#Window Frosting West Auckland

[notjustbacon]

Lessons from Campervan Living

We recently flew from Auckland, NZ to Queenstown, NZ and were ready for our campervan experience... SO we thought. We are two young Americans who felt ready to take on the challenges of limited space and possessions... Why not just see how it plays out with the campervan? After much research about transportation, finances, and plans to drive up the whole west coast, we decided it was time to get a campervan. Then we needed to pick a company. In this article you will find a Jucy Review, Lessons We Learned, and Stuff We Learned about New Zealand... Plus a ton of photos!

Jucy Review:

We rented Jucy's cabana campervan: Perfect for two. The amenities included a mini kitchen (sink, stove, dishes, fridge), sleeping for two (including bedding), and transportation for less than $100/day USD (factoring in gas, camping spots, and showers). Other companies just couldn't compare. Either they were twice as expensive or they didn't include all of the same amenities. So of course, we moved forward with Jucy.

We signed up for the liability insurance package, camper chairs, and snow tire chains (since we were going through a glacier pass in the cold season) - these were extras. Turns out we didn't even need two of these extras. Never fear, Jucy was cool and flexible about it all.

We found out that our credit card (along with most major credit cards) automatically offers rental insurance on car rentals booked using their card... so we really didn't need Jucy's insurance. Also, we were totally speculating about needing snow tire chains. The Jucy employee actually asked, "Did you realize you booked snow tire chains?" We admitted our ignorance, we all shared a laugh, and then she immediately offered to take it off our tab. This leads into my two biggest compliments for Jucy: they really want to make sure their customers have a great experience... and they're honest. They didn't give us the whole bait and switch like most chain companies.

In terms of the bad, well... there were a few things:

Our stove had exactly one setting: barely lit. In fact, we had to hold it in the ignition to get our water to boil. It did boil every morning and we had enough propane for our whole trip.

Our fridge didn't work - whatsoever... so meats and dairies did not hold... We wasted some food because of this malfunction. Bleh.

Our Jucy had a particular locking procedure. While picking up our Jucy, a stark-raving-mad lady came flying up to the front of the line and yelled, "EXCUSE ME!! Did you HEAR about our BREAK-IN??!" She then proceeded to proclaim her story (to everyone at the airport) of how her Jucy was broken into due to a failure in the locking mechanism. Shit - we were checking out and didn't have a backup plan for our drive up the west coast... But what if we hadn't been made keenly aware of the necessity to know our vehicle (in case of a break-in)? We wouldn't have known to check every door (every time) or to figure out exactly how to lock things up. But we did, so there's nothing really bad to report except that our vehicle was... Unique.

The "air conditioning" and "heat" were dismal. It took over 30 minutes to see any effects of our defroster happen on our trip. Note: There was no ice or frost anywhere. This could have stolen hours over our ten day trip being parked and waiting... Hence, we used towels every morning. Giving the windows a daily 10 minute spa treatment. Yes... First world problems, but ugh... I must add it to the review.

Onto the Campervan living: 

When started our Jucy adventure, we were SO thankful to be in good health with good hearts... Driving on the opposite side of the road will help you with these realizations (both in fears and in what you have to be thankful for).

There were several things to be thankful for in our experience: Waking up to beautiful surroundings, having our own schedule: choosing where/when/how long to pull over, and being able to see our strengths step right up to the plate of life. YEAH - we are awesome!! We are geniuses. We are humans. We are so fortunate to be part of this world. 

Lessons We Learned: 

1) There are so many phenomenal people out there. If you didn't get to read about our first WorkAway hosts Catherine and Greig, you should read about them here - they are just two of dozens of people we have met who are phenomenal. Let me give you a few other short examples of amazing humans we've already met:

- Daniel and Joe are a couple we kept running into. They offered great conversation and hot water one morning (I'm assuming they saw how much work we needed to put into the whole shebang and then felt bad). How kind is that?

- The guy that parked a few rows away from us in Buxton Square, Nelson. He walked over and offered us sleeping mats that he no longer needed. We didn't need them either, but what a rad dude.

- The couple we met at Rabbit Island who shared an impromptu 30 minute chat. Sharing their excitement in our travels and showing us how to be decent and friendly human beings. How wonderful is it to just start up a conversation with strangers and to brighten their day? It was fantastic for us.

2) You can see a lot in 10 days, but you will still want to have more (like 14). There's a balance that we consistently need to recognize between slow traveling and seeing it all. In slow traveling, you stay in one spot for weeks and months, rather than hours and days. It's how we've planned to take most of our trip. We value growing into a place rather than slipping through the beautiful towns and people that we meet. Plus, you will never EVER be able to see it all. Alex and I have lived in NW Oregon for over 30 years and there are still about a million places, restaurants, and hikes that we have yet to experience.

3) You don't always need luxurious things like coffee, space, or hot showers. It's important to go without sometimes. Think of it as a consumer cleanse. One of our favorite nights we spent wrapped up in the camper van battling mozzies. Have we gone insane? Maybe a little, but the truth is when you are with someone you love all your other needs just sort of wilt away. We laughed so hard that night, and maybe it was because we won that battle too.

4) Everything seems to get better with time. The first day of driving felt like we were running away from the cops and we're bound to die in the chase. By the third day, our hearts we're back into typical rhythm. By the 10th day, I needed to get Alex a pimp can for his skills in one-handed driving. It came as easy as butter melting on a hot day. Our bug bites have also gotten better throughout our trip - for your information. At one point I had thirty mosquito bites JUST on my legs. It was so dayyyyyyum hard to sleep. One night I discovered if I put a cold damp wash cloth on my bites that they calmed down and that I could finally sink into dreamy land. There are times you think you will never be able to get through something, but you will. You wake up the next day and the sun still rises. Just give it time.

5) Sometimes your campsite bathroom will be used as a rest stop for a tour bus. The bigger lesson here is that sometimes people will work the system so that it works for them, not necessarily so that they can do what's right. 

Stuff We Learned About New Zealand:

1) The bulk section does not seem advantageous. Items are measured in grams, not pounds.

2) Get a DOC (Department of Conservation) pass for $40, you'll save heaps. In NZ, you pay per person to camp onsite, not per vehicle. Our first night we paid $26.

3) It's against NZ law to buy liquor on most holidays. We saw caution tape blocking off the whole wine and beer section on Easter Sunday. The caveat is you can go to a restaurant and buy a beverage with a full meal. Also - SIDE NOTE - New Zealand does Easter big. The kids have two weeks off after Easter!!! Maybe it's when their "spring break" is.

4) Everything on your drive has a name: culverts, creeks, bridges. A few of the creek names include Dismal, Dispair, Ikea, Stinky, and Raging Billy. Throughout our trip, we saw a few doubles and triples of the same name like Stony.

5) Bales of hay are wrapped in different colors: White, green, blue and purple. Why the different colors? According to Forage for Horses, "The colour of the plastic film can actually affect the temperature of the silage/haylage bale. The sun warms up the bale and white film reflects the sunlight and thereby keeps the temperature down. Darker film on the other hand absorbs sunlight and gives a higher temperature inside the bale." I also believe that the colors vary depending on the type of hay that is wrapped. The more you know.

A TON OF PHOTOS:

I have a ton more, but only had an hour to edit and upload this article... SO there will be more... or you can look below for some other options!

 Want more?? Check out my flicker albums! Here's a link to my album from Wanaka and Roy's Peak!!

Next article up will talk about our SECOND WORKAWAY experience! Expect that in about a week or so. Much love my friends.