I know the blogs are coming fast and furious but I am on holidays and have time to do them!   We are travelling; eating, holidaying and enjoying the postcard picture beautiful scenery.  In between waging war on nasty sand flies and enduring a love hate relationship with our campervan.    

Crumpets and vegemite – Geoff with one of his quick snack dinners.  I said ‘spot the nutrient’ but he was quick this time and said Vitaman B!  Vegemite claims it is rich in this vitamin.  I still say my dinner would easily win this one even if I did wash it down with some fizzy preservative-laced wine.

We’ve been in our trusty van for 2 weeks and the novelty is wearing thin.  First the side rubber things that hold the windscreen edges started to come off and flap in the wind as we drove.  Driver side first, Geoff tried to reattach it, got the shits and just unscrewed the whole piece.  We stowed it behind the sink/fridge unit.  A day later my side flapped cheerily in the breeze, that too was unscrewed and stowed away.

There are 1000’s of Camper vans on the roads and most of them are white, we sleep at night in van land with other ‘sheep’ that are all doing the same things. Empty out the chemical loo at the dump station, plug in power, fill up water tanks and get something to eat.  My raw food is easy, I don’t need power and washing up is easy.  

I attempt to be navigator reading from the dozen leaflets and maps we have picked up along the way but the GPS robotic voice drowns me out.  Why do we need a GPS to drive on the only coastal road there is?!  Well says Geoff, it shows the twists and turns in the road, the rivers and the mountains and secretly I think he prefers it because it doesn’t talk back to him like I do.   So I just shove another piece of fruit in my mouth and hum a little tune and look out the window. 

Our mini skylight leaked one night, steady rain for hours and I woke to a drip drip drip sound on the sink.  The electric plugs were right under that and our little heater would not turn on, now that was serious!  Geoff found the fuse box, we dried everything up and all was good.   You have to love a practical man!

Part of my daily routine is to locate and eliminate all the tiny terrors that have rushed into our open doors as we climb into our vehicle. One NZ website tells us ‘If you can’t handle sand flies then don’t bother visiting the West Coast of the South Island’.  I didn’t know much about sand flies but now I know a lot and it’s all bad.  Given my recent history with insect bites, you will understand I am not happy about sand fly bites. Outside we cover ourselves with a natural repellent that Margo gave me the recipe for, it seems to help temporarily and smells nice too…. 

Found a lovely farm stall with all sorts of fresh produce and home made sauces etc.  Chickens clucking out the front around our van and in the countryside.    Stocked up on things, Geoff does love his veggies – it’s just he likes to cook them to smithereens until they are soft and lifeless.  But that’s still better than canned I think!