The city of Vienna in Austria was our penultimate destination before heading to Budapest and then home. We stayed three nights here and really enjoyed admiring the architecture of the city. Vienna felt more refined and extravagant than some of the other central cities we have visited, it was also the most beautifully decorated for Christmas. As well as the Italian and roman influence in the architecture we enjoyed visiting a social housing project designed by Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who we later found out moved to New Zealand in the 1970’s and settled in the Bay of Islands. Between Christmas Markets we managed to get lunch at the famous Fig Muiller restaurant. Impossible to make a reservation we showed up at 11:45am and were seated straight away. We both had the classic schnitzel with potatoes. After three lovely days we caught the bus to Budapest, our last stop.

Following advice online we stayed in Pest and visited Buda. Sounds crazy but Budapest was originally three cities with Buda and Pest being the biggest. Nowadays they have been combined to create the city of Budapest that we know. Buda is the old city across the river which has one of the most beautiful churches we have seen as well as many other old fairytale like buildings. Pest has a more modern culture with lots for young people to do. The ruin bars were particularly cool. When the Jewish quarter became abandoned in WW2 a lot of buildings became derelict until the early 2000’s. Many of them are now bars, each with their own quirky theme. We went to the original one a couple of times for an afternoon craft beer. As well as the Christmas Markets we went ice skating which Matt was great at and I was terrified the whole time. We managed to get one picture of us both (me) standing up. Budapest was the perfect place to finish our year as it was relaxing as well as having lots to do in a short walking distance. After three nights it was time to begin the long journey home.

Journey from Budapest to Tauranga

Step one: Walk from hostel to bus stop with bags – 15 minutes

Step two: Take airport bus to Budapest airport – 45 minutes

Step three: Wait at airport – 3hours

Step four: Fly to Istanbul – 2 hours

Step five: Layover in Istanbul – 8 hours

Step six: Fly from Istanbul to Tokyo – 11.5 hours

Step seven: Wait at airport – 2 hours

Step eight: Fly from Tokyo to Auckland – 10 hours

Step nine: Clear customs, declare entire bag contents – 30 minutes

Step ten: Drive from Auckland to Tauranga – 2.5 hours

Total time in transit: 40 hours and thirty minutes.

With an eight hour layover in Istanbul we decided to exit the airport and check out the city centre for dinner. The city was dark but lit up with many colourful lights from lantern shops as well as the mosques. We wandered around for an hour and had a traditional Turkish meal for dinner before catching the bus back to the airport, well and truly tired to begin our 11.5 hour flight.

The flight went well and we both managed to get a couple of hours sleep before landing in Tokyo. With a couple of hours to kill we had some sushi and green tea kit Kats before the next big flight home. This leg was with Air NZ and was only a third full which meant a sky couch each (absolute bliss). The fantastic service really made this leg of the trip and we again managed to get three or four hours of sleep. Arriving in Auckland was an absolute relief with the car ride home happening in what seemed like no time. We have been home a couple of days now and are still adjusting to the light evenings and humidity. We are so glad we are home for Christmas, the perfect end to the perfect year.

Doing this blog has been a real chore at times but I am so glad that I have kept up with it. Looking back through is great way to remember little moments and share some of our favourite photos with others. I might do another post before I forget on what we packed for the year as well as a summary of favourite places – both things we get asked all of the time.

Thanks for reading and we can’t wait to catch up with you all in the next couple of weeks and in early 2020.

So we have been home in New Zealand now for one complete year. What a year it has been. When we returned home after just over eleven months travelling we wondered how we could possibly integrate back into our normal lives in Auckland, going to work everyday. We survived January, heard about Covid 19 on the news in February and then went into a six week, nationwide wide lockdown in mid March. Our monotonous and now ‘boring’ lives got shaken up which has made 2020 feel like both the shortest and longest year. It makes our travels seem like a distant dream, so when we were allowed to start moving around the country more we have taken the opportunity to do so. This part two blog will have our NZ travel pictures. Click this link! https://matterin2.travel.blog