Chelsea Rose: Wild Roads: New Zealand: Going to a First World Country in the Southern Hemisphere Without a Plan

In the darkness of the early morning, the lights of Auckland came into view as the plane descended. I have no idea what I am going to do when I get off this plane.

The plane lands. Just keep breathing. We disembark. Keep walking. Follow the signs. This is easy.

At Customs, I recognize a girl from the airport in Hawaii. Should I talk to her? I remembered a conversation from a few weeks ago: “Just ask people where you should go. Everyone will help you.”

“Hey,” I said to the girl, “Are you from here?”

I find out that she had been studying in Hawaii and has just finished school so she was moving home.

“Well, I just decided to come here by myself and I have no plan. Where should I go?” I ask.

“Why would you do that?”

“I guess I wanted to see if I could.”

“I don’t know what to tell you," she says, "but good luck.”

The first place mentioned in the Lonely Planet Guide, is the City Centre. Without actually reading about it, and only seeing the name, I decided to ask the woman working at the Visitor Information how I could get there. She sold me a bus ticket and gave me a map.

On the bus from the airport and going into the City Centre, the sun was just rising.

The sun is rising in New Zealand.

I did it! I’m in New Zealand! Look at me!

What now? I still don't know what I'll do. Find a coffee shop and wait for the Visitor Centre to open, I guess.

So, I sit there. Drinking coffee and listening to the harmonic tones of the accents that are different than my own.

I discover that the backpackers (hostels are called "backpackers" here) are located on a street a couple blocks away so I go over there, walking past the Sky Tower, reserving a bed, and leaving my pack.

I spend the afternoon walking around the city: through parks, past churches, and exploring the art museum (which offers free tours and is awesome!).

Sky Tower in Auckland

Early the following morning, I found myself on a shuttle. I didn’t even know where this shuttle was taking me other than the general direction of north. One foot in front of the other.

The prior afternoon, I had wandered into a little shop with a sign that read, “Let us help you plan your trip!”

I really didn’t want any set itinerary, so I’m not sure how I was persuaded into buying this. I think the guy at the desk made it sound like it was just a bus pass to get me around: “It’s an on again, off again bus pass and it’ll bring you to places off the beaten path. And you’ll make friends!”

That sounds good enough. I'm in.

“But, you’ll have to catch the shuttle early tomorrow morning,” he says.

So, here I was. On a shuttle with about eight other people who all looked significantly younger than me.

View of the Auckland Skyline as we passed in the shuttle.

Watching the country roll past.

A couple hours into the drive, we stop for coffee. Standing in the little café, I ask the “driver”, Philip, what I could eat.

“What is a good, local New Zealand-type breakfast food?”

“The pie. But you can get pie hee-ya, or you can get pie they-ya, since we’re going to pie-hee-ya.”

I have no idea what he is talking about.

“So, I should get the pie?”

“Well, you can get pie they-ya, or pie-hee-ya”

Kiwis say “here”, like “hee-ya”, and he was trying to make a joke to this American that does not realize the shuttle was going to a place called Paihia (pie-hee-ya).

He thought he was very clever and I had no idea what was going on.

On the way, we stop at a big, 800-year-old tree. I get my picture with it. I liked that just over a week ago, I was hugging a giant redwood in California.

An 800-year-old tree.

The Redwoods are bigger.

At another café, Philip sits down to talk with me. After a bit of small talk, he asked what my plans were for the night.

“Plans? I don’t even know where we’re going right now.”

“Do you want to come to a real Kiwi party?”

“Yes!” (Have I mentioned that I’m a “yes” person?)

And this is how I found myself, on the second day in a country where I didn’t know a soul, where I didn’t have a plan, just about as far from home as I could get, walking through the "bush" with a stranger who I came into my life to show me the way.

I knew this would happen. It always does.

During the walk, which took a few hours, Philip taught me about the trees, plants, and birds. We talked about traveling, synchronicities, and life. We walked through mangroves, over bridges, and to a waterfall on our way to his friend’s house for the “real Kiwi party”.

Philip used to live in Paihia and we were going to his friend's 40th birthday party.

New Zealand Mangroves!

Some waterfall.

A swing at the party.

The Kiwis welcomed me into their home for food and drinks; they were fisherman! They cooked crawfish, which were about the size of lobsters. I was told they use them for bait and I think a teenage boy thought it was embarrassing how delicious I found it to be! But everyone else seemed to enjoy them as well!

And I got to try local oysters! They didn’t serve them with horseradish, but they were still delicious. Local, New Zealand oysters! (New food is one of my favorite things about traveling!)

They were all so welcoming and I never felt like a stranger. I think I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

I think I’m going to be okay hee-ya.