After repacking our rucksacks so that we were prepared to make the change from campervan to saloon car, we had a quick wander round Akaroa town and browsed the little shops. We happened to be doing this at the same time as the passengers of a massive cruise ship which had just docked, so were surrounded by other tourists and tour groups. We bought a couple more souvenirs and Cerys bought a new top which had caught her eye, and then decided to head back to Christc...

Decided to spend today looking around Christchurch. We parked near the Botanical Gardens and had a little stroll through the beautifully kept grounds. Our next stop was the I-site to get some info on what was do-able and see-able after the earthquake. We were given a map that had a big red zone marked out on it, which would be closed off until the unsafe multi storeys had been demolished. We walked up to the red zone perimeter, and it looked like a scene out of...

It rained through the night, and continued to rain - which made the van all the more cozy. We had bought bacon and egg a few days ago and there would be no better day to have a fry up for breakfast. The camp sites in NZ are amazing - they typically have kitchen, tv lounges, bbq's as well as the standard bathroom set up. We barely used the gas stove that came with the van. Stef also prepared the crayfish salad for lunch, with coriander, ginger and lime. Mmmmm :)...

Rudely awoken by the alarm clock at 5.30am, we got ready quickly as we didn't want to miss the boat (literally!). We were told it might take an hour and a half to get there, though we adjusted accordingly for our slow coach van that could only do a maximum of 80km/h and allowed 2 hours. With no cafe in sight (Stef was to have a caffeine deprived day), the route we took went up a hill, and back down, then up a mountain and back down again until we reached Duncan...

It was a 7am alarm call in order to meet at the kayak office for 8.15. It had been another slightly restless night, perhaps we were getting too old to rough it in our basic camper van. We felt like the poor relation in between a lot of the self-contained campers around, and there was envy seeing people able to stand up straight in their vans! Annoyingly, there was a lot of faffing and waiting around at the kayak office. Cerys was getting grumpier by the minute ...