I had set my alarm on six o’clock this morning to have a long day for a day trip, but that wasn’t necessary. I already wake up around 4am. I try to sleep again but can’t, so I get up to write and post on my blog. I send a few texts to friends and family back home where it is 8pm at the moment. It’s a bit weird how it’s already Sunday morning here and still Saturday night back home.

I’ve nice plans for today, I’m going to take the ferry to Waiheke island. Last night one of my new friends texted me that she wanted to join, so at 7am we have breakfast together in the kitchen. I put some nice jukebox music on and start baking some eggs. Some more people join in the kitchen and like me are a bit swinging on the music. Happy music in the morning, I love it. The breakfast is very good and about an hour later we’ve packed our bags for today and walk towards the harbor. Of course we make a quick stop at a coffee place to get a cappuccino and then we get on the ferry. The boat is smaller than expected and moves a lot on the waves, but it’s a nice ride. It’s also pretty to see the skyline of Auckland from the water. We pass a couple of islands and after about forty minutes arrive at Waiheke.

Hiking at the island is nice, there are pretty small paths through forest and fields which lead to beautiful bays. The weather here in New Zealand is pretty unpredictable though. It’s even worse than Dutch weather. It can literally change in five minutes. So we walk sometimes in sunshine and sometimes in rain. After a couple of hours we are both tired of hiking and decide to take the ferry back to Auckland.

Back in Auckland I go to Starbucks to work a bit, but the jet lag is too heavy and I can’t focus enough for programming. I almost fall asleep behind my laptop, so I decide to go back to the hostel.

Even though traveling is a great adventure, it can also be uncomfortable. This afternoon I feel a bit homesick. Not so much that I want to go home, but more that I miss the comfort of things you normally take for granted: fast and reliable internet to do some work, affordable good food, the gym and my bike to get everywhere quickly instead of having to walk half an hour. That’s also a nice side effect of traveling: you’ll appreciate the normal things more.

When I come back at the hostel I meet the other Dutch guy, Bas, and we decide to create a typical healthy Dutch dinner together: potatoes, vegetables and meat. I make it a little less healthy with ice cream for dessert. It’s really nice to eat some good food again after a in-flight meals and pizza last night. Tomorrow my road trip starts and I think it can be more challenging then to eat healthy, so I’m glad we have a good dinner this evening. We play some more chess as we did yesterday, but are both very tired so just before nine we call it a day. I hope I’ll sleep longer tonight so that I will be well rested tomorrow for the road trip.