We had booked a motor home whilst in the UK, about 2 months in advance. We should have booked it perhaps 6 months in advance as they are very popular and choice becomes restrictive. We went with Britz who are based at the airport and they provided a Fiat Laika Cosmo. There was a long queue and it seemed ages before we got allocated the vehicle. A quick inspection and we were on our way. First stop was to the local supermarket for provisions and then we headed for Arthur’s Pass and on to Moana at Lake Brumner.

Arthur’s Pass was spectacular and we felt our trip on the South Island had really started. We stopped at Lake Pearson on the way through for lunch.

We used the THL app (THL seem to own most of the motor home companies; Britz, Mauii, Apollo, Jucy etc) to find and book sites and we found that many of the west coast sites were fully booked as this was peak/shoulder season.

Once we had checked in at Moana and had worked out how all the van components worked (we were Newbies!) we toddled off for a meal at the local pub.