nzroadtrip | Linnea & Gustav

NZ Road Trip – Day 8 (Keeley Reserve – Auckland, 26 September)

We started our day by packing up our belongings from the storage compartments in the campervan into our bags and disassembled the bed, which we hadn’t done for the whole trip.

We left Keeley Reserve at 10:45 am with our only two goals to be at the Airbnb in Auckland at shortly after 1 pm and at latest be at the Apollo return location at 2:30 pm.

We drove for one hour, at which point we stopped to eat. Our lunch was only about 30 minutes, but it was long enough for our schedule to start going off plan. Our next stop was one hour later at a dump station to clear out the toilet waste cassette and to empty the grey water. We left the dump station at 1:30 pm and drove towards the Airbnb to drop off our belongings.

We arrived there at 1:50 pm and were greeted by our host Latimer and his cheerful dog Digger. After walking a few turns between the van and the house we had finally managed to get everything inside. When we drove off to Apollo, it was already 2:10 pm.

We had to be at Apollo at 2:30 pm. To top things off the traffic was dense and in turn driving there became a bit stressful. Because of the short time span, we skipped topping up on diesel as we thought it was more important to arrive there on time. Fortunately, when we arrived at Apollo, they commented that there was a diesel station right next to their lot. So, we filled up and returned our dear travel companion to Apollo without any remarks on its condition.

In total, we had driven 1478 kilometres and used up diesel worth NZ$165. Since we had the campervan for a relocation, we had a fuel allowance for NZ$250. So, we could have driven a bit more, but most importantly we got money back for the amount we spent on diesel.

We ordered an Uber, left Apollo and went back to our accommodation in Auckland. Our Uber driver was a guy about our age studying chemical engineering, although he seemed to be more interested in programming and computer science outside of school. We got back to the house at 3:20 pm; it was a very charming and big house located between the city centre and the airport.

We got settled in and talked a bit more to Latimer; he suggested that we could go to Mount Eden if we wanted to go for a hike and he also suggested a few different places we could go to for dinner. We also took some time to pet and play with Digger, who made us feel very welcome. He was really energetic, but he was limping a bit because of a previous injury, Latimer told us.

So, we set out for Mount Eden. On our way there, we took a shortcut across one of the campuses of The University of Auckland. The architecture was of a style different from the universities both in Linköping and Newcastle.

Mount Eden deserved its name, and it took some time to climb it, but the path (or rather road) leading up it was in good condition. On our way up, we found a swing mounted on a tree. Linnea couldn’t help it but had to try it out.

When we arrived at the summit and saw the crater, we realised that it was not just an ordinary mountain, but a dormant volcano. This turned out to be the case of most mountains in Auckland, but as long as they are dormant it does not matter that much.

The view from Mount Eden was really amazing. We could both see the accommodation, as well as the city centre. There were quite a few people at the summit, some of them seemed to use Mount Eden as their running track, which is a feat to admire.

From Mount Eden, we headed down towards a nearby road packed with restaurants. On our way there we checked out a few of the ones that Latimer had suggested, and we decided on going to Circus Circus, which was a circus-themed restaurant.

We ordered a Chicken Caesar Burger each and a bottle of cider to share. The meal was really good, and we were really content with our choice of restaurant.

We headed back to the house and spent the evening relaxing without the fear of the room getting cold (like in the campervan).

/ G&L

NZ Road Trip – Day 7 (Rotorua – Hobbiton – Keeley Reserve, 25 September)

We got up at 8 am and had bagels with egg for breakfast. After breakfast and packing up, we drove off to the Redwoods, a redwood forest in Rotorua where we went on a short hike. Both the trees and ferns felt huge compared to what we’re used to.

As time was ticking on, we went back to the car, where we ordered two pizzas from a nearby Domino’s. We drove to the pizzeria and picked up our pizzas which we ate in the car. Linnea ordered a Beef and Caramelised Onion Pizza, and Gustav ordered a Hawaii pizza. In hindsight, Linnea would have gotten rid of the caramelised onion as the sweet tasted weird on the pizza.

When we had eaten, we drove off to our afternoon activity, a guided tour through Hobbiton, the movie set where they filmed parts of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogy. We arrived a quarter before our “check-in” time at the Shire’s Rest and got our tickets and brochures. From the time we had eaten our pizza until we got to Hobbiton, it had started raining.

