Ahoy, the Pirate's adventure has begun!

Hello everyone

I started writing this blog the day before yesterday, but had not managed to get it uploaded. Internet connection around rural NZ is a little harder to come by! Right now, its just after 6pm and we’ve arrived in Martinborough (great wine country). Last night, we were nestled in our camper van, parked next to the beach, with the rain pounding on the roof. Yesterday we had a fabulous seafood dinner, and before that, did a brilliant walking tour through the art deco town of Napier. It was demolished by an earthquake in 1931, and was then totally rebuilt. But this is what I originally wrote 2 days ago just to catch you up on our New Zealand adventure so far….

I am sitting on a deck chair in the late afternoon sun, sipping my new -world Pinot Noir at our first campsite – yes, it’s New Zealand! Today is the first day of our camper vanning adventure. We picked up our rental van which is brightly graffit’d all over and is called ‘Pirate’! I’ll leave you to imagine what the graphics are. Needless to say, Andrea has been calling me ‘first mate’ all day! We’re just outside Rotorua, which is actually a pretty big town, made popular by its thermal springs and abundance of adventure sport activities. The drive from Auckland took us about 4 hours, and it was really smooth sailing all the way. Tomorrow we’ll head for Napier, which is known as the art deco architecture capital of the world. But first, let me back track a bit.

 So we left Sydney to the fanfare of our friend Sandy (who we were staying with) giving birth to a beautiful new baby boy, Jethro Isaac Sampaio. It was amazing to be part of this little angel’s entrance to the world, and to see what labouring in the real sense is like. If I was broody before, consider me cured. We caught a flight to Auckland, and arrived just before 1am on Tuesday morning. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday exploring Auckland, and enjoying the comforts of our mate Dave’s hospitality. A few things to say about the city, which is NO New Zealand’s capital….something I didnt know!

It’s very cool. Loads of retro and vintage clothing outlets and plenty hip bars and restaurants. This city acts bigger than it is. But at the same time, Auckland is surrounded by natural beauty and the people have a friendliness that makes it an easy and enticing place to navigate. As always, we first walked the central CBD flat and just soaked up the city vibe. On the Wednesday we caught a 40 minute ferry to Waiheke island for some exploring and wine tasting. I absolutely heart NZ wine – and we have had a lot of wine all over the world. We also did the Auckland museum, which houses a spectacular collection of Maori and broader Pacific artwork. It also explains the history of the country and its links back to Great Britain. Interesting to know that many New Zealanders signed up to fight in SA during the Anglo-Boer war I also found out that NZ has only been inhabited for 1000 years and that the first people came all the way from Indonesia, crossing the dangerous pacific, in wood boats! Mind blowing. The respect and acknowledgement of indigenous Maori heritage and culture is really good in NZ, and Maori people are really well integrated into broader society, something which contrasts to Australia. On Thursday night we had a delicious dinner out with our hosts at a local restaurant called Red Brick, and then got ready to say goodbye to Auckland, and the ‘home comforts’ for a while.

So this morning we picked up our camper van and got driving! Initially I wasn’t so sure, but after a few hours of cruising in Pirate, I am pretty at home. There is a gas cooker and barbecue in the back, a cooler box and a set of table and chairs. The seats fold down to make a bed, and the linen provided is of pretty good quality. You also get the necessities like crockery, a light, power source, utensils, a heater etc. The sound system is good – I tested this singing along to ‘Classic Hits radio’! Read Phil Collins and George Michael.

In terms of determining routes, we have now purchased have about 20 sources of maps, info and other recommendations (you can’t say the Christodoulou’s aren’t prepared!). NZ is so well geared for touring – everywhere has roadside cafés, motor homing sites, motels etc. – so I think my fears of being stuck in the middle of nowhere without a shower are not founded. That said, we are determined to save costs by staying at the cheaper tourism department camping sites, and many of those don’t have hot water! At the moment, we’re still on North Island, but in a couple of days, we’ll put the van on the ferry and cross over to South Island. That’s where the scenery gets spectacular. The weather is gorgeous at the moment, but a bit like CT, its four seasons in one day here.

So so far so good. It’s amazing that some people wait their whole lives to have a little adventure, and here we are, doing it and living it. Feel so privileged and in some ways, proud of the choices we have made. Anyway, the wine beckons and Andrea is about to put my NZ rump steak on the barbie…Let the NZ adventure begin! Will write soon from another stop in a few days time!

xxxx