World Australia Victoria Melbourne

Carol & Gary's NZ adventure

Week 51 – Week ending 28 June 2009 – North Island, New Zealand and Hastings, Victoria, Australia Jun 28, 2009

We are up early on Monday and we borrow a vacuum cleaner from the Holiday Park and continued cleaning the van until it was spotless. It was good luck for us as we sold the gas cylinders and some other gear that we needed to off load to the Holiday Park owners. We left our luggage behind at the park and drove the car and van to the Port. We arrived at the security check point and are told that dogs are not allowed in the Port area so I waited on the footpath with Logan and Poppy while Gary drove the unit to the steam cleaners. Before too long he is back and we walk up to pick up the hire car. Gary completed all the paper work for the car and we were about to hop into it when they tell us that dogs are not allowed in hire cars. Ok…Gary then proceeds to let rip and do his chops so after demanding a refund we walk out. I ended up sitting in a park with the dogs while Gary goes to another company and eventually returns with a hire car. We drove back to the Holiday Park and picked up our luggage and drove to Herne Bay to check into our pet friendly motel. It is ironic that we are allowed to keep the dogs inside a motel unit but cannot take them in a $5000 flogged hire car. We spent the afternoon indoors.

We wake on Tuesday after a good nights sleep and get going for a drive to Piha Beach. There is a Surf life saving TV show that is filmed here. The drive in to Piha is very winding and it is in an isolated area. The beach is wild and no one is in the water today. We drove around and checked out a few bays and headed back to Titangi for some lunch. This little town was so dog friendly with dogs sitting at owners feet at outdoors restaurants and bowls of water laying around here and there outside shops for doggies. We came back to the room for a while and left Logan and Poppy here while we headed off for another appointment. We got news today that my Aunty has lost part of her finger after an accident while she was helping with their cattle. We are thinking of you Aunty.

We have a very lazy morning on Wednesday and I got some washing done. We left Logan and Poppy in the room and we drove into the City. We grabbed some lunch and walked around tidying the last of the jobs that we have to do before we leave the Country. Gary got a haircut and I got an eyebrow wax. We stopped and got some groceries for the next few nights and then headed back home. Our glorious weather is coming to an end and the clouds are starting to build up as rain is forecast.

Thursday is partly fine and after a lazy morning we drove over to the North Shore to have a look around. We stopped at a bay and took Logan and Poppy down to the water for a walk. We looked out to sea and saw what could only be the Tamerlane (the ship that is carrying our car and van) coming into the Harbour. It is due in today and sure enough with the help of the long lens on the camera we could see it was it. We drove around to Devonport for some lunch and here is the ship coming right past the wharf to dock at the City port which is just across from us. We walked to the end of the wharf and watched as the tugs assisted it into its berth. This ship is huge. We are so excited to see that it has arrived on time. We headed back to the motel and I went for a walk up the shops for a bit of a wander around.

We get up on Friday morning and after breakfast I started getting the suitcases organized. We got Logan and Poppy organized and drove them out to the Boarding Kennels where the transport guy will take them to the Vet for the final health check and they will stay overnight before he takes them to meet the plane in the morning. We were listening to the radio and couldn’t believe the news that Michael Jackson had passed away aged 50. I guess that no matter what you thought of the guy his talent was amazing and he effectively lived a sad life. We met up with some friends for a game of golf but the weather turned to rain and the golf game was canned. We went back to our room and got ready for dinner with Karen and Pat. We had a few drinks before we went out and I was getting quite tipsy by the time we arrived at Sky City for dinner. We were seated and I turned around to my favourite NZ TV host, Paul Henry walking with friends to the table behind us. In my very relaxed state I jumped up and said hi and told him I thought he was great etc. etc. something that I would never ordinarily do. He always says on TV how he doesn’t go out as he “hates” the public and here I am doing exactly what he doesn’t like, but he was a nice guy and stopped to say hi for a minute. Gary was a little embarrassed by my behavior but I couldn’t care less it made my last night in NZ! We had a nice dinner and went up town for a bit of the nightlife. We got home after midnight and couldn’t get to sleep so we tossed and turned all night.

We are up very early on Saturday and we get everything organized and get going to return the hire car by 10. Before we know it we are checking in and preparing to wait the two hours until our departure. The time went really quickly and our Air NZ flight got away on time. We haven’t seen Logan or Poppy being loaded on so we hope for the best and this time we didn’t hear them barking in the cargo hold. Flying Air NZ is a pleasant experience you get a full meal, complimentary drinks and free TV, Movies etc. What a great flight. We collected our luggage and Gary found his golf bag stand was no longer a tripod so after advising the cargo people they told us to get a price on a new one and they will replace it. Unreal! Ann is waiting to collect us and we drive over to the cargo area to collect Logan and Poppy. We made contact with Customs who have cleared them and then they search for an AQIS officer to clear them. To cut a long story short two hours later we left the airport. Poor Ann had to drive us to Hastings and then turn around and drive back to her boys and her home. Logan and Poppy have handled the trip really well and enjoy being out of the cage. We get into Hastings around 6.30pm and get ourselves sorted and while Gary is collecting Waynes car I walked around to Safeway to grab some food. We fell into bed around 9.30pm absolutely buggered.

We wake on Sunday after a great nights sleep. While we are laying in bed we can hear the Magpies warbling and the Rainbow Lorikeets squawking and I feel really happy to be back in Australia again. Gary has mixed feelings about leaving NZ but we both agree that what we have done has been one of the best things we have ever done in our lives. I got a bit of washing done and we left Logan and Poppy behind and drove up to Frankston to sort out a mobile and wireless broadband. We had a lazy afternoon and an early night (the Melbourne tsetse fly has got me again and I am back in my habit of falling asleep on the lounge)! It is Ashleigh and Richards first wedding anniversary today. So we are thinking of them and cannot believe how quickly time goes by and how much your life can change in one year.

This is our final travel diary. On Tuesday 30 June 2009 it will have been exactly 12 months since we drove out of our driveway in Mackay to start our adventure. We have had the time of our lives. Writing our diary has been a highlight and I hope you have enjoyed our adventure also. I particularly appreciated the feedback that we have received. We are unsure as yet what we are going to do but we will spend some time in Hastings, Victoria with my brother and enjoy living in an area that is a lot bigger than the caravan and we will slowly make our way back up the east coast to Mackay.