Wow... just spent half my work day (its very quiet) going through this thread... admit I skipped most of the photo links though.
What an amazing job you've done putting all this information down, congratulations to you both.
I live in Sydney and recently bought an NCV3 motorhome to do some retirement travelling in the future (a few months off yet).
But having done "the lap" on a motorcycle towing a small camper trailer a few years ago... I could relate to many of your experiences. Didn't do a lot of the offroad stuff though... well, one attempt to get my wife to a toilet stop outside of Broome where the bike and trailer flipped in the soft dirt ruts and broke her ankle was enough to put a stop to that!
Will keep this thread linked as there is so much great travel info here, I'm sure I'll come back to it.
Might spend another quiet day reading your NZ travels in future.
Best to you both, and thanks for a great read, and the wonderful info!
Cheers!