Work n Holiday
This week I arrived in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, ready to start my working holiday. I met the other 12 people on the same programme and we had a few admin days to set up a bank account, NZ phone, and listen to presentations about working and travelling in New Zealand. This was broken up with a walking tour of Auckland during which we visited the harbour, Sky Tower, the museum, and hiked up Mount Eden to look out over the city (sadly it was foggy so we couldn’t see all that much!). We also did a pub crawl and visited one bar that had a big raffle in which members of our team won a volcano tour and 2-for-1 skydive!
Paihia
The following morning we set off for Paihia on the Bay of Islands, which is a beautiful spot with lots of little islands (who would’ve guessed!) and beaches. We took a ferry across the bay to Russel (formerly the capital) and went to a lovely beach there before heading back to the hostel for a burger dinner and quiz night (in which we totally sucked).
Waitangi treaty grounds
On Thursday we had a tour of the Waitangi treaty grounds where the treaty between the Crown and the Maori was signed to create New Zealand. We had a fascinating tour during which we learnt about the translation issues which have led to so much contention as well as seeing a huge waka (Maori warship) and cultural performance. It was really amazing: one man lay down a leaf to challenge our “tribe” whether we came in peace or otherwise before we could enter the wharenui (meeting house) for a performance including songs, various items used to improve posture and hand-eye coordination, and a demonstration of battle techniques.
In the afternoon we went on a walk through lush forest to Hauru Falls and in the evening two of the guys treated us to a “family style” BBQ.
The tour
On Friday we did a crazy busy tour from Paihia further up into Northland and packed a lot into one day: we drove round in a bus and got off at a forest to see the giant kauri trees; went sand boarding down massive dunes; visited Cape Reinga where the Pacific and Tasman oceans collide and Maori believe spirits depart this world; went to the 90 mile beach (which is actually only 55 miles); and had delicious fish and chips. It was a jam packed day, but a very fun one.
Auckland again
The next morning we got the bus back to Auckland and I spent the rest of the weekend with my friend Moe. We visited Auckland Museum, which has a great selection of Maori artefacts as well as exhibits on earthquakes, natural history and WWII. We then explored the wintergardens, which were very beautiful, and watched Zootopia in the evening.
On Monday we headed to the office to research jobs and travel and attempt to plan what to do now. It’s a bit up in the air, but I’m excited to start the next stage of my journey!
26th March, 2019
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