When we got up this morning it was raining, which meant heading down the street for breakfast was a bit problematic. Instead I (Alex) donned my raincoat to see what could be found. Initially the only thing open was a bakery so a couple of scrolls were purchased for Aylee and Nate. Fortunately on the way back to the motel I found a convenience store opening up and purchased some bread, butter, peanut butter and jam. Toast for breakfast with a cup of hot chocolate made by Aylee.
After breakfast we ordered a taxi and set of for the Mighty Depot to pick up our motorhome. That took some time, as there was a long queue. There was lot of self-registering on a tablet plus a couple of videos to watch on the vehicle operation and New Zealand road rules. All quite efficient.
Gertie (after her number plate), our VW motorhome is an ex Maui vehicle so is a bit better set up than we imagined. Mighty is the third tier of the Maui, Britz, Mighty company but there is certainly nothing wrong with Gertie even though she has a little over 200,000 km on the clock.
First stop was the Antarctic Centre, a great spot, where we viewed penguins, participated in a simulated Antarctic Storm and viewed lots of other information about life in the Antarctic. Well worth the stop.
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| The Antarctic Centre |
After lunch at the Centre we headed off to the closest supermarket, Countdown (obviously owned by Woolworths - at least it also uses the Woolworths symbol and Homebrand) to stock up on supplies before "hitting the road".
Our intention today was to camp at Lake Tekapo, but as we were getting away much later then intended an alternative was needed. We ended up at Rakaia River Caravan Park, quite a nice park on the Rakaia River (obviously) which, incidentally, is crossed by the longest bridge in New Zealand.
We had a bit of a wander around the park, checked out the games room and excellent play structure, before setting up the motorhome for sleeping - Aylee above the cab, Nate on the seat and Jill and I in the converted diner down the back.
We're pretty impressed with Gertie. She drives well and is pretty comfortable even though a little cramped for the 4 of us.
Dinner tonight was gourmet baked beans (meaning with egg and tomato) for Jill and I and spaghetti for Aylee and Nate in the very well-equipped Camp Kitchen. Quite satisfactory. Then a little bit of homework (for all of us) before bed.
