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The road trip started straight the next day, no time to loose!

Day 1: We collected or wicked camper van Johnny Rotten, organised our stuff, went shopping and hit the road! We went to visit Christchurch that afternoon.: the church that would be partly destroyed by the earthquake 10 days later, the streets and the botanic garden.
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That evening we found a great spot to sleep, on a camping area on the way to Arrowtown, were we saw one of the best sunsets ever!! It was our first night in the van, cooking our little dinner and finding a way to sleep inside.
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Day 2 : Akaroa, the french town on the east coast, not far from Christchurch, is very sweet and is one of the only places were you can spot the Hector Dolphins, smallest dolphins on earth. But the boat trip was quite expensive, so we just walked accross the little town, had a quick lunch and sunbathe before hitting the road again, to reach Lake Tekapo before dark, to watch the famous skyline at night.
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The lake is truly amazing, offering a clear view of the surrounding mountains. We found a great hidden place to settle for the night and enjoyed the sky at night lying on the roof of our van. Clouds started to arrive and it wasn't as spectacular as expected, but still pretty awesome!
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Day 3: The weather went crap! It was cloudy and rainy and we had to cancel the walk we wanted to do to: go to a peak to enjoy a wonderful view of the lake. When we arrived at our next stop, lake Pukaki, there wasn't much to be seen either, so we just drove some more towards Queenstown. The road was nice, even if the weather was shitty. Mountains spread out out of nowhere and the road just zigzaged in between, making us feel very small.
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We went to see a Gorge and then stopped in Arrowtown, one of the scene spots of the Lord of the Rings. Yes our trip was also planned to visit some of the film's sets! Diane is a huge fan and the places are truly wonderful! The sun came out so we appreciated more this cute gold rush town. We settled for night in the woods.

Day 4: At 6am, we were woken up by a ranger who told us to get out of here or we'd get a $100 fine : it wasn't a camping spot. So we got out quite quickly! The day was much better, and Queenstown, tha capital of adventure, is a great place! There is a huge lake in the middle of big mountains that we enjoyed fully from higher up, during a 3 hour walk.
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We wanted to do at least one of the many adventures offered: skydiving, rafting, bungee jumping, horse riding... We choose the horses, because it took us on one of the sets of the film (Isengard). We wouldn't be disappointed!

Day 5: We reached Glenorchy, a half hour drive from Queestown for our 2h ride. Diane had the privilege to ride one of the film horses, from Rohan! What a treat for a fan!
It was like nothing i'd experienced before. For me, it was just amazing to be back on a horse! But even more amazing to ride on such a land, crossing rivers, trotting beside the moutains, and even cantering and leading Laura and Diane to it! We all loved it and would've stayed all day!
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After that we drove up to Paradise, which is another film spot, but didn't go to the end because the road wasn't too good and we didn't want to hurt our Johnny! So we just found a place to have lunch and headed back to Queenstown, enjoying once again the great scenry on the way, and headed to Wanaka lake, where we just stayed quickly because it was time to find a place to sleep.
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