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Old 5th March 2014, 18:00   #91
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

Quote:
Originally Posted by khoj View Post
Sir jee, could not see the jet boat! But what beautiful vistas
Khoj: The boat was not clear, my zoom was not enough, will upload another video with a red jet boat soon.... the next few days would differentiate my T Log form all others, the route, the places and choices are not the garden variety and offers one of the best New Zealand has to offer.

Keep on with the story..... good to heave readers!

==========

The next 3 days that we did, is very important for Indian Tourists as many package tours DO NOT do this route, tourists in a hurry with just 5-10 days miss out this altogether or awareness about the route is not there. The reason we discovered this route is the long pending desire to visit Burt Munro’s Place, Invercargill and his museum, has been a fan of him for a long long time, use his film Worlds Fastest Indian for many of my training programmes as a motivator, a must see film. Burt Munro’s record on his bike at Salt Lake, Utah, USA still stands! He was an inspiring man in many ways.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412080/

15-11-2014 – Te Aneu to Invercargill thro the SSR, 180 kms about 2 and half hours, but with stops we were planning on 3+. Got up at 7, had coffee on the lookout in the front with a view to the lake. The lake was like a slate of glass, the taxi plane was there, so were the boats. Was one heck of a scene to have coffee from, the temp was around 7.

Check out at 0830, fuel up and pick up packed lunch / brunch from Solgoes, the Indian takeaway, Vada and fruits for breakfast and Upma and vada’s, boiled Eggs and milk for lunch!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Solge...11361395620822

Having enjoyed the power of the Corolla, Anu was not willing to let go of the wheels, with her old Hindi Songs, she was thoroughly enjoying the drive, it was a nice feeling for a change to be driven.

You have to try hard NOT TO take the normal route to Invercargill, all boards and GPS will indicate you to take left and keep going, so we changed the setting to Manopouri, took NH 95, we were getting into deep grazing and cattle country, was beautiful beyond words. Lumsden, Tautapouri flashed past, told Anu to slow down as the road was E M P T Y, we hardly saw any traffic and she was doing 140! Many places here the GPS was confused, so we just consulted the maps for the first time and headed to the next town in the direction of SSR route. The route to take is 95 & stick to 99 all the way to Inver.

DO NOT BUY MAPS, YOU WOULD GET THEM FREE IN MOST PLACES, MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE, THEY ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO DO EVERY NOOK AND CORNER OF NEW ZEALAND.

It was drizzling on and off with a cloud cover, by now we are used to the uncertain NZ weather and do not mind it much. We crest a hillock and on the down side saw a green vista for miles and miles with the road snaking into the invisible dark horizon. Just had to stop and decided to have breakfast, one of the most memorable ones in our trip. Have a panorama shot of this below. Another 25 K we came across a railway crew, there was a canter on a rake, just had to stop again for some shots. This was the first Canter on a railway track I have seen in real life! We came across a few construction crews maintaining the road, but they were all marked well and posed no problem.

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Last edited by ramkya1 : 5th March 2014 at 18:16.
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Old 5th March 2014, 18:25   #92
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

@ Dar3devil: Thanks for your encouragement. Keep reading.. more coming your way.

==========

Stopped at a freedom camping place, you can camp here FREE for 23 nights! A river nearby running along, was a good spot for a stretch and a break. I'd bet in peak tourist season, this place would be filled with Campers!

Time was about 11, we were nearing Invercagill, the biggest town in the Southland this side, traffic frequency was increasing, farming communities were nearer and farming activity bubbling over. It was clear to see Inver would be a bustling town. We hit town around 1130 and the town surprised us, was bigger in many ways than expectations.

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Last edited by ramkya1 : 5th March 2014 at 18:50.
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Old 5th March 2014, 23:19   #93
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

One more on Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, daybreak on the lake.



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Old 6th March 2014, 09:51   #94
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

Dear Ramkya1
Mesmerized by the narrative, pictures and videos an absolute thriller of a drive. Would love to replicate it-at least some.

Regards

Col Jude
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Old 6th March 2014, 12:23   #95
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

Quote:
Originally Posted by ramkya1 View Post
.. the next few days would differentiate my T Log form all others, the route, the places and choices are not the garden variety and offers one of the best New Zealand has to offer.
Just waiting for this part. MS photos are awesome. I saw a pic that said Te Anau - 80, with 80 inside some red circle. Is this speed limit till Te Anau from that place or is it the distance to Te Anau? How do they specify speed limits and end of speed limit region over there?

