Campervantastic around glorious New Zealand - Daily Mail article by Charlotte Gill

The first rule of campervanning around New Zealand? Wave every time you pass a fellow camper.

The penny only dropped a few days into our road trip around the South Island, but for the rest of our ten-day trip, we went waving mad.

My husband, Will, and I were anxious to do things right. We'd made a good start with our choice of van: the new Kea was posher than most, with a stylish interior, lots of space (we opted for a four-berth, even though there was only two of us) and tinted windows - so your neighbours couldn't see you getting changed in the morning. There was even a TV and DVD player.

We'd set ourselves a jam-packed itinerary. After travelling halfway around the world, we wanted to make the most of our time. Our starting point, Christchurch, one of the island's most historic towns, dating from when it was settled by the British in the 1800s, has a really bohemian feel - a great gallery and arts centre, and stylish cafes galore.

The next day, we picked up our campervan - very easy to drive, with a rear-view camera to avert reversing disasters - and were off to Kaikoura, a town of about 3,000 people two hours' drive north. En route, we called in at one of the legion of respected wineries to pick up a few bottles of top-notch plonk.

In Kaikoura, we met Maurice Manawatu, a Maori from the Ngai Tahu tribe, whose ancestors settled in New Zealand 800 years ago. Maori culture is everywhere in New Zealand, and his fascinating tour taught us about their customs, beliefs, history and their love of music.

The following day started early with a hearty breakfast and then it was on with the wetsuits to brave the chilly ocean. We were about to go swimming with dolphins at Dolphin Encounter, a company which operates open-water day trips.

The dusky dolphins that live off the coast here are completely wild, and there's no guarantee they will want to play with a bunch of clumsy humans. But we were in luck - as we slid off the back of the boat, we were surrounded by 40 playful 'duskies'. They swam round us in circles as we blabbered away - as per instructions - to entertain them.

Later that day, we hopped on quad bikes for a breathtaking whizz around Glenstrae Farm, a coastal sheep farm with stunning sea views.

Before leaving Kaikoura - which is Maori for 'eat crayfish' - we set out to meet its other famous local, the sperm whale, on an early morning boat trip with locally based Whale Watch and got lucky again with sightings of three different whales.

After spending the night in Hokitika (pronounced 'hockey ticker'), a small town on the west coast famous for its jade, we headed south to the town of Franz Josef and mountain country, though sadly we couldn't see them through the clouds.

Our hopes for a heli-hiking trip on the glacier were dashed by the rain. And, boy, did it rain. So we comforted ourselves with a visit to an indoor 'glacier experience' centre called Hukawai - 'frozen water' in Maori - and tried our hand at ice-climbing, which was rather daunting, but fun.

As we drove further south to the pretty town of Wanaka, on the shores of a lake of the same name, we passed waterfall after waterfall crashing down the sides of rocky mountains.

From there, it was on to Queenstown, where we decided against a bungie jump and opted for a jet river boat - scary enough for me.

From the water we had ample opportunity to admire the mountain vistas - the backdrop to the Lord Of The Rings film trilogy, as the locals never tired of telling us.

This is New Zealand's fjordland - there are inlets all down the coast - and from Queenstown we took an excellent guided bus and boat day-tour with Real Journeys to Doubtful Sound. Milford Sound is more famous, but lots of people we consulted prefer Doubtful and we weren't disappointed.

The highlights were spotting bottlenose dolphins leaping in the air and watching a colony of New Zealand fur seals basking on the rocks during an unusually sunny interlude. We also sailed past Secretary Island, one of the few places in New Zealand where all the plants and wildlife are native. When Europeans arrived, they introduced a range of plants and animals, including stoats, rats and rabbits, which have virtually wiped out the indigenous birds, including the famous kiwi.

Then it was back eastwards again via the quaint, former gold-mining town of Arrowtown and through a snow blizzard to Lake Tekapo - famous for its piercing blue waters - and a final stop in pretty Akaroa, a former French settlement on a peninsula 50 miles south of Christchurch. We covered 1,000 miles - and what felt like at least three dazzling countries: one day Scotland, next the Alps, then through a rainforest to emerge in the Lake District.


Travel Facts


Bridge & Wickers (020 7483 6555, www.bridgeandwickers.co.uk) offers ten-day hire of a two-berth vehicle from £460 per person travelling in March

Annette's trip to Singapore and Thailand - part two

Flying in to Chiang Mai on a Friday night, I was full of anticipation for the second part of our Thailand experience - completely different to the beaches of Phuket and Krabi, this was culture and temple central!

First stop was the Chedi - it looks weird from the outside but inside is fabulous. Here a club floor room is an excellent choice. You are ushered in to the lounge to complete your registration over your favourite cocktail and then shown to your super-swish room. We didn't hang around long before heading out to the night markets, just across the road and down a bit - forget shopping, we were there to eat! One whole fish, some seafood and a few beers were no problem for the language barrier, we just pointed at pictures, picked out the prettiest sea bass on the slab and had a fabulous supper.

Next stop was the sublime Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi - this was the highlight of the whole trip as far as I'm concerned. If you've ever stayed at a Mandarin Oriental property before, you'll know what I mean when I say that the service is beyond fantastic. If you haven't experienced it, then go, go, go! The resort is stunning and a recreation of many temples from around Thailand, faithfully recreated in the most wonderful setting. Loads to do here - a wonderful spa, go back to town visit the temples and get to grips with the history of the walled city, visit the Walking Market on a sunday night for the bargains...or just stay at the resort and soak up the atmosphere of calm and serenity. The resort was pretty quiet when we were there so it almost felt like we had the pool to ourselves - floating in the pool, you can listen to the soothing music they pipe through the water....no, really it's true! The food is fantastic, the staff can't do enough for you, and it's going to a nightmare not to compare every hotel I stay in forever more to the benchmark set by this place. Talk about ending on a high!

I flew down to Bangkok and bade farewell to the Mother - she was off back to Auckland via Singapore while I had a final night at the Sukhothai - yet another stunning executive room with a view. A bit of sunshine and a final pad thai lunch signalled the end of my holiday and I headed back home - the final bit of pleasure was the Qantas business class seat, albeit a 747 and not as snazzy as my A380 flat bed on the way out, but who's complaining?

Thailand was a revelation, and I'd go back and do the whole thing again tomorrow.....sorry Australia, I never thought I'd say this, but I've got a new favourite country!!

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