We made it!

After about 26 hours in transit, during which we had an intimate association with all ends of O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, we arrived in Auckland to start our adventure. The only thing missing was one of Doug’s bags, which contained most of his clothes, but Air New Zealand came through big time and had the bag at our camper doorstep the next morning.

Speaking of the camper van, it’s a 6-metre minibus affectionately known by some local drivers as a ‘’road maggot’’ (fat, white and slow). Doug stalled it a few times as we were getting used to driving on the left side of the road while puzzling over road maps and finding ourselves imprisoned in massive freeway traffic jams. Needless to say we slept well on our arrival at the Takapuna Beach Holiday Camp, north of Auckland City.

Our campground is beautifully situated by the sea, and we have watched everything from sea kayaks to a monster cruise ship float by.

Our first full day of being tourists saw us take the bus and ferry to Auckland. In addition to going up the famous Sky Tower for an impressive view of the city and the harbour, we went to a local bicycle shop where we expected to pick up two clunkers to use for short trips around the places we will visit and avoid having to drive the camper van everywhere, and then sell them or give them away when we leave. Unfortunately the shop is a bit chaotic and we had to go back at the end of the day to collect and ride them about 20 km back to the campground. Doug fared well for the palty sum of 99 NZD but Pat not so affectionately calls hers Ugly Bikey, a rusted out hybrid that clinks and clanks and occasionally emits a sound akin to a wheeze.

We kept shopping to a minimum because we needed to carry everything back to camp on the bikes, but Doug did purchase a snazzy all-leather hat to keep the sun off. Pat had to walk ahead of him to keep the adoring ladies at bay.

We were awed by Auckland’s amazing harbour where we saw huge ocean going sailing yachts that you don’t normally see back home.

TRIVIA ANSWER: The Chicago airport is named after Butch O’Hare, an ace WWII fighter pilot.




Van comfortable, good thing Doug slim, even has an office (driving area)