9-6 We made it to NZ and found it to be COLD!
We made it to New Zealand without any hassles on Sunday. Vanuatu wanted to give us something to think about and had a nice earthquake as we were waiting for the plane. Everyone in Christchurch has told us to expect some more while we’re here. The buildings here are a lot bigger than the ones in Vanuatu…
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| Jason in front of the Aukland skyline. |
We flew in Sunday afternoon. We got to the campsite without a hassle and got the tent set up. New Zealand, like Ireland, shuts its doors early on Sunday. We had trouble finding a place to get bread and cheese for breakfast and tape for some emergency tent pole repairs. We eventually found a 24 hour grocery store and got all the necessary things.
I think we will be eating our way through New Zealand. Sunday night we had Indian. I have been dreaming of Saag Paneer since I left the States. Lucky for me, the portions were huge and I had it again for breakfast.
Here is a word to anyone traveling to New Zealand and planning on camping. There are reasons there is an “off-season.” It has to do with weather patterns. It turns out that by “early spring” they really mean “early spring” in the same way people in MN mean it. They mean they are delighted because the snow is gone and you can play outside. For someone coming from over a year of summer, “early spring” can be translated as “I haven’t been able to feel my toes in six hours, my nose is cold, I need to buy a hat and gloves and what they hell was I thinking that this was a good idea?”
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| The sunset was pretty and Remuera has a nice view. |
Our nights have been a little chilly. Like in the 40s. The first night we had one polar fleece blanket to share between the two of us. It was a rough night.
Yesterday, we flew from Aukland to Christchurch. Christchurch is further south and therefore, colder. Not a step up in my books. We got to the campsite at 4:30, got our tent set up by 5 and were on the way to a department store to buy sleeping bags by 5:10. The store closed at 6, so we went huriap smol. We made it and got ourselves two “indoor” sleeping bags as well as All Blacks brand winter hats and a few other camping conveniences.
The sleeping bags were a drastic improvement on sleeping last night, but we’re still in the market for more warm things. I’m looking for flannel pajamas or a fabric store to buy a few yards of polar fleece.
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| Our home for the next few weeks. It requires better insulation. |
Part of me thinks being cold in 50F weather is ridiculous. Unfortunately, that part of me is not in charge of temperature regulation.
Today, we pick up the bikes and start down the coast. There are a few things we want to see along the way but mostly we’ll stop where something catches our eye. The scenery is supposed to be beautiful and I know I’m looking forward to riding a bike again.
We’ll pick up internet where we can, when we can. Free wifi doesn’t seem to be big in this country but hopefully we’ll keep catching it in bits and pieces from MacDonald’s and Starbucks.