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Published: February 2nd 2005
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After missing the 1st of Feb (it didn't exist for us because we crossed the international dateline backwards) we landed in Auckland on the 2nd of Feb. This article will probably be added to shortly as we write about our adventures so far in NZ.
Suffice it so say that we have bought a little van and now have it kitted out with everything from a queen-sized mattress to a chest of drawers. In our little home-on-wheels we have travelled about around the Northland region (the area north of Auckland) and seen some wonderful scenery in the generally great NZ weather.
To get your tastebuds tingling here's a picture of "Blackie" our '89 Toyota Hiace 2.4D.....
To commence the NZ story, we spent several days getting over the jetlag and investigating the many ways it is possible to travel around NZ. We looked into hiring cars (expensive and we'd have to camp), hiring campervans (very very expensive), buying cars (we'd have to buy our own tent and camp) and lastly buying our very own little campervan and selling it at the end. Travelling around NZ by any form of public transport is, in the most British of styles,
Sarah, giving Blackie a scrub
Taken earlier today (21st Feb '05) tortuous and expensive.
After checking out various options we ended up at two places, the Backpackers' Car Market and the Saturday city car fair - the latter being the place where we met Blackie. She seemed just about right for us - not too personalised like some, not too old, and with a little bit of kit to get going with.
I liked the idea of maing some modifications (like lowering the bed - it was way too high but the Germans didn't like it when I said that because they made it) and starting not completely from scratch but not completely having to use all of someone else's stuff.
So we ended up with Blackie and a list of maintenance jobs that needed doing, and a long list of ideas of what to do to her. First up was getting some supplies and the kit necessary to get on the road so we made various trips to "Warehouse" stores in the area, and to the Mitre10 stores also.
A few days later and the bed lowered by 11.5cm we were ready to roll. On the subject of the bed for any over-engineering-minded Germans out there, all our stuff fits
perfectly under it, the coolbox works perfectly on its side and we can now sit up straight on the bed with room to spare above our heads.
On the subject of Auckland
Auckland is a fairly nice enough place and its various problems and niceties have been running through my mind a fair bit. Firstly it's a city that would fit in perfectly anywhere in England - anyone from home would recognice the town planning methodologies that have (or have not) been applied. The traffic flows freely enough when there's none, but gridlocks at the sligtest hint of more than one car per hundred yards. The buses come every half and hour, are expensive, noisy and because you don't have a conductor to take the fares, the flippin' thing takes forever to get anywhere. Shops and CBDs, malls and housing are almost exactly the same layout as in the UK - nowhere near as intelligent a layout as many places (Auckland is in the top 10 cities in the world for land area, yet has a tiny 1.5 million population).
HOWEVER! (this thought occured to me on the bus while sitting for aeons at the lights), you don't have
any slums (I was thinking of South America), crime appears low by most standards and the population seem relatively equally well off.
So all things considered the UK and NZ seem like pretty good places to live from a socialist standpoint, despite the horrifying public transport situation!
It's also got a nice enough harbour and the streets are clean. But I wouldn't want to live here.
I also have to mention.. The car mechanics who helped us fix up the van - they showed me how to change the brake pads, oil and oil filter and advised us that the radiator ain't new. Very kindly they also let me use their tools and axle stands and chenged the timing belt and associated gubbins for a very reasonable price.
Karekare Beach After our first night in the Avondale motor park (very reasonable place), we headed to a local beach because it was a nice day: Karekare beach (pron. karry-karry), aka the beach where "The Piano" was filmed (apparently).
We spent some time on the beach and I went for a swim, while Sarah relaxed. We later on went to the waterfall nearby and rinsed off in the pool
City of Masts
Auckland harbour, full of yachts but not a sail in sight below, before having some dinner in the open and staying there overnight.
Some sightseeing in Auckland We have so far left and returned to Auckland a grand total of four times and have managed to see a few sights here in between doing work on the van. We of course went up to the sky dick (oops I mean sky deck, must be getting a Kiwi accent) of the Skytower and surveyed the city from the tallest building in the Southern hemisphere. We also paid a visit to the Auckland museum, well worth a visit, lots of really interesting audio-visual displays. Today, before leaving Auckland for final time we hope to visit Mt Eden, a volcano in the city which affords a great view of the city and surrounds.
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anonymous
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Why...
...is the van called Blackie?? Have you considered renaming it? How about Ivan? - northernrich