Van stuff, and a walk on the beach

Spent the morning meeting legislative requirements for a warranty of fitness certificate for the camper van. It failed first time (handbrake not adjusted correctly), but after authorising the extra work, it passed second time round.

Then a trip to the auctioneer to do all the paperwork and arrange to drop the van into their yard on Saturday.

Home again by noon, exhausted by the frenetic Auckland traffic and poor signposting. The people putting signs up fail to realise that there is always a delay between seeing a sign, considering whether it applies, and beginning to act in response. In Auckland, the signs are either so small or so late placed that one is usually part way through the intersection before realising you have to turn/change lanes etc.

Kura and I then drove out to the west coast and walked on the beach a long way. We were about to return when Kura's foot slipped sideways on a rock and she twisted her ankle. She is now pretty immobile, and it looks like we will not be walking tomorrow. As she said ruefully tonight, "at least it didn?t happen early in the holiday!".

Into Auckland

Had the AA do a vehicle inspection. The AA assessment today was good. Apart from a slow oil seep from the gearbox tailshaft and a need to change the oil and coolant, the vehicle and mechanicals are sound and in "satisfactory condition".

Drove from Whangerei via the coastal scenic roads to get a taste of the region. Blue sky and sunshine, nice. Travel quite slow, particularly as we approached Auckland, due to the steep hills and the number of heavy trucks heading towards the city.

Arrived at Mt Roskill about 430pm to a nice welcome from Gladys. She has just offered us the use of her house while she is away over Easter, which is very kind of her.

Had an older couple come around to look at the van, but they were not willing to come to our price, nor to the price we were prepared to drop to - they were wanting a $3k discount to $6500.... But that's not a consideration yet. Unfortunately my "loose lips sink ships" so they know we are leaving Sunday and probably think they have us in a corner (I'm not a salesman and do not want to be...). I'd rather auction it than be a party to that kind of coercion. We parted on good terms. I'm unsure whether we will see them back again.

Storm damage and the Waitangi Treaty

The campsite we stayed last night was very nice even though the owners were really under the hammer. The floods had swept away their water pump and the pumphouse, scoured their river boundary, and left all of the grass and soil so water-sodden that it squelched as you walked. The municipal water supply was contaminated, but because their storage tank was full of good water before the pump went, they had a reasonable sized buffer - so short showers were requested!

We visited the Waitangi treaty house this morning. A very interesting visit that highlighted the differences between Australia and NZ. Mostly remittance men rather than convicts, a more fertile land; I sensed it was a less brutal society as a result, in spite of the frequent internecine Maori warfare that included cannibalism on occasion. Whether I am accurate in saying this I am not sure, but that's my perception.

Here the Maori tribes were well organised and recognised that their world was changing without them being able to stop it, and over a period of time, negotiated a treaty with the British crown that secured them ownership of their forests, sea etc. It does appear that some of significant success factors were:
1. An external threat (the threat of a French takeover on parts of NZ) caused the Maori tribes to want to unite with the Crown
2. The apparently positive, trusting relationships the Church Missionary Society missionaries had with Maori chiefs
3. The positive relationships and mediation skills developed by the British Government's Resident as a result of being sent by the Crown to be their representative in NZ, but without being given any tangible authority or power (he was sarcastically described by Maori as a "man o' war but without any guns"). Perhaps this was ultimately a very positive thing...! He was ultimately succeeded by the new Lieutenant-General of NZ, but served on as a key negotiator and support person.
4. The strong leadership of the Maori chiefs.

Although the implications are still being worked through 150+ years later, I am very impressed with how the union of the two peoples has occurred here.

Everywhere we traveled today we saw the evidence of the half metre of rain in 36 hours. Railway ballast washed away leaving tracks suspended in a void, very large tree trunks caught in rapids, trees with debris up to a metre up their trunks. As for the landslips, it has been an eye-opener to see the number of huge piles of rocks and clay on the road from Paihia to Whangerei. Most of the roads here have either one side a very steep hillside up or down, and in some cases both...! There were traffic cones and workmen all over the place removing slips from the roadway, rebuilding where the verge had been swept away by the current, etc etc.

Tonight we are at Lois's place (nee Nelley) in Whangerei in the backyard. I was successful in getting an AA inspection booked for the van for Tuesday morning here in Whangerei, so we'll need to be up and away early to ensure we appear at the nominated 830am appointment. Groan. :-)

We had another response in relation to the camper today. Not sure where this person is, still waiting for another email from him.