Also, just before the freedom parking area, I saw a pic with a green light erected in the middle of a 2-lane road and a left arrow. Whats the significance of this?

Prasad
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Old 6th March 2014, 12:30   #96
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

@ Judemayne: Thanks Col., happy you liked it. I'm know you love to travel out and use some of the travel tips, nice to know it's useful. More to come.....
============

Invercargill, southern most city in the world, historically the town of sailors, whailers and Maori. It has a special vibration, mix and air about it which was distinct form all other places we have been abroad, looked like time stood still between the 1900’s and 1990’s, as if to keep the modern at bay allowing filtered entry!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invercargill

The GPS took us clearly to Best Western Motel, a qualmark motel!

http://www.townsman.co.nz/

If ever you have doubts about the hotel check for the Qualmark and you’d be OK. We were early, the room would be ready at 2 PM as per mails, so we checked the luggage in and wanted to make good the time, we had 2 targets on that day, Burt Munro museum and also Bluff, the southern most point.

Surprisingly, the museum was in Hayes and Sons shop, one of the biggest hardware chain shops in NZ, one of the biggest I have seen! They bought all his bikes and rights form his family, free entry, no compulsion to buy anything! The parking in front of the shop was mercifully open, we had a 180 minute slot, so were very happy.

http://www.ehayes.co.nz/Hayes-Motorw...ection-__I.214

The inside is an El-Dora do for a bike / car fan, see the pictures. Time few, we spent 1 hour + going around and photographing the bikes and cars. If you want to inspect the items on sale there, you'd need 3! The staff were very helpful with all questions and told us stories about some machines, they were so nice and understood the passion of a Munro fan!

Let's go straight to the photographs in side the treasure trove. I would not miss a single photo here, many bike and vintage car fans would love to see them all, so may be balance photos in the next page.

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Last edited by ramkya1 : 6th March 2014 at 12:52.
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Old 6th March 2014, 12:44   #97
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

@ Prasad: After that point which says 80, you need to keep that speed limit, you are entering a city area, after another 2 kms, it would be 50 and so on. When you exit town, the limits would go up to 50, 70 and 100, would be marked out very clearly, there is no room for confusion anywhere. Signages were one of the best. The distances are marked out on square boards, the speed limits are always on round boards.

The green lights... were road construction crews working on the road, once the obstruction is over, they would indicate it clearly with boards and you can speed up.

=====

Some more from the Burt Munro Museum...

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Old 6th March 2014, 20:34   #98
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

Fly by wire, 500 mtrs above a lake... have a look at the exciting flight!




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Old 6th March 2014, 22:11   #99
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

Your highest jump yet! The takeoff / landing deck is a neat idea. Much more refined than taking of from the beach etc.
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Old 7th March 2014, 17:14   #100
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

@ Khoj: I did not dare jump from the wire.. was strapped down, up there! I've seen para sailing people falling into water from the beach, was apprehensive at first, there was lots of wind so was OK.

====================

0300 PM: We had spent more than 1 hr there, we need to push on to for Bluff, the southern most point in our target. This was also an important touch point for our tour and we wanted to be there when there is light, not that it would be sunset before 7 PM, long days and increasing by the day.

Bluff was 25 kms on HW1, about 30 mts away. We were pretty excited, we found traffic light, but getting heavy as we neared the tail end of the land. We could feel the sea pressing in from both sides and land getting constricted putting pressure on people to move closer forsaking wider spaces. As we near the harbour, we could see the sea on both sides, the busy port to our right and port related life springing to life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff,_New_Zealand

Though Bluff is considered the southern most tip of New Zealand, the actual point is Slope point, which we would cover the next day. Just like John O’Groats is not the northern most point in UK and Dunnets head is, this is just another anomaly. Bluff harbour is from where you take a ferry to Stuart Island, a small island mass at southern tip, many tourists go over to stay there.

The point of interest for us was the sign board which says, we have reached the second most important point of our journey, thus completing our End To End Drive.

