As I am lying here, in the back of Timmy the Motorhome with a view of the beach, there is no other way than feeling our trip has just now entered Chapter 1 proper. The last week could be considered prolog, but in life – everything counts, nothing is extra. So let me tell you a bit about the rest of our first week in New Zealand.
We arrived on Thursday morning, as evidenced in our first post. By Saturday, we had pretty much settled in: All paperwork done, accounts reactivated and a motorhome purchase completed. Shoutout to Hennie, who was very supportive and patient with his personal “scammer” buying a pretty expensive vehicle for the most part remotely from Germany.
Sunday was a slow day for all of us, most of all me with the obligatory plane-pest now all the way at the fever stage. Nina: The kids and I still spent some time in Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Center on this Sunday.
So as Monday came round, it was time to direct our focus towards this place. Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. We decided to use the day to make good on Number 3’s birthday present and took the bus to MOTAT – the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland. He absorbed every minute of it, from opening time at 10am till the doors closed. The Agent of Entropy was less impressed but got distracted enough by some craft opportunity as part of the Auckland Anniversary Day weekend program. Her real highlight was the daring deeds to be had on the playground afterwards.
Tuesday was all preparations, getting Timmy ready for the road. It never ceases to amaze us that the unwritten NZ tradition when trading used goods seems to be that the buyer will clean. Nina: I on the other hand used the morning to get acquainted with the laudromat to do some proper washing of everything.
I was a bit high on isopropyl alcohol and glue (from fixing some sag in the headliner in the luton) when we met friends Elle and Nick in the afternoon. As perfect coincidence had it, Elle works at the Auckland Maritime Museum, so Number 3 got to see the Black Magic and America’s Cup replica first hand.
It was brilliant to catch up with old friends after 10 years. Things change, things stay the same, but everyone has a distinct memory of the covid years.
And so Wednesday came around. Nina’s first day at work and the reason (among others) why we are in New Zealand in the first place. So while she got real work done, thanks to amazing support from the Auckland Art Gallery staff, I got to play stay-at-home dad and took the little ones on a day hike up Maungawhau (Mt. Eden). The cafe up there was the perfect lunch spot. In my view, the view from the caldera beat spending over 100$ on the SkyTower any day. The Agent thought less so for all the walking up and down hill it entailed.
And so, we end our settled ways, sleep one more night at our AirB&B with Timmy ready to go tomorrow …
Even after a brief shower, the trampoline remained their favourite “toy”
A modell house as a piece of art in a park
Public transport in Auckland, easy to use with the AT Hop card!
“Get off the road….ahm tram tracks!”
The only car that wasn’t fenced off
There were different stations with things to try for kids during the school holidays. Here quilt writing
Then using letters to stamp words
A piece of slate and chalk to write on it
We love MOTAT!
Surprise ride through the ground in an EV making firefighter sounds
The AoE enjoying the ride
Making your own pattern at the quilt challenge
the most pretty pout
watching the blacksmith hammering out a few nails
cool logo, obsolete teach
Thats half of the planes in MOTATs hangar
ready for take-off
she loved the radio … it had a base station at the other end
#3 made it onto the board … quite happy
The Agent needed some hair taming
The seats flip over, so you can choose which orientation to sit in or where to from groups
the locomotive changed over to the front after every leg
our goodbye after the ride
Two adventures, daring
We took the route through the park instead of the historic tram back to the busstation
Every free second was spent here for the kids
well … needs must
perfect to kill the time
AT Metro bus – kids are a big fan of the doubledeckers
There are 10 year old pictures of us on this blog with the same building in the back
AC replica from new Zealands first victory and the winning boat Black Magic in the back
Number 3 signaling in morse
Artwork on our way to a food court with a great selection
Number 3 checking out the skilled ferry captains docking while we catch up with Nick and Elle
First shot of Timmy – 2 days in. Sign of how dazed we still are
Despite arriving super late last night, we had managed to get a super nice campground. Flo made his round this morning, talking to other campers. Our neighbours helped us out with the hole in our tent (happened yesterday while putting up the tent in the dark) and then Flo came across Rick and Sylvie from https://www.instagram.com/seitert2sydney/
We talked and they knew people we know so…it was a very pleasant conversation. 🙂 Good luck on your travels!
