Auckland & Northland

Hi there!

If you are still reading my blog, then by now I could call you my favourite readers ;-)

Thanks for reading my blog because I put a lot of effort in these posts. I really need to plan this, as I’m not always able to charge my computer or to find Wi-Fi.

After writing my previous story about Sydney, the question raised weather I saw a snake/spider/shark…? And –drumroll- YES! I saw a forewebspider. Well, the guide showed us where it was (hiding between rocks). Scary!

Auckland then…

When arriving in Auckland, it was really cold. As I already mentioned I caught a cold from another backpacker, so the first days I didn’t do much besides wasting tissues.

It was raining a lot but people were wearing shorts, shirts and sandal. It scared me, really. Because it wasn’t even 15°C and they were ready for summer. I taught to myself; “Oh dear, summer is going to be cold!”

After talking to a few people I realised that those wearing shirts and shirts early October, are just the die-hard-craving-for-summer-people, haha.

Auckland is the biggest city of New Zealand (it’s not the capital, Wellington is the capital), but it’s not really a huge city I have to say. Almost 4,5 million people live in New Zealand. Most of them live in the North Island. The south Island is thus pretty deserted.

Just so you know: New Zealand is nearly 10 times the size of Belgium, but has only half of the population!

Belgium 30.528km2 – 11.323.973 people

New Zealand 275.042km2 – 4.438.393 people

I expect miles and miles without people. Where did I see that before? Right… FINLAND!

When shopping groceries I already saw a few similarities with Finland (in my opinion). Everything they sell here is big. I mean buying food for 1 person is hard because all the packages are so huge. I had the same feeling in Finland, even though it’s a bit worse here. I guess it’s an American thing invading other countries.

(Then there were the people wearing shirts and shorts in cold weather… That happens in Finland as well)

I noticed many people walking around without shoes. That seems to be hype here, or perhaps a cultural thing? I haven’t figured it out yet… Mostly it’s younger people and kids, but I have seen adults in the grocery store without shoes.

I love walking on bare feet; I might try it one day. I will try to adapt to the culture :-).

P.s.: I just found out that all of this started because there are a lot of farmers in NZ. Farmers usually have dirty shoes so there were signs to take of your dirty shoes when entering a shop. Maybe that’s what started all the above?

I felt very welcome here. Everywhere you go people say “Hi” of they ask “How are you today?”. It’s small talk. I’m not a big fan of small talk. And I wonder what people say if they’re really not OK? Or if they have a cold for example… Because everybody seems to say: “I’m fine and you?”

One day, I tried to measure something and the measure tape accidently loosened and cut my finger pretty hard. I entered a shop, with a tissue around my finger (trying to stop the bleeding) and the first thing you here is: “Hey, how are you?” That must be the first I answered: “Well, considering the current situations (showing the finger), I’m OK”.

So this is where I have to thank my precious colleagues: “Thank you Lieve, Wenke, Filip en Anita for that first aid kit”. I didn’t forget you. I love the picture in the first aid kit ;-) And the plaster was very helpful.

I haven’t been very lucky lately. Besides catching a cold, cutting my finger with a measure tape, I also caught an eye infection. I have eye infections all the time. Usually they go away after a few hours, a day max. But this one is different; it has been there for 10 days now. I went to the pharmacy to get some disinfection and it’s working, but really slowly. I found out that going to the doctor would cost 80-90 dollars (60€). If it gets really bad, I’ll go to the doctor. For now, I can handle it.

I taught New Zealand was going to be expensive and in some ways it is. But traveling is always expensive. Some things over here are more expensive other things are cheaper.

Petrol and diesel are cheaper. Strange (this is an Island) but true!
Car insurance is ridiculously cheap. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t cover as much as it covers at home.
Calling is very expensive. It’s nearly double the price of what I pay at home!
I found a shop, cheaper than “Den action”. Is that even possible?! It’s called “The warehouse”

In New Zealand there are quite a few volcanoes. Most of them are dormant but some are active. Right next to Auckland there is a dormant volcano called “Mount Eden”. I visited it and it was amazing! You have to walk a bit to get up there, but it’s definitely worth it. The view was stunning!

Actually after traveling a bit, the views keep being amazing. Anywhere you go, your jaw automatically drops.

