Tuesday 17th March - Thursday 19th March, 2009

From the rat race to a slower pace...

The 29 hour flight wasn't half as bad as we imagined and after NZ customs inspected our hiking boots for any alien substances (fat chance on mine which had only been used around Heathrrow airport at this point!) we found ourselves taking the "$5 bus" into Christchurch, which cost us $7 each... trading standards?!

Arriving on St Paddy's Day we soon found ourselves in a pub (albeit a Kiwi pub which so far seem to resemble airport lounges - Lufbra girls remember the EHB Lounge on campus?!) - but after a much needed cheap and cheerful feed, jet-lag kicked in and we were soon heading back for our first night in a NZ hostel (which blow socks off any other hostels we've been to in the world).

Our second day in and we're straight into the Kiwi way of life and on our first walk - up The Bridal Path (Christchurch's earliest walking track for the first settlers here) to Mount Cavendish and down to Lyttleton. The plan was to ease ourselves in gently but half way up the steep track I'm beginning to think that wearing my birkies wasn't such a good idea, and the Gondola (cable car) is looking very appealing!

A couple of nights in and we're already loving Kiwi life - the natives are so friendly, and the country really is as stunning as everyone says. Oh, and the bus network in Christchurch isn't half bad too - Boris could learn a thing or two for London!

Finding our feet...

We've decided to see NZ in the proper Kiwi fashion by hiring a campervan, only when we go to pick 'Zinny' the campervan up we were in for a couple of surprises... unfortunately 3rd party motor insurance is not compulsory in NZ, soaround 1/3 of Kiwis drive around without it, and boy does it show! Given we're both pretty risk averse and we like to find a good deal when spending money, you can imagine how torn we were when deciding whether to reduce our exccess to zero!

The second surprise... well, just look at the photo of us with 'Zinny' - a bit too 'gnarly' looking for us, or maybe a throw back from the 'A'-team?! I guess the only good thing is that the blacked out windows mean it's not so easy to recognise us when we're driving around!

First stop in ' Zinny' is"Pak n Save" to get some food supplies - as a self confessed Waitrose snob this was a painful shopping experience - although I did get excited when I saw the lettuce leaf 'pick n mix', and I think Frank could have spent a lot more time in the walk-in beer fridge!

After this we're ready to leave the town and head across the plains of Canterbury to the Southern Alps!

C x