Be happy!

So now, honestly, how could I forget to introduce Hapi to you in detail? We have been traveling with him for over 2 months now and you haven't really gotten to know him yet. So, Hapi is actually a Mitsubishi L300, born in 2013. His license plate is 'Hap150', so we named him 'Hapi'. We bought him from two fellow travelers from Czech Republic with approximately 181,000 km on the clock. Hapi drinks gasoline and prefers a manual suspension. So, he improves the motor skills of our left hand. We have made some improvements to Hapi's equipment. This includes several visits to the hardware store, warehouse, and so-called op-shops where you can find everything (really everything) for a very low price. Of course, everything is second-hand.
At the beginning, the mattress gave us some difficulties. We quickly realized that the mattress was too thin and the wood underneath was too hard. After my two hips made themselves noticeably felt, one thing was clear. Either a bursitis followed or something had to change with the mattress. The third option would be a significant weight gain. Since you unfortunately cannot control where you gain weight and that would not be an option anyway, our sleeping mats came into play. They are now placed under the mattress and ensure that we wake up mostly pain-free in the morning 😄.
Otherwise, we have been having a really good time with Hapi and luckily he hasn't caused us any major problems so far! If it wasn't for the spider in the driver's cabin that has been accompanying us for quite a while and refuses to be chased away. We are pretty sure that it is one of the 3 venomous spiders in New Zealand. Well, as long as it leaves us alone. The fact that its bite is probably not life-threatening comforts us a lot. And oh, there's also the story with our leaky light. Fortunately, I have a handyman and an all-rounder by my side. Yes, I'm really grateful for that! David repaired the lights, sealed other areas, built a shelf from found wood, and gave Hapi a new paint job in the interior.
So, what is it like to live in just 4 square meters? Honestly, it's not a problem at all. Most of the time, everything runs very harmoniously for us. Of course, there are also disagreements and it can happen that an object or two is thrown out of the car. But hey, that's part of it. Besides, we spend so much time outdoors, driving, or relaxing in bed. Unfortunately, we cannot convert our bed into a seating area. We also don't have a refrigerator. But it works better than expected. We have a small kitchen with a sink and two canisters for fresh and wastewater. Yes, sometimes it is annoying to do things like washing the dishes in a half-bent position. We often think of our bus in Germany. A bus with standing height is the best thing there is! But everything is fine as it is. We are just glad that we haven't had any major problems with our purchased car in New Zealand so far.
Have I already told you about the coolest bird ever? The Tui!!! The Tui can make all sorts of sounds. While singing melodically, it also makes clicking and buzzing noises. Sometimes it sounds like a monkey, sometimes like a snake, and sometimes like a chainsaw 😅. You can immediately recognize this bird and are happy every time it is around.
At the moment, we are moving further and further north. We are now a good distance above Auckland. Well, you never believe it, but time flies. We are now spending our last week here in New Zealand.