The next day we were both anxious about picking up the campervan, Armelle having only had 2 months of driving experience and driving something 5m long compared to her little Clio, and Jess worried on Armelle’s behalf as well as her own. However, we were both looking forward to the prospect of being able to unpack our bags for longer than a couple of days, and go where the wind blew us.
After a short experimental drive back into Queenstown to pick up a fluffy kiwi named Benjamin and a short delay while Jess navigated (successfully) the smallest car park known to man, we headed to Cromwell- fruit town, where we had lunch and Armelle was allowed to practise driving on a very straight road under Jess' weary eye. We then continued to drive in the direction of Dunedin but as it turned dark we decided to camp before reaching our destination. After much faffing, for some unknown reason, we thought it would be a good idea to drive 18kms along a gravel road to a wetland reserve! We then got told off by a man in the morning as we had disposed of some water on the ground- hooray for our 1st nights camping!
That day we decided to explore the Otago Peninsula, seeking the albatrosses and yellow eyed penguins.
After getting a winzy bit stressed trying to find the correct turning- Armelle was expecting to have a decent amount of warning before finding herself on the motorway we arrived at the Albatross centre (once driving the length of the peninsula) where Armelle's mascot, Donatello the plastic yellow eyed penguin was purchased. A 1 hour tour gave us background info and a view of the chicks and a couple of circling Albatross- massive things with a wing span of 3 m. We then dubiously drove along another dirt road to Sandfly Bay. 
This gorgeous beach was massive (Cornwall without the people) backed by soaring sand dunes which made exhausting work to climb up on the way back to the car park!
We got up close with a sea lion basking in the sun and spotted a yellow eyed penguin on the cliffs from the look out box. 
We then went into Dunedin which is the most hellish place to drive and navigate in the world due to 90 degree gradient and road names that constantly decide to change. Once we arrived at our Top 10 site we were reluctantly forced to go back into town to pick up some necessary items such as plates- night number 1 ended up being in a wetland rater than a town make supply buying nonexistent! Bargain hunting in The Warehouse (very similar to Woolmart) soothed some rather stressed souls.
The following day was Good Friday so all the shops and most attractions were shut but due to the lack of time this was probably a good thing. First stop was a glimpse of the train station which is apparently quite important in Dunedin historic wise. Jess loved the loco sign and as she often thinks Armelle is crazy, this made for another photo. 
We were then drawn to Cadbury's world which Armelle was very excited about even though Jess was somewhat dubious. However, the tour was fun although the factory was closed and made for a very appropriate place to be at Easter. 
Next stop was the Otago museum, a brilliant museum (one of the best Jess has visited) with an Antarctic display and an outdoor whispering gallery where we took full opportunity of acting like children! The Antarctic exhibit made us both want to go there even more. We had some lunch and watched the students strolling by- definitely a cool central point to have in the middle of campus. It was then time to leave Dunedin behind and we drove north to the Moeraki boulders which Armelle is slightly obsessed with. Many comedic photos were taken to mark the occasion. 
On our next drive to Oamaru, we decided to rename our campervan from Sebastien to Cleopatra as Sebastien kept on reminding Armelle of a stalker she had in the 1st year of uni! Anyhow, we arrived in Oamaru in time for the little blue penguins, a nightly parade where the penguins hop out of the ocean and twaddle over to there waiting beds for the night. 
We both really enjoyed watching the cute penguins standing at a max of 25cms tall, wobbling like 9 pins. Some of the penguins were really dumb whereas others were natural born leaders, leading the pack to safety, aka little wooden nesting huts built by the department of conservation. Some also looked partially bald due to being the malting period. We then had some pizza in one of the most backward towns in existence, with a waitress who was slightly deranged in a very over-helpful way. We then deliberated for 2 hours over where to stay for the night before resting our weary heads in a car park next to a Scottish hall from where a constant stream of kilts would emerge! Cleopatra was very obvious as we were lit up like a lighthouse in the nights sky.
The next day (Saturday the 7th April) it was time to drive back west to Wanaka where we aimed to be by nightfall. We had previously visited Wanaka briefly for a loo stop on the way from Christchurch to Queenstown. On the way, we drove past caves containing Maori cave drawings, which we found hilarious as half of them had be extracted and moved to a local museum! We then stopped at a couple of hydro dams, structures which Armelle is always fascinated by. At lunch we constructed our humus sandwiches at a gorgeous blue lake near Omarama. Our final portion of the drive was through the spectacular Lindis Pass with its plasticine pinched highlands.
After a cup of Chai and gazing at the beautiful sunset over Lake Wanaka, we got cold feet and decided not to park in the no camping car park and instead headed in the dark to an informal campsite. The next morning we were rudely awoken by a man and his dog reasonably demanding camping fees. Having opened our eyes we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was a lovely day and we were next to a river. Good job we didn't try to park in it in the dark the night before!
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