New Zealand!!!

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Back in the Jucy Camper Club
November 13, 2008

You all would have had a good laugh watching us lug our stuff back to the Melbourne Airport at six in the morning. The hotel was so close it made no sense to get a taxi, but just far enough away for us to work up a sweat. We were told that since it was an international flight (NZ) we should be there two hours ahead of boarding time. We walked to the JetStar check in counter and not only were we the only passengers in sight, but the Jet Star employees didn’t show up till about 90 minutes before the flight. We felt we could have slept an hour longer this morning.

Flying in to NZ was beautiful, it was a rare cloudless day and the pilot pointed out Mt. Cook and other features. We saw the rugged snow-capped mountains and it reminded us so much of Alaska. After the landing in Christchurch the real “fun” began. This is the part we don’t like about traveling, or the way we travel anyway. The afternoon was spent getting money, getting a phone and a sim card, and picking up the campervan we are “relocating” to Auckland. Turned out the phone that the sweet guy in Sydney promised us would work in NZ doesn’t so we had to buy a new phone and sim card. We have a new phone number. It is: 64 (NZ code) 0211798467.

I feel like Goldilocks. The first van we had was too small, the second van was too large, and this van is just right. It’s outfitted with sink, fridge, stove, microwave, dishes, pots and pans, DVD player, and even a heated towel rack? Will be good for drying socks. This one’s not green and purple, but there are still decals of sexy girls here and there. Then it was time to grocery shop and learn a whole new set of product lines. This was a giant store and there was no real peanut butter, no soy butter, no individual packets of microwavable oatmeal…lots of stuff we like to have wasn’t there. But the store employees were nice about helping us not find things.

The place we are at tonight is a caravan park north of Christchurch. Before this trip I would not have been able to tell you anything about a caravan park, but I will tell you that this one is a super deluxe park. There are pools, spas, hairdryers in the bathrooms, playgrounds, trampolines, TV rooms, arcades, snacks for sale, a huge kitchen and barbecue area with real stoves and ovens for use. We used the kitchen to cook spaghetti for dinner and were so late eating that nobody else was in the dining room. Joe is doing the laundry right now and we were looking for a place to buy laundry soap and found out it comes right out in the machine.

Joe tells me we won’t have to sleep in this van the entire month we are here, that we will get a room when I feel the need. I honestly can say the only thing I dislike about the van is having to crawl over Joe if I need to get up in the night. I’m glad we got the boring tedious tasks out of the way today. One thing I’ve noticed about NZ already is that the place is crawling with Americans. So now I’m curled up in a ball in my Jucy duvet comforter and I will sleep well.


Akaroa, South Island
November 14, 2008

Our first “real” day in New Zealand was spectacular. We drove about 90 minutes from Christchurch to the harbor town of Akaroa on the east coast of the South Island. The area is what one might call a collapsed ancient volcano, the center is a beautiful inland bay. The view from our camper is exquisite. We are surprised that there are no bugs. Right now I am watching a pink sky over rosy water and the twinkling lights of the little town. Joe is standing with the “Canon Club,” three guys in a row with identical cameras trying to capture the incredible evening in a photo.

Akaroa is a French community, the street names are mostly Rue something and the cafes and shops have French names. We had a nice time walking along the harbor. Akaroa is on the Banks Peninsula and we spent most of the day driving to the rim of the crater and then down into lush valleys to three different bays and in each of the bays was a small town with friendly people. The roads are narrow and winding and we had to wait a few times at the side for cattle and sheep being herded on the road. The weather couldn’t have been nicer, it was a picture postcard day. So this is New Zealand. So far, so wonderful.

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Photos

Akaroa, NZ
View from our camper.

Flowers for Mum
Saw these two guys in a little village, said they were picking flowers for "Mum."