The flight, Aucland and Te Henga (Bethells)

---

---

Hi guys,

I have safely survived the longest flight of my life. It wasn't actually so bad and thanks to Korean Air I was well looked after. I struggled to fall asleep during the first flight as I watched 3 films (Puss in boots which is so funny, Driver and Killer Elite). I was also able to listen to a new releases and found out about Marketa Irglova who sings in English but is Czech and actually brought me to sleep - the first time I have heard about her but can recommend, she is awesome! (Link here

). You can try lots of Korean food and you get plenty of water. I noticed that Korean women are smiling all the time and have beautiful complexion.

I decided to get some fresh air after arrival and have gone through Immigration in Seoul (got 2 stamps and visa for 3 months ha!), and to my surprise, it was snowing in Seoul. The airport is very grey. I didn't have enough time to go to the tow. I also managed to leave my most important document, being my passport in the toilets at Seoul airport for approx. 30 mins! It is so hard to keep an eye on things...I tell you.

There were lots of families traveling with children to NZ and I saw some Czechs too. I sat next to a guy from Switzerland who was traveling round the world..

When I arrived in Aucland there was the strict Immigration & Customs waiting for me. It was very hot there. You are not allowed to bring any food into the country or anything which could endanger their nature. They will check your boots and tents. Lukas picked me up and we headed towards a Kiwi Motel which he booked for us. We also visited Pavel, a Czech guy who sells campavans to Czech travelers and who was kind enough to help us with our campavan Emina and the tyres. The car is from 1994 but drives ok. There are bits and pieces which we might have to do. We did a quick tour through Aucland. Anyway, I haven't slept much in the last three days so needed to rest and slept from 3pm till the morning. We had a breakfast in the motel and headed towards the Te Henga (Bethells) and Waitakere Reservoir. (Sat next to two Czech visitors). The weather wasn't great on my arrival but changed quickly to very hot sunny day.

First, we stopped at Fairy Falls which was a 2 hour walk through a rain forest, then we drove to the Te Henga (Bethells) on the west coast and enjoyed the waves. The sun here is very dangerous and the shops are not selling sun lotion below 30. Lucas wants to buy a surf(board) but cannot go to the water at the moment as he managed to burn his face (before I arrived) and got lots of blisters round his lips.

We went back to Cascade Kauri Park to see the Kaori trees (see the link http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-plants/kauri/). Those trees are huge and beautiful. We didn't realize that this walk is 8km long and after a 4 hours walk I was pretty shattered. We returned to our motel and planned our next move...

We are heading towards Rotorua and are in Papakura at the moment using the free wifi in local library😊 I think there is a lots of rain waiting for us as this summer is very wet apparently. Oh well, not much change from the UK for me then!

---

Photos

Korean Air
Seoul Airport - New Zealand