Vantastic

So who wouldn't jump on the opportunity to drive a van from Te Anau to Christchurch free of charge? No bother that the last drivers accidentally drove it off the Milford Road, breaking a back window and scraping off the driver's door handle and mirror. A small thing that there was no registration or warrant. Easy that the contact asked very few questions and provided very few answers. I'll trust any Kiwi who says that a van is "fit to drive".

And she was. Lovingly dubbed "Lady Lucy", our little van drove us from Milford to Queenstown. We camped on the roadside, asleep in minutes after a long day's work and drive. After a perfect soy latte at my favorite cafe in QTN and an hour too long in "The Warehouse"( (NZ's solution to Walmart) looking for a CD player to take on the road we were on our way through to Wanaka for lunch in sunny fabulousness. Wanaka has become perhaps my favorite town in NZ... holding all of the modern amenities, cafes, art galleries and lakeside activities as Queenstown, without the soulless, tourist driven commercialism. If I come back to NZ it will be to live in Wanaka.

From there we drove on the West Coast Highway, stopping at a deserted mountain lake to swim, and browsing in the small 100-200 person towns along the route for fresh fruit or ice cream. We stayed in Franz Josef that night at a lovely holiday park and enjoyed a bottle of wine and dinner of cheese and crackers, fresh avocados and tomatoes. Yum.

The next day we drove the SPECTACULAR coastal road through Greymouth to Punakaike, home of the pancake rocks. Though the rocks themselves are amazing and impressive, the entire road is exquisite. There are sheer 300 meter cliffs into crashing surf, the road weaving in and out of lush rainforest and sandy dirt roads. It felt good to see the ocean and sleep with waves crashing nearby. We all return to the sea. It is my home wherever I travel.



The next day we drove across the country via the Lewis Pass, where little Lady Lucy had a rough time, over heating frequently and refusing to start on a few occasions. But we made it safely to Christchurch and got a buzz from the very citiness.... sirens and people and cars and beeping and Traffic! A bit overwhelming at first, I quickly slipped into the enjoyment of it all. It is good to be around people doing their daily thing... bustling to work and catching up with their friends. And none of them knew who I was or cared. I miss anonymity at times. It was good to refuel.

We flew back to Queenstown after two nights in Christchurch and a horrible plane ride which made me wish I was dead (puking and cramping and horrible) but made it into a sunny day and onto an early bus back to Milford. And after an 11 hour day of work I am still feeling great.

New Zealand is the fairy tale land that you imagine as a child, or read about in books, but never really thought existed. It is right here, green and cliffed and water dense and glorious.