New Zealand: The Adventure Begins in Auckland

Leaving Home:

On September 28th Hilary and I flew out of Calgary at 6:40 PM with one-way tickets to New Zealand for a year. It’s tough to describe the feelings leading up to flying out, and even though it should have been filled with excitement for the adventures to come, for some reason it wasn’t. Even though I’ve done some travelling and have lived away from home for a long time, this is by far the longest and farthest that I’ve been away from home. I can only speak for myself and I may have found it harder than most people would, but for me it was really tough to let go and leave my family behind.

Leading up to the trip, both Hilary and I got asked many times if we were excited and about our plans. But to be perfectly honest, in the last few days leading up to the trip I was filled with dread, and it felt like I was making a big mistake. And if I wasn’t feeling like that, then I just felt numb to it like it was just a story but I hadn’t yet realised that it was to become a reality. There were, of course, underlying feelings of excitement throughout it all, but more than anything I felt nervous and scared.

No one seems to tell you when you leave home and everything that is familiar to you, you’ll probably feel sick and will have trouble sleeping the nights before you leave. They don’t talk about the feeling when you have to pull yourself away from your family and home and drive off into the unknown. They don’t tell you about the feeling when you’re getting packed or going through the motions of leaving and you start to realize that you won’t see home for a very long time and everything you know is going to be a long ways away, and you’re overcome with a helpless sinking feelings. No one mentions the feeling when after you say goodbye to your family that you realize that in trying to hold yourself together, there was so much that you didn’t say that you wished you had, but now it is too late. And last, after everything and you get on that plane, no one tells you about the overwhelming numb feeling that you get when it feels like everything is a dream and you no longer feel scared, excited, or worried, you just don’t feel anything.

I’m a big believer, however, that things that are worth doing, are never easy to do. The things that will make a difference in your life and will change and shape who you are will be the difficult things, and the things that take dedication, commitment, and sometimes sacrifice. When you step out of your comfort zone, you expose yourself to risk and worry, but you also open yourself up to reward. So yes, leaving home and your family and friends, and everything that you know so well hurts like hell and for me was one of the toughest things that I’ve done, but I also know that it will be the adventure of a lifetime, and I hope by keeping an open mind and maintaining a positive outlook it will help us grow and learn.

I’ve always wanted to live in a different country for an extended period of time and New Zealand has always been a top choice for me. So because of that, I feel extremely fortunate that we have this opportunity and were able to carry out our plans. At this point, we have to put one foot in front of the other to carry us into the unknown and trust that we are going in the right direction even though everything that we are feeling tells us that we are completely lost and should turn around a run.

I also have to remember the feelings of frustration and desperation that I had when working in Calgary at a job that I didn’t enjoy. Every day going to my job I felt like life was passing me by as I drove into work through rush hour traffic and spent the day stressed and frustrated. So in comparison, I would trade those feelings for these feelings of the adventure any day.

I’m writing this on the plane with only a few hours left in the flight from San Francisco to Auckland, and I still can’t shake the numb feeling where nothing really seems real. At times, my thoughts drift to home and it feels so close that I could reach out and touch it, but I have to now turn my thoughts to the adventure ahead. But I will always rest easy knowing that I have the best place in the world to return home to once this adventure is complete.

Our first stop is Auckland where we will spend 3 days sorting out things like buying a vehicle, opening bank accounts, setting up a New Zealand phone plan, and getting a tax number to allow us to work.

Auckland:

After the long flight to New Zealand, we finally arrived safely in Auckland. Our only goal in the city was to get things arranged and set up, so there wasn’t much time for sightseeing. This is likely a good thing, though, as there really isn’t much to see in Auckland. From our experience, most people that arrive in Auckland try to get out as quickly as possible.

TIP: If you are travelling with more than one person, the best way to get from the airport into the city is with a shuttle bus. They are parked right outside of the main doors of the airport near the taxis and busses. They’re cheaper than a taxi, and a bit more expensive than taking the sky bus (a sky bus ticket costs about $18.00 and a shuttle bus costs $22 each with two people). But if you have lots of luggage they will drop you right at your address which is very helpful.

Although it’s a nice and clean city, it’s busy, crowded, and noisy and there really isn’t much to see or do. We spent some time walking along Queen’s street which is lined with stores and malls, as well as time walking along the waterfront. It also rained for a lot of our time in the city so I wasn’t able to get and videos, and only managed to take a few pictures.

TIP: We stayed at a place we found on Airbnb that was just off of Queen’s Street and along Wakefield street. The location ended up being great and was nearby to car markets, banks, post offices and cell phone outlets.

The first thing that we did, was set up our cell phones. There are several options which include Vodaphone, Spark, and 2degrees. We had one unlocked phone from home so we were able to buy a sim card to put into the phone and got a monthly plan. We decided to go with Vodaphone, but all of the companies are similar and it just depends which plans suit you best. Our plan costs us $25 per month, and we have 200 minutes, 1.25GB of data, and unlimited texting.

The next things that we set up were bank accounts. There are a ton of options for banks, including Kiwi Bank, BNZ, WestPac, ANZ, ASB, and so on. We decided to go with Kiwi Bank because they issued us our credit-debit cards immediately (some other banks require you to wait for 5 – 7 days to get your card) and had good account options. The only trick with opening up an account is that you need a proof of address. Of course, because we don’t have an address in New Zealand it was a bit of an issue. You can, however, get a letter from the place that you are staying that allows you to use that address to setup your account.

To be able to work in New Zealand, you need something called an IRD number, or a tax number. This is easy to do, and you can do it at any post office once you have your bank account set up and activated.

The last thing that we did while in Auckland, was buy a vehicle. There are quite a few places to look for vehicles, like backpacker boards on the internet, car fairs in the major cities, as well as shops and markets open daily in the cities. We had to rush a little bit to find our vehicle but ended up getting a converted campervan from a car fair in Auckland. We paid $4,300.00 for the vehicle and while it isn’t perfect and definitely has a few things with its setup that aren’t ideal, it was a fairly cheap option compared to the other vehicles. Of course, we had to name our van and settled on Ernie, and I’ll try to post some pictures and more details of Ernie in my next update. Switching the vehicle’s ownership was very simple and just required going to a post office and filing a change of ownership form for $10.

After getting everything set up and figured out in Auckland, we were finally on the road and ready to begin the adventure. We headed north out of the city to an area of New Zealand known as Northland. That is where we are currently travelling, and in the next update I’ll summarize our travels in this area, as well as add some details about Ernie as promised.

Thanks for reading, and keep an eye out for the next update in the following week or so.