New Zealand Part II

26 March 2008
Auckland, New Zealand
                The flight landed on schedule, around 5:00 pm.  Auckland during day-light savings time is one hour ahead of Fiji.  We got through customs and collected our bags to go through the bio-security. (The bio-security ensures no one brings in any fresh food of any kind, insects, anything unknown to the island)  Doug then went to change the Fijian money into New Zealand dollars.  Then we hopped on the bus heading to the center of Auckland.
                The bus dropped us near where we had previously stayed.  This place we knew was full, so we went to another hostel.  This hostel was full, so we went to another one around the block called Backpackers hostels.  This place didn’t have any double rooms available.  The both of us were exhausted by now and would take anything available.  We did ask him to put us in a dorm room with no one else.  He did what we asked him to do.  Luckily we had the 8-dorm bedroom to ourselves the entire night.
                After checking into the room we opened up our bags.  The black bag of wet clothes came out.  The lady was right she did fold our “wet” clothes very nicely.  But they didn’t smell too bad.  We thought the clothes would smell full of mildew.   There was a dryer on the floor below.  We took the clothes down a floor.  The dryer was full, so we put the clothes in front of it.  Ensuring our clothes would be next. 
                An hour went by and we got our clothes in.  We took the clothes out of the bag one by one, unfolding them.  Making sure the mildew was not there and airing out the clothes.  Then back to the room to rest our bodies.  Neither of us had eaten all day.  Doug went to get some more sprite, toilet paper (this hostel didn’t provide toilet paper), and some crackers. 
                The laundry was soon done, and so were we.  It was time to go to bed.

27 March 2008
Auckland, New Zealand
                The morning started off a bit quicker than the prior morning.  We were still not sure how the other felt.  We got our stuff packed up and went downstairs to check out.  It was now 9:20; the front desk had a sign “Open from 9:00am to 9:00pm.”  No one was available.  We decided to go to the post office and then come back. 
                At the post office we were excited to get a new camera Doug’s Parents had sent.  It was much cheaper for us to order a camera off of Amazon, have it sent to Doug’s Parents, then have them then mail it to us in New Zealand, rather than just buying it in New Zealand.  We would be saving about $300.00.  The lady at the post office explained to us the camera was held up by customs.  There was a duty to pay in order to collect the package.  She explained where to pay the fee. 
                Doug left Anna with the bags at a local Esquires coffee shop (who had free internet with purchase), while he went to pay the duty fee.  Anna soon learned the coffee shop was out of free internet vouchers.  She tried calling Doug back to help with the bags, but he was too far off.  Anna decided to go for it.  She asked the woman at the coffee shop to tell Doug she went to a prior Esquires we had been to before.  Anna loaded Doug’s bag on her back, put her bag on her front, and carried the little bag with her fingers.  The other Esquires was only 2 blocks away.  But she was also carrying around 100lbs of stuff.  The short journey was very slow but she made it.
                Doug joined Anna about 45 minutes later.  The plan had worked.  We both did about 2 hours of internet catch-up with website updating and emailing. 
                Since the camera most likely would be available to be picked up from the post office tomorrow we decided to stay another day in Auckland.  Neither of us was feeling up to trekking around the city anyway.  We found a different place to stay in.  It cost about another $10.00, but it had sheets, a blanket, it was clean, and they provided toilet paper.  It was only another 2 blocks away.
                We checked into our new hostel and sat there for a minute rethinking all the events from the past 48 hours.  It was now time to try eating something.  Subway sounded really good and healthy.  We walked out of the hostel.  About a block and a half later we were in line at the Subway. 
                “A foot long turkey please,” was our request.  The woman put on all of our requests, than it was time for the condiments.  There was no yellow or spicy mustard, only honey mustard.  Neither of us like honey mustard and Doug can’t stand mayonnaise.  Anna can stand mayonnaise and had a little put on her side.  We took the small meal out to the street and found a bench to enjoy the first meal since 40 hours prior. 
                After finishing the sandwiches, Anna looked at Doug saying “that was the worst Subway sandwich I have ever had”.  It was terrible despite that we were both starving!!! 
                We then thought a movie would be fun.  The movie theatre was about 2 blocks away.  It was a fancy theatre, with shops all around, and coffee shops.  The movies were old, and neither of us could convince the other on what to see.  Doug then suggested we rent a movie.  Anna wasn’t sure if this would work, being we didn’t live in New Zealand. 
                “Ezy Video” was happy to rent any and all the movies we wanted for a small deposit.  We choose to rent “Shrek the 3rd“and “Chuck & Larry.”  Comedies are always good when someone is sick.  We took the movies back to the room.
                After watching Shrek the 3rd, Doug went out to get some soup for dinner.  Anna still wasn’t feeling much better.  We ate our creamy chicken soup and retired to the room to watch Chuck & Larry.  Soon after the movie was over, so was our day.

