We slept well on our first night in a camper (better than on the boat) and were able to sleep in because we have dark curtains on all of our camper windows. We sleep in the back which, during the day, is a sitting area with a small table. We have two tables that become the platform for the middle of the bed. Then we rearrange the cushions so they cover the whole area. The one hassle with it is we have to make and unmake the bed everyday, but we can live with that. Rick made coffee on our outside stove/grill. It pulls out from the side of the camper and runs off propane.
After we got organized we disconnected our power cord and drove off. We drove into Akaroa and found a bakery/café for breakfast. I took a few pictures of the town for the blog.
At a friend’s recommendation I tried to go to the Giant’s House which according to our guidebook has “a large garden crisscrossed by paths fantastic larger-than-life mosaics, and colorful, welded sculptures.” But it wasn’t open yet.
We saw a sign for a scenic drive so we took it and it was very scenic. We were going up and over hills which feels a little dicey to me because I am looking down these hill and we look very close to the edge. But Rick is a great driver so I don’t need to worry. Here are some pictures from our drive.
We had to drive back through Christchurch to head north. We decided to go to Hanmer Springs which a number of locals recommended. It took us about 4 hours to get there. We stopped along the way at a picnic stop to have lunch.
We arrived at Hanmer Springs and went right to the campground. There were a couple of very nice ladies who checked us in, They recommended an itinerary for the rest of the trip. These campgrounds are really nice. They have very clean bathrooms and showers as well as large kitchens and laundry facilities.
After we got parked and pulled in, we decided to walk up Conical Hill. We walked through town and then up through wooded switchbacks to the top of the hill. It probably took us about an hour to go from the campground to the top of the hill. The views were gorgeous.
As we walked back to the campground we checked out the restaurants in town. None of them looked very interesting so we decided to eat in the camper. We also checked up the hot springs, but they didn’t look very inviting. Before dinner I worked on figuring out the rest of our itinerary on the south island. I have a rough idea which we can modify as we go.
Rick had a salad for dinner and I had cold cuts. We had a fancy dinner last night so that was just fine. After dinner it started raining and it was fun to be in our warm, cozy camper and hear the rain on the roof.
Here’s our route from Akaroa to Hanmer Springs.
