Travel

Escape to NZ in a Campervan!

“Look, Mom, the freedom to sleep around!”

Perhaps not the best way to start a three-week vacation in New Zealand with your mother, but the catchy slogan for Escape Rentals bypassed the traffic signals between my brain and my mouth. Fortunately, my mom was keen for an adventure, and the idea of living out of a campervan decorated with hearts and peace signs and going by the name of “Woodstock” didn’t have her looking for the first shuttle back to the Auckland airport.

Our Escape van came with everything we needed to survive on the road and then some; stove, sink, cooler, double bed, linens, foldable chairs for relaxing on the beach, dishes and cutlery, a bedside lamp and endless add-ons ranging from picnic table to solar shower. Each of the company’s 250 vans has its own unique paint job, decorated at the whim of local artists and giving my mom and me a unique sidekick to feature in snapshots for our family and friends back home. We filled up with petrol, stopped by a Pak N Save, and hit the open road for our tiki tour around New Zealand.

Over the next three weeks, our campervan became a surrogate member of our family. It made friends for us, drawing stares from and then sparking conversations with the locals and fellow travellers, as well as drawing waves and toots on the horn whenever another Escape van passed us going the other way. It opened doors to unique travel experiences, allowing us to sleep just past the sand at Hot Water Beach so we could dig our own spas in the sand, cook dinner and roll into bed, then roll out in the morning and do it all over again. When we’d had enough driving for the day but hadn’t yet reached Kaikoura, or decided on the spur of the moment to cook dinner by Tahunanui beach, no problem – just pull over and you’re home. With public restrooms and campervan parks all over the country, any conveniences we couldn’t carry with us were never too far away – and Woodstock always got us there safe and sound and in style, no less.

I hadn’t seen my mother in over a year when we climbed in and buckled up in our Love Bus on Day 1 of our trip, but the campervan took care of that, too. There is no better way to get to know – and love and fight with – someone than to share the confined space of a Toyota Hiace with them for as long as you dare. My mom’s snoring and tendency to leave wet swim togs on our bed cushions drove me nuts, but mother-daughter pillow talk while listening to the rain on the roof or eyeing the shock spring snowstorm we woke up to in Te Anau, as well as having her make breakfast at the back and deliver it two feet to my bed more than made up for any discomforts.

The best moments of our vacation involved that campervan, and every time I look at the picture of my mom leaning on Woodstock and flashing the peace sign in front of the massive kiwi sculpture in Te Puke I’ll remember our three weeks of “peace, love & kiwis!” and smile.

Escape Rentals

www.escaperentals.co.nz

From NZ: 0800 21 61 71

From Australia 1800 456 272

International: 64 21 2888 372

bookings@escaperentals.co.nz