Goodbye campervan

We managed to pack away the campervan before leaving the campsite this morning - the extra bag purchased yesterday was definitely needed. The kids had an hour on the pedal go carts while we packed. Final emptying of the toilet caddy and the grey water waste and we were off.The road from Coromandel to Thames down the peninsula was windy and slow as it followed the coastline for most of the way.

We stopped in Thames for a coffee and the loo then headed to Auckland. The journey was faster now as the roads were straight and once we joined highway 2 it was motorway to Auckland. After filling up the diesel we got to the Wilderness office.

I missed the fact the reception was upstairs so hung around for a few minutes downstairs before realising. The hand back was much less painless than the handover. I filled in the feedback forms and made comment about how long it had taken to get the van. The lady saw this and asked about it and came back to me and said they ha confirmed the time length and would pay for our cab to the hotel as a goodwill gesture. So it was worth complaining. They ordered us a cab (a 7 seater to cope with the luggage) and we were in it about 45 minutes after arriving. The driver was rather grumpy but got us to the Heritage Hotel where the staff were very friendly and helpful. They got our bags to the room before we got up there - the suite was great especially after the compact campervan. Two super king sized bedrooms (kids will have to share but should be OK given the size of the bed), 2 bathrooms a lounge and dining area and a kitchen.

We headed straight back down , got a map and went for some food. We were only a block away from the Skytower (tallest building in New Zealand) and headed to Queen Street, the Oxford Street of Auckland. Ed saw Burger KIng and wanted that, so we did. I saw on the map there was an Ugg shop down the road and the kids had spotted a Lush so we went there too. Tash got some Uggs as a birthday present and Ed and Sam some gloves.

Then we headed to the harbour front and Ed spotted a jet boat, so we'll be doing that at some point. we went on to the i site to get some ideas on what to do - a Seaplane ride over Auckland and surrounding islands appealed and we have booked for tomorrow morning. A Zipline tour was also talked about but needed a ferry ride to egt tehre and when I looked on line was booked up for the next couple of days. The Aquarium looks like an option for Saturday morning and we may do an open top bus tour around at some point if we get time.

We took the leaflets and headed back to the hotel to relax a bit, enjoy the space and watch tv. The kids got hungry so we ordered some room service kids meals and pizza, then settled down to proper beds again!Read more