Hot Pools, Filthy Cars and Flat Batteries

Hot pools were waiting for us as we left Nelson after one night and headed to Hanmer Springs to stay at the Kakapo Lodge for a couple of nights.This was our last night in hostels before we braved the North Island in our camper van - aptly named Gino (as in Gino Di Campo - inventive, no, a bit of fun, yes!)

We decided on a bit of a lie in as we had driven so much over the previous few days and then took a walk up to the Conical Forest, Majuba Walkway and finished up on the Dog Stream.To liven things up we had a "best of 3" competition of Pooh Sticks - a confident 1st win for me was short lived as Liz managed to pick a couple of champion sticks and beat me 2 -1. Doesn't matter, it's a stupid game anyway.

We then hit the thermal pools that ranged from 33 up to 41 degrees, the sulphur pools that stunk of rotten eggs were so hot but relaxing, perfect for after our walk.

As we were dropping the car off the next day we realised the state of it probably wouldn't be well received - covered in dust, full of rubbish and a mud flap hanging off - damn those gravel tracks.I borrowed the hose from the hostel owners and did my best to make it at least look vaguely presentable.Job done and we went back to Christchurch and swapped our little hatchback for a Crib Camper Van.It sounded perfect - fridge, DVD player, gas hob, iPod connector - what more could we need for the next couple of weeks exploration.

We arrived in Kaikoura and found a very secluded spot off the road with a sign saying "No Camping, No Litter" - now strictly speaking we weren't pitching a tent so we settled for the night and got the sausages going on the hob with just the rear door light on so we could see.Then just to check I went to switch on the ignition and the camper was as dead as a dodo.Not good - we had purposefully hidden ourselves away so we could camp for free so we called the AA and tried our best to explain where we were.A call out fee of $140 was presented to us and we were told that the battery was screwed and that the rental company obviously hadn't checked it!

The AA dude got us going with enough charge to get it started as long as we used no lights, no fridge, no radio unless we were driving.

So, night one was spent in the pitch black from about 6pm, no fridge, no DVD, no iPod.Having said that we both slept very well, its very comfortable and we awoke the next day bright and early to go whale watching.

Sam