Arrival Day In Auckland: What’s Surprised Me The Most?

Hi friends! After a long hiatus on the blog, this is the first article I have written and published far from my homeland, Indonesia. I am now in a country in the southern part of the earth, thousands of kilometres away from my home country. New Zealand, or Aotearoa in Maori, will be my second home in the next few years.

I arrived almost three weeks ago and will share my journey and living experiences in other articles. But now, I want to share exciting things about my arrival in Auckland, New Zealand—the experiences which surprised me the most.

Arrival Day In Auckland (doc. personal)

The Air, The Wind, and The Sky

I am not talking about the avatar’s element here. But, the air is the first thing that caught my interest. After passing through the exit door, I realised the air smelled different. It is somehow familiar, and I tried to put my head on it. It came to me that it smelled like “canned oxygen”, which is usually used for medical-related cases of breathing issues. A few years back, I used that due to a medical condition. It was why the smell of the air was quite familiar to me.

I asked my friends about it. They said, indeed, it smells different. Some said it was fresh air, and others couldn’t mention what it smelled like. I also read articles that said the air smelled like sulfur, which I think is not like. Even though the air was not as fresh in the Auckland CBD as in the airport, it was still fresher than in Bandung and Jakarta, Indonesia.

Still talking about nature, the wind was quite strong here. I moved a little bit when I was standing outside the airport building. It was an interesting experience. The strong wind made the weather cold. I wore my puffer jacket, and I still felt the chill. However, it was colder than the air conditioner, and my arrival in late autumn contributed to it somehow.

Beside the air and the wind, I was welcomed by the pretty blue sky. I love clear blue sky or with some white clouds. Back home, in West Bandung Regency, I still can see it. But, the sky I saw the first time in Auckland seemed closer, more blue, and with fewer clouds. It is stunning. Is it because New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere, I was jet lag, or was it my excitement from the first time I arrived in this country?

Auckland Sky, 22 May 2024 (doc. personal)

The Motorcycle and The Traffic

Now, let’s move on to talking about transportation. I could barely see the motorcycle from the airport to the apartment. When it appears on the lane, it will be sport bikes. Even the amount of it can be counted by my two hands. In Indonesia, many motorcycles, especially scooters, fill the lanes. So, it was a new experience for me to see the lack of motorcycles on the roads. No motorcycles were cutting the lines or slipped between two cars (I believe Indonesian and other Southeast Asian countries’ citizens are familiar with this situation).

Along the way, my airport pick-up driver complained about traffic, which I didn’t think was traffic at all. Indeed, getting nearer the CBD, I saw more vehicles. The driver said it was their traffic hours because of the time people had to get back home from work. However, the traffic he was talking about was not the kind of traffic I ever experienced. The car was still moving without difficulties, and with fewer motorcycles around, it felt pretty ‘spacious.’ The car only stopped moving at the traffic lights, which is the apparent reason.

Traffic Auckland, 22 May 2024 (doc. personal)

The Cows

New Zealand is famous for exporting cow-related products, like meat, milk, and butter. Even my mom’s favourite butter brand is Anchor, a New Zealand brand. I also heard that the number of cows and sheep in this country exceeds the number of humans. But I never imagined my first meeting with cows in New Zealand would be on the motorway.

I was surprised to see a group of cows running around the green field right on the side of the motorway. The cows were white-black colours, which previously I had only ever seen in the pictures. It might sound weird. Indeed, I am pretty familiar with white, black, or brown cows. I have found it many times in my hometown. However, clean white-black colours cows became a new experience for me.

Overall, I realised some things that seem like little can be exciting experiences, like smelling the fresh air, feeling the chill wind, and looking at the blue sky. It can happen in our daily life. But it still makes me feel blessed. So, if you have ever experienced staying in Auckland or any other cities in New Zealand, what are your exciting experiences? If you never visited here, what do you want to know most about it? What do you want me to share about? Please leave comments or contact me through Instagram at @rianitapuspitasari. Thank you for reading, and see you in the following articles.

Auckland, New Zealand
Tuesday, 12 June 2024, 22.50