Auckland, New Zealand

It is amazing how much can change over the course of just a few days.  We arrived in Auckland on Sunday with no idea of where to go or what to do.  We couldn't even find our hostel but fortunately we asked a couple walking down the street if they happened to know where Pentland Ave was.  They walked us to our hostel and helped us get checked in and just last night we had dinner with them and had an amazing time sharing stories and drinking wine.  It is a great feeling to make new friends and I know we will meet again.  Thank you, Sarah and Marek- you are wonderful.

Our second night in town we had arranged to stay with a couple from couchsurfers.org, Joel and Kyla.  We met them in Auckland for a pint and headed over to their lovely house in Avondale for dinner and drinks.  It was so inspiring to be welcomed into a stranger's home and to see the kind of warmth and generosity that I didn't realize existed.  Everyone here has been so kind and helpful.  We were told before we left how nice Kiwi's were but I could not in my wildest dreams have imagined this level of openness. 

Today we are off to visit some more new friends (thanks to Genevieve), Mayana and Keiran live about an hour north of Auckland so we are off in our new car (Rita, the camper van) to explore life outside of the city.  Auckland has been wonderful but I am looking forward to jumping off the grid a bit and enjoying some quiet time to practice yoga and unwind from the crazyness that was our first week in New Zealand.

Not sure what the internet situation will be once we get on the road but I will try to post some more photos and keep sharing stories from wherever we are.

xoxo
Kaitlyn