Category: New Zealand

Just days after we arrived in New Zealand a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the town of Kaikoura, NZ. Friends and family were concerned, but we were blissfully unaware in the northernmost part of the north island enjoying the start of our adventure. Kaikoura lies in the north eastern part of the south island; a part that we had not originally planned to visit.

The roads were closed for the next 6 weeks so there was no way into the town. Just days before we were to fly out of Christchurch to head to Australia, they opened two roads into Kaikoura. We really hadn’t been sure where we would be for Christmas and decided why not spend it in Kaikoura? We wanted to help them out anyway since they lost a lot of tourist income due to the quake. Also, we’ve never seen the aftermath of an earthquake so we were intrigued.

We are so glad we went because we loved it and it was one of the most beautiful towns we visited in NZ. We camped just south of Hanmer Springs the night before and headed to Kaikoura the morning of Christmas Eve. The drive is normally a couple of hours, but it took us at least three because we stopped to take pictures of the road damage and landscape changes. Also, we had to go slow around some of the changed road patterns. At one place they actually built a whole bridge! We were amazed at how much work they completed in just 6 weeks. Impressive.

As we approached we saw snow covered mountain tops in the distance and wondered if we would be able to see them from the town. We came over a hill into Kaikoura and were met with the most incredible view of gorgeous blue ocean juxtaposed with snowcapped mountains in the background. Breathtaking. We couldn’t believe we almost missed coming here.

We explored the waterfront and saw seals. Amazingly the sea floor raised 17 feet from the quake and the smell of the dying seaweed was awful. We walked around town, shopped and ate sushi. Several shops were closed and there weren’t a whole lot of people there even though it was their peak season. We visited a lavender farm which was amazing and inspired me to grow my own lavender farm.

Then we drove as far north on Route 1 above town as we could before we were told to turn around because of the continued road work.. We could see some of the landslides in the distance which had closed the road and even derailed the train tracks.

We visited a gorgeous lavender farm and there was a dog there that looked like a white Abby. Just as sweet too. Dave and I saw her separately and both petted her and cried. We didn’t realize until we were leaving that we’d both had the same reaction. We sure do miss our furry babies.

 

We turned off onto a little beach access road which turned out to have probably a mile stretch of free camping along the beach! Jackpot. We set up there for the night. We noticed a short way up the road there seemed to be a surfer bar or bbq party of some sort and thought we would check it out. It turned out to be a local get together and they warmly welcomed us to join them even though we didn’t know anyone. We met several people who shared about their experience of the earthquake which we found exciting. Everyone was so warm and friendly. They had two small fires, a girl singing and playing guitar, lots of food and drink, and marshmallows roasting. Kids and dogs were running around playing. There were big cushions lying around. People had brought campers and tents to stay the night. It was very cool to get to experience a true local hangout like this. It was a bit odd to us though to realize the kids were not concerned about sleeping at home and running to see what is under the tree on Christmas morning. We were thankful to to be a part of it all.

The next day we found a local church to attend Christmas service. Turned out to be the first service the church had been cleared to have since the earthquake. It was a combined service of two churches. There were some young missionaries there from around the world who focus on witnessing to the backpacker population, and they did a little skit as part of the service. We were excited to run into a few more Americans there, and then to find out the church was hosting an outdoor lunch for anyone who wanted to come.

We were thrilled to be able to spend Christmas with brothers and sisters in Christ since we would not be able to spend it with family back home. It was such a cool experience. The food was great and we met several new friends. They invited us to hang out again on Tuesday, but we were going to be headed to Christchurch by that time.

Between the church service and lunch, Dave and I were able to video chat with my family who gets together on Christmas Eve (NZ is a day ahead). So even though we couldn’t be there we still felt like we were part of the happenings. It turned out to be a great weekend in Kaikoura. There is so much more I could write about the weekend, but I have already written so much now.

