We arrived in South Island early Friday morning and have already covered quite a lot of ground. Literally. On Friday we drove to Abel Tasman National Park which was very picturesque. Very much 'picture postcard' land. We got a sea taxi around some of the coastline, and saw some seals before bing dropped at one of the beaches so we were able to walk back to the campervan. It was an 8 mile walk. I haven't walked that much in a long time, but actually it wasn't too bad. We did it in just over 3 hours. I like to think that was a record, though in reality probably far from it. We've also visited some caves and a glacier, but the weather has been pretty bad so we didn't actually get to see much of the glacier. Everyone says its 'spectacular' though, so I suppose we'll just have to believe them.
Since this is a campervanning holiday, I suppose I should talk a bit about life on the road. It's great. Really great, as it means we have complete freedom to just take off and leave a place on the spur of the moment if the weather is crap (which we've been doing quite a lot lately). The only time it gets a bit dodgy is when we have to find somewhere to park up for the night. Because we have a toilet and cooking facilities in our van, we are able to freedom camp, i.e park up wherever we like, unless it says otherwise. This has resulted in us staying in a wide variety of places, some lovely, some not so. So since we've arrived, we've stayed in two campervcan sights- lovely but we had to pay, down by a river- free but very cold, a pay and display carpark- that was a bizarre experience- and also a couple of roadsides. On Friday night, we decided to freedom camp on a lay-by on a mountain road, just outside the caves we were planning to visit. When we pulled up, I have to say I was slightly reluctant to stop, as it had all the makings of a horror movie...four girls, alone, on top of a mountain....great. We managed to shake of the fear, although when Vicky and I had to go out to turn the gas supply off, it was quite terrifying...it was literally pitch black . I don't think I've experienced darkness like it before! After that little expedition, our evening of horror took a turn for the worse. At about midnight, a massive storm started. There were gale force winds and torrential rain. At several points throughout the night we genuinely thought the campervan would topple over. We were also worried, because none of us could remember whether we had parked at the edge of a cliff...definitely something you should check before pulling up for the night! We managed to survive the trauma, however the weather has sadly not improved much.
Aside from the occasional scary nights on the streets, the whole campervanning experience is great. It means we can spend whole days in our pyjamas if we like, as a lot of the time we are just driving. We do in fact do this quite a lot. I'm actually surpised at how quickly I've let myself go, especially as the only people I see are the girls I'm travelling with. Most of the places we go are so remote that you're lucky to see a sheep let alone anyone who might judge your hygiene! I stopped wearing make up after the first day, and dry shampoo is my new best friend. I haven't showered in 3 days, and you know what I'm fine with it. In fact, bring on day 4! Judge me all you like, but it's so easy to do! The whole living in pyjamas did get me into trouble last night however. When we arrived at Franz Josef, Vicky and I went in search of a payphone and thought we'd try the pub across the road. Unfortunately it wasn't until I had walked through the door that I remembered I was wearing my pj's, and by that I don't mean a pair of old trackies that could pass for day wear, no I mean polka dots! And to make matters worse, the pub we walked into was really busy and filled with mildly attractive men. Mortifying! We quickly established there was no pay phone, and got out of there... maybe no one noticed?
Anyway, we're on the road for the next few days as we make our way down to Milford Sounds. I cannot actually convey to you all in words how beautiful this country is. All afternoon we've been driving through massive valleys surrounded by huge tree covered mountains, with mist lingering around them. The views are literally breathtaking. I had to give up taking photographs as I just wanted to take one every corner we turned (and the roads are very winding!). It also feels so vast as there popultaion is so small. You can drive for miles without seeing any sign of civiliztion, you meet another car maybe once every twenty minutes and you can drive for a good hour without seeing a road sign. This can be quite disconcerting as often we wonder if we're driving the right way, but most of the time there is only one road we can follow. I expect we'll have maybe more amazing drives over the next few days. I can't wait.
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