Driving in the clouds

The reason for choosing Kiwi Basecamp as our hostel for Christchurch was the freshly baked bread they offered in their free breakfast. This turned out to be true and nice. The Internet was also super quick, so we took advantage of it and backed up quite some pictures. Then it was time to take the bus to the airport where we could pick up our second rental car. This time it was a 2012 Suzuki Swift with 184000km on it. Quite a difference to the previous one that had only 5000km and a few less scratches. However, this Suzuki comes with a functional back window wiper and it feels easier to drive. So not bad at all.

Our first stop was a Pak'nSave for some basic groceries for the next few days. Then we decided to do a day trip to the Banks peninsula. The driving already offered great views but we also did a small walk for a bit more. The clouds were rolling over the mountains but for the rest the sku was blue. We liked it here and decided to spend the night in one of the bays as well.

Some days earlier at the sandfly hostel in Nelson we looked up some info about sandflies in New Zealand. We found a map that showed you were most likely to be at wars with them on the west coast, whereas on the east coast they were unlikely to bother you. Back then we were happy about that, knowing that we'd head east after Nelson. But arriving at the Pigeon Bay campsite on the Banks peninsula near Christchurch, we learned that this map was clearly a lie.

The sandflies kept harassing us while setting up our tent and making dinner. By the time we went to bed, hundreds of them had managed to find a place in our outside tent, with quite some sneaking into the inside tent as well when we were going in or out. They're not the most intelligent creatures, but they certainly don't lack in persistence. They take one for the team as well, proven by the one that flew into Machiel's eyeball and some others that attempted similarly suicidal actions. In the end we managed to eat and get into our beds, but it definitely took a lot away from what otherwise was a good campsite with nice surroundings.Read more