What a typical day looks like for us

This nomad life of camping has been more like a job than either of us expected. It sounds nice to think ‘oh we’re going on a 5 month vacation’ except that it is not really a relaxation vacation when you camp most of the time to keep expenses low. I definitely don’t mean to sound ungrateful or like I’m complaining, just telling the reality of it. We are very grateful for this experience.

We wake up sometime between 7-8am. Stuff our sleeping bags into stuffsacks, deflate and roll up our thermarests, and take everything out of the tent and put it in Dave’s backpack in the back seat of the car. Then we break down the tent. This process takes about 20-30 minutes.

Then we either cook where we camped or drive to find a picnic table preferably with a nice view. We usually cook eggs and some type of breakfast meat. And we’ll have coffee and juice. Then we wash dishes. It’s amazing how little water you need to actually wash, but it takes way more to rinse.  This process takes about 30-45 minutes. Then we find somewhere to throw our trash away.

Either before or after breakfast we often look for somewhere to shower, but sometimes we’ll do this in the evening instead. Sometimes we’ll skip a day if we weren’t very active. This can be an hour ordeal of looking up a place, driving to it, the actual showering, and refilling our water bottles.

Next we start driving to whatever destination we have planned to explore that day. A few times we have had an excursion planned, but mostly we go on long hikes or walk through cute towns. New Zealand has a lot of natural beauty and interesting landscapes due to the history of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes as well as having been mostly under the sea for a long time so there is a lot to see. We usually only spend 1-2 days in any given area, unless we really like it or there is more to see and do. Deciding what to do, where to go, what to see and what we are willing to pay is a daily practice. Often the passenger is looking through travel books to figure out the next destination and trying to make sure we are not missing something important.

As we go along we make sure things are getting charged such as camera batteries, phone, laptop, etc. We decided to buy an inverter early on since we are on the road and camp more than we are near outlets. Often we stop to take pictures just off the side of the road.

We stop at some point and eat something for lunch. Initially we were eating way more than we were burning in calories and were cooking a hot lunch every time. After a couple of weeks of this we realized it was unnecessary as well as consumed precious time and fuel, and that we just were not that hungry nor did we need to eat that much. Just like breakfast, lunch can take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes. Now we may either eat a sandwich or skip lunch altogether and eat an early dinner around 5pm.

Our “kitchen” is in the back of our little hatchback car. We keep about 15 liters of water at a time with several bottles in the front to just drink. Most is in our ‘kitchen’ to use for cooking and dishwashing. We are always on the lookout for places to fill these back up. Thankfully NZ has plenty of delicious water. We have a cooler on the right and a box on the left with tall items in it. Random items are in between the two. It’s still kind of a mess, but it works.

Everyday we have to make sure the cooler is drained and we have to purchase ice about every other day. We also have to grocery shop every two to three days since we don’t have that much space. The cooler (which they call a ‘chilly bin’ hahaha) has been quite the ordeal at times  as water has leaked into some of our food on more than one occasion. We have yet to find a brand of ziplock bags here that do not leak.

Around 6pm we start to look for a place to freedom camp if we haven’t found something on the Campermate app that’s close by with good reviews. We usually find something pretty easily and this is actually an enjoyable part of the trip, however we have camped at some places where the weather ended up being horrible a few times. It doesn’t get dark until close to 10pm so there is plenty of time in the evening to find a place and get set up.

Setting up at night involves pitching and staking the tent, blowing up our thermarests, unstuffing our sleeping bags, grabbing headlamps, and sleep wear. We brush our teeth and I wash my face. Again this takes about 30-45 minutes. Often Dave and I will take turns catching up on our blog. We usually go to sleep around 10pm.

Also, at some point during our day we do Bible study together. Originally we were doing this individually, but decided we needed to refocus our faith as a couple. And it has been a huge blessing.

Every approximate 8 days, or sooner if there is bad weather, we will stay somewhere to get all of our laundry washed and reorganize our car. Even though it has been a lot of work, it has saved us a lot of money to camp and has been totally worth it.

 

Note: Things have been MUCH different since arriving to Australia, but more on that in a future post.

