We will move here!

It took us just two days to come to this decision, but: New Zealand has us!

I mean, no one really needs convincing of the natural beauty of New Zealand. After all, the Lord of the Rings film series, which was shot here, consists of pretty much exactly two elements: breathtaking carnage and equally breathtaking scenery. Much of the nature we saw on the North Island feels a bit like if you took Germany and moved it to the South Pacific. Okay, maybe not the Rhein-Ruhr metropole, but rather for example, the splendid Schleswig-Holsteinish Switzerland, simply spruced up with palm trees and ferns, adjusted the temperature a little, poured some azure blue colour into the water and released a few million sheep, and you have New Zealand.

We had been warned about Auckland. It was said to be, like most New Zealand cities, boring as hell and lacking in character and culture. But having just spent two months in South American dilapidation and between street dog fights, we couldn't get enough of the pretty front gardens, diarrhea-free drinking water from the tap (!) and English-speaking folks. Auckland seems like a city that has perfected what the good life is all about. Reasonable prices, a cycle path system and a metro that is currently being extended, parks and small cafes everywhere and just relaxed Kiwis walking around and radiating positivity. Even the skyline of the ‘City of Sails’ makes a good impression with the TV tower and the sailboats bobbing around in the natural harbour. The only thing I haven't quite figured out yet is why everyone runs into you when you kindly move a step to the right when you encounter someone walking past.

In ‘Aotearoa’ the places have resounding names like Whanganui, Tikitiki, Whataroa or even Pancake Rocks, Mount Beautiful and Mount Eden. So, if there's a paradise on earth, and you've obviously found it, why not move there? We'll have to check again to see if we will really emigrate. Paradoxically, we also booked our onward flights on day two on the island - perhaps as a kind of protective measure to cope with this kind of paradise...