Auckland

New Zealand has been a country we knew we wanted to go to. We had heard the Great walks book up months in advance so Katherine booked us both on 4 great walks before the country was open to tourists. And we figured we would figure out the rest once we got there. Along our travels, we have met many people who have visited New Zealand and they only had wonderful things to see. We are so excited to be in a country where we speak the language and are thankful that during our travels, New Zealand lifted their restriction and we were able to make it here!

Getting here

The flight from South Korea was much harder than either of us had anticipated. Neither of us slept much on the overnight flight. Once we landed we got to the e-passport scanner and we were both denied and had to queue to see a border agent. Turns out that there is a foot and mouth disease outbreak in Bali and we needed additional screening. Thankfully our additional screening was easy enough we had washed the shoes we were wearing and all the shoes we were carrying with us. I had 2 and Katie had 5 (having purchased custom pairs in Hoi An).

After getting through customs and entering the country we sat in the airport and watch one and a half episodes of The Rings of Power while waiting to be able to check into our Airbnb.

We then took a nap, got some supplies from the grocery store, and took a walk by the pier to get gelato before passing out for some much-needed rest.

Our first day with a full night’s sleep

The next morning we woke up and went on a free walking tour around Auckland. We started at the ferry building. And soon learned that it looked familiar to us since the city had bought the plans from San Francisco and built a copy of their building. They did this to make Auckland feel like a familiar city to travelers.

We also learned about the Sky tower which you can bungee jump off of. A sport invented in New Zealand. We talked about doing this but ended up passing on the opportunity.

Our tour guide was super knowledgeable and we got a really good intro into the city’s history, the culture and much much more including:

• New Zealand’s Woman’s suffrage led by Kate Sheppard. New Zealand became the first nation in the world in which all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections in 1893.
• The silver fern is named for the silver-white color under the fronds and its ability to reflect the moonlight.
• Covid comparison
• The dynamics between the Settlers, Crown, and Maori
• Drunk college kids on the clock
• Tane Mahuta

Post tour we grabbed lunch at the dumpling place that our guide recommended. Before coming to New Zealand I didn’t know or think much about their food. Finding out the strong Asian influences has been fascinating. Having lived on both the east and west coasts of America I have seen how the east coast has more European influences on food and the west coast has more Asian influences. Given that New Zealand is so much closer than California it makes sense there would be a stronger influence from Asia.

Amsterdam

Having been on the road for so long we are starting to miss the comforts that make life feel normal. One way we want to try to bring back a feeling of normalcy was to go to the cinema. After the city tour, we took a break in our airbnb and then headed out to the movies. While in line to buy some popcorn we watch a house sparrow fly from a ceiling rafter into the popped popcorn, pick up a piece and fly back. This happened at least 4 times and brought us so much joy. Mentioning it to the staff and they seemed completely unfazed.

We saw Amsterdam and thoroughly enjoyed it. The experience felt refreshing and normal. However, the superlatives and unique new experiences did follow us there. It is the only IMax theater in New Zealand and my first time at the cinema in a foreign country.

Museum

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki was a nice stop on a rainy day. Its permanent gallery has a collection of Maori leadership portraits from the 1800 and 1900s, both men and women. This was accompanied by short descriptions of the person themselves, giving us a great introduction to the history of the country. There was also a sense of pride in the individuals shown. It was very cool to see after the guided tour discussing the history. It is something we think about at the historical sites as we continue to travel throughout New Zealand. We really enjoyed the exhibit with portraits of Maori leaders and found it quite funny seeing a Frida Kahlo exhibit all the way across the world.

Car

Since we are in New Zealand for 2 months we needed a form of transit. At first, I looked into the bus system as there seemed to be many buses between major cities and popular hikes. However, since COVID many of the routes are no longer run or if they are run. We then looked into renting a car and were blown away by the price. As we didn’t realize the price was in NZD and not USD. One of my dear friends mentioned that we could buy a car for cheap and then sell it. After realizing that the rental cars were in NZD we were torn. We felt that if we were here for a month we would rent and car and if we were here for 3 months we would buy one. But we weren’t sure which option made sense for two months.

We decided that we would time-box our car hunt while in Auckland. Looking for a few days and if we didn’t find anything then we would get a rental. So while we were recovering from jet lag, doing the city tour, and checking out the museum we were also looking for a car. Scouring TradeMe (NZ’s version of eBay), [AutoTrader, FaceBook marketplace hostel bulletin boards, and local dealers.

We had two viewings lined up so we got ourselves a city transit card and a bus to the suburbs. The first car we saw was great. A 2008 Honda Stream with only 51k km on it. We decided since it drove and nothing was clearly wrong with it we would buy it then and there. So we walked to the nearby mall and went to every bank in the area. Each bank either didn’t have cash onsite or wouldn’t do withdrawals from foreign accounts so we. We then went to every ATM maxing out their withdrawal limits and the daily withdrawal limits on our debit cars.

It felt criminal and nefarious like we were breaking some rule or doing something we shouldn’t be doing. Just a few hundred dollars short of the agreed-upon price we decided to grab lunch. While waiting for our food I messaged the car owner that we needed our backup debit card that we left in Auckland. They were gracious enough to take what we had at the moment as a deposit.

While we ate A fellow patron at the cafe overheard us chatting about booking a nice restaurant. She struck up a conversation and recommend we try out a site called First to Table. Where you can book the first or last reservation at a restaurant for cheaper. We thanked her and then ended up talking about our travels with her. We told her our favorite activity was visiting the Serengeti and she mentioned traveling growing up in South Africa and going on Safari there. We ended up chatting about travels and life for quite a while. Until we sadly needed to cut the conversation short as we still had a car to buy. So we walked back to the car, handed the money we had so far and hopped in our almost new car and drove back into the city. Where we thankfully got the remaining money before maxing our last debit card.

After our final payment, they transferred ownership to us (yes it’s all online) and then we sat down for some tea and a lovely conversation about travel, life, raisings a family, and more. Again we sadly had to cut the conversation short in order to appease our grumbling stomachs. Excited about our new purchase and the lovely conversation. We went off to a nearby food market for dinner. On the way, we reflected on how nice the folks we are interacting with are. We concluded that if this is representative of New Zealand then we were going to have a wonderful 2 months. After dinner, we walked to a nearby beach and watched the sun lower towards the horizon h before heading back to immediately go to sleep. As we are both still jet lagged and exhausted from running to all the banks and ATMs.

The next day we took it slow. Got some alone time Katherine headed to a nearby park and I went for an urban hike around the city. We planned the next step in our adventure and picked up a few odds and ends to make organizing our car easier.