Off to the south

.... before it gets colder...

And once again, the world is upside down here. At least upside down compared to Germany. It is still summer in New Zealand at the moment. But it gets colder earlier in the south, which is why we want to explore the south of New Zealand first. Sooo, off to the south!

Now, let's get to the point, we are road tripping, yeahr 😎

After all the things were taken care of, like the car (we had to do an oil change) and groceries, we could gradually focus on the real thing. What the real thing is for us...?

Just going with the flow! With the luxury of having plenty of time, we can afford to travel without a strict schedule.

So we get in the car and 'just start driving'.

From Christchurch, we continue heading south. The first stop was on a peninsula about 60km away from Christchurch. We occasionally go off the road to make the journey the destination.

The roads here are also partly very narrow and it goes up and down. But always with a beautiful view of the stunning landscape and of course of the gigantic Pacific. We want to emphasize the Pacific again. Simply a fantastic sea with incredible power and amazing colors.

📍Okains bay, 📍 Akaroa

Continuing on Highway 1, we stop at 📍Tamaru and stay overnight at a free spot. The great thing, once again, about New Zealand is that you can camp almost anywhere with a camper van. Provided you have a camper van with a 'self-contained' certification.

So you need to have your own sink with a tank for fresh water and wastewater. You also need your own toilet. Which probably no one uses anyway, since New Zealand has public toilets at every corner, and especially clean ones. Properly disposing of your rubbish is a matter of course.

We prefer places where we can camp for free and only occasionally go to paid campsites. For example, to do laundry or to take a shower. (Which doesn't mean that we don't do it otherwise 😃) There are several alternatives. Showers at the beach, we have a solar shower with us, or a cat bath will do.

But do you actually know how to appreciate a proper shower again? ... One of the things you quickly learn when living in a camper van.

But back to the topic, it's nice to camp outside of campsites. First, it's good for our budget, and second, we have the opportunity to camp at beautiful places.

Waking up and the first thing you hear is the sound of the ocean. Isn't that wonderful??