Antipodean shitespotting with 320T - Gambolling about Gisborne 26/09

[320touring]

Myself and the Burd are currently heading out on another trip down to New Zealand as we enjoyed it so much the last time.

We started off with something distinctly non-shite. An Airbus A380-800.

We were in the lower level of the maisonette, in cattle class.

The leg room was great, much better than the  Qatar seats we had the last time

We'd invested in decent Sony noise cancelling headphones (sub £200) and they came with a handy adapter to match up to the inflight entertainment 

Even without the headphones the A380 was pretty damn quiet.

7hrs later we were in Dubai for our 9hr Layover.

The shitevertising was ace - though it looks a bit better than the A11 copy of my old Seat Toledo..

 

The chariot for the hotel awaited, complete with invisible door operating ram

We're back at the airport now for the final leg to Auckland, and I got to see a bus bearing the legend

Ashok Leyland.

Hopefully have more to post soon depending on what the car hire place gives us.

[320touring]

Sorry for slim pickings on the first day - flight was 3hrs late (just 19hrs on the plane.  ) and we were keen to get to our first accommodation.

The chariot of choice.powered by Pez and hampered by a CVT...

Ta "tinyboot" Corolla estate. Essentially a booted Auris. With the same shitty boot space but a bit less of an intrusive bootlid.

Fuck knows who signed off on that design.

Seems to go ok and not be hammering fuel at the moment.

Saw several Model A fords on the way to Coromandel, but I was driving 

Only turdpic I got was this E39 

Was never a fan of these to begin with, and travelling 1/2 way round the world has not improved them..

 

First accommodation has a cool bath.

I'm away to make use of it.

More to follow. - plenty of oddball saloons from Japanese manufacturers, and the obligatory Holden and Ford offerings.

[Lord Sterling]

On 21/09/2025 at 05:42, 320touring said:

 The shitevertising was ace -

Good to see the makers of the Chery Tiggo 9 are happy to be compromising everyone's safety. That's jolly nice of them to be truthful at least.

7 hours ago, 320touring said:

Only turdpic I got was this E39 

First accommodation has a cool bath.

Throughly approve of the E39. Bath looks nice but not sure the bushes need to be exposed to real-life Homer Simpson shape of body. 

[hairnet]

90 mile beach ftw (it isnt)

hope its not too windy

under 110 or else

corollas are ok - even the americans get them

[320touring]

A wee look at the first accommodation:

It's just above Coromandel Town, about 3hrs drive from Auckland Airport. 

Booked for the view (and the bath) plus proximity to today's activity...

(Yes the cooker is off limits as the glass door had smashed before we arrived - they let us know and gave us a tabletop oven and a microwave instead)

[320touring]

Shite at the accommodation!

 

Heading out soon, more shite pics to follow hopefully!

[320touring]

Shite spotting the first (all gathered within about 3km on where we are currently based.

Winner of the day

A 1940s(?) Ford Pickup with a 1953 Mercury flathead V8

 

Honourable mentions;

Captured just prior to the owner driving away. 1980s Toyota of some sort?

These Bongo/E1800 are ubiquitous here, I'll keep future pics to a minimum unless they are remarkable 

Much the same story with the Estima - this was delightful in its shonkiness.

(A Mitsubishi Magna apparently. Didn't get too close as the owner was in it)

 

Others (feel free to fill in what they are🤣)

This was driven in just prior to the picture - despite looking as if it had rested there for some time)

SSSSSSSSAAAAAANNNYYYOOOOOOONNNNGGGG!

(Not really shite but I Like them, and it's my thread..)

This, however, definitely was shite.

[hairnet]

carina II the one you asked about

[hairnet]

hot water beach east coast of coromandel

on heading there from thames or paeroa did ya see the massive l and p bottle

waihi beach - rotarua area theres the natural spring place where you can see the mud pools but its not cheap - i headed for the coast instead

the art deco buildings in napier worth a look

te papa obvs

if ya wanna go christchurch id fly the ferries arent cheap

visit @STUNO steal his biscuits

if you end up near tirau go the cafe opp the rams head house

 

[320touring]

Hopefully heading to Hot Water Beach later today, and have a couple of days booked in Napier already.

