New Zealand 2k13

Once upon a time, on a Friday morning, two excited girls packed their trunks and set off on a quest. Their mission? To find the most treasured spots in New Zealand with only a camper van, google map printouts and a little bit of nous.

The adventure didn't get off to the most excellent start. When we found out our flight had been delayed by 4 hours we convinced ourselves that there had been an earthquake and we were never going to arrive.

To top it all off, once we arrived in Christchurch we were taken to jail. Not the warmest of welcomes. 

JUST KIDDING. Well, only slightly. We found this crazy cool little hostel which had set up shop in an old prison! Spooky, huh? 

Cell 16. 

It's two prisoners (travellers) to a cell, bread and water three times a day and a weekly strip-search. 

Joking again - I'm hilarious. In reality, it was pretty luxurious. We were even given towels and hot water bottles. It was more like a themed hotel than a prison-cum-hostel. 

We awoke shattered, a little confused as to where we were and unable to string together coherent sentences but we managed to find our way to our camper van with the help of our google maps, sign language and expressive grunts. And thank God we did: Say hello to Noah. 

At Escape Campers each van has a different design - ours was based on Andy Warhol. They are fun, affordable, reliable and perfect for whizzing about in style. If you're thinking of doing a similar trip, you can check out the website here: Travellers Autobarn but we actually booked ours through STA Travel.

Now it's onwards for me, to battle dragons and to save my Prince Charming from wicked witches. Wish me luck.