My Bubble: Our Abode On Wheels ...

We've never drove a van before much less driving a campervan with all the household equipments and utensils on its four wheels. Not to mention a water and sewage tank. I would call it our abode on wheels since it came complete with a queen-sized bed, wardrobe, bathroom, kitchen, dining and even picnic chairs with umbrella.

It was really an intimidating vehicle when we first took delivery. The owner, Kenrick was very thorough with all the do's and don'ts that he was afraid we would have an information overload. Taking over the driving, it was the beginning of a big-time stress for lo kong. First he had to re-acquaint himself with manual driving, then driving a bigger vehicle than he normally does, remembering some of the country's different and sometimes odd road rules and of course, finally driving the narrow winding roads without causing any dents or accidents as we went about the North Island in New Zealand. I guess his driving was far from normal since we were even stopped by a policewoman in Turangi. She claimed lo kong was driving erratically and suspected that he was drunk. However, he was let-off after a breathelyser test.

As much as I wanted to be a relief driver, I decided against driving the campervan totally ... better not to take any risk! No doubt we were fully covered by insurance it was still our sense of responsibility. It doesn't help the stress when we saw 2 major accidents throughout our drive.

A campervan is definitely a whole new experience that we won't be able to enjoy back home but frankly we realised that we may have outdone ourselves abit. Due to time constraint, we had very little intention to stay longer than a night anywhere which kept the campervan minimally utilised. We were on the move all the time and as such, we did very little cooking and hardly showered. We braved the cold mornings or freezing evenings to use the communal shower and cooking facilities that were complimentary at every camper site we checked into. The camper sites charged between NZ$28 to NZ$50 for 2 persons depending on location. Laundry was self-service at NZ$4 per load and another NZ$4 for drying the load ... it's definitely expensive if you start thinking of the exchange. Some of the camper sites were well kept while one or two were quite rundown.

Next time when we visit New Zealand again, we intend to rent a car or a 4WD that runs on diesel. Petrol is expensive! It will be faster to check in and out of any motels, hotels or inns that were aplenty without having to think about parking, dump-station, water and electricity. It is just pack and go!

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