AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
- Temperature: 12ºC
- Distance by plane: 13 320 km
- Hours sat in an airplane: 17 h
- Days missed (due to the date line over the Pacific): 1
- Socks knitted during flight: 3
Having spent the last 16 months on the South American continent, it surely is a welcome change to step into a Western country, which currently is New Zealand. After 20 hours of flying from Guayaquil, landing to Auckland at 5:00 AM we were pretty thrilled to check in to a fancy hotel - in our standard this is fancy as past lodgings have been hostels and simple hotels where you have a bed, and that’s it.
At the moment we are wrapped in oversized bathrobes, tucked into a king-size bed with white linens and plush pillows, the long hot shower with coconut shower gel still lingering on our skin, drinking coffee made of espresso capsules. You have to understand these things are something we have not had for weeks. The beds up until now have commonly been something else than comfortable, sheets worn, pillows bumpy, and the temperature of shower water a roulette game. Or we just don’t know how to use those electric showers. There are things we have missed about the Western world. Those can be tiny things and little details, that just make your life easier, such as being able to throw toilet paper into the toiler bowl (if there is paper, that is) or drinking water from the tap, saving a lot of plastic bottles.
Even though we are pretty good at Spanish, which has been a huge benefit touring South America, it is a relief being able to speak just English again. In SA our brain is constantly on survival mode, and finding the right words is just exhausting at times. I have noticed my Spanish get easier and better when I’ve had a bit to drink. Maybe here drinks are not needed. Seems to be Dry July anyway, a month to refrain from alcohol. Just kidding, we are in wine country, after all! Or we’ll go with the local “Beer and Pie July” (pie is obviously the local kiwi delicatesse).
Coming from Latin America there are some things I will not miss, like erratic power cuts, several queues to get a simple thing done, taxi drivers who cannot read a map (or read in general), not being able to use a phone in a bank or other government building (where you usually end up queuing for hours with nothing to do), the constant reggaeton and endless lunch plates with white rice. I will remember to appreciate having seatbelts in taxis/Ubers, being able to bring your backpack inside the grocery store, paying with credit card (has been cash only for the past month) and having reliable bus schedules.
All this comes with a price, of course. It is so much more expensive in Auckland than anywhere we’ve been so far (including Galapagos islands). Just the Uber from the airport cost us 30 euros (the bus would have been 22€/ 2 persons, so not much leverage to save). Luckily we have a budget for each country. And please don’t get me wrong, I love South America. These are just observations on things we have missed, and for the sake of entertainment, listing things that we find really different from what we are used to. I hope no one gets offended!