Van Woman hits the road.
Trip Start
Aug 09, 2009
1
12
24
Trip End
Apr 12, 2009
Where I stayed
Whangarei Falls
Whangarei, North Island, New Zealand
Monday, August 10, 2009
It was all a bit stressful (foreign roads, not a huge amount of driving experience, van, no idea where I was heading etc.) but eventually I left the depot and bulldozed/kangarooed my way down the street and onto the motorway. I returned an hour later when I found that my GPS didn't work.
Eventually, however, I drove for about 3 hrs North up Route 1 utnil I felt I'd got to where I was going. This turned out to be Whangarei.
The scenery is most impressive. It reminds me of Scotland except that the hills are more pointy. And greener. And everywhere is covered in strange trees with upside down brushes on them, tree ferns and other sub-tropical plants. Hmmm, so not like Scotland at all really then, perhaps it is the weather that is familiar: strong gusts of wind (what with the van being a high top and catching the wind, the weird bumpy road surfaces and adverse camber it was anybodies guess sometimes which way the van was going to decide to go) and fresh smelling, salty drizzle.
The wind lashed seas against the tropical greenery and yellow beaches was quite a sight.
So here I am on a tiny campsite. Not the most picturesque of places and tightly packed but Graham the owner is friendly and has just helped me establish power to the van. He does say the power lead plug is very tight though and I may need help removing it in the morning. No sneaking off in the middle of the night for me then!
