We only got ourselves a camper van! A bit of trial and error all round including loading the little fridge with our food shop to turn the corner and have it all tumble back out again (who knew you not only had to shut the fridge but lock it!)
The centre of Auckland was busy and everything you’d expect from a town centre. Although it’s not the capital city a third of New Zealand’s population live here (4.5m in total live in NZ). We spent a day pottering around Mission Bay, a lovely beach town, Ponsonby, Parnell and New Market all of which are quite low key suburbs but pretty and village like.
We spent another day on the beautifully picturesque Waiheke Island, where we did a Fullers ‘Taste of Tour’. The ferry ride was about 35 minutes from the main port in Auckland and once on the coach the other side we visited three vineyards (Stonyridge, Wild on Waiheke and Mudbrick which was my favourite) and an olive grove (Rangihoua Estate). We tasted wine as well as craft beer and olive oil all grown / made on the island. Apparently the micro-climate makes it perfect conditions for growing grapes and olives and whilst it started a little grey for us it was soon warm with blue skies. Check out our video which was bizarrely next to the olive grove which was to deans liking. You may need to copy and paste the link into your browser https://youtu.be/JO86pEVi7h8
Our plan is to stay in the North Island and visit a few more key places before booking our ferry crossing to the South Island.
The Snow Adventures 