I know why Hobbit’s chose to lice in this country! I didn’t see the Hobbit’s yet; I’ll keep looking and let you know when I find them.

There are sheep in New Zealand. Everywhere you look, there are sheep. I don’t know how many there actually are but there must be millions of them. Most likely there are more sheep than people.

There are quite a few cows as well. Sometimes I have to stop because they’re in the middle of the road!

So, to travel around New Zealand, I bought a car. It’s a very long and sad story. I decided to skip it in my blog. The short story is that I paid too much for an old and possibly broken car even though the man selling it to me claims to be a mechanic. Anyway, if you ever want to travel to New Zealand and you plan to rent of buy a car than do not hesitate to contact me. I’ve got tons and tons of information now about; insurance, legal rights (buyer and seller), where to go and where not to go.

I’m still thinking about a name for my car. The car is 20 years old (which is younger than my 2CV at home!!) but I was thinking about an old fashioned name because of the condition of the car, haha.

After buying the car, I talked to many backpackers and seemingly all these backpacker cars have some kind of problem. Mine doesn’t even seem to be the worst!

My car is consuming a lot of oil (0,5L/350km). Oh and it makes this white smoke when I hit the gas pedal. My dad said: People might think a new pope was chosen.

The mechanic told me it’s normal for older cars to loose oil. He said it’s a good and reliable car. Well, we’ll see.

So, if you have any suggestions on a name for my car… than shoot :-)

Driving around in a car is an experience itself, for me at least. These things seem to find me all the time.

When driving around in Belgium, you get pulled over by the police sometimes. My dad has been driving for a really long time now and he never got pulled over. Me, I got pulled over 7 times already! Apparently I have that kind of suspicious face or something like that. I always blew “safe”, jeej.

So, the same thing seems to happen to me in New Zealand. I wasn’t even driving 10 days with the car and I got pulled over twice already. I’m like a magnet for these things, really.

The first time they check weather my car was registered and if it passed the mechanical test. Everything was OK. The second time I opened my window and the police-guy said: “Don’t drink and drive. Drive safely. Take a nap when needed. Have a nice holiday-weekend”. Then he gave me a bottle of water and candy! Unbelievable right?

I really had a lot of trouble with this car. Back home I know a couple (Philip and Sandra) that used to live in New Zealand. They told me to contact them if I was in any trouble. Nearly a week after arriving in New Zealand, I contacted Philip. He contacted one of his friends (Pam) and we got in touch. I called Pam many times because of the stupid car. She helped me a lot! THANK YOU PHILIP and PAM

When passing by in Kerikeri I met with Pam. I had no clue what she looked like but she had a very nice voice on the phone so I thought it couldn’t go wrong. We met in Kerikeri and had coffee. She showed me around her neighbourhood. It’s incredible how much Pam knows about all these places! It is incredible especially because Pam is actually Australian.

She showed me all these cool places like the Stone store (oldest stone house in New Zealand) and then the actual oldest house in New Zealand right next to it. She showed me her favourite beach and the Haruru falls. We had an amazing day!

I asked Pam how these parking lots actually work because in Europe we have that blue card. You have to put the blue card in the front of your car and that’s how the people writing fines know how long you’ve been parked there. Pam explained me that in New Zealand they don’t have such a card. The guys writing fines just put a mark (with chalk) on your tyre and if the car and the mark is still there 2 hours later, you get a fine. Interesting right?

So, 2 hours later (after the nice trip) I arrived back at my car… to find my first parking ticket in New Zealand.

I told you I was a magnet for these things!

A few days later I had trouble with that ****** car again and I reached out to Pam. She’s an amazing woman. I was invited to her house and we had dinner together. It was a really nice evening! I got to meet some other family members and they taught me a lot about New Zealand and Maori-culture.

Pam, please let me know when you visit Belgium!

Ow, did I mention she’s an Anglican priest? She’s the first female priest I ever met. Cool :-)

After visiting Pam I tried to reach Cape reinga, which is the most northern point of New Zealand. I kept monitoring the oil-level of the car and … I made it there! Jeej!

There’s a lot of wind there at the cape but it’s an amazing view. You can even see the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collapsing! Awesome!

