After almost 3 months of living in Auckland, without a job, it was time to make a move. I was running out of savings so I had to make some decisions. I needed a new place to live and I needed to start earning some money. I had to start all over, again.
First I went to Hastings for a while. A small, nice and peaceful town on the south east of the North Island. I tried getting a job fruit picking, one of the most popular things to do in New Zealand, it was just before the apple season started. But the farms were too far away and I didn’t have a car, I don’t like driving. So it made it almost impossible to reach, it was time to change plans.
I made some phone calls to some of the people that I’ve met, checking how was the situation where they were living. Someone told me straight away come here I’ve got you a job, so I had my next destination.
The thing with New Zealand is that you have 3 main ways of travelling. One, you can hire one of those hop on hop off buses that take you to different destination; everything is schedule, a lot of young people, a lot of partying. Two, you can buy a car, they are really cheap, or you can rent one, or a campervan, and travel around on your own terms; this is the best option in my opinion, the distances between towns are not that long so it’s cool.
And three, you can take the bus or the train. The problem with this is that the buses stop every 2 or 3 hours for a toilet break or just a break, so that adds a couple extra hours to your trip. Also the only night bus I found was from Auckland to Wellington. To get to some cities you would need to combine more than one bus ride and, depending on the distance, the timetables would not match so you will have to stay overnight in between towns. Bus tickets are not cheap either but the ride is worth it, you can enjoy the beautiful landscape, the rivers, the hills, the sheep and cows; that makes it not that bad.
So before making a move to my new location in the South Island, I decided to make a stop in the country’s capital, Wellington.
I arrived at midday and soon after I decided to go for a walk. I went along the sea side, I walked along the beach and refreshed myself by getting my feet wet. It was time to relax and enjoy.
Wellington has incredible architecture in open spaces. While I was walking I could see amazing designs, bridges, sidewalks, everything with a twist, to make it more interesting. No matter where you look you are always going to find something.
Afterwards I went to the national museum, the Te Papa Museum. Another astonishing building next to the sea, impossible to miss. Once again, I learnt more about the Maoris and the Islanders of the pacific, as well as the diversity in their fauna. It’s an amazing place, it’s interactive, I love when I can be part of what I’m learning. But hey! That’s just me, I’m a big geek.
Eventually I got tired and I went back to the hostel where I met 3 Argentinian guys from Rosario, Pablo, Miguel and Corcho(Andres). We spent some time chatting and talking about our working holiday plans, they were working in farms and making good money. They waited with me until midnight and they wished me Happy Birthday, my first birthday alone.
The next day it was time for something new. We took a cable car, I think it was my first time, unless I took one when I was a kid. Such a short ride but so much fun. It was a really steep way up, but it was totally worth it.
When we reach the top we were in the Wellington Botanical Gardens. Botanical gardens are one of my favourite places to go visit in every city I go to, if I have the chance. From the top you can appreciate an incredible view of the city and of the sea. So then we started our way back down through paths with incredible vegetation, colourful flowers and just peace and quiet. It’s amazing how you can have this in the middle of the city.
We then went to the rose garden. OMG so beautiful. Roses of every colour, shape and size, I had no one they were so many options. There is one in particular that called my attention, the black rose. So gorgeous, but yet so dark.
I only stayed here for 2 days but it was perfect. Wellington is the stop that everybody does to cross from one island to the other. So if you are there just spend a couple of days, may be a little bit longer. It’s a great place to that a break from the city in the city.
New Zealand it has something that makes it such a charming place. When you are there you feel safe, you feel welcome, people are so friendly and nice that it makes you suspicious. At least the people that I run in to, they have the kindest heart.
The thing with this country is that it’s so big in comparison with the amount of people living there that it seems that it’s empty. Where ever you go is peace and quiet with a beautiful green hill on the background. You can’t get stressed here is pure nature. Just the perfect place to think about your life.
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