New Zealand:: Beijing to Christchurch to Kaikoura

24 January 2014-

Did I say New Zealand? Didn't we go there LAST year? Why yes…yes we did. And it so happens that we liked it enough (or should I say "loved it") to do it all over again. But this time we'll visit the South Island (last year we stuck to the North Island) AND Mark's sister, Beth, and her family will trek half-way around the world and join us there!!!

Seriously???

Seriously!!!

This is going to be the BEST & most EPIC TRIP EVER!!!!

We're going to fly from Beijing to Christchurch via China Southern on Saturday afternoon. Yes, we could drive to Beijing on Saturday morning B-U-T (and this is a very big but) we would hate to expect driving on Saturday only to be forced to turn around due to weather or bad air constraints. These days it's not weather that causes trouble – it's the "fog". (no, it's not fog…read between the lines!) All that chatter means we're going to drive to Beijing on Friday night and overnight at the Beijing Airport Hilton.

Are you coming with us to NZ? I sure hope so! It'll be one of those once-in-a-lifetime trips that you'll talk about for the rest of your life. You DO want to come, right???? Thought so!

Bags are packed….checked, double checked and triple checked our flight information, hotel info in Christchurch and our campervan rental information. Looks like we're good to go! Passports- check! Credit card – check. Chances are good that if we forgot something we'll either a) be able to buy it or b) go without it while in NZ.

Mr. Li, our driver, is here. Time to load up! We're heading to Beijing – with a stop at Greap Leap Brewing Co. for dinner (they've got some of the best burgers and beer in China) before heading to the Hilton.

And laugh if you want…there wasn't any trouble driving to Beijing. The girls always love staying in a hotel so all is not lost. Plus, the burgers and beer at Great Leap were just as good as we remember them. Always a bonus! Our driver just dropped us off at the airport hotel…it feels strangely familiar. We've stayed here enough times they gave Mark a little parting gift and upgraded our room. Hmmmm….

Well folks, it's been a long day! If you'll recall – this morning we participated in the Temple Fair (CNY activities) at the school and we crammed everything into our suitcases as fast as we could. To sum up – I'm tired and ready for bed. Good night!!

Time for breakfast! It's kind of nice that we can have a luxuriously long and relaxing breakfast….I don't think we've ever eaten breakfast in this hotel as our flights are super early in the morning.

Time to get ready for our flight! We're flying China Southern today – apparently they're partners with Delta which means we'll get frequent flyer miles.

Ready to go? Let's hop on the hotel-airport shuttle bus and make our way to Terminal 2 of the Beijing Airport.

We've found where we need to check in at China Southern but OH MY GOODNESS…..this could quite possibly be the most agonizing check-in we've encountered yet (actually, we had one time in Munich airport that was slightly worse). They keep telling us over and over again that we don't have the necessary visas to enter New Zealand. Ummm….we're NOT CHINESE! Hello???? We're American …. we know that we'll get our visas just upon entry in New Zealand. We did it last year. Talk about a few moments of unnecessary panic. Gee, thanks China Southern for starting our vacation off on such a "positive note". Not! After lots of going back and forth they *finally* listened to us (naturally having researched it themselves) and proceeded to give us our tickets. (FYI- I do think that Chinese nationals must have their visas processed prior to entry but the USA is on a short list of countries that don't need to have it done prior).

We're through security…and waiting at our gate. RATS!!!! Here I'd thought all along we'd go to the same gates as we normally fly out of at Terminal 2- there's a Starbucks there and a few great last-minute gift and snacks shop. Guess what though? Our first flight is to Guangzhou so we're not in the international part of the terminal. This side STiNKS!!!! Waaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!

Made it to Guangzhou. That flight was stinky. Let's get out of here!

H-O-L-Y G-U-A-C-A-M-O-L-E!!!!!!!!

This airport has got to be -hands down- the worst airport EVER!!!!! I feel like we're balls in a giant pinball machine – we're getting bounced all over the place. Up and down, through half-mile long corridors, poor signage. Dang! Oh, and how about stepping off the airplane, getting CRAMMED into a bus and riding for ten minutes or more until they dumped us off *somewhere*? That was freaking weird! Do they seriously not have enough gates to park this plane at a gate? This isn't exactly a baby airplane. So far this airport is leaving a distinctively foul taste in my mouth.

Thank goodness we got through that mess and getting ready to board our flight. And yes, even though we're flying a big airplane they're bussing us to it? Have you folks never seen or used one of those ramps (we like to call 'em People Suckers)??? They're really quite handy. You should try using one sometime.

REMIND ME: NEVER EvER FLY CHINA SOUTHERN again. Okay? I try to keep an open mind and try to make the best out of most situations but we this airline sucks. Don't fly with them! I only care one thing- that they help us to get to New Zealand.