There’s a cute lighthouse and until 1987 there was a person communicating with the boats, but after 1987 everything was automatized.

A few hundred meters away from the Cape reinga there is another stunning place to visit: The Ta Paki sand dunes. You can rent a board there and go sand boarding on the hills. I loved watching it. I’m not a huge fan of sand ;-) If this were a mountain with snow, I would have definitely done it but sand, no thank you :-)

A bit further than the Te Paki sand dunes, the ninety miles beach starts. The funny thing is that this beach isn’t ninety miles long. It is in fact 88km long (which is 55 miles). I have no clue why they call it the ninety miles beach.

At low tide the surface of the sand is really hard; hard enough to drive your car on the beach. How cool is that!

When I tried checking out the beach, I accidently ended up on the beach with my car. Read: accidently. I really didn’t mean to ride on the beach (it was cool though) because I heard many cars get stuck there. Tourist love to drive around, they don’t have the right vehicle and then they get stuck. As I don’t drive a 4x4 car I tried to turn around as soon as possible and that’s how I ended up in a really cool campground! The owners could be a stand up comedian. His jokes just keep coming. He also has some amazing stories to tell. If I ever pass by again, I will definitely go back to that campground.

That’s where I found out that towing a car coasts 800NZD (+/-520€). That is the exact reason why I didn’t drive on the beach too long. 800NZD seemed to be a good deal I heard. Some towing companies asked much more. Crazy.

Even more crazy is this: I met people in that last campground and they were camping there as well.

Normal so far.

They walked to the campground.

YOU: Ok, that’s courageous.

ME: Yeah.

In fact they’re walking trough New Zealand! They start at Cape reinga (the top, remember?) and their goal is Bluff (the other end of the South Island). That’s +/-3000km. It takes them about 4 to 6 months.

ME: Respect!

So they just started when I met them and when traveling further I met more of them. About 750 people per year do this track. It’s called Te Araroa track. They will walk on beaches and high mountains. They will do a bit of kayaking for a few days. Impressive.

People always tell me I’m courageous for traveling alone. But hey, I have a car. These guys, they walk. Many of them walk alone! It makes my adventure seem really regular, haha.

When traveling around there are some frequently asked questions among travellers.

People keep asking; How long have you been here? How long will you stay? It’s easy to keep track of how long I’ve been here because every time when I arrive at another campground and I meet new people they’ll ask the same questions, haha. It does get boring as well. Telling the same thing over and over again. When starting this small talk, you can easily tell if somebody has been here for a while or not. People who have been here for a while, their answer is usually shorter. They also intend to start talking about places they’ve visited which is really interesting because that way I got a lot of useful tips!

Another question that I get a lot is; Where are you from?

ME: Belgium

THEM:

So far I met just one girl from Belgium (Brussels). I didn’t meet any native Flemish people yet. To my surprise there aren’t many Dutch people either. Everywhere you look, there are German people. It’s unbelievable how many German people are here! Sometimes I feel like I’m in Germany.

There are a lot of French people as well. I think 60% of the people I meet are German, 40% are French and 10% are American, Canadian and other nationalities.

I expected more people from the Netherlands…

Anyway. There seem to be many creative people in New Zealand. I love that.

Have you ever heard of Friedensreich Hundertwasser? No? I have :-). It’s an architect/painter. He made some crazy paintings. I really thought he lived in Europe (because of his name you know). Well, I found out that he is in fact Austrian and that he moved to Australia and New Zealand later in his live. He passed away in 2000.

He created some nice things in New Zealand. One of those things is a toilet in Kawakawa. Of course I stopped to visit the toilet. It was also really convenient ;-)

There are a lot of public toilets in New Zealand. There are really a lot of public toilets. In general they are pretty clean, they are free and there’s soap and toilet paper. I can’t imagine this in Belgium. If there’s a public toilet, the change you have to pay is big and most likely you get a dirty smelly toilet.

Thank you New Zealand for your free and clean toilets :-)

The last crazy thing for now is… a microwave. One day I saw a microwave next to the road. I thought it was garbage to be picked up by somebody. But on further notice apparently those microwaves are used as a mailbox! It’s creative! It’s genius!

I’d love to use my old microwave as a mailbox.