New Zealand ... Christchurch to Mt Cook

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Arrived in Christchurch NZ after a 3 hour flight from Melbourne. Crickey its cold here only 21 degrees, bloody freezing !!! One night in a hotel before we pick up the camper, this is the law.

We took a bus trip around Christchurch and there are still people not living in their homes after the 2011 earthquake. The city was a building site as new buildings were being built and older ones that survived the quake were propped up with steel and wood. part of the city was called the Restart as shops used shipping containers as retail outlets and this was quite quirkey. 185 people lost their lives in the earthquake so their families brought a favourite chair to the centre of the quake, painted the chairs white and all faced on the same direction. This was a very significant memorial. They recon it will take another 5 years to rebuild Christchurch to a new city. Yet the people have had a say and buildings will not be more than 7 stories high and be a more calming and relaxed environment.

Back to the hotel for a quick knap and alarm went off but we went back to sleep, woke at 10.00pm had pringles for dinner and went back to sleep and awaoke at 8.00am. we picked up our mobile home for the next 21 days. found a PAC and Save supermarket, a bit like ASDA and stocked up with food for a couple of days before heading south down the east coast towards Dunedin. Found a campsite that did free WiFi so pulled into a field with sheep and horses on two sides. Other campers were dotted around the edge of the field. the to people who owned the site were great as they did fast food for a good price so had a plate of chips with our salad.

Second day travelled south to Invercargill and then turned north up the middle of the south island to Queenstown. Visited Aiofe who is one of our Nick's best friends and she has been working there since last May. she was excited when we dropped in unannounced. Had a lovely meal on the waterfront quay and then headed off to find a campsite. We pulled in to a picnic spot by a river and spent our first night freedom camping.

Day 3 headed to Mount Cook and spent the hight there. Awesome mountain with snow on its peak. We were surrounded by other mountains over 3000 metres with Mt Cook peaking at 3750 metres. fabulous sight.

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