So here it is. We are now 2 months into our trip to New Zealand and we have finally got around to starting a blog. As promised to friends and family in order for them to keep tabs on us whilst we travel the other side of the world. This was quite a daunting task to me as I never have been a writer in any sense. Please bear that in mind as you read on.
When we picked New Zealand the travel time to get here was barely given any thought. It was a long journey of two 11 hour flights with a stop of 4 hours in Bangkok. The first flight felt like any other but the second seemed endless and we didn't get any sleep (although this then helped when we arrived to adjust to the the 13 hour time difference). When people talk about 'Jet lag' I always thought of it as tiredness. Jake settled pretty quickly but for the first 2 weeks despite sleeping well I felt pretty unwell. Our first week we spent settling into Auckland and were very lucky to have Jake's family to stay with, Mary Anne, Stephen and Abbey looked after us both incredibly well (and continue to do so!). To begin with Auckland welcomed us with rain, rain and more rain! Pretty much for the entirety of our first month, so we scouted out any indoor activity possible- turns out these were fairly limited. Not so crazy for a country that prides itself on an outdoor lifestyle. We visited The Auckland War Memorial Museum and Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium. On a rare occurrence of a fine day we completed a beautiful walk from Takapuna on the North shore to Devonport along the coast and took the ferry back to Auckland. A day that reminded us why we had come to this stunning island.
We visited some tasty handpicked restaurants by Jake's family: Musashi, Portifinos, Blue Breeze Inn, Cafe Hanoi and Khana (x4) - to name a few. We often indulged in brunch with Abbey at OLAFS, Cafe L'affare and Takapuna beach cafe. All in and around Auckland. When weather permitted for a few hours we walked up local volcanic peaks: Mount Wellington (Maungarei); Mount Eden (Maungawhau) and One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie). Opening our eyes to the volcanic land we were upon- very different to the hills we were used to back in Yorkshire. On the week of Jake and Abbey's birthdays we took a ferry to Rangitoto, a volcanic island off the main shore of Auckland created only 600 years ago from an eruption. We finished off this day with our very first NZ fish and chips on the beach.
Our plan was not to stay in Auckland for long. During this first month we were in search of a van to travel NZ. Before we left we had decided to buy a van that had already been converted to a campervan. This was a much cheaper option than purchasing an actual motorhome and for the length of time we are here it made no financial sense to hire one. There are numerous Facebook groups of travellers similar to us that had converted vans and were selling them on before leaving the country so we spent all waking hours scouring through in search of the right vehicle for us. The vans were not cheap- despite some having done 400,000km, probably seeing more of NZ than any Kiwi! We went to see a man that converted these vans, it was 30 minutes outside of Auckland in an old warehouse. They were churning out conversions very quickly, even in the time we were there (not long at all) they had managed to complete one. The vans were rusted and in awful condition. Jake and I exchanged a look, questioning what we were doing, and we swiftly left. We visited Auckland car fair that weekend- again with no luck. Both of us starting to lose momentum with the search we found a few vans we liked online and arranged to view. It is a bizarre experience meeting strangers in a car park to view a van. Neither of us had bought car in England and now we were buying a van in a different country. Using websites and family advice on what to check when buying a vehicle (worthwhile research as we found the engine would be under the front seats- Who knew?!) We set our hearts on one van we viewed that came with a kayak, the kayak definitely was the main selling point though neither of us admitted it at the time. We paid for a pre-purchase inspection due to our limited car knowledge. This came back with RUST, RUST and more RUST. The worst part being the couple selling had no idea. We had to break the news that not only were we not purchasing the van, but it was not in great condition to sell to anyone. Despite this, it appears they sold it the following week, we expect to some other poor unsuspecting tourists.
NOTE: To anyone reading this planning a similar trip it's worth the money for the inspection prior to spending all your savings only to break down a mile down the highway!
After this we gave up on buying from other tourists. We instead purchased an imported van from a car dealer- with a warranty. We then proceeded to find a company called Creative Campers that convert regular vans into campervans. We booked the van in for a conversion in November and meanwhile planned a camping trip until our campervan was ready to tour.
