Ryan & U'i's Pacific Odyssey: NZ Day 2

May 7

Day – Pickup Camper, Drive out of Auckland

Night – Goat Island Holiday Park

Hil and JV picked us up at our hotel and graciously dropped us off at the Campervan Rental place to save us the outrageous $80 taxi fare. Having lived in Indo for two months we simply couldn't fathom spending more than 150,000 rupiah (about $17) to go anywhere, let alone just to the airport. I wished our photo documentation was more extensive on this day. You would have seen us awkwardly zig-zagging through the hills of metro Auckland with our two campervans (U'i and I's tall and narrow, and Jason and Hil's just plain enormous) as we attempt to locate the Highway 1 on-ramp. Let's just say there were several stalls on precarious hills that made the motorists behind us back away nervously. We stopped in a nearby Salvation Army to gear up on warm weather gear. We scored some great deals on Fleeces, pants and Jackets and were all well stocked for the price of a single pair of Gap Jeans.

In an effort to leave the bustling suburbs of Auckland, we set a course for North up Highway 1, which runs the east coast of upper North Island. We blew past Whangaparoa, past Pukapuka and Sandspit, and settled into the coastal town of Pakiri near Goat Island Nature Preserve as the sun set. We found our first "Holiday Park", special sites setup all over NZ that cater to the huge population of camping enthusiasts, both local and tourist, that flock to all corners of the island by campervan, motor home, bike, or just plain backpack and tent. The Holiday Parks provide general facilities such as restrooms, a communal kitchen, showers. Some provide hot showers and some offer laundry service (both for an additional fee usually). No two Holiday parks are alike, and they can differ quite drastically in quality and facility offerings. Most have power sites available to plug in your campervan to charge the battery (critical for lights and the fridge). The average price for Holiday Parks seems to be around $30/night for two people. We try to stay at the cheap or free DOC (Department of Conservation) campsites that also dot the landscape as often as we can to cut down of costs and really feel like we are "roughing it" in nature.

The Goat Island park was somewhat below average, although the communal room was pretty neat. A large half-barrel shaped structure that had the makings of a deep north hunting lodge. A young kid met us in the reception area, and told us to drive across the lot and park in the grass. In the dark of the night we ambled across the gravel drive to the grassy camp area and promptly became stuck in the mud. That night a fierce storm blew in. Wind gusts were well over 50mph and driving frigid rain pelted our vans all night. My 40 pound bag of three surfboards which i leave outside at night blew across the campsite. We didn't sleep that great, but were happy to be dry.