The tour started at 1:30 pm with a bus ride onto the farm where the set was built. During the ride, our tour guide told some stories about the farm and how it came to be the film location of the two Tolkien/Jackson movie trilogies.

We got off the bus when we arrived at the set. The set for filming the Shire where the Hobbits live was built into the hills on the farm. The set was deconstructed after the original LotR trilogy and then rebuilt for the Hobbit. The second time they built it with the Hobbiton tour in mind, so they used materials that could last for a longer time.

The walking tour took us around the whole set. The different hobbit holes are at different scales depending on the perspective they were filmed from. It’s fascinating how small the hobbits are actually supposed to be, and a human would probably have to crawl to get into a real-size hobbit hole.

Anyway, the tour guide was a really nice woman from New Zealand. She helped us take some pictures, so we got some pictures of the two of us without having to take a selfie. The props and attention to detail on the set was amazing, and the tour was still nice even though it rained throughout the whole tour. The main irritation of the rain was that people kept unknowingly poking you with their umbrellas, which was both annoying and made you wet.

The tour finished off in The Green Dragon, which is a pub in the film and movies that have been reconstructed for the tourists. At the pub, we got cider and huddled up around the open fire. While sitting at the fire, we got some unexpected company from some Asian tourists that first posed in front of the fire for pictures. Then one of them, a man in probably his fifties or sixties, sat down without any warning on the armrest of the chair Linnea was sitting in and put his arm on her shoulder and then had his friend take a picture of them.

That unexpected event then prompted a discussion with four other persons we just met who turned out also to be studying in Sydney. They were all international students as well, from Norway, Germany, the US, and the UK. We talked to them for quite some time both at the pub and at the Shire’s Rest, after going back with the bus. We exchanged contact information, so hopefully we’ll meet up in Sydney.

We headed off in our van to our sleeping place of the night, a freedom camp site called Keeley Reserve. We got there, only after driven past it twice. First, because we didn’t think the exit would come that soon (don’t trust google maps completely). The second time, because all the oncoming traffic made it dangerous to cross and exit on the opposite side.

We parked, made dinner of the food we had left and then we watched Now You See Me 2. When it was finished, it was dark out, and because of that and the rain, we stayed in the van for the rest of the evening.

/ G&L

NZ Road Trip – Day 6 (Whakapapa – Rotorua, 24 September)

We woke up to the sound of raindrops hitting the roof. Before making breakfast, we went to the showers in the amenities building. The earth outside our van had really started turning into mud, but with the right shoes that don’t matter. Taking a hot shower in the cold morning makes you want to face the day ahead of you.

Back in our van, we ate breakfast and packed up. We drove off but stopped at the visitor centre right next to the campsite. They had several exhibits there, and we got to know about the different eruptions of the volcanos in Tongariro National Park. We saw a stuffed kiwi, and we got to know that possums are regarded as pests in New Zealand because they hurt the tree flora and spread tuberculosis.

Because of the rainy and foggy weather we decided not to go on a hike in the area, and we weren’t even able to see the Ruapehu volcano that otherwise makes up the backdrop of Whakapapa Village. Instead, we drove north out from Tongariro National Park towards Lake Taupo and Taupo.

In Taupo, we filled up on diesel after making a loop in the roundabout because we weren’t allowed to make a right turn at the gas station. We stopped again for lunch at Huka Falls where we met a lovely local couple with whom we shared the park table. We ate soup and finished off with a cup of coffee.

After lunch, we hiked from Huka Falls along the river down to a hot spring Linnea had heard about from a friend back home. Although we didn’t feel like bringing swimmers with us, since it was a long walk back to the car and the pools we had waiting for us at the campsite in the evening was enough bath time for that day. When we got to the spring, there were several other people bathing. Linnea took her shoes off and dipped her feet in, the water was really warm and nice.

We headed back to the Huka Falls and watched them more closely. Just as we came, there was a jet boat loaded with tourists that raced up to the biggest drop in the fall and they did a couple of laps in the waves beneath it and waved at us.

