The other side of the world

---

So we have arrived in New Zealand, as far away as we will ever get from home. A real mixture of receptions here. We arrived to free coffee and tea at the airport and friendly and fast customs/baggage retrieval. Chatted to a lovely, although completely mad woman at the airport, before aiming to hire a camper van.

Unfortunately, the high season has been extended as campers are still in high demand, so not only did we have to phone 20 companies to find one, but they are also more expensive than we thought. We do however now have one that works (just), after Alex's minimal mechanical expertise did earn us an upgrade to a newer model after running rings around the manager who it seemed had never driven car let alone seen a van before in his life!! The first one went back within 10 minutes, what with the dodgy brakes, clutch and inability to retrieve the key from the ignition. The company is awful. It will be a miracle if we make it to Christchurch. Oh well, travelling was never said to be easy!

We have seen some beautiful places (like Goat's Island) and some less nice places (like an oil rig depot that we got stuck driving around and around!). It is like one enormous national park, interspersed with a few small towns. The motorway is only a lane each way, and the equivalent of an A-road is a mix between gravel track and tarmac patches (180$NZ well spent on full-comp insurance!)

I have now driven on this trip, driving all day yesterday. It felt like I was driving a bus. And yes, we are still stuck driving an automatic (damn these hire cars). We will buy a manual in Aus!

---

Comments

[Rachel]

Hello
Hi you two. Sounds great. You should go and see M's aunt and uncle. Will email you their address and e mail address so you can get in touch. They are near to Hamilton. BAy of Islands was fab when we were there and that was August. so imagine that Feb must be gorgeous. All love, R and M. xxxx