Have you ever anticipated a travel day that already felt exhausting when you awoke at 6:45? Happily, today was the opposite of that. First we said goodbye to Great Barrier Island (and Dean and Kylie--it's a tiny, one-room airport) before 9 am. 
Landed in Auckland at 10:30 in time for flat whites from the Airstream cafe.
Rolled out our backpack breakfast, hard boiled eggs and peppers.
Had a most capable taxi driver to Selwyn's, where the Rover awaited us (he was away on work).
Pause to consider the bloom of a bee-infested pohutukawa, aka NZ's Christmas tree
We drove directly to Stag 4x4, randomly arriving precisely at noon as arranged. They would make sure everything was in top form and then get the warrant of fitness (WOF) folks over to give us our decal.
Meantime, just a couple blocks away, our two other principal objectives lay side by side. Re-upping our AA (in the US AAA) membership and, at right, straightening out some online bank challenges at Bank of NZ.
Which this woman helped us with brilliantly. We also sent Kina Campers a deposit for the caravan we'll be traveling in starting March 28.
Back at Stagg, it was all good news. The Rover's running fine and we passed the WOF inspection. In 2017 we needed a part and spent a couple of lovely weeks in Auckland awaiting it. This time we gassed up and drove one-half kilometer to a hotel we'd scoped out, crashed out with cheese and figs, and made a coffee.
Art just said to me: I can't believe we got everything done today. We hope your day was as productive.
Happiness illustrated: origami animals made by a nice guy in a cafe on GBI
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