So that's how far we'd made it. By now we had flown halfway around the world. If you started digging in Austria, New Zealand wouldn't be our exact antipode – that would be somewhere in the wet Pacific Ocean – but New Zealand would probably be the nearest land.
Just the thought of being so far away from home is an exciting adventure in itself.
Here our way of travelling would also turn 180 degrees. Instead of planning ahead and booking accommodation, we switched to a mobile bed, aka a camper van.
We had been told so many good and beautiful things about New Zealand and couldn't wait to start our nature adventure.
New Zealand consists of a North and a South Island. The capital, Wellington, is at the southern end of the North Island, where the ferry route to cross over to the other half of New Zealand is.
We had decided to fly from Sydney straight to the South Island. So the city of Christchurch, with its English flair, became our starting base. In any case, we found that the many perfectly kept lawns and beautiful flower gardens were very reminiscent of England.
Christchurch is also known for its vibrant street art scene. After the severe earthquake in 2011, the city became a showcase for artists who use their talents to brighten up the city's streets and buildings with colourful and inspiring works of art. Our rides on public transport kept taking us past great urban murals and graffiti.
And past Gandalf, too!
As flower and plant fans, of course we didn't miss a trip to the Botanic Gardens. It's only a fairly short walk through a great, well-kept park, but if you take enough time you can discover a rose garden, a desert plant house, an area with typical New Zealand plants (which we really loved), giant trees, wild birds and much more.
So Christchurch was intended as our organisational base for the upcoming camper van experience. Our plan was to buy a so-called "self-contained" vehicle, in which you can officially spend the night at freedom camping sites. Renting was out of the question, as prices were extremely high, and then the costs of food, tours and any campsite fees would come on top. Besides, all mid-range camper vans were fully booked anyway – like so many things after the pandemic, now that the desire to travel had risen massively again. New Zealand's regulations require a self-contained vehicle to be self-sufficient for at least 3 days. Roughly, that means being equipped with enough fresh water, a waste-water tank and a toilet. So first we had to find a car, then possibly equip it a bit more, do the paperwork – and then we could actually set off.
However, we had to deal with the problem that Christchurch was also completely overbooked in the week we arrived. The very popular and well-known Electric Avenue festival was in town, it was peak tourist season just before the coming New Zealand winter, and so from one day to the next, all accommodation in the city was booked up.
We quickly decided to move to the countryside for 4 days and only continue our car-buying mission in Christchurch after the commotion.
During those four days we got a foretaste of the weeks to come, as we got to stay at a super sweet Airbnb in Rangiora, a farming area.
Pure country feeling. Right in front of our room, 2 friendly paddock horses greeted us every morning. Our daily walk led exclusively across fields and past cow or sheep pastures. Swamphens, ducks, geese and wild birds that were new to us crossed our paths.
The fresh and above all clean air did my bronchial tubes good. The cooler climate too.
Back in Christchurch, within a week we had found our new mobile home for the coming weeks.
After an intensive day of cleaning the car, we bought a camping stove and accessories, as well as all the necessary and unnecessary food you might need for a cosy time of vagabond life.
And then off we went. Everything was so exciting. Our first real long drive in our Mazda Premacy, converted into a camper van, began. We drove to the gondola station in Christchurch, hiked up the hills and admired the great view of Christchurch on one side and Lyttelton on the other.
The colours of the coast and the bays made our travellers' hearts beat faster.
Everything here seemed a little calmer but at the same time wilder than in the places we had travelled to before. With the exception of Sumba. Perhaps that's exactly why Sumba and New Zealand were similar in a certain way – because fewer people were about, and nature and its forces are more clearly present here at all times.
The next time we started the engine, we reminded ourselves once more that we now had the freedom to simply cruise along New Zealand's coasts and spend the night wherever we felt like.
Jürgen, a very nice former colleague of Chris's, had already had this adventure and shared his complete route with us.
This was of course a welcome gift, and whenever we didn't feel like doing research, we could simply follow Jürgen's tips. (Thank you! 😊)
So our chosen route led along the east coast heading south, in search of seals, penguins, wild birds and untouched forests.
But those are all other stories.
For now, enjoy the photos and videos of our first stop in New Zealand.