Pictures from day one

November 18th we had to drag ourselves out of bed early because we had a flight to catch. We'd stayed up way too late packing because we had waited way too long to start packing in the first place. Shannon and I are both serious procrastinators, lol. Shannon's flatmate, Brendon, gave us a ride to the airport. It was right at rush hour so it took forever. We began to think we wouldn't make it in time.

Boy were we wrong. Air New Zealand is so easy to navigate when you are flying domestic, we were out of the car and waiting at our gate within 20 minutes. Checking in, even with checked baggage, was so easy and they were handing out free coffee and fruit as well. Free coffee always makes me happy, lol. Security was never that easy in the US. We didn't have to strip to go through. We didn't have to empty the entire contents of our bags. We didn't even have to dump our water bottles. What a difference!

The only negative, and it was really more amusing than anything else, was this really stinky business man sat next to me. I mean he reeked and it was still morning. I'd hate to see how bad he smelled at the end of the day, lol.

Once we landed in Christchurch, we wandered around a bit looking for the bus we needed to take us downtown. The airport had some construction going on so it wasn't readily apparent where we were supposed to go but we found it eventually. We rode the bus downtown and then walked to the car rental place. It was a bit further than we thought but it was a nice, albeit windy, day.

Shannon had done all the planning for our trip and she got us a great deal on a campervan from Spaceships. These little campervans are way more popular donw there than they are here which is a shame really. Our little ET was awesome! Since the company name is Spaceships they name all their campervans after sci fi characters. Ours was E.T. Basically, it was a Toyota minivan decked out for camping. In the back, they had taken out the seats and put in a board and a mattress to make a fairly comfy double bed. Under the bed was storage for cooking supplies, food, clothes, etc. as well as a little battery powered refrigerator. We never could get our frig to work though so we used a cooler with ice. Behind the front seats was a smaller seat that turned sideways so you could get to everything. Just behind the passenger seat was a proprane stove that swiveled out so you could cook. It came equipped with all the kitchen stuff you would need, plenty of proprane, and a built-in DVD player. We added a small table and two camp chairs as well as a camp shower to our package. After a trip to the grocery store for provisions, we were ready to roll.

Shannon had plotted out a course that would take us along the east coast from Christchurch but the woman at Spaceships convinced us to go inland for a while because it was prettier. Now, it's kind of ironic that I've married a geographer because I can't read a map to save my life. Seriously, it's embarrassing, lol. So to combat my deficiency, I bought a GPS last year. Shannon and I dubbed her Verin after a character in one of our favorite novels. I managed to find some New Zealand maps to install on her but I was concerned about their accuracy since they were free maps made by users of a website instead of actual official maps made for the GPS. But they were free versus several hundred dollars so what the heck. If all else failed, Shannon could drive AND navigate, lol. See not only can I not read a map, I can't drive on the left side of the road either, lol. My main contribution to the trip was as comic relief.

So, anyway, we plotted our course in Verin and off we went. The countryside was indeed beautiful. Rolling grass covered hills and then snow covered mountains off in the distance, sheep and cows as far as the eye could see. The weather was fine and it was a gorgeous drive. After about three hours, we were both very hungry and debating on what to do for dinner. We finally opted to stop at Subway as soon as we found one. In New Zealand Subways, they have the subs of the day. Basically it's a 6-inch sub of a given type for $3.50. That translates to about $2 for a sub. Hell of a deal and one we took advantage of several times during our trip. It's a real bummer they don't offer that here in the States.

Dark was settling upon us so we needed to find a place to camp. The Department of Conservation, or DOC, had campgrounds all over the country where they provide minimal services for a small fee or even for free. The fewer the amenities, the lower the fee. Since money was pretty much nonexistant for this trip, we opted for these campgrounds most of the time. The first one that night was beside the Ahuriri Bridge near Omarama. It was basically a flat area beside the stream. There were a few other cars there but we found a spot right next to the stream and set up camp.

I was really wanting a shower that first night so I loaded our camp shower with stream water, added a pot full of hot water, hung it over the campervan door, and stripped. It was all I could do not to scream my head off when that freezing cold stream water hit my skin. Even with a pot of hot water, it was so cold. Shannon had to hold the little nozzle for me and we could barely get any cleaning done for laughing so hard. I was gasping and sputtering, she was trying valiantly to help me move as quick as possible. It was hilarious! Finally, though, I was clean and dressed in warm clothes and much happier. We crawled up inside the camper and were soon blissfully asleep.