We managed to make it to 9pm on our first evening before finally admitting defeat and crashing out. Consequently, we were both awake early next morning. We tried to find some news on the TV, but it was all repeats of UK programmes.
At 8am we went over to find Jeff and take possession of our home and means of transport for the next two months. Ermintrude is a Seeker motorhome from Bay of Islands Campervans. She comes with pretty much everything including phone, wi-fi, satnav and tourist radio service. As motorhome virgins, we had to have the guided tour including emptying the toilet cassette, connecting to mains water and electricity and changing the gas bottle. Jeff also gave us a useful tip on how to avoid the toilet overflowing if you’re on a rough road!
We then piled all our worldly goods into the van and headed off into the sunset. Well actually we headed off to the local supermarket to get some provisions in. Apparently there are two main supermarket chains in New Zealand. Countdown is the upmarket one, where they pack your shopping into bags. We chose Pak ‘n’ Save, where you do your own packing and save money – or so they say.
The place looked like an old warehouse, complete with high-level storage bins, and was full of stuff I’d never heard of before. There were loads of special offers and plenty of variety, but what impressed me most was the bulk bins. They sell all sorts of things this way, including couscous, flax seeds, rice and sweets. You just put the amount you want into a plastic bag and write the item code from the bin onto the bag. No waste, no buying more than you need. UK supermarkets, take note.
Then we had the problem of stashing all this stuff into the van. Unless you stow everything, it all ends up rolling around on the floor. Having carefully arranged our luggage to occupy every available space, we found we had nowhere to put the shopping. In the end, we just slung it in and went off to find our campsite.
We were heading for South Brighton Holiday Park, on the outskirts of Christchurch. At reception, they asked if we wanted a sunny pitch or a part shaded one. Since it was around 28C, we went for the part shaded one and ended up under a eucalyptus tree. Which is fine apart from the odd sonic booms that occur every time something falls from the tree onto our roof.
At this point our OCD took over – instead of heading back into the city we spent the next couple of hours finding somewhere to stow everything. We’ll do more sightseeing tomorrow.
Why have we named the van Ermintrude? Well, she’s quite big and quite slow, just like the cow in the Magic Roundabout!
Steve and Diane's New Zealand Adventure 