Day 258-260: Auckland, New Zealand

---

Sunday, October 11th

We woke to a gorgeous, sunny, Sunday morning. Nicol made a big egg, hashbrowns, bacon and toast breakfast. Afterwards we borrowed his car and drove to the far side of the city again. We were going to see a campervan that looked great on the website. Through some misunderstanding we ended up waiting for more than an hour for the owner to pitch up. When we saw the camper we were not impressed. It is ancient and has a weird column shifter for changing gears. It has a pop-top which is great cause you can stand upright inside the van when it is up, but after a test drive we "did not feel it".

There was another van we wanted to check out while we were in the area. We took an instant liking to it even though it was in need of a lot of TLC. After a test-drive we liked it even more. We were definitely "feeling it" for this van. It is funny because we probably would not have bothered to come see this van if we were not in the area anyway, yet this van turned out to be the best wed seen. Driving back home we attempted to look at another van, but the owner was off fishing, so no luck there.

Back home we packed some beach gear and headed to Orewa Beach with team Smit. Here we enjoyed the sunshine while Talita tried in vain to build a sand castle. Keira kept "helping", which invariably ended in total destruction.

When Keira got cold and tired we headed back home. We checked TradeMe again and saw an awesome campervan for a very good price. Unfortunately when we phoned it was already spoken for. Bummer! Well, we have been praying for the right van and believe that God will guide us toward it. We really felt good about the last van we drove and decided to put in an offer. The lady phoned back and we settled on a price. We were sooo relieved!

Nicol braai-ed some lamb chops and we had garlic bread, rice and salad. Mmm.. Yummy! Later Mel cut a bit of Talitas hair because she was not 100% happy with the original cut. She did a great job and Talita was very happy.

Todays highlights:
1. Finding the right van for us.
2. Great dinner.
3. Talitas haircut.

Monday, October 12th

Today started off on a high but quickly deteriorated into a painful struggle. We were planning to buy our van today, but no matter what we tried, we could not get enough cash out of our SA accounts. None of the banks could help us and our credit cards seemed to have a life of their own, sometimes working and sometimes not. In the end we managed to withdraw less than half of what we needed.

Discouraged and annoyed we went to sit in the park, hoping to find some clarity. We were raring to get back on the road and this setback really hurt us emotionally. We prayed about it and found some calm. Back home Ferdi got a little program to help design our campers interior and he had fun building our design in 3D. After dinner we went for another walk on the beach. Well struggle to live far from the coast again. We just love being around the water.

Todays highlights:
1. Starting to design our van interior in 3D.

Thought for the day:
It is easy to end up paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong decision. Finding the balance between thinking something through and being decisive is hard sometimes.

Tuesday, October 13th

When we left for our morning jog we discovered that a book we ordered online had been delivered. It is about self sufficiency and covers everything from growing veggies to making wine. It is thick and heavy and we were excited to start leaning.

Later we attempted to withdraw more cash, but for some inexplicable reason we were able to withdraw even less money than yesterday. We returned home frustrated. We contacted the seller of the van and she was very kind and gave us time to get through our dilemma.

Over the past few days Talita started to really connect with Keira. They spend lots of time together and Talita really enjoyed her company. After a tasty dinner we went for another walk on the beach.

Todays highlights:
1. Getting our self sufficiency book.
2. Talita connecting more with Keira.

---

Photos

Soaking up the sun
Orewa Beach

Bringing water for her "potty"
It used to be a sand castle

Comments

[Moeder Minty]

Baie geluk met Boesman
Talita, jy dink seker terug aan die dae toe ons kombi gehad het en ek ook gordyntjies vir hom gemaak het. Ons hoop Boesman gaan vir jul baie vreugde bring. Jou hare lyk pragtig!! Julle moet asb nog die daai vlugkaartjies van 19 Jan.2010 kanseleer nie ... dalk kan jul dit tog gebruik. xxx