. Then I went out for a quick bite to eat and a drink. The next day I visited the city.
What struck me immediately was that a lot of local wine was drunk - and I really liked it. They also ate a lot of food from the sea. I found the landscape particularly beautiful, even though it was a big city. I was very impressed by the Maori culture, especially the handicrafts with the large carved ships and the richly decorated wood.
Thermal springs in Rotorua
After a few days in Auckland, I moved on to Rotorua, home to countless hot springs. I moved into a bed in a youth hostel and went thermal bathing with the other young people. The baths were located in the countryside and had different water temperatures. The Maori usually went to the really hot baths.
At one point, people even cooked in the thermal springs: there were small holes in the ground. You put the pan with the food in it, covered it and watched the clock. After a certain time, you picked up your finished meal - a very unique way of cooking.
In New Zealand, I hardly met any backpackers who weren't Australian. Most of them were young people in their 20s. It seemed to me that many of them were doing a "trial run" first - a little further than their own front door before they really set out into the world.
People kept asking me where I came from. When I answered "from Switzerland", many people looked at me in disbelief. The astonishment usually resulted in the sentence: "From so far!"
There were five of us and we booked a tour with a guide to an extinct volcano where we could walk around the crater. Then we went on to the geysers. To get the geysers to erupt, the guide stuffed a large bar of soap into the opening - shortly afterwards the water bubbled up. We were two boys and three girls on this tour. Everyone was very nice and friendly. I received many invitations to Australia, thanked them politely and said each time: "My path only goes forward."
After a few days, I was drawn towards Wellington. I remembered what the man at the travel agency in Alice Springs had told us: we should bring at least one good piece of clothing with us, because there is often something going on on the ship in the evening - dinner parties and the like.
My route took me via Taupo to Palmerston, then via Masterton to Lower Hutt (just outside Wellington). I moved into a bed in the youth hostel. It was part of the worldwide association and had very strict rules: everyone had to leave at 8am and was not allowed to return until 5pm.
I traveled most of the North Island by hitchhiking, sometimes also by train. I was always struck by how lush green the grass was - it looked almost artificially colored.
Wellington - Evening wear for the ship
In Wellington, I took the suburban train to find a second-hand store where I could buy some cheap clothes. I found a double-breasted dark jacket, a black shirt with a bow tie - all together for around 15 New Zealand dollars. I also had a decent pair of dark trousers and moccasins. I had already given away many of my old clothes along the way.
Two days before the ship left, I moved into a small harbor hotel in Wellington. I had the room to myself. Anyone can imagine what a hotel like that looks like and what kind of people live there. The stay was certainly interesting.
I had also already looked at where the **Britanis** (the Chandris Line ship) would be leaving from.
I was ready for new shores.
Impressions
