Hi Everyone!

We arrived in Christchurch and couldn't believe we had arrived at our last stop before returning! After Rich losing his wallet on the bus (then thankfully finding it again) we checked into a really nice hostel run by a couple from England. We spent a few days gathering our thoughts after our whirlwind tour of the East Coast of Australia and pondered whether to rent or buy a camper van. We decided to rent one and so far so good! We are really pleased with it. It is quite a small mitsubishi van with a sofa and table inside that converts into a bed and a kitchen that you access from the boot. You feel a lot more self sufficient and free to come and go whenever you feel like it!

Our very first trip in our camper van was to the Banks Peninsular. It is just outside Christchuirch and is stunning. It has loads of elongated bays and great views. We drove along summit road, famous for its views and to our left it was a sparkling bay and to our right we could see a long line of snow capped mountains on the horizon! We spent most of the day enjoying the scenic drive. We arrived in the main town called Akaroa and did a short walk before trying to find somewhere to sleep. We were a bit apprehensive at first as we had never free camped before but the roads were so quite and we found a great spot on summit road. You could see a beautiful bay, hills, snowy mountains and the sea from where we were camped and the stars at night were so clear I don't think we have ever seen them like that before! You could even see the milkyway.

After the Banks Peninsular we headed to Mount Cheeseman to do some skiing. We slept on the side of the mountain with equally as good views as the night before only it was somewhat colder! We had a good mornings skiing but unfortunately it got to windy and we couln't go up in the afternoon but we got half a days refund! We headed back to Christchurch that evening for a needed shower!

The next day we were due to meet the family we would be staying with for 2 weeks working on thier farm. We had dinner with them that evening. So far work has been going really well. The family are really nice and so are the kids who are extremely lively and like to use you as a climbing frame whilst you are trying to work! On our first day we had to catch and ring lambs tails! I got dragged along the ground by a lamb and through some sheep poo which was hilarious! We are both learning quite a lot about organic farming, cooking and bread making and of course child care! We would like to stay longer here but that will leave us with little time to see the rest of New Zealand so we will will probably start to head down south towards Queenstown early next week.

Thats all for now!

Lots of love

Rich and Zoe XXX