ROADTRIP!!!!!! Auckland - Christchurch

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Hello there loyal followers!!! Welcome back to my blog, this time I am once again on voyage of adventure and discovery with one of my best buddies JC!!!

Arrived in auckland after a very tiring 24 hour flight, but all thoughts of fatigue vanished when I met Jess at the airport!! Went atraight to the hostel and dumped my bags before heading into town for a few bevvies!! Met up with a couple of mates of Jess, and visited a few random bars...rolled back into the hostel around 3am, and spent a few hours lying on the floor outside our room, catching up on 6 months of gossip!!!

Sunday, we picked up our camper, who we have named DeeDee, we decided he was a boy van, but as he was very girly colours, we concluded that he must be a gay man van!!! He is beautiful!!

We are generally spending alternate nights in camper parks, where we can plug into power and have a hot shower etc, then the other night we 'free camp'. This means either parking up on the side of the road or beach front, or finding a Department of Converstion DOC campsite, where there are usually minimal facilities!!!!

So far we have been to Waitomo, whoch is famous for it's various caves and glow worms!!! We had a look around 3 caves and also did a black water rafting trip thru one of them, which was basically like tubing in Laos but, in the dark 70m underground and freezing cold!!! An amazing experience!

After this, we decided on our first free DOC campsite, whioch we eventually found after a 3 hour drive, which included travelling down a windy gravel track for 10km, with a massive drop down to the Whanganui river on one side.....very bloody scary!! We then got stuck on a slope when trying turn and only managed to get out with the help of a hefty push from a local!!! Eventually found the campsite.....and all I can say is it reminded me of WOLF CREEK!! There was a room with bunks in it, but we were so scared we slept in the camper, listening to the sound of 'rabid' dogs howling in the distance!!! It was so cold that there was frost on the inside of the camper!!

That said, free camping is great, as you can wake up in the morning and have a view of the sea/hills/open road, which is awesome. Also cooking on the side of the road is brilliant. So far the trip has been an amazing experience, and no regrets at leaving the british summer behind! Although we did cock up on our first free camp night, having pulled up on a coastal road in the dark, we didn't notice the no campers sign, and woke up to find a $40 dollar fine attached to our windscreen!! Valuable lesson learnt!!

Had a couple of nights in Wellington, which is a really cool city, had a look around the museum of New Zealand, and read about the history of the country, and how the British 'soveriegnty' screwed over the original settlers....no surprise there! Made me want to apologise to every NZ national that we saw.... Had a few beers in town, before heading back to the campsite for the night, made palns for our next couple of weeks in South Island!!

We are now in Christchurch on South Island, after crossing over on the ferry yesterday....a death defying trip is an understatement!!! The weather was awful, and the waves were crashing over the top deck, the ferry had 4 levels, so you can imagine how high the waves were!!! Loads of people got sea sick, and one poor woman fainted....there were pale faces and sick bags EVERYWHERE!!!!!

We arrived safely in Rarangi DOC park near Blenheim, and spent another freezing night in the camper...but I have to say it is getting easier to bear, and I think we are hardenening up to the cold!!

We drove through Kaikoura today and saw a colony of seals randomly as we were driving along the coast...toatally mind blowing!!! Plan to go whale watching tomom ofter gettin 2 new tyres for DeeDee in Christchurch!

Hope you like the pics, and will blog more soon

Much love to you all, and an extra special big kiss and hug for Lou and Henry! x x x

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Photos

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first night in nz...auckland!

P1060858
inside DeeDee!!

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on the road..

Comments

[Amy Hayes]

hello from work
Hey there guys and gals, I've just got round to reading your blog and looks like your having fun fun fun!!! Nothing changes here well apart from some pretty big news, she says but you'll here all about it on your return. Love the pictures off to read your next blog now while I have 5 minutes before the interupters come and find me and stop me from doing my work!! Takew care have fun and see you soon xxx met any hot guys yet?? remember your not allowed back in the country if you've not had at least a snog!! Amy