Goodbye Campervan

We've said goodbye to our van now. Despite it being slightly shabbier (added to previously mentioned faults the holder for the table leg snapped because of metal fatigue and left a hole in the floor), I was still sad to leave our mobile home behind.

Our last day in the van was spent West of Auckland. My initial reservations of Auckland melting away when I saw the beautiful coast line and the Waitakere ranges, a lovely wilderness area, all within about an hour of Auckland city. The day was spent pootling around exploring the coast thick with beautiful trees and bush. We went to Piha a beautiful place with houses sat in the bush covered hill overlooking the beach with Lion rock, a massive beautiful rocky outcrop. Next beach was Te Henga beach where we joined the locals and surfers at the little coffee van before walking along the black sand beach (product of volcanic history). We camped at at the van park next to the last beach, Muriwai, another black sand beach where we had a lovely walk up to the Gannet colony. Hundreds of gannets were perched on the rocky outcrops which help to make the coast so pretty. The fisherman stood on the rocks below looked dwarfed by the immensity of the sea and the rocks. Waves were crashing against the rocks and one Fisherman looked like he was defying the elements by rooting himself, fishing rod in hand, to the spot.

A bottle of wine bought at a winery (as is the theme of our time in NZ) was drunk to seal our last night in our van and the next day we returned Ezy.