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Published: December 27th 2007
Stream beside our "Campsite"
This was beside our camping spot outside RotoruaWeek 3: Making our way from Auckland South to Dunedin
Leaving Auckland we enjoyed the first drive through the countryside to our first stop: Rotorua. Rotorua is a city filled with natural hot springs; you can see our 'camp site' under the tree, it had a beautifully clear stream running beside and black swans. Our first night in Tui: we left the seats in our van as they fold down flat, our bed is an air mattress on top and luggage on one side; we sleep at rest stops wherever we need a break. We stayed in Rotorua two nights, Christina met a girl from Germany and swam in the thermal hot pools in the park (cheaper than the spa!).
The next day we drove to Huka Falls and did a two hour hike; it was amazing, such clear blue waters! We drove through Taupo and headed down to sleep at Otaki Beach on the West Coast on the Tasman Sea. The next day we drove in to the windy city of Wellington. We went to the Wellington Zoo for a few hours before taking the ferry to the South Island. The ferry was HUGE, it had 5 levels of
The Tui Van by Rotorua
Where we slept the first night in Rotorua vehicles and levels for passengers. The ride was about 3 hours and smooth; we got in to Picton around midnight.
The next morning, Saturday, we drove to Nelson. Although it was only about 150 kms it took nearly 3 hours, the roads were amazing - no shoulder, windy, up and down the side of the mountain hills! The view was phenomenal but we didn't dare take our eyes off the road. We got in to Nelson and met up with some fellow Canadians, Kevin and Leslie, they introduced us to real fruit ice cream and had many handy hints to share. Sunday we drove to Christchurch and camped Southeast of the city in a beautiful spot east of Allendale, on the Lyttelton Harbour. The sky was clear and the moon was near full so we were able to take some night photos (see below). Definitely a different view compared to the Northern Hemisphere.
Monday we walked through the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch and then drove down to Timaru. We ran out of gas poetically as we came into town and learned that our gas gauge isn't accurate - good to know! The gas light came on as we
ran out. Kirby pushed us into a Shell station in less than 5 minutes. Gas is $1.70/L here, thought you may find that interesting... We weren't as fond of Timaru and after driving a bit further hit a rest stop for a nap... but forgot our lights on... and our AA Roadside Assistance membership has already come in handy! You can watch a video of part of our drive below.
We made it to see Charlotte and Duane in Dunedin on Christmas Eve and slept great in a king size bed. We'll have more Christmas updates soon! Merry Christmas everyone!
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Twiddle Dee Dum
non-member comment
Lions and Giraffes and Tuis... oh my!
That's quite the luck with the gas (mis)adventure and the battery... you must have been really tired to fall asleep with the lights on??? Appreciated the back of Tui photo - as well as the token Wellington... Definitely recognized the upside down Orion - strange. Can you see the big Dumper?