The drive north from Wellington was pretty dull, apart from the shopping break at Otaki, because our aim was simply to cover as much ground as possible. Katy's dad was getting married to Jan in Russell on Valentine's Day and we needed to get there a few days beforehand. We broke our journey overnight at Cambridge and then continued on the next day through Auckland to a nice little campsite on the beach at Takapuna.

Katy had chosen to stay there because it was her birthday (I daren't reveal which one) and she hoped to spend the afternoon sunbathing. Unfortunately, it was overcast so the only celebrating we did was to buy her a tennis ball (she has this thing about throwing and catching - sad, I know) and have a couple of small ones in a Belgian beer bar.

While at the site, I noticed another van from the same company as ours - recognisable only by the fixtures and fittings because they have no logos. While on a trip to the kitchen to get something (probably a beer) I started talking to the occupants, a British couple called Spencer and Kelly.

It turned out that it was their first day in New Zealand, though they had been in Thailand and Japan previously as part of a six-month trip which would eventually take in Australia and India. They were doing all this despite the fact that just two days before departure from the UK, Kelly had found out that she was pregnant! She was looking forward to telling her firstborn that he or she had travelled most of the way around the world before they were even born.

After Takapuna we hit another Icebreaker outlet shop near Albany (I won't bore you with more details, suffice it to say that we reached the 30% extra discount) before soon arriving at another beachside resort, Orewa. Our campsite was pretty much on the beach and quite cheap for a Top 10 site, but the main reason for staying there was that Jan's son, Stefan, lives in Orewa with his wife, Gemma.

Pete and Jan had arrived there the day before and came down to see us and inspect our spacious living quarters. I think they thought our van was ok - but glad that we were living in it rather than them! It started to rain, so the four of us were crammed inside for a while - Pete and Jan on the thinly-padded 'sofa' and Katy and me perched on the floor.

Relief came when we all headed off to Stef and Gemma's place, which was on a hill above the town. Stef returned from work a short while later and not only broke out the drinks, but fired up the barbecue on the decking. It wasn't a case of 'putting another prawn on the barbie' because that's an Australianism, but we were well stuffed with steak, chicken legs, sausages and veggie burgers.

Stefan also revealed that Gemma was pregnant - Pete and Jan already knew but had kept quiet - though this was something that Katy and I had already suspected. Shame that our ESP doesn't extend to the lottery.

Richard