New Zealand

Three. That is the maximum number of days I can go without showering before becoming cranky and feeling totally gross (5 has been our max so far, not including swims). Add in our close quarters and the long hikes we have been doing and it makes for an intesting combination. Our little house provides us with everything we need except for a bathroom. Luckly New Zealand makes it easy for campervans to get around and there are lots of public restrooms but the showers are reserved for the private campsites. The private campsites are often expensive and normally located in town. The Department of Conservation (DOC) campsites are very inexpensive and offer the most amazing views and locations in some very remote places but they just have toilets, no showers. When we do treat ourselves to a shower private campsite we get very excited and we take a shower at night and one in the morning just to make sure we are extra clean. 

The Mickey II (so we coined our campervan because Alan misses his dog Mickey so much) is a 1991 Toyota Townace, a manual van that runs on diseal. She is not the prettest car, is in need of a new paint job, the radio is broken, the driver side window does not roll all the way up (Alan took the door apart and fixed that)  and she really needs you to take your time when climbing up steep hills. But apart from those short comings she has allowed us to have the ultimate freedom while traveling NZ. We can stop whenever we want and set up camp. The back seat converts into a bed and there are curtains all the way around it so you can have the ultimate privacy (we have been sleeping an average of 11 hours a night!) The trunk opens up to our kitchen, two gas burners, a coutertop, a cooler and two large containers one full of our dry goods and the other with our pots, pans and eating utensils, making anytime a good time to make a meal or a cup of chai. The campervan was made for New Zealand, since breathtaking views that are worth a stop are around every corner. 

Upon our arrival in Christchurch I was very hesitant about our desicion to purchase a car. It did make sense but I was skeptical of how the process was going to work (If we had rented a car it would cost just as much to buy one and now we have the opportunity to sell it back and recoop some of the money).  Were we just going to pull up and buy a car? When we walked in to our hostel in Christchurch the notice board was covered in car for sale ads. Most were campervans. If you are lucky they are fully loaded with everything you would need, a fully furniushed house on wheels!  Linens, curtains, cooking things, stove, power adaprter, bins for your clothes the list goes on and on. We walked onto a car lot that gave backpackers the opportunity to sell thier cars and thats when we saw our car. It was a bit more then we wanted to spend but with the last few months spent barganing in Asia we were ready. Turns out the girl who was selling it was eagar to meet up with her boyfriend in India and a couple hours later the car was ours.  

-Mika