New Zealand - Day 1
by
Witha
- 5:23 PM
Changi - Sydney - Christchurch
We set the GPS and drove to All Seasons Kiwi Holiday Park in Christchurch. The reception was still open and accepted us. We paid $50 and drove to the site. Ok, this is how it works. The receptionist will provide you with the campsite map. On the map, you will see the parking lot with numbers and your designated parking spot will be highlighted. Please park at the spot designated to you only and if you want to change the spot, you need to inform the receptionist.
As planned, we took the taxi from Larkin, Johor Bharu to Singapore. My brother helped to send us the taxi station at around 12pm. The traffic and immigration process was smooth.
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| The complimentary wifi in Changi was insanely fast. There is a corner for those who need to the use the computer too. |
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| Charging Station is also available at the gate in case you need to charge your devices last minute, before boarding. How convenient! |
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| Time to board! |
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| Muslim food on board. Not the best but better than the meal in Qatar Air we experienced during our trip to Europe. |
The flight was smooth and we arrived Sydney Airport at around 6.15am local time. We were too exhausted at that point because we didn't get enough sleep on the plane so we decided to take a nap. We didn't do much, just walked around to kill the time and board the plane to Christchurch at 9.15am.
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| The food in Emirates was great. This was mine, rice for breakfast hahahahahhaha |
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| This was Ina's |
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| One with the flight attendance |
We safely landed in Christchurch Airport at 14.20pm. The immigration process wasn't as bad as we expected. Maybe because we didn't bring in any food into New Zealand so we have nothing to declare. We need to collect our campervan before 15.30pm so we rushed out to the arrival hall. It was still winter and
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| With our luggage |
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| While waiting for the shuttle to Britz Campervan Office |
Upon arrival, we need to call the Campervan Office using the free phone at the Phone Board located at the International Arrival area. Just press 65 to call and arrange for the courtesy shuttle. Very convenient!! You should check with the company you are renting the campervan beforehand if they provide this service which I think most companies do.
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| The courtesy shuttle than took us to the Campervan Office |
It took only 5 mins to the office from the airport. We were greeted by a friendly staff and warmly welcome. The documentation process took awhile. They explained on the insurance part as we were not clear about it. After a careful thought, we decided to take the full insurance coverage, which we glad we did! Ina knocked the gate at one of the supermarkets shortly after hahahhahahahaha
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| Customers are welcome to take any drinks from the machine |
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| Very spacious office that made us comfortable and warm |
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| All brands of Campervan / Motorhomes. Winter is the low season for New Zealand |
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| Our homes for the next 23 days!!! Tutorial by the staff |
The Interior of the Campervan / Motorhomes
I wish I took proper photos and videos on the interior of our campervan when it still clean. I'm sorry for the low quality and the messed in the photos.
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| Driver and passenger area with small round table. Dina sits here all the time during the drive |
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| The oval table behind the front passenger seat is dining table that we took out and set our bed |
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| The door out that we never use because we store our empty luggage and boots. Next to it is a small closet where the ladder to the 2nd bed is stored and where we put our jackets |
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| The ladder to the 2nd queen bed, on top of the driver and front passenger |
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| View from the driver seat |
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| The kitchen and fridge |
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| We rarely use the kitchen and the sink as we usually cooked at the camper park |
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| The seats than turn to a queen bed. The area where the luggage are where oval dining table supposes to be. It's basically a dining area. On the left is the microwave and on the right is the small fridge |
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| Tada! The bed that can fit 3 of us and we left it as a bed all the time |
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| Large mirror and the white door is the shower and toilet |
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| The toilet and shower. Very compact but it also has a sink and mirror |
This campervan can easily fit 4 pax and quite spacious for the 3 of us. Glad we choose this. The only downside of using the campervan is that you need to empty the grey water tank and the toilet tank frequently. It's not very troublesome but it does take sometimes. So, we decided avoid using the sink, toilet and shower inside the campervan and fully utilize the facilities at the camper site. Which means to cook, shower and use the toilet there unless it's an emergency.
It was getting dark by the time we collect our campervan. We stopped at nearby PAKnSAVE to buy the groceries before heading to the campersite.
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| PAKnSave in Christchurch |
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| My happy place! |
We set the GPS and drove to All Seasons Kiwi Holiday Park in Christchurch. The reception was still open and accepted us. We paid $50 and drove to the site. Ok, this is how it works. The receptionist will provide you with the campsite map. On the map, you will see the parking lot with numbers and your designated parking spot will be highlighted. Please park at the spot designated to you only and if you want to change the spot, you need to inform the receptionist.
We were the only guest at the campsite that night. It was quite dark outside and I was a bit scared. Maybe because that was my first experienced. We were located just in front of the toilet and shower room and I remember how grateful I was at that time. We didn't do much that night. We stored all out things in the compartment, rearranged the bed and table and took shower. It was still very cold even though it's at the end of winter. We had simple dinner that not required any cooking and when to bed early as we need to get a good rest before starting our journey tomorrow. Ina was down with fever that night. Must be the weather changed.
It's the end of day 1 in New Zealand. Will continue soon!
