1. My bike is really great!
2. I need a car.
3. And for that I need money…

… And that's the hard part. Because normally the jobs are required to have their own car. At best, sleep in it. Alternatively, you work for your accommodation, but that's not my goal.

So a car already serves three purposes for me. First of all, I get from A to B faster and can also make a detour. Because I would make New Zealand by bike pretty safe, but that's not really my main goal if I'm going to stay here for a whole year. For example, today on the well signposted beach it was only enough for me for a quick photo, the caves that gave the place its name, I had to leave completely to the left. 13km detour is simply not in it. Or I have to plan a sight specifically. Secondly, my luggage is quite a lot. Very little when I think that this is all I have with me this year, but on every mountain I notice how much it actually is. And how hard. And thirdly, I would have the typical backpacker sleeping place (except in the hostel). I realised this this morning once again.

The night I didn't sleep well somehow. At six I was tired, at nine I crawled into my sleeping bag after the photos. Actually fine, since I've really got used to getting up at five o'clock in the morning. After all, it will be light at seven, but already at 17:15 it will be dark again. The fact that I am awake from two to three, on the other hand, is not really the plan. And I also dreamed of unsightly Schmarrn. But I digress. Eventually I woke up at 7:30 and sat in the kitchen at point eight with completely packed things. And why? It was quite windy all night long and I knew it was going to rain today. My first look, after realizing that it wasn't raining, went outside to see the sky. And then I saw a black wall. Without worrying too much about what I put on and when I go brushing my teeth, I cleared everything up in record time, quickly put on my pants, saddled up all the bags, packed the tent (with isomat sleeping bag etc.) and went over to the kitchen, which serves as a common room. And not a second too late. On the way I got the first drops and until the afternoon it didn't stop.

In the kitchen I had breakfast in peace and picked out my clothes. After all, I obviously had to pack myself waterproof for today. At some point, a man came along to chat. He showed me the New Zealand weather app, which carries the current radar out of the news, gave me his Wi-Fi password as long as I had to withstand the rain and talked to me about cars and why I wasn't on four wheels. In the end, he even gave me his number, because his mother-in-law's car is sold. She is too old, her driver's license has expired. But as good as his offer may be, I'm afraid I need something bigger. Because I don't want to give up my bike completely, but more about it when there is news.

My first day in the rain (i.e. to start in the rain, not to be completely soaked out) was strange. It was cold enough to put on the entire rain gear, even on the first piece uphill. Even with serpentines. Still, not as steep as the roads in recent days. Exactly at the narrowest eye of the needle I didn't see a truck, so that it had to overtake there, but not well but went well. Otherwise I was on this road in the jungle. Palm trees, ferns, small trees with thick trunks, and nothing else native to Germany. Otherwise I had today despite a much longer distance much less altitude meters. But headwinds. Well, without both it will probably be difficult here, on a volcanic island on the plate border in the middle of the sea.

At noon there was in a small place where my emergency campsite would have been buns with Nutella. So a mixture of buns and crumbs actually, but the Nutella is crucial. The last few days I only ever had cheese. Tonight I arrived in Whangarei, in a hostel, just a short time after it got really dark. Actually, I had considered staying two nights, but they are quite full. Maybe for 1-2 days I'm looking for something new here, the last time in the city before I can finally ride mainly on bike paths (another day highway from here) and then first back to Auckland. Well, I get tired slowly, the article is already really long, and I have to book something for tomorrow. So until the next time.