ReneeMatt

Day 20 – Saturday the 2nd of April Our last day of honeymooning had arrived much sooner than we had anticipated; thankfully it was going to be a relaxing and enjoyable day. Hanmer springs was the perfect way to end a honeymoon, we had planned it so well. What we didn’t think about was the fact it was a Saturday and the pools were packed. It’s apparently a popular place for christchurchers to come to in the weekends and with the recent earthquake, probably a lot more a needing an escape than usual. It didn’t dampen our day though. The pools were heavenly. We tried most and a few were visited a bit more frequently than others. The 3 hot spas were sulphur and stunk like Rotorua and about 5 of the other pools were thermal, ... read more

Day 18 – Thursday the 31st of March Today was “Wine Tour by Bike” day. We woke up to the daily ritual of the Marlborough gas guns. It’s an incredibly loud gun powered by gas that lets off 3 loud shots every 20minutes from 7am till 7.30pm every day, something the locals of wine country are very use to. The lovely couple we were staying with were kind enough to warn us of these frequent bursts. It got to the stage we were counting the shots. We’re not sure how the locals do it; they’re probably immune to the sound. We picked up our bikes at about 10.30, had our itinerary mapped out for us and off we pedalled. Had been over 9 years since Renee has rested her wee bottom on a bike saddle and ... read more

Day 16 – Tuesday the 29th of March Today was a real driving and relaxing day. A hark back to civilisation. We woke as late as possible and slowly tidied the camper up. Surprising just how much mess we were able to make in only 17 or so hours! We spent the morning eating brekkie and folding our washing done the night before. Eventually we decided on Nelson as our next port of call with a stop in at the few vineyards in the area. After winding our way back over the hills (the area being laden with apples, pears, kiwifruit and nashi) we eventually reached the relatively large town (comparative to most we have visited) of Richmond - located just outside of Nelson, and probably just considered a part of Nelson. We stopped in at ... read more

Day 14 – Sunday the 27th of March Only one week left of our honeymoon. If only we could win the lottery, then we could be free to roam the world in campers. It’s official, we truly believe camper van holidays are the only holidays to have. So much fun! From Lake Mahinapua we drove to Hokitika to see the glass blowing studio, apparently it’s a must if you’re passing through the town. Being on holiday you totally lose track of the days of the week. It’s Sunday today....hehe. So the glass blowers weren’t there as it’s their weekend. We took a look around the studio at the ridiculously priced pieces and decided on a smaller, much cheaper momento. Shantytown was our next adventure stop. It said in the brochures to allow 90mins to soak it ... read more

Day 12 – Friday 25th of March Before we left Queenstown we did had two more items to tick off our to-do list. The amazing indoor minigolf and Fergburger. A few days ago we noticed an indoor minigolf right across the road from our camp site and thought we’d inspect. It was just like you see in the movies, real American style minigolf. It had mechanical obstacles. Everything opened, closed, make noises, spaceships lifting off, mines exploding. Gondolas carried your ball to the top, through tunnels, over bridges, down rivers.....was AMAZING! Next stop was for lunch. We were NOT leaving Queenstown without trying the world famous in NZ – Fergburger! We were most definitely not disappointed. Matt had the Cock Cajun burger – a chicken burger marinated in a spicy Cajun marinade and served with the ... read more