The Suitcase Backpacker

Island wandering, shell hunting, and catching the blues

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Aotearoa New Zealand

7 min read

Before leaving the UK I preplanned a few stays near Auckland, the first being Waiheke Island. Waiheke is famous for its olive groves, vineyards, and beaches, and it’s the second largest island in the Hauraki Gulf. Despite initially feeling a little sad departing Auckland, a big part of me was looking forward to venturing off again and continuing to explore this beautiful country. I arrived on the island from the ferry at around 2 in the afternoon, and made my way to the hostel. I had booked to stay there for 4 nights in total, I figured this would be plenty of time to explore and soak in the place.

When I arrived at the hostel things were not quite what I had expected, but to be honest, at this point in my life, I knew better than to get caught up in my sometimes rigid expectations, so decided to go with the flow of things. This was a big change to the fancy pod hostel back in Auckland…that’s for sure! I was having flashbacks of my time in Australia 2 years ago and hostel hopping with G Adventures. We stayed in a diverse range of places…for instance, a metal beach shack of sorts resembling a WW2 bunker, and a wooden shack-type-thing in the outback. Anyways, these are separate stories! Back to Waiheke Island. Let’s just say the hostel environment wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

I later found out (a bit too late but nevermind) that the place was popular amongst the European rave scene. I walked into a swarm of heavy rave music and the staple smell of marijuana in the air. There was no reception/check-in place, and it was very informal and casual..the lack of boundaries made me feel a bit uneasy. Once I had sorted my things out and settled into the room, I took a trip to the supermarket and tried to figure out what to cook on my first night.

The friendly hostel manager radiated tranquil, yoga teacher vibes, and during my first evening there she kindly warned me that the hot water would be turned off soon and to shower quickly. There is a limited supply of water on Waiheke island as it is harvested from rain water, so it must be used sparingly. Apparently guests had used too much lately…I wondered if this was going to be a recurring theme. The hostel kitchen wasn’t the cleanest, but I have seen worse. I think washing plates/pots/utensils with cold water was impacting the general hygiene of everything, but I forced myself to use the kitchen and cook because I needed proper meals and didn’t want to splash out on takeaways and restaurant food – not that there were any food places nearby anyway. I was missing the city life and convenience of Auckland.

Actually I was missing the city a lot. I had just started to adjust to all the changes and could have done with a week or two of settling down for a bit because I was feeling quite exhausted with all the travelling. But oh well, I had booked this trip so figured I may as well make the most of it. The other people staying in the island hostel were so nice and friendly and super welcoming. I’d never felt so welcomed into a place in my entire life. Even if everyone was high. 

A couple of days later I met a few Brits also staying at the hostel, which was filled with mostly Europeans and South Americans. I had been feeling a little isolated until then, and was grateful they were around. I got on well with one British traveller and we bonded over our shared suffering with the constant rave music and freezing cold showers – just no. There was also this chatty, friendly French guy who cooked the most delicious looking dinners ever. He was staying long-term and had clearly settled in quite well, tea towel draped over his shoulder, mixing spices and ingredients as though he was creating a work of art. I was so envious, my measly pot noodles and dry tuna pastas I’d been having seemed so unappetising.

Unfortunately it rained for most of the time I was on the Island, and quite badly too, so my photos are limited! The charismatic taxi driver I met on my last day told me he had never seen weather this bad for a Kiwi summer. He talked about how the effects of climate change expedited by us has been impacting NZ and Australia. The umbrella I bought back in Auckland was a purchase well made it seemed!

In terms of trips, unfortunately I didn’t really do much on Waiheke Island. I was quite exhausted and rundown for most of the time I was there, so I only managed to explore the main town area. The library became my sanctuary when I needed a break from the constant head-banging music at the hostel. I wanted to use my time on Waiheke to also plan out where I would be staying after my next trip in Hamilton because I had absolutely no clue.

Something I noticed about the local music playlists in bars and shops is that they are essentially a mish-mash of random, completely unrelated tracks and songs from all over the place. For example, you’ll be hearing a song from 2005, then the 80s, then 2018, then 2009, then 2021, then the 60s. A beautiful mess. It’s like New Zealand stitches together all the songs that were popular at some point in Europe and America, ending up with these chaotic, patchwork playlists.

During the second day I started feeling homesick, and was missing everyone I cared about back home in the UK. I also began to reflect on my first week in Auckland, and was feeling somewhat nostalgic. Initially I didn’t want to admit it, but I missed being around my new travel friends, and I feel lucky to have met such a diverse and unique bunch of interesting people. I tend to have an ‘I can do it on my own’ attitude, and I knew I was going to have to start letting go of this at some point. As much as I love being alone and living the hermit life, forming social connections and spending time with other people helps ground me just as much as solitude does. I have begun to learn that a healthy balance is key.

When it wasn’t raining on the island I enjoyed wandering around the boutique shops and marvelling at all the beautiful handmade products, fragrant soaps, dainty jewellery, and intricate ornaments on display. The community art gallery was interesting with some colourful pieces showcased. I enjoyed the tastiest halloumi salad one afternoon in a café, and whilst waiting for my order I noticed some little birds (that were maybe sparrows I wasn’t sure) flitting around inside the café. They had flown in from the doors and a side window, and I watched them pecking at leftover food on empty tables. Safe to say when my food arrived I guarded it carefully!

During my last day on the island the weather was sunny and beautiful (bloody typical). I went to Oneroa beach which was the most beautiful beach I’d seen in NZ so far. I took a scenic stroll along the windy shore, gathering shells along the way. I couldn’t believe how many there were…I was in shell heaven! I love collecting shells, I think it’s amazing what the ocean can leave behind sometimes.

The few hours I spent on the beach recharged me in a way that nothing else could. I slept about 5 hours the night before, the usual hostel rave music had kept me up. A few days before I had made the decision to hasten my time on the island. I was feeling quite unwell from the lack of proper sleep, bad diet, and my anxiety levels were through the roof. To make matters worse my period had started a week early. I felt a bit of a mess, and the cold showers weren’t helping. Safe to say I will not be returning to this hostel in future. The property owner was aggressive and he was rude towards guests on occasion, which made me feel quite unsettled. I thought I was going to be able to stick it out until the check-out date, but I wanted to leave promptly and ended up departing the island a day early. Something I’ve learned over the last year or so is that it’s okay to leave. Life is far too short for us to be compromising our time and energy staying in situations that drain us, or that we don’t feel comfortable in. I was out of that place quicker than you could say Kiwi bird. 

The ferry back to Auckland was delayed by about 20 minutes, but I was so happy to be leaving the island that I nearly danced my way onto the boat when it finally arrived – back to civilization! I was looking forward to going back to the pod hostel, and hot showers again, and telling my travel friends everything. I had a morning appointment with ANZ bank down Queen Street, and managed to get my New Zealand bank account up and running, before heading back to the pod hostel for check-in. I felt so knackered from the anxiety and the lack of sleep in the island hostel, and could not wait for a full night’s rest. Alison offered to cook me the tastiest brunch of smashed avocado on toast with poached eggs – I was so grateful and it was so good, exactly what I’d needed! Later on I walked to Countdown and grabbed some food ready for the next couple of days in Auckland.