28 March 2008
Auckland/Oneroa, New Zealand
                First thing in the morning Doug went to the post office and picked up the package his parents were nice enough to forward.  Inside was our new camera along with some other personal items.  After a few minutes of “EEEWWW…AAAHHHH” we packed up and headed off.
                Both of us were feeling better but neither was at 100% yet.  We found a phone and contacted a place on Waiheke Island.  They had availability so we decided to head there.  The walk to the ferry station was short and we were lucky that the ferry was departing soon.  Seated up on the rough we were treated to a great view of Auckland as we pulled out but quickly the wind forced everybody inside (including us).
                Once we arrived at Waiheke Island we found a bus schedule and determined the bus we needed to take.  The book said that our hostel was “difficult to get to.”  We jumped on the number 2 bus and took a ride for about 10 minutes.  Once reaching Hekeura, the bus driver told us to get off the bus.  Then we walked down hill for a couple minutes to the Hekerua Lodge.  Whoever wrote this portion of the book apparently never travelled in Central or South America; because that was one of the easiest places to get to so far during our travels.
                The hostel was nice but our room was tiny.  It had two twin beds and about a foot or two between them for empty space.  After dropping our stuff of we went down to a local store for some dinner items and headed back.  The poisoning was still working us over a bit so we rested for awhile.
                After a good nap we headed into town.  It was a nice little area with some inviting shops and restaurants.  Before sunset we headed back for dinner.  There we made up some Macaroni and Cheese we found in the store.  Of course the directions said we needed milk even though a separate spot on the box said we didn’t.  When we tried it later it passed as “edible.”  After socializing a bit with a guy from China we headed to bed.

29 March 2008
Oneroa, New Zealand
                Today we decided to head off to a couple wineries.  We had some pineapple and toast to eat for breakfast, the headed for the bus stop.  The bus must have just missed us because we waited over an hour and a half for it to come back.  We were dropped off first at a place called Onetangi Road Vineyard.  This place had 4 complimentary tastings (which included 4 of the beers they brewed).  Doug was very excited to try some beer and wasn’t disappointed with a very good Malt Beer.  While there we met a couple of girls from Auckland that were over on the island for the day.  We all tried a few beers and wines and then went our separate ways.
                Stonyridge Winery was next door and had a beautiful view of the valley.  Tastings here were $3 each for normal wines and more expensive for their premium wines.  Anna liked one and the other was alright, Doug disliked them both (for the record Doug isn’t the connoisseur that Anna is).
                The third place was a walk able distance down the road.  There we decided to have lunch despite the huge prices.  Doug ordered a Prime Rib that was fantastic and Anna ordered a Shrimp Salad that was decent.  This meal turned out to cost more than any other we have had on the trip, but it was definitely good.  Anna was enjoying a glass of wine and Doug was finishing his glass of beer (this place also brewed beer at their vineyard) and the two girls from Auckland appeared.  They asked to join us and we accepted.  We spent the next 2 or 3 hours or so chit chatting about a variety of things.  We were having a really great time with them, and decided to extend the day further at the nearby town.
                We loaded onto a bus, went into town and found a nice restaurant.  We ordered more drinks and after a little confusion on the staff between calamari and spicy wedges we were soon eating too.  After spending a couple more hours with them we gave our info and headed back to our place for the night.

