Report from 5 January to 13 January 2024
From: New Zealand
Janine 6 days alone in Wellington
and how I then hitchhike to catch up with the others again
I just needed some time for myself. That's why I left Gaby, Dieter and Karli in Wellington. The three of them travelled further north and I stayed in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. I like the little town. Yes, small town is the correct term, because the capital of New Zealand is small. You really can't believe that this is supposed to be the capital of New Zealand. It is nicknamed the "coolest little capital in the world". The city centre is nice and compact and everything is within walking distance.
Wellington has a very alternative flair. There is a lot of street graffiti, painted house walls, the clubs and bars battle it out to see who has the most colourful and unusual house walls. There are lots of comic and gaming shops. I have never seen so many second-hand shops in one place. When it comes to choosing clothes, many residents have the motto: the fancier the better.
Wellington is situated on a large bay, there is a beautiful promenade by the water. I'm sitting there as I'm writing these notes for the blog, looking out over the water and the harbour and probably getting the worst sunburn: the sun in New Zealand is incredibly aggressive! I've already got more sunburns here than in Asia! And at the same time I'm freezing because the wind is really fresh. I'm wearing a jumper and long trousers and I'm still celebrating with every breath of wind. Meanwhile, the New Zealanders are all walking around in dresses and shorts..... It's going to be funny as soon as summer is over and winter arrives... if I'm already freezing now....
A few days later:
Some days are simply unnecessary. Like today, for example. I'm in a bad mood, I actually wanted to go for a short walk today, but I'm totally lacking in energy. I start walking but take a break at every bench. I can't say why, but I still don't feel like I've fully arrived. I'm always cold, even though it's summer here (but summer in New Zealand is also colder than summer in Germany). Everything is so expensive. And I somehow miss the simplicity of life, like in Asia. Somehow I still don't know exactly why I'm here, what I want. I ask myself what I'm doing in New Zealand, why I'm here. Karli and I are in New Zealand on a "working holiday visa". That means we are also allowed to work here. Which are usually simple unskilled jobs. Waiting tables or picking fruit. I'm overwhelmed organising the necessary formalities: applying for a New Zealand tax number and opening a bank account and CV and job search and and and. And then I think to myself that all the 18 year olds here who come here after their A-levels have managed that, and I'm 10 years older and despair about this shit. And what can I do anyway. I'm almost 30 and haven't really achieved anything in life. I can't play an instrument, I haven't bought a sailing boat, I'm nowhere near as environmentally friendly as I'd like to be, I'm wasting a year or two in the world, I don't know what I want my future to look like.
I have no plan. I don't know what I want.
And then somehow there's also the question: What's next? How long do we want to stay in New Zealand? How long do we even want to keep travelling? The last thing I said was that I definitely want to go back to Germany at the beginning of the German summer. Not in autumn or winter, that seems too depressing right now. So after New Zealand you're going back to Germany in a few months? On the one hand, it seems logical to me. On the other hand, we really wanted to go to Japan before travelling back to Germany. And we received invitations from friends we met while travelling. To Brazil and Mauritius, for example. Or the invitation from Jan and Laura to their luxurious, self-renovated sailing boat. I really want to go back to Germany in spring or summer. But that would only be another 4 months. Is that what I want? Do I want to go back to Germany now? And then what at home? What will I do there?
I have no plan. I don't know what I want.
On our trip, we saw so many other lifestyles. So many dropouts who have set up a new home somewhere. Opening a small restaurant or bar.
Jan and Laura, an older couple who have renovated their sailing boat from the ground up and have now been sailing around the world together for years. They keep their heads above water financially by rebuilding and reselling broken boats.
The Frenchman who met a Laotian woman and now supports her in her motorbike shop.
Marco, a German who has opened an incredibly tasty sandwich shop in Laos.
Graham comes from London and is the worst bar man in the world (because he's his best customer).
Kevin, the second skipper of our sailing adventure. He comes from England and started travelling the world decades ago before settling in Hong Kong and opening a bar.
A couple we met in Bali give English lessons online. They use them to finance their trip and have been travelling for several years.
Laurence is from England and had been working abroad for a few years when he met Belle. After not being able to see each other for 1.5 years during Covid, they got married afterwards and now live together in Kuala Lumpur.
In the small town of Alimanquay, Philippines, I met a Dane who is enjoying his retirement in the Philippines. His daughter runs a restaurant on the property.
Oliver, the skipper of our first sailing boat, is a true survivor who arrived in New Caledonia at some point and taught himself computer science within a year.
Silke is from Germany and emigrated to New Zealand with her English husband and their children, and now works in a tourist information centre.
Stefan, a Frenchman who has bought a guesthouse in Pakse, Laos, together with his Laotian wife.
The Spaniard who is currently setting up a glamping centre on an island in the Philippines
The Czech, who occasionally travels to Europe to earn money, but his passion is observing Asia. He has been returning here for 10 years, as soon as he has enough money, to the primeval forests to document how the flora and fauna of Asia are changing.
