(2015/01/04-05)…arriving so early…*yawn*…still sleepy, we got woken up very early, around 5am with breakfast. The already common ritual through customs and border control got here a bit coloured by “biological hazard inspection” and a queue which seemed never to end. All questions on the form was truly answered, based on my hiking through dirt and wilderness on the Hawaiian Islands, and i expected some more detailed inspection because it got an extra mark, that it differs from the “usual” answers. Due to the volume and weight of my hiking shoes, i always wear them at the airplane, which made the inspection of my camping “gear” easy. The officer was happy that my hiking boots was cleaner then some regular shoes of other arrivers. After my luggage was X-ray checked and passed the “bug” check, i finally arrived after 1,5 hour. In the terminal i choose to get my second morning coffee and tried to figure out which “TravelNZ” Sim card to purchase. Vodafone? Spark? The first was my option because they offered 120 minutes to US, Germany and a lot of other countries and i would have a chance to call in a case of, hopefully not happened, emergency my home base.
First i waited a bit at the rental car coach pickup station and then finally saw that i had to arrange my pickup by phone. Ha, perfect, first usage of my SIM. Everything was easy and i got my “well used” rental car which i booked about half a year in advance, a Toyota Camry with 206813km. The only “annoying” about this car was the CD Radio. Only CD, a Flat-Disc-reading-unit aka “Scheibenlesegerät”… no worries, i have a small bluetooth sound speaker with me. Okay, now lets try to focus on the current new mission: 1. Driving on the LEFT side, 2. Driving on the LEFT side, 3. the driving indicator (Blinker) is on the other side, 4. Driving on the LEFT side, 5. This is an Automatic gear, it’s on LEFT, so don’t smash the right hand against the door. The first three days are the most dangerous days for left side driving before you get really used to it.
It was really easy to have this in your mind, i had already some driving experience on the left side from my 3,5 weeks South Africa and AfrikaBurn. The next outdoor store was very easy to find, it was just a spit a away from the airport. The Warehouse offered a lot of 20-50% discounted camping gear and my expenses was kept quite below my expectations. 150$ NZ for a 3 person tent, chair, gas stove, gas bottles, plate, set of camping pan and pots and a thin foam sleeping mattress. Fully equipped i headed to my hostel in Auckland-Downtown for my two nights before heading north to my camping and hiking trip.
Arrived at the hostel i figured out that Downtown is a good place to stay as real backpacker but not for an “snobby” like me, with the luxury of having a car. Parking was almost impossible (after i figured out what these, for me new, parking signs tried to tell me) and very expensive. After i ran into the wrong Nomad Hostel, because they have two in the same street just a few meters aways, i got my room at the other one and had to wait few hours because i arrived before checkin time. The hint to drive up to Mnt Eden was very helpful. Back into the car, GPS on, drive on the left side i enjoyed the first km driving in NZ. Not sure where to park my car, i stopped at a side street at the bottom and walked the way up. Mnt Eden? Lookout at Auckland? That reminded me to my sisters visit and her first days in New Zealand and Auckland where the backpack and other stuff from her and a friend was theft out of the car. I didn’t had this problem and was very happy, after getting some nice views, that my trip didn’t started that bad.
Back at the hostel, i met a German backpacker girl and we made dinner and he asked me if she could camp with me a bit on the north, because she got stuck for about a week here. Of course, why not, i have to be back at about the same time to pickup my burner-friend Manhattan…
…on my birthday i decided not to celebrate mine somewhere in a hostel with people i don’t really know and move this to somewhere when i’m back in Germany…or at a Burn. Todays goal was a short trip to Piha and the Lion Rock to check my new travel partner who she works with me together. This day was really a worse day! Almost 3 critical situations on the road, just before an accident. Left driving! ? No it was more caused by some strange road designs and totally weird roundabouts with junctions only few meters in front of it. Finally i was happy to arrived without and further issues at the coast an beach at Piha.
After our picnic in the shade near the beach, where some voyeurs with an high seat in the front yard looked at people at the beach, we headed north to the beautiful Bethells Beach and failed to find the advertised cafe. On the way back we found an other cafe where we got our daily dose of caffeine. Living in a timezone, more in the future, compared to Munich (12h) or US/ATL (18h), is a weird feeling. My birthday was almost half over when the first greetings arrived me and some arrived just to late for my timezone 😉 I finished that day with a Doppelbock beer….