Sunday, January 13 to Thursday, January 17 - Buying a van

     Back in September, when we were looking for a Landcruiser for our jaunt around Oz, it took us nearly a week to get ourselves set up with a cell phone, WiFi dongle, and find the car. We stayed at Sydney Central Backpackers, rubbed elbows with a young international crowd of job/adventure seekers, and between looking for free wifi, exchanging money, test driving and visiting car dealers, and taking walks into the city, we got to know Sydney pretty well.
    For our New Zealand Vehicle Acquisition Plan (NZVAP) we set ourselves up at a small motel in the suburb of Ellerslie, about 8 km from Auckland.  The public transportation system in the city is a mess, with nine different companies running bus routes, a train system that is currently going through big changes in their ticketing, and an online transport scheduling site that sorely needs bettering.  Unlike Sydney, or most cities for that matter, there are no convenient Day or Weekly passes to simplify a tourist's travel.  And the prices are pretty high.  A round trip into the CBD cost us around $16 NZ total, or about $13 US, for what works out to a five mile journey.  We talked to a few people about it, including a train conductor, an Irish resident of the city, and the owner of our motel, and all agreed it was in need of improvement.  There are plans to put the whole system; trains, ferries and buses, under one umbrella agency to simplify ticketing and routing, but it's only about half way there.  So, we weren't sure how getting to the various suburbs to look at vans would work out.
      I had decided that we wouldn't need a 4WD for our trip around NZ.  Most of the places we want to see are served by paved or very good gravel roads (I hope), and it made sense to get a small van that could carry all our stuff, including the kids and their gear for the month they're with us, and possibly allow Diana and me to sleep inside if the weather gets drippy.  One simplifying part of NZVAP is a web site called Trademe.com.nz that is by far the place for people and dealers to list used cars.  By inserting our relevant search parameters, vans less than $4000 in the Auckland area, we got a list of about 130 cars to chose from.
      We had paid for some Wifi at our motel, but on Monday we went into the city to use the free Wifi at the main library.  We narrowed our search to about 12 different vans, emailed a few of the owners to try set up viewings, and did a little other emailing and a blog posting.  Then we went for a walk around the city to give it a quick once over.
      I'm sure I'm giving it short shrift, and I don't doubt that my opinion will change as I get to know the city and its surrounds better, but Auckland at first glance gives an unremarkable impression.  Like the big cities in Australia, it's a New World metropolis.  But there is no enveloping urban theme, no integrated waterfront, not even many people out on the avenues enjoying city life, as in Sydney or Brisbane or Melbourne.  The wharf area could be an exciting place,  the elements are there, with its ferries and view over the bay.  But unlike the Circular Quay in Sydney, which pulses with excitement and motion and noise, it reminds me more of Cleveland ... in 1970.
     When we come back to Auckland in April to sell the van we'll have a good ten days at least to explore the city, and I'm sure my assessment will change drastically.   I'm writing this now because it will be interesting to see how my view of the city evolves.

A building on the wharf.  Could it be that the cloudy skies were an inspiration
for the architect, and may have affected our initial  feelings about Auckland,
especially after four sunny months in OZ? 

Fighting for a place among the crowd to stretch out

       We went to a nondescript food court in one of the unexceptional buildings in the city for dinner.  Reflecting the multicultural populace of the city, there was a wonderful choice of takeaway cuisines.  We split a meal from a Japanese counter and even had a couple NZ beers to go along with it.  It was inexpensive, tasty, and enjoyable, what more can you ask.

Yes, New Zealand  has Tim Tams and Tasty.  Kiwiland is going to be OK
(This photo doesn't really fit into the narrative, but I
had to put is somewhere. )

     On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we never left Ellerslie.
     Tuesday we took a test drive of a 1989 Toyota Townace minivan owned by an Irish guy living here in Auckland.  Then we walked over to the Ellerslie business area and bought a SIM card for our phone and a mobile internet stick for our computer.  For dinner we bought couscous and some fresh vegetables for a simple microwave meal in our room, accompanied by a very good bottle of NZ merlot.
     Wednesday we made a lot of calls and emails to other car owners, plotting out a plan of attack for Thursday to view as many vans as possible.  Then we had dinner at an Indian restaurant near our hotel, a fine night out, especially with the Indian music videos showing on a big flat screen TV.
    Thursday morning a Dutch guy and his father arrived at our motel for a viewing of a Nissan van that looked good but didn't meet our size requirements.  We had three or four places scattered around the metropolitan area to go, but after sitting down and reviewing our needs and desires, decided to call the Irish guy back and make an offer on his van.  By one o'clock we had our new wheels!  We got it for $2350 NZ, or about $2000 US, around 40% of what we paid for the LC.  Plus we shouldn't need to buy tires while we're here.  Now, if it's as reliable as the Landcruiser was, we'll be in luck!

1989 Toyota Townace.  It's got a small but mighty 2 liter turbocharged
diesel motor that goes runs like a top (I love hearing the faint whine of
the turbocharger kicking in).  The engine is mounted mid cab, in between
and beneath the two front seats.  

The rear seats can all go flat, and there's a lot of room inside.  Well, at least for
now.  We'll see when we try to stuff five people inside.

         So, it took us only about three and a half days, and we're ready to hit the road!  Next stop, the black sand beaches of the Tasman Sea on the coast west of Auckland.  New Zealand, here we come!