New Zealand... in a van

The next day heralded the start of our 12 day campervanning tour of the south island. Gaz, misjudging the distance to the rental garage, walked for two hours to pick up the van, but returned with an absolute gem. Our van is a Toyota Hiace, just big enough for two and with room to stand up inside. Overjoyed with our new toy we spent the day driving over Arthurs Pass, no small feat for our little van with high hills and steep corners - its tips a bit on the corners and all the cutlery rattles! Brilliant fun driving through scenic mountain ranges, and we had fun pulling up to make a cup of tea in the back of the campervan with a view of the wild sea! That night we camped at Lake Mahoupina which was a nice quiet spot. We spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to put the campervan bed together, and then another good hour swatting the zillions of mosquitoes that had gotten in, with ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ playing on the mp3 player to keep us motivated!

The second day of our campervanning took us to Glacier Country, where we stopped at the awesome Franz Josef glacier. We joined a 4 hour guided tour that took us up onto the ice. The surface was pretty treacherous so we had to strap crampons on for the climb up whilst our guide cut steps in the ice. Once up the place was just fantastic - we took in the sights of deep dark crevasses, wave-like blue and white ice walls, huge waterfalls and piles of jagged rock looking ready to give way at any time! We set off to find a free camping spot that evening which the Rough Guide recommended, but which turned out to be a total dump, so we reluctantly had to travel 40km back and stay in a proper campsite that looked rather like a supermarket car park!

Our travels took us then over the Haast Pass, a spectacular drive starting with a view of Mount Cook reflected in Lake Matheson, and then taking in views of surrounding mountains and waterfalls as we climbed the steep road and let the van zoom down the other side. We found a super spot for lunch down on a pebble beach in a valley with not a soul in sight. All the scenery is very majestic here and makes our little campervan look tiny! We stopped en route to see the Blue Pools; these were startling blue crystal clear glacial ponds with trout swimming around in them. The sandflies were a bit vicious though so we had to hop around whilst taking photos! That night we stopped on the shores of Lake Wanaka to camp – a great find. In order to get the best spot in the camp we decided to risk it and drove the camper down a little pebble hill, and after a few skids wondered if we’d ever get back up (luckily we did!). We were rewarded with a stunning lakeside spot and had a brilliant evening dunking in the freezing lake, inventing home-made showers using a punctured juice bottle, then relaxing by a campfire on the millpond calm lake shore watching the sunset. This is what campervanning is about!

Next stop was Queenstown, the adventure sports capital of New Zealand, famous for blowing most backpackers budgets! We were quick to book a trip on the Shotover Jet on our first day there, an activity which remains high in the adrenalin hierarchy. The jet boat charges downstream in the Shotover Canyon, narrowly missing rock faces, shooting over rapids and 4inch deep water with rocks below. Much squealing from Rach and lots of grinning from Gaz! It also does sudden 360 degree spins down the river and drenches everyone in the process, and the second spin was so fast Gaz’s sunglasses flew off his face never to be seen again, whoops! That evening we found the most spectacular free camping spot at Moke Lake, tucked away from the city with gorgeous alpine colours and lake reflections that had us both out exploring around the lake for hours. The photos just say it all… WOW.

The following morning we did some exhilarating paragliding over Queenstown being towed by a boat. The views of the Remarkables mountains lived up to their name, and we were surprised at how high our legs were dangling above the lake and the powerboat looked tiny below! Had a fantastic time floating around up there, and we got the giggles when the guide dunked us in the lake and then revved the engine quickly and we catapulted back up into the air. Gaz vowed he was not going to bungee jump whilst travelling, and yet somehow that afternoon we ended up with Gaz perched on the edge of a 47m drop looking decidedly nervous and Rach watching ready with cameras… also nervous! Gaz took a swan dive off the ledge down into the river, got his head dunked in the river, and then bounced back up as the cord kicked in and let out a massive shout of exhilaration. Rach was just rather relieved the elastic band attached to his ankles had done the job. And we hope mummy Hughes is not reading this or Gaz is in trouble ;-)