The good and the not so great of New Zealand:

Most travellers we’ve met along the way love New Zealand, and it’s easy to think ‘what’s not to love?!’, but with any place there are always pros and cons. Here is my personal take on things here.

Good:

It’s the land flowing with milk and honey, seriously! Dairy is big here and it’s delicious. And apparently NZ is famous for it’s manuka honey; the more potent the better for its healing properties.

Tipping is not expected unless you receive exceptional service.

The price you see is the price you pay except for grocery stores and maybe some other places where you pay an extra tax.

The obvious- waterfalls, great hikes, geothermal pools everywhere, crystal clear waters, etc.

Insane abundance of adventures.

Excellent rugby team.

Great churches with Bible based teaching.

The road system for the most part is pretty amazing. It’s a general rule to move over and let people pass if you’re going too slow. And on highways every few kilometers the lane you’re in is doubled and you can pass. It’s very smart and efficient.

Gardens, gardens and more gardens.

It’s a safe country in light of what is happening in the world, but of course it is not free of crime.

Healthcare seems to be pretty amazing.

Delicious wineries.

Everyone is so NICE and welcoming. Locals will go above and beyond to be helpful, and nobody seems to be in a hurry. It appears it is more important to take the time to love others than self serve which I love.

Inexpensive, gorgeous, well-maintained golf courses everywhere.

Incredible hiking trails allover the country. I believe there are endless opportunities for all capabilities and interests. Mountain biking too!

No preservatives in produce. And amazing farmers’ markets everywhere.

Giant trees. We love trees!

Not great:

Sand flies- pure evil. 

Honestly, it seems cold most of the year. Burr. I’m not a fan of the cold. You get a couple of months of “hot” weather to enjoy beaches, swimming, etc. It is like torture to me to see this amazing clear gorgeous water and not be able to swim in it. Also, I’m pretty cold natured and I have a weird cold allergy (for real, it’s called cold urticaria) so I need warmer weather. Of course, I’ve only been here for a couple of months so I could be totally wrong about the weather.

Driving on the left side of the road, though you get used to it after a while.

Lots of tourists, and I imagine it is even worse during their peak season. This country seems to depend a lot on tourism, and you will find them in every nook and crannie here. (We just read that tourism has just now become their biggest industry!)

Gas is insanely expensive, as well as other things like food! It costs the equivalent of around $8.00 per gallon for milk!

Oh yeah, the potential for a major earthquake or volcano eruption!

Crazy weather changes.

I know there are lots of things I’m missing in each category, but these are what came to mind first. I may add more later on.

 

Mount Cook is one of my favorite places we visited while here so far. It was gorgeous. Kind of reminded me of the Swiss Alps or Grand Teton National Park. We arrived there on Saturday December 10th and it was rainy and very windy. We decided to check out the Hermitage which had a small museum. We learned a lot about Sir Edmund Hillary and that he practiced climbing Mount Cook in preparation for Mt Everest. Pretty cool stuff. We also watched a half hour film there which was kind of traumatic about the people who do rescues for climbers on the mountain. The main rescue in the film ended with the guy dying, but the way it was going you had no idea what the ending would
be. Needless to say, I have no desire 
to climb mountains of ice and snow. Burrrrrr.

That night we camped at a free DOC campground ne
ar the water canals in Twizel which is a good 45 minutes from Mount Cook, but it was great because Dave got to do a lot of fishing. I actually had some service on the phone and got to watch Netflix for the first time in at least a month! I was so excited, but probably not a good idea to start watching something like Stranger Things when you are in a tent by yourself at night, in the middle of what feels like nowhere while your husband is a couple miles away fishing. Ha! It was good though and nice to just chill out.

The next day we had hoped to go to church, but the nearest one was over an hour away in the wrong direction so we were kind of bummed about that. We ended up cooking breakfast near the fishing canals and did a little fishing. It is so beautiful there. After that we headed back to Mount Cook for some hiking. The weather was perfect that day; sunny clear skies and mild temps.  We chose our hike, packed our lunch and set off for about a four hour hike. It was worth it.