Its hard to believe I have already been a week here in NZ… its going by so fast. I flew into Auckland on Sunday the 21st- I was supposed to meet Jas in the afternoon but my flight was delayed so I didn’t meet him at the hotel until almost 11pm. He was running a fever and feeling really sick but got a good nap all afternoon before I arrived, so it worked out. The room he got for us felt really luxurious to me after all the dorms and hostels, and it was so nice to lounge around in the spa and sleep in a king sized bed. We stayed undercover for a few days while Jas got better and I had some much needed RandR. We didn’t see much of the city but have plans to come back in the middle of March to see a Pixies concert so we can make it up then.
On day 3 we had to be on a 6am flight for Christchurch so it was an early start and we were both really beat when we arrived to get the camper van! The rental agent was a massive jackass and I don’t know if Jas or I really took in anything he said between being exhausted and annoyed at the same time. However, we did figure the van out after some trial and error and have been cracking up ever since competing to do the best imitation of captain douchebag. He actually told us not to drive into rivers with the van… and to pretend we were Canadian in light of the American reputation that precedes us.
This is by far the most beautiful country I have seen, and Jason and I find ourselves speechless with it as we travel across the landscape. There are mountains everywhere but they all seem to have their own character… its really funny to think about Lord of the Rings and how some of the mountains are lovely and bright and fresh, and some are dark and scary looking because they really are that way. (Jason and I have been watching the films late at night on the laptop as he has never seen them).
Our first day with the van we parked in the shade near a sweet little river and got some sleep and then some groceries and things. You wouldn’t believe the delicious things we have been eating off our little two burner propane stove! I’ve taken on the challenge of being creative with it. Last night we had a really good curry and spinach tomato omelet for brekky.
We traveled from Christchurch north to a little beach town called Kaiapoa where a pretty river runs into the sea. It was really pretty there, there was hardly anyone on the beach. It was covered in driftwood and riverstones, and the sun was so so bright. There is a huge hole in the ozone layer right over NZ so the sun is a lot stronger than we are used to. We had a swim and a sunbathe in the morning then after lunch put on some music, set up our chairs and cracked a bottle of wine next to the river. We met a really nice local guy there named Micheal that was fishing with one of his buddies and him and Jas hit it off quite well. He ended up asking us to dinner and offering us to stay at his home in Christchurch for the night which we took him up on.
Irst we headed into the city to see what there was to see there. We went to the Christchurch Cathedral which was incredibly beautiful and made me miss my mom because she really loves old churches too. We also walked through the arts district and center but it was sooo hot in the city we had to get moving out of there. Everyone had warned us about how cold the south island was going to be but we flew into a serious scorcher that lasted until we headed to the west coast.
It ended up being really great to stay with Micheal and the conversation was great, especially because he is a published author of New Zealand history and has a background in education and an interest in the social side of things. He gave us some good feedback on where to head next although the advice did include some tourist traps which we narrowly avoided.
We headed west towards Greymouth in hopes that there would be some surf-worthy conditions for Jas and some warm beach and easy rollers for me. The drive was awe inspiring and just cut right across all the central mountains. Our little van was struggling up some of those hills! We saw some people biking the pass with big backpacks and things and it was hard to believe they would make it across, it took us 3 ½ hours by car. When we got to Greymouth we found the cooler weather that everyone was warning us of and I ended up in jeans for the first time since I’ve been traveling minus the horseback riding times.
When we got to the beach the waves were huge and just hammering the coastline- way too dangerous to even try swimming. But regardless it was really beautiful scenery and nice weather for snuggling up in the van to sleep. We got a campsite so we could re-up on water, charge the batteries and have a hot shower before heading north in the morning.
When we got on the road we saw a poor thing hitching with a big pack and we picked her up. She was a nice Aussie girl headed north to do a 5 day hike inland and we took her as far as Westport where we were heading which was about an hour and a half up the coast.
Westport was much warmer and we found a perfect sneaky spot by the beach to camp last night. It was still quite windy but we parked the van against the wind and got some sun. The waves were more under control but still not surfing conditions apparently. However it was so lovely there and when the moon came up it glowed in on us and was really romantic!
Xoxoxox K
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