Don't worry, we are flying to Christchurch as much cheaper to fly/drive than have a 1 way car hire with drop off in Christchurch.

[320touring]

We woke up this morning to heavy rain - a continuation of the myriad moistness from the night before.

A new bit of shite had landed at the accommodation this morning

Exquisite.

We revised plans - feeling that it"d be wasted time heading out to the scenic spots we had previously considered. The preponderance of fog indicated our thoughts were correct.

Instead, we made for Kitikiti - a bit of a meh town, but a decent lunch stop that broke the drive up.

Then on to Rotorua for our next stop.

The shite was "fair to middling" compared to yesterday, but not a bad haul.

Yes, that's the Ford version of the 456th variation of a Mazda 323.

Someone was having a BAD TOIM

I also spotted a "new to me" nailed on future shite tub

 

And teased some birds with my cone

 

As for the headache palace - behold the decor or our room...

Wouldn't want a hangover in here....

 

[320touring]

A late entry to Rotaru proceedings.. I shall call upon @Spottedlaurel to ID please?

[Bear]

Haval - we get that as the Jolion Pro. Joe Lion. Not 初恋 (first love - chu lian) as it would be in Mandarin...

[320touring]

6 minutes ago, Bear said:

Haval - we get that as the Jolion Pro. Joe Lion. Not 初恋 (first love - chu lian) as it would be in Mandarin...

Excellent knowledge cheers

[Spottedlaurel]

2 hours ago, 320touring said:

A late entry to Rotaru proceedings.. I shall call upon @Spottedlaurel to ID please?

Nice! Pretty sure it's a Crown of some sort, without checking I'm not sure which model - they tended to keep the wagons running alongside later saloon models.

[martc]

On 23/09/2025 at 08:30, 320touring said:

 

Oh this is tantalising I think this could be a DFSK Loadhopper. They were sold in the UK and were notable for their BMW esque grilles; more recent ones have dropped them, possibly zee Germans had had a word with them.

The swage lines don't look quite right though

[320touring]

I don't think it has a BMWesque grill at the front...

 

Maybe a Suzuki carry?

[mk2_craig]

56 minutes ago, 320touring said:

Suzuki carry

I’d agree, looks like one of these 

https://www.repo.com/listing/18327

 

[martc]

51 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

I’d agree, looks like one of these 

https://www.repo.com/listing/18327

 

That's the one, the strange bulge at the front clinches it.

[Landy Mann]

On 23/09/2025 at 08:30, 320touring said:

 

Much the same story with the Estima - this was delightful in its shonkiness.

 

The green sticker on that indicates it is infact a fully self contained* motor caravan, beloved by backpackers.

Shonky repairs are to be expected and encouraged, here is my former steed.

[Missy Charm]

I like the headache palace! 

Excellent, too, is the Ford truck.  Did you ask the owner about it?  Looks as if the engine has been hot-rodded at some point in the past: twin carbs and Offenhauser heads are signs its putting out more power than standard. 

[320touring]

1 hour ago, Missy Charm said:

I like the headache palace! 

Excellent, too, is the Ford truck.  Did you ask the owner about it?  Looks as if the engine has been hot-rodded at some point in the past: twin carbs and Offenhauser heads are signs its putting out more power than standard. 

Truck was originally a straight 6, and had a 53 mercury motor fitted. He said it had been done by a hotrodder, hence intake/carbs 

 

Sounded ACE!

[320touring]

4 hours ago, Landy Mann said:

The green sticker on that indicates it is infact a fully self contained* motor caravan, beloved by backpackers.

Shonky repairs are to be expected and encouraged, here is my former steed.

