pictures-of-newzealand.com » Travelogue New Zealand: Arrival in Auckland

Skip navigation

RucksackUseful

CampervanCampervan Tips

Travelogue New Zealand

previous previous – Overview – next next

Oct 14
Sat

Jetlag in Auckland, vehicle handover and one night in front of Foodtown

7 hrs later we land in Brisbane, Australia. It's sunny here and we are in high spirits: just one more take off and one more landing to get to New Zealand! After 4 take offs, 4 landings and 29 hours (24 hrs flight and 5 hrs stop overs) we've done the time warp and arrive in Auckland at 2.15 pm, completely out of it. We didn't get the NZ arrival card on the plane, so we have to fill it out at the airport before passing through customs. Fortunately the controls aren't as strict as we expected. Although we have a tent and hiking boots we get through quickly, they just ask for the condition of the outdoor equipment and neither unpack nor desinfect our bags. Now we “just” have to fetch our vehicle ;-)

The travel agency told us a Britz assistant with a name plate would be there to pick us up. There are many guys waiting with name plates but none for us. I try to call Britz on my cell phone, but for some reason it doesn't work. We seize the chance to buy the New Zealand Road Atlas and change our first Euros into NZ Dollars at the desk of the New Zealand Bank. Still nothing. I'm glad the airport is small and well arranged, and I go to have a look outside. There's no-one there either, but I figure out that Britz have their own desk at the airport, haha. The bus should arrive in a moment to take us to the vehicle handover. That goes smoothly then.

At the Britz station we have to wait again and then to get through the bumph. Our guide speaks with a lot of slang and doesn't care when we tell her we are not native English speakers and she also ignores our request to speak a little bit more slowly. Instead she tries to impose an additional insurance on us which we've already refused when booking the van. We ask ourselves why something like this has to happen when our only wish is to get some sleep. When it comes to the vehicle handover we don't get angry because we are just too tired. The “Britz Elite” doesn't look like it does in the leaflet where it seemed to be much more comfortable and cosy. This vehicle has been reduced to the most necessary. Nobody worried about making the journey comfortable for the customers, or for what might be useful for them on the way: 2 forks and 2 knifes counted, no tray, only two hooks. Well, it's just for the next 6 weeks.

But we hardly notice at the moment. We endure the explanations about the gas, water and power handling (though we only get half of it), pack our bags in and get started. Driving on the left for the first time after being without sleep for about 45 hours and having wicked jetlag, yeeeha! Lesson: That's a stupid thing to do. If we do the trip again, we'll have a stop over in Australia and we won't rent a Britz vehicle!

The street map we got from Britz turns out to be useless, some streets are simply not on it. So we don't make it to the campground, but stay at the parking lot of the nearby Foodtown supermarket. We want to buy some food supplies and other stuff we need here anyway. We're glad we've arrived without having an accident, walk through the supermarket like zombies and decide to buy just the most necessary stuff today. After a snack we make up the bed and sleep for 12 hours without a break until 9 o' clock the next morning.

previous previous – Overview – next next

We're here!

Sponsored Links