New Zealand Roadtrip Day 1: Detour North

Friday 21st July was our first day of one month off from work to travel the whole of New Zealand. We packed up our stuff, left Sails Away Backpackers and got some breakfast in town.

The plan was to head south, first stop Hobbiton - but before that, we needed to get our van registered as "self contained". This would enable us to be able to stay at certain campsites that are cheap or free but only for self contained vehicles (have a sink and toilet). We rang up the dude and found out he couldn't actually do it for us so we got an appointment for Tuesday. Not ideal, but we decided instead of going south we would travel the very northern tip of the country and then go to our Tuesday appointment on the way back down.

So northward bound we were, feeling free and without direction, we zigzagged across the country from Warkworth, to Dargaville, to Whangarei, where we went to the cinema to see Dunkirk (great film!) before spending our first night sleeping in the van at a free campsite by Lake Waro. The weather wasn't great, but it was surprisingly warm and comfortable in the van. We enjoyed watching lightening storms in the distance, and then settled down to Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers before bed.

Joe and I loved how Whangerei was a city with a waterfall right in the middle of it.

These ducks obviously loved it too

Heading north gave us a good practice go in the van before embracing the bitter cold of the south.

The next morning I craved cheese and crusty bread for breakfast (after watching Gimli eat it in the film), so we stopped in Kawakawa on the way north to get some. This tiny town only had a small convenience store amongst it's other shops. To our disturbing surprise, our breakfast dreams were ruined upon opening the brie to find it mouldy and a week out of date! Top tip: do not eat the brown brie. We took it back and exchanged it and all was right with the world again!

The weather hadn't cleared up since we left Warkworth, and it was unfortunate that it wasn't really great conditions to get to see the beautiful beaches this region has. We will however head back up here in the summer as it's not too far from where we live. We continued north for a short while before U-turning as we decided "screw the plumber!" we can get self contained along the way if needed, so we headed back down south and I definitely got a bit more excited. Next stop, Hobbiton!

Sneak preview of whats coming in my next post...

I've been quiet. What's going on?

It's been a long time since I last wrote a post, and I'm so sorry for neglecting you all. I've actually been incredibly busy starting a life in a new country. And that (hopefully!) is no exaggeration.

Since my last post, I have been offered a permanent position as assistant manager at The Camera Shop where I work. And though there may only be 4 staff members there, this technically puts me in a higher position than my dad (many of you know as the infamous manager of Park Cameras in the UK), an achievement that I'm pretty proud of anyway.

It's official. I have a business card

This role has been keeping me very busy, and is a LOT to take on, especially after only working for the company for 2 months.

Joe also recently landed himself in a good job, and we're considering the prospects of extending our visas for the foreseeable future, and quite possibly, forever.

But enough adulting, before all that can happen, we need to go on an adventure.

Keeping us busy on our days off from work is Gimli, who not only has taken us to some of the local scenic areas, but has been undergoing a complete makeover. Meaning, we removed everything from the back of the car including seats, shelves and bed frame, and completely re-assembled a structure in order to make our van self contained. It now includes a travel toilet, sink, water tank, and foldaway bed/seating area.

Freedom camping in New Zealand is legal, but there are many campsites that have amenities only available to those in a vehicle that is marked with a valid self contained sticker. The vehicle must be approved by an official self-containment dude to gain this classification. We will hopefully be getting our self contained sticker this weekend.

So, why such a rush to get the van fixed up? This friday will be the start of our month long adventure travelling the whole country before going back to work. There's a lot of cool places to fit in to this visit, and I can't wait for what we're going to encounter! We're not quite sure where we're going yet, but our top 3 must-sees are:
1. Hobbiton movie set
2. Franz Josef Glacier
3. Rotorua geysers and natural spas
...and a lot of awesome scenery and breathtaking views on the way!

Piha, Auckland
The cold will still never stop me going to the beach

Currently in New Zealand it is winter time, and unlike Australia, the kiwi winter is actually cold. Where we live in the north is a very mild climate, mostly sunny and slightly warmer than the UK, but the south where we are headed is bitterly cold and snowy. I love the snow, but I'm a little worried about how well we'll survive living in a van in these conditions, as it's not something we've ever done, so any advice would be welcome!

So that's where we're up to now. I will definitely write more posts about where we go on our trip. For now I just have to get through one more day at work! If anyone has any advice for us on where to go during our trip, please leave a comment - we want to see as much of the country as possible!

Walkies at Goat Island