4472kms and what a journey!

We spent New Year's Eve in Wanaka, had a very nice meal in a restaurant (!) and joined the crowds on the lake shore for the midnight fireworks! A great evening, very friendly people and not a drop of alcohol to be found anywhere. The party was in a Liquor Ban zone. Luckily we had indulged in a very nice bottle of bubbly already!

The next monring we stretched our legs and walked up a small mountain behind Wanaka, with stunning views across the lake. By this time it was New Year's eve in the UK! Very odd feeling!

After a few more days in Wanaka, we dragged ourselves away and headed up through the middle of the South Island towards Mount Cook. We ended up at a campsite near a bright turquoise coloured lake, but apart from that it had nothing going for it. Certainly nothing we wanted to pay for! So we decided to be a bit adventurous and drove to another lake nearby where we had spotted a small woodland on the lake shore. A tiny dirt track led down to the shore and we couldn't believe our luck! We had uninterrupted views of Mount Cook  with the lake in the foreground....perfect! We set up camp for the night (for free!), cooked up a nice pasta meal and watched Mount cook turn red in the sunset. All was well until the sun set...after that it was FREEZING! But waking up to the sight of the mountains and the lake was worth shivering through the night.

Our final long drive was from there to Christchurch. We had a great day exploring the city and it's Botanical Gardens. We felt a bit homesick watching the Punts go up and down the river!

This morning was tough. Emotional. Heart-rendering. We reluctantly said good-bye to our beloved van. She had done us proud. Six weeks and 4472kms and we survived! We managed to put up with eachother for over a month, living in a space no larger than your average bathroom!

This morning we flew back up to Auckland and booked ourselves into a nice apartment for a relaxing evening before we fly to Sydney tomorrow afternoon. We are looking forward to getting there, spending a few days in the city and pickup our 'Economy' hire car for another road trip. Although this time, we will share a space more akin to a broom cupboard than a bathroom!

Next update from OZ!