The New Zealand adventure begins xxx

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So our road trip adventure began today! We arrived in Christchurch on Sunday and had 2 nights in a hotel there we tried to get our campervan early but there weren't any available so stayed the extra night in the hotel. It was actually quite sad being there after the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 there was so much devastation left behind even 4 years later it felt like a bit of a ghost town really. So many businesses were shut down where there's obviously not a lot of tourism anymore and from the damage as well. We went into an information centre that had been created to let people know about it showing how it looked before, pictures of the aftermath, videos of peoples experiences and what they are doing now to rebuild the city. It was quite touching and I think made us feel quite humble and lucky for the experience we are having really. 185 people died in 2010 and it was just so sad to see the aftermath and pictures was just awful.
There wasn't too much to do because of the destruction really so not lots to say about the place but it was humbling to visit. We managed to get our campervan though today (Tuesday) after a bit of arguing with the company....definitely wouldn't use Apollo again or advise to use them they aren't amazing!! But we got it and hit the road! It was pretty funny really we knew we'd gone for the 'cheaper' option but thought we'd get a bit better than we do, it's literally a van that's been converted but we are used to it now and think it's going to be a pretty funny adventure for the next20 days on the road in New Zealand. Our first stop was Lake Tekapo where Brad had found a holiday park for us to park up and he did good!!! It's unreal here, I'm currently writing this in our little van our bed made up and 'curtains drawn' all very cosy! We got here in the afternoon and WOW it's stunning!! There's even an ice rink and hot springs here, making it feel like Christmas to me!! We got told how beautiful New Zealand was and it's already been proven right. We are parked up overlooking the river and you'd think you were somewhere like Canada! You can imagine how great the place is when the ski season is in full swing! It's surrounded by mountains making the view stunning and this afternoon we walked up a small one, trying to make Hayley and Rob proud lol. We had to practically run up to make sure we got good pictures with the sun still up which, yes, made me moan, but it was well worth it we have definitely started the New Zealand album off in style!
It didn't take us long and we were back down in a couple of hours, and were both ready for some dinner. We'd stopped on our way and stocked up on some of the bare essentials and bought some soup for dinner. We have a stove with the van but there's a kitchen here so we thought it's be easier to use that, and, well, it definitely made us realise what novice campers we are with all the 'regulars' cooking up their dinners that smelt amazing and steaks on the BBQ. we tried to heat up our soup like little paupers lol but the cooker wasn't very good so resorted back to the stove, after Brad nearly blowing the thing up he finally got it working and we finally got some dinner, soup, bread and some red wine not too bad really lol. So we are now having an early night in preparation for day 2. We are driving to Mt Cook and doing a 4 HOUR trek so I'll update you as soon as possible!


Love B&K xxxxxxxxxx

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