Picture with Cape Rengia + Bluff

New Zealand: End to End-amranureinga-bluffaopt.jpg


This brought out a point overlooked by many tourists, the traffic agencies and all the blogs. The distance board at Cape Rengia says distance to Bluff is 1452 kms and the one at Bluff says it’s 1401, a difference of 51 kms !! After coming back home, I put up a poser to Destination Experts at TA, they gave all kinds of answers, nothing logical, they did not have an answer and as many Destination Experts do, said as you travel south the days get shorter and hence the reduction in distance!!! Can you beat that!

I did not leave it there, given below is a portion of the email that happened on the subject to NZ transport authorities, they were responsive and transparent, but the jury is still out on the right distance. Go through the mails, some portions still make me laugh out loud! At least they are honest about not knowing and are not offensive. Imagine something like this happening in India, the Road Authorities would ask you “Who the heck are you to ask questions” “Don’t you have anything better to do?” etc.,

------------
Phil Allen [mailtophil.allen@geosmart.co.nz]
Sent: 11 December 2013 06:22
To: Rama Krishnan
Cc: Philip.Blagdon@nzta.govt.nz
Subject: FW: Differences in KMs in Cape Reinga and Bluff

Hi Ram

On behalf of the AA and NZTA I have been asked to answer your question. The correct answer is 1401.3 km as the crow flies and just for your information it is 2083 km by road including the InterIslander ferry crossing. Why one of the sign posts is incorrect I do not know but we will look into it. Glad that you had a great time driving in New Zealand.

PO Box 101001
29 Apollo Drive, Mairangi Bay, Auckland, NZ
Ph: +64 9 9668630 Mob: +64 21 415310 Fx: +64 9 966 8721
Email: Phil.Allen@geosmart.co.nz
Web: www.GeoSmart.co.nz

=========
Peter Robinson [mailto:Peter.Robinson@nzta.govt.nz]
Sent: 01 December 2013 13:36
To: Rama Krishnan
Cc: Beverley Findlater; Info@nzta.govt.nz
Subject: Call ID: 20739581 - Differences in KMs in Cape Reinga and Bluff

Dear Rama,

Thank you for your query regarding the signage you observed while traveling through New Zealand. Your query has been passed to me because I look after the State Highway network in Southland, which includes Bluff.

Neither of the signs you reference are Highway signs but tourist ones erected by local Tourist organizations. They have been made to replicate road signs so it is not obvious to the casual observer who made or controls them.

The distance of 1401km represents the direct line from Bluff to Cape Reinga.

Like you I was curious about the second distance of 1452km, but cannot find a way to resolve the distance. So unfortunately I cannot answer your original question of why there is a difference.

Thanks for the query and again I'm sorry I could not find a solution.
Regards,

Peter Robinson,

Senior Network Manager, Highway and Network Operations
-------------
From: Rama Krishnan
Sent: Saturday, 23 November 2013 12:03 a.m.
To:Info@nzta.govt.nz
Subject: Differences in KMs iin Cape Reinga and Bluff

Dear Sir,

Me and my wife drove end to end in your wonderful country form 3rd November to 19th, November, 2013. You have an awesome country, one of the most beautiful we have ever been and the people so friendly and the whole road system one of the best sign-posted in the world. The road surfaces were smooth almost all the way and the effort that goes to keep it smooth is commendable. My hat raised for the efforts.

We could found the sign boards at both ends of the country, Cape Rengia and Bluff different in distances!

· The board at Cape Reinga says 1452 kms to Bluff and the board at Stirling point Bluff says distance to Cape Reinga 1401!

·We put this up at many forums for answers but nobody seems to know why.

We would be grateful if you can give the answer why the distances are different or point us to a place which can give us the answer.

We did the end to end drive in UK, John O'Grats in the north and Lands End in the south and found the boards accurate and hence the query to understand the difference.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Ramakrishnan,


----------------------------

We reached, parked and took the customary pictures, few tourists there. Met Steve and his wife who had come on a camper from Christchurch, they had left their camper on a park at Invercargill and cycled it down to Bluff! Steve handles a JCB at Chch, lots of construction work going on, he’s a digger and said now there’s lots of work as reconstruction is happening after the earth quake. He wanted a ride back to Invercargill, we said OK.

