Everyday livin'

Life Living Outta Hillary the Station Wagon



Traveling with our car, Hillary, is so luxurious; we have shelter from the rain and more importantly from the bugs, ample storage room, a kitchen, a dining room and a comfy bed all under one roof. Every morning we wake up to the gorgeous scenery that is absolutely everywhere in New Zealand, and I don’t even have to get up until Mick makes me my morning tea  (ya that’s right). After we slowly get a move on in the morning we pack our camp up and drive, drive, drive all day to our next destination.
After 5 weeks we put 6400Km on the car. Who knew New Zealand was so big. This has also resulted in a much larger fuel bill than Mick and I were expecting. We’ll see how long our budget brings us.



Next up we usually find 1 or 2 hikes to do on our way to wherever we are headed, unless the destination is climbing of course. Then it’s all driving and no stopping, not even for birdies on the road. Mick has 7 points, one for each bird. He’s a tyrant. I have none, I am a birdieologist afterall (no endangered species have been hurt during the accumulation of points).

After we’ve completed our day’s activities it’s time to find a campsite. On the North Island, at the beginning of our trip, we usually found a look out point or a historic site to freedom camp in, but after speaking to some locals we’ve learned that Kiwis are not super impressed with all the freedom camping and trash that gets left behind in the process. While we would never leave trash in an area we can see that the locals could be peeved so we usually look for a cheap ($10-14) DOC campsite wherever we are headed, but will still on occasion stay in a pullout in the middle of nowhere.

Next up it’s cooking and car conversion time. We’ve got a pretty good system going now so if it’s raining or especially buggy we’re not outside for more than a couple of minutes. Whoever makes dinner is excused from dishes (so mick does the dishes most nights as we don’t have any perogies here). He looks pretty good in rubber gloves, eh?



Escaping the bugs is another story. While we would love to sit outside in the fresh air all the time, there are swarms of mossies (blackflies) everywhere. We have resorted to the ever so stylish sock-and-sandals look to keep them from biting our feet. We are ever so hip. (Dear mom and dad, no you still shouldn’t wear socks and sandals, its not cool unless you invest in Birkenstocks of course, that’s legit).



After we’re satiated with my delish dinner-in-a-box dishes it’s time to hang out and drink some cheap NZ wine and call it a day.



~Rolls