The adventure of buying a car

After I successfully slept through my first night in New Zealand I dived in head first into the bureaucratic adventures of bank accounts, tax numbers and getting a sim card.

All that happened during my first full day during orientation which was part of the starter package my parents insisted on. And while I may have found that unnecessary when I was still in Germany, I certainly don’t regret it now. Everything is doable on your own for sure, but I was sort of confused and definitely overwhelmed on my first days after arrival and am still to some extent, even after one week.

After I got that sorted out, I immediately set out on a search for a car in which I could travel around and sleep in. But it wasn’t as easy as I imagined and certainly hoped. I had three appointments with other backpackers pretty soon, but the cars were either not as mechanically sound as I expected or the car was already taken when I got there. While I waited for another meeting I set out to explore Auckland. One of the most recommended sites to visit is Mount Eden. And I can only extend this recommendation after I walked up onto the summit.

Auckland as a whole is built on volcanoes. More than 48 to be exact. And Mount Eden is the highest and most famous of those. The day started a little bit rainy, but that wasn’t as bad in the end, because not as many tourists were on top Mount Eden in the end.

And when I stood on the summit I realized for the first time the sheer size of Auckland. It was just buildings and streets until the horizon. And I also realized that Auckland is a very green city with lots of trees and parks. It isn’t a concrete jungle as the view from my first hostel suggested. Auckland has a huge spread and consists mostly of suburbs.
But I don’t want you to get bored with walls of text, so I let the pictures I took speak.

After that visit to Mount Eden on Friday, I finally had another appointment for a car on Saturday. It was a little difficult to get together with that other backpacker, also called Maximilian, because of a misunderstanding on my part, but after I got a look on that car, and drove for the first time on the left side of the road (it was scary), I was convinced that this car was for me.

But sadly the mechanics had already closed, as well as the post office. So I had to wait a little bit longer again.
So I spent my Sunday with hiking up another volcano, One Tree Hill. And it was quite a surreal experience walking through Auckland and hearing/seeing sheep on the side of the trail. But it perfectly got together with the cliche of New Zealand as a sheep country.

In opposite to Mount Eden there is an open road to the summit of One Tree Hill, so it was quite funny seeing people drive up there, take a photograph and immediately driving down again. As I didn’t had a car at that moment, I walked up to the summit and I would definitely do it again, as the path has some nice views as well.
And again I could see the huge spread of Auckland.

On Monday the IEP office was open again, so I had some fast(er) WiFi and I could upload the other blog post. Other than that, I didn’t do much, apart from booking a hostel until Thursday and contacting some Woofing hosts.

And than Tuesday finally came along and I met with the other Max again. The mechanical check found no major faults with the car, especially considering its mileage and age.

So we went into the post office, filled out a form, I gave him the money and then I was the proud owner of a Honda Odyssey. My first own car.

It was that easy.

The car was already converted with a mattress in the back, as well as shelves and camping equipment, such as a gas stove, pots, chairs, as well as water storage and a basic vehicle maintenance kit.

Anyways, now I can finally leave Auckland behind and explore the beautiful landscape of New Zealand with complete freedom.

Of course I am going to continue to update you about my adventures and you can of course follow me on Instagram as well.

To give you an outlook on the rest of the year, I am going to visit Hobbiton, do the Northern Circuit (a multi-day hike around the volcano where the Mount Doom scenes of Lord of the Rings where filmed), explore the surroundings of Lake Taupo, and be one of the first people to see the first sunrise of 2017 on the East Cape.

So until next time,

Cheers