The art of building – with the existing nails…
We have a one-year visa to Australia, with the condition that we may stay in the country for a maximum of 90 days at a time. It is a consequence of all the bureaucratic mess that the trip started with. We therefore have to find another place to visit for a few days - the choice has fallen on New Zealand.
The plane ticket was bought at the last minute, as New Zealand has just been hit by a cyclone and caused major flooding.
In the airport itself, for example, there was water up to a height of half a metre. So we wanted to see if it was even possible to get over there. Fortunately, it could. In the course of a week, everything has been well under control again.
We were a bit pressured by the fact that virtually all rental cars are rented out. Completely sold out. But we are getting a Toyota campervan in Auckland.
En generel tendens som vi desværre bemærker i jagten på en bil, er at rigtigt mange benytter fup til at lokke dig ind i netop deres forretning. Efter at have prøvet at leje flere biler, hvor man benyttede bait & switch er der dog en udlejer som ikke 3 dobler prisen, men nøjes med „bare‟ at lægge 30% oven i. Det følger lidt det sædvanlige mønster – den første bil vi lejer, er pludselig ikke til rådighed alligevel.
Men han har en anden som vi kan få i stedet for. Den er lidt billigere, så det er fint nok. Vi booker den, men VUPTI stiger den i pris. Selvom det er mandens eget firma, havde han „taget fejl‟. Vi er virkligt ikke glade den slags salgsmetoder – men har ikke andre muligheder. Egentlig skulle vi have bilen i alle 3 uger, som vi er på New Zealand, men nu kan vi først få den de sidste 2 uger af turen.
Well… What do we do now?
We are trying to look into some hotel accommodation, but it is quite expensive. We are talking about a minimum of DKK 2,000 per day. It's way over our budget, for a whole week.
A general trend - is that New Zealand lives high on their location and lack of competition. If you want to come here - you have to pay as much as possible.
North of Auckland we find an AirBnB room in a house that is rented out for DKK 2000 per week. We'll grab that. The host is nice and it is clean and nice. Definitely worth the money. But a little awkward, living in a stranger's house. That's the price you have to pay.
Now we are in a suburb of Auckland without a car... so we have to investigate how public transport works. We must have a card - a bit like the travel card. After a long walk, we reach the point of sale 10 minutes into closing time and from here our journey starts to look a little more realistic.
With a well-functioning bus, it goes into Auckland Centre. We walk around the town and down by the harbor we find a maritime museum that we want to visit. With tales of the maritime history and the way of life of the Maori, they have outrigger canoes, explorers and life as it developed in complete dependence on the sea route to carry heavy goods forward.
Among the many objects there is also the original anchor from HMS Bounty, for example. The famous mutiny story against the stern Captain Bligh has not many physical traces left, as the mutineers burned the ship. But the anchor is on display in New Zealand. Quite cozy and exciting place.
With its 328m, the large Sky Tower is quite easy to spot. For daredevils, there is a SkyJump from one of the upper floors. The price is DKK 1000 for 11 seconds of controlled fall towards the ground.
We content ourselves with going up to floor 51 and looking out over the city. At the same time, there is an opportunity to photograph those who take the fast outside route down.
Outlying Auckland does not offer the completely wild landscape or urban experiences without a car, so we grab the bus once again. Easy, cheap and a new bus with 10 minute intervals.
Auckland War Memorial Museum, in the name there is an indication of the contents, but it also turns out to contain dinosaurs, stuffed animals, Maori culture, Stonehenge in England, volcanoes, photo exhibitions about the South Island and natural science in addition. Actually a small national museum.
Even Edmund Hillary's ice ax which he used on the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 has found its way into the collection.
After a number of good hours in the company of learning, we can hear a juicy steak calling us, with a clear and distinct voice - down by the harbor front. As we walk the 3km down to the harbour, the flow of people gets stronger. It's heading towards the weekend and the waterfront is where the city life is.
When the sun goes down, lights are switched on at the Sky Tower and the waterfront also lights up. It's Friday night - happy people - good atmosphere and loud music. The steak was good in a fine restaurant and we have the opportunity to shoot a few more pictures of city life.
Now we look forward to getting our car on Sunday morning so we can get out and experience some more. Auckland is on the North Island and we would also like to see the South Island, but the ferries are sold out. Despite many daily departures, it is not possible for us to bring the car to the south island.
OK – now we'll give the north island a shot and see what experiences it can conjure up over the next two weeks.
