Owning a camper van/ Eating out in New Zealand

  Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Outside our flat

Morgan owns a camper van!  We got the key at 5 am this morning when the kids left it in our driveway, on their way to the airport.  They had come over last night a couple hours after we got home from Waiheke Island, and we made the wire transfer purchase and talked with them for a while until midnight.  Then they slept one last time in the van in our driveway, and we heard them head out this morning, leaving the key under the door mat.  We were sorry to see them go.  They said if we ever make it to Hamburg, Germany, to look them up.

Vincent and Paula outside our flat with the camper van last night

   We couldn't get back to sleep so we stayed awake and left early in the van to get the bump stop repair done.  The van rides like a sports car, very good pick up!  Morgan immediately decided to get a detailed car wash to freshen the inside air, so that's another thing we are adding to the list . . .

Tracy's Sticky Black Rice

Morgan's Eggs Benedict

We walked to breakfast at Little Sisters Cafe near the repair shop - a place I could write a whole blog post on - but suffice it show our meals:  Eggs Benedict with Slow Roasted Mushrooms and Avocado (Morgan) and Balinese Sticky Black Rice with Grilled Banana, Palm Sugar and Coconut Milk. 

Truly, could a day get off to a better start.

Van interior with sink and food supplies

After breakfast our repairs were done, so we picked up the van and drove to The Warehouse (NZ's Walmart) about a mile away and got some towels, a mini french press and other items for the van.  Morgan was anxious to outfit the van immediately, even though I thought we should wait to go through what all the kids left us so, funny story .  .  . she bought a $50 table to eat at outside the van, and then when we were loading it into the van . . . sitting right on top of the mattress was a table the kids had left for us.  How we missed that, I can only attribute to a) being camper van greenhorns, and b) being still wiped out from ziplining and wine tasting yesterday.  So we went back into the The Warehouse and waited in a long line to return the table, and then we were really and truly wiped out.  We came home, ate Chinese from the lunch we had left over from the other day, then relaxed/ uploaded camera pictures/ read/ did Google Hangouts with people/ and took naps in the afternoon, pretty much in that order.  Then we unloaded the van and discovered a camping tent, two inflatable small kayak rafts with paddles, camp chairs, and various kitchen and food supplies.  Oh, and a half bottle of Captain Morgan - our Morgan liked that.

  For dinner, we walked through the neighborhood, down the hill through a park, and out onto New North Road, where we had seen very interesting Western-style bars and night clubs walking home the other day. Morgan wanted to walk around checking out the menus at a few places first (Dad, did you teach her to do this???).   We settled on Citizen Park and again, truly, these restaurants outdo themselves.  I started with a wine called Brookfields Syrah (you will recall I am now a steadfast Syrah wine fan), and then went onto an awesome spiced lamb quesadilla with jalapeno, mint yoghurt, red cabbage and peanuts. I mean, these combinations are amazing!  And every restaurant here seems to have lamb, my favorite meat, in some form.  Morgan had pulled pork sliders, but lest you think these were just any 'ole pulled pork sliders, hold on there - these had pears and caramelized onions in them!

At the train station elevator platform at dusk, New North Road
Auckland, NZ

  One last note about NZ restaurants. Here are a few things I think we need to adopt universally in the USA:

   1) No tipping.  That's right, no one tips here. Instead, waiters and waitress and other service personnel are paid a living wage right up front (I mean, no brainer here - catch up, USA restaurant owners, don't make your customers support your employees); 

  2) Many restaurants are BYO - Bring Your Own.  . . wine!  Now, that's sensational!  Why pay for wine when you can bring your own to go with a good meal? We saw quite a few restaurants labeled as BYO when we were wandering tonight.  Lastly, my personal favorite:

   3) Water pitchers and glasses are put out in an open area for customers to help themselves to as much water as they want. Again, why haven't we thought of this?  Apparently it's a law in NZ that restaurants that serve alcohol have to have water openly accessible.  Perfect.

 Back at the flat, we have tomorrow planned.  A trip by another ferry in Devonport (20 minute drive in the camper van away) to Rangitoto Island, where we are going to do a 5 -hour round trip hike up a volcano!  Morgan wants to carry on her back everything we both need, to practice for her Great Hike in April.  Fine with me!