After a relaxing day on Tuesday to recover after the Ballymacoll party, we woke early to watch Munster take on the All Blacks. Thankfully the hotel had Sky so we could watch the match in bed. Munster put up a much braver performance than Ireland and came agonisingly close to winning. We packed up our bags and checked out of the hotel. Mum & Dad had picked up their camper the previous day, so we split our bags and bodies between that and a people carrier provided by the camper van company. The depot was out near the airport and took 30mins or so to get there.

Myself, Davy & Jim were elected by our significant others to take the tour of the camper by the owners. We were shown all the nooks, crannies and facets of this amazing contraption. All of us agreed that using the loo on the trip would be a bad idea, as this would entail emptying the ‘cartridge’! The van itself is a feat of engineering, with most facilities one would need or want fit into the back of a transit van. Once the paper work was complete, with a toot of the horn, we were on our way. I was now officially a white van man.

We didn’t make it very far, we stopped to pack the van with groceries at the local Pak N’ Save. This consisted mostly of wine, breakfast and snacks. After our brief interlude we were back on the road heading west. Our target was Akaroa on Banks Peninsula, this is about half an hour beyond Little River where Nadia is getting married. The road, as usual, was scenery packed and breathtaking.

We stopped off at a golf course I had read about about ten minutes short of Akaroa. Myself, Ash, Dad & Jim had agreed earlier to give the clubs a swing if we could. The club seemed closed as we pulled up. Eventually I found a green-keeper who said he would give someone a call to help us. Soon a lovely lady called Fran turned up. She was the Lady Captain of the club and couldn’t have been more helpful. Mum & Liz headed on in one of the camper vans, while the rest of us readied ourselves. The course was simple but elegant with stunning views of the surrounding countryside. Ash & Jim took on myself and Dad in a format that I devised. The ‘outlaws’ took an early lead that they held on to for most of the match. After a remarkable comeback we went up the last all square. The final hole was eventually halved which seemed appropriate for the whole adventure.

We dropped back the clubs and gear to the club house and left for the camp site in Akaroa. Getting setup in the site was great fun. Plugging in the electric and hopping between the vans. We popped down to Akaroa for a lovely dinner. Soon we were all back in our camper drinking wine and playing ‘Apples to Apples’, a card game Liz brought over from the States. Next up we all sang kumbayya sitting around a camp fire, well not really but it was fun!