A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 59 miles from Northridge to Orange, California.
Author: David
Travel from Northridge to Orange, California
We drove our coach just 59 miles, about an hour of driving, from Northridge to Orange, California. Picking our coach up from storage.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map, with the drive from the airport parking included:
Leaving Walnut RV Park, where we stored our coach during our NZ trip:
Entering I-5 South:
LA traffic:
A pickup carrying half a car:
Sunset:
Katella Ave exit:
Arriving at Orangeland RV Park after sunset; later than we usually like to arrive, but we’ve been here several times before:
NZ: flights from Christchurch to Auckland then LAX
All good things must end, and so it was with our New Zealand trip.
Checking in to Air New Zealand in Christchurch:
Our plane from Christchurch to Auckland:
In Auckland International Airport, love NZ with Buzzy Bees:
Last meat pie, caramel slice, and L&P soda:
Our international flight:
Menu:
Seat selfie:
The flight was delayed over an hour:
Dinner:
Breakfast:
Arriving over Los Angeles:
LA freeway:
Looking back at our plane:
Welcome to the United States:
Welcome to Los Angeles:
Shuttle back to the parking garage:
Our truck was still there!
We then drove to pick up our coach from storage, which will be in tomorrow’s post. But this concludes the posts about our New Zealand trip. It was great to visit my family, see old and new places, eat favorite foods, and try van life.
As discussed in the 2026 travel plans post, this year will be a bit different than previous ones, including another big trip, this time through Canada to Alaska (twice!). Stay tuned for our continuing adventures!
NZ: returning van; Christchurch exploring
We traveled from our last campsite to return the rental van, then got dropped off at a hotel in downtown Christchurch, and did some touring around the central city.
Here’s an interactive map of our route, with the stops marked:
A pile of things to donate to Red Cross:
A pile of our luggage:
McRent Christchurch:
Other campers:
Our van:
No problems dropping off the van (unlike a German family that returned their camper at the same time as us, that had thousands of dollars of damage!). McRent arranged an Uber to our downtown hotel for the night, Distinction:
Hotel room:
We went to the Tramway Cafe for lunch:
We did a city tour tram ride:
Tram route:
A must-do in Christchurch — punting on the Avon:
A brief walk through part of Christchurch Botanic Gardens:
Then more walking around looking at Christchurch buildings:
And back on the tram:
Coffee and a slice:
Christ Church Cathedral reconstruction; it was significantly damaged in several earthquakes:
More buildings and art:
A very nice city.
NZ video: Hokitika to Christchurch campervan travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our rental campervan from Hokitika to Christchurch in New Zealand.
NZ: Hokitika to Christchurch
We traveled from Hokitika to Christchurch; our last full day with the van.
Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some of the stops marked:
The town of Kumara; amusing as that is also the Maori name of a sweet potato:
One lane bridge:
Taipo River:
Taramakau River:
Otira Stagecoach Hotel, with Gollum on the roof:
Another one lane bridge:
Roadworks light with a countdown; nice:
16% downgrade:
Interesting avalanche guard:
“Thank you for not feeding me”:
Otira Viaduct Lookout:
Alpine Parrot Cafe for a coffee and slice:
Kea:
Kea info:
Arthur’s Pass National Park Visitor Centre:
Arthur’s Pass:
My beard having “main character energy” as the kids say:
Dusty:
Interesting rocks:
Springfield doughnut:
Perhaps the tastiest pie I had in NZ:
Christchurch Fanfare Sculpture:
Arriving at Top 10 Spencer Beach:
Our site:
Pre-loved items bin; a good idea, since a lot of people end their trip in Christchurch (as we did); we had too much stuff to fit in that bin, so we took it to Red Cross before dropping off our van:
Shower:
We went out to a laundromat to do a last load of laundry:
And got takeaways from Kaikanui Fish & Chip and Chinese Restaurant next door:
Which we took back to our site (not the best, but the last):
This was our last night in the van.
NZ video: Franz Josef to Hokitika campervan travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our rental campervan from Franz Josef to Hokitika in New Zealand.
NZ: Franz Josef to Hokitika
We traveled from Franz Josef to Hokitika.
Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some of the stops marked:
We started the day with a helicopter flight, as shown in the previous post. After that, we went next door to the Full of Beans Cafe for a second breakfast; this sign shows a sampling of Kiwi expressions:
Amazingly, they had a potato top meat pie, so I had to have that (potato top pies seem to be becoming hard to find, unfortunately):
Whataroa River:
A long one lane bridge with passing lanes:
Another one lane bridge:
Weka:
We went to the West Coast Tree Top Walk, and had lunch at their cafe:
Yes, another pie; gotta get as many as possible as our trip comes to an end:
Then we did the tree top walk; here’s the map:
And stop info:
Unfortunately a school trip was on the walk at the same time; they were having fun making the cantilevered portion bounce:
Onward; some cows going through a tunnel under the road:
Arriving at Shining Star Beachfront Accommodation:
Our site:
Shower:
Dulcie’s Takeaways for dinner:
We took the takeaways to