Camper Vanning

RV type motor vehicles in NZ are called camper vans and pull trailers are called caravans and the roads here are full of them, all sizes from a ford family van size to Winnebago types. Mostly tourists from the UK, Germany and Holland drive the bigger ones while young folks from all over the world drive the sleep in the back (passenger van) types. There are also some pretty strange looking RVs here, as when Kiwis first started using them there were none readily available on the market so they built their own. There are converted stock trucks, buses, utility trailers, etc. You don't see these at the four and five star campgrounds but out at the public parks and non-serviced sites. These people are locals and usually more down to earth and friendlier than some of the Euros who seem to stick to their own groups, although the Brits or Poms, as they call them here are pretty open.

Ours has about 12 feet of living space that includes a three burner stove, fridge with freezer, kitchen and bathroom sink, shower, toilet, table and two benches that make out into a queen sized bed. It is fully equipped with dishes, for two, and all the cooking needs and bedding. It has a gas barbecue, two fold up chairs and a little picnic table for dining under the stars, which we have not yet done, but we do cook mostly outside.

It is nice to be able to cook for ourselves, although the last 10 days in OZ we rented a suite and cooked or prepared something every day. We can buy fresh every day from farm stands and the choices are great. The fruit is delicious. Meat choices are great with lots of lamb, beef, pork and fish. NZ prides itself for having the tastiest grass finished beef in the world. Growing up with grain feed beef and finding most grass fed beef in Canada lacking flavor and tougher, I was skeptical, but it is darned tasty.

So we shop, go back to the camp ground, cook and eat, go on tours and other adventures and visit with other campers. Most of the campers we have met so far have been from Holland and Britain, and we have met one super couple from the North Island in New Zealand, who we will go visit before leaving. Last night after a day of fishing we had barbecue steak, butter garlic grilled crayfish, which we caught, baked potatoes and scrumptious Pinot Noir. Now how good is that?

A portion of a 420 site camp ground, it was full

We have had some great day drives and some not so great. NZ is a ruggedly beautiful country, where the mountains meet the ocean a lot. Some areas are stunning.

We left the coast and went west into the foothills area of the Southern Alps following along river valleys, through large tracts of fruit farms and road side stands. All stone fruits, peaches, apricots, plums etc. It is just at the start of the harvest produce is plentiful, fresh and good.

Then over another range of hills and into a big broad valley, full of sheep. Lots of land, lots of sheep. The New Zealand sheep flock is about 38 million, I figure we saw a few hundred thousand in one afternoon drive. This country is wild, with great vast hills that are steep and sharp, but grassed to the peaks. Those that are Lord if the Rings fans, this area is where a lot of the horse charge scenes and a number of battle scenes were filmed.

Unfortunately the second day of travel through here was rainy with the cloud cover right on the motorway. Visibility was limited and we did not get to see much of the scenery. We made a long day of it and pushed on up north to the town of Kaikoura, which is an absolutely beautiful place, but that is for a later blog.

Let me tell you about the New Zealand motorways. Our lonely planet book and my friend Leanna said that the motorways in NZ were narrow, but my conception of narrow was quite misguided. These are the toughest roads I have driven, tougher than the Isle of Sky, Newfoundland and the so called bad roads in BC. The mountains go to the sea and they do not have the broad valley mountain passes I am used to. Lots of these are at 11 and 12 percent grade, up and down, with multiple switchbacks, down to 25 and 30kms per hour to make the corners. After coming down a steep road like this for 7 to 12 ams, at the bottom there may be a single lane bridge, with no control, just a give way to oncoming traffic, then back up the other side. This is not only true of the back country motorways, but happens on the main #1 motorway that is the transportation route for the south island, oh my! Oh did I mention the one lane tunnels? Use your imagination. But all is well, I have only have been honked at once, my left arm is getting lots of exercise from shifting gears, so I only use my right arm for the Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet at night.

Truck Leaving a Tunnel

Unlike other places where a day of rest is just sitting around the pool and not doing walks or tours, here a day of rest is being in a campground for a day and walks and tours are great.