We are currently in Whangarei getting some work done on our vehicle.

This is an article I wrote recently.

GULLIBLE’S TRAVELS                                                                              by Lyndsay Lockie

There are some very creative and humorous names among New Zealand’s growing armada of 

motorhomes, which sparked an on-going conversation between Lockie and I over what to call 

ours.He suggested ‘Gullible’s Travels’ as a joke, but it seems more true than funny now. One 

campervan parked at Whangarei’s wonderful motorhome parking space by the new bridge is called

Living the Dream. It left me wondering if we should call ours Living the Nightmare. Appropriate but too depressing. Jinxed has a certain ring to it.

As adventuresome baby-boomers reaching retirement age, a year on the road held appeal. We’d always wanted to see our country while we were still fit enough to enjoy it and since we couldn’t afford a top of the line rig, we searched for a deal to suit our budget.

We set out full of joie de vivre on Christmas Eve 2015. True, our 18 year old 25 foot Wildwood fifth wheel caravan with1992 diesel Isuzu Elf tow truck was a bit of an ugly duckling compared to the fabulous rigs parked around us each night, but we were happy with traditional, and didn’t think old equalled stuffed. After all we’re no longer young ourselves and we think we’ve got a bit of mileage in us. The fact that her previous owners had lived aboard for eleven years meant they’d sorted out all the wrinkles, I thought. If they could do it surely we could.

The first sign that things had got off to a bad start occurred before we left home. A broken leaf spring had to be replaced at a cost of $1400. Having recovered from that we headed up to Rays Rest at Miranda and enjoyed watching the godwits and the sunsets. Then to the Auckland Folk Festival, an annual treat. On the way south we detoured to Pukekohe to dump and fill our water tanks. We had forgotten to lock the van door which flew open as we rounded a tiny round-a-bout resulting in a bent road sign. We managed to park in a funeral parlour car park (no funeral in progress) to check the damage. Our ‘unbreakable’ glasswear plates had fallen out and broken into a thousand pieces. We now have plastic.

Then, on one of our early forays to places unknown, we had a break-in while parked outside a friend’s property in Kawhia. Our presence had been noted by some locals who made the most of their opportunity when we went out for tea. We came back to find an uninvited guest sitting in a car parked outside our van with the motor running. Our van door hung open and we watched open mouthed as a young dude stepped out holding Lockie’s prized guitar, to slip like a shadow in the night into the back seat of the getaway car. They sped off with a spray of metal before we could gather our thoughts to figure out what had just happened. The glass in the van’s door had been smashed allowing the thief to reach in, split open the fly screen and open the door. We also lost my laptop computer but getting the door fixed and a new security screen proved to be the biggest problem. Thank goodness for insurance.

A few teething hassles with our rented house kept us tied to Rotorua for weeks, but we finally escaped to Paeroa and the very friendly Paeroa RV Centre, one of our favourite places to rest up and have lovely hot showers in clean facilities.

Blessed with a wonderful late summer and autumn, we could not resist a quick trip to the Coromandel. We figured it must have been fifteen years since we were last there. Why had we left it so long? Coro is a short trip from Rotorua and the roads are good these days. A night at a free stop overlooking the Tairua estuary brought back memories. Tairua might have grown a little but it’s a stunning spot with the roiling sea on one side and the estuary on the other. A storm was brewing, so to avoid it we headed to Whitianga next day, up a steep and winding hill. The Isuzu truck was proving to be a tuff little Trojan. She might be slow but she was as determined as the little train that could. One driver decided he couldn’t bear to sit behind us any longer and managed to zip past on a narrow bend, taking our front bumper with him and wrecking an indicator light. He didn’t bother to stop. Travelling behind, I almost drove over the bumper lying on the road. We managed to get a part in Thames, but the bumper is still taped on.

On our way to Auckland the aluminium skin began peeling back from the right hand side of the van. I pulled up to see Lockie risking his life by standing on a ladder to screw it back on. This has not added to the beauty of the van since he has had to bog it up with plastic filler to stop water getting in. A proper repair job awaits.

We had been warned that getting the Certificate of Fitness for these rigs can be difficult and this has proved to be true. We are currently parked up in the Whangarei town basin and have been through VTNZ five times. They still haven’t passed our brakes. We think we’ve got it sorted now after a paying a couple of large bills for bearings for the truck and new brake shoes on the van. We’ve learned a lot. Apparently American fifth wheels are renowned for having problems with the electric braking system and some owners have installed hydraulic brakes to avoid hassles every time COF time comes around. At least we are safe for another six months.

It’s been a rocky road, and I sometimes wonder if we should have played safe and stayed home.

But when I think of all the adventures we’ve had in the past eight months, and all the wonderful people we have met, I know it’s been worth it in spite of the hassles. We are really living, and any adventure is risky. It’s a case of managing the problems and having fun every day.