We landed in Auckland in the evening and went for the ultimate couchsurfing experience at Syd’s. He’s a Maori, probably my father’s age, has worked as a policeman, is currently selling old cars and is probably one of the biggest couchsurfing hosts in the whole world! He has a 5 room house with garage and garden, full of strangers.

We were driven there by a friend of Syd’s. He estimated that I was 23!

When we arrived we were surprised to find French, Germans, Austrians and Maori, all very different, having nothing in common but the passion for travelling and the roof above their heads! It was a magic evening, having white wine in the garden, under a clear sky full of stars and discussing about nothing with a bunch of strangers! And we found out that some Maori still enjoy hunting for their pigs in the forest, gather their blood and make sausages out of it! Don’t be disgusted, they are not the only ones doing it!

Auckland seems like an American suburb. Nothing very special about the city, except that you can find here the highest building in this part of the world, you can see people walking in the middle of the city with no shoes or just relaxing while waiting for the green light.

We’ve met in Auckland the friendliest waitress ever. Not only she was always smiling and recommending delicious food, but she also offered to take pictures of us and wrote her name together with a smiley face on the bill. Cute!