On Sunday 30th June, we left for the airport in a hurry (forgetting to feed the goldfish - oops) and
were the last passengers to check our bags in. You can imagine the disapproving
glances we receieved from the airport staff for our tardiness. The flight was over in
the blink of an eye (one hour and a half) and we landed in Auckland at 2:30pm with empty
bellies (because in the rush and excitement of leaving home, we'd forgotten to eat lunch). Almost the only available food at the airport was McDonalds -
it took a full 10 minutes to convince Till it was OK to eat fast food just this
one time!!!! Ben made the "Hi, we're here!" phone call to the Wilderness staff, who then promptly collected us from the airport and drove us to the motorhome depot.
By the time we'd unpacked, signed the paperwork and listened diligently to the explanatory "this is how the van works", it was almost dark! We hadn't really planned on exploring Auckland itself, but it made sense that we should at least have a quick drive around and find some dinner. Secretly I was hoping we might stumble onto New Zealands highest man-made structure Sky Tower, which we did (and it turns out one doesn't stumble onto Sky Tower, it actually sticks out a mile). Ben and I were keen to see the view from the top, but we couldn't convince Harry for love nor money. Yikes, it's a very real fear of heights peeps...tears included. Oh well. At the casino next door, we dined in the buffet restaurant (just three floors up folks), and had a pretty impressive feed. I may not have experienced the (apparently) awesome view from Sky Tower, but the NZ mussels I enthusiastically consumed more than made up for it.
With full bellies we left Auckland and drove south for an hour or so until we found a designated free camping spot. Pulling up for the night, we dived eagerly into our beds - exhausted, worn out from excitement more than actual physical exertion. I did have a giggle when we woke up the next morning and I peeked out from behind the curtains to get my bearings (as curious school kids passed our window I might add). We appeared to be in the back streets of a small town, in an empty car park of sorts, tucked behind work sheds of some description and just metres from a waste dumping facility...oh and across the road from a police station and a school. It honestly didn't matter, our batteries were recharged and our adventure was about to really start. We were finally in New Zealand and our holiday was underway!
Later investigations revealed that our first camp stop was in a place called Tuakau.
Come back soon for Day Two....Waitomo Caves and Hobbiton
In case you missed it, here's my motorhome review and tips!
