Our campervan is brilliant. It's really good quality and we can only afford it because it is half price during the low season. It's really big and black and there is no coropate logo all over it like all the other campervans we see. It's just like the A-team. It's got a picture of a scantily clad woman on the side probably because the company is called Ezy campervans which is quite funny. Inside the campervan we have a double bed which turns into two benches, 2 gas stoves, a fridge, a microwave, a TV, DVD player, lots of storage and cooking stuff, a sink and tap. In other words we can do everything when we free camp apart from shower. So we try to free camp every other night and pay for a campsite at other times.

Driving the campervan is loads of fun. I was pretty scared when it came to driving the campervan out of the rental place. Firstly it's been only 6 months since I passed my test and secondly it's been 5 months since I did any driving at all and thirdly it's an automatic campervan and I've never driven an automatic before. But it is really easy to drive. It's so big and heavy that it doesn't accelerate very fast. It probably does 0-60 in 5 minutes. And because it's so tall and has loads of stuff in it, it doesn't take corners very well. I have to drive about 20 kms/hr around really sharp corners otherwise everything in the back falls out of the shelves and it only gets to a max of 90 on long straight roads when the New zealand speed limit is 100. But because I'm a tourist, I take it easy and usually cruise along at 60 - 80 on the main roads while 5 or 10 cars build up behind me unable to overtake. The maximum so far has been 15 cars trapped behind me, but i'm sure I can beat that record.

We spent our first night free camping by a bay on the Akaroa penninsula with no one around. We were right next to a beach and it got really really cold in the night. Then we spent our second night on a farm and we were almost the only ones there until these elderly australians turned up in a 'wicked' campervan. They said their campervan was rubbish and they only got it because it was cheap but they were pretty annoyed when they found out that it is the same rental price as ours.

Aidan.