06/09/10

Today was the day we got our campervan.
We were due to pick it up at 11am, so we packed our stuff up, checked out of Base 'ACB' (Auckland Central Backpackers) and wandered the streets for an hour. We got proper gloves and a pair of binoculars from a good reasonably-priced outdoors shop and be becoming a member of Kathmandu to get a discount on the binoculars. We wanted a book of NZ birds but couldn't find a cheap one, but we did discover that the bird with lots of different noises was a tui (Tom already knew this name but had forgotten it) and the large moorhen-type ones were pukekos.

The campervan depot didn't have many vans left and we had to wait a couple of hours to get the one we liked best, with mp3 input and pretty artwork - and most importantly a manual gearbox. It is called 'Bula Fiji' and was painted by a NZ DJ with palm trees and mountains silhouetted against an orange sunset. We both enjoy driving it - it has a good engine and squishy brakes and I like the massive steering wheel. The indicator and windscreen-wiper sticks are the wrong way round though, which I still keep forgetting.

Inside there are benches behind the front seats and in the front of the boot area with storage space beneath them. There is a table that goes between them, whose wooden board makes up the bed along with another one, and 4 long thin cushions go on top. In the boot is a large water container, sink, cool box, cooking equipment including gas stove, and there are curtains that enclose the whole of the back.

We drove from Auckland to the Kauaeranga valley and arrived at the campsite 2 hours later than planned. As we drove the clouds got lower and were covering the Coromandel Peninsula completely, and then we hit the rain. It rained for the entire tim we were at the campsite, which made unpacking and organising the campervan more tricky. What we saw of the campsite was very nice though, apart from the chemical toilets which were the only facility and covered in midges. We ate pasta and sauce and bread for tea from the supplies we'd bought in Auckland.

Our campervan, Bula Fiji.

We do like our campervan!