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It seems Alex is at a crucial point in cooking dinner and so I shall fill you in about our first week in New Zealand.
After an OK flight with some turbulence on our way into Christchurch we arrived and found our first nights accommodation which was a really cosy little hostel called the Old Country House. We had a wander around the area and got found lots and lots of fish n chip shops and so gave in and had a delicious dinner. This bought my fish and chip consumption that week to four! After dinner we had planned so have a cup of tea and then a wander in to town but we lay down on the bed and didn’t get up until the following morning! We spent the next day exploring Christchurch and finding our transport for the next leg of our journey. As it is summer here it is quite tricky to get anything the day before we wanted it, but after much trekking around, we found a campervan that we could have for the next two weeks to explore the South Island. And so the next morning we picked up the van and made our way to The Banks Peninsula, which we were both smitten with. The journey in to it we both said reminded us of Yorkshire Dales with lots of greenery, hills, sheep and cows! We stopped in a little town called Akaroa for lunch which had little ice cream shops, butcher, bakery and lots of very pretty streets filled with flowers and quant houses.
We then made our way to a campsite for the night in Okains Bay where Alex picked some mussels for dinner which he tells me were delicious and so far, he is fine!
The next day we drove to Lake Tekapo where again we were amazed with the stunning views of the mountains. We were also amazed by the change in weather and quickly found our warmest clothes and felt very grateful to have a gas heater in the van! We went on a long walk the following day to Mount John where we experienced a whole range of weather with sunny, cold, wet, windy and snowy! When we got to the top we had a welcomed hot chocolate with lunch which we admired the gorgeous views which our photos just don’t do justice to. We made our way back and then drove to Oamaru in the search of a new hose for our gas cooker as our one had split. We stopped at every town on our way there and only after three hours of driving did we find one! We went to beach that evening and saw a yellow eyed penguin waddling to shore and seals lazing on the beach! Some more animals I can add to my list!
We drove to Dunedin the next day and went to Cadbury world! We were a little disappointed as we didn’t get to go into the factory as it was shut until the 18th but we still got to go on a tour that showed us how the chocolate was made, told us about the history of it and best of all we got to taste a lot of it! They had a sylo that we walked to the top of in the dark and then the tour guide turned the lights on and turned it on and a tonne of chocolate came pouring down! I then realised that the rough surface I had felt on the stairs going to the top was chocolate which had splashed all over it! Me and Alex had secretly tried some and then someone asked what happens to that chocolate and the guide said that it gets thrown away as it is not edible and could be up to a year old. We both felt fine though. Today we have driven to cascade creak which is on the road into Milford Sound and are camping in a remote lakeside spot with our wheels literally 2 metres from the water. Very scenic but also cold. Tomorrow we plan to go on a cruise or kayak at Milford Sound and then go for a walk in the afternoon.
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