7/8 Claire – New Zealand

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Originally uploaded by blenkers

We arrived in NZ late last night and just took a taxi to the hotel. Hotel So is modern hotel and a really simple concept of being able to make it inexpensive through things like not offering room service, concierge or luggage services… and as it also turns out bedroom space. They have made these tiny bedrooms into everything that you need but with a very clever use of space. The bed was also a settee i.e. it had a back rest against one wall. The bed was attached to three of the bedroom walls and raised like a bunk bed, storage was underneath. The plasma TV was on one of the bed cubby walls. It was one step away from a Japanese capsule hotel!

Today has been a day of organising ourselves. We have picked up the camper. It’s not an easycamper as the branding might at first sight lead you to believe but a space ship. Now, luxury camper van this is not but to be fair this is reflected in the price we paid which was equivalent to car hire. So, when you pay for a car but ask for a camper you get a car with a bed in the back. It’s really cool actually. The back seats have been ripped out and a two seat left in that can be twizled around to make space. It has a bed area that also lifts to store all of your luggage underneath. It also has a stove and gas canister that can be pulled out of the sliding side door so you can make a brew. And… a DVD player. Not sure how cold it is going to be but it’s a smart back up plan in case we get to a really beautiful area that we want to stay in and don’t want to drive out again to a nearby town.

We’ve also sorted out our snowboard hire in Christchurch as it’s really cheap so rather than hire by the day and pay mountain prices we’ve got it all sorted here and hired for the full two weeks. Lastly, got our snow chains sorted and time to leave Christchurch which so far looks like one long industrial estate.