You Really Got a Hold On Me, Part 1 of NZ Trip

   Yes, New Zealand, we are enchanted. What an amazingly beautiful country! We feel fortunate things worked out the way they did. The cheapest flights home at Christmas were on Air New Zealand, with an Auckland connection. Upon investigation, we discovered that there is no price difference if we extended the four-hour layover into an eight-day layover. So that's exactly what we did! In addition to getting "free" airfare to Auckland, it gave us something to look forward to after leaving California. To make it more exciting, we booked a campervan for the trip.
   Started off very well. The flight was fine, and Air New Zealand has a pretty entertaining safety video that includes Richard Simmons, members off the All Black rugby team, and flight attendants with painted-on clothes. 

   We were met at the airport by a Kea representative, who shuttled us to the Kea Campervan rental depot. We were offered coffees (flat whites, of course) and the girls were allowed to use computers with internet access while we completed the paperwork and instructions. We also were able to shower and get cleaned up after the long flight. Around noon, we drove off in our home for the next eight days. We stocked up on groceries at the Pak N Save store (where grocery carts/trolleys are called trundlers), had lunch at the food court:

No refills (ya think?) and no ice either, at this Subway store

and headed north. 
   First stop was Mahurangi Regional Park, where we "freedom camped" overnight for $5. The kids and Andy immediately took a swim in the ocean, something they did just about every day we were in NZ.

First campsite

Gorgeous hike if you don't mind a bit of drizzle and lots of sheep poo.

Fabulous artwork, not for sale

   The next day we headed north. Other campers told us about the fabulous cheese and ice cream shop in Puhoi, so that's where we went. First stop was the Puhoi Pub. 

The girls and Katie's Flat Stanley

Spaghetti pizza and chips. Yes, spaghetti is ON the pizza.

   At the ice cream/cheese place, we all sampled the flavor New Zealand is most known for: Hokey Pokey. It's a vanilla flavor with honeycomb toffee. New Zealands love it. According to this NZ Herald article, New Zealanders eat two million liters of it a year.

   Heading north, we saw this sign:

Of course we had to stop!

Sampling wines with the winemaker, Mr. Ransom

   We spent the second night at Whangateau Holiday park. A little more expensive than freedom camping, but we had access to power, water, dumping stations, showers, playground and a beach.

   The next morning, we headed to Omaha Beach, where the NZ Prime Minister has a beach house. Alas, he wasn't home, but Tony, Andy's business acquaintance, was. Tony and his wife have a fabulous vacation home there, filled with lots of great beach and water toys. We rented wet suits for the girls, and headed to the beach for some surfing, paddle boarding, boogie boarding, swimming, and shell collecting.

Fabulous beach, great for swimming

Warming up in Tony's hot tub

   Tony and his wife generously invited us to dinner, a delicious mixed grill which included snapper he'd caught from his boat that morning. And also, some wines from his enormous walk-in wine cellar, which we enjoyed while sitting around the large fireplace. We are seriously hoping to be adopted into their family!
   The kids especially enjoyed playing with Louie, their dog, who has a great trick. When you point a finger at him and loudly say "Bang," he immediately lies down and plays dead.
   We camped overnight in the vacant lot next to their house. What a bargain! That morning we made one last visit to the beach, then drove about five hours  to Rotarua (also called Rota-vegas because it is perhaps the most touristy city on the North Island.) We stayed at Blue Lake Holiday park.

Enjoying the lovely NZ wine Tony gave us

To be continued...