Whangarei
27/5/09
11 °C
Today is our big drive upwards. Driving thru Auckland was quite similar to driving in the lower mainland and made Chrissy quite excited to come back and explore. We also discovered a new road addition just outside of Auckland – the toll road. However this toll is unlike any of the spectacular toll roads that formally resided on the way to Vancouver. This one was on an honour system with motorists stopping at a ‘service block’ (a gas station combined with a mini mall) to purchase an “expensive” toll ticket ($2).
To use this self-service machine, one enters the license plate of the car they are in and the system pulls up the make, model, & year of the car being issued the toll. We also found out that Chrissy has been giving the wrong license plate number out so apologies to all who thought we were in a 1984 Subaru. The toll booth was pretty fascinating as well as it involved literally thousands of cameras pointed in all directions which captured the license plates and checked if you had paid or not – no ticket equals the owner a letter from the government and a fine. FUN!!!!
The drive to Whangarei was not full of anything special however there are always cows and sheep to amuse us. The latest amusement entails us quoting “…that’ll do pig, that’ll do…” whenever we pass sheep. This can sometimes get tiring depending on the amount of sheep passed in a day but nonetheless, entertaining. We stopped at the iSite outside of Whangarei (where they have quite nice bathrooms by and by) where the told us of a lovely campground about 15 minutes out with the added bonus of free Internet!
To get to the campground, we trekked on out but however we were met by an opposing behemoth motorhome driving directly at us just outside the entrance. Accident avoided, we checked in where we discovered the couple that ran the campground were from Nanamio of all places! With cheap laundry, free Internet, and oceanfront views we are in heaven!
Posted by tc2009 02:25 Archived in New Zealand
