Amberley, NZ

Friday, February 14

This morning, we woke up in Akaroa to cooler temperatures in the mid-50’s. I pushed play on my workout outside in the campground while Andi unhooked the RV from power and packed up our things. Today, we planned to travel farther north along New Zealand’s east coast. Before we left though, Andi had his first lesson in dumping the “cassette” (also known as the black tank in our RV back home). It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it!

Different than our RV back home, the cassette is a removable box that pulls out of the RV and is manually dumped down a sewer line in the ground. After doing it once, Andi said this dumping experience was way worse than our RV back home because you see the matter coming out of the cassette as you rinse and squish it clean; in the US, he attaches a hose from the RV black tank into the ground and you “hear” it, but you don’t see it. I’ll leave it at that. Maybe we’ll get more familiar with the cassette the more we dump here.

We said good-bye to Akaroa and drove the twisty two-lane road back down the hillside. Tory was feeling car sick, so we stopped in a small town called Little River to get some fresh air. Andi bought a coffee at a cafe while Tory, Aden and I browsed a nearby convenience shop. Yesterday, Aden was disappointed that his beloved Doritos didn’t taste exactly like the Doritos back home, so we perused the chip shelf to see what other flavors he might like. There were teriyaki chicken-flavored chips and Greek tzatziki chips among others which I found interesting. Aden, however, was not impressed.

The four of us piled back into the RV and continued on toward Christchurch. Andi wanted to stop at the big box store called Warehouse (similar to a Wal-Mart) and happened to pick a Warehouse smack-dab in the middle of a busy shopping center. Not necessarily the easiest place to navigate in our 22-ft. campervan! Andi was stressed as we drove through the congested mall area looking for a place to park. He finally found a spot near the side of the building and decided to run in by himself to pick up the supplies he needed. Tory, Aden and I waited inside the RV.

After Andi returned from the store, he and I decided to get out of the city as quickly as possible and find somewhere to stop for lunch along the way to our next destination. We found a cozy cafe in Waikuku called Brick Mill Cafe which turned out to be a perfect spot. It was almost 2:00pm by the time we arrived and the kitchen was closing, but the waitress said the chef would make us something to eat if we ordered quickly. Andi and I agreed to split the lamb burger and a green salad & Tory and Aden split a kids snack plate. The food came to our table quickly and it tasted amazing! Perhaps the best meal we’ve had in NZ thus far — a tall order because all the food we’ve enjoyed here has been excellent.

After lunch at the Brick Mill Cafe, we continued onward. Kaikoura, our intended destination, was still two hours away and Andi was ready to be done driving. Constantly being aware of driving of traffic driving on the opposite side of the road that we’re used to is taxing on the brain! Andi and I can definitely feel our minds tiring more easily. We decided to stop for the night in the nearby town of Amberley. Andi found a farm stay location on the Campable travel app and called to see if we could stay there. The woman on the phone told Andi to come right over.

We arrived at the small farm about an hour later. Helen, an 81-year-old kiwi woman, greeted Andi at the door and invited our whole family in for afternoon tea. Isn’t that the very best thing about traveling? You truly never know where the day will take you. Born and raised in New Zealand, Helen has farmed her entire life. She shared stories with us over tea about raising her four boys on the farm, and how she spends her days now. She manages the grounds and 20 head of cattle all by herself. Andi told Helen she does well for an 81-year-old; that he would have never guessed her age. She responded, “Well, that’s a punch in the gut,” and then said its common sense to take care of our bodies and the rest is just luck. Andi worried he might’ve offended her, but Helen didn’t seem like the type of person that let much get her down.

After an hour of conversation, Andi and I thanked Helen for the cups of tea. She told us we could park our RV anywhere on her property, so we decided to station ourselves against the tall wall of evergreens. After we were settled, the four of us took a while around Helen’s property to look at the cows. The weather was cold and windy today, so we didn’t stay outside for long.

That evening, Andi and Tory made us chicken stir-fry for dinner and we hung out inside the camper. Around 8:00pm, both Tory and Aden asked to go to bed. As we laid there, Andi and I laughed because our 81-year-old farm host was busy entertaining a group of elderly guests in her home later than we were staying awake.

Saturday, February 15

We woke up rested this morning and thanked Helen for letting us camp on her property last night. Then, we drove a few minutes into the town of Amberley. Andi dropped me off at a gym which was similar to an 24-hour access Anytime Fitness back in the States and then he, Tory and Aden went out to breakfast at a French bakery. The kids have been picky eaters the past few days (even though the food is far from unusual here) and Andi said they scarfed down two croissants and a blueberry muffin for breakfast. I guess they must’ve been hungry. Cafes in New Zealand are next-level, that’s for sure. Andi had a freshly-made piece of quiche and a flat white coffee for breakfast. Every bakery case we’ve seen, no matter the town, are filled with delicious homemade pastries, baked goods and sandwiches.

I walked to meet Andi and the kids at the library after I finished my workout. Internet is hard to come by in New Zealand — it’s available, but most campgrounds cap usage at 500MB per day — so the kids played at the library and read books all morning while Andi uploaded photos and downloaded cartoons to the kids’ iPads.

From Amberley, we continued farther north along the eastern coastline to Kaikoura. Kaikoura is a popular beach community known as THE PLACE to see sperm whales in New Zealand. We didn’t feel like splurging on a whale watching tour since we’d just paid to see Hector’s Dolphins in Akaroa, but we did treat ourselves to a sheep shearing show at The Point. When in New Zealand you must learn about sheep, right? Fun fact: there are seven sheep to every person here. It felt like a requirement.

The Point sheep sheering show has been taking place for over 23 years & Peter, the owner, was quite the character. He introduced us to Ram Man, the main male of the flock, and shared information about the flock of 300 ewes he cares for. It was really interesting! Peter sheers his sheep 2x a year for average profit of $6 per sheep and then sends the wool to be proceed into carpet, suits and other goods.

After the sheep shearing show, we walked along the peninsula boardwalk. Tory and Aden had fun scaling the rocks along the ocean looking for sea creatures. We saw a few fur seals sunning themselves on the exposed rocks.

Next, we checked into our campsite at the Kaikoura Top 10 Holiday Park. Our site was right next to the swimming pool. Tory and Aden swam while Andi cooked dinner and I did laundry. The sun starting shining and the weather was gorgeous — about 75 degrees outside. Andi grilled chicken skewers, corn on the cob and green beans for dinner. It was all delicious! Tasted like summertime.

Tomorrow, we plan to head farther north along the coast to New Zealand’s wine country. Can’t wait!