Day 14, Somewhere near Lake Tekapo to home.

Distance travelled 274 Kms. The final leg of the journey, to head home, has come around far too quickly. We had that awful feeling, the one where you dont want the experience to come to an end. But end it must. For if it does not, then the next new adventure cannot begin. The route home was a familiar one to both of us. There was nothing new about it. It was scenic enough. You know the feeling. Knowing we were heading home we just wanted to get home now. Back to a hot bath and our own bed. A decent single malt whiskey, a 14 year old Aberlour was sitting in the cupboard waiting for us. There was one viewpoint I wanted to stop at and show Debbie. It looked back over the Burkes Pass from where we had just come. We got there and saw absolutely nothing. For it was shrouded in mist. Visibility was a few metres. We had to console ourselves with looking at the etched plan view chart that pointed out where had we been able to see anything the stunning vista would be laid out before us. We took a photo of the fog. As you do. We drove home. Final thoughts. Never did we imagine taking a camper van holiday. I have been stuck behind them doing 80Kms/hr, 50 mph and cursed them. I did the same speed in our van although I did pull over frequently to let people get past. Living in a cramped space never became an issue really. By day 3 we had the routines sorted. We left the bed permanently rigged. We never took a shower in the van even though one was fitted. We did not need to. There were plenty of hot showers available wherever we stayed. We did not slum it mind you. We only used the cooker for making tea, to heat the occasional tin of beans (oh come on, it has to be done on holiday) and cook eggs. Other than that we ate cold food or ate in cafes and restaurants. We did not use the toilet for any ahem serious business. We did not need to. New Zealand is blessed with plenty of clean public loos. They are even to be found miles from anywhere out in the boondocks. They even have toilet roll and hand sanitiser. And they have not been stolen. I kid you not. But the main thing that this camper van really achieved was to make us slow down. We took time to stand and stare. My most favourite poem, Leisure, sprang to my mind constantly. We watched the birds, we looked at the mountains, we drew in lung fulls of clean air smelling of damp native forest, of the sea, of seaweed, of wet sand. We really appreciated everything around us. I get the same feelings when riding my motorcycle or travelling by water be it sea or canal. This time I did it with Debbie to share those experiences. With a total mileage of more than 2100 Kms, would we do it again? Nothing will stop us!