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Published: January 17th 2010
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Christmas in a camper - 24th to 26th December
The next morning was Christmas Eve and after breakfast we enjoyed a lovely shower on board the camper. We set off on our morning quest to find Cloudy Bay vineyard which was just outside Blenheim. We had been set the task by Bowks’s Dad who was a fan of Cloudy Bay wine and had said if we could locate the vineyard where it was made he would treat us to a bottle. Now there’s an incentive if ever I’ve heard! To our joy we found the Cloudy Bay vineyard where after the all important wine tasting we selected our bottle, the Te Koko, a very tasty Sauvignon Blanc. Having got the photographic evidence of our achievement we continue north once more, heading to Picton at the top of the South Island where we were to catch a ferry to the North Island later that afternoon.
Bowks writing now…
On arrival into Picton we had a wander around what was a nice little town with cafes and interesting shops. We had been warned that it was Christmas Eve and the roads may be busy and the shops hectic, but it
was nothing compared to UK standards. We stopped at the supermarket to buy our Christmas day chicken and then before returning to the campervan we stopped to use some public toilets which were quite an experience! They were all electric and when the door closed a man came over the speaker to give you instructions on how to use the loos, such as ‘the taps will not turn on until you have flushed the toilet’. Once he’d finished talking music started to serenade you whilst you did your business.
Once in the ferry queue we got a little hungry so decided to utilise the vans facilities and cook some cheese on toast with spaghetti hoops. However, they started to load the ferry a lot sooner than we anticipated and I was left in the back holding the pots and pans whilst Doddy drove the van on! The ferry crossing was great. We sailed through some beautiful scenery as we passed through the Cook Straits. We also saw some secluded houses perched right at the edge of the sparkling blue waters, with lusciously green hills behind them and I’ve decided that if I ever win the lottery one of those
would make a rather nice holiday home!
We disembarked in Wellington at around 4.30pm and drove following the western Kapiti coastline. We stopped briefly on the beach opposite Kapiti Island, an island that is home to an array of different wild animals and uninhabited by humans. Then as we left the beach stopped off at a local church that was advertising a 6pm children’s Christmas carol service. We thought it would make us feel even more Christmassy so we went in, sang a few Christmas carols and ate the sweets of our Christingle. We drove onwards for about another half an hour until we found our camping spot for the eve, a little lay-bye with a nice view of horses in a field. After wrapping up our pressies and decorating the van we cooked tea an Christmas eve special of full English fry up, it was our first one in 3 months and it tasted great, so much so that I may make it a Christmas eve tradition.
At about 10pm we heard a car pull up next to the van and heard a knock at the door. Hoping it wasn’t somebody asking us to move the camper
The house in bay
The one we move into next week we reluctantly opened the door to be greeted by a little old lady who had come to see if we wanted to join her and her family for Christmas dinner the next day and offered to let us park the van on her lawn. Apparently last year she’d had a backpacker in for Christmas dinner and wanted to do the same this year. We politely declined the offer of dinner as we had already bought our ingredients but Doddy went to take a look at her lawn out of courtesy and when he arrived he met the rest of her family who had also just arrived and could see the expression on their faces, wondering who Gran had invited for Christmas dinner this year?! Her lawn wasn’t very big so we stayed put and allowed them to continue with their festive celebrations. Before bed we left milk, a mince pie and carrot out for Santa hoping he’d be able to find us even though we were on the other side of the world.
Christmas day!
Santa sure did find us and left our presents at the end of our bed. I got up and drove the van to
the beach whilst Doddy enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in bed while been driven. We ate our breakfast at the beach, drew pictures and wrote messages in the sand. We then drove to the nearby campsite in Otaki where we were to spend the rest of Christmas day. There was a nice atmosphere on the campsite and we wished our neighbours a Merry Christmas. We then began our Christmas day preparations, stuffing the chicken, peeling the spuds and trying some of the wine we had bought in Mendoza. It tasted great especially knowing we’d carried it 1000’s of miles and across continents to get it here. Once the chicken was in the oven we took a dip in the pool, swimming in an outdoor pool on Christmas day, now there’s a first!
Soon enough our Christmas dinner was ready and we tucked into what was a very tasty meal indeed. The wine we’d chosen the day before from Cloudy bay complimented the chicken very nicely and slipped down a dream, thanks dad! Feeling very full we went outside the van and sunbathed, another Christmas day first, whilst finishing off the wine and thinking (briefly!) of all the snow and
chaos back in England. Once our dinner had gone down we took a walk on the beach and paddled in the waves. After eating left overs for tea we made brief calls home to wish family members a happy Christmas we then retired to bed after a very nice Kiwi Christmas day.
Boxing Day
We had a nice relaxing morning round the campsite and then set off heading further north towards Auckland. We had quite a lot of driving to do and we were both feeling a bit lethargic so on route we made a few stops to rest and take in the sights, one of which being a waterfall (no Iguaçu Falls though). At about 7pm we found our picnic spot where we would camp for the night with nice views over the town. We ate tea, played some cards and then headed for some sleep.
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