Christchurch, New Zealand

Wednesday and Thursday, 9 and 10 January 2008

We say goodbye to Australia, sorry to be leaving a great country and parting from the friends we have made there. Most of all we will miss Leahanne’s brother Dave and Di who have taken such good care of us.

The Maori name for New Zealand is “Land of the Long White Cloud”. Christchurch was sitting under a very long and very grey cloud when we arrived and the weather was definitely a few degrees cooler than Sydney.

Our first mission is to pick up our campervan, which will be our home for the next month. We meet Roydon, owner of Sunshine Holidays Campervans, who has got up at the crack of dawn to drive 5 hours to get the van to us. He is very friendly and gives us a detailed explanation of all the bits and pieces in the van (e.g. the chemical toilet- the "Portapotty 335" model - Leahanne is appalled and vows never to use it!). It’s peak season and campervans are expensive. Sadly, our ambition of having a Winnebego the size of the Taj Mahal came into brief but brutal conflict with our limited resources. Poverty won out and we have a van that an estate agent would describe as “cosy”. However, despite the initial bumps and bruises from banging body parts off the ceiling, doors etc., we like our little home on wheels.

We spend a day in Christchurch. It has a compact city centre and we enjoy strolling about, watching the locals play chess with giant-size pieces in Cathedral Square and the dapper oarsmen punting tourists down the local river, the Avon, while pontificating loudly on matters of state. We stay overnight at Stonehurst, which is a backpacker hostel but also has some campervan sites. The next morning we thought a leisurely drive around the Bank’s Peninsula, to the east of Christchurch, would be a good start. Instead it turns out to be New Zealand’s answer to the Conor Pass - steep, narrow roads snaking around steep headlands. It’s very picturesque but the driving is tricky.

If you want to see more photos, click here.