Day 2: Hunted. Gathered. Eaten.

"Where did you fly in from?"

"Sydney."

"Ah. Trying to escape the smoke."

This has been the refrain of the day, having received this response on three separate occasions. Now, I'm not saying they're wrong, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me dial back to where I left you.

The flight into Auckland was fairly uneventful and for a minute there I thought I was going to have the whole row to myself. Bliss.

Of course, that's just not the way the universe works and I was rewarded with a stressed-out mother with three children under 10. Bickering and vomit. That's what you get for being cocky! Plus, what you can't see in this photo is that I am the absolute last seat before the toilets, so much of the flight was spent with other people's butts in my face. So yes. Unturbulant but interesting.

I got into Auckland at midnight local time and hopped on the shuttle bus with a man wielding a ridiculously sized surfboard. It was quite the treat watching he and the bus driver trying to finagle it on board.

Nothing terribly exciting to report about the hotel.

This morning I was far too excited to get a move on so I was that annoying person waiting outside the van company before it was opened. An hour or so later (and the second smoke escaping comment of the day) everything was in order and I was taken out to meet my new travelling companion.

Just kidding!

Here's the fellow, let me introduce Frank. Wendy, Renae, and I have a long running understanding that any future camper van would be named Frank, so it's nice to finally meet him.

Frank isn't a big fellow, nor is he flashy, but he gets about well enough and that's all we're after.

Wanting to get all the errands out of the way nice and early, I went to the nearest Pack n' Save, which I had been informed was the cheapest place to stock up on some groceries. I'd compare it to an Aldi. I rather liked its bright demeanour.

My plan was to spend the afternoon at Shakespear Regional Park about an 90 or so minutes north so off I drove, very quickly remembering how much I enjoyed driving up so much higher. As I got closer I came across a Wendy's. Not an ice cream Wendy's, but the American food chain Wendy's. I have no shame in saying that I love a bit of pointless entertainment and have been loving the TryGuys series in which Keith eats everything on the menu, including one at Wendy's. So even though I have a no take out policy while away, I'm saying this doesn't count and you shouldn't judge for for breaking my rules on the second day.

I have no regret. It was the best chicken burger I've ever had and KFC needs to step it up.

I pulled over at Little Manly beach to eat my sneaky burger and have a little wander. I didn't stay too long because I knew I was further beach-bound, but it was pretty all the same.

From here it was only another ten minutes or so to the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and  Shakespear Regional Park. I visited the Open Sanctuary but didn't spot any kiwi out and about. The best part about the sanctuary was the view right at the top. Can you spot me in the photo?

See me? That's me in the air attached to that kite!

Who are we kidding, I was too busy trying to lure the sheep over to talk to me in their New Zealand accents.

Something I particularly appreciated about this spot was how much it recognised it's on beauty. I mean, it even framed itself.

I can appreciate that level of geographic arrogance.

Down the hill from this spot (in the opposite direction) was Orokomai Bay - one of the places I was most excited about visiting. Because in this bay you can collect your own cockles. I cannot for the life of me explain why I was so excited to do this, but when I read about it I was completely in.

There were a few people already at it when I arrived and they all looked fairly confident so in I waded. To very little avail. The guy to my left had already collected his whole allotment (50 cockles) and I couldn't find a one! What kind of hunter-gather am I if I can't even find a measly cockle? Staring down my enemies (the seagulls floating blithely by), I waded in further and continued my efforts.

Eventually (luckily, since this was my supper), I started getting the hang of it and, in a moment that filled me with pride and disproportionate self-worth, I even pulled out a handful in one go. It only happened the once, but I caught it on film so there's no denying my brilliance.

In preparation for this day, I had watched several videos on harvesting cockles (it looked way easier on Youtube) and then cooking them, so I headed to camp to feast on my bounty,

After letting them soak and filter and clean for an hour or two, and sparing a moment to admire them all over again -

- I steamed them and cookded them in a garlic butter sauce. And they were delicious.

Needless to say, I'm rather pleased with myself. Katie and Amy - I deserve more apocolypse-surviving-points please!


Animal Sightings:

• Sheep (as above)
• Cows
• a single horse
• cockles
• the cutest and super tame ducks at the campsite, but Bec says I'm not allowed to talk about ducks
• A HERD OF DEER. They were in a paddock and I didn't get a photo, but trust me, they were awesome.
• 2 teeny crabs who accidently came back in my cockle bag.

Daily Stats:

• Kilometres traveled: 129
• Times Sydney bushfires mentioned as a greeting: 3
• Number of dead kiwis* seen on side of road making me sad: 5
• Times I hit my head on the van: 1
• Minutes of hot water alloted in shower: 5
• Minutes of hot water received in shower: 0.5
• Days biggest win: the cockles actually tasting good after all that effort
• Days worst mistake: realising I needed a special power cord to use at the camp site and having to wind all the way back up the hill to go to Bunnings

*birds, not people