Driving back onto state highway five, we headed towards our stay for the evening Rotorua. There we had booked a night at the Top 10 Holiday Park, a big chain of campsites that are all over New Zealand apparently. All was well when we got there, the guy at the office was friendly and instructed us how to get to our spot that was right next to the pools. He also made a call to the local stand up paddle boarding agency, since Linnea hadn’t been able to reach them earlier during the day. Unfortunately, they weren’t operating at the moment because of bad weather.

Again, we could see that companies should be clearer how they operate during winter in NZ. Also, as Swedes, we kind of laughed at them for calling 15 degrees and a bit cloudy bad weather. People in Sweden wear shorts when it’s like that in spring.

We got to our spot and plugged the campervan in. We heard a sudden fizzing noise, but nothing happened. We tried again. Still nothing…

After a while, we walked back to the office and asked if they could help us. A woman came out and tried their test-plug in the power outlet and said that nothing was wrong with it. She said that we could try another outlet of a different model at another spot and see if that worked. It didn’t.

She then told us that we had to call our rental company and make them help us because there was nothing more they could do. And we also had to drive our car back to the first spot because we couldn’t stay in that one.

We were both really annoyed by this since we thought that surely they must have a spare cable that they could borrow us for one night if ours didn’t work in their outlet. After all, we had paid more than 50 dollars for a single night at a POWERED spot. But nope, the single thing you need to get power to a campervan they didn’t have. So we called Apollo, and they simply said that surely we should be able to lend a cable, and if not we could buy a new one at a store and they would reimburse it once we handed the van back in.

We asked the staff at the office for the nearest store where we could buy a cable, and a woman said that there were one just across the street that should have them. Notice she said should instead of that she knew it.

We walked to the store called MEGA. Fortunately, they were still open although it was a Saturday at five o’clock. After asking several people and closely scanning the electronics isle, we concluded that they had no camping cables. We felt cheated and walked back to the campsite. Once there we gave our cable another go, and what do you know, this time, it worked! So we fixed our cable all by ourselves, thanks for nothing Top 10 Holiday Park (more like bottom ten from our experience).

Now when we had power, we decided to eat, but before that we went to the geothermal pools that were located on the campsite. There were two pools, one at 38 °C and one at 40 °C. It was really nice and relaxing to sit in them, but the water in them had a yellow tint (hopefully) from the naturally occurring sulfur and the eggy smell that it brings with it. The smell was only noticeable for a while.

When our fingers started to feel like raisins, we got up and took a shower to get rid of the smell. After showering, we made dinner and watched some youtube clips as the wifi connection actually seemed to manage it. Then we went to bed one hour earlier than usual as New Zealand was changing to daylight savings time during the night making our night one-hour shorter.

/ L&G

NZ Road Trip – Day 5 (Wellington – Whakapapa, 23 September)

We woke up in our seaside accommodation at 8 am and fixed ourselves some breakfast. Shortly after the nearby camper vans had left, we were getting ready to leave, but first, we were going to use the dump station. This was our first emptying of the grey water tank and the toilet waste cassette. It was quite simple. The grey water was emptied using a tube that we connected to the car. The toilet waste cassette had a good design that allows for easy emptying and cleaning.

We rolled out from the campsite and drove along the coast in Wellington to an area close to Oriental Beach, from where we walked up to Mount Victoria. It was many stairs and hilly tracks which lead up to Mount Victoria, and “Mount” felt like a well-deserved prefix to Victoria indeed. The view from the top was nice, but due to clouds, we could not see very far. But we think we could see our car from up there.

When we got down, we managed to get back to our car right before the parking maid got around to our parking lot. This was good as we arrived five minutes late for our parking ticket. We drove out from Wellington and started making our way north on Highway one. Before we got too far, we drove into a shopping area to go to a Noel Leeming store, which sells electronics. But Burger King became prioritised, so we went in for lunch first. We got some suggestions from the woman behind the counter when we asked for student deals, even though they weren’t student deals the deals she suggested were within a good price range, and we were sold.

Stomachs full we headed into the Noel Leeming store and bought a phone charger for the 12V carjack, as our phones had been running low on power while driving. We plugged it in, and it was working as we drove back onto highway one. On the roads there was a lot of traffic, there was congestion multiple times, and we started discussing how to re-plan the NZ highway system. Although experiencing queues at some point is probably to be expected on a road trip.

