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Three Fijians, one car and South Island New Zealand. I was the planner, Amrita the cook and Jiji the thinker. After gracefully accepting our Toyota Corolla rental, we ventured off to North of South with minimum driving experience. We drove from Christchurch to Hanmer Springs and stayed at a farm. The host was nasty but the old magnificent house made up for the fun. Next stop was Blenheim for Christmas. Our surprised host kept on questioning us on our plans for the public holidays as the area was practically dead, but little did he know that’s exactly what we were after. His rooftop loft was thrifty and for a change I put on the cook’s hat and dazzled the girls with my pasta cooking skills, which I totally stole from my previous travel companion. On Christmas Eve, Jiji have us gifts, total bummer - I didn’t get gifts for anyone! Let the suspense unfold, Jiji and Amrita have never met before, Amrita is my childhood friend and Jiji is like my sister-friend from University. Till now, Toyota Corolla which we named Basanti was doing a fairly good job. Basanti took us to Mapua next, the intention was to climb Abel Tasman mountain but Jiji got scared from the previous hike I took her. Our airbnb had cat hair flying all over the place and we had to Matrix ourselves occasionally. Fun fact about Jiji, she doesn’t like eating much or drinking water, we wonder how she’s alive. Amrita and I gave her a drunk lecture the night before to cook something for herself. The hike was pretty intense yet cold. There has been no sign of Summer till date. Every host has been telling us the same story of how summer was delayed. My poor friends have never survived below 20 degrees Celcius. Amrita was the worst as it takes her no time to shift into ‘Elsa from Frozen’ mode. As more suspense unfolds, I live in Melbourne now and am sort of accustomed to winter. When we returned triumphantly, as expected Jiji survived on 5 cups of various types of tea throughout the day. For dinner we had cat hair filled tacos. Next stop - Fox River. Basanti had exceeded expectations through twirly roads. Our hut ran on solar panels and was dangerously close to the Pacific Ocean. We have no network and went back in time for three days. Our toilet gave up towards the end and we had to drive to a campsite to share toilets with backpackers to relieve our morning pressure. At nights, it seemed like the ocean was going to swallow our remote hut with its fierce wind. We collected wood and made bonfire, well actually Jiji did, we just warmed ourselves up. Jiji made a friend with a duck and fed her every morning and rest of the trip was spent wondering if her duck was still alive. Moving to our next destination, we drove to Cust for New Years Eve. Made a detour to this Lord of the Rings inspired town on the way and it was Jiji’s best day ever. By now, we were tired of seeing endless mountains and also driving. After landing in Cust, we planned to drive to Christchurch for New Year fireworks but totally failed when we couldn’t get Basanti out of the narrow driveway and our host had to assist Basanti. I tried driving at 11 pm but there was no streetlight and my eyes just wasn’t getting accustomed to pitch darkness so we decided to head back like losers. We had bread and wine for dinner, and by now I’ve turned Amrita into an alcoholic. Next morning, I left the gate open while getting the bags out, and the host’s dog ran away into the road. As one would do, we rushed to get ourselves out of Cust. Luckily, the dog was unharmed and was seeking shelter at the neighbours place. So our trip ended with tearful farewell to Basanti, me gaining advanced hiking and driving abilities, Amrita turning into a mini alcoholic and Jiji knowing (but never using) new recipes and also all three of us hoping Jiji’s duck is still alive.