After traveling around both the North and South Islands of New Zealand for 16 days and logging approximately 2,000 miles, we finally traded in our campervan – The Backpacker Six Pack. Let’s just say it’s been cozy! We aptly named the campervan the “Jerky Cabin” for two reasons. 1) My 3 male travel counterparts decided early on in the roadtrip that the snack item of choice, while on the road, would be beef jerky. Why anyone would think that a salty brown, chewy, leathery piece of meat that resembles plastic is appetizing, I’ll never know. 2) The fact that being the only girl in the vehicle, I had to endure sounds that only guys make (i.e. burping, the passing of gas and other grunts and grumbles – definitely jerky things to do)…thus the JERKY cabin.
The Jerky Cabin is 20’ long by 7’ wide and should accommodate 6 people, according to the brochure. Lucky for us there are only 4 people in ours and that should have lent us plenty of space, but the first few days were definitely an adjustment. As Jimmy mentioned in an earlier blog, it took all of my interior space planning expertise to get everything to fit, but we did. One thing that I had not envisioned correctly was how small the sleeping space would be for Jimmy and I; being that we had to share a 46”wide space. I dreaded the nightfall, but surprisingly it wasn’t too bad. The evenings have been cool with the mountain air so we never felt hot, and we all have slept really well every night. Another thing I did not think about in advance was the lack of having your own bathroom. Using the campground toilet facilities were not the best, but like anything we got used to it, and actually the restrooms kept getting better with every camp site we visited (the first one was somewhat disgusting and it had us all scared – Mat & Charlie were determined that the men’s room was haunted)
The Jerky Cabin is 20’ long by 7’ wide and should accommodate 6 people, according to the brochure. Lucky for us there are only 4 people in ours and that should have lent us plenty of space, but the first few days were definitely an adjustment. As Jimmy mentioned in an earlier blog, it took all of my interior space planning expertise to get everything to fit, but we did. One thing that I had not envisioned correctly was how small the sleeping space would be for Jimmy and I; being that we had to share a 46”wide space. I dreaded the nightfall, but surprisingly it wasn’t too bad. The evenings have been cool with the mountain air so we never felt hot, and we all have slept really well every night. Another thing I did not think about in advance was the lack of having your own bathroom. Using the campground toilet facilities were not the best, but like anything we got used to it, and actually the restrooms kept getting better with every camp site we visited (the first one was somewhat disgusting and it had us all scared – Mat & Charlie were determined that the men’s room was haunted)
Going from a spacious house to the four of us living in one moving room has had its moments for all of us, but now that we have wrapped up this part of our journey, we have had a lot to look back on and laugh. We have some great inside jokes that stemmed from the Jerky Cabin, but most of all I would not have wanted to see New Zealand any other way. Because we are traveling right before the major holiday season, we were able to roll into any town without reservations and easily find accommodations with million dollar views for usually less than $40 a night.
Driving through New Zealand is the only way to feel the enormity of the jaw dropping landscape. One moment the serene, pastoral views with velvety green mountains, golden wheat fields and wide rivers, then rainforest areas that fall to the edge of the road, and next snow-capped mountains more than 10,000 feet tall splashing into turquoise seas. Every time you get behind the wheel the landscape changes and to really see New Zealand, you need the freedom to take that road less traveled. I must add that Jimmy did an outstanding job driving on the left and navigating us from town to town, and thank God we had Dorothy, our GPS Angel.
As cozy and fun as it’s been, we are all looking forward to getting into our Queenstown house for Mat’s birthday & Christmas week and SPREADING OUT!
Driving through New Zealand is the only way to feel the enormity of the jaw dropping landscape. One moment the serene, pastoral views with velvety green mountains, golden wheat fields and wide rivers, then rainforest areas that fall to the edge of the road, and next snow-capped mountains more than 10,000 feet tall splashing into turquoise seas. Every time you get behind the wheel the landscape changes and to really see New Zealand, you need the freedom to take that road less traveled. I must add that Jimmy did an outstanding job driving on the left and navigating us from town to town, and thank God we had Dorothy, our GPS Angel.
As cozy and fun as it’s been, we are all looking forward to getting into our Queenstown house for Mat’s birthday & Christmas week and SPREADING OUT!
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