City of Sails

We arrived in Auckland, made it through customs alive, and stepped outside into the hot, humid weather of the country we had been dreaming of for months. Alex, a New Zealander who had been a customer on one of Dan’s Alaskan zipline tours last summer, picked us up from the airport. Apparently they have had six straight weeks of blue skies and no humidity. We arrived to the first clouds and rain... Not that we cared coming from the heart of winter.

As we took a “buzz” around town, the generally narrow roads and frequent roundabouts were twice as harrowing and confusing because we were driving on the wrong side of the road. Especially amusing is when we all walk around town and consistently look the wrong way before crossing. (the way that no cars would be coming)

Auckland is nicknamed The City of Sails and for good reason. Walking around the harbour, sailboats careen around in organized chaos, littering the horizon. The docks contain billions of dollars in boats including the BMW and Louis Vutton sponsored racing sailboats that compete on weekends and Wednesdays. It is safe to say these people have more money than they know what to do with... except to continue spending it.

Yesterday, we travelled up north to the beaches of Mangawhui where our hosts own a beautiful beach house propped up on a hill looking out to the ocean. Having arrived the afternoon before, this was our first full day in New Zealand. We happily boogy boarded for over three hours in green ocean water grinning and whooping with joy because, hey, we were doing nothing other than floating around in the pacific ocean and catching waves. No worries mate.

The next day found us walking around Auckland looking for a van, cringing in the bright sun as the day before had turned us from Montana pale to sunburned idiots. At one point while looking for a backpacker’s car market we stumbled into a dead end alley way with graffiti and apartments. Asking a lady who had an interesting taste in clothing for directions, she kindly showed us the way out and began talking to her similarly dressed friend. Our host Alex informed us, “Well guys this area is know for its hookers and you just met two of them.” Good to know I guess.

We found our faithful chariot today in the form of a ’93 Toyota Previa (know as an Estima over here). When Jonathan had to drive our family Previa, which looks kind of like a giant spaceship, to High School back in the day, he was embarrassed with good reason. Now it is the greatest purchase we have ever made. She is a beaut. We have named her Big Jolly Previa as her license plate intitials say BJP. Big Jolly for short or just BJ. Curtains all around, 3 comfy seats, good storage, and a bed. Whats the term, oh yeah, shaggin wagon. And she is a manual 4wd which is quite a rare item in such a van. We cruised around today giggling at our good fortune and yelling at Jonathan to stay on the left side of the road. The stick is on the left too which changes things up even further. And most every time we tried to use the turn signal, the windshield wiper lever was activated instead. She has the usual bumps, bruises, and is a bit shaky with the shifting at times but these are all signs of a well-loved van. The kiwi we got it from is a friendly guy, though that doesn't mean much for a car salesman (and a kiwi at that-they are all friendly). He is interested in buying it back from us when we get done with our travels. If this is the case might only cost us about 200 each to own a van for near 3 months.

We stocked up at a bulk store today and now have boxes full of food and supplies for the road. The exchange rate is amazing as we each only spent around 50 bucks (US dollar) for a huge stock of food.

The main logistics are out of the way and we will head out of the big city tomorrow. Big Jolly is ready to go and so are we.