Sandspit:
We were headed south toward Auckland and decided instead to go back to Whangarei. The van is overheating at every long steep grade. Better get someone take a look at it. A trip to AutoTech turned up evidence that the radiator flow isn't flowing like it should. Price tag? $900 bucks! While we were waiting out the three day weekend I decided to pull the thermostat to see if it was corroded and to remove it if it wasn't. No worries. Someone already removed it. That means, they knew there was a problem before we bought it. During the time when the mechanic was evaluating it, he got grease on the seat and I transferred it to my last pair of shorts. The Pit Bull in me came out. I chewed his head off. JUST COVER THE DAMN SEATS! It doesn't take a f****** genius!

The weather over the weekend was just ghastly. I don't think I've ever seen it rain this hard outside of a tropical squall. Buckets and buckets and buckets... and blowing on top of it. It only rained like that for twenty four hours but the wind blew a near gale for four days. At least it was warm. Maybe 75/68? Just wait. We'll soon be on the South Island. Mother nature will have her revenge. I'll be Jones-ing for a wet June in Seattle. After almost four years of endless summer, I'm not looking forward to it. Know what I mean Verne?
Never did get the van fixed. We decided saving the $900 bucks would compensate for a few hours pulled over at the side of the road to let the engine cool off. Good thing because we learned something new today. We already knew that the NZ police can set up a road block and check you for almost anything anytime. No Constitutional probable cause protection here! "Get out the shootin' iron, Martha. Them Redcoats be a comin'."

Today's lesson was Diesel Miles. They're really kilometers but they're still mixed up over this Imperial/Metric thing. Instead of just taxing diesel at the pump, you have to buy Diesel Miles! You can buy them at any Post Shop (and register your car, etc.) for $40 a thousand miles/kilometers. We were six thousand miles/kilometers over. The van was over when we bought it so we paid for someone else's miles! Capital C-R-A-P.

Four hundred and change poorer, (no $700 ticket because we were dumb foreigners), we drove on into Warkworth and out to the Sandspit Holiday Park. This is a great little spot. The place is made up-with its several buildings looking like a street in an old town. Complete with antiques. If you're into collecting old farm equipment, come on down! It's laying around everywhere. There's lots to do in the area. A ferry goes to Kawau Island and Tiritiri Matangi Island, a wildlife refuge. Just up the road is Goat Island Wildlife Reserve. There is a boat trip from the mainland to either island. You can also swim or snorkel out to Goat Island, a hundred yards or so offshore.We stopped for lunch at a sawmill convertedto a brewery for lunch. Cute place with San Francisco prices.
I've been playing around with Flax. You see its use in its primitive form by the Maori and other Pacific peoples - used for everything from baskets and hats to fishing line and lashings for Wakas: giant fifty man and more Maori canoes. Believe me, the stuff is tough. I guess it can also be manipulated to be soft enough for clothes. I'm going to use it to make traditional fishing lures and to string shells. Maybe I'll get my face tattooed and...

New Zealand is having a raging flag debate. Half the country yells "Get the British Union Flag out of the corner!" The other half ranting "Keep it the way it is for old Mother England." Jeez, Get a flag of your own for crying-out-loud. Who wants to be known as an appendage to a faded colonial power? What kind of statement is that? Once they decide to change it, the debate will deteriorate into a squabble over design. Canada's flag leaves no doubt who they are. Neither does the U.S. Stars and Bars or Switzerland's big white cross or Japan's Rising Sun. Personally, I think they should get a map of the North and South Island with Stuart as the anchor and print it large - corner to corner on a blue background to represent the surrounding oceans The shape is distinctive. The message clear. "We are New Zealand. We are here!"

Hey! Speaking of maps, here's a supposedly authentic treasure map. Wm. Kidd was about the only Privateer/Pirate who ever buried any of his loot. Try finding it on Google Earth.