Christmas Eve in Hanoi and flight to Christchurch (New Zealand)

Hohoho,
we hope you had a nice holiday with your families and friends. We left beautiful CatBa on Christmas Eve to take the bus and ferry back to Hanoi. After checking into our hostel, we went to a German restaurant where we had schnitzel and cordon bleu with fries and roasted potatoes, not forgetting the Paulaner wheat beer. Since the streets were very crowded and chaotic due to Christmas, we decided to treat ourselves to one last massage. On the 1st day of Christmas, we went on a shopping spree and managed to get 2 pairs of running shoes, a jacket, a backpack, t-shirts, sports pants, and a sweater for only 90€. Of course, this price could only be achieved through skillful negotiation;) After the hectic packing, we took a taxi to the airport, where we soon took off for China. Once we arrived there, we had one last Asian dinner to pass the time during the 6-hour layover. We had to deal with censored airport internet for the rest of the hours (WhatsApps without pictures, anything from Google doesn't work (and there's a lot from Google!!)). During the 11-hour night flight, most of the time was spent sleeping or enjoying the multimedia offerings. At the airport in Christchurch, we went through strict customs control, where it is absolutely prohibited to bring any kind of food and even hiking shoes have to be declared (because of species protection). We checked our luggage again (for the 10th time, it felt like) and handed in our hiking shoes. We had to unpack and show them at the first checkpoint. At the next checkpoint, all our luggage went through a scanner, and Julia's backpack was sorted out. In the anxious minutes until the bag was opened, all kinds of horror scenarios came to mind. In the end, it was just a jar of Tiger Balm, which the scanner identified as honey. Matthias then put on his jacket, in which, amazingly, there was a cookie that we had received during a tour. After throwing it directly into the trash can, we took the bus to our hostel. Since the room prices here are about 4 times as expensive as in Vietnam, one thing was clear: we need a camper van! In order to be allowed to camp in nature here (Freedom Camping) and use parking spaces where you don't have to pay, the car must be 'Self Contained'. This means specifically with its own toilet, water supply for at least 2 days, and of course much more expensive than one without this certificate. However, since we had already been looking for one in advance, we were able to arrange a viewing and test drive in the evening. The Nissan Elgrand drove pretty well and otherwise seemed to be in good condition. However, we were still not completely sure about the purchase, as it also cost a hefty sum. During an evening walk to the drive-in of Burger King(:P), we thought about it thoroughly. Another viewing was scheduled for the next morning, but we didn't hear anything from them anymore, and when we were able to negotiate an unbeatable deal with the Nissan owners, we took it immediately. 1 1/2 hours later, after breakfast and withdrawing a bazen full of money, the moment had come. The ownership transfer was officially done at the post office and the Nissan was named 'Charles' alias 'Charlie'. After a few formalities, such as insurance, we went to the next store to equip it with everything we need and wash the bedding. We ended the long day with an evening jogging session and a well-deserved pizza. We spent the last night in a real bed. The next morning, under beautiful sunshine, we decided to visit the city center of Christchurch, which we liked very much. Then we started our route on the South Island of New Zealand towards Lake Tekapo.
Until then,
Malia