30 March 2008
Oneroa/Auckland, New Zealand
                Today we were going to pick up our “Jucy” ride (name of the rental company and yes the misspelling is on purpose).  It’s a camper mini-van we rented to driver/tour around the north island with. 
                We were up around 8:00 and very slowly got our stuff put together to leave.  The both of us were hung over from the day before.  By 9:15 we left the hostel and were at the bus stop by 9:30.  The next bus was to come by at 10:18 to take us to the ferry station.  It picked us up and at 10:30 the bus arrived at the ferry station.  Just as we arrived the next ferry was approaching from Auckland.  The ferry was scheduled to return to Auckland at 11:00.  The morning was moving very slowly, but just like clockwork.
                The ferry dropped us off back in Auckland at 11:35.  We wanted to do some email checking before picking up our “jucy” ride.  A coffee shop that offers free internet with purchase was nearby.  We unloaded our stuff and Anna went to order.  She ordered the usual, coffee, hot chocolate, and muffin.  After ordering and paying the coffee attendant told her they were out of internet vouchers.  This plan didn’t work very well.  We just decided to eat our breakfast and head over to pick up the van.
                The Jucy company was about a 15 minute walk away.  We gathered all of our stuff up and walked over.  Arriving at Jucy, we patiently waited about 10 minutes and soon we were shown to our new home for the next 10 days.  The paperwork was surprisingly painless and quick and we were soon out on the road driving south.
                When Doug was in the Marines, he (and all pilots with aircrew) took time to analyze any potential problems before taking off.  Doug couldn’t help but laugh at his “risk assessment” for driving in New Zealand. 
#1  Driving Currency:  We haven’t driven any sort of vehicles in over 3 months.  We’ll put this as a medium risk due to the fact we have 14 years driving experience.
#2  Unknown Area:  We have never driven in this area, nor are we driving with anyone else that has.  We’ll also put this as medium risk because it is a well marked city and we have done a “map study.”
#3  Unfamiliar Driving Conditions (driving on the left side of the road):  We’ll put this also as medium because we have spent the last couple weeks watching the drivers in New Zealand and Fiji and getting used to other side of the road.
#4  Proper Rest:   Doug had about 3 to 4 hours of rest and was very tired.  This probably should be a high risk.  Not having proper rest puts an immediate stop to aircrew from flying and driving should probably be the same way for driving.
                Overall “risk assessment” for this drive is not looking good but we have done a lot more dangerous things on this trip so far and we were feeling pretty good (over confidence is also a high risk trait).
                It was easy at the beginning being the highway was only about a mile away.  Quick things that were a little screwy (for those of you who haven’t driven on the opposite side of the road before) are the little things.  Your blinker and gear shifter on the other side of where they usually are.  A few times we went to turn the blinker on and the windshield wiper started going.  Also the mirrors are in different places and the old habit pattern of checking your mirrors is something you have to think about.
                After driving about an hour and a half we came to a city called Hamilton.  Here we parked the van and went about walking looking for a bite to eat.  We settled on a hamburger place.  Being that we were both pretty hung over grease sounded good.  Doug ordered a Cajun chicken sandwich and Anna ordered a veggie burger.  Well the food looked much better than it tasted, because we were both starving the food was gone…it was not very good. 
                While we were looking for our lunch destination we passed a couple of internet cafes.  We walked back to one of them and did some emails.  Then it was back in the van, heading to the grocery store.  The little camper mini-van also has a small kitchen.  About a 5 minute drive down the road and we were at the store.  Anna grabbed a cart and the shopping began.
                After shopping we now needed a place to stay for the night.  Anna wanted to stay at a city called Raglan, but we couldn’t find the turnoff to get there.  So she found another city called Kawhia.  This was about an hour west. 
                We set off for Kawhia and arrived an hour and a half later.  The time was now after 8:00, we were both exhausted.  The van was parked across the street from a hotel and the bed was set up.  We finally fell asleep late into the night.  The new bed was going to take some getting used to.

