That road trip I was talking about....

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When I was driving around Canada I formulated this great idea for a similar road trip in New Zealand.

So when I got back to NZ I pulled my sacked DX (the 3 door sports model) out of storage and set about getting a Warrant of Fitness. Now, getting a WOF is a game I normally enjoy, but this actually ended up taking a few weeks of solid bogging, and chewed up both my precious time and money.

When I finally left Auckland and headed for Port Waikato the weather turned to custard, and was forecast to remain in such a state for a few weeks. So I blew though Port Waikato (not much to do there anyhow - sorry Diana) and thought I would hole up at Raglan for a few weeks before continuing on.

Once the good weather arrived so did all the visitors. After a few weeks of solid visitation (nice to see you all though) I was ready to roll on down the west coast. With gas prices the way they are I decided to swap my car for my bicycle and continue on under my own steam.
However, as I was loading up my bicycle, I received a request to go back to work for a few weeks. Being easy and unable to say no, I ended up going to work as a Chainman for the Surveying department of a civil engineering company.

And now I’m back in Auckland ready to fly out to South America, looking back wondering where the summer went and whatever happened to that fantastic itinerary I had planned back when driving from Banff to Jasper.

Awwh well, the old girl’s back in storage, and will have to wait ‘till I get back.
Anyhow, next stop Santiago.

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Photos

Cutting out the rust...
Not only did I cut out the rust, I also resprayed most of the panels. Now she's only two shades of red!

Port Waikato
Hullo, summer???..

Raglan Harbour
When the weather finally turned good
(it also helps that the tide's in).

Fish 'n' chips at the beach
Ah, the obligitory sunset fish and chips at Wainui reserve. Well, Russ, I wished you were here.

A deserted Karekare
The best thing about going on a hike in the Waitaks on a weekday

Rock Anthum on the batter
I'll never make a rock star... can't keep a damned staight face.
But every chainman can dream...