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March 3, 2024

The Adventure Begins! - Week 1 in NZ

Hello all,

This is the first attempt at a newsletter email, with updates from my travels in New Zealand. Here goes nothing…

I arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 10th ready to start this next big adventure. A week prior to arriving, my original plan of staying with my friend, Pierre, a South African and wine maker I met in 2016, fell through. Not only that, but the camper van he owned and was going to lend me broke and he had to sell it. That meant that we were going into this trip with no plans, but lots of positivity that it would all end up just fine. After all, I was flying into one of the most magical places in the world, and a very safe one at that, with no language barrier to overcome.

I had another slightly demoralizing hiccup when I got to the airport and the airline made me weigh my backpack, which I had intended to just carry on. It was over their 10kg limit, by 4kg, so they made me check my bag… for a whopping $220. Super ouch, especially given that my ticket was only $600. I was less than happy, but had no control over it, so I went through security a whole 28lbs lighter, ready for things to look up.

My traditional travel selfie, just lighter than usual

My flight to Fiji was uneventful, as was the flight to NZ. After a quick bus ride to my hostel, I set out to find a van to buy since I had already set my mind on having the flexibility of driving myself around and the cost of renting for a month was the same as buying a car. After a few anxiety ridden days of scouring fliers and Facebook, I found something owned by another American girl, Megan. We met, I test drove it - driving in the city on the other side of the road was an adventure in and of itself. I definitely didn’t hit a cone within 2 minutes of driving because I was staying WAY too far left - and we agreed to exchange keys and money in a few days! 

2005 Mazda MVP with a sink, bed, toilet and only 220,000 km on it :)
Full size bed with lots of storage underneath!

Once that chore was out of the way, I set out to enjoy my time in the city, attending free concerts and a Chinese New Year festival in the botanical gardens with women from my hostel, rock climbing with some women I met on Facebook, doing the historic settler walk from Lyttleton harbor to Christchurch, the Bridle Path, and hiking Godley Head, the peninsula that they used to defend the harbor in WWII.

Chinese New Year celebrations were in full swing when I arrived
Resting mid-climb in a cave overlooking Lyttleton harbor

The journey to Godley Head from Sumner - the bus only goes to the town, not the trailhead - required that I walk up a long, narrow, winding hill that had no sidewalk and lots of car traffic. After about 15 minutes of being passed by cars and suffering in the blistering heat, I tried to hitchhike. No one picked me up, but in hindsight, I am very grateful, for many reasons.

First, not 2 minutes later, I found a trail called Taylor’s Mistake that took me off the road and around the bluffs to Godley. It was beautiful, covered in native flora and with sweeping views of the bluest water.

Taylor’s Mistake with Godley Head in the background
One of 3 gun emplacements on Godley Head

Second, had I not been denied before, my timing would have been different and I wouldn’t have met some guys, Blake from Oklahoma and Will from London, on the last bit of my walk. They offered to drive me back to Christchurch, which was a blessing all its own, but then the next day they invited me to attend my first ever cricket game!

The ladies from my hostel and the guys from my hike in a church turned pub

We spent the next afternoon (Valentine’s day) sitting in the sunshine watching the game, which moves at a very similar pace to baseball. Will, thank goodness, knows the game pretty well and was great at explaining what was happening and answering questions.

Mid cricket game - they seem to last forever- I needed to leave because it was time to get my van! Megan came and met me at my hostel and together we went and got it registered under my name. We exchanged money, I went and got it insured ($62 a month for full coverage because here you don’t have to pay other people’s medical bills- everyone is covered), and I set out 2 hours north to Kaikoura, a beach town known for whale tours.

I did not do a whale tour, BUT I did hang out with some adorable baby seals at the seal colony. They were fluffy and noisy, and I bonded with one in particular. It was swimming in a small pool, and when it saw me sitting on the rock above watching it, it started to roll around, splash, and throw seaweed around like a toy. I fell in love- I must have spent at least 45 minutes giggling, cheering it on, and praising it.

My little seal love

I originally hadn’t planned to go to the seal colony at all, but I had met a very nice Māori man the night before who’s job was to check to make sure our “self contained” vehicles* in the free camping area were actually self contained. Mine is certified self-contained, but I don’t typically keep it that way, because I don’t want a toilet set up by the bed in my car at all times. 

*self contained in NZ means you have a water source/sink and a working toilet and those things have been certified by the government. You get documentation and a cool blue sticker on your car and then you can free camp in designated areas!  

My self-contained setup! The black box is my stove and the grey “box” is my never-been-used toilet that I refuse to keep up by my bed.

I also did my first big hike while in Kaikōura, Mt Fyffe. It was very exposed, which is not ideal because there’s no ozone here, and was so very hot. The entire way I felt I was being cheered on by the immeasurable amount of cicadas and their symphony- The forest almost vibrated with their sound it was so loud. After a grueling climb of 4,600’ over 5.5 miles, I was met with 360° views of the mountains on one side and the ocean the other.

All in all, week one felt like a huge win. I went from having no plan and no car and nowhere to stay, to being an international car owner and technically homeowner too!

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