Strange to say it, but its actually a culture-shock being in a developed country. No more sign-language when shopping, asking taxi drivers to cool the jets or living in fear of teenage girls who might be about to thieve your camera/wallet/dignity... Until we hit Asia I guess.OK, its a cliche, but people in NZ are ridiculously friendly... like over-the-top, "is anyone looking for a kidney cos I have 2" kind of way. Bus drivers, hostel folk, the man on the street, everyone. Having bought a camper van from a Welsh couple, our first night on the road ended in an invite to stay with a Kiwi couple south of Auckland. Next day, I was looking to buy a car-jack for the van in a scrap yard. The guy didn't have any so he opens up his own car and gives me the jack from there, "cheers buddy - how much?" ... "nah, sweet as bro!"
So, the van. Ah, the van. Formerly seen on Glenroe, bringing Blackie Connors to horse fairs the length of the country. She's a Toyota Hiace camper, 1990 white(ish), runs on LPG (very eco-friendly boss). So far she's brought us from Auckland, north through the Kauri forest (heeeuge trees that are really really old, boss) to the Bay of Islands (country music festival... hilarious), through glow worm caves. From there we came back for more disc in Auckland and onto egg-smelly Rotorua for the stunning thermal springs and Mauri village.Only a few minor issues so far, including a new horn, jump leads for a flat battery and a puncture repair. We also threw in some jazzy cushions, which should have a serious impact on the resale value.
Lake Waikaremoana, the van struggled to make the epic journey across the mountains on
the gravel roads to this beautiful lake, some hiking and some wilderness action left us very satisfied! The weather stayed glorious for us as we winded our way along the coast towards Napier for some indoor ultimate and friendly fish'n'chips. Next stop Martinborough for some wine tasting followed by Upper Hutt where we met up with friends of Fi's family for dinner, so good to meet you Jan, Michelle and little Jan, thanks a million! On the way to Wellington we met a lovely Irish girl in the swimming pool who invited us to come stay with them and watch the game. Many schhooops later and some great craic we ended up watching the match in D4 no less, what a victory, Fi was in tears with no voice left at all! The monsoon continued in Wellington, Siobhan and Tom showed us the sights as we tried to tame our hangovers. The storm mellowed and we hopped on the ferry to the South Island....the road trip continues... Photos are here
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