After landing in Auckland, we were both surprised by the friendliness of both Immigration and Customs staff, very stark contrast with most border crossings in South America. It definitely gave us a good feeling to being back in New Zealand. We had declared some of our stuff (camping gear, hiking boots) as being a ‘bio security treat’ so they got temporarily taken from us for cleaning. When the official came back he asked where we had been as there was quite a lot of manure under Julia’s hiking boots, that he had needed to clean up. We of course thanked him very much for the sparkling boots!

As we had arrived at 4am we initially wanted to wait for the rental car companies to open to pick up a car, but our friends Martin and Aenslee had insisted on coming to pick us up at this early hour. It was great seeing Martin and Aenslee and we felt like we had gone full circle as they were also the last people we saw before we left in December. At their waterfront apartment we had a second breakfast and as it was such a beautiful winter day we went for a third breakfast a couple hours later. We walked along the waterfront and were asked by a waitress if we wanted breakfast. Their menu didn’t contain Julia’s heart’s desire; Eggs Montreal. After explaining our situation of not having had a decent brunch for seven months, the waitress went to speak to the chef and came back and said it would be especially made for Julia. So we sat down at the sun drenched tables with harbour view and ate lots of eggs, salmon and bacon with of course a couple flat white coffees to wash it all down. Not wanting to give in to jetlag we stayed up all day, doing some exploring and shopping until Martin and Aenslee came home from work and took us to one of the newest trendy places of Auckland; Ortolano. This bistro has it’s own farm where much of the produce comes from, the food was fantastic. We then crossed the road to Milse, a dessert restaurant that had desserts that looked like pieces of art. Great night out!

Viaduct in Auckland on a great winters day!

Julia soaking up the sun, anticipating the food to come

The official start of regaining the many kilo’s I left in South America, three breakfasts in one day!

Bacon and Eggs

Eggs Montreal

Dessert Art from Milse

Two flat whites from our favorite coffee chain, Mojo

Just a nice building in Auckland

The next morning we picked up our rental car from Omega, as always. Not the fanciest car, but at a price of 23 dollars a day, this company just can’t be beaten. It was cheaper to rent a car for 9 days with full insurance and fuel, then to fly Auckland to Rotorua return… go figure. First surprise visit of the day was in Hamilton, where Julia’s grandmother and brother Ben live. It was great to show up at their house, while they thought we were in Madrid, very surprised. We had a cup of tea and a catch up and then continued to Rotorua. Julia’s father was home and he hadn’t seen us coming so when he opened the door there was a very classic ‘WTF?’. Happy to see us, there was more tea of course. When Julia’s mother came home from work, she got ‘the biggest surprise in years’. We caught up over some awesome Indian take aways!

We hung around Rotorua for a few days and then went to Wellington for a very quick visit. Plan was for me to visit the doctor and see what his opinion was on my ceviche episode and if I could eat fish again or not and to see some friends. Unfortunately due to fog in Rotorua we spent most of the day in the airport with no flights coming or going. Finally at 5pm we got on a flight and arrived in Wellington to be picked up by Travis and Una for transfer to Aled and Diane’s house where we arrived right on time for a nice lasagne! After that we only had time to catch up with Ger & Linda and Darcy and Finn, before we went back to Rotorua. It was a great short visit, but we both felt like we are not ready yet to return to Wellington after our trip is over and will look at some other options.

‘We should have driven…’

Wellington’s Middle Earth Airport

View from our friends place in Hataitai

Sniffing the fresh Rotorua air

Busta is focused on what is to come, forest walk!

My favorite forest, the Redwoods in Rotorua

The last couple days in NZ were mirrored from our first days. We spent a bit more time with Julia’s parents, went to the Polynesian Spa (thermal hot pools), then drove to Hamilton for a cup of tea with Nan and Ben and then back to Auckland to Martin and Aenslee. They took us to another culinary hotspot, Mexico, a loud and smoky (food smoky that is) place with amazing food and atmosphere. The fried chicken was the best I ever had, with the added bonus that it was fully cooked so no risk of salmonella this time.

Our short visit to NZ was a great success, we caught up with Julia’s family and some of our friends and we ate and drunk all the things we had missed in South America. With that it was time for another few long haul flights for our European leg of the trip and catching up with family and friends in The Netherlands and beyond!