There was quite a significant drop in temperature from Brisbane to Christchurch in New Zealand, and the grey sky was very reminiscent of our own sunny country. After spending a night in quite a nice hostel, we stayed a couple of days with a kiwi girl that used to work with Ben in Shoreham. We really didn't think a lot to Christchurch as a city, but it was nice to rest up for a few days and not to have to share a kitchen and bathroom with about twenty other people.
The joy of a private bathroom was continued(sort of)with our super deluxe campervan. The big white box on wheels wasn't quite what we had had in mind and Ben was a little concerned about the maneouvrability of the beast, but it turned out to be the cheapest of all the deals and quite a bargain with petrol consumption. The 'bathroom' was basically a cupboard with a chemical toilet and a shower attachment, but when you needed the loo in the middle of the night it was worth its weight in gold.
Our first port of call was the beautiful blue Lake Tekapo, where we did our first bit of 'freedom' camping down by the water's edge. Then it was onto Mount Cook (via incredible views from Lake Pukake), the tallest peak in New zealnd, surrounded by other towering mountains with glaciers climbing down from their summits. The is a tiny alpine village there and a great campsite from which to do several walks taking in the spectacular scenery.
Next was Dunedin, a fairly nondescript city full of students in the South. From here we visited the Otago Peninsula, famed for its wildlife. Although we didn´t see the yellow-eyed penguins we hid and waited for, we were very lucky to stumble across two massive, fat sea-lions asleep in the middle of a beach. They can apparently move very fast and be quite aggressive, so we were careful to tiptoe around them, speaking only in whispers.
Dense rainforest and lovely windy beaches come together at the Catlins National Park, at the very south of the country, about as close to Antartica as you can get. As you can imagine, we were in for some chilly nights in the campervan, prompting us to invest in some thermal tops and leggings at the next town. We looked quite special in our matching outfits as we dressed for bed the following night, but they were certainly a good investment when it came to warmth.
