27/01/2023 From Auckland to Northland
Rainy travel day
After two great summer days in Auckland, we woke up to rain on the day of starting our five-week-road trip.
Since we had no idea where to go first and because of the rain, we spontaneously decided to make today a travel day. The idea was to go all the way up to the most northern point of New Zealand: Cape Reigna. Unfortunately, we never made it up there, but let’s start at the beginning…
No sun in sight
After two hours on the road, it still continued to rain. A police officer had just told us that there had been flooding on the main highway no. 1. This is why we had to take a detour on a side road in order to get further up north. Due to mud slides, our detour turned into more detours with a few turn-arounds on very tight roads.
Did we really come here in summer?
Our plan was to get to another main highway to continue our way up north. By now it was late afternoon. So chances were very little that we would make it all the way to the top in daylight. Every time we drove through huge bodies of water, we both held our breaths. After we had just driven through a massive puddle of water, there was an even bigger one right in front of us. How were we going to get through this one without getting stuck? We decided: Not at all and made the wise decision to turn around and call it a day.
Major floodings on the road
By that time, the water on the road around us had risen even more. When we slowly drove through the water again, Blake looked at me with a shocked face and said quietly: “The car just died!” I prayed that he was joking. Sadly, he wasn’t. The engine wasn’t turning on anymore – right in the middle of the deepest puddle of water! At the same moment a lady behind us screamed: “Get out of the car quickly!”
By now the water was already coming into our car through the closed doors!
Therefore, we had to climb out of the windows with all of our belongings so that the car – including us – wouldn’t float away. Let’s be honest: It was pretty scary! Thankfully, some people that had seen our van in the massive puddle helped us push our van out of the water again.
Now it’s a party
The kind lady that was still with us invited us into her farm house to get dry. “Funnily”, throughout the evening another 15 people from all over the world showed up at her house as they all got stuck in the flooding as well. However, our campervan was the only one whose engine wouldn’t turn on anymore.
Such great hospitality
The amazing woman Astrud and her daughter Aila cooked up a big pot of pasta and made tea for everyone. They were real life savers!
This is how our first night on the road didn’t end in the back of the van as planned, but on a mattress in a farm house somewhere in Northland instead.
28/01/2023 Northland
Kiwi kindness to the max
Waking up in a random house and realizing what happened yesterday felt like a bad dream. But on the other hand, we were so grateful for this incredibly kind New Zealand family that took us in!
And the kiwi kindness did continue throughout the day: A neighbour had heard about all the people that got trapped here the previous night. Therefore, she brought over a massive bowl of bircher muesli to feed everyone.
When Blake and I got up at 7.30 a.m., everyone else had already left since the water on the roads had gone down a bit. However, we heard that there were lots of other stranded cars all along the road. Some of them had even been swept away by the strong water masses.
Another day without a van
Furthermore, a very kind mechanic from the region came over and tried to fix our campervan for over an hour. But unfortunately, he couldn’t repair the van. Amazingly, he didn’t even charge us for it! Kiwis are just the kindest people!
Since the tow truck would only come to pick us and our van up in the next morning, the kiwi family was so sweet and let us stay at their place for another night!
29/01/2023 From Northland back to Auckland
Back to the start
At 7.30 a.m. the tow truck driver picked up our campervan and drove us back to the wicked campervan shop in Auckland. An hour later and NZD $450 poorer, we were back at square one of our road trip.
What now?
Since it was Sunday AND a public holiday the next day, the campervan shop would only open up again in two days time. So what should we do now? Set camp in front of the wicked shop and wait until Tuesday? Take an uber into town and book a hostel room again? Rent a car to continue our trip, at least until Tuesday?
So much kindness
It turned out we didn’t have to make a decision at all! The kind guy from the campervan rental showed up on his day off and gave us a new campervan, so that we could continue our road trip after all! Kiwis are just the best kind of people!
On the road again
So here we are now: Swapped a broken white van into a new black van and with that we are off to Rotorua!
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Diane and I got your voice message. It was AWESOME to hear your voice and your words in the message meant so much to us. It certainly reminded us of the shared talks we had with you when you lived with us. Lots of GREAT memories came flooding back which of course caused Diane to have a tsunami.😭We are so happy for the both of you, you two are definitely soul mates and the travel adventures you have shared will be the cornerstones of your commitment to each other. Enjoy the rest of your travels down under and keep posting those great pictures and stories. Be safe and have fun.❤️❤️Garry and Diane