It’s official, I’ve been residing in New Zealand for almost three years now. Three years! That’s how long I was in university for. I even have a New Zealand driving licence and an Auckland library card. That’s commitment, my friends! 

Since the snap decision to come to New Zealand on a working holiday visa, then slog away to get my essential skills visa (nailed it, by the way!) people have constantly asked; “So, is this it? are you going to settle here now?”

That question couldn’t be more misplaced now (dunno if I’ve mentioned, but I’m moving to CANADA!), but it always got me thinking of Auckland and the happy accident it became.

Because that’s what it was, an extremely happy (and sad, stressful, exciting, hilarious) accident. The decision to come to New Zealand was purely based off of a slightly drunken viewing of Moana at a cinema in Coffs Harbour, Australia. There was nothing else behind it, apart from maybe the desire to not go back home to the UK anytime soon.

We booked a one-way ticket from the Phillippines to Auckland, and just hoped for the best. After a penny-less, slightly traumatic arrival in Auckland, I was pretty desperate to get out of it. I’d left all of my good friends in Sydney four months prior, spent out in South East Asia, was back to living and working out of hostels and I just felt like I was taking one thousand steps back.

Auckland was by no means a city I was dying to live in either. In fact, for the first nine months of living in Auckland, I was pretty miserable. Living in disgusting apartments, then share homes with people who were obsessed with power and control, working for a company I hated, then spending my WHOLE paycheck on huge weekends, leaving me with no savings and no idea of how to have fun. Also, the serious lack of vehicle and public transport in Auckland meant I was pretty much confined to the city centre 24/7. Not ideal.

So, at that time the answer to the above question was a resounding nope.

But, as it turns out, underneath all of that Auckland is a pretty (emphasis on that) rad city. It was made ten times superior when I started to meet all of the amazing people whom I’m still friends with today. Phil and I ended up moving into the best share house we’ve ever lived in, the closest thing to a sorority or frat house I think I’ll ever get to (Soph, I owe you 1000000x for sorting us a room and making Auckland fabulous for us!). Bayfield Road is in a beautiful part of Auckland, Herne Bay, which is out of the concrete city and right next to a beach. Then, the added worry of being kicked out of the country (honestly, visas suck and free movement is the future pals!) was silenced by our skills visa being granted!

Slowly, my perception of Auckland started to shift. The dingy city nights soon became sunset missions up extinct volcanos. Weekends lying in bed hungover and hating myself soon became girly brunch dates and road trips. I changed companies, and suddenly felt so recognised and wanted (Steph, I also owe you one for taking such a chance on me and my visa), rather than interchangeable and insecure. Auckland became everything – the people, nature, the beaches, the weather, the tropical waters, the waterfalls – I needed it to be, but nothing like I’d pictured it to be in the beginning.

Everyone I know here in Auckland has had those moments where they’ve considered packing it all in and leaving. I think I speak for the whole city of sails when I say that we all fall in and out of love with Auckland sometimes – with Wellington and Queenstown at your doorstep, it’s easy to think the grass is greener in the parts of New Zealand where the grass is literally greener.

But I’m not here to rant about Auckland (I could, though. Honestly AKL sort your public transport out). I’m just here to reminisce on a place I never thought I’d grow to love.

Beach days in the winter, just because you live in a literal pacific paradise. Road trips to active volcanos. Road trips full stop. Full-day hikes through the jungle, but still only one hour from the city. Eating vegan food, not because you’re vegan, but because the vegan food here is PHENOMENAL. I now listen to Kiwi music just because it perfectly matches the chilled-out vibe of the whole country, and I understand it. Lying and bed and seeing the skyline lit up every night through my window. Having a lemon tree in my garden. Walking around barefoot, because EVERYONE does it (honestly my favourite thing about New Zealand). The abundance of kiwi-isms that are now ingrained in my general vocabulary;

“Sweet as bro!” 

“Pretty mean aye?” 

And my now very liberal use of the C-word, which always shocks people back home in the UK (as does my effed up accent, which I don’t hear, by the way.) 

Living in Auckland as taught me to really appreciate nature, the outdoors, and the world around me in new ways I didn’t believe possible when I first got here. I love how it’s so easy to escape the hustle and bustle, but just as easy to re-integrate. Going from dodging people on Queen Street like I’m part of the All Blacks, to the solitude of tramping through the jungle the next has kept me from going batshit crazy at times.

You’re right though, I could definitely do this in any city, in any country in the world. But, as Auckland has shown me, it’s not about where you are. It’s about the people around you, what you spend your days doing, and your mindset at that moment.

As I’m writing this, I’m sat outside a cafe called Sierra on the high street in Auckland’s city centre. Three years back, I was sat in this exact cafe, in this exact same seat, stressed and sad because I had no money, I was applying for jobs I didn’t want, and it was the middle of a wet winters day.

Today, it’s different. It’s pretty hot, there’s not a cloud in the sky, I’m sipping on countless coffee, and binge-listening to Laura Marling through my headphones. Pretty relaxing aye?

And that’s it. That there is my full-circle moment. I won’t be settling in Auckland, although the people here have made me want to. Now I know it’s possible, there’s nothing stopping me from coming back (maybe visas… but that’s future Holly’s problem). And, trust me, I’ll definitely be back.

Ka kite ano, Auckland. x

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