31 March 2008
 New Zealand
                The day started around 8:00 from the rough night.  We got ourselves together and drove to a bathroom we had found the night before.  It was time to wash up and brush our teeth.  Then we had some breakfast of muffins and powdered juice. 
                Today we wanted to drive down to the Waitomo caves.  The caves have glow worms and massive amounts of limestone.  The drive took about an hour and a half.  We arrived at the information center around 11:00.  After exploring all of our options, we decided to purchase entrance to the Glowworm, and Ruakuri caves.  Entrance to the caves was surprisingly expensive ($69 Kiwi bucks pp). 
                The Ruakuri tour was to begin at 12:30.  We drove to the Blackwater café and awaited our tour.  The guide picked us up out front and drove us to the entrance of the cave.  The guide then told us the rules (if you touch anything you pay $10,000 and everybody is ejected from the cave), and we all entered the cave.  It was very interesting seeing the limestone formations, there was an underwater river in the cave, and we were able to see some glowworms.  The tour lasted about 2 hours.
                Next we drove to the glowworm cave.  This tour left every 30 minutes and was a 45 minute tour.  We arrived about 15 minutes before the next tour.  There was a couple there from the last tour from Scotland.  We chatted with them before and during the tour.  This tour was not as extensive as the last tour, but still very interesting (and much less strict).  The guide took us into a limestone cave and showed us all a few things.  We hung out in the cave for about 30 minutes looking at different things and then she led us to the underwater river.  At the river we all got into a wooden boat. The tour guide then led us through a very small part of the river, but having everyone was trying to be very quiet.  It was pitch black in the cave.  There were thousands of glowworms on the ceiling, you could actually make out the shape of the ceiling by all the glowworms.  She led us around for a bit, then back outside to a small dock.  Then we all got out and walked up to the road.  For those who are curious, the glowworms are larvae.   The glow is used to attract insects to small spider-like netting they let out to catch the insects.  This is what the larvae live off of.  They live like this for about 9 months and then go into a cocoon and when they hatch into their insect form they are born without mouths.  They live for five days and only mate and give birth to more little glowworm larvae.
                After the cave tours we set off for Turangi.  Turangi is a small town located on Taupo lake and right next to the Tongariro National Park.  On the way to Turangi, Anna was starving.  We stopped at a small park on the side of the road.  The small gas stove worked surprisingly very well.  The menu for dinner was grilled cheese sandwiches and baked potato chicken soup.  The drive was another hour and a half from the glowworm caves. 
                Arriving in Turangi we parked the van in a parking lot and wandered around town for about 30 minutes before retiring for the night.

1 April 2008
Turangi, New Zealand
                The day began after another rough night.  Our bodies were still getting used to sleeping in the van.  We got ourselves dressed and cleaned up before having a little breakfast.  Next we went to the town information center to inquire about the Tongariro Crossing. 
                The lady at the desk explained to us the hike would not be worth doing that day due to the weather.  The winds up in the mountain would be too high and the visibility would be terrible.  She recommended we hang out and see if the weather clears up to do the hike the next day.  She also recommended we take the shuttle to the hike.  The shuttle would cost $30, taking us to one end of the hike, and picking us up from the other end of the hike.  The hike is 18km one-way; she mentioned there were a lot of thefts of cars parked at the trail heads. 
                As for today, we decided to do a walk she recommended to a Trout Hatchery.  Anna put a couple of granola bars in her pocket and Doug locked up the van. 
                The walk began next to a nearby river.  Along the way we amused ourselves with the various plants, insects, and wildlife (birds).  The night before it had rained and there was dew all over the leaves.  The air and the scenery were beautiful.  After walking nearly 2 hours we arrived at the Trout hatchery.  It was interesting reading the different processes used.  The first step was to get the eggs from the fish, then putting the fish back into the water.  Next it showed us where the hatching of the eggs.  From there we visited many other sections of the hatchery.  We hung out at the hatchery for about 45 minutes and then headed back to town.
                Arriving back in town, Doug went to inquire about any weather updates for the Crossing.  The lady did say the weather had cleared up and the weather for the following day should be clear.  This was good news.  We still didn’t want to pay the $30 shuttle fee.  So we drove to a camp ground near the trail head for the night.  The camp ground was nice and had all the amenities we needed (shower and laundry).
                We checked into the campground and began updating journal entries.  The first thing we did was take showers, HOT showers.  This felt amazing.  Next we had some chores to do.  Since we were driving around in the van, we didn’t have immediate access to electricity.  So we took full advantage of it.  While Anna did some entries, Doug took the laundry to the machines for washing.  After a couple of hours of updating journals and photos Anna got dinner started.  There was also a full blown kitchen with running water and stoves.  Anna made pasta, with garlic, and sauce.  Doug worked on laundry and it was soon done after dinner.  All the errands were complete.
                All of our things were gathered up from the kitchen area.  We then retired to the van for the evening.  

