Campervan South Island in June

[Kiwi Mac]

All I can say is, rather you than me, to anyone considering camping or vanning in the winter. It would not be my idea of fun at all; it's hard enough to keep warm and dry indoors.

I was too polite to say that!

[zeke]

All I can say is, rather you than me, to anyone considering camping or vanning in the winter. It would not be my idea of fun at all; it's hard enough to keep warm and dry indoors.

Well, we'd originally intended to hit NZ during the summer or autumn, but our trip schedule slipped. It was a mixed experience, because - yes - it was chillier than we liked, but at the same time it was extremely low-key and quiet, and I really liked the feel of puttering around the sleepy towns and driving around to places that winter had cleared of other tourists. I'd rather visit the bustle of the city and live in the quiet of the country than vice versa. To me, NZ is really a place where there are days you can get out year-around. To be sure, summer would be nicer, but give me a jacket and a stocking cap, and a rolling green hill before me, and I'll be off like a shot.

</ramble>

The discussion about winter chill and camping just reminds me of all the conversations about house insulation (or lack thereof) in NZ. I know the kiwis grow up being used to tolerating more temperature variation indoors than most people in the US and the UK, and I suspect that attitude applies across the board to living conditions, whether in a tent, a hut, a campervan, or a house.

I spent most of my childhood living in a drafty old farmhouse in the US midwest. We had no A/C nor central heating - just an old wood stove and a couple of tiny, underpowered, gas heaters. There wasn't squat for insulation, so in the winters, when temperatures regularly dropped to -18C, upstairs bedrooms were rather less than warm. Finding ice on the inside of windows when you woke up was normal. Running downstairs first thing in the morning to warm your thermal underwear on the woodstove (which my long-suffering mother tended) before dressing was standard practice. We used hot water bottles, and piles of blankets. I still occasionally have dreams about being pinned down and unable to move because of the weight of quilts on top of me!

Summers, conversely, were miserably hot. But that's not something I worry about happening in NZ.

My parents built a house with lots of insulation and a heat pump when I was a teenager, and we all quickly got used to a more temperature-moderated existence. But life in the old house wasn't that bad. And I suspect most NZ houses would seem no worse to me.

</end ramble>

Zeke

[Flutterby]

its far easier to heat a tiny standing room only campervan to a comfortable temperature than to heat an entire house, a little trick we used was to put the heater on in the driver cabin with the side curtains closed when driving in the evening, that way our bed was all toasty warm before we even got in, and most electric heaters are thermostat controlled so you set the temp and leave it on all night and it switches on and off when needed.

[batgirl1001]

We like SI in the winter despite the shorter days and unpredictable weather. There is nothing like breathing in fresh, crisp air and seeing snow-capped majectic mountains and feeling like you are the only person/s in the world. The campervan thing is just a new angle for us to try and we won't be pushing the limits on it. Come to think of it- I've been to more places in Europe that are colder than NZ and can think of only the Milford Sound as being the coldest place we've ever been in NZ- but that could be because we were on the deck the entire time trying to drink up all the beauty around us

I don't think it is brave or foolhardy- just different and a bit colder