New Zealand Pohutukawas
So after the previous teeth adventures it felt good to be headed back to the coast and sea again. We managed to find ourselves a free park beside the sea and the summer flowering Pohutukawas. Being from South Canterbury, in the South Island, where the Pohutukawa trees are not be such a feature, it has been amazing to see the reality of these trees coming into bloom. They are a spectacle to be appreciated. Given the sheer numbers of them up here it is more apparent to me now as to why there is the strong association of these flowering red beauties with New Zealand and Christmas.
Snells Beach
We spent time catching up with long lost relatives of mine (well it has been a couple of years at least!) and swimming in seas that were so warm we could have sworn they were a bath. After exploring the lovely coastal area, and its stark contrasting surrounding areas, where it appears wealth is no barrier, we then moved on further up the Island to Whangarei.
Whangarei and Rain….lots of rain
We drove to Manganese Point, on the road toward Whangarei Heads where we fished, soaked in the views and basked in sunsets. But it rained, and rained, and well, rained. Our lasting memories of Whangarei will be well and truly, rain. But, it is the most tropical environment that I have ever encountered. It felt so bizarre. One moment it would absolutely bucket down, and the next the sun would shine, burning hot, drying everything out, just in time for the next downpour. On and on it would go, day in, day out. Being used to taking a raincoat when it rained, we soon noticed that in fact we were the only ones wearing them as the locals just walk around in t-shirts and shorts even in the pouring, torrential rain. We soon worked out why. For within the short space of time the sun would shine, in between downpours, and if we were clothed in anything more than a t-shirt we would be basked in sweat within moments of the suns arrival. It was easier (and smarter) to get wet and then just dry. The temperature didn’t cool much with the rain, it just got hotter with the sun! Another new experience for us Southerners.
Whangarei Ups
It wouldn't be fair to judge Whangarei by its weather only. We had a really great time doing some Christmas shopping, visiting the Artisans Fair on the Canopy Bridge, seeing the Parihaka Memorial, visiting the library (of course), Eating Kiwi-Yo (yum!), going out for a very rare dinner experience as a family for our wedding anniversary to Gengy's - a Mongolian BBQ Buffet! The kids were in food heaven. And seeing the Whangarei Falls,
COF Time
The main challenge we faced while in Whangarei, was the need to pass our 3rd ever COF (Certificate of Fitness – which deems our bus road worthy). This is probably amongst our least favourite activity of all times in the bus. Think long queues with four young kids, stress of what may be found to be wrong with the bus, (and subsequent dollars, time and discord) and you have yourselves the recipe for very tedious times. However, as is required, we undergo this very process every 6 months facing the same trepidation each time. Knowing it was our last chance to do this prior to heading far north we committed. Thinking we may have been up for a new rear tyre and a new windscreen we were pleasantly surprised to have neither of these items raised. Instead; some rear lights, some brake grabbing on one wheel and a bit of rust on the black tank bracket failed our check. So it was then off to the mechanics to have these fixed. No big deal we were told, fixed in an afternoon. But then, late afternoon and the story became one of, “Oh that bracket that is needing to be fixed is going to be a big job, $2500 to fix and several days”. Say WHAT! An independent second opinion confirmed this story.
Failed Park Up
We trundled off to our new contatcs home that we had been offered to park up at to contemplate our options, only to discover we were unable to get up their driveway despite my previous optimism of doing so. The dip proved too ‘dippy’ and despite trying every angle it was just not going to work. So after kindly canvasing their neighbours we surrendered to the neighbours shared road verge instead. Having looked forward to parking with them it was not a great finish to a very long day. But a saving ray of hope was the swim in their incredibly beautiful heated pool to wash the away the worries of the day. Much appreciated by everyone!
Fix It Time
Moving back to the town centre we parked at the free park waiting out the weekend before committing to taking the bus in to have the tank fixed. Generally when you need something fixed on your vehicle it is a bit of an inconvenience, but when you are talking about getting something fixed on your vehicle that is also your home, it is a MAJOR inconvenience.