2 April 2008
Tongariro, New Zealand
                The morning was beautiful. The sky was blue and clear, it was a perfect day for a hike.  The decision was made to do the hike despite the reports of theft at the trail head.  We would park the van at one end do about 9km of the hike and the go back.  The most important portion of the hike was in the middle anyway.  The bed was made in the van, we changed our clothes, and left.
                Arriving at the trail head there were already vans parked, and buses coming up dropping loads of tourists off.  But the buses were parking.  We weren’t the only people doing part of the hike today. 
                We filled the water bottle, pocketed 4 granola bars, and filled croissants with jelly for breakfast.  Then we were off.  The day was chilly but very clear.  About 15 minutes into the hike we ran into a girl from Canada.  Her name was Anna; this would be easy to remember.  We walked and chatted with her for about an hour and a half.  Coming to the Mt Ngauruhoe’s summit trailhead, she peeled off to climb it’s summit.  Mt Ngauruhoe was used as Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings.  It was a cool mountain to look at, but we wanted to see what was to come on the trail, instead of the summit.  Continuing on for another hour we saw what the Crossing was all about.  There were huge steaming craters in front of us, and smoking blue lakes, the landscape was amazing.  Mt Ngauruhoe had just erupted in the late 1990’s.  There was still some volcanic activity underneath the earth in the area.  We took more than enough photos of the area and headed back. 
                We arrived back at the van around 3:00 in the afternoon.  The hike had taken us a good 6 hours.  And our bodies were tired, it was time to eat.  On the menu for lunch was toasted cheese sandwiches and soup.  Our bodies were still cold from the chill.  The food was perfect.  After cleaning up and washing ourselves a bit we set off south. 
                After about an hour and a half of driving we stopped off at a grocery store for some ice cream and sugar.  The store didn’t have any small quantities of ice cream, so we settled for orange juice, cookies, and caramel popcorn.  Now, we needed to find a place to sleep.  When we stopped in at the DOC (Department of Conservation), in Turangi we picked up a pamphlet of Conservation Campsites.  About an eighth of the campsites are free and we were going to locate some of them. 
                The campsite was off of a gravel road out in the middle of nowhere next to a river.  It was beautiful.  Arriving at the campsite, we made the bed, and fell right to sleep after the long day.

3 April 2008
Napier, New Zealand
                Some kids walking by our van towards the river woke us up.  We pulled ourselves together and did a little trip down to the river before cleaning up and heading into town.
                Napier was a nice little town.  We found an information site that had a public bathroom, but not any public bathroom, it had a shower.  For $1 you could have a 7 minute hot water shower.  We decided that tomorrow we would indulge.
                Around town we did a lot of errands.  We went to an internet café and uploaded all our new website info, Doug got a haircut, we traded a book for an Australia guide book and we got Doug a temporary AA (Automobile Association) membership.  It turns out that an AAA membership in the states also works in New Zealand and Australia, however you have to go to an office and fill out a bit of paperwork first before it is active. 
                Next we were off for some ice cream.  At one shop Anna ordered a cone and Doug decided to order a milkshake.  We mentioned to the guy that we had ordered a milkshake earlier in the week and it was pretty disappointing because it wasn’t thick at all.  The guy then asked what kind of syrup we wanted for the shake.  “Your milkshakes aren’t milk and ice cream?”  we asked.  He said “no” and we cancelled our milkshake order.  Apparently milkshakes in New Zealand are made of syrup, and milk. 
                Our next trip was to Bluff Hill which had a look out on top.  Directly at the bottom of the hill was the local port which was working full speed.  We were also treated to a beautiful view of the city’s north and south coasts.  Before sunset we put on three packs of instant soup (think raman).  After grabbing a couple sunset photos we set off down the hill and found a nice parking lot on the beach to park, and sleep in.

4 April 2008
Napier, New Zealand
                After the normal morning routine we gathered our shower stuff and walked down the street to the $1 showers.  The water was great and the 7 minutes was plenty of time to get cleaned up.
                Back to the van we headed off to do some wine tasting.  The first place we pulled into was called Matariki.  The guy running the tasting booth was very nice and we were pleasantly surprised to discover that there was no tasting fee.  We tried 5 different red wines and were even more surprised to discover that these were the best wines we have had on this trip.  Torn on which bottle to buy we settled on a Cabernet Sauvignon.  Our next stop was at Hawke’s Bay.  Despite our insisting that we could share one glass (Doug was driving after all) she poured two glasses anyway.  The wines here were also excellent and tastings were also free.  We decided to purchase a bottle of Syrah that was quite good.  Trinity Hill was the last place we tried.  They had had an interesting description for two of their wines saying that besides being “bold,” “hints of raspberry,” and other normal descriptions that also had “leather and licorice” listed in their description.  It sounded a bit like a punk band.  They did however have a fantastic desert wine (not something either of us usually enjoy).  We were concerned about storage time for it (because we want to save it until we got back) so he decided to pull a bottle from their “unreleased” stock because it would be fresher (it also was the vintage that had won a couple gold medals at recent competitions).  We handed him exact change and he tried to give us $15 back.  Honesty prevailed and we reminded him that we gave him exact change.
                Back on the road we stopped by the nearby town of Hastings.  We did a little shopping and did a couple phones calls.  Then it was off to another nearby campsite for the evening.  After traveling quite a distance down a gravel road we came to a deserted campsite and settled in.  We ate a some dinner, then went to sleep.

