The indian ocean stretched out further every hour. That way it seemed neverending to cross it. But eventually the A 380 of the Emirates fleet made it to the far south end. And after a short stopp in Melbourne we had quite a rough landing in windy Auckland. New Zealand! Pass controll was uneventfull but took ages. However in the mean time our bikeboxes and the funny bag rapped up in pink plastic happily met up and awaitet us in the baggage claim area 7. As our bulky luggage didn´t fit into the waiting line before immigration an officer quickly opend a band and guided us dierectly to an immigration officer on a mobile desk. Food ? Wood ? Have you been on a farm during the last 6 weeks ? No… Any camping gear? A tent, but new – ok. And the bikes, are they cleaned properly ? Of course ! Well, then off you go, the officer moved his desk out of the way and there we were free to pass the glass door leading into the arrivel hall. Lots of people were waiting for there friends or loved ones. We just said, that there is noone waiting for us, when a friendly voice caught our attention: do you have a place to stay ? Helen, herself a biker, invited us to stay with them…. Welcome to New Zealand!
As we finally had our bikes ready to go we met Helen again giving us directions to find their house. She seemed a little like an angel to us! We sat on our bikes felt though as after a beer too much and unabel to think our the long flight. It was warm and sunny, there we saw Pohutakawas… it feels familiar, a little like in Wanganui – it is New Zealand! Oh, stay to the left on the raod! The birds were singing, fragrance of blossoms found us – I realise that it really is spring time.
Richard got some sausages ready on the BBQ, while Helene was cooking and we emptied our 7 bags, in a typical wooden house with varanda. At 9.30h it´s bedtime – Welcome to New Zealand!