The Last Post

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 home, what to send on and what to ditch - mostly our now rather threadbare clothes.

There has been nothing we brought with us that we have not used at some stage which is pleasing as we are always conscious of the limited space available - we may not need cold weather gear in Oz but will take some anyway and are already planning to add additional water and fuel storage plus somehow a second spare wheel! Anway this is all in the future so time to recall the events of the last few weeks.

After an inspiring few days around the Cape we headed down the west coast staying at isolated and empty campsites before a weekend in Pahia with Sue and Danny which included an exciting trip on the Mack Attack which took us on a roller coaster journey out to the Hole in the Wall in the Bay of Islands.

Back on the West Coast we visited the remarkable large kauris that are remnants of the once extensive native forest cover - moving and thought provoking and well worth the diversion.

After a day or two on the Pouto Peninsula where we walked on wide empty beaches but missed the ancient lighthouse we visited the Matakohe kauri museum which filled a whole day and was one of the best we have visited.

Back on the east coast we re-visited Tutukaka and then Whangarei before another stay at Uretiti DOC site from where we visited Marsden Point - NZ's only oil refinery explained through an excellent visitor centre.

Finally we returned to Tawharanui headland where the almost sinister predator proof fence enclosed us as we enjoyed a full moon on what was to be our final night in the van.

A slow puncture and a poor forecast encouraged us to head to Orewa a day early where we now sit awaiting the next phase of our travels.

Everything seems to be in place and with luck we will be able to post a more reflective piece before we set off home.

Final few NZ pics are here - some 3000 in total stored and that's after heavy deleting!!