All is good…we made it to Auckland! (Oh, did I forget to mention that we're flying to Christchurch via a stop in Auckland? No? My bad.) We're through customs….we've grabbed our luggage…and now heading over to the domestic terminal to get our New Zealand Airlines tickets. Boy howdy….what a difference New Zealand Air is from China Southern. Night and day difference in friendly & helpful customer service.

Yikes! There is a storm blowing through Auckland and several domestic flights have been canceled. Keep your fingers crossed that ours isn't one of them!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!

We're boarding now……come on! Let's go!!!!!

I think I've previously mentioned that we're going to rent a campervan in Christchurch. However, the rental place closes around 4:30pm or so and since we won't get into Christchurch until after 7pm we'll need a place to stay for the night. We booked – as did the Mears Family – a room at the Airport Palms Motel in Christchurch. We need to find a taxi and get over to that motel!!!!!

Why???

'Cuz our family is there and WE WANT TO SEE THEM!!!!!

Whoops – how is it that we completely forgot to take photos of our arrival and meeting up with the family???? Just imagine FIVE noisy kids – some of which were getting close to sleep deprived – perhaps a wee bit crazy???? Naaaaah…. It felt like we hadn't been apart for the past five months or so. Awesome!!!

It's morning! Did you sleep? Can't say if I did…I think I must have at one point. The lady at the front office suggested we eat breakfast at a near-by cafe that's walking distance away from the motel. Oooo!!! Eggcellent suggestion! (Mark and I shared an eggs benedict dish. Yum!)

Time to go pick up our campervan, load it up with goodies from the grocery store…and head ….north? Does north good to you? I think it sounds like a good direction to take. After all – we're not constrained to anything. We can go anywhere and everywhere we can get ourselves to. Kind of a freeing feeling.

Campervan- check.

Groceries at Count Down (grocery store chain) – check, check.

Got a full tank of gas…and we're ready to gooooooooo!!!!!!

We're aiming for Kaikoura for our first night. It's just north of Christchurch and on the east coast. And remembering to drive on the LEFT instead of the right hand side of the road isn't as bad or difficult as I remember it being last year. The whole drive is going rather smoothly.

We're passing by lots of vineyards….I'd like to pick up a bottle of red wine to celebrate…let's say we just pick one and stop, okay? And of course it's always a good idea to let the chicklets get the crazies out of their system:

On the open road. Blue skies. Puffy white clouds. Green. Fresh air. Fantastic:

The girls in the campervan…we've got Ava, Annika and Lily riding with us:

Is our campervan small enough to fit throught this tunnel????

How about a quick stop at a beach? I think we could all use a wee bit of fresh air and let out some more of our stored up wiggles.

Ava claims she's not cold. Do you think she's being honest?????

ah….lovely site!:
And knowing our kids…they'll find logs to play on (in any hemisphere!):

Did our Scottish pirates make an appearance??? (no…sadly don't think they did)

Me, taking a break with my new mini (it's got a SIM card so that we can attempt to stay connected). Cool!

We found our campground…thank goodness we called ahead and booked two campsites as this place seems pretty darn full. I guess other families have this idea that traveling around the South Island is a fun idea…huh. (lol!) This campground is located next to the beach…nice! It's a rocky beach.

One thing we think we should do while we're here – eat some Fish & Chips! The front desk receptionist at the campground office recommended a place that we can walk to in Kaikoura. Off we go to find it!

Yep…there it is! It's just across the street from us:

Uhhhhh????? We got two family orders of fish and chips (which came with sausages)….which could basically feed a small army. Oof! I'm stuffed!!! (it was tasty)

It's a good thing we have to walk back to the campground …some of us adults might be rolling out the door. Let's go a walk along the beach:

One of the nice perks of staying at a campground is some of them have fun, kid-friendly play areas. This one had a jumping pillow (which is FUN!):

Cousins Lily & Annika playing on the playground.

Cousins Henry & Ava….hahahaha!!!!!

And here's that bottle of red wine Mark bought for us when we made that very brief stop at the winery:

Nighty night! I hope you sleep well in the camper…just find a spot and curl up with some blankets and a pillow.

It's 6:45am. Yep. That's right! I'm getting you up to go jogging with me. Come on you lazy bums! It's time to get up and at 'em!

Views from my morning jog (see, wasn't it worth it??? If you answer anything other than YES don't tell I don't want to hear it!!!):

Rays of Sunshine!

After breakfast let's drive our lumbering beasts to the Kaikoura Peninsula to go on a short walk and maybe catch a glimpse of some fur seals (apparently there's a fur seal colony in Kaikoura).

Check out this crazy wavy rocky beach:

We just found the car park …and surprisingly there's a big enough space to park The Beast. Let's go for a walk and find these fur seals we've heard people talking about…ok???