JAFAS again

I must apologise to my regular readers for the time between blogs but we are now in Auckland which means less of interest to travellers. I will keep up the blog spasmodically until we are on the road again later in the year.
After stopping at the Blenheim Railway Station to look for stickers and showing the bus off to some very envious campers in a Hi Ace we drove up to Picton where we had lunch on the foreshore near the Yacht club. As the batteries were low we ran the engine for an hour: a huge waste of fuel! We joined the queue for the ferry at 4pm and walked round to Subway to purchase tea. After we were loaded we discovered that Bluebridge could not receive television so we could not watch the Hurricanes v Waratahs Super 14 semifinal. The crossing was very calm and as soon as we drove off there were heaps of Wellingtonians ready to inform us that the Hurricanes had won. We drove to Parematta and spent the night at the domain there. On Saturday we visited Greg and Kate
Crow and their children Sarah and Emma. We went to swimming and saw Sarah have her lesson. Next night we spent at the Levin Motor Camp; a very tidy and clean spot for a reasonable cost - not cheap. Sunday morning it was on up the centre of the island through the desert road. There were just a few dirty bits of snow in sheltered areas. That night we stopped at the Tokaanu boat ramp. Monday we drove on to Te Awamutu to spend the night with Jan and Al. Next morning it was over to Morrinsville to Frank and Rita’s where we spent the night and reunited with our trailer. Wednesday we joined the rat race in the big smoke and stayed the night at Phil and Erin’s. She is looking really well. On Thursday I went across to Browns Bay and spent the day training at Ron’s business. Lorna was absolutely bored spending the whole day in the bus out the back of the group of shops. That night we spent at Long Bay Regional Park. I had to spend 40 minutes standing at the emergency intercom while the after hours operator tried to contact a ranger to give us permission to stay. Memo – make bookings in office hours!
Friday Mike went on the rum race with Maurice and had a ball in winds gusting up towards 30 knots. Saturday we shopped around a bit and visited Dave Robinson and Jean. Dave had had a forgettable few weeks; falling off a scaffold and breaking his leg badly so that he has not been able to work and then not being able to drive for a while. Mike will be helping him for the next few months. We then went back to the yacht club to watch the foggy football. On Sunday we moved in to the Takapuna Motor Camp so that Mike could look after North Harbour Hire for a week. I would love some feedback from anyone who is reading this as to whether they would be interested in further ramblings.