25 Waitangi

Close to Antarctica

I arrived in Auckland in the early morning. I only bought the flight tickets last week and together with being a solo traveler coming from Chile I must have been a walking red flag for the customs officers. After I got questioned for about 10-15 minutes I was released and found myself outside the airport waiting for an Uber.

The very friendly Uber driver took me to my hotel which was it turned out is still closed until 8:00 in the morning. I found out it is a national holiday in New Zealand today called Waitangi Day. My driver was so nice to bring me to the next coffee shop (LaLa Cafe) where I could wait. The coffee was especially helpful in waking up after the more than 12 hours of nodding off over the pacific. Check-in would only be at around 15, but the cheerful Filipino staff in the hotel told me that my room would be ready for me around 12. I then stashed my gear in the hotel and explored Auckland on foot.