At the Seaside

Dougie (the Diahatsu Delta) is ready for the road, whoop. Finally. After what feels like ages (a little over a week since we got him) we're all set to bundle ourselves and all our things into
 the cramped interior of our Motorhome. First stop Ruakaka Beach Holiday Park. An easy first drive and somewhere with power hook ups, a playpark and stunning beach/sea views. What's not to like.

Since the last post we have said good bye to the long suffering hosts of our Airbnb in Morningside, Auckland. We felt we needed a change of scene. We were feeling restless and the boys had meddled with enough stuff in the garden and sleep out - we need to get out before something got broken. We headed to the Northshore, a little suburb called Torbay. Another 'sleep out' but a little roomier. Again it had a large trampoline for the boys, a boat in the drive (to NOT touch) and very welcoming hosts. Turns out Mel and Rich are from Wales and moved to NZ 7 years ago. Torbay, Waiaka bay, has a lovely beach complete with creek, islands to look at, rocks to scramble over, tiny waves and the all important playpark, all less than 10 mins walk from our accommodation.

We've sat on the beach, Jonny has swam out the pontoon a couple of times, and we've all had a good splosh in the water. Yesterday (Monday) we headed to the next bay along the coast, Brown's Bay, and spent the day on the sand, in the very superior playpark right on the beach, wandering round the shops, eating ice creams and fish and chips. Basically doing the seaside things.

On Sunday evening we headed back into Auckland to Nic and Asty's for tea (sorry again for the confusion Nic!). A delicious spread of cup cakes were waiting for us made by Milly. The boys got straight into looking in all the cupboards, playing with the toys very kindly brought out, and playing with everything else that was and wasn't meant to be fussed with. It was really great to be treated to delicious pizza and chat with the lovely family.

Today we did a huge shop at Pac 'N' Save, ready to stock up Dougie; tins, packets and essentials. Jonny headed into Auckland to return the hire car and pick up the van - only to be told it wouldn't be ready til the morning, such a disappointment. After a long bus ride or two back out to Torbay we had dinner, the phone rang and Dougie was ready after all. Jonny leaped out to get a bus back into Auckland. And here we are and set to climb aboard and crunch the gears north on State Highway 1.

PS Before we left Auckland we went to a brilliant swimming pool with rapids, waves, a hot pool and flumes, just down the road from where we were staying, such fun! And had a very expensive Pizza in the Wynyard Quarter watching boat planes taking off and landing in the harbour, a lovely evening.

Introducing Dougie!

So we are STILL here in Auckland but we haven't been idle. We've been super busy researching, planning and plotting to find a suitable set of wheels to be our home to take us on our journey around New Zealand. It would have been much easier if it were just the two of us but with two small ones to consider the task has been much harder. In fact is has been pretty difficult and stressful with lots of head-scratching and frustration. But hopefully by the end of the week we will be on the road! (and the boys can come too).

So here's a summary of what's happened:

We spent ages searching on TradeMe for a suitable motorhome and after a few disappointments (and with vans getting snapped up quickly), we found a van to go and view. But it was a 3hr drive away south to Tauranga (on the coast). We hired a car (from Rent-a-Dent!) and set off down highway 1. After leaving Auckland, the 'highway' turned into a much smaller single lane road with little traffic. Sam picked a beautiful spot to need a wee, the Karangahake Gorge.

We eventually made it to Doug and Trish's home in avocado country and were introduced to their 1985 Daihatsu Delta motorhome. An old bird but well loved and good condition, on the inside anyway (we are not mechanics). We made a deal, left a deposit with plans to arrange payment and collect a few days later.

We had time to spend a few hours in Tauranga, the home of NZ children's author Lindsey Dodd, famous for her Hairy MacClary books. We ate delicious fish and chips at the famous Bobby's fish market, before heading home to Auckland.

Between waiting for payment to clear for the van, child car seat purchasing, seatbelt installation researching, insurance etc (yawn) we have tried to do fun stuff too. We took a ferry to Devonport, a short trip across the bay to a beach. It was a sunny but windy day and we ended up going to the Navy museum where we were fortunate enough to chance upon the British Royal Marines military band playing there for the 75th anniversary of the NZ navy. We also met up with friends Jonny and Sam (living in NZ) for a few evening beers and catch up.

