Kiwilandia (New Zealand)

  

[ENGLISH FOLLOWS]
Després de tot el percal amb els vols ja no sabia que esperar-me al arribar a Nova Zelanda i l'únic que em va dir la de migracions és si ja tenia el ferry per creuar a la illa sud, vaig respondre que no amb temor que encara em diria alguna cosa, i em diu que m'aconsella que ho reservi amb temps perquè s'emplenen i que disfruti Nova Zelanda.

Em passejo pels carrers de Auckland i no paro de comparar les diferències amb el que he viscut fins ara. Miro a la gent i tots son rossos i blancs, asiàtics o de pell morena (Maoris, la població originària). Estic enviant audios amb el mòbil sense preocupar-me de la seguretat i no miro a terra sense por de xafar una merda de gos o trencar-me la cama per culpa d'un forat a terra. Cada vegada que pago alguna cosa, encara que siguin uns cacahuets, pregunto si puc pagar amb targeta al que responen "of course" (per suposat) i al supermercat no hi ha gairebé ningú que et cobri, t'ho cobres tu mateix.

He trobat per internet a una noia anglesa, la Melissa, que s'ha comprat un 4x4 i vol fer un viatge cap al nord, així que quedem per trobar-nos la mateixa nit per parlar-ho. Ens posem d'acord i en un parell de dies marxem cap al nord amb un altre noi anglès, l'Alex. Anem rumb al nord i comencem a buscar allotjament fins que trobo a una parella gran per airBnB, la Carolyn i el John. Ells estaven contentíssims de tenir companyia un divendres per la nit així que ens obren les portes de la seva fantàstica casa. Vam alucinar, la Carolyn va posar uns pastissos de marisc al forn, va obrir una botella vi, i allà estavem parlant a vora del foc, jugant amb els gossos, sopant i menjant brownies acabats de fer. El John ens va ensenyar la colecció d'avionetes que tenien i ens tractaven com els seus nèts. Era tard i ens van dir que si ens venia de gust tenien un jacuzzi exterior, es pot demanar alguna cosa més? No ens ho vam pensar i al cap d'una estona estavem al jacuzzi mirant les estrelles i un halo gegant que envoltava la lluna, quina rebuda! Al dia següent m'anava a preparar un cafè instantani per esmorzar i la Carolyn no em va deixar, va moldre cafè, em va preparar un cafè deliciós i vam anar tots a donar una volta per conéixer el poble.

És hora de continuar el viatge i anem cap a Whangarei, de camí parem a unes cascades i fem una excursió a una montanyeta. Lo bo d'anar amb cotxe és que et pots parar cada dos per tres, i això a Nova Zelanda és imprescindible, tens fotos de postal a cada cantonada. Avui passem la nit a casa la Cathy, una noia d'aquí que he trobat per couchsurfing i ens allotja a casa seva. Ella se'n va a viatjar per Europa en un mes així que li recomano un munt de llocs. L'endemà ens porta a fer una caminata a una montanya on hi han unes vistes impressionants.

Continuem més al nord a on hi han les Bay islands, allà ens allotja el Josh, un informàtic d'aquí (kiwi) que gairebé no podia estar amb nosaltres perquè li tocaba cuidar una casa per les nits, així que ens dóna la clau de casa seva i ens diu que fem com a casa nostra. A l'Alex l'informen que començarà abans que s'esperava a fer un voluntariat a un vaixell per investigar balenes, dofins i foques, així que abandona el barco.

Ens dirigim la Melissa i jo cap a casa del Shane, un caçador i apicultor que viu a una casa que s'ha construit ell mateix al mig de la montanya. Ara mateix té 200 panells d'abelles, així que com que no pot viatjar ha decidir convidar a viatgers a casa seva. Vam estar a la gloria a casa seva. Al dia següent pel matí plovia així que va decidir fer cervesa artesanal i el vaig ajudar per aprendre'n. Ah, me n'oblidava, a la pica de fregar els plats tenia un parell de sortidors de cervesa i l'aixeta de l'aigua, vaja que a vegades t'anaves a posar un got d'aigua i acabaves fotente una birra. Al sortidor tenia una cervesa basada en la chouffe, una de les meves belgues preferides. Vam compartir conversacions super interessants fins a les tantes cada dia, li vam cuinar el sopar un parell de dies i l'últim dia va preparar-nos un super sopar amb verdures, tubèrculs i una vedella boníssima rostida. Per acabar-ho de rematar em també tenia un jacuzzi exterior així que em vaig fer un bon bany una de les nits. Un dels dies vam anar fins al punt més al nord de Nova Zelanda, Cape Reinga, un lloc preciós amb un far on vam veure una posta de sol espectacular.

Diuen que la gespa és més verda a casa del veí, no sé si és veritat però almenys aquí és la gespa amb el verd més intens que he vist. L'ecosistema de Nova Zelanda és molt delicat i portar restes de plantes d'un altre país a les botes pot matar espècies endèmiques. Tot està super protegit i s'ho prenen molt en serio per no destruir el que els queda. Fa anys algú va portar conills i opòssums aquí i ara tenen una plaga que els ha matat un munt d'espècies locals, així que està permès matar-los. Vam aturar-nos al kauri tree park on hi ha uns dels arbres kauri més grans de Nova Zelanda, al entrar i al sortir del bosc havíem de netejar-nos les botes per no introduir res que pogués afectar al entorn.

