Van Life Begins | New Zealand Road Trip

We had one full day in Auckland before we picked up our campervan and began our van life adventure. On this day we clocked up our step count and enjoyed seeing the city intuitively, turning down streets that looked interesting, seeing where the day, and our feet, took us.

The first place we found ourselves was out for coffee. We had large mugs of oat cappuccinos and flat whites and watched as a tiny bird flew around the cafe. Then we headed out, initially thinking we were going towards Mount Eden. But I'd gotten my sense of navigation confused and we ended up at the harbour, which was  a very scenic detour. The water was dazzling, so bright and clear for a harbour. We could also see out to Islands in the distance, and looked at our digital maps, trying to figure out which we were looking at.

We walked back through the city, exploring small lanes and cute bookshops. We made our way gradually to Mount Eden via some tree climbing in the parklands and wandered through grasslands until we found the path to the top. Mt Eden (Maungawhau) is a mountain with a large crater which is sacred to Maori people. The summit is a stunning natural viewpoint where you can look out at the Auckland city skyline and also over the suburbs, in 360 degrees.

After we descended, we were low on energy and decided to refuel with an ice cream. This gave us the energy to make our way to Mission Bay, where we changed into swimwear and despite the cool wind, ran into the ocean. We spent a while swimming with the beautiful view of Rangitoto Island across the choppy waters. It was blue with the distance, before an overcast sky. When we got out of the water we shivered, but we were delighted with the first of our New Zealand swims.

We made dinner at our hostel that night and watched the first half of the first Lord of the Rings film. I had never seen any of the movies, but we were about to embark on a roadtrip where we would experience many locations from them. It felt only right to have a little context. 

The next morning we met Bertha. Our home for the next few weeks was a three berth hi top van which we rented through Barefoot Campers / Scotties. I actually booked through Ratpack travel, a company who have contracts with campervan rentals across Australia and New Zealand which allow you to get discounts to online prices. This took some of the stress out of searching and comparing on our own.


Bertha came with almost everything we needed for a camping trip. Linens, crockery, camp chairs and table, gas stove, and more. Esme took the first turn at the wheel, a duty which the two of us would share throughout the trip. The van was an automatic, which made it pretty smooth to get used to. It was just big, particularly in height. 

Our first trip in the van was north to Goat Island. We had a deadline to be back in Auckland to pick up Eve early evening, but for now we had a day to enjoy. The drive wasn’t too long, and when we reached the town of Leigh, we found a snorkel hire shop and went in to enquire.

They let us know that with the wind, the conditions weren’t the best for snorkelling, but if we were confident swimmers we could still go out there, see some cool stuff, and have a good time. We decided we ‘d have a crack at it. You can’t land on Goat Island itself, but there is a beautiful belt of reef and wildlife between the mainland and the island. Zipped into wetsuits, snorkels tightened, flippers flopping, we headed onto the grey sand that led into the choppy, grey sea. It definitely isn’t the image I picture when I think of snorkelling, but we plunged in anyway. Once we’d made it past the breaking waves, we could quite comfortable snorkel on the surface. After a few moments of adjusting to the rhythm, our eyes began to pick up on the array of underwater life.

We saw several different types of fish. Some had stunning red stripes, others had spots. Esme pointed out a ray that was keeing close to the bottom of the ocean and we followed it a while. The most obvious though, before those, were the translucent single celled organisms we’d been told about back at the hire shop. The ocean was filled with salp. They look like jellyfish, but are harmless. At least, they can’t hurt you intentionally and they have no ability to sting. But as we swam, we found large swarms of them, their translucent bodies containing a single purple dot. Sometimes the small balls clung together in long chains, but broke apart at touch. Swimming at speed, it was like being pelted with balls of plastic. At times all I could see were the white blurs of passing salp. When Esme burst above the surface, there were a pile on her head. 

After an hour or so of snorkelling, we swam back to shore. Once our flippers and snorkels were off we felt so light, and I dived back in for another swim. The salp became even thicker, though. When we left for good it was squished through Esme’s hair and when I peeled off my wetsuit I found them squashed against my skin. We pressed the button on the outdoor shower and froze when no water would come out. I looked at Esme and the clear flesh of salp tangled in her curls. We needed a shower, and soon. We went back to the dive shop with our salp squished snorkel gear. I’d seen a beach on the map further south, and they confirmed there was a shower there. We just hoped it would be working. 

We drove on to Matheson beach. It was gorgeous. Opposite to where we’d just been, the conditions were great for snorkelling! The water was blue and clear and still – and not a salp in sight. The sun had even come out down there! Most importantly, we found the shower, and when we pressed the button… it was working. It was a team effort to scrub Esme’s hair and remove the clumps of salt that were stuck in her hair. It wasn’t a perfect job, their bodies squished and slid in our grasp. But after ten minutes or so, there was a lot less caught in her hair. We dived into the ocean to feel truly clean – bathing in bodies of natural water would become routine for us. So we remained salty afterwards, but considerably less salpy. 

When we returned to Auckland to pick up Eve, we were already exhausted by one days’ adventures. But we were also exhilarated, and ready for more.

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