after going through customs, where I was questioned about my motives of coming back to the country (because I had been here three months already), I finally got to the first backpackers that I ever stepped into in my life (and on this trip). it was Saturday at 1am when I got there. though people were socialising in the lobby, I just wanted to go to bed. I was not tired at all, but I was feeling very confused – not knowing why I hadn’t stayed longer in Melbourne.

the next day I texted Flavia, a girl from Uruguay I met back in march when I first arrived into this country. it turned out we were both staying in the same hostel, which that night was throwing a costume party (which I had no intention in going until then). so we met in the evening to go buy our drinks and costumes… she would be a weird female version of Chaplin and I would be a very feminine marine.

the party was nice, people actually dressed in costumes (something that doesn’t really happen in Mexico). we went to bed early because Flavia had to work next day, and I was not very much in the mood.

next morning I changed hostels, and went to the YHA. I had two prepaid nights there that I had to use. to be horribly honest, the other one is always filthy, the kitchen is too small, you don’t really meet a lot of people… and that last thing is what I needed, to meet someone with a car that may want a travel partner to share costs… so I moved.

I thought it would be very easy to find this person with a car in Auckland, but I was mistaking… seemed like everyone there had already travelled and was just waiting to take the plane back home.

but I did meet some very nice people, among them Giorgia from Italy, Fabian from Austria, and Chris from Germany. this last guy is a very extroverted person that just came to my table and asked if he could sit… he had a great attitude! so that day we talked about our plans and what we wanted to do the next few weeks.

another VERY interesting person I met in the hostel was Tuhoe “Bruno” Isaac. this Maori guy, with a full moko on his face, came on Sunday evening into the hostel… to stay here… it was awesome to see the looks on all the guests’ faces! no one knew what was happening… it’s SO weird to see a local (very local by the looks of it) staying in a hostel.
but he turned out to be a very nice person (when sober) with lots of stories to tell and advice to give.
he’s been travelling for six years in his own country to sell his book: TRUE RED, a sort of autobiography.
I liked Bruno, every time we met he would call me “bub”, like if I was his granddaughter, and we would talk (actually he was the one doing all the talking) for hours.

on Monday night I was going to have some drinks with Flavia, and Giorgia joined. I wished I would’ve met her before, because we bonded immediately and travelling with her would’ve been very fun.

Tuesday morning Chris came with a brilliant idea… since we both had a lot of time to kill (he was waiting for his girlfriend to arrive on August 17th, and I was waiting to serve at a vipassana course from August 21st to September 1st), he asked me to hitchhike with him to Northland, and it became our new plan… we were doing it next morning! that meant: pack again, get rid of food, throw away clothes that you are NOT using, get a cardboard and a marker…

that night I tried to have my picture taken with Bruno, but he answered “have you bought the ($45.00) book yet? when you buy the book we can take a picture together”… bugger…
later Chris and I went to have some farewell drinks with our friends from the hostel… another girl that came with us was Sophie, who was crying in the room because the bus had left with all her things except her… so we asked her to join us so she could cheer up a little bit.
after a couple of beers and watching some people make fool of themselves with karaoke, Flavia came with some of her Argentinian friends to say goodbye as well.

on Wednesday morning we got ready to start our hitchhiking adventure aiming to hit Whangarei, a two hour drive, in one day…