Finally!

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This is a quantum jump for a second blog entry. It's 7.15pm in New Zealand, and I'm sitting in our

backpacker van atop a flowery mattress, in jumpers and a sleeping bag at 7.15 at night. It's dark, and

cold after a cloudless day. We're in a posh managed campsite on the southwetern corner of the Coromandel,

in the North Island of NZ.

Yes - we made it here in one piece. I say that because Clarissa's nervous build-up to the first flight

leg from Heathrow became so intense that even I started to doubt a 747's ability to take off and land

safely. It started a whole almost fuzzed month ago, with my lovely wife deciding that she would need

some serious synapse-numbing drugs following a bad experience when we flew to Portugal earlier in the

year. A string of consultations followed, resulting in a prescription for diazapan.

But a lot has happened 'twixt now and then.

Prior to launch, we spent a lovely three nights with my folks, sister Kate and her family in Taunton.

Then we lugged our rucksacks and outsized 'hand luggage' up to the estimable Holiday Inn at Heathrow.

For a supposed AA 4-star hotel we were pretty disappointed; no biscuits with the tea tray? Blasphemy!

The place was virtually empty too - perhaps more of a pointer to "staycation" England this year than

anything else although £17 for breakfast and £4.20 for a pint ofbeer at the bar was enough to make me

grumble quietly (quietly?? - C) and find a local store for bacon & eggs..

Two easy flights later via Hong Kong, and we landed in Auckland at midday with the usual British jetlag.

We treated ourselves to an 80-dollar taxi straight to the backpacker joint Clarissa had booked in

advance, which was right on 'happnin' Queen Street.. which wasn't really happnin at all. Recession has

hit here as much as anywhere. NZ relies far more on Asian tourism than European, and Auckland was no

where near the sea of smiling Chinese and Japanese faces that it seemed full of when I was last here six

years ago.

We had a basic bunk room, where we literally dumped our rucksacks before getting out & about to look at

our primary target: a backpacker van.

It's common knowledge that New Zealand is unique in its hospitality trade. The country is liberally

sprinkled with cheap accommodation and even cheaper places to camp for the night. From £2 a night, you

can park a car and pitch a tent twenty feet from a beach as long as you can stand the sand flies (NZ's

equivalent of the devil-spawned midges of Scotland). We'd decided, having done a bit of Internet

research, that the best bet was to buy rather than rent a vehicle. And without doubt the most practical

(and let's face it, the hippest) vehicle to backpack around NZ is a minimum 15-year-old, twice-round-the

-clock, knackered, cheap adapted minibus.
In Auckland and Queenstown there is an enlightened small company which owns a couple of underground car

parks, from which it rents out space to backpackers who have come to the end of their stay and need to

sell their 'all-around-NZ' vans.

So Clarissa and I walked (mostly uphill) on the very same day we'd arrived - somewhat bright-eyed from

jetlag but far from bushy-tailed, and amazed at the bright blue sky and balmy 19 degree weather - and had

a good look around the 40-odd vehicles in the bays.

The choice ranged from virtual death-traps to.. well, slightly less than that. I'd put my practical

motoring head on as we walked through the entrance, but I needn't have bothered; plain common sense was

enough to separate the pretty obvious ringers from the rest. No vehicle had less than 200,000km on the

clock, but given how basic the vans were it was really about singling out something which looked half

decent and getting a nearby 'recommended motor mechanic' (right across the road, strangely enough) to

give it a good going over for $140.

We didn't rush into a buy; August is a buyer's time (whereas in high summer, January on, the vans pretty

much sell as soon as they're driven through the doors) so we went for some much needed shuteye and

returned the next day.

The two most popular and reliable backpackers vans are the Toyota Hiace and the Ford Econovan (also known

as the Mazda Bongo). Both are long wheel-base, with an extra metre of interior space which can make all

the difference over a six-month tour.

So we eventually picked out a green, slightly dinged Ford Econovan, 1992, 218k on the clock, selling at

$3,800, and we asked for it to be sent over for inspection. A couple of hours later the report came back

showing about $500 worth of work needing to be done. We did a deal with the owner over the phone,

knocked $300 off the asking price, had the work done, and the next day drove out of Auckland in "Bumble

B" as he's been nicknamed. Destination: The Far North, via Bay of Islands..

More soon!

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