Firth of Thames 2

We'd been told that there's a place just a couple of kilometres up the road from the shorebird centre where campervans are permitted to park overnight. We found this place and established that there was still room for us but continued along the road searching for somewhere to eat, and with the intention of returning.If we hadn't gone on we wouldn't have met Leone and Trevor Kenworthy.
We came to the small hamlet of Kaiua, and spotted not only a sign advertising fish and chips but also a grassy area like an English village green that had campervans parked on it. This looked like a freedom camping site but there was no sign to confirm that camping was permitted.
As we drove around the edge of the green we saw Leone and Trevor - members of the New Zealand Campervan Association -  walking back to their van (called Tom Tom after the navigation equipment on board ) and asked them whether overnight camping was permitted. They said it was, and we had a long conversation which ended with them inviting us to their van for a cup of tea after we'd had our meal.

At the van we were introduced to Millie the dog and we sat outside chatting until well after it got dark and the stars were out.
The next morning (Tuesday), as we were preparing to move off to enjoy the last relaxed hours of our holiday, Trevor invited us to join them for a meal at their home in Auckland that evening.