Spend about 30 minutes around Bluff, nothing much to do anyway. There's a park and look out there, the public bathroom was spotless! Drove back to drop Steave and he said he would show us the world famous Oreti Beach, I was happy he said it! This is the 26 kms beach on which Burt Munro tested his Indian and participated in many races. The tide here is famous, during low tide, you can walk to Riverton on the beach, so said Steve, found information to this effect on the web:

http://www.teararoa.org.nz/southland/oreti-beach-track/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreti_Beach

0430 PM: Dropped off Steve, came back to the Motel at checked in. The room was small, but had everything else expected from a Motel, well-proportioned and kitted out. Anu made a quick sandwich with omelet and vegetables and sizzling coffee! We need to rush to the Southland Museum and art gallery where the almost extinct Tuatara is kept. I feel you need one whole day at Invercargill to do justice to all there is, we were rushed and felt frustrated we could not do that slow and easy.

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Last edited by ramkya1 : 7th March 2014 at 17:30.
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Old 8th March 2014, 11:53   #101
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

Quote:
Originally Posted by ramkya1 View Post
Have so many photos on this route, just selecting a few more... no photograph can do justice to the beauty of this route, has to be lived.



===========
Hi,

Have a few questions:

1. Please suggest motels in Invarcargill, Catlins, Dunedin and Chch.
2. Please let us know time it took to get the NZ visa.
3. Possibly once the T-log is done, request you to please write a post on
DOs and DONTs of driving in NZ and other general tips (there are a few in
almost every post, I thought it might be nice to have an exclusive
summary, though its more work for you.

Thanks,

Prasad
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Old 8th March 2014, 15:40   #102
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

Quote:
Originally Posted by prasad14 View Post
Hi,

Have a few questions:

1. Please suggest motels in Invarcargill, Catlins, Dunedin and Chch.
2. Please let us know time it took to get the NZ visa.
3. Possibly once the T-log is done, request you to please write a post on
DOs and DONTs of driving in NZ and other general tips (there are a few in
almost every post, I thought it might be nice to have an exclusive
summary, though its more work for you.

Thanks,

Prasad
Motels in Invercargill: Best Western (where we stayed), Ascot Park Hotel, Kelvin Hotel, Balmora Lodge Moel, Homestead Villa Motel. Do a search, there are many in Inver, you would be staying only for night, probably so anything in the range of 100-120 should be OK.

Motels in the Catlins, google them, they all have websites and check out Trip Adviser for reviews:

Curio Bay Salthouse Motel, Catlins Mohua Park , Catlins Gateway Motels, Nugget View & Kaka Point Motels, River Ridge Retreat, Southern Secret Motels, The Catlins Inn, Pounawea Grove Motel, Papatowai Motels and store and Owaka Lodge.

There are a couple of backpackers we checked out, we found the Slope Point Backpackers the best, they have self contained rooms with common kitchen and also a suite with a kitchen, costs 70/- should be good to gell with other crowd there, there are many backpackers points all around like: Porpoise Bay Getway, Nadir Outpost, Batlins Beachhouse, Anchorage, Surf Inn Cottage, Nugget Lodge, Chaslands Farm Cottages, Catlins Farmstay B&B, Greenwood Farmstay, CAtlins Retreat B&Bm Waikawa Waterside accommodation etc.,

For food once you leave Invercargill till Kaka Point: Blue Cod Blues takeaway, near Waikawa Museum, The whistling Frog Café and Motels, Chaslands hwy, Nadir Outpost, Tokanui, Stirling Tides, Fortrose, Papatowai Motels, Papatowai.

Dunedin is a student city but expensive, Adrian Motel, where we stayed was excellet but expensive at 130 $ per day, we found budget hotels with good reviews below 130 difficult. There are a few you can try like: Bealla vista, Dunedin Motel, Commodore Motels, Alexis Motor Lodge (was a 2nd choice for us), Dunedin Holiday Park and Motels etc., search here, you’d get an idea:

http://www.jasons.co.nz/dunedin/motels-motor-lodges

Christchurch: Also found hotels expensive! We booked in Avenue Motor Lodge @ 144, expensive and not good. A few others we considered are Abbey Motor Lodge, Southern Comform Motel, Airport Palms Motel, have a look see here too:

http://www.jasons.co.nz/christchurch...s-motor-lodges

An caveat about Christchurch: We were not warned about earthquakes there, the day on which we went had a big one at 5.5 and many after shocks, brought back memories of the mama quate in Gujarat we experienced, it was so out of the blue and really shook us in the night. The walls of our motel, 1st floor were thin, I think by design, to reduce weight of the buildings, we could hear from the other side, the kitchenette was also poor. You’d find the quakes are still alive, nothing to get alarmed about, don’t tell your family about it Unfortunately, Chch is the only major option to fly out at the tail end of the tour, check out the quake map here:

http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/

The whole town is rigged for quakes, one section of the city closed out fully and still under repair, everyone is aware of it, so nothing to really worry, you need to be aware of it.

