Auckland – Welly

I did my Class 2 course on the Saturday but after waiting for over an hour in a que to get the physical license, I was declined because I didn't have photo ID with me. It's really stupid because I had to give them my drivers licence a week earlier to get my Class 2 learners. Luckily by chance I had my passport with me in Auckland and there was a AA office open on Sunday. With my licence finally sorted on Sunday morning I managed to head off as planned.

I did another short drive with John (previous owner) before seeing me off and tanking up. From there it was straight onto the motorway heading south. John and Lesley followed for a bit to see I got over the Bombay Hills and then waved me off. It took a bit getting used to how wide the bus is but it was fairly easy going on the Highway.

The bus has a bit of pep in her, no issues getting up hills and easily goes over 100k although for the majority of the trip I stayed under 90k at the legal speed.

I stopped off in my old home town Taupo for a break, and again in Turangi and Bulls for dinner to break up the drive. I finally made it home at about 9pm in the evening so it was a big day on the road.

I managed to do the whole trip on a single tank (I'm still to find out how big the tank is) with a quarter to spare. I got to test out the air breaks which was a first for me and use all the low and high gears, also the diesel heater while going over the desert road.