New Zealand is the perfect place to experiment with trust. It is chock full of the most well-intentioned people I have met, who also conveniently speak my language.
He immediately asked if I walked here (duh), to which he responds, “Let me get you a ride to the geyser.”
This grants travelers the ability to not only confidently try the adventure activities that New Zealand is famous for—like white water rafting, bungee jumping, and skydiving—but also push the limits more on activities that require trusting others’ good intentions.
Hitchhiking
Two days ago, I wanted to go to Waiotapu, a sacred geothermal area about 27 kilometers south of Rotorua….which gave me the PERFECT opportunity to try and hitchhike.
My knowledge of hitchhiking stems from movies and watching people stand on the side of the road near Banff, Canada. But thankfully, there is not much to it...
You stand or walk on the side of the road and stick your thumb out. That’s it.
Sometimes you can hold a sign that says where you’re going. But, that seemed too obviously “hitchhikery” to me (and I had no sign or marker). I also suppose that once they stop, you have to confirm that they appear low on the serial killer scale. Although, that’s a Future Paige concern—I had to get a car to pull over, first.
So, I walked along the side of the road and stuck my thumb out. (I couldn’t muster up the commitment to really just stand there with my cold thumb making extreme eye contact with drivers).
I did this on and off for about 15 minutes UNTIL…
No one stopped.
Hmmm. Not quite what I anticipated. Granted, I wasn’t too patient on waiting out in the cold. So, I went to a nearby bakery and got a scone instead to plot my new plan for the day.
Round Two: I experimented the next day with hitchhiking but rather unintentionally. This time, I took a bus to the town of Waiotapu, about 5 kilometers from the entrance to the Waiotapu Park. I started walking down the 5-km road until I came across a park worker, go-figure a super friendly Kiwi.
He immediately asked if I walked here (duh), to which he responds, “Let me get you a ride to the geyser.”
Perhaps because he was wearing a park employee uniform, he waved down a car and it actually STOPPED. “Hey, can you give my friend a ride to the geyser?”
- I guess we’re friends now
- That was suuuuuper fast
I hopped in this car only to find a family of not New Zealanders...but Argentinians! So, we started speaking Spanish and they drove me the short distance to this geyser.
There WILL be a round three. I think I’m just going to say screw it and stand there with my cold thumb and a sign that says “North.”
Couchsurfing
The premise of Couchsurfing is that hosts offer up their spare couches or bedrooms to travelers. For free.
There exists the obvious benefit for the couchsurfer, who gets a free place to stay. The host’s benefit may be less blatant, but can be summed up to meeting interesting people from various countries.
Yet again, New Zealand seemed like the ideal place to try this with its trustworthy inhabitants, so I downloaded the app and started searching through hosts.
You find a host’s profile you like, you message him/her, and if mutually liked, you then work out logistics of meeting up. Kind of like Tinder minus the romantic interest.
Unfortunately, I tried to do this at 6 pm for a free couch that night. Unshockingly, no one was available. I guess you need to give more notice…
I found a hostel with an available bed that night but will try to couchsurf again...next time with more notice.
Saying Yes
My first night in Auckland was spent at my friends’ apartment. These were more “recent” friends as I met them about two and a half weeks ago at the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar.
While neither one is from New Zealand (Steve is Irish, Iliane is Mexican) they invited me to stay with them while I was here.
So even though I didn’t know them that well, I said yes and showed up a few weeks later.
Once I arrived I got to actually know two wonderfully open-minded, fun-loving people, and I met some friends of theirs (and friends of friends of theirs) who offered to take me on a road trip.
So even though I didn’t know these people AT ALL, I said yes. BECAUSE WHY NOT?!?
That road trip led me on a whirlwind tour of Middle Earth (the Lord of the Rings film set of Hobbiton) and eventually to Rotorua.
Now I’m sitting in a hostel in nearby Taupo, considering hitchhiking to another town further north per the recommendation of the woman sitting next to me on the bus. Might be worth a shot, she seemed trustworthy.
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