As our plane descended into Auckland airport, it looked as though we were landing straight onto the set of The Lord of the Rings. Endless green hills surrounded the runway, so similar to the Shire that I half expected Bilbo Baggins himself to meet us on the other side. Sadly he did not, but in his place stood Sam, a friend of a family friend who had offered to pick us up and take us back to their house where we were staying for a few days. After months of arriving in countries clueless and alone, he was as much of a hero in our eyes as any hobbit who'd saved Middle Earth.
And that was before we'd even seen the house! This place was incredible, right on the sea front with the most amazing views out across the water. We had a double room each, a swimming pool and jacuzzi, and they'd even left a car for us to use whilst they were away on vacation for the long weekend. We felt so lucky to know people so kind and willing to share their beautiful home with us and couldn't believe how far we'd come in the last twelve hours, not only in distance but standards of living too!
Hana and I were both keen to jump into our big comfy beds but but we had to wait up for Jodie and Erica who were due to arrive a few hours later. Having not seen them both for four months we'd have been too excited to sleep anyway! It was awesome to finally be reunited and as soon as we'd finished catching up it was as though they'd been there all along. As Jodie ran around our room chasing the giant beetles away and Erica made plans to bake fairy cakes the next day, we found ourselves wondering how we'd ever survived without them at all!
The majority of our time in Auckland was spent organising the rest of the trip ahead. We kept ourselves busy, researching the best places, planning our route, finding a car of our own and then most importantly deciding on a suitable name for it (conclusion, Frodo.) That said, we somehow found time for some real fun too. On our second evening we enjoyed a beautiful sunset dinner followed by a wine and jacuzzi session with the girls. The third night though arguably less civilised, was even more fun, exploring Auckland's nightlife with Sam and his friends.
We were all sad to say goodbye to the amazing house and its equally as amazing inhabitants but we'll be passing through again at the end of our trip so have it all to look forward to in the very near future. Until then we're excited for all the new adventures that New Zealand has in store!
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