Kia Ora from Queenstown

We've made our way down from Christchurch in a round about kind of way and can't believe we've had the van a week already. The rugby was a classic kiwi experience and a cold one as well! The Crusaders won easily and scored the 4 tries they needed (you get a bonus point) to give them a chance of getting into the playoffs and defending their title.

Having the van is every bit as liberating as we hoped it'd be. Not having schedules and overnight bus trips has made the travelling part much easier. The scenery is also amazing, we've come to the point where we've tried to stop taking landcape pictures. If we'd stopped everytime there was a vista worth a photo we woundn't ever get to Auckland. Some of the roads we've been on felt like an episode of Top Gear without the curly hair and annoying internation in our voices.

We've got quite good at converting the van from a bed to table and chairs and now have the whole process down to a brisk 10 mins! If we pay for a powered site (normally around $30) we have a fan heater and a light. We did try camping for free one night but without the heater it was fairly cold, as the photos show, we ended up sleeping in every bit of clothing we have! It was warm enough like that but we haven't done it since. We might have to again though, in an attempt to pay off all the warm weather clothes we bought in Chch!

We really have fallen in love with the van. It's a Toyota Hiace converted with GCSE Woodwork! We're hoping that dad (Ireland) will have watched enough early morning 'This Old House with Norm' by the time we get back to be able to help us do our own!

Kiwis are very different to Aussies, it's not an original observation but people are alot quieter and less brash than your stereotypical aussie. I think their varying approaches to road safety highlight this. The current NZ speeding slogan is "The faster you go, the more mess you make" which is believe it or not subtler than the OZ govt effert of "Drink driving? . . . . You bloody idiot". Both of these made us chuckle and I think demonstrate a difference between the cultures!

We're now in Queenstown, the adventure sports capital of NZ, so we're off for some frisbee golf now to get the adrenline going! We are also planning a speedboat trip tomorrow which is more in keeping with the spirit of the place!

Missing everyone, we didn't mark it but we know we must be over half way point and looking forward to coming home.

Lots of love

Greg and Steph
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