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The Campervan Experience Begins!!!Apr 9, 2006
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Our home for the next two weeks
Mary's giant celery - $1.69NZ
Mountains and snow
| Kia Ora from New Zealand Connie - is this your birthday? I'm really not so good with dates these days. Jeff is awake earlier than I - no surprise. We do the final packing, head down to the lobby to check out and grab our taxi. Ottawa, take a lesson!! Tom, the taxi driver, is in a jacket and dress pants, the taxi is immaculate and the trip is serene! To top it all off, Jeff tries to offer him a tip and it is refused! Tom is an ex-Wisconsin native. He came to NZ as a youngster in the airforce, doing trips to the South Pole. He met, and married, a Kiwi and has been here ever since - he indicates he was 25 when he left the airforce and has been here for 40 years - the accent is pure Kiwi! There are quite a few people at the Maui Rentals site, but we are invited for our introduction quite quickly. By 9:55 NZ time, 7:55 OZ time and 4:25 p.m. on Saturday, April 8 in Ottawa, we start our engines, the brake is off and we are moving. We stop at the local Pack 'n Save and the Liquor Land and are on State Highway #1 heading for our ultimate destination of Lake Tekapo. In the beginning the land is flat with excellent roads. There are lots of dairy cattle, predominantly Holsteins, with sheep, alpacas and deer thrown in for excitement. OK, and a few hawks. When we flew in to Christchurch, we noticed windbreaks in the landscape. Yes, there are lots, to diminish the nor'westers and whatever comes from the south. Clearly it is still a dry area even though there is an ocean on every side. There are giant irrigation systems on each side of us as we drive along. Vineyards are plentiful, including the "Hoof Beats" but we don't stop as we are on a mission. As we head into Geraldine, then Fairlie and finally Lake Tekapo, we've passed sheep, exquisite mountain scenery and have convoyed with a couple of other campervans. We've seen Canadian flags and, really, it looks as if we are in the foothills and approaching the Rockies. I did mention that we are in a convoy didn't I? Yes, indeed we are. I'm sure Jeff has no idea that being number 2 is making me VERY happy (that driver is pretty cautious!!) In Fairlie we pull over for a snack - isn't being in a campervan wonderful?!!?!??! (Brigitte, let Duncan know that it is!!). Darn, that means that we are no longer in a convoy and Jeff can speed at will! Isn't that a joke - the campervan can't really do more than 100 kph even with the gas peddle all the way to the floor, and possibly through to the engine!!! The Lake Tekapo site is wonderful. We have the lake and snow-covered mountains behind us - It's a bit like Jasper/Lake Louise. We have site #27. There's a wonderful walk around the lake and you can even jog over it if you wish! We opt for the walk towards town, passing lupins and poppies en route. It looks as if the lake is a lot below where it should be. "Town" is great. They have everything you could possibly want and then some. We are impressed that the prices are not artificially inflated to indicate that we are in "holiday" country. Back at the campervan, we have our traditional Sunday night martini, followed by a steak and baked (microwaved) potato with a Rongopai Gisborne Merlot, 2004, from New Zealand - a super way to end our first day campervanning!! We've opted for the forward berth to sleep so that we can leave our table up for eating..........it is small, and vaguely reminiscent of your boat Michael (but definitely smaller!)!!! Sweet dreams to all.......tomorrow it is off to Queenstown, and a possible fly-over the Milford Sound. It seems that's the only way we are going to see it. Bev and Steve, we're doing our best to capture New Zealand for you. What we've heard so far is that people come for a week and need to come back for two to three. We can now believe it - especially as campervanners! But, if you just want to shop, then you might take a little less time............Martyn and Carrie, this is Algonquin and any other park you've been to improved significantly! Au revoir! |
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