Here we are in NZ, and all is well. Sort of. We've collected our trusty steed, an
old Nissan Vanette with some foam in the back that they call a mattress
and some curtains that almost cover the windows. At night when we're
wrapped up in the two duvets and our sleeping bags with our thermal
tops and long-johns on it's quite cosy, and the condensation on the
windows in the morning makes the light quite pleasant!
Honestly though it's not so bad. We're spending at least every third
night in a bed, and when we went skiing in Wanaka we stayed three
nights in a motel. The van is going remarkably well, considering it
looks like a pig, but I suppose the more simple a machine is the less
there is to go wrong with it!
As I said we've been skiing. On our first day on the hill
we were both battered by a hail blizzard. It was such a white-out I
couldn't tell if I was going forwards or backwards at one point.
Needless to say Lyds ducked out the second day pleading painful legs
(and arms for some reason...?!), which was unfortunate as it was the
most spectacular day for skiing!
We've also spend a day walking around the Otago Peninsula near
Dunedin. What was supposed to be a 3 hour walk because of the risk of
the weather turned into a 10 hour tramp, with us only heading back to
the campsite because we lost the light. It was an amazing day as we
walked along a beach devoid of humans but with several Sea Lions for
company, and shortly after watched some rare Yellow Eyed Penguins
sheltering from the wind on a hillside. And there was also the climb up
Sandymount, quite literally a mountain of sand. Very tiring!
A couple of days ago we went on another madcap adventure and spent a
day clambering around on a GLACIER! After climbing up through the
moraine fields left behind as it receded 30 years ago we were on the
ice of the Fox Glacier (I think it inspired the Fox's Glacier Mints),
and had our lunch sat on an enormous boulder looking down crevasses and
ice-holes.
Yesterday saw us doing a bit of a determined push north. We left
Fox, and with little of interest along the way drove for 8 hours to the
town of Nelson, and we're glad we did. It's allowed us to have a little
'civilisation' time (and internet access!), and a dose of
Starbucks.
Tomorrow we drive the 2 hours up the coast to Picton and I
(hopefully) collect my driving licence from the main Post Office there
(that's another story...;-) ) before we find somewhere to spend the
night prior to catching the ferry to the North Island.
