Day zero

Today we commit and drive north to Pukenui on the Houhora harbour.

It’s a beautiful morning and Sau Keng tells me the forecast is for the same all week 😊

First stop is to pick up Matt and possibly Viviana. We navigate to the end of a driveway with several houses. Which is number 9, their house? This must be it – no furniture – they are still waiting for the container to arrive from Invercargill. But Maserati, the cat, is here 😊 He was missing last time we talked. Viviana will stay in Auckland to do house related things and keep Maserati company, we gift her a jar of stewed plum for use of her husband and set off.

It is easy driving, we were worried there might be a lot of traffic because of Waitangi day, they seem to be going home now - more traffic is going South than North. I make it to Whangarei without getting sleepy which is pretty good for me. We have lunch here, next to the Hundertwasser Art Centre. It’s a lovely spot, but lots of people and very man made. Tomorrows lunch will be different.

Sau Keng drives the rest of the way and we get to Pukenui holiday camp at 4pm. It’s impressively far from Auckland and we go another hour north tomorrow. We tend to forget how big Northland is. The campground is big too, and well equipped. We unpack, get settled, rest a little, then try loading our gear. As expected there is quite a bit more than when we tried at home without food and final additions - but with a little work it fits well enough.

Dinner at the local café is good, it's a perfect evening. We wander to the wharf, watch a fishing boat and children swimming then head home. Early start tomorrow so early night now.