I’m absolutely in love with New Zealand. This country is beautiful, fun, sweet, charming and exciting – and we’ve only just seen a very small part of it.

Beautiful New Zealand

Ben and I arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand last week via a long set of flights from South Africa. At that point we had no idea what to do in New Zealand, so we found a hostel and hunkered down for 4 days to plan and get over our jet-lag. I don’t have a single photo of Christchurch, but it’s a really great city right next to beaches and mountains with a cool downtown.
 

Campervaning

Jucy Cruiza Campervan

Our time in Christchurch ended with us setting out to explore the South Island for 2 weeks in a “Jucy Cruiza” campervan. Campervans are really popular here, and can range from a regular van fitted with a bed and basic cooking facilities, to your typical American-style RV. Our campervan is near the lower end, but we opted for a hi-top, which gives us room to stand up and a better kitchen. For about $46 US dollars a day, we’ve been really happy with it. Unfortunately we also have to pay for a powered campsite in order to run our little fan heater at night (it’s autumn here and getting cold), which runs us another $20 USD per night. Anyway, it’s been fun and gives us lots of flexibility since we can go as close or far as we want every day. We might even extend our rental for another week.
 

Getting in Shape – New Zealand Style

We decided that New Zealand was a great place to get back in shape after being on the road for a few months. Since there’s tons of outdoor activities here, our plan is to do something each day – mountain bike, hike, jog, kayak, or whatever. With this scenery, and endless options for activities, it sure beats the gym back home!

Ben blasting his pecs

Our Rough Plans

We have about 2 1/2 more weeks in New Zealand. To keep a slow pace, we’ll only visit the South Island. Here’s a map to show you where we’ve been, and tentatively where we plan to go…

View New Zealand Road Trip in a larger map
Blue – Where we’ve been
Red – Where we might go