Afterwards, we drove the 15km back to the cute town of Arahova which we’d passed last night. Had great lunch with local home-made pasta, a first since we’ve arrived in Greece.
Checked out the archaelogical site in Delphi where the oracle could be consulted. Back early to the same pretty campground to enjoy the view, the pool and some baklava.
This fella belonged to a dutch couple in a beefed up jeep at the start of an overland adventure – they helped us out when I ripped the tent
So cool to meet fellow travelers – they knew our friends Peter and Leonie from the discover overland meetup last year – all the best to you!
A lady with a mission – it’s lunch time
Detail of Arachova
The town was lined with three things: Cafes. restaurants and gift shops with local wares
Divine lamb shank and noodle dish, the Agent agrees
The veggie side of the table was also quite happy
Off the main drag, it was all cute angles and narrow alleys
Exploring the back alleys
alwas get your exercise in
they dragged us in and begged for baklava – and got it 😉
Second LP cover number one has tracked down
Tholos Athene – we are not quite sure what this was for, originally
starting the track up the hill in Delphi, as the pilgrims did
The navel, once assumed the geographical center of the greek world
If my usual experience is right, all it says is that john owed james 7 goats …
It once had a solid gold figure on top … got looted, obviously. But they kindly left the bronze pilar
This is the site of the ancient oracle, where young lasses were forced by weird old men to huff some stuff and get all prophetic
The view down from the Delphi amphitheater
remaing pillars of the Apollo temple
The one treasury rebuild in Delphi. funded by the Athenian Council. Imagine this stacked to the roof with gold and loot
We passed through Arachova yesterday night, looked quaint, so we went back for the daytrip
This once topped a huge pillar, one of many show off pieces dedicated by a greek city state
The remaining marbles frizes from the temple, in the museum as usual
gold is so unique, the way it withstands all blemish over the ages. The black bits were shining white, once …
She was frustrated with her progress learning to use the swing – so she taught herself swinging standing up instead …
Back at the very lovely Delphi Camping site
Our kids talked us into buying half a kilo of baklava
Dream spot for a pool, just a little bit …
… too cold fro some
The view from the pool deck
Nina made new friends – and got a picture taken. I have no idea about the circumstance here 😀
We’ve had a great time here in Högsbyns with our extended stay. However, our holiday is almost over as we can count down the days on one hand now. We made fast progress with packing and were almost ready to hit the road…when Flo managed to talk up our neighbours again. Our kids had briefly played with Oskar yesterday so today, he had no qualms about hanging out. At some point his father came by and Flo got into a serious conversation about travelling. It’s always good to meet fellow travellers’ and, due to the pandemic, none of our usual meet-ups had happened. So we were quite starved for this kind of conversation.
Number 3 checking out the jumpstart cables on our car
Once we were completely packed up, we stayed maybe another 20 minutes. I took the garbage out and when I returned, Flo already looked embarrassed and a little stressed. From far away, he called “Don’t hurry, the tiny battery is flat again”. Oh right, I had completely forgotten about this as it hasn’t happened on this trip so far. Once we camp somewhere for more than a night, we have to deliberately recharge our tiny 12 volt battery through having our car “running” or risk a flat battery. Obviously, Flo had forgotten that this is a problem (and might have left an interior light on). So it took us another, I don’t know, 45 minutes (?) to first ask our neighbours, then try a motorbike battery and then have Jan, the owner of the campground, drive his ancient Passat to our car to give us a jump start. Of course, we were somewhere on the hillside where no regular campervan would could go to help out. Oh well. Apart from the time loss and me trying to keep calm, this flat battery didn’t do any harm.
Lunch time! So happy!