Other things we've been up to

Pottered down the K road
Bought some bargain toys for the boys from thrifty shops (Sam super pleased with his lawnmover)
Ali had a fantastic day out with the boys at the Museum of Transport and Technology while Jonny made the trip back down to Tauranga to pick up the van - a 3,5 hr, 7,40am bus journey made back to Doug and Trish's house, where worryingly, I found Doug under the van fixing a last minute problem...

Today we've had a lovely day looking round the art gallery in central Auckland anc watching the Lego Christmas tree being constructed in the main square with the hot sun beating down.

Dougie the campervan after the trip back to Auckland.

Exploring Auckland

Our first few days in Auckland have been busy with a mixture of finding our feet, exploring the city, motorhome searching and visiting friends and relatives. We joined a family birthday celebration of Ali's distant relations: her Dad's cousin's children and extended family. Tom and Rowena's family were very welcoming and we had a lovely time at their barbecue party in the sunshine. Sam and Ben were entertained by the older children who had a huge trampoline and go-kart which Sam loved being pulled along on up and down their drive.

We also met up with Barbara who is our friend Claire (Thompson)'s Aunt. We realised that we were staying just a few minutes walk from Barbara's house so we were kindly invited round for tea and biscuits (Ben and Sam stuffed themselves with strawberries, it's strawberry season here) and given such a warm, friendly welcome.

We have ventured out to a few parks (including Western Springs, where Ben's welly boot had to be rescued from the lake - see pic below) and to the Wynyard Quarter harbor side area of the city which is great to walk along bustling with ferry boats, bars and expensive yachts. We managed to sneak in our first beer, a really tasty craft NZ ale. As Sam tucked into his apple juice he remarked that the John Lennon song 'Imagine' playing in the bar sounded like 'Head shoulders knees and toes'. Fair enough.

Weather is really mixed. We've had hot sun, cloud, and today lots of rain. It's Tuesday and a week since we left England, so fingers crossed this time next week we should be heading north in our new wheels/home.

Are we nearly there yet?

We've arrived! And actually the boys did super well on the flight and didn't complain once on the three separate flights we did, including train and coach just to get us to the airport. Really proud of them and they seem to be adapting really well to our new home in New Zealand. It was a mammoth journey to get here: London to Dubai, Dubai to Melbourne and Melbourne to Auckland. Sam was in his element watching endless kids TV shows on his mini screen and Ben did the best of all of us with his naps. Luckily, on the two longest flights we managed to get an extra seat beside us which gave us more room to spread out (and save the sanity of whoever would have been beside us). Flying on the huge A380 planes with Emirates was pretty exciting too.

We are staying in a small studio apartment which is part of a family's house in the garden (their kids call it the 'sleep out') but it's set up with all we need. We arrived in the afternoon and managed to hold out until early evening before we headed to bed to catch up on much needed sleep (we did well despite a few confused wake-ups during the night).

We've had our first day in Auckland today but have taken it easy. A walk to the local park this morning and then a trip to the supermarket - just like home! Apart from spotting some exotic birds and admiring the beautiful big trees. We left Wiltshire on a cold November afternoon but have enjoyed lovely weather and sunshine today.

Are you excited?

This is the eve of our trip and over the past few days and weeks we have often been asked 'Are you excited?' 'What have you got planned?' 'Are you going to go here/do this?'. Well the truth is, up until this moment, it feels like we have not stopped from all the hard work that has gone into setting ourselves up ready for this trip. Thoughts have often been far from the adventures ahead of us. The house has been repaired, DIYed, scrubbed cleaner than we have ever lived in ourselves. The loft is cramp-packed with all our possessions, not to mention the numerous boxes and furniture that have been distributed across friends and family (thank you!). So with the house now rented out and (most) goodbyes said and done, it is time to jet off for horizons new.

Autumn adventures.

A photo posted by Jonny Crook (@jonny_crook) on Nov 7, 2016 at 1:37pm PST

Welcome to Jali's Journey

Welcome to our blog where we hope to keep you updated on our adventures as we set off on a 6-month journey to New Zealand and Australia. We've stored up our possessions, rented out our house, packed our bags and are ready for whatever new experiences and challenges lay ahead. A campervan will hopefully take us far and wide to visit the magical, mystical sights of New Zealand on a 5-month journey. We will be in Australia for 1-month before heading back home via Hong Kong.

Oh yeah, we'll have a 3-year old and a 1-year old along with us just for the fun of it.

What could go wrong?

And they're off...

A photo posted by Alison (@alisonecrook) on Oct 31, 2016 at 4:43am PDT