Wednesday, February 12

We woke up this morning in Christchurch feeling refreshed and ready to explore New Zealand’s South Island. Today we were scheduled to pickup the RV we rented from a company called Sunrise Holiday and hit the road on our New Zealand adventure.

Ross from Sunrise Holiday was kind enough to pick us up in a van and drive us to the RV pickup location. Once there, Ross demonstrated how to use the RV we’d rented. Our particular rig is a 22-ft. Class C Auto Trail — very similar to the RV we own back at home. Of course, one key difference is that the driver’s side/steering wheel is on the right side of the vehicle. The gear shifter is also different as there’s no “park” — only a handbrake to pull to keep the vehicle stationed where you want it to be. This campervan doesn’t have a slide either, so space is tighter in the living quarters than our RV is back home. It’s tiny living, for sure, but definitely on the large side by New Zealand standards.

After we signed the rental paperwork, Ross handed Andi the keys to our new home-away-from-home and we were off. As we left the parking lot, Andi and I looked at each other and said: “stay on the left, stay on the left” as a reminder to drive on the correct side of the street. It felt SO WEIRD driving on the left side of the road! It felt like we’d just turned 16 again and were learning to operate a vehicle for the first time.

The landscape quickly turned to countryside once we left the city of Christchurch. The hills and pastures were beautiful shades of gold and green, and Andi and I were both enjoying our surroundings —that is, until we started to climb in elevation. Then things got interesting! On the two hour drive to Akaroa, we passed through the small towns of Little River and Barry’s Bay, and by several other RVs and construction trucks navigating the narrow pass. In Barry’s Bay, Andi pulled over in the parking lot of the local cheese factory so we could take a breather from driving and reward ourselves with a treat. Driving on a narrow two-lane road through the winding hills in a brand new-to-us RV was just a little bit scary right out of the gate!

The Barry’s Bay Cheese Factor reminded us of the little cheese factory by our cabin in Wisconsin. The kids and I watched employees making cheese through a big picture window, and Andi picked out some cheese and olives to purchase. The cheese was made on site and the olives were grown locally in this area of New Zealand.

Back in the RV, we made our final push to Akaroa. Andi reserved us a campsite at Top 10 Holiday Park for two nights so we could get acclimated to our new rig and our surroundings. Before we settled in for the night, we drove the RV into town to check it out. Akaroa is a small town on the Banks Peninsula, about 50 miles from Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island. It’s the only "French settlement” in all of New Zealand and is best known for Hector’s Dolphins (the smallest species of dolphins) found only in this part of the world. While in town, we stopped by The Butchery to purchase some meat for dinner.

The Top 10 Holiday Park was exactly like a KOA back home; it had men’s and women’s shower houses, a community kitchen, a playground and a pool. The holiday park was packed with RVs — mostly tourists in other rental campervans, tents and RVs. We parked our RV on a grassy spot and plugged into power. Without a slide to pull out, there wasn’t much else to do other than pour a glass of wine and go for a walk around the campsite to check out our new surroundings.

On our walk, we stopped by the holiday park playground so Tory and Aden could play. Surprisingly, there were quite a few kids at the campground ranging from babies to teenagers. I forget that this is New Zealand’s summertime so it’s prime camping season.

Andi walked back to our RV to make dinner while I stayed with the kids and let them play. For dinner, Andi grilled lamb and pork brats with zucchini. New Zealand is known for its sheep (fun fact: there are 7 sheep for every person in NZ) so it’s no surprise that lamb is readily available in restaurants and markets.

The sun had yet to set at 8:30pm, but we were all exhausted and still adjusting to the time change. We called it an early night and slept really well in our first night in the RV.

Wednesday, February 13

Today was my birthday! Well, in New Zealand it was. Back in the USA, it was still February 12. Andi, Tory, Aden and I have had great debates as to whether I officially turned 39 in New Zealand time or Wisconsin time. We decided to celebrate today in NZ time, as that’s the current time zone.

I woke up early at 5:30am and lay quietly in bed for a while. I’d forgotten what it’s like to sleep in a small 300 sq. ft. space with other people. When one person’s awake, everyone’s awake, so I patiently waited until Andi stirred before I crawled out of bed.

Once everyone was awake for the day, I did my workout outside the RV while Andi fed the kids Nutella with bread and fruit for breakfast. Then we got all got dressed for the day and left the holiday park for Akaroa — it was about a 15 minute steep walk downhill into town.

The Akaroa Harbor is a popular stop for New Zealand cruise ships. Fortunately, today was not a “cruise ship day” and the town was sleepy and quaint. We walked along Rue Lavaud, the main road through town, stopping in a few shops to browse. Then Andi and I decided to book a tour with Akaroa Dolphins to see the famous Hector’s Dolphins swimming in the harbor.

Before the harbor cruise, we stopped in for lunch at Billy Hayes. Food and coffee have been excellent everywhere we’ve eaten in New Zealand thus far. Kids are welcomed and most restaurants have play area with toys for children. They also don’t seem to mind if we use a credit card to pay which makes the money conversion from US Dollar to NZ Dollar easy to manage.

At 12:30pm, the four of us walked down to the pier to board the Akaroa Dolphins boat cruise. Captain George warmly welcomed us on board as did Buster the Dog.

During the two-hour boat cruise we saw dozens of Hector’s Dolphins swimming in the harbor, little blue penguins, and fur seals sunning themselves on the rocks. It was an incredible afternoon! Most boat cruises tell you that you “might” see ocean animals swimming in the water, but without capturing or baiting them you never really know. Akaroa Dolphins over-delivered on our expectations! The Hector’s Dolphins are the smallest and rarest dolphin species in the world, only found in this part of New Zealand. The animals seemed so playful swimming alongside the boat in the water.

We also saw little blue penguins (also know as white-flippered penguins) swimming in the water. There are 18 different species of penguins in the world and they all live in New Zealand’s waters. The little blue penguin is the smallest of the species. It actually looked more like a brown bird swimming in the water than it did a penguin.

Last, we saw New Zealand fur seals sunning themselves on shore. This might’ve been my favorite part of the whole boat tour — there were baby fur seals doing flips and learning to swim in shallow pools on the rocks. They were so cute!

After the harbor cruise with Akaroa Dolphins, we walked back down main street and stopped for fresh fruit ice cream. It was only 68 degrees outside, but it felt much hotter! Ice cream on a warm summer day was the perfect treat.

We stopped by The Butchery again to purchase meat for dinner and by Four Square Supermarket to buy veggies and breakfast supplies for the next day. Then, we made the long trek uphill back to the holiday park campground.

It was 4:00pm and we were all hot after walking, so we changed into our swimming suits and visited the holiday park swimming pool. It was a busy place! I couldn’t stop laughing as I saw kiwi after kiwi dip themselves into the cold pool. “Bloody hell!” they’d all shout as they submerged themselves in the water. The chilly water temperature didn’t phase Tory and Aden, of course. They splashed and played in the pool for over an hour.

After the pool, I showered the kids in the campground shower house while Andi went back to the RV to prep dinner. We decided to cook and eat dinner tonight at the campground community kitchen because it was bustling with other travelers. What better place to meet new people! Andi struck up a conversation with a German man just finishing a 5-week campervan roadtrip through New Zealand with his family. Aden and Tory made friends with a few kids on the playground.

After dinner, we came back to our RV and celebrated my birthday with dessert. Andi picked out a piece of lemon custard cake and a chocolate bar for the four of us to share. Andi and I also enjoyed a nice bottle of red wine produced in Akaroa.

I had an amazing day celebrating my 39th birthday in New Zealand. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.