Today, we had planned a visit to one of the Unesco World Heritage Sites to look at Bronze Age stone carvings. Since we started the day so late, we got to the place and raided the cafe “Bronze” first to satiate our hunger. The lunch menu included fika aka coffee/tea and cookies which I found extremely satisfying. The little museum explaining things about Bronze Age culture here and the carvings and also the connectedness of the European world at that time was really cool. It had great gimmicks to keep the kids engaged and occupied before we took a hike to see carvings. Well, you pass the playground first so we had to pretend to be on an ocean voyage for a bit. 🙂
Unesco World Heritage listed rock carvings from the Bronze Age
The hike was pleasant but overshadowed by a little pain. I had gotten many mosquito bites on my ankle and it turned out that I am also allergic to Swedish mosquitoes as well, so they all swelled up to ridiculous size and made walking itchy and painful. Plus, Number 3 was tired and not up for a lot of walking. Once we got to the site, it was cool to see the carvings but they also looked incredible fake to me. As if someone had painted them here yesterday. It’s a disputed restoration choice that the carvings have been painted in a deep red tone. It makes them incredibly visible but also looks as if they’d been done recently. All the wear and age of the place seems gone.
A cairn also known as a pile of rocks
We hiked up to a cairn, which was as far as Number 3 was willing to go. Up there, he started to complain a lot and even fell down unfortunately. With a scratch on his palm, he started crying. Our saviours came in the form of a cookie monster plushy. A boy and his family hiked up as well and he had his cookie monster in the hood of his sweater. He then even entertained Number 3 and the Agent with a little cookie monster impersonation and shared his cookies with our kids! Munching happily even the walk back to our car was doable.
Our little gourmet ordered macarons
Another short ride later, we stopped in a village on the west coast called Fjällbacka. It’s only 80km from here to Oslo and somehow, it also starts to look Norwegian already. The village is famous for Ingrid Bergman having spend her summers here in retreat. It’s a cute place with wooden houses, right at the sea – a little bit of a resort feeling but them we didn’t stand out too much in our outdoor gear either. We got here just in time for our second fika in a cafe. The Agent was naughty, again, as she now started to pour out every drink in her cup right onto herself or the ground to see what happens. It was only water but it still is annoying. Especially when she then started complaining that it’s getting cold.
We strolled down the main road but then decided we were better off buying some things for dinner in the supermarket and start driving towards Göteborg. Tomorrow, for our last real day in Sweden, we want to spend another day in the city.
Fully stocked up, we drove along the coast, checking out potential free camps. At some point, we came across a basic “ställplats” which had everything except for drinking water. It even offered electricity so we put up the tent and stayed for the night.
Number 3 checking out the jumpstart cables on our car
Getting the bloody car out of the hillside!
Lunch time! So happy!
Sharing is caring. Especially if both kids like salmon
Someone’s been eating with her whole face again
Chilling for coffee
Tea for mama and watermelon for the kids
Boss baby
The Agent let loose in the museum
Hello hello?!? Unfortunately, those were only available in Swedish
The Agent reading up on common causes for death in the Bronze Age
“Kid 4 died of …” The Agent is way too happy about this
Flo reading all the signs and the Agent climbing on top of things
The sun, drawn across the sky by a horse
The carpet was a map of Europe with the trade routes marked. Both kids went mental in here
Playground vikings
Crossing a stream on the way to the rock carvings
Unesco World Heritage listed rock carvings from the Bronze Age
Up the ladder towards the cairn
A cairn also known as a pile of rocks
We arrived in Fjällbacka
with its charming wooden cottages
On the way to the cafe, looking towards the docks
Our little gourmet ordered macarons
While the Agent didn’t really enjoy her croissant
She liked my kladdkaka much better
Right by the sea
View towards the village and the rocky cliff right behind it
View back along the pier
Such a pretty village!
Right to the end before we turned around
Pretty back road along the coast
Passing inlets…
…and horses
Camp for the night at the ställplats with electricity
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