save and sound in Auckland

I made it, after 30 hours in plains and airports I'm finally in New-Zealand. the trip in itself wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. ofcourse, being trapped in a small tube together with a few 100 people, barely being able to move, isn't the most fun imageable but the airlines do their best to ease the pain. for 1 thing there is lots of alcohol available and the longer flights had personal entertainment systems in the head rests. I watched a lot of Futurama, about half of the 5th season of Big bang theory and I listened to the new Alabama Shakes album and the new Jack White album. that last one I listened to several times, it is realy good. I also discovered that Portishead is better to fall asleep with than Tom Waits. who would have thought?

the airports I visited aren't worth mentioning, duty free shops look the same everywhere you go. but the fondest memories I have from Changi airport in Singapore. the staff is super friendly, it has a beautifull outside smokers balcony and everything is cheap. I bought 5 packs of tobacco for 13 euro. for about 1.5 euro I had the best meal since I left home ( I can't pronounce the name of the dish but it contains boiled eggs, tofu and 2 entire green pepers). also in Singapore I met Simon, a laided back Ausie who lives in Bali. we had a few beers together and had a nice chat about travelling in Asia and about formula 1. Simon is a huge fan and turns out he knows more about Spa-Francochamps than I do. I was sad to leave Singapore.

after Singapore it all got a bit blury when the jetlag properly kicked in. in Brisbane I couldn't follow the security guys who were joking about the Scotch whisky in my hand luggage. I also had to ask the local time 3 times because I couldn't remember it long enough to set my clock right. On the last flight I was lucky, I was seated at the window and on the right side to get a good look at New-Zealand when we circled Auckland on our descend. the countryside realy looks like Hobbiton from high above. green and hilly. at Auckland international airport I passed imigration without a problem but after that I had to tell a scary looking bio security officer I was bringing used hiking boots and a used tent into the country. he looked at me like I was personally responsible for the kiwis going extinct ( the bird, not the people). my boots were clean but my tent had to be checked for pests in the lab. after 15 minutes I got her back, she was save and I was let into the country.

at the moment I'm writing this it's 6am, I'm already awake for 2 hours and I'm sitting in McDonalds drinking coffee, it's the only place that's open and they give you free wifi with your shitty coffee. the sun is coming up and I can finally go explore Auckland. in a few days I'll tell you about the city.