02 Jan 04 - 13th day in New Zealand - Direct Tui returns
Today, I awoke in Pukehina which is just 20 to 30 km east of Tauranga. This was probably my least favorite motor camp. Compared to the others, it feels dingy. Indeed, the men's bathroom reeks of urine and the woman who rented the space to me told me that their system is that you get in the shower and press the button and you get five minutes of hot water.
When I arrived last night, I talked to the folks beside me in the camp and they seemed more red-neck than anyone I've met thus far in New Zealand. In short, this was not my favorite camp. But, no matter, I'd had a very long day driving and it was a good place to sleep.
After I awoke and made coffee and ate my muesli, I packed up everything in preparation for turning in the van later today in Auckland. I was a bit of a struggle to fit everything back into my suitcase but I finally accomplished it and I was off about 0930.
By 1030, I was in Tauranga and I found my way to the gate of the Sulfur Point docks where the Direct Tui will be docking later today. At first I was going to ask how to get to the Seaman's Mission where I was going to see if they would hold my larger bag until I could return from dropping the van in Auckland. But, after I explained all of this to the guard at the gate, he said he'd be happy to let me store my bag there in the guard shack and he'd leave a message for night shift guard. That worked well for me and I knew it would be safe there so I dropped the larger bag and only took my laptop case with me to Auckland.
From Tauranga, I headed up Hwy 2 towards Auckland. I knew that on the map it would merge into Hwy 1 and that, in turn, would take me right into Manukau City which was very close to the Tui Campervan people. This was the same route as the bus I road followed when it took me into Auckland the first time from Tauranga to pick up the van.
All along the road, I kept seeing things here and there that I remembered from my first pass through. This fence, that store, the other building and some ad or other.
After
sometime, I came to Paeroa which is where we stopped and ate lunch the first
time. I wasn't impressed then but this time I got to drive myself
into the true downtown area and it was quite interesting. Lots of
nice sidewalk cafes and antique stores. I parked and walked up and
down for a bit and finally settled on a small restaurant called The Lazy Fish.
I had Calamari de Corsica and it was quite good. If I haven't
mentioned it, I love dining outside in sidewalk cafes when he weather is nice.
After I ate, I walked and looked into various antique shops still hoping I might find a little right hand side drive tow truck for Gene Whiteside. At the fourth shop, just when I was thinking I was not going to find one, I did. A cute little Tonka with the steering on the right side for $18NZ. I took it and didn't even quibble over the price. I think the fellow was a bit surprised that I came in and bought the truck right off and was interested in nothing else.
Time was now weighing on my mind. I didn't want to get into Auckland too late as I still wanted to arrange transport back to Tauranga that night. So, I jumped back on the road and began to push again.
Once the Hwy 2 merged into Hwy1, I was back on the road I'd driven out of Auckland on when I was a newly minted right hand side driver. That was back when I was gripping the wheel with a fear based death grip - wondering every second if something was about to happen that was going to make me get in an accident because I wasn't used to driving on the left side of the road with the steering wheel on the right. I didn't seem to remember much of the scenery along that road.
Finally, after what seemed a long time, I arrived in Manukau City and got off the Hwy. Once there, I thought I could 'fake' my way to the car rental place but ten minutes later, I knew that was a bogus idea. I stopped once for directions at a small convenience store. I thought I understood the directions but after another ten minutes, the evidence was against me again.
Next, I spotted three Sikh taxi drivers sitting talking beside their taxis and I thought if anyone would know, these guys would. I parked and walked over with my map and asked them if they could help. Well, that was very interesting to watch the process. They talked a long time amount themselves and then one of them ventured to give me directions and then one of the others disagreed and another long round of quiet and amicable exchange began. I liked the feeling of these fellows and I felt very comfortable to wait and watch while they sorted it out. More directions were forthcoming where were a variant on the first set. Finally, there seemed to be consensus that one of these sets would work and I thanked them an departed. I think, had there been time and a reason to have stayed and to have engaged them in general conversation, it would have been a most interesting experience.
So, off I went following the second set of directions. After several turns which presented themselves as expected, a left turn proved impossible because the street simply didn't go through. Luckily, the first set of directions was congruent with the second up to this point, so I transitioned to the first set and pressed on. After a few more turns and a period of wondering if I was where I was suppose to be, things cleared up and I knew where I was.
A few more blocks and the Tui Campervans place came into view. Bill, the fellow I'd rented the van from back on the 21st of December was there. We looked over the van together and he gave me back the bond credit card imprint to tear up. Everything seemed to be in good order. it felt strange to give up the vehicle. I'd been through a lot with it over the last two weeks.
I told Bill that I wanted to make my way back to Tauranga and he volunteered to make some calls for me, which was very nice of him. The first place he called was the same bus company I'd come from Tauranga to Auckland on back on the 21st. They were a no-go as they were off on holiday. He pulled out the phone book and called several more with negative results. I was beginning to get worried and i was thinking maybe I'd made a bad judgment coming into Auckland at 3 PM on a Friday thinking I could get back to Tauranga that same day.
Finally, he called a place called Call-A-Bus and they said they were making a
run to Tauranga which was leaving Auckland at 6 PM and, yes, they could pick me
up at Manukau City sometime around 6:20 or 6:30.
This
would put me into Tauranga at 9:30 or 10:00 PM. Cost was $50 which I was
quite happy with, considering my alternatives. Bill locked in the
reservation and we talked a bit more and then he drove me over to the Manukau
City shopping center in the van I'd just returned (strange to be in the
passenger seat) to wait until the bus came. I made particularly sure
that I knew just where the bus was going to expect to meet me for the pickup.
Going to the Manukau City shopping center to wait was a very deja vu experience as this is exactly what I'd done back on December 21st when I had to wait for the van to be readied. The energy in the center was a bit different as it was now past Christmas whereas before, the Christmas rush had been present.
I ended up waiting at the bus stop for hours. There was some problem with the van getting out of Auckland. Eventually, it did come, however. During the wait, I saw a number of folks come and go from the bus stop and I watched a purse snatching unfold. First time I've seen the seamier side of city life up close here in New Zealand. It was after 9 PM by the time I got back to the ship. A long day, indeed. As I recall, I went by John's cabin and borrowed two beers from him and chatted for awhile.