My body clock woke me early and then as I tried to get to sleep an apparition appeared at the bedroom door - Elizabeth ! It was a sensible time to call Mum and Dad so that the girls could talk to them. Both sides enjoyed the conversation.

Breakfast at around seven of scrambled eggs on toast - yum. The girls then watchedd TV whilst we had coffee and sorted out. NZ kids TV is awful ! In fact NZ TV is pretty rotten in general.

We were due to be picked up at 9 but it was nearer 9:15 by the time the driver arrived. He then made some remark about the time it was taking us to get loaded up as he was late but given how quickly we moved all our stuff and two small children I think we did pretty well. The campervan rental site was near the airport so it took around 30 mins to get there and when we arrived we were shown inside to a nice reception area with a kids playroom. The girls played happily while we sorted out the paperwork. We went for the full insurance for about £300, not worth the risk of damage charges. Spent an age going through the van and checking it out, It is both very small and very large at the same time. It is about 6.5m long and 3.5m high.

Our first outing was to Foodtown at the airport and we stocked up on food for a few days and spend about $230. Included in the shop was some Speight's beer and lager. We had lunch from some fundraiser selling sausages. We then drove for an hour through Auckland to Orewa, to our first place to stay. The drive was not easy in terms of vehicle size but the directions we had were excellent and we found our way OK. The site we have is very busy with families and our pitch was on a busy corner. It is near the beach though. We arrived at around 3 and set to unpacking. I got grumpy and het up. However, by just after 4 Alex and I were on the beach. Alex then decided she needed a poo which came far too quickly so we had to do a toilet run. We then returned and were joined by Elizabeth and David. We all went wave jumping into a lovely warm sea, until both girls were splashed in the face and wanted out. I returned to the van and cooked Chilli con carne for dinner. David returned with very happy and very sandy girls. We then had dinner and are attempting to put the girls to bed. So far they are being resistant. I am sitting looking at the washing up while David reads his book, he will do them in a minute.