My first impression of New Zealand is how very much like England it is. The cold, damp, drizzly weather; the stodgy food (fish & chips, pies, white sliced bread); the expensive, fizzy beer; the brick buildings (though there are wooden ones too); the same buses, the same shops … It takes me a while to adjust to all this, and quite simply, I miss Asia… But I later learn that most of that is just Auckland, the capital, and that other parts of New Zealand are completely different! The way I want to see the country is as independently as possible. So I post ads online and in hostels to find travel companions. But it is low season and nothing I find works out without spending a lot of time in Auckland. So, begrudgingly, I book
... read more