Wednesday 28 January and Thursday 29 January

In order to be be near the Mighty site and the airport we thought a campsite nearby both would be worthwhile as this would give us an opportunity to pack and clean the van.

We visited Devonport which is opposite Auckland. Not unsurprisingly it is the naval base——the NZs were very imaginative when naming their towns!!

with good views across to Auckland

We drove into Auckland and went to Mission Beach, one of the beaches south of the city.

but decided not to swim but instead went for lunch at the North Wharf, Wynyard Quarter where we had met Bob and Sue Dall two months before. We even ate at the same restaurant, The Pescado.

Not far away lying alongside was the ‘heavy lift’ transport ship called the Yacht Express

She was loaded with yachts, both sailing and motor, and two tugs and obviously soon to depart.

Unfortunately we did not see her load——she floods her decks and ballast tanks and then the stern of the ship drops down into the water. Part of the stern then hydraulically lowers to allow more water in and the boats are floated on and off.

We checked on the web site 'Marine Track AIS’ and Yacht Express had come from Brisbane and was going to Costa Rica. A good way to get back across the Pacific without having to ship from Thailand or encounter the seas off the Cape of Good Hope???

And the finally a drive out to our camp site. Well located but near the State Highway 1 (SH1) and the airport——not the best site in the last two months but it served it’s purpose as the next morning we sad farewells to the Mighty and New Zealand as we took off over the camp site! Ten hours later we were back in Singapore where snotty noses still prevailed, so the chances of returning to the UK in good health are very slim!

A wonderful country, magnificent countryside, very friendly natives and a fun place to visit. We really enjoyed our trip.

We had three nights in a hotel at the beginning and 52 nights (with one exception!) in the Mighty. We covered 7,134 kilometres in that time and the Mighty purred along without fault. It averaged about 9.3 km per litre at an average price of $1.14 per litre plus a Road Users Recovery charge (a tax on diesel vehicles) of $5.82 per 100 km. This took the average price to $1.69 per litre. The camp sites, both the formal ones and the DOC sites, were excellent and we probably averaged about 2 nights freedom camping/DOC sites  to one night in a formal camp site. Formal sites were about $20 per head ($40 per night) and DOC sites $6 per head ($12 per night). Freedom sites cost nothing. Trips, activities and museums were great value. Cultural visits cost us nothing—there were none !!

This is definitely a “must do” of a country to visit for a  holiday/adventure.