A Highlight of 1998

Camping beside Lake Tutira

January - We, once again, escaped from the English Winter and spent the first three months of the year in New Zealand where we had an excellent time. We had an initial few lazy days in Auckland over the New Year gathering together our kit before flying to Christchurch for a long period in the South before returning to the North.

This year we spent much more time camping. We had a simple and very economic camper van from Thomlinson Camper Hire which we used as a giant suitcase and used our tent most of the time - it has much better insect protection which is essential to avoid sandflies in the South! The "Thrifty" campervans are mostly Nissan C20 vans converted to have a bed, cupboard/table and cooker bolted in. Although they were far from new they proved very reliable and were actually cheaper than a mainstream hire car. They are also, unlike most hire cars, insured for the New Zealand gravel roads which is essential to reach most of the good scenery and camp sites such as Lake Tutira in South Island.