5 April 2008
Gisborne, New Zealand
                The morning was nice and brisk.  We got ourselves cleaned up and went for a walk.  The campsite was right next to the mouth of a river and 2k from the ocean.  The trail took us right to the beach.  It was nice to walk around with a beach to ourselves first thing in the morning.  Anna picked out about a handful of shells and we took some photos of the morning ocean sights.
                Today we wanted to drive to Gisborne.  The book had some nice things to say about this city.  About an hour and a half later we arrived in Gisborne.  It was Saturday and the streets were empty.  We went to the information center to see if there was anything exciting around the city to do.  Anna asked the lady at the desk about the wineries.  She said it was Winter Season now and there would only be one winery open for tastings.  We decided to walk down the main street and explore ourselves.  There wasn’t much going on. 
                Arriving back at the van we drove to a local brewery called Sunshine Brewery.  We drove up and walked inside.  The brewers were off for the weekend, but the weekend guy was glad to give us free beer tastings.  Anna had one tasting, while Doug tried all three.  The “Gold” was quite good, but it was a very small brewery, if you want any you’re out of luck, it only goes as far as Auckland.  Well we were done with this town.  We then got back on the road and drove.  After driving for about 2 hours and searching for a campsite.  Anna was getting irritated and it was getting dark, so we just parked next to a stream for the night. 
                We made a feast of pasta, peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms, toasted bread, and sauce for dinner.  Cleaned up and crashed for the day.

6 April 2008
Mt Mauganui, New Zealand
                The morning greeted us with fog covering the trees.  It was nice to have the morning to ourselves.  We got our stuff cleaned up and headed out up the coast.
                After driving for about 2 hours we came to Tauranga.  There was a bird estuary here to check out.  We parked the van and walked to the estuary.  Well the estuary was less exciting than we expected it to be.  We walked around for about an hour then headed back to the van.  Close by across the inlet is a town called Mt Mauganui.  There is a massive 232m hill to one side of the town.  We drove across a couple bridges and parked the van.
                There are a bunch of trails around the hill, including trails to the top.  We decided to go to the top.  It was a pleasant 30 minute uphill hike to the look-out.  At the look-out we walked around the top getting the 360 view and took our photos before heading down.  As we were walking towards the trail at the beginning we saw a bunch of people with waffle cones full of ice cream.  We decided to locate the ice cream shop.
                It turns out the ice cream shop makes their own waffle cones.  We ordered a large waffle cone to share.  We walked to the beach and found a bench to enjoy our treat.  Then it was time to leave. 
                The next town we wanted to visit was called Thames.  There was a hike we wanted to do there.  We were back on the road again.  About 2 hours later we arrived in Thames.  It was about an hour before sunset.  Not really sure where to go, we turned down a road with a camping sign.  Knowing most campsites charge we changed our minds and decided to park on a turn-out.  The turn-out had a public bathroom across the street.  This was a luxury to have a bathroom so close.
                It had been a couple days since we had taken a shower.  The solar shower we had purchased in Auckland still had not been used.  The public bathroom was pretty secluded; Doug discovered a hook behind the bathrooms.  The hook would be perfect for the solar shower.  Doug went first.  He said it was cold, but not freezing.  Then Anna went.  Well we were now 90% clean.  Or we were about as clean as you can get from showering behind a building, in the dirt, with a shower head about a foot from the ground. 
                It was dinner time.  On the menu tonight was Ramon noodles and grilled cheese.  After dinner we settled in the van and went to sleep. 

