Day 6 involved the longest drive so far, to the bottom of the North Island, arriving in the Windy City of Wellington. Our first night was supposed to be staying with Sam’s family but unfortunately they couldn’t have us, so with evening setting in we had to find a campsite to stop for the night.
We ended up at a Christian Camp, that made us cover the writing on our van with black bin bags!
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Wellington lives up to its name of the Windy City! The van shook all night.
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Day 7, Waking up to wind and rain was a shock after the past couple of days of blue skies.
We drove into the city and met Liz and Martin at the museum.
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The wind in this city is intense!
Driving is terrifying, with the van shaking and sliding all over the road!
It is a fight to walk in a straight line!
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So, I am definitely not a museum kind of girl, but this was the national museum of New Zealand and was free! So I gave it a go and thoroughly enjoyed it.
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After a delicious brunch stop, Sam and I had a heated discussion on our future together in the van.
We agreed to go our separate ways and Sam left to stay with his aunt.
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Liz, Martin, and I, headed to the afternoon stop on our agenda of Weta.
Weta Productions is heavily involved in the special effects and costumes that go into major films such as Lord of the Rings, Avatar, King Kong..
We got the chance to learn about how they do it and see many original recognisable movie props.
I am still not sure I understand how they do it, it all seems very complexed and is too overwhelming for this tired head!
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Next stop, Mount Victoria. Luckily there was a road all the way to the top of the mountain.
Our legs were still feeling the aftermath of the volcano climb and could barely make it in and out of the van. There was no way I was making it up a mountain!
Despite the fierce wind and rainy skies, the lookout over the city of Wellington was spectacular.
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After our busy day we headed to a free campsite in a cove. It was such a beautiful place. Mountains towering over us, right on the sea edge. Idyllic.
The wind however, not so idyllic.
As the 3 of us squeezed in the back of Liz and Martins van, we took bets on whose campervan was going to blow over first!
It was crazy!
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After a tasty dinner, courtesy of the lovely Liz and Martin, we were approached by a guy from the Netherlands, asking if we had jump leads as he had left the light on in his van and had a flat battery.
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Only too happy to help, the 3 of us provided jump leads for the Netherlands couple (Jessica and Luuk) whilst the van on the other side of them housing a Swiss couple (Denise and Rudi) provided their battery.
Between the 7 of us we got it going!
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I don’t think at this point any of us could have predicted the brilliant night that followed…
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Liz and I have been fascinated by the type of campervan that Denise and Rudi were in. It is a Jucy campervan, and looks ridiculously luxurious compared to our rust buckets!
We asked Denise if we could have a look inside…
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Incredible! A flat screen Tv, a double bed that pulls out in the roof, a real kitchen.. The list continues.
It seems like basic requirements to those of you reading from the luxury of your home, but to us it was like magic kingdom!
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The night escalated, with the seven of us squeezing in the back of the Jucy van, sharing stories, singing songs, playing charades when we would need to interpret a word into English, with the highlight being tasting which seemed like every wine NZ had to offer!
Denise and Rudi had recently been to a vineyard and shared their case of bottles with us. From many types of red, through to dessert wine!
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Rolling into bed at 2am was not ideal with a wake up of 6am to catch the ferry to the South Island!
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Day 8 and very early, Liz, Martin and I made it on the ferry to cross the Ocean towards the South Island.
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The afternoon will be spent planning how I will now tackle the South Island solo…
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The ferry trip has provided intermittent Wifi, but enough to upload some photos, yay! You can find them on my photography page at www.facebook.com/sotographie
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The world through my lens.... 