An early start today as our site was very basic but any port in a storm. Travelling South now towards Auckland we travelled along the coast,the countryside was still mountainous with vast sand dunes by the sea and plenty of inlets but too treacherous for boats. At one scenic spot where we stopped we got chatting to a NZ couple who when we bumped into them at the magnificent Kauri tree deep in the Waipoa forest invited us to a cup of coffee in their camper van. We tried to find a scenic spot for lunch but as luck would have it the best spot overlooking a beautiful inlet happened to be just in the middle of a new roadworks and contra flow being laid out. Before long we arrived at our campsite on the beach where we had stayed on our way up north. Sorting out one final load of washing before leaving for South Africa a young chap we had met with his girlfriend in Coromandel turned up too. 5 minutes later word got around that someone had backed into a tree and smashed their campervan's rear window. It was our new friend and so we soothed their nerves with the last of our beer and wine and stopped tales of India and Indochina. Consequently we finished our cleaning and packing much later than planned. Such is life!