Back to Auckland

After spending a few nice days in the north, we are now heading back to Auckland. We actually thought that everything in the car was ready, but unfortunately our water faucet pump broke. It was an electric pump and we had to be incredibly careful that no water got into it (which is simply impossible given the available space :D) So it seems that too much water got in and the pump was shot. We bought our car from the dealer, so we still had a warranty. The plan was to make a short stop at Nasser, the car dealer, to have a new pump installed. This time, however, a manual one where you have to pump the water up by hand, so nothing can go wrong.

On the way down, we were once again surprised by the breathtaking beauty of this country and had wonderful campsites. One in particular stands out in my memory, 'The Farm'. We once again had the desire for a shower, so we looked for an affordable place with showers and came across it. The farm belonged to a farmer and his wife, who had their little cottage there and right next door a large meadow where you could park your car and everything else a camper needs. We were allowed to walk around the entire farm and could see goats, sheep, and even pigs grazing on lush green grass. A real highlight and we were the only ones there except for an Italian guy.

Half an hour before we were supposed to reach Auckland, Rudi suddenly started to vibrate like crazy on the highway and the steering wheel became autonomous as soon as you let go of it. That was pretty uncomfortable, so we got off the highway and checked what it could be. At first glance, nothing seemed to be wrong. We then continued on the country road to Auckland.

There we were. Luckily, Jan was there to open the gate for us, as everyone else was at the car show. When Nasser returned, he took a test drive and made an appointment for the wheel alignment. Since it was the weekend, it would not be done until the day after next. In the meantime, we installed our new pump and waited once again... During the wheel alignment, it turned out that one tire had become an egg. After a long discussion with Nasser, we got 4 completely new tires for free, as one had a crack and 2 others were a different size. When all the fuss was finally over, we were on edge and very happy to finally be able to continue traveling with 4 completely new tires and a new water pump. Now nothing can go wrong :)