When I was a kid, I was addicted to the Lord of the Rings books and the movies. So, when I decided to go to Australia I knew I would have to make a quick stop over in New Zealand. I heard so much good about the country and its beautiful scenery that I couldn’t wait to get there fast enough.

I arrived in Auckland early in the morning after one delayed flight and countless discussion later to take me on another flight. I stayed in the Attic hostel  which is located in the heart of the city, just a short walk away from the sky tower, the public library and the shopping street. I had, hands down, my best hostel experience there. I stayed in a 10-bed mixed dorm and the people in my room where awesome. We clicked right away and decided to go on different tours together and even rented a car to drive to Hobbiton and the caves. You see, if you are open minded you will meet amazing people that make your trip a little more special.

I spent my first day exploring the surroundings, walked to the habor and along the city center and decided to go on a little bird island tour the next day. In the evening, me and my roommates went out to have burgers and beer (so many restaurants and food options around, you will find something for sure) and chilled in the hostel kitchen afterwards because we had to get up early in the morning.

The following day, i decided to do the bird island tour with two of the guys from my hostel room. On the ferry we met another guy so the four of us stuck together and explored the island. Its pretty nice, I mean I am not too much into bird watching, but the island is beautiful and you have a nice view over the ocean and Auckland from afar.

Because all of us got along really well, three of us decided to do the Waiheke island tour the next day as well, as it was suppose to be a very nice island. The ferry left early in the morning again and we had the entire day to explore and walk around. You can take a bus around the island or walk. We did a little bit of both. The island nice, with cute little vintage stores along the streets and a nice shore line where you can climb around and explore.

In the evening, we drove into the suburbs of Auckland because one of the guys stayed with a family there, so we stayed at a bar for a bit, had food and watched soccer.As I said before, Auckland has a lot of clubs and bars to offer so even if you just walked around you will for sure find the right bar for you.

I was lucky enough that the guys from my room also wanted to go to Hobbiton (oh that inner nerd) and one of them had rented a car and took us with him. We wanted to combine Hobbiton with the Waitomo caves there for a day trip. We left really early in the morning and it took us around 2 hours to get to the movie set. The scenery up until then was already breathtaking so I was super excited to see the actual set (don’t get me wrong, New Zealand has so much more to offer than just the movie set and Auckland, but for the time I had it was amazing to see). When you get to Hobbiton you book your ticket and they will assign you a slot at what time you can take the tour. The bus will then drive you down to the Hobbit valley and you start walking around along all the houses, get some movie insights, background to the scenery and land that Hobbiton was build on and end the tour is the Green Dragon where you can have lunch or go for a drink. I obviously loved the entire experience (as I said, inner nerd), but not only because of the movie but because the landscape is just so pretty (I can’t repeat it often enough).

In the afternoon we then made our way to the Waitomo caves. The caves are a combinations of tiny underground rivers and caves. Its specialty lays in the glow worms that they have inside, which makes the experience extra special. Plus there runs a bus from the caves back to Auckland which is pretty convenient and good to reach for backpackers.

In general, my short experience in New Zealand was outstanding. Even though everybody told me the the South island around Christchurch is even more beautiful, I was already pretty impressed by the North island and will for sure be back to explore the rest of the country (I say that a lot, right?! haha). No matter if North or South, I highly, highly recommend you to go. It is far away, its a hustle to fly there, but it is SO worth it.