We took another pause to refuel on our way, but otherwise, we drove straight to our next camp site, Whakapapa Holiday Park. As we were getting close to the camp site, rain started hitting our windscreen. The campsite itself was a bit muddy due to the rain but seemed alright otherwise. It’s located in the middle of Tongariro National Park, which has several volcanoes and seismic activity. But the weather forecast didn’t look good, so the plan on hiking tomorrow morning had to be cancelled, and we decided on heading straight to our next destination.

Gustav discovered that the cramped toilet in the van is actually rotatable, which means that you can use it without training to become a contortionist. That’s good news although we wouldn’t have minded realising that earlier than day 5.

Time for bed! – G&L

NZ Road Trip – Day 4 (Abel Tasman National Park – Wellington, 22 September)

We started our day with a hot shower to clean ourselves after the hike and prepare us for a travel day ahead of us. We were driving to the ferry in Picton to go to the north island.

After breakfast, we filled our fresh water tank and then rolled out from the camping site at 9 am. We topped up on diesel and started making our way back over the curvy mountain pass.

Apart from a nature call, we drove straight to the ferry terminal. We drove past many wineries, which seemed understandable as Marlborough is one of the largest wine regions in New Zealand.

We arrived at Picton and the ferry terminal at 12:15 pm with one hour to spare before final check-in. During this time we made ourselves some soup for lunch, which we ate in the car. Time passed, and we had eaten our lunch and drunk some coffee, before boarding a man from the ferry company came and asked us concerning an alga that is present only on the south island. He asked where we were from and then went on to say how beautiful Stockholm is and complained only that the E4 highway in Sweden is a bit boring.

At 1:50 pm or so, they started boarding the cars onto the ferry. We parked our van on the lower car deck and proceeded up to deck seven where we watched the ship leave the shore. Then we bought a coffee (a caramel latte, yum!) and a panini sandwich and sat down to watch our journey through some large windows in the front of the ship.

As the ship left the archipelago, the sea became a bit more rough, although it was still quite calm. Linnea felt a bit ill and needed to sit and watch the horizon in order not to get seasick. We both made it through without any incidents, but the ship was late on arrival in Wellington.

When we drove off the ship, we made our way towards a Countdown (the New Zealand branch of Woolworths) for some groceries. As we got to the parking garage for the store, we realised that our van was too big for the garage height and we had to find somewhere else to park. We ended up driving a couple of blocks down and turning back, not so much because we couldn’t find a parking spot, more because of the hectic traffic and needing to slow down in order to park in the spot.

We finally parked 700 meters from the store, walked there, and bought our supplies. From the store, we drove to our campsite for the night – Evans Bay Marina. It’s located next to the water and the docks for smaller boats. We fixed supper, wrote some blog post, and went to bed.

G’night! / Gustav & Linnea

NZ Road Trip – Day 3 (Abel Tasman National Park, 21 September)

Today was a very special day. It was Gustav’s birthday!

In celebration of this, we stayed for the whole day in Abel Tasman and didn’t do any driving. By the way, that’s the only day we’ve planned to stay at the same campsite during this trip. We started the day by talking to Gustav’s parents on Skype. It’s a bit fascinating that the time difference is so substantial (10 hours at the moment) that Gustav’s parents are still having the day before at the time of the Skype.

Afterward, Linnea started making a pancake gateau, with Nutella, ice cream and candy decorations on top. As the Swedish saying goes; “Man tager vad man haver!” (”You take what you have!”)

This delicious monstrosity was eaten outside the campervan, out in the sun at our portable table that we rented with the van. We sat there for quite some time, admiring the landscape, and also Gustav opened his present.

When we were done with the cake, we thought about renting a kayak for the day and called the company operating close by. Unfortunately, they had only one drop off time during the low season, and it had been early in the morning. It would have been nice if they had written that in the brochure…

A little disappointed with the kayaking company, we quickly came up with a plan B. Which was hiking in the national park!