The Visa took 15 days, give it to a good agency. Will do the Do's and Don's one of these days, will have to think through it.

Hope this helps and does not increase the confusion.

======

Last edited by ramkya1 : 8th March 2014 at 15:45.
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Old 9th March 2014, 22:15   #103
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

Southern Museum and Art Gallery is in the centre of town, next to the big park. Outside you have a statue of Burt Munro in his Indian, the car park is spacious and was not crowded, it was drizzling when we went there. There's a great park next to it, good to visit if you are with family and have time. The forecast was not good, next 3 days high probability of rain. This far the rain Gods were with us, giving us more or less a glorious run.

http://www.southlandmuseum.com/tuatara.html

Our objective at the Museum was clear, the Tuatara, becoming extinct now, but preserved there. There are sections which are paid, we did not go in. There’s an iSite centre, must go there, lots of free maps, literature and directions all about Southland and Catlins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatara

New Zealand: End to End-dsc01889.jpg

Other historical sites there are the Water Tower,

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Victoria Hotel, one of the oldest hotel there etc.,

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The day was ebbing, thick clouds blotted out the daylight, went to the nearby department store and bought lots of provisions and a bottle of wine, a huge department store! That done, back to Best Western to cook our dinner, Bread, egg curry, vegetable curry, chips, fruits and wine. Once the rains started in the evening, it got cold, the temp dropped to below 5 but the heater in the room was quick to the task, we were comfortably in front of the telly with Titanic on, what more can you ask? Another great day to remember!

Pick this map from iSite, there are so many confusing others, this is all you would need to cover Catlins, very informative and detailed.

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Invercargill has an airport, those who want to skip going up to Christchurch or Dunedin can explore flying out form here, would be a great option to save time.
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Last edited by ramkya1 : 9th March 2014 at 22:30.
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Old 9th March 2014, 22:32   #104
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

Quote:
Originally Posted by ramkya1 View Post



The day was ebbing, thick clouds blotted out the daylight, went to the nearby department store and bought lots of provisions and a bottle of wine, a huge department store!

====
Are these departmental stores part of some chain (Countdown or
something)? Did you purchase Indian groceries in bulk in Auckland or can
we get it (or groceries closest to Indian ones including rice) in big towns?

I've had some correspondence with an Indian Grocery store in Auckland,
who has promised to deliver all the groceries to our hotel in Auckland. Need
your suggestion on whether to get everything in Auckland or keep getting
it along the way (so that we'd avoid carrying it, especially on the plane
from Auckland to Nelson).

Thanks,

Prasad
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Old 9th March 2014, 22:44   #105
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Re: New Zealand: End to End

Quote:
Originally Posted by prasad14 View Post
Are these departmental stores part of some chain (Countdown or something)? Did you purchase Indian groceries in bulk in Auckland or can we get it (or groceries closest to Indian ones including rice) in big towns?

I've had some correspondence with an Indian Grocery store in Auckland,
who has promised to deliver all the groceries to our hotel in Auckland. Need your suggestion on whether to get everything in Auckland or keep getting it along the way (so that we'd avoid carrying it, especially on the plane from Auckland to Nelson).

Thanks,

Prasad
You'd find Countdown in most places and other global brands, huge ones, you'd be spoilt for choices. From Auckland carry only Masala, haldi, curry powders and Basmati Rice, rest everything you'd get in chain stores. Go to a good Indian store in Auckland, see for yourself the type stuff you'd need, the masalas made all the difference to us, you don't get it anywhere else. There's a Punjabi shop in Auckland, will PM you my friend, Bhavin's number there, talk to him, he's very helpful and point you around Auckland, he was a life saver for us.Check out with him the driving rules there, he has driven a lot there and some more.

--Ramky
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