7 April 2008
Thames, New Zealand
                After putting ourselves together we headed into town.  We found a café and then made some calls home.  Next we were off to the Cheese Farm. 
                At the cheese farm we bombarded with questions about where we were from, where we have been and where we were going.  When workers and guests were done with their interrogation we actually tried some cheese.  Turns out the people that actually make the cheese were on a milk run or some other cheese related task so seeing the cheese farm in action was out.  However, we still got to try some cheese.  The lady us brought out two types of Gouda (garlic with chives and peppered) and a funky blue cheese for us to try.  All of them were excellent but we decided on a wedge of the garlic and chives along with some pre-sliced salami that was made in a German shop somewhere else in town. 
                “Manuel” mentioned a nice sounding hike that was nearby so we decided to give it a go.  We stopped in at the ranger desk and asked if everything was ok.  The ranger said that what we thought was a three and a half hour hike was a three and half hour each way hike.  She did mention however that the weather was excellent today at the top.  She also mentioned some alternate routes for going up and coming back.  We decided if we had enough time we would take an alternate route back that would give us some different scenery but add about an hour to the trip.
                After parking the car we set off on the hike around 12:00pm.  The hike wasn’t overly stressful until the last push.  From about a half mile away we could see the trail up the homestretch quite easily from where we were.  It wasn’t until we got a little closer that we realized we could see it really well because it was nearly all stairs.  When we got to the stairs we decided that counting the stairs would be fun.  That ended around 550 stairs or so.  From there we had a couple ladders to climb and then some rungs had been put into the rocks for a couple of the sporty spots.  Finally we made the top and met three Canadians.  They were all enjoying the end of their lunch so we brought out ours.  Soon enough we were exchanging crackers with salami and Gouda for chocolate covered pineapple candies and cookies.  Our new friends left shortly after and once we finished up our lunch we did the same. 
                On the way back down we decided we had enough daylight to go for the alternate route.  We took the turn and immediately we were walking back up hill…aren’t we supposed to be going down?  This seemed to be the theme for the next 2 hours.  We seemed to keep climbing up despite the fact we were supposed to be descending to our parking lot.  Eventually the route began to go down and we saw two examples of old railroad track they used for logging and small waterfall (or glorified rapids depending on how you look at it).  At the bottom we rehydrated ourselves and took to the road.
                Looking for a place to sleep, we finally stumbled into a turnout that was right on the water.  We were both quite tired and weren’t awake too much longer.

8 April 2008
Thames/Miranda, New Zealand
                Up with the sunrise we headed north to a town called Coromandel.  We had a little to eat at a café and then checked out the town.  Without much to do we decided to hit the road and go to an actual “motor park” so we could have real showers and do laundry before going to Australia.
                Back on the road Anna decided to take the wheel for a while and was attacked by a deadly “New Zealand jumping road sign.”  Thankfully she managed to fend it off with the left side view mirror and we only sustained a small scratch (that thankfully the post inspection inspector didn’t find).
                Soon we were in Miranda at the Holiday Park.  We were excited to have some electricity and download photos, catch up on journals and update the website.  We also took some nice hot showers and were able to do some laundry for a decent price.  When dinner rolled around Doug went to get a couple frozen pizzas that turned out to be sub-par.  Despite the bad pizza this little camper park was nice stop.

