USA has bombed Iran and Dubai Airport was hit so all flights cancelled and Qatar as well, they turned around and brought passengers all the way back. Hope it all gets sorted before Leanne and I fly over. So sad for the travellers on their way or just about to go on their trips.
Found something for breakfast then packed our bags ready to Mr Singh the taxi driver to collect us. It is still raining. I was going to challenge him on the price for last night but we were just glad to have gotten here and have him take us back to StarRV to pick up the camper. Mind you he still added on the $5 last night and it was dearer to take us back! We had paid him cash so it should have been cheaper - we learnt that lesson.
Our pick up time is 8.30am and there are already a heap of people waiting to collect their vehicles and a couple dropping theirs off. There is a great map on the wall of both islands.
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Not sure if we will get to this place. I thought a town in Wales had the longest name. Googled it and yes NZ wins - this 85-letter hill name is the longest place name but Wales holds the longest inhabited village name of 58 letters.
Apparently our van only came back last night after a long hire so they want to give it a service and full clean. You would think they would sort out the time for that before telling us to come in so early. He didn’t ask us to pay the remainder till we actually got the vehicle. They had a coffee machine in the waiting room so we had a couple of drinks and chatted with other travellers. A couple from France were very informative about my trip over there and we told them about things to see when they head back to Aust. Chatted with a young couple from Auckland too having a few weeks exploring on the South Island for the first time.
By 11.30 we were getting hungry so I asked how things were going. The lady said still a little while and offered us a little car so we could drive to a cafe down the road. The sun has started to break through the clouds which is promising. We headed back to the huge Bunnings store near the airport to see if they have a cafe inside like ours do. They did so we got a pie and drink but the lady thought the other chap was with me so rang up his food on my order - I thought it was a bit dear. When she realised she reimbursed me with cash.
Back to StarRV and chatted with other couples who have been waiting all morning too. Not very organised! Lucky I didn’t have much planned for this afternoon other than getting groceries. They have wifi so Steve entertained himself with our tablet.
At 2.20pm the chap said our ‘home’ was ready. We have a 2024 Polaris 2 (6.4m long, 2.6m high) with diesel Fiat Ducato automatic.
We checked it over then he went through all the bits and pieces with Steve. He turned the fridge on - shame that wasn’t on earlier to cool it down before we do our shopping but it isn’t very hot here. We are still in 3 layers! He said the electric step doesn’t work but there was a folding step we can use. I said I had better pay now - he laughed as it said on the form that we had sorted that. Should have kept my mouth shut, haha. He gave us the day cost back since we had just got it then he said there was a merchant fee - they don’t tell you that when you book it. I had wanted to do a bank transfer but they don’t do that. Another $300 to the cost of the camper and then to top it off there is a $76/1000km travelled diesel tax to pay when we take the camper back in Auckland and $50 for adding me as the other driver.
All sorted and off we went. I googled up the closest Woolworths and headed there. It is only a small fridge so grabbed a few things, other groceries and drinks and packed them into the camper. The suitcases are on the bed so will sort them out tonight. There are 4 cupboards above the bed for the clothes and a few cupboards under the kitchen and under the seat for storing things. We get linen, duvet, towels, pots, pans, cutlery, plates etc.
Drove into the city centre to check out where to go for our walking tour tomorrow morning. All the car parks are 120min paid ones but we eventually found some free ones further over so will come back in the morning and grab one of those.
Drove eastward alongside the Avon River to find a free camp near a sporting area. 48hr for self-contained vehicles, which we are. No one else is here. Parked in the car park by the road and unpacked the suitcases etc. Steve took our camp photo.
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Cooked burgers for dinner. Still light outside at 8.30pm. Just had a wash for tonight - will sort the shower out tomorrow. We are both exhausted - hard work just sitting around. Hope we get a good sleep tonight - always hard getting used to a different bed and pillows. At least we will have this bed for the next 2 months.
Here’s some info I found out before we came over -
NZ was nearly the 7th State of Australia. In the 1890s New Zealand was invited to join the forthcoming Federation of Australia. NZ Premier Richard Seddon called a Royal Commission in 1900. the commission reported that: The stretch of some 1200 miles of sea … is a weighty argument against NZ joining the Commonwealth.