We rose early, packed our suitcases for a nightover, somewhere, as we hadn’t yet found suitable accomodation, dumped the black tank waste, and dropped the bus in to the engineers. The poor chaps were rather disturbed by the job, as they thought they would be removing the black tank (poos and wees) to fix the issue. No small feat and a rather smelly one! We trundled off to the library (yup had joined that one too….I think that’s a total of 10 libraries across the country we now are proud owners of cards too!) prior to spending the day with new friends we had met at the most recent Home Educating camp. Did I mention it was raining?....
Playing the optimism card we waited, anticipating by some chance they would get the job done under time and we wouldn’t have to find a place to stay. The gamble payed off. They finished the job, under time and majorly under estimate, hoorah! So we zoomed it back to the testing station full of hope only to have it….fail. Gah! Apparently the brake issue was unresolved despite having supposedly been fixed. We gave up on the optimism, found a new free spot to park in town and bunkered down until the morning. Then it was up bright and early and off to the mechanics, again. And for us, off to our long suffering friends because it was….raining!!
Re-testing
The mechanics supposedly fixed the brake issue, and took it through the re-testing station they had onsite. It passed! Hooray, which is where the story should end and we all live happily ever after.
But it doesn’t.
Whilst taking it through the testing station the window wiper snapped off, scratching a perfectly formed arch scratch across the drivers side glass. Granted, it had been working fairly hard the past 8 days, (yup, raining) but it was seriously gutting none the less. Knowing the palaver it was going to be to get this specialised window fixed (we have tried once before) we were grateful for the odds falling in our favour and the bus sliding through the re-test anyways.
We had thought we would move on to Keri Keri for the night but, decided by that time, it was best to bunker down overnight once again and face the new day afresh.
Moving On and Breakdown
So the new day rose with the….. ha, and you thought I was going to say sun, no no no, didn’t I tell you it was raining? So the new day rose, as did we, and we completed a last minute dash to the shops for supplies then hit the road ready to meet up with beautiful friends that we had stayed with in Ashurst, who were coming through to the Bay of Islands in their caravan for a holiday.
Driving out of Whangarei, we realised we had neglected to fill up with diesel with all that had been happening thus needed to find a petrol station. Pulling up at the only one on the road north I attempted to turn off the engine. Nothing.
WHAT??? No amount of pushing that dreaded little black button would kill the engine. Shaking my head in bewilderment, we filled the tank anyway and moved off to the side of the station.
Thankfully, there was a mechanics attached to the station. We waited our turn then had him attend our situation…..the bus idling all the while! Our first proper roadside breakdown, not bad in over a year on the road fulltime! An hour and a half later, one melted wire by the exhaust was detected, then fixed and the problem solved. Apparently as a result of the work done on the tank a wire had been bumped too near the exhaust.
Ferry to Russell
We made it to the ferry to get to Russell. What? A ferry? Who said anything about a ferry? My response exactly. Turned out we needed to take a ferry, a CASH ONLY ferry (big thank you’s to the couple in the car next door for their spare $2.50 we were short for the trip!!!!) Second pretty amazing moment for the day
1/ we broke down right where there was a garage,
and
2/ we happened to have nearly exactly the right amount of cash on us for the ferry when we virtually never carry cash! Very grateful!!
Getting on and off the ferry was somewhat interesting as we drag the car and it is very low to the ground. Having learned our lesson in Tekapo we are always very cautious now with dips. However, we made it, and carried on to the campground to park up with our friends.
Russell
After a great couple of days exploring Russell, swimming in the campground pool, cooking pizza in the woodfire pizza oven and just enjoying being with our friends once again, it came time to carry on. We packed up and headed off to the ferry. Had we given a little more forethought we would have potentially avoided what happened next. However, we didn’t.
So when we turned up the tide was out, extra low, and the ferry was not able to get anywhere near high enough for us to board without a huge dip. Parked in line with no room to turn it was a case of unhitching the car, backing the bus holding up traffic on all sides and returning to the camping ground.
We had 6 hours to fill in before high tide so we explored and swam some more. Finally it came time to board the ferry, which we did but not without a decent scrape of the road…..so now we have a little bit of Russell on board the bus tow bar as well as Tekapo, Raumati South.....
Far North
We headed to Kerikeri where we met up with a second set of friends. This time ones from South Canterbury who had bought a caravan for a road trip north. Having not seen them for many months it was a wonderful reunion. The intention is to travel in convoy with them through the Far North. So Cape Reinga Lighthouse – the tip of the North Island…..here we come!