Hastings to Port Albert

Thursday 18th November, morning.

We are staying at Port Albert on the shore of the Kaipara Harbour north of Auckland. Two days ago we travelled the Napier-Taupo road and had a trip first: we managed to actually overtake another vehicle! First time since leaving Christchurch! Actually, we overtook 3 vehicles (although one subsequently passed us again, so maybe that shouldn't count). I'm slowly getting used to being one of the slowest vehicles on the road. We stopped at Huka falls for lunch - I hadn't been since I was a child. The children were somewhat underwhelmed - perhaps we had built it up to be more than it was. We followed Huka falls by stopping at a Honey shop. I had a Manuka Honey and Chestnut ice cream which was very pleasant indeed during a hot day. We are all very grateful for the air conditioning in the car. That evening we stayed by the shore of Lake Karapiro. It was 5pm by the time we stopped, and, due to the nature of caravan living (it takes longer to do things!) we were all pretty worn out by the time we had had dinner and rearranged the caravan for bed. We were parked under some large trees which had dropped sap onto the ground outside the caravan. Consequently our shoes got sap stuck to them, it was walked inside the caravan, and then our feet got sap on them. James, who had been running around outside, had feet that were black with dirt covered sap. I took him down to the lake with a couple of sharp sticks to scrape the sap off with limited success. We will have to be more careful where we park in the future.

Wednesday dawned beautifully. By now we were getting into a morning routine: First dismantle the children's sleeping area to make the dining area, followed by breakfast and a quick morning 'wash'. Moving around the caravan with 5 people is a bit like solving a sliding block puzzle - but practice is proving useful in solving it. It's still easy to accidentally bang someone or something with knees or elbows. We managed to get everything packed and ready to go by 8:45 after waking at 7am - a new record. We headed straight for Auckland (with a few minor stops on the way) and had lunch with my Uncle. Was good to catch up with him again. Finally, we headed north again, looking for a place to stay for the night. Port Albert was the most inviting nearby free parking, so here we are. It is a lovely place indeed.