Whilst petrol was at its cheapest in town, we filled her up. With advice of there being a nice beach in Orewa we set off up the east coast, which is said to be a labyrinth of coves hidden between plunging headlands with lots of beautiful and swimmable beaches, perfect as spring is almost here.Pinewood campsite gave us a home for our first night in the van, we hooked upto electricity and checked out all the sockets and gadgets, which are all in full working order. Lee also sussed out the awning whilst i soaked up the sun, and delved into the great rough guide book of NZ (my bible).After finally deciding where everything should be stored, thats a gear cupboard, a food cupboard, toiletries, leisure and book shelf, washing and pan store, and of course where the ‘erbs and spices’ should go, we headed to the surf club. A lively community type club, which had decent beer flowing and good food. Lee enjoyed a chicken burger but couldn’t keep his mitts of my first NZ ‘fush n chups’ as they say. I give up trying to protect my dinner eventually because it was a gigantic proportion and tasted delicious.As well as waking upto birdsong, the rain was also pouring. Lee was in his element doing projects on the van, fixing the stereo, breaking a lock, fixing a new lock. He said something about being in his karma, i left him happy and content, and had a walk.We watched kitesurfers on Red Beach and were soon ready to get moving, however didn’t get far as the food shop took a lifetime, we only bought tins of beans and bags of pasta but hey. The rain was still with us, so with the luxury of having time we stopped at Waiwera and freedom camped - (NZ term for not being in a campsite) in a quiet spot of a car park, right next to an estuary, with the beach in view.Sunday, and we were up early, Lee had a cheeky quick dip, as i battered down the hatches. The sun was out so we wanted to make way to the beach, but not before stopping off at Warkworth where the Honey Centre is. NZ’s largest live bee display and free honey tasting, with a jar already in the van, we made promises of returning on our way back down to fill up with theirs, as it was truly delicious.Mathesons Bay was a small little beach just off the main road, so we stopped for some lunch and our first little paddle in the sea. Driving up the east made way to an enjoyable van journey, much of the scenery similar to that of the lakes, but in its own way.Coming back towards the coast we were then spoilt for choice of which beach to go to, ending up at Mangawhai Heads. A long stretch of beach where you can look out onto Great Barrier Island. We had a stroll in the sun and watched the surfers, I think we are going to have to get a body board at least some time soon.Another stop of a Langs Beach allowed us to be introduced to the annoying sandfly, which like midges like to have a little nibble and get a drop of blood. We seeked revenge whilst back in the van squishing all who dared to show themselves.With sunset soon on the way, we decided to check out the DOC camping site at Waipu, a range of sites which are maintained by wardens and range from being free with minimal facilities to only being a few dollars with all you need. They encourage people to use designated camping sites to prevent damage to the environment, sounds good to us and this one at Waipu also backs out onto its own beach.With water and cold showers, and an adjacent unofficial naturist beach, Waipu is somewhere you will have to wait to hear more about, as we will discover for ourselves in the morning.