{"id":11153,"date":"2024-04-28T16:36:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T04:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/?p=11153"},"modified":"2024-05-03T20:06:14","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T08:06:14","slug":"its-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/28\/its-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s the most wonderful time of the year.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

April 28<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some might think the above Andy Williams lyric refers to the holiday season, for us it\u2019s the return of Harmony, our motorhome, to Wilderness HQ. Buh-bye!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While it wasn\u2019t a horrible experience, overall we were pretty disappointed with our Fiat B\u00fcrstner. If IKEA built motorhomes, Harmony would win first prize. So many things fell apart on our trip and by the end, we were propping windows open with our broom, selfie stick and clothes pins, plus we were using a plastic bag under our bathroom sink to catch the leaking water from who knows where it was dripping. Gross!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When we dropped off Harmony, the team was very apologetic. They told us that five surfer dudes from CA were the previous guests in our RV and the team didn\u2019t do a good enough job checking or cleaning it. They compensated us fairly for the issues, but we would have preferred it if we didn\u2019t have all of those frustrations in the first place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After we performed our celebratory dance, we picked up our rental car at Avis, loaded all of our stuff in and hit the road. So much faster we went! Zipping around turns and not hearing any rattling from the back seat when we went over a bump in the road. And surely we\u2019d beat 9 miles per gallon on gas. It sure was turning out to be a great day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The weather was fabulous. That perfect fall day, sunny and 65 degrees. Or maybe things just seemed brighter because we were no longer hindered by our 23 foot motorhome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We headed to Cornwall Park for lunch at the very busy cafe and then walked up the steep hill to One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie), the second highest volcanic peak in Auckland. Once at the top, there was a 360 degree panoramic view of Auckland and its surroundings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The site once contained a grove of Monterey pine trees. Today there is only one left, the only tree people now associate as One Tree Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The site is culturally important to all New Zealanders. Several M\u0101ori tribes can trace their ancestry to the mountain and it once contained a fortified village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the pakeha (white person, non-M\u0101ori ), it\u2019s the site of the grave of Sir John Logan Campbell, who gifted the area to the city in 1901. The symbolism of the 100-foot obelisk though is ambiguous. Some say it\u2019s a memorial to Sir John, while others believe it\u2019s a symbol of racial harmony and respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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U2 wrote a song about the hill, which appeared on The Joshua Tree album. It was written to honor New Zealander Greg Carroll, a groupie of the band who died in a motorcycle accident in Dublin in 1986. The song refers to the night Carroll took Bono to One Tree Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After our walk, we began our long drive to the Cormandel Region with awesome rainbows on the horizon. It seems every time we drive we\u2019re greeted by these rainbows. We arrived at Thornton Bay as the sun was setting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We pulled in to several different lookout spots to admire the view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our accommodation for the night was less than stellar at the Harborview Motel. Thankfully, it was only for one night. Our dinner was perhaps the worst of the trip so far, a Totino\u2019s knockoff frozen pizza at Star and Garter that we barely ate. We\u2019re glad to be moving on in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our current location<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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April 28 While some might think the above Andy Williams lyric refers to the holiday season, for us it\u2019s the return of Harmony, our motorhome, to Wilderness HQ. Buh-bye! While it wasn\u2019t a horrible experience, overall we were pretty disappointed with our Fiat B\u00fcrstner. If IKEA built motorhomes, Harmony would win first prize. So many … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-new-zealand-north-island"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/img_5335-1.jpg?fit=1500%2C2000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9920,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/14\/the-rv-rainbow-connection\/","url_meta":{"origin":11153,"position":0},"title":"The RV Rainbow Connection (RV Day 1)","author":"Victoria","date":"14 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 14 Today we began our 15-day journey driving around Northlands on the North Island in a motorhome. We wanted to get a taste of this very iconic Kiwi experience and also get a chance to finally unpack our stuff for a while so we don\u2019t have to move every\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1497-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1497-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1497-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1497-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11109,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/27\/one-more-night-rv-day-14\/","url_meta":{"origin":11153,"position":1},"title":"One More Night (RV Day 14)","author":"Victoria","date":"27 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 27 Mitch started singing this song in the luxurious RV shower last night and we can\u2019t get it out of our heads as we get ready to celebrate returning our massive motorhome to Wilderness Motorhomes. Their slogan is \u201cLeave the Ordinary Behind.\u201d I guess we just prefer the ordinary.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/img_5103-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/img_5103-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/img_5103-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/img_5103-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10988,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/24\/beach-day-rv-day-11\/","url_meta":{"origin":11153,"position":2},"title":"Beach Day (RV Day 11)","author":"Victoria","date":"24 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 24 We woke up and went for a walk along the boardwalk in Mangonui. There was an awesome reflection of the sky off the bay, so we quickly captured a few shots. We stopped for breakfast at Jesse\u2019s Cafe, walked back to the RV and drove up the road\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1079-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1079-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1079-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1079-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1079-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10396,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/20\/hell-hole-of-the-pacific-rv-day-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":11153,"position":3},"title":"\u201cHell Hole of the Pacific.\u201d (RV Day 7)","author":"Victoria","date":"20 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 20 We awoke to 30 mph wind and pouring rain pounding on the roof of the RV. It\u2019s very comforting to be snuggled up in bed, listening to the rain right on top of you. We continue to be impressed with another accurate NZ forecast. We had a lunch\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_0897-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_0897-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_0897-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_0897-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_0897-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4255,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/29\/the-early-bird-catches-the-worm\/","url_meta":{"origin":11153,"position":4},"title":"The Early Bird Catches The Worm","author":"Victoria","date":"29 February 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"February 29 Birdwatching at Orokonui Ecosanctuary Happy Leap Day! To celebrate the occasion, we enjoyed another bird encounter and got up close with a lot of native NZ birds we haven\u2019t seen yet. According to the Department of Conservation, a.k.a. \u201cDOC,\u201d NZ is known as the seabird capital of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/img_1869-2-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/img_1869-2-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/img_1869-2-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/img_1869-2-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10284,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/18\/a-perfect-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":11153,"position":5},"title":"A Perfect Day! (RV Day 5)","author":"Victoria","date":"18 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 18 Bandit called today and told us he missed his mom and dad! He looks so sad. We told him we\u2019ll be home soon. Another four weeks to go! I can\u2019t believe we\u2019ve been here for over 3 months. Wow time flies! We woke up a bit late today\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_2305-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_2305-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_2305-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_2305-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_2305-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11153"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11209,"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11153\/revisions\/11209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}