A nice 05:30 start to be waiting at reception for our 06:30
airport shuttle pick-up.
Once at the airport we had to wait in the world’s longest
ever queue because Air New Zealand had been stupid and arranged for 4 flights
to fly within 30 minutes of each other. After finally checking in we rushed
through security and then through to the boarding gate which we had been told
had been boarding since check in! We arrived at the gate to find all the
passengers calmly sat about waiting for the gate to open! We ended up waiting
about 20 minutes until boarding. Oh well, at least we saved ourselves from
buying loads of duty free stuff.
The flight was nice, with lots of leg room like the Cairns
to Alice Springs flight.
We arrived in Auckland slightly later than planned and went
outside to get our shuttle bus to the campervan rental place. We were waiting
for ages before Corrie decided to go and find out exactly what bus we should be
getting as we couldn’t spot any buses with the THL logo on them. Unbeknownst to
us, whilst Corrie was inside, the bus pulled up right in front of Danny, loaded
its passengers and continued on its way. When Corrie returned she said it was
due at 16:00 so should arrive any time. More time passed until Corrie decided
to go and inquire some more, returning 5 minutes later and ushering Danny into
a taxi to take us there. This taxi was paid for by the rental firm by way of
apology… Danny decided not to mention to them that the shuttle parked outside
of their offices was the very same that’d pulled up by him at the airport! We
then sped through safety briefings and paperwork etc before getting our hands
on our home for the next month. Danny was first behind the wheel of the Breezer
campervan, steering it straight to the nearest supermarket to let us stock up
on supplies; like vegetables and healthy things… and not so healthy things.
Corrie got very excited about cooking a pasta dish for tonight’s tea.
We then set off on our way out of Aukland and north a little
to get a head start on the long drive up to Cape Reigna. Unfortunately we drove
too far for our own good and when we finally decided to stop at Pakiri the
campsite was closed and the gates locked. We were in the middle of nowhere and
it was getting late so we didn’t want to drive much further. We saw a sign for
public toilets a short way down the road and so made for these. Here we found a
car park so decided to set up camp here. With the last of the light fading fast
we set about making tea; we got out the cooker, gas cylinder and all the food
before realising we didn’t have any matches – no pasta tonight and a very
unimpressed Corrie. Instead we had sandwiches – very good sandwiches, but not
Corrie’s super fantastic pasta! We ate our sarnis by torchlight and we soon sat
in darkness with a couple of beers, wondering how long it’d be before someone
would come along to move us on. It turned out to be never and, after worrying a
little about how alone we were here, tiredness got the better of us and we were
tucked up in our double bed and sound asleep in minutes.
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