With this I conclude my countryside travels here in NZ…

I had been chasing wind to get some sessions of windsurfing in and stumbled onto this area just north of Auckland! Like so many other places in NZ, The Shakespeare regional park is a Nature Reserve. This is not a Freedom camp ground and a hefty 20 nz$ will give you a private beach, showers, clean toilets, fields to wander, birds singing and complete silence at night! Well worth the twenty bucks, I think!

During my evenings I’ve been reading “a Different Kind of Power”, an autobiography of Jacinda Ardern, one of the previous PMs of NZ! Well worth the read! She is an ordinary yet extraordinary woman, who was elected fortieth prime minister at the age of thirty seven, becoming the country’s youngest PM. Perhaps she is best known for reforming gun laws in just ten days, and therefore a hero in my eyes! All she wanted to be remembered for was her kindness.

As the evening approach, it sounds like I’m in a bird sanctuary. The swamp hens are chasing each other as the males might be competing for the only female. The lush hills, exotic plants and birds in the trees surround my van. I lay here reading a novel with all doors ajar. A bit chilly, but if I close my eyes, I get the sense I’m in a jungle.

A nice last evening in the van in New Zealand!

And now back to Auckland for two days …

On my way back I decided to stop at one of the parks in the outskirts of the city.

Seems like the government is working hard to protect NZ’s land, as well make sure children grow up with access to New Zealand’s nature!

Hard to believe I’m actually in Auckland, with this nature around me!

Goodnight…