Almost out of the city

Hello mates, greetings from Auckland. We have moved out of the tiny hostel room and into our home on wheels. The other day we dropped the van off with this English bloke who custom built a platform for our mattress and made storage underneath, open the back and pull out a table and cook with a burner.
Our first camp spot was quite a crazy ride. We both almost lost our dinner winding up and down a dark mountain on narrow unlit roads. There were no rails and we could only imagine were we would land with one wrong turn. Finally after an hour of intense navigation up a mountain and down to sea level on the other side we stopped at a camper site. We payed the ten dollars and then the van wouldn't start! How could this be? Don't ask but it started up again to get us to our site. The next morning we took a walk to breath and pray for a miracle before trying it again.
The view of the ocean was amazing. This was a hot spot for surfers with a death wish. We would have enjoyed our stay more here if we weren't in such a rush to repair our van. It didn't start but fortunately kiwis are a handy breed and one then two came to our rescue. He surmised our battery was too small and came ajar on our bumpy ride. They gave us a jump and then detailed directions to a fine electrical mechanic. No problem getting there and repairing it.
We are making some progress. We have spent the past two night outside Auckland city on a farm. You pay five dollars and drive out into a field through gates to your choice of spots amongst the sheep, lambs, cows, horses and even an active peacock. We opened the back of the van pulled out our table and two coolers for seats and prepared a dinner. Our meals have consisted of soup and noodles washed down with some local red wine(no need to chill in the chilly bin) For lunch we have been picking up veggies and fruit. The sunsets are amazing and can't beat our view. There has only been two other campers in RVs near us at a fields distance. They have satellite TV we have a few good books and some trivia.
Early this morning we got the van looked at and got a clean bill of health. Tonight we stay at the same site and shower and eat. Tomorrow morning we get the van tinted in town. After that we are hitting the road and getting out of the city. We are going to the middle of the country, Routora, home of hundreds of natural hot springs and thermal pools. We are in an Internet cafe now using their computers next to local boys playing PC games. We have had trouble uploading pics but we'll fix that when we have more time. Trying to buy some bikes now to explore the North island, talk to everyone later. Thanks for reading. We will keep posting.