- It is undoubtedly a STUNNING country. Going from grey old England with grey blocks of flats, a thousand supermarkets in every town, and chavs walking around with their special brew; to mountains, lakes, beaches and GREENERY :D
- It is so much quieter than England! It doesn't take half an hour to drive three miles, it is amazing. I can't wait to start work here and have a rush hour that is hardly even noticeable.
- You can do so much in one day. We can go to the beach, then go to a forest, then a lake, then a pretty river, then some huge mountains, then back to the beach again, all in just one day. Winter will mean cold windy walks on the beach then off to the mountains to ski and snowboard.
- The weather here is so nice! Granted, we are in a miserable couple of weeks and wind and rain, but on the whole, the sun actually shows its face here, nearly every day :) Most days, now anyway, are cold and crisp. There's an obvious chill in the air with the southerly winds, but it is so pretty when the sun is out. I've seen some amazing storm clouds (even though they don't produce anything here over Christchurch so far) and for me a weather lover, they are beautiful. I can't wait to see snow fall again too, I can't honestly remember the last time I saw proper snow in England.
- There's soooo many animals! I knew New Zealand was all about sheep, but actually, I think I have seen more cows, and they are so cute! Loads of dogs here too which I love. We are dog mad and can't wait to have one of our own. Most of them seem to love sitting on the back of pick up trucks sniffing the air. So adorable.
- Sea life is amazing here. My favourite campsite so far was a freedom camp down at Jacks Bay in the Catlins. Not only did it have hte best sunrises I have ever seen, you could wake up and see either sea lions or seals from the camper. It was amazing. One morning I remember looking at the beach (which is beautiful) and there was a seal pup with it's mumma. It was so tiny! Kaikoura of course had the seal waterfall colony which was by far the best experience ever. Over two days I had four tiny seals come up to me and nuzzle my hand. they were so funny to watch too. Amazing place with so many seals everywhere. We weren't lucky enough to see any dolphins or wales yet but I am hoping we can pop up on long weekends :)
- Farmers are SO nice. The first two we met rescued us from a river and they showed us so much kindness that it blew us away. All the farmers seem to wave and smile and they just seem so happy. It really is such a culture shock as it just doesn't really happen in England with passers by.
- The sunrises and sunsets are out of this world. We have been staying on a campsite just outside of Christchurch because of job hunting etc, and even though it has been a bit frustrating not being able to go to the mountains to have an adventure, we have been blessed with incredible sunsets and sunrises. The colours are so bright here and they last for ages! My laptop is just full of sunshine and pink :)
- There are some wonderful hikes in this country, probably some of the best in the world. I wish I wasn't so scared of falling and slipping down a mountain otherwise I would be enjoying them a lot more. I can do the Valley tracks and small mountains but I am just too scared to do the big steep ridge hikes - oops :( We have three hikes we want to do (Hooker Valley, Routeburn Track and Milford Sound track) and I think Spring would be perfect for waterfalls and melting ice :D
- It is amazing that you can freedom camp here. We have had some magical mornings and evenings waking up to beautiful sun lit mountains, going to bed under a bright milky way, and generally just sleeping in the most gorgeous of settings.
- New Zealand roads - ahhh! There are some wicked drives here. Long winding mountain passes with killer views, and long straight roads through the plains which I just love driving on listening to country music and pretending I'm in Texas or somewhere similar :D
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AuthorMoved to New Zealand from England to live in a campervan for a year. Working on a ski field from June - Sep 2016 then off to Asia! Archives
May 2016
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