2 friends. 1 camper. Week 1: Christchurch to Queenstown.

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I met Nick in Christchurch and we picked up our green and purple Jucy Camper and headed for Timaru. Nick has done all of the driving so far, apart from a 2 minute stint in a campsite when i was quite obviously freaking out about driving an automatic vehicle/large van.

The roads are pretty crazy at times, winding up and alongside the mountains. It's made for a Top Gear Special. You also are treated to continously amazing views; New Zealand is possibly the most beautiful country ive ever seen. The other great thing about travelling in a camper is the freedom and flexibility it gives you.

Timaru was a stop off en route to Wanaka. We drove by the stunning lake Tekapo on the way and stopped off for lunch; where we also had our first attempt at filling the water tank, resulting in me soaking wet.

Some parts of the drive reminded me of Yorkshire, with green hills, trees and lots of sheep! However the snowy topped mountains and amazing blue lakes make it something else. Its also autumn here now and some of the trees are turning to copper and amber colours which looks beautiful.

We walked up Mt Iron in Wanaka for 360 degree views, making Wanaka look like a toy town. We also did a walk around the diamond lake there too. NZ claims to be the walking capital of the world...and i think its a pretty fair claim. There are routes everywhere and theyre all so well signposted too.

We then worked our way to Milford Sound, stopping by the mirror lakes; given their name by their almost perfect reflections. We did a boat cruise at Milford Sound, probably the best way to take in the stunning views. We also saw some seals on nearby rocks and a group of dolphins, who swam alongside the boat for a while. We did another walk nearby, described as a gentle climb, our expectations werw wrong, as we were soon scrambling up rocks, Nick in his trainers ('suitable for a game of tennis' as he put it).

After another stop off in Te Aneu, coming back from Milford Sound, we headed for Queenstown. After getting over our outrage of having to pay $50 for a pitch, we explored the town a bit; its the busiest place weve been in so far and is a pretty town. Nick sampled the famous Ferg Burger and me, the less famous Ferg-falafel burger. They were HUGE and very tasted. We went for a few drinks and Queenstown seems like a lively place, we ended in bar watching Mojo- a band that caims to be Queenstown's favourite band. They were far from mine and Nicks favourite band, as we were massively unimpressed with their use of sheet music and song choice. #weshouldbemusiccritics.

As its the town of adventure, we spent the next day White Water Rafting on the shotover river, after the near death cluff edge drive there. We crashed down a series of rapids, from 'pin ball' to 'oh sh*t' and got pretty wet in the process. It was a lot of fun and we both managed to stay inside the raft; success

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