No havíem buscat allotjament per aquella nit, així que pregunto a una parella gran a través de couchsurfing, el Hugh i la Sarah, si ens poden allotjar d'ultim moment. Ells encantadíssims ens obren les portes de la seva granja on tenien cavalls, perquè passem la nit. L'endemà vam esmorzar amb el Hugh i vam parlar una bona estona.

Anem cap a Auckland de nou a recollir a la Lea, una noia alemana que s'apunta a continuar el viatge per la resta de l'illa nord. La meva intenció inicial era quedar-me un mes a Nova Zelanda, a dia d'avui porto 10 dies i només he estat a northland, la punta nord de l'illa nord, una zona que no vaig saber que existia fins pocs dies abans de venir. Ara em queda la resta de l'illa nord i la sud, que m'han dit que encara és més maca que la nord. Ja veig que em quedaré més temps del que pensava... I si, ha valgut la pena tot el percal amb els vols!

[ENGLISH]
After all the mess with the flights I didn't know what to expect arriving in New Zealand. The only thing that the woman from migrations told me was if I already had the ferry to cross to the south island, I answered no with fear that she would tell me something. She told me I should book it in advance because the get full and enjoy New Zealand.

I am walking around the streets in Auckland and I can't stop comparing the differences with what I've been living until now. I look at the people and all are blond and white skin, asiatics or brown skin (Maoris, the indigenous people). I'm sending audio messages with the cell phone without caring for the security and I don't look on the floor without taking care of stepping on a dog's shit or breaking my leg for a hole on the floor. Everytime I pay something, even if it's peanuts, I ask if I can pay by card and they answer "of course" and in the supermarket there's almost nobody in the cash, you do it yourself.

I've met on the internet a british girl, Melissa, that has bought a 4 wheels car and wants to do a trip in the northland, so we agree on meeting the same night to talk about it. We agree on the plan and in a couple of days we head north with another british guy aswell, Alex. We head north and start looking for acommodation until I find an old couple in airBnb, Carolyn and John. They were so happy for having company this Friday night, so they welcome us in their wonderful house. We were amazed, Carolyn put some seafood cakes in the oven, opened a bottle of wine, and we were there talking next to the fire, playing with the dogs, having dinner and eating brownies. John showed us a collection of small planes he made and they were treating us like their grandchildren. It was late and they told us that if we wanted they had an outdoor hot tub, what else could we ask for? We didn't think about it and in a short time we were inside the hot tub looking to the stars and to a giant moon halo. Such a welcome! On the following morning, I wanted to prepare an instant coffee for breakfast and Carolyn didn't allow me, she grinded coffee beans, prepared a delicious coffee and we went for a walk all together to know the town.

It's time to continue the trip to Whangarei, on the way we stopped in some waterfalls and we did a trekking in a mountain. The good thing of going by car is that you can stop every now and then, and this in New Zealand is so important. You can have postcard's photos on every corner. Tonight we will spend the night at Cathy's home, a woman from here that I've found in couchsurfing. She will go to travel in Europe in a month so I recommended her many places. The next day she took us to a walk in a mountain with amazing views.

We continue towards the north where the Bay islands are. There we are hosted by Josh, an IT guy from here (kiwi) that almost couldn't be with us because he was doing house sitting at night, so he gave us the key of his home and told us to feel like at home. They inform Alex that he will start sooner than he was expecting to do a volunteering in a boat to research for whales, dolphins and seals, so he abandons the trip.

Melissa and I went to Shane's home, a hunter and bee keeper who lives in a selfmade house in the middle of the mountain. Currently, he has 200 hives, and due to the fact that he can't travel, he has decided inviting travellers to his home. We stayed like in heaven in his home. The next morning was raining, so we decided doing artisanal beer and I helped him to learn. Ah, I almost forgot, in the sink he had to taps for beer and the water tap. Sometimes you were going to take a glass of waterand you ended up with a beer. In the beer tap he hada beer similar to chouffe, on of my favourite belgian beers. We shared really interesting conversations everyday until late at night. We cooked for him a couple of days and the last day he prepared an amazing dinner with vegetables and a delicious roasted beef. To finish even better, he also had an outdoor hot tub, so I took a bath one of the nights. One of the days we went to the northest point of New Zealand, Cape Reinga, a gorgeous place with a lighthouse where we saw an amazing sunset.

People say that the grass is greener in neighbourg's home, I don't know if it's true but at least in New Zealand is the most intense green I've ever seen. The ecosystem of New Zealand is very delicate and wearing leftovers of plants from another country in the boots could kill endemic species. Everything is really protected and they are so strict in that in order not to destroy what still remains here. Some years ago someone brought rabbits and possoms here and now they have such a plague that has killed many local species, so you're allowed to kill them. We stopped by the Kauri tree park where there are the biggest Kauri trees in New Zealand. When we entered and went out of the forest, we had to clean the boots in order not to introduce anything that could affect the environment.

We hadn't looked for accomodation for that night, so I ask to an old couple though couchsurfing, Hugh and Sarah, if they could host us. They were so happy to host us in their farm where they had horses. The following day, we had breakfast with Hugh and we talked for a long time.

We are going back to Auckland to pick up Lea, a german girl that will join us to continue the trip in the rest of the north island. My initial plan was staying in New Zealand for a month, currently I've been 10 days and I've only been in the northland, the northest part of the north island, an area that I didn't know it existed until some days before coming. Now I want to do the rest of the north island and the south one, that they've told me it's even more beautiful than the north one. I'm already seeing that I'll stay longer than I thought... And yes, it's worth it all the mess with the flights!