We met soooooo many such CVs on our trip. I'm sure I've forgotten to list a few.
I have no plan. I don't know what I want.
What appeals to me is not necessarily the emigration itself, the life in Asia or New Zealand, I miss my friends and family. But what really appeals to me is the challenge! Buying a sailing ship or opening a restaurant or a bar or whatever - in Germany that seems impossible unless you have 10 years of experience and a lot of money to invest. In Asia it seems so... tangible... Somehow the impossible was suddenly possible. The world was at our feet.
For us, the question is slowly arising: what now?
I have no plan. I don't know what I want.
These and similar thoughts are recurring at the moment. Sometimes the carousel of thoughts stops for a few days, but the peace in my head doesn't last for more than three days. Then it starts all over again. It's very tiring.
Here in Wellington, I've just found myself in one of those holes again. And then I received a very sweet message from home. A friend told me about her spontaneous holiday alone with her child. I think it's so great what she's telling me. And she said that she could learn a few things from my blog. I'm touched and a few tears roll down my cheeks.
I've been here in Wellington for 6 days now. I had hoped to find answers to all the questions and problems in my head. Unfortunately, I haven't. But I don't think that staying here in Wellington will help me any more. That's why I decided to catch up with Karli, Gaby and Dieter. But now I'm in Wellington and the three of them are about 800 kilometres away.
In Germany, I used to complain a lot about our public transport system. Compared to New Zealand's public transport system, it's a dream! Particularly from city to city, the options are very limited. Although Germany has a lot more land area than New Zealand, New Zealand is almost twice as long. Despite this, New Zealand has just two railway lines for passengers that are still in use. There are also two bus companies that offer overland journeys.
At the hostel, I met someone who was hitchhiking through New Zealand. So I stand by the road and give him the thumbs up. I let him give me some more information and decide to catch up with the others. I mean, I wouldn't be Janine if I didn't do crazy things.
A few hours later, I've packed my bag and am ready to move on. Hitchhiking within a city or out of a city is very complicated because all the cars are going somewhere, but maybe only one per cent of the cars are going in the direction you want to go. That's why I first take a bus and get off somewhere far out of town. The excitement builds, everything is tingling, I take a deep breath and thumbs out! I stand there for about 20 minutes when a car stops in the opposite lane. Two girls stop who have just passed me and seem to have turned round for me. They ask me where I'm going. My answer is "northwards". I get in the car. The two of them are Kiwis. The New Zealanders call themselves Kiwis. The two girls have been shopping in the nearby town and take me a few metres with them on their way home. I don't have to wait that long at the next stop either, as a Kiwi also gives me a lift. He is a lumberjack who cuts down trees for private individuals in their gardens. They are not long journeys, but very nice people who give me a lift. In the third car that stops for me today are two Argentinians who work here in New Zealand. They were in Wellington because they needed a new passport and are taking me 260 kilometres with them. I'm sitting in the back seat of a small blue car, Argentinian music is playing from the speakers, I'm watching the landscape and letting the sun shine on my face and I feel like the luckiest person in the world!!!
But I had no idea that it would be even better just 3 hours later, when I was allowed to swing on a rainbow-coloured swing! 💚🧡
Man. Man. What a rollercoaster of emotions. Sad to death this morning and now the happiest person in the world!
I spend the night in a hostel. The next day, my first lift is with two girls from the hostel. I had struck up a conversation with them the night before and they gave me a lift on their way to the beach. When they drop me off, I stand there for quite a while. I'm waiting at the side of the road with my thumb out when I suddenly see a police car pull up. "Oh shit, I have no idea if hitchhiking is legal. Quickly put your thumb down. But the police car is already slowing down. So I walk up to the car, the police officer says through the open window "I have to go to my station, I can give you a lift." I just think to myself "okaaay, I really didn't expect that!". A truly absurd journey. At the latest when I was talking to the policewoman about drugs in New Zealand. It got even funnier when a German couple gave me a lift two hitches later: he's a policeman in Germany. He said "Nope, in Germany he's not allowed to pick up hitchhikers while on duty".
I book my overnight stays at short notice via Booking.com. In the evening, as soon as I can estimate which city I'll end up in. Tonight I'm staying in a cottage with 5 rooms, but I'm the only guest and have the whole house to myself. I found it a bit creepy.
And even the next day, nice people give me a lift. (A woman who doesn't usually take hitchhikers. An employee of a tourist tour operator in an empty 20-person bus. A dad with his daughter and a family friend on their way on holiday. And a Kiwi woman with her two children).
What really surprised and delighted me was that so many different people took you along with them.
At the end of the third day I arrived at Karli, Gaby and Dieter! That means I hitchhiked 800 kilometres in three days. I never really had to wait long anywhere. Often only 10 minutes.
📷 here here are more great pictures
by clicking you will get to a Google photo album
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