We woke up to the rather annoying sound of our alarm but we felt as though we had just drifted off to sleep. We just had to look at each other to confirm that we were exhausted, but we had to get up and check out of 'Kiwi Basecamp' so that we could collect our campervan. We decided to eat breakfast first, so we went to the downstairs kitchen to be met by the smell of freshly baked bread. We made a strong coffee and cut a couple of slices of bread before having a seat at the huge communal dining table. The very friendly owner of the hostel came to say hello to everyone whilst dropping off the daily newsletter. It informed us of the weather forecast, which unfortunately stated that the temperature wasn't expected to reach above three degrees during the course of the day and it was likely to get colder over the weekend. We started to wonder whether we would be able to survive the cold in our campervan. We finished our breakfast and then had a very hot shower before getting ready and using the internet to discover where the 'Escape' office was in Christchurch. We hung around in the communal area until the dedicated hostel driver returned so that we could get a free lift to the 'Escape' office. We were dropped off right outside the door and we instantly saw the brightly painted campervan sat on the driveway. We went into the office to meet a guy called Krispy who acknowledged who we were as we had sent him so many emails whilst arranging the campervan. Our first task was to chose our campervan, so we were led through the back door of the office into the warehouse. There weren't too many manual campervans available so we didn't have a great deal of choice, but I really liked 'Hector' as it had dolphins painted on the side and a portion of the rental money went straight to the charity WWF. The next task was to complete a damage report so that we weren't blamed for any previous damage to the campervan. Andrew noticed a huge dent in the front bumper so he added that to the report. We couldn't decide whether to take out accident insurance as it was another six hundred dollars, which was around three hundred pounds and in the end I decided to take a risk. The final bit of paperwork was to pay for the thing, but Santander had finally decided to block my credit card. However, we luckily had another card and once payment was complete Krispy showed us around our new home! It had just about everything we needed for thirty five days on the road including a "kitchen", thermal blankets, pillows, fold-out camping chairs and a table. We were all set so we hopped inside and Andrew made himself comfortable for our first journey. He was a little nervous as it was the first time he had driven anything bigger than a car and he had become quite accustomed to driving a moped! Anyway, it was my job to read the map and Krispy had given us an AA map of New Zealand so we wouldn't get lost. We set off towards State Highway 1 (SH1) on the look out for a place Krispy had shown us on the map that sold cheap camping clothing and equipment. However, before we even realised it we were on an open road surrounded by rolling hills and farm land. There were no shops in sight and it seemed hard to believe that SH1 was in fact a single lane, windy road through the countryside. We soon made a petrol stop as we weren't entirely sure if there would be a station along our route, so we filled up the campervan. 
 
The first town of any size that we reached was called 'Waipara' . We were starting to feel hungry so we decided to check the place out to get something to eat. We had to cross a railway line that had no barrier, so the only thing that alerted us to it was the painted wooden sign. We soon realised that we weren't going to find a pub or restaurant as the "town" was comprised of a single row of houses, a tiny Primary School and one local shop that just so happened to be closed! We returned to SH1 and continued driving north as I checked the map to see where would be the next best place to stop. As we were driving we noticed a big sign written on the hillside using white stones that read 'Greta Valley Cafe 3km' so we took our chance in the hope that it would be open. It was a nice little place, set up on a hill with a nice view across the landscape. It even had a helipad along with a very old caravan park that looked a little sorry for itself, as there were only two extremely old caravans parked in the yard! However, there was a sign on the bar to notify that the kitchen was closed. We couldn't believe just how difficult it was becoming to find food! Anyway, there was a reduced menu so we managed to order vegetable soup and a classic cola . The member of staff was very friendly and we sat and read the newspaper whilst we were waiting for our soup. It certainly warmed us up and we fully appreciated the genuine butter that we could spread on the still warm bread roll. 
 
We continued our journey and our next stop was a town called Kaikoura. The road ran right along the coast and there were a few quite narrow brick tunnels we had to pass through alongside a one track railway line. It was so cold that we desperately needed to buy warmer clothing and we spotted a few clothing shops so we decided to take a quick look around Kaikoura before driving on to Blenheim. I managed to buy a woolly hat even though it was a little expensive but the clothing was way over our budget. The owner was very chatty and Andrew started talking to him about Thailand whilst I looked around the place. We popped in to a supermarket to buy a few essential items and a bit of food before we headed back to our campervan. We reached our campervan just as a random guy was taking a photograph of Hector! We started driving again and it wasn't long before we reached Blenheim where we decided to stay the night . However, we caught sight of 'The Warehouse' which was the shop that Krispy had recommended to us so we pulled into the car park to check it out. It was literally a warehouse full of fairly cheap household items and clothing. I bought a fleece and coat that was a bargain in the sale, whilst Andrew managed to buy a fleece-lined hoody. We also bought a cheap quilt as we were sure we were going to freeze overnight in the campervan. I successfully read the map and directed us to 'Blenheim Top 10 Holiday Park' where we paid $37 for a powered site. We found site nineteen and hooked up to the electricity point so that we could switch on the tiny electric heater. However, we were most certainly surprised by the power of the thing as the campervan soon heated up so that it was no longer unbearably cold. We made our way to the kitchen area, which was un-heated, and began to make our pasta and sauce. I felt like an orphan sat eating my meal from a plastic bowl, as I sat shivering with only my face peeping out of my hooded jacket. I was for once quite happy to wash up as it meant I could put my hands in hot water. We then returned to Hector and lit a couple of candles, before Andrew finally discovered the secret location of the light. It was on the roof, as he found out when he accidentally turned the thing on whilst hitting his head off the thing. I quickly returned to the kitchen to get some hot water so that we could have a hot drink as we still felt rather chilly. I managed to log on to the WiFi, after paying a rather expensive $5 per hour, as we needed to book a ferry to the north island for the following day. However, we had a discount voucher from Escape which we could only use if we booked via phone so we braved the cold once more but it was a wasted journey as the reception desk was closed. We decided we would just have to try in the morning and hope that there was space, even though it was the beginning of the school holidays and therefore likely to be busy. Our first attempt at making our campervan bed was appalling as we both clambered around and attempted to not get in the way of each other. We decided we would have to work out a better system. It was warm enough under the duvet but as soon as a part of our body poked out it was freezing, so we snuggled up and hoped we would still be alive the following day!