Linnea had read about the stunning beaches alongside the coast of the national park, so it was quite fitting that our campsite was located right next to the starting point of Abel Tasman Coastal Walk. We looked up on the map how far it would be to walk to Te Pukatura Bay in the middle of the park, and it was roughly 12 km one way. We didn’t feel discouraged by that, nor were particularly concerned by the fact that none of the signs at the starting point had that bay on it.

We started walking the same track as when we ran the evening before. This time, it was high tide, and most of Sandy Bay was under water. We continued on the track past Porters Beach and up along the coast.

We kept a steady fast pace, since we wanted to reach the stunning beaches in the middle of the national park, and also a tiny bit due to the fact that we were tracking our pace with Runkeeper. We felt like beating our record for the furthest and fastest hike!

After passing a few bays, we felt like it was time for lunch and walked down to a gorgeous small beach at Akersten Bay with two benches available. At first, we had some company by other hikers, but then they all went, and we were alone at the beach. We finished our lunch and drew a mark in the sand before continuing.

We pretty much went straight up the cliff to a lookout where we could see both the beach, another bay on the other side, and a boat that was anchored gleaming in the water. We had a coffee break there, sitting on a rock and feeling tired but wonderful.

Moving on we kept our fast pace, feeling energised we passed 10 km walked. The rainforest continued on and on, the track going up and down the cliffs and always curving back and fourth. Notably, there were no railings on this track, not even when you were walking high up, and there was a straight plunge down to the water. But fortunately the path wasn’t that narrow, so we didn’t think about is most of the time.

Passing a corner we saw some strange shapes moving towards us on the path. Coming closer we saw that it was two birds that looked a bit like the Kiwi Bird, but bigger from our estimate. They didn’t move off the path, not even when we walked passed them. They just kept walking the path like they were a couple just like us out on a stroll. Birds in New Zealand are weird. (The birds turned out to be Weka or Maori hen).

We finally made it to the middle of the park! The view from the top of the hills was amazing. For the final stretch of our hike, we decided not to go to Te Pukatura Bay. Instead, we went to Watering Cove.

We were alone on the beach there too. Probably because of it being the low season, so a big tip we want to give is to visit NZ during the low season!

At Watering Cove, we were thinking about taking a swim. So we changed into our swimmers and started walking into the water. We had got to our ankles before we stopped. It was very cold, and the sun was no longer shining into the cove not making things better.

Being happy with just bathing our feet, we got dressed and started our journey back to the campsite.

As time was rushing on and our walk had taken quite a lot of time going one way, we walked back in a brisk tempo with few stops. It was good that we decided to head back when we did, because when we had a few kilometres left it was really starting to get dark, and we only had a flashlight. But we made it back in time before it was completely dark.

Back in the campervan, we at a three-course dinner consisting of carrot sticks and dip as the appetiser, spaghetti and sausage in tomato sauce as our main course, and last but not least, fruit salad (a.k.a. fruit cocktail) with ice cream for dessert.

After dinner, we went out for a short bit to look at the sky. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky making it very easy to see the stars. It was an awe-inspiring experience.

/ Linnea and Gustav

NZ Road Trip – Day 2 (Hanmer Springs – Abel Tasman National Park, 20 September)

Paying for the vans bedding proved to be worth it during the first night already. We did not have any heater on as we were running low on the battery for the living area and were not hooked up to an external power source, so during the night we woke up a couple of times because it was freezing in the van.

We made it through the night and woke up at 6:45 am and had slept 9.5 hours. We used the facilities at the camping site and fixed ourselves a sandwich each before driving off. We only drove for a short while before stopping for full-on breakfast. Coffee, yogurt, and sandwiches were our breakfast made up of. We ate it at a rest stop at the table located there. We shared the table with a French woman about our age from Lyon who had been living in New Zealand since October last year. She was making breakfast for herself and her boyfriend, who was still sleeping in their truck.

We talked to her while we ate our breakfast but had finished eating before her boyfriend woke up. After breakfast, we drove off continuing our way north. Our first stop was at Maruia Springs where we bought a cappuccino and a scone and walked down to the stream to admire the nature. We risked the dryness of our shoes and walked out on some rocks to a section in the middle of the stream. It paid off; we got some nice pictures, and only the soles became somewhat wet (on Gustav’s shoes).

