New Zealand on a tight budget.Day 4

Today was a good day. We took a leisurely drive across to Dargaville through the ridiculously pretty countryside that looks like Capability Brown designed it. We lunched at Baylys Beach where ancient Kauri trees stick out of the sand like huge black rocks. The beach is apparently longer than 90 mile beach which makes us feel better as we have decided not to go that far north - but definitely not for swimming so we spent a sunny hour or so on the shores of the Kai Iwi Lakes having a couple of swims and enjoying the bird song and scenery.
Tonight we are camped at a DOC site at Trounson Kauri Park. The Kauri trees are nowhere as big or tall as the trees we saw in America but they are absolutely up there in terms of majesty rising like pillars perfectly straight before suddenly branching with shortish thick limbs. No wonder the Maoris could make war canoes s incredibly long out of a single trunk.
They are under threat from a die-back disease so we had to disinfect our shoes before and after an hours walk through the grove right from the camp site. So many things in New Zealand are under threat. The Kiwi - which we may hear tonight - have been decimated by dogs and there are even signs saying you have to report sitings of strange fish like Koi in the water ways.
I wish you could hear the sound track . The Bell birds are chiming and the Tuis calling - its incredibly exotic.
We have just experienced a sudden downpour while eating our meal and in a hurried attempt to enter the van I slipped on the wet step and was sent sprawling full length into a puddle much to the amusement of the rest of the site! I've had to change my clothes!
Our noble vehicle is a Nissan Vanette. I have decided to call it the Bijou Vanette for historic reasons relating to a former lodger of mine whose previous land lady regularly took Bijou Snoozettes. The lodger himself was more in favour of Bijou Snackettes and I myself regularly enjoy a Bijou Jogette. Anyway, henceforth we shall refer to the Bijou Vanette as 'BV" for short. Most people round here are either sleeping in bungalows on wheels or the back of estate cars.