Journal Day 60 - Birkenhead, Auckland.

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Woke up and remembered where I was- in a van in a filling station car-park!
The inflatable bed had completely deflated during the night so lying on the hard timber deck. Went to sit up and got instantly reminded of my ribs! Thought about popping some more of the Tramadol but decided I didn't fancy the nausea and heart palpitations of the last couple of days! A tiny bit of pain ain't worth the side effects from that stuff!

Crossed over Auckland harbour bridge and explored around a few suburban neighbourhoods looking at the quant houses with views over Auckland harbour. Probably really expensive.
Parked up at a nice little picnic area called 'Little Shoal Bay'. Cooked my first campervan breakfast to test out the gas and hobs. They work a treat. Nothing too fancy, just beans on toast and a cuppa damn good tea. Lovely morning, cool breeze from water. Watched the boats in the harbour walking in the water. Nice view across to Aickland city. The Sky Tower dominates the skyline from every angle. The harbour bridge is a long, more elegant & thinner version of the Sydney Harbour bridge. 2 NZ flags on the top.

Damn Craft shops.

Drove on into Birkenhead and on the street leading up to the town I spotted a couple of craft shops. I've realised I'm strangely susceptible to a fine arts establishment. In fact I'm like a flippin little girl when it comes to craft shops.
Went in for a look around and ended up buying a load of stuff just because they're made by local artists... jeesus.
Then spotted an artist studio shop up behind the shop and wandered up to take a look.
nice stuff, all by a guy called Reuben Pierce. A guy came out, chatted to him for a while. He turned out to be Reuben Pierce. I'd seen his stuff in shops in Auckland and Raglan. Ended up buying some of his stuff too. At least I got this stuff signed.
Supporting the arts alright...
But it's ok mum, I got you a present.

Brand new Library in Birkenhead, free Internet. Emailed some architects. Walked around the town.
Birkenhead's an idyllic little suburban town with some cracking views across to Auckland.
Bought load of stuff for the van.

Parked up for the night down at a little ferry port a cooked up some tea and soup. The lights of cars zipping over Auckland harbour bridge were really impressive and the spot was really scenic until later when it seemed to turn into a rather dodgy parking area for perverts in cars.... Dogging area. After hearing a few weirdos beeping their horns at each other in some sort of dirty morse-code I decided it might be a good idea to move the van back up to the town for a safer night's kip.... Phew.

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