Saturday, spent too long trying to work out how to get the seat off a Hinckley Bonneville so I could put a battery on charge - gotta ride it, no time before deadline. Sunday, load up the Camry GL with lots of baggage - child-friendly winter warmers in one bag, work in another and business-appropriate attire in a third, plus the cat in a cage.

She approved of the Camry's comfy ride, even the roll on brisk cornering assisting her to retain equilibrium curled neatly on the floor of her container. My young nieces were less happy - neither could see over the high waistline to the world around; so what if the boot swallowed their pushchair?

I'm babysitting, and discovering just how cutting junior opinions can be "you should learn to eat less, aunty Jacqui". One of them approves the Mazda CX-5 which replaced the Camry though, which is lucky as Mazda kindly dropped the car to the Toyota's return location, saving me the nightmare of wrestling two small children, two child seats and a pushchair across Auckland.

The approving niece can see out the window, and likes the high-riding position. I like the cavernous boot, which swallows a compact pushchair, belches and asks for more. But niece number two - aged two - can't see out of this one either. Were the CX-5 mine, I'd replace her car seat with a higher one.

By weekend I'll have returned the now ridden Bonneville and collected an as yet unidentified machine, and swapped the Mazda for a Kia Rio. By then I'll need a holiday - or at least an extra-tall triple-shot gin.

Talk about a busy week - I've been bouncing round the Queenstown area in Peugeot's 4008 compact soft-roader, hiking old gold workings and panning for gold; tasting barrel-barbequed food and admiring 150-year-old water-powerd gold-mining machines.

I've four-wheel-driven through 'Lord of the Rings' scenery and taken a flying fox half-way down a mountain, bicycled some beatiful byways and dropped in to art galleries and wineries.

Some of those trips were in Maui's Ultima camper van which was my home from home so far this week.

If I spend sub-zero temperatures in a camper again I'll make sure I have a fan heater with a thermostat; otherwise I was impressed with Ultima's blend of everday practicality (it's not too big to park...) combined with its comfort - microwave, fridge, plenty of storage, spacious bed when made up; and my Creeksyde campsite was literally walking distance from the city centre.

Tomorrow it's back to real life; a Triumph T100 in the garage and a Mini John Cooper Works in the drive.

The Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport SE in the garage doesn't sound as wild as the Aprilia it replaced, but it's an intoxicating aural experience nevertheless. Got me rolling descriptives across the tongue; Leonard Cohen gargling pebbles and whisky? Erm...

It certainly looks and sounds sexier than the Honda Civic in my driveway, though that's handsome enough and more useful than I'd initially suspected. When you fold the rear seats there's only a narrow opening for your longer load, but you can fit quite a bit in the boot; nine breeze blocks to be precise (the paving sand went into the passenger footwell). Just don't tell Honda...

Shame I couldn't wait until tomorrow when I collect Subaru's Outback, but that's reserved for carrying truck tyres home. Why not use the truck? It's full of firewood for the half-built shed. Work is progressing, but slowly.

Wednesday it's off to a mate's on the Guzzi to watch the London to Brighton car run on DVD and drink wine, Thursday that's swapped for a less show-off Triumph Bonneville T100. And Friday I return the Subaru early to head to Queenstown and a date with a model which will remain incognito on pain of death, though it'll be parked alongside the Ultima camper van I'm trying; just hope it has a heater, given the forecast sub-zero temperatures!

All in all, a very varied week...

Toyota's Camry didn't put a foot wrong at the weekend. Loaded up with four women, four bags of travel snacks, four overnight bags and carriers and four backpacks, it despatched the Waitakeres-to-Devonport-to-Whakapapa drive with ease, the rear passengers especially noting how spacious it was. The boot's ability to keep swallowing stuff even when it looked full was astonishing too.

And while there are more exciting cars to drive and more characterful ones, the Camry was a sight for sore eyes after three days of tramping a live volcanic field, hauling our packs up to 1900 metres and back on sunny days that couldn't melt the ice in the shade.

Now I've farewelled the Camry and collected Holden's new Barina, both cars stark contrast to the Aprilia Tuono hooligan lurking in the garage. Naturally it's raining heavily but with a deadline looming, I'll be lassooing it today for a ride. 

By the weekend there should be a different bike in the garage, and a Honda in the drive; and I hope to have caught up with the filing and organising side of my life.