5TH - 11TH MAY

The first part of the drive to Christchurch was fantastic, the weather was clear and sunny and the sight of the snow capped mountains was a sight neither of us will ever forget. We were both torn about leaving the Mount Cook area in such beautiful weather as there were so many walks we could have done, but hey-ho there are so many places we could have stayed for longer. It crazy to think that even though we are lucky enough to have 2 years to travel the world - this really isn’t long enough, there are just so many beautiful places - but worry not, we will be back!!!

The mountains soon turned into flat plains which seemed fairly boring after the spectacular scenery we had just witnessed. Driving around Christchurch wasn’t too taxing and we had decided to go and check out the city and whilst we were there, try and find a Rough Guide to the USA! We were very impressed

with the city, it had a lovely chilled vibe so we had a pleasant couple of hours wandering around, although we still couldn’t find the Rough Guide - grrrr! Then we headed back to Bongo and set off in the general direction of the campsite and with Rob’s superb map reading skills we found our way there without getting a single wrong turn! New Zealand cities are such chilled affairs, even though Christchurch is the biggest city in the south island it’s such a breeze to drive around!

We had opted for a campsite near the beach which was OK, nothing too glam but it certainly wasn’t the worst place we have ever stayed! We got there by late afternoon and chilled around for a short while then headed back into wait for it - South New Brighton to find an internet café! It is really funny seeing all of these British town names - but believe me South New Brighton is a world away from Liverpool’s