Things that have happened

• We drove to a gorge and spent a night there. Very pleasant. Awesome stars - could see the milky way. This is what happens when you hit a campsite in the middle of nowhere, down 10km of dirt track.
• Martin found a hill he couldn't run up...
• ...and a group of middle aged hikers who were walking up it... that thing was steep!
• But we did have a pleasant solar shower (you fill it up with water, put it on top of the camper van and let the sun heat it up. Then hang it from a tree and "shower". Degree of nudity depends on your level of modesty) in the baking sun.
• We drove to a Victorian town with old (for NZ) buildings. The fishseller wanted to swap vehicles.
• We went chocolate tasting. We totally tasted as much as we were able to without looking too pikey. We did buy some too. Weird flavours - sea salt, tequila & salt & lime, cranberry, Myrhh& franckinsense & gold, pepper.. anyway. The conclusion: chocolate is nice.
• New name for the van: Osalmon Van Laden

There is a lot of trust here. We are staying in the DOC campsites where you just put money in an envelope in a slotted box. Last night's privately owned camp site was a case of a note, attached to the door, saying "If we don't catch up with you, leave the money under the mat." Martin thinks there is a group of bounty style avengers who track down those that abuse the trust...

So, on Sunday we go to the South Island. All very good. If we don't update again before Xmas, hope you all have a really good one.

PS Martin is jealous of the snow!