Got up bright and early and headed off to get our camper van. The shuttle bus to the camper van service left at 9:00 am, so that was the earliest we could leave.
Got to Britz and picked up the van. The bastards required a $5,000 bond or charged an extra $20 per day -- so we had to cough up another $160 (as I didnt have $5K free on the credit card). They did offer us a chance to upgrade to a 4 berth camper van for another $9 a day. As it turned out I was so glad I didn't upgrade -- the van we had was a bastard to drive as it was.
Drove out of Britz to a supermarket and stocked up for the trip. Got fruit, ham, bread, mustard, salad stuff, chocolate, cereal, etc. And, in a tribute to Hitch Hickers Guide to the Galaxy, a towel.
We needed to head south on highway one. It should have been a simple drive from the supermarket to the highway. It wasnt -- the van had no visibility out the rear, swayed like a drunk every time we got near a corner, felt like it took up two lanes, and was, in general, a bastard to drive. We got totally lost because we saw the turnoff sign too late, and the van wasnt going to change lanes in anything less than 1km. Ended up weaving through the southern suburbs of Auckland, navigating by feel. (Thats a big road going in the right direction -- maybe if we take that we will hit the highway ....)
Eventually got on the highway and got the behemoth up to a terrifying 80kph. Traffic was shooting past left and right. But I wasn't going to get into the far left lane incase it had to merge with the middle lane -- given my visibility I would have wiped out three cars if I had attempted merging. And I wasn't going faster -- I was having a hard time controlling the beast as it was! By this time I needed some Chocolate just to keep my blood sugar up. Got dad to crack open a bar and pass me some chunks. I ate tentativly while holding onto the steering wheel with white knuckles. He kept making comments along the line of 'This van is great -- its got all the amenities we will need ...'
Heading down through Hamilton towards Rotorua, we had to negotiate what seemed like 50 roundabouts. Roundabouts are OK in a car. But the van was a trickier proposition. Given the slow acceleration and my propensity to stall, I had to wait until there was a VERY large gap in traffic before attempting to go around the roundabout.
After Hamilton we pulled over at a roadside turnout to eat a sandwich. And I had to have more chocolate.
Continued down to Rotorua. We needed to get fishing licences, so we drove into the town to find a sports store. We got to one at 4:10 -- but it had shut at 4:00. The streets were quiet, so the beast wasnt too terrifying. But Rototrua was also full of roundabouts :( After some searching, Dad picked up some KFC for dinner, and we headed out to find a camp ground. We were going fishing in lake Rotoehu the next day, so we drove towards the lake, looking for a camping site. We found a place on lake Rotoini. The supervisor was happy to see us -- it seems we were the only people there!
The campground had a TV room. We went in to watch the news. It was all about rugby. Apparently, in NZ world war III could break out, but it would get second string to the Rugby. And netball -- everyone was excited about the netball test with Australia being played in Melbourne. But as one reporter noted, the Melbourne Age had 14 pages of sport, and not one mention of netball. To most Australians netball is a game for high school girls, not an international competitive sport.
The guide for the next day's fishing called to delay for one day, as the weather was going to be a gale the next day.
The temperature plumeted, and the wind started to pick up. We hit the sack. So far two days travel and no fishing.
Got to Britz and picked up the van. The bastards required a $5,000 bond or charged an extra $20 per day -- so we had to cough up another $160 (as I didnt have $5K free on the credit card). They did offer us a chance to upgrade to a 4 berth camper van for another $9 a day. As it turned out I was so glad I didn't upgrade -- the van we had was a bastard to drive as it was.
Drove out of Britz to a supermarket and stocked up for the trip. Got fruit, ham, bread, mustard, salad stuff, chocolate, cereal, etc. And, in a tribute to Hitch Hickers Guide to the Galaxy, a towel.
We needed to head south on highway one. It should have been a simple drive from the supermarket to the highway. It wasnt -- the van had no visibility out the rear, swayed like a drunk every time we got near a corner, felt like it took up two lanes, and was, in general, a bastard to drive. We got totally lost because we saw the turnoff sign too late, and the van wasnt going to change lanes in anything less than 1km. Ended up weaving through the southern suburbs of Auckland, navigating by feel. (Thats a big road going in the right direction -- maybe if we take that we will hit the highway ....)
Eventually got on the highway and got the behemoth up to a terrifying 80kph. Traffic was shooting past left and right. But I wasn't going to get into the far left lane incase it had to merge with the middle lane -- given my visibility I would have wiped out three cars if I had attempted merging. And I wasn't going faster -- I was having a hard time controlling the beast as it was! By this time I needed some Chocolate just to keep my blood sugar up. Got dad to crack open a bar and pass me some chunks. I ate tentativly while holding onto the steering wheel with white knuckles. He kept making comments along the line of 'This van is great -- its got all the amenities we will need ...'
Heading down through Hamilton towards Rotorua, we had to negotiate what seemed like 50 roundabouts. Roundabouts are OK in a car. But the van was a trickier proposition. Given the slow acceleration and my propensity to stall, I had to wait until there was a VERY large gap in traffic before attempting to go around the roundabout.
After Hamilton we pulled over at a roadside turnout to eat a sandwich. And I had to have more chocolate.
Continued down to Rotorua. We needed to get fishing licences, so we drove into the town to find a sports store. We got to one at 4:10 -- but it had shut at 4:00. The streets were quiet, so the beast wasnt too terrifying. But Rototrua was also full of roundabouts :( After some searching, Dad picked up some KFC for dinner, and we headed out to find a camp ground. We were going fishing in lake Rotoehu the next day, so we drove towards the lake, looking for a camping site. We found a place on lake Rotoini. The supervisor was happy to see us -- it seems we were the only people there!
The campground had a TV room. We went in to watch the news. It was all about rugby. Apparently, in NZ world war III could break out, but it would get second string to the Rugby. And netball -- everyone was excited about the netball test with Australia being played in Melbourne. But as one reporter noted, the Melbourne Age had 14 pages of sport, and not one mention of netball. To most Australians netball is a game for high school girls, not an international competitive sport.
The guide for the next day's fishing called to delay for one day, as the weather was going to be a gale the next day.
The temperature plumeted, and the wind started to pick up. We hit the sack. So far two days travel and no fishing.
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