This trip was probably the best two weeks of my life. It was completely different from any I'd ever been on, living out of vans in the wilderness with friends on a constant adventure. Here's a little preview of what our life was like :)
OUR HOME: JAMES MAY- We lived in bright orange campervans called spaceships- mine was named James May (not sure who that is) and in it with me was Kara and Daniela. The three of us had a blast, belting out tunes as we drove around the entire south island. The spaceships seated the three of us during the day, and then at night it turned into a bed with sheets and a giant comfy duvet they supplied us with. So every night the three of us snuggled together in the back... really got to know each other well that's for sure! Our spaceships came with cooking supplies and a portable stovetop so we saved a ton of money buying our own food and cooking dinners. Kara, Daniela, and I tried to be a healthy van (that kind of worked out) and bought lots of fruit and veggies to share for the trip. Every morning for breakfast we'd have granola bars and some fruit, pretty much lived off of pb & j for lunch, and then for dinner usually cooked with everyone making sausage, pasta, or burgers. We only bought food a few times in restaurants and cooking was much more fun!
The Campsites- I don't think I'll ever look at running water the same way after this trip. Every night we found campsites to stay in, basically in the middle of the woods with nothing at all. We weren't allowed to park on the side of the road so we always searched for free campsites. A free campsite meant NO running water which = no bathrooms (or disgusting ones that we chose the woods over anyway), and no showers. Most of the time this is what we were staying in. Some campsites were $10 a person which we had to stay in a few times when we couldn't find a free one or when we were desperately in need of a shower (aka after glacier hike and other athletic activities). By the end of the trip peeing in the woods was no biggie, and running water was the best thing EVER (even if it was freezing cold). We made fires 3 or 4 nights (Anthony made the fires I should say) but most of the campsites didn't allow you to because they were nature reserves. The nights were pretty chilly so when we could make a campfire we took full advantage.
The Crew- We pretty much stuck with the same group the entire time. We were the wicked van/spaceship caravan. There were 8 people in the wicked vans, and then Jetson and Tongaroa were the spaceships. By the end of the trip we started referring to everyone by their car names, and still kind of do back in Auckland. There were 18 of us traveling around together out of about 35 or so Loyola kids in the south island. We met up with the rest of the group a few times for the Glacier Hike, Nevis Bungy, and Milford Sound.
A lot of the trip was spent in our vans driving, but looking out our window seeing all the beauty of the south island was one of the best parts about it. We mixed around the vans a lot so it was really just a constant road trip hanging out with all of our close friends on the trip.
The Journey- So the story begins. Our journey started in Christchurch and we drove counter clockwise around the entire south island and ended back in Christchurch. The next post will give the trip day-by-day. If you'd like to hear all the details continue on, otherwise just look at the pics :)
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