Day 3: Arrival in Auckland

4 november

Arrival on Auckland airport. During the flight from Hong Kong I was able to get some decent sleep. During my nap time however, they distributed some forms that you have to fill in before you can enter New Zealand. Luckily they are also on the airport, so I could just fill them in while I was waiting in line.

The staffing of the customs officers is a bit vague in New Zealand, they add a person to a short line, but remove somebody from a long line... strange people those New Zealanders.

Not much of a hassle to get the luggage, Schiphol can learn something from this. On the paper you have to fill in I said that I had some wool with me, and walked through forests in the last 30 days. (There are some other questions but I could answer them all with no.) They wanted to check what wool goods I had (some clothing) and the shoes I used to walk in the forest but it was no problem. One of the other people with me on the trip had to get his shoes on a disinfecting mat before he could continue.

After customs we were awaited by our host: Linda.

Had a bus ride of about half an hour, now you finally see who is with you on the trip. We spend the night in the Kiwi International. After arrival we became the tourist: toke a trip in the skytower, the highest building on the southern hemisphere. We had some pretty clear weather and could see very far. Good idea I had my binoculars with me.

Here is a picture of the skytower from the base of the building

At 19:00 dinner at Tony's. Our table was the last to order, but we were the first to get served. My food was great, but later we heard about the other tables being late and not so good. The first night I discovered that New Zealanders have pretty small beds, and it wouldn't be the last time I hated that.