We had managed to check in our large luggage before we laft the airport when we arrived so we thought one and a half hours before departure would be enough time. We caught the train in the wrong direction but realised it before two stations had passed so could retrace our steps. That did cut our time a little but we sort of got there just in time. Our boarding gate was 20 minutes from where we met terminal 3 so we were stressing a bit. The journey was great –by day this time so I managed to watch two movies. 
Auckland was great. We took possession of the motor home without any trouble and got out of the Suncamp as soon as we could. We stayed with Lesley and Andre Hofer, parents of David’s friend, Keith. They were strangers to us but what good hosts! They have a magnificent house with a sea view, we had the most delicious food and Andre proved to be a very competent tour guide, taking us to scenic spots and telling us a bit about New Zealand. When they found out that the Thurmans were in Auckland, they invited them over for dinner and what a wonderful evening we all had.
One Tree Hill. It was a very blustery day.
Then we went around the harbour area. Boats and boats and boats. Aukland is known as the City of Sails. It is easy to see why. apparently one in three people own a boat.
All good things come to an end and soon it was time to move on. We left at about 10am and just wanted to make a quick stop to get some data for my computer and buy some groceries on the way. The problem started in the Vodafone shop. Brian’s credit card wouldn’t register. When he put in his pin, there was a message saying incorrect pin. So we tried my credit card, my secondary card and his debit card – all with the same result. Then the friendly salesman tried his credit card and it worked perfectly. By now I was beginning to panic. What if we were stuck in New Zealand for two months with only the 300$ cash we had on us? We phoned Standard Bank Card division which was a mistake because it used up the R250 air time I had purchased at the airport and they couldn’t help us. They just said it must be the terminal. Then the salesman suggested we buy something small from the supermarket and see if the card worked there and perhaps it might unblock it. So we bought tomatoes and margerine. And yes, the card worked. So back to the Vodafone we went. Still error messages. The next step was to go to the autobank and try to draw the cash. The machine gave a message “last pin try” but it did cough up the money. So we paid for the data. The salesman said he just wanted to try my card again. “Last pin try” It didn’t work so I assume my card is now blocked.
By the time we had finished shopping it was after 1pm so we made a quick sandwich in the motor home in the parking lot and finally got on our way.
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