9 April 2008
Miranda/Auckland, New Zealand
                The day began around 7:00.  It was clear and brisk outside.  We got ourselves cleaned up, then cleaned out the van, donating some leftover food and throwing away any unwanted items.  Then we set off for Auckland.  The van had to be turned in before 12:00.
                The drive to Auckland was pretty uneventful.  We turned on a road going west hoping it would take us to the #2 highway and it did.  The van was turned back in promptly at 10:30am.  Gathering up our things we walked to a local coffee shop that offers free internet with purchase.  The guy at the counter was nice enough to give us two hours of internet vouchers.  And another guy was nice enough to give us his voucher.  We now had 3 hours of internet.  This should be plenty for the website update and all of our internet chores.
                We ordered the standard hot chocolate for Doug, coffee for Anna, and a chocolate/caramel muffin to share.  After about an hour the website was complete, and our emails had been checked.  Doug then decided to buy and install a Norton update because our subscription was about to end.  Well little did he know he was supposed to uninstall the old program, and then install the new program.  To find this entire process out he had to log onto the Norton “contact us” chat service and an analyst had to log onto the computer walking him through the process.  This process ended up taking over 2 hours.  We had used up all of the internet vouchers at the café, logged off, and went to another internet café to log on again.  After finally getting the installation complete we set off for some lunch.
                The little rice/noodle Asian Restaurant we had been to before going to Fiji was nearby and reasonably priced.  We arrived at the restaurant unloaded our bags and ordered our rice bowls.  Last time Doug had ordered a garlic beef and loved it.  Anna’s chicken teriyaki was ok, so she asked for them to make her garlic chicken.   Both meals were great.  With full stomachs Anna split off to get some cookies for dessert, then Doug went to the used book store in hope to trade out some books.
                At the book store Anna ended up finding two books to trade out.  Doug is still reading Don Quixote.  After the book store we walked up to a nearby park to kill some time.  Doug oddly enough ran into a guy that was attending VMI (VIrgina Military Institute) and chatted with him a while.  Anna started reading one of her new books.  This is when we finally remembered we hadn’t confirmed our flight for the next day to Australia.  Doug set off to find the telephone number and a telephone to Aerolinas Argentina.
                Doug’s trip was an utter failure.  From the park he went East (because it wasn’t downhill).  There he found a section of Auckland University.  He finally found a phone but it didn’t have a phone book.  He tried the information line for a number but it didn’t work.  He went South a bit and then decided to head towards the main section of town, Queen St.  He finally found a phone booth and looked up the number but noticed that address was only two blocks away.  He decided it would be better to check in person.  At the building the front desk said that the airline had closed 30 minutes ago.  Doug got a number from them and went back to a phone booth.  He tried using a calling card purchased for long distance, but had no success.  He then found another phone booth that had a book.  He looked up another number and found “Sales and Ticketing.”  He decided to try using a coin instead, the phone started ringing and sure enough it was a fax machine.  There goes his $1 coin.  He decided to try an internet café and walked down Queen St until he found one.  At the desk the guy asked how many minutes.  Doug told him 5, tops.  He said I had to pay in advance, $1 for 10 minutes or $2 for 30 minutes.  Doug handed him his last coin, a $2.  At the computer he found an online flight confirmation link but it only was to send an email.  Then he found another number to call.  Doug ran back to the desk to tell the guy he was done (a hair under five minutes).  The guy wasn’t impressed.  Doug asked for change.  The guy said when you pre-pay there is no change.  Doug resisted all urges to knock the guys monitor over as he left.  At the next phone booth he tried the new number hoping it was a toll free one.  Nope.  Then he tried using the calling card again…strike three.  Convinced that Anna was about to have a coronary because he was gone so long he headed back with his tail between his legs.
                Anna very worried after 45 minutes, Doug finally shows up.  It turned out to be a very difficult task, searching for a pay phone.  We both then walked down to another payphone.  Anna was able to at least talk to some at the airline.  But once reaching someone at the airline, the attendant’s response to us confirming our reservation was, “our systems are down, I am sure you are booked on the flight.”  This was just what we wanted to hear.  Our flight was supposed to leave at 6:10am, this means checking in around 3:00am and we can’t confirm even being on the flight. 
                After the wonderful conversation with the attendant on the phone we walked over to where there is a movie theatre thinking this would be a good way to kill time.  Then we saw the prices to see a movie, $15 for each ticket.  This is an outrageous price; we thought $10 in the states was bad.  So we then settled on getting a runny milkshake (despite being a “thick milkshake”) and playing cards. 
                At 8:00 pm we were ready to leave and head to the airport.  We hoped the bus would take credit cards; all of our cash was gone.  Getting on the bus Doug asked the driver if she took credit cards, her response was no.  But she said to get on the bus anyway.  This was GREAT!!!  The fee for a one way bus ticket to the airport is around $13.  The driver just saved us $26. 
                Arriving at the airport, of course we can’t check in for our flight until 3:00am.  It is now 8:40pm.  We found a nice row of chairs with an electric outlet.  Now we wait.

10 April 2008
Auckland Airport, New Zealand
                Anna still awake at 3:00am, Doug made an attempt to get a few minutes of sleep here and there.  Now we can finally check in for our flight.  Our bags are off of our shoulders for the next few hours.
                Security and Customs don’t open their doors 4:30am.  After getting through the gates, we sat and waited.  The screen still did not have our gate posted.  Doug decided to get Burger King and Anna got a muffin with coffee.  A little after 5:00 our gate was posted.  We boarded the plane around 5:45.  Immediately, we both passed out…asleep.

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