Yeah, saw hundreds of them whilst over the last time! I really like the designated parking spots for campers - makes so much sense. All the ones we have seen were kept tidy too.

[320touring]

Been out for a post breakfast coffee before our morning activities. The shite radar was twitching..

 

Rotorua has quite the mishmash of architecture..

[dollywobbler]

It's not often I can smell photos on here. If you've been there, you know.

[320touring]

36 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

It's not often I can smell photos on here. If you've been there, you know.

Yep.

Beautiful but honking

[hairnet]

6 minutes ago, 320touring said:

Yep.

Beautiful but honking

thats the rental ken

[Volksy]

I used to live in Ohope, which back then was a sleepy surf town on the coast. It's now McMansion filled beach resort.

We ran a '69 CF and a '66 Beetle. 

There was a VW breaker in Rotarua we used to go to for parts for the bug. IIRC it was on Riri St.

Looking on google maps it's long gone, but there's quite a few classic car places on that street now.

[320touring]

After breakfast today, we went off to do some activities. A kind of Ying and Yang, if you will 

First up...

Yep, ziplines and tree walking, plus the opportunity to ride in a ubiquitbus - literally  the backbone of NZ.

Started off at fairly low height but rapidly got up to 35m

I didn't think I would enjoy it, but it was braw. Also interesting learning about the native flora and fauna and associated conservation efforts.

 

Back on terra firma, we headed for lunch, with some shite spotting thrown in.

Scran complete, we went to the second activity - something that never got off the ground!

 The national Kiwi Hatchery.

Egg not to scale

Most shocking was the sighting of an actual Ford Transit - how it slipped into the country I dunno. Is it an invasive species?

The centre was really interesting and gave a great insight into the efforts undertaken to protect the 5 species that exist. The guide was really knowledgeable and happy to answer questions, and with the breeding season underway, we got to see eggs, chicks and matured birds.

After all the activities, we still had a 4hr drive to get to our bed for the night. The NZ idea of a highway is pretty odd. They just don't have the volume of traffic to justify spending on dual carriageway/motorway, so travel is mainly on single carriageway with plenty Twisties.

Great fun if not particularly rapid.

One of the benefits of this approach is the fact that you are often routed directly through towns.

We stopped at Opotiki to get some dinner - picking a random place on Google maps.

Initial impressions were dubious

Roadside diner vibes were high, and the view from the table was of a petrol station

However, we were most pleasantly surprised!

The food was fucking amazing!

Fresh pasta with soft cheese filling and a lemon sauce

Dynamite green beans

 

For two of us, 2 mains, 2 sides, 1 pudding (lemon posset) plus drinks - £49.  This would easily have been £70+ in Glasgow, and nowhere near as well cooked or presented. It was the meal of the trip so far!

https://www.bridgestreetcafe.co.nz/

Worth a visit if you are in the area.

The rest of the run was uneventful, and we are billeted in our shipping container for the evening..

[320touring]

We stayed near Gisborne on the Thurs night. Partly as we'd never been here but partly because it's also the first place to see the sun in NZ

It didn't disappoint.

I. The daylight, I had a nosy at the outside of our pod

And a bit of a stoat about the park - most pleasant 

Then it was off to Gisborne for a stoat and some shite spotting.

We had a most pleasant perambulation down by the shortest river in the southern hemisphere.

And then took a stoat into the local museum. It was 5NZD to get in (£2.15) and was excellent.

A couple of good historical displays, good photo exhibitions and a room highlighting local artists with work for sale.

http://www.tairawhitimuseum.org.nz/

They had some excellent depictions of how indigenous craft were built

 

But the absolute best bit was the story of the Star of Canada:

Whilst the tale of the bridge being taken ashore to make a home sounds almost unbelievable, it still doesn't prepare you for the fact the museum have the bridge now, and it is restored back to 1912 condition.

You can walk all round it and climb between decks etc. brilliant!