Dawn,
wow what a start to your trip you had, not an ideal introduction to your great adventure, but at least you have something to look back on!! We thought about hiring a campervan for our initial wanderings, but decided against in when we realised we would be very much cooped up with our little monsters for a couple of weeks in mid-winter!! Sounds like you did a very similar North Island road trip to us, its just wonderful to see the huge contrasts in the landscape isnt it? I miss the extremes of scenery, but I appreciate the English countryside a lot more too now.
I hope that you manage to get some R&R now you have "settled" in one place for a while - Taffy and WG are fab aren't they? Only met them briefly when they came over for a cup of tea, but they both seemed so friendly and down-to-earth. Good luck with the house-hunting, and hope that any job-hunting that you and Gary do works out well for you all too.
OK right I promise I shan't mention I'm just about to make an
apple crumble.......you are going to hate that fruit by the end of this thread!!
Think Poppy needs to know that an apple a day might keep the doctor away but it sure doesn't keep NZ Customs staff away!!!
Best wishes to you all
Maggie and family xx