Our next stop was at Maruia Falls. The view there was really beautiful as well, but the currents in the water seemed quite treacherous. In the stream below the fall, there was a whirlpool where a great number of trees were going round and round. So that would not have been a good place to bathe. But the park bench was a good place for lunch. Soup in a cup and a sandwich, which kind of feels like a camping classic. Our lunch was unfortunately disturbed by a few biting flies that seemed to think that we looked tasty.

In Murchison, we bought more supplies at a Four Corners store before driving the last bit to get to our next camping site, The Barn Backpackers in Marahau. As the day progressed, the roads seemed to get narrower and curvier. In New Zealand, they often put up recommended top speeds in sharp curves. The lowest speed we had encountered during the first portion of our driving was 35 kph, so as the first 25 kph sign appeared we both exclaimed “25?!” So, yes, the roads were really curvy.

At The Barn, we registered and paid at the reception and were glad to hear that hot showers were free. We parked our campervan in power site 11 and hooked up the power, after which we started charging our phones and extra batteries. When the electronics were connected, we put on our running clothes and went for a jog along the coast in Abel Tasman National Park to Porters Beach.

The forest was really thick, but when we got out to the beach we were met by a wide expanse of sand. As it seemed to be low tide, the water was really far out, and there were seashells everywhere. Linnea picked a few shells, still unsure if we’re allowed to bring them back even to Australia. There were seashells the size of your hand there, unlike anything you would be able to find in Sweden!

After our jog, we made dinner consisting of noodles and tomato sauce. It was good! Then we took a hot shower and watched a movie. Hopefully, this night will be warmer, now that we’re able to have the heating fan running.

/ Gustav & Linnea

NZ Road Trip – Day 1 (Christchurch – Hanmer Springs, 19 September)

Today was the first day of our road trip adventure through New Zealand. Andy had offered to drive us to the rental place, which was really nice of him. We got there at 9:15 am and started by filling out some paperwork. We were helped by a German woman, Helena, who was working there.

Of course, we ended up with some of the extra additions, like heater, bedding, insurance, etc. Hopefully, it will be worth it, well not the insurance. When we drove out from Christchurch, we had to drive through some road work, but we made it through.

It felt really weird to drive a bigger car and to drive on the left. The landscape was really scenic as we drove north. When we got to Hanmer Springs, we found a good parking spot and a grocery store. We loaded up on food and got back to the camper van.

We decided to go to a petting farm, only to find that it was not open on Mondays. But we found other animals to pet as the horses along the walkway proved to be friendly.

Fish and chips for lunch (19 September 2016)

We grabbed fish and chips for our late lunch, and then we headed to our first camping site. It was located a bit outside of Hanmer Spring and was free. Being free it only has a couple of public toilets, which is better than nothing.

Arriving at the camping spot, we were alone at first. We unpacked our bags and put our stuff in the cupboards in the van where everything seems to fit. Then we cooked dinner, which was sausage with beans and peas. We managed to cook it on the stove in the van and wash the dishes, but after that, the battery started to run low. So then candles proved to be a good thing to bring. Thanks, mom!

We made our bed in the back of the van and sat down to write these posts. So far everything has been going well, and that’s the way we hope it will continue.

Good night!
Gustav & Linnea

Christchurch (17 – 18 September)

We are home now from our New Zealand trip and will publish a series of posts written during our trip. We will also post a video later summarising our trip. Hope you enjoy!

After a day (or half a day) of packing, we got up at 4 am in order to catch the train to Sydney at 4:39 am. First thing, we checked Uber. There were a couple of drivers around, and we ordered one with a time margin in mind.

As we got out of the house, the car had started driving the wrong way, and we started to become stressed. So with less than fifteen minutes left ’til the train was due to leave, we ordered a taxi.

Of course, as soon as the taxi appeared so did the Uber. The Uber was first, so we got into the taxi drivers dismay. (We did apologise to him, though).

The Uber driver drove like a maniac, in what I assume is not a completely legal fashion. But we got to Hamilton station with time to spare, so all was well.

Half groggy with sleep, we rode the train for three hours. When we got to Sydney at 7:11 am, we changed trains to get to the airport. At the airport, we noticed the architect did not assume people would come by train and decided just to put in one escalator and one lift.

One long escalator queue later, we managed to find our way to the check-in kiosks of Air New Zealand where we got our boarding cards and bag tags, and then dropped our bags at the counter.

Side note: Air New Zealand has one of the most beautiful graphic profiles we’ve seen. It is present through everything from the aeroplanes to the clothing of the personnel.

The flight was a bit late in departing, but it was pleasant otherwise. We got our second breakfast, which we thought seemed fitting for the occasion as the LotR fans we are.

In the seat next to us, a businessman sat who seemed really hang over. He didn’t eat any of his food and only ordered two Bloody Mary drinks. He gave Linnea his breakfast muffin, which was nice.

When we had landed, we got through immigrations and customs fairly quickly. Before getting out of customs, we withdrew some money and took some brochures, during this time we were sniffed by a customs dog four times. He was sniffing for fruit and other illegal items.

From the airport, we took the bus into town and walked the rest of the way to the Airbnb where we were going to stay. It took some time to walk, but we managed to find a park which we could walk along. The park was filled with daffodils, which we associate with Easter in Sweden partially because they are called “Easter lilies” in Swedish.

When we got to the accommodation, the hosts weren’t home, but they had given us instructions on how to get in. We got settled in our room and greeted the hosts when they arrived. Our hosts were Andy and Kat, two Germans who have been living and working in Christchurch for two years. They were kind and gave us some suggestions on where to eat.

We went out to a Moroccan place where we had a sharing plate. It had falafels, olives, carrot sticks, and more. As we were leaving, Gustav bought a Turkish Delight because he wanted to try it. It was good too. When we were walking back, fireworks started some distance away. A nice way to end the first day in New Zealand.

We started our second day with complimentary breakfast, muesli with milk and mocha coffee. After that, we headed out to the city with our first stop at the botanical garden. The botanical garden was really big, and we walked around there for a couple of hours. The roses weren’t blooming, but many other flowers were blooming.

We looped around the park and got back to where we started. We went into Canterbury Museum which stands in the garden, where we say a couple of different exhibitions. First, we were in an exhibition about New Zealand starting with the Maori people and their evolvement, then come the colonisation and the immigration. There was also an exhibition about Air New Zealand in order to celebrate their 75 anniversary.

After our museum visit, we went to the Re:start mall which is built using containers and was built after the earthquake in 2011. We bought and ate some food, and then we went into some stores and had a look around.

We ended our tour in the city by visiting 185 empty white chairs, a memorial artwork for the 185 people who died during the 2011 earthquake. Every chair was different and selected for the person it represented. The most heartbreaking with was to see the baby car seat in the front row. The artwork really makes you think about life, how precious it is, and how sudden it can be taken away.

Next to the artwork stood a church called the Cardboard Church, which also had been constructed after the earthquake. It had interesting architecture and a unique kind of window art.

As we walked home, we bought some ingredients, and then we made burgers when we got back to the accommodation. We talked a bit to Andy and Kat as we ate, and it was interesting to hear their views on the life in New Zealand and how it is different from Germany and Europe.

Hugs,
Gustav and Linnea

Made it to Auckland, the final stage of our #nzroadtrip #linneaandgustav

Continue reading Made it to Auckland, the final stage of our #nzroadtrip #linneaandgustav

Tag: nzroadtrip

NZ Road Trip – Day 8 (Keeley Reserve – Auckland, 26 September)

Like this:

NZ Road Trip – Day 7 (Rotorua – Hobbiton – Keeley Reserve, 25 September)

Like this:

NZ Road Trip – Day 6 (Whakapapa – Rotorua, 24 September)

Like this:

NZ Road Trip – Day 5 (Wellington – Whakapapa, 23 September)

Like this:

NZ Road Trip – Day 4 (Abel Tasman National Park – Wellington, 22 September)

Like this:

NZ Road Trip – Day 3 (Abel Tasman National Park, 21 September)

Like this:

NZ Road Trip – Day 2 (Hanmer Springs – Abel Tasman National Park, 20 September)

Like this:

NZ Road Trip – Day 1 (Christchurch – Hanmer Springs, 19 September)

Like this:

Christchurch (17 – 18 September)

Like this:

Made it to Auckland, the final stage of our #nzroadtrip #linneaandgustav

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: