Our plans are now taking shape with final negotiations ongoing with the shipping companies as they have different definitions for 'personal goods' and we wish to ship our mountain bikes, wetsuits and camping gear in the rear secured section of the van - both the shipping lines and Customs need to be kept happy on this issue although if we chose containerisation rather than ro ro it would be easier. Ro ro however is cheaper and quicker and as you can see from this link http://www.eukor.com/homepage/manage/visitaship.jsp there is much better protection for the van on a cargo deck.
NZ quarantine regulations also dictate that all gear and the vehicle must be cleaned and disinfected prior to clearance after which we need to arrange a Warranty Of Fitness ( MOT effectively) for the van not us! Then its pay insurance, join NZ AA - breakdown cover not booze issues, buy a NZ/Aus sat nav, arrange for local gas cylinders to be connected and set off.
Our expected arrival in Auckland is the 20th of October after two weeks in Japan with the van arriving on the 23rd having left Southampton 6 weeks previously - place your bets now on the likelihood of all this actually coming together!
In the run up we now have to do a few dummy packing trials to come up with lists for Customs, replace the radiator that got bashed in Portugal some 8000 miles ago, carry out a full inspection and service of the van, redirect mail to my parents in Coventry, 'lose' credit and debit cards so they can be reissued with longer expiry dates (don't ask me - it's a crazy system), pay a year's rent in advance and sort out other financial matters - online tax returns for example, place our other vehicle with someone for safe keeping - Haggis if you are reading this it could be you.......
Sarah meanwhile will be busy helping all summer at the stables and preparing for her trek and ride in Peru in September. During that month I will be assisting with the Beacons Mountain Bike Event - any offers of assistance over the weekend of the 13th would be gratefully received http://www.breconbeast.co.uk/ has all the details
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Lake District Delights
After my thoroughly enjoyable ride round the mid Wales bothies I carefully checked the unlikely figure of 17,000' of ascent on the OS ma...
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Well here we are - almost a year on and we are back in Orewa north of Auckland sorting out the contents of the van, deciding what to take ho... -
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Boarding the ferry was efficiently managed and we were away on time passing the huge cranes still offloading two container ships as we heade... -
A final ride from Camping Asseiceira (as by the time I return to the area Gary will have sold up and moved in to his very nice local cottage...
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