We rented a campervan in Auckland and drove down to Christchurch to meet up with Malia who was on a semester abroad with Earlham College. Malia jumped in with us and we all drive to Queenstown together! Campervan tourism in New Zealand is quite popular so it was easy for use to travel and find places to sleep. "Freedom camping," which is what kiwis call camping in the wilderness at a non registered site, is something we took advantage of frequently not just because it was free, but more so it allowed for camping by the ocean and in uncrowded forest areas.
We spent a few days in Raglan where we found a sweet little ecovillage called Solscape. Full moon evenings from our the back window of our campervan were our favorite.
The Kiwi version of a "locals only" shack
The surf at Mangamaunu in Kaikoura was epic when we were there and we found a great freedom camping spot right on the beach nearby. Here is a shot that Janice took of Jim!
Janice's highlight of the trip was the hike to Ohau falls in Kaikoura where we watched seal pups play in the stream and waterfall!
When Malia joined us for the drive she wanted to see mountains! We camped at the base of Mt Aoraki/Mt. Cook. There is a fantastic trek there with swing bridge crossings. This was the definitely the coldest place we stayed at
We stayed at RV parks to recharge every once and while. Some of them have perks such as this air pillow trampoline.
We were lucky enough to visit our friend Jade who lived in beautiful Piha. This beach was unbelievable, the water was the warmest we had all trip, the surf was good fun, and the locals in the water were friendly.