Arrival in Auckland: Part 2

After we booked our hostel we looked at the bulletin board full of vehicles for sale, looking for our 'dream girl'. They hold a car sale in the parking lot next to the park downtown so we figured we would have a look-see. Walking threw rows and rows of camper-vans and cars all around our price range, and after getting bombarded by seller after seller who promised us best van for "supa cheep" we stumbled across a '97 high top Nissan, glimmering in the sun, she looked good but was she the one? The seller was an old mechanic, kind and not annoying; a bonus already. The van looked sturdy, only 122,000 kms on the 2.7 litre diesel, another bonus. She had the room we needed and the looks to kill, a little bit over our price range but still affordable. I think we both knew right away that we would drive away with it, but we talked it out, had a look around, send a p-bomb to the big man upstairs and finally shook hands and committed our next stage of life to living in her.

Our van, in the scenic coast just outside Auckland!

We both were semi-hesitant to rush into a purchase on the first day, especially the first 3 hours of being in NZ. But we knew, the sooner we'd buy something, the more money we'd save and the more time we would have to get to know her. The seller drove us to the bank, we ripped out the cash of the ATM and signed the paper. It happened so fast I didn't know if it was legal. But just like that, it was ours.

The next few hours were spent driving around, focusing on the road, trying not to die living in the left hand lane. Looking for some van supplies and trying to find some car insurance, which isn't required here, but we're still looking into getting it. That night we spent the better part of 2 hours driving around looking for a place to camp outside the city. Managed to find Long Beach Park, and thought we would be able to park overnight, but the Rangers insisted otherwise. So we pulled onto the street outside and crashed; there was a wedding taking place just down the road but we were so zonked it didn't matter, after 40 plus hours of being awake, we were lights out!

Trying not to crash in the left hand lane!

So, that was our very first day in NZ. We meet some awesome Kiwis right off the bat, bought a camper-van, looked for parking space, ….

PS. Our old girl is nameless, we decided to wait until we got to know her more, but we're open to your suggestions. Were looking for something chill but with bite, kind of a like a cold Barq's. 

Lates, N8