On the road with the camper van

So, now we're sitting here. In front of us is the really cool-blue Lake Tekapo. Behind us is the camping van. Today we started and now I hope we'll find some leisure time to type and every now and then also a Wi-Fi to send messages to you. The New Zealanders are more stingy with free Wi-Fi than the Chileans, but there's also a funny invention here: Wi-Fi phone booths. And since we're already proud owners of a prepaid card from this provider, we can log in there for free with our number.
But let's start from the beginning.
The long journey in a nutshell: Air Singapore impressed us: top organization, good service. 'It's like in the old days,' Helmut always exclaimed excitedly. And when does he ever do that😉. We were able to sleep a little on all the flights. We also liked the airport in Singapore (the best in the world, as we were assured by experts): lots of greenery, lounging areas, butterfly and cactus gardens with fresh air (well, very warm, very humid fresh air). Nevertheless, we were really exhausted when we arrived in Christchurch. It was cold and windy, we were hungry, the Airbnb was okay, but if I had had the energy, I could have wondered if it was all worth it. So we just fell into bed at 9pm.
So the next day was Christchurch. After breakfast, I luckily didn't feel like I'd been hit with a hammer anymore. Our travel guide criticized the city as uninteresting. After three days, we give it the opposite verdict. Really creative, varied, clean... On February 22, 2011, there was an earthquake, 185 dead and a large part of the city center was destroyed. Now new things are emerging everywhere. Very exciting: fancy office buildings next to old churches, art objects, social square projects, commemorative culture... The city library alone, with its stylish café, is amazing. Who would still invest so much money in renting this medium today? I would move into it!
The next day, Mr. Altenhofen had to get out of too many houses again. Although the houses in Christchurch are relatively low, there are almost only single-family houses. So up to the next hills, together with cyclists, climbers, joggers, paragliders. I think all New Zealanders are terribly sporty and very healthy 😉. For example, we stayed with a young couple: he plays rugby, football, rides a racing bike. She cooks fresh every day: vegetable lasagna, kale chips with salmon, today we had homemade sushi. On Saturdays, they go running at 7:30am. Man, man, man.... But one thing you can say about New Zealanders: it's amazing and really contagious how friendly everyone is here. Karen had warned me explicitly, but I'm still surprised. How do you achieve that in a society? Why is it not like that with us? It's much more fun when the bus driver has a chat with you when you get on, or when the nice older ladies in the small neighborhood library talk about the weather and plans for the day.
We are still without a tour plan. On Susanne's recommendation, we have chosen not to take the coastal route but instead to detour inland to get closer to her in Dunedin. So visiting Lake Tekapo today, Lake Pukaki on Sunday, then Mount Cook with 2 hikes and then back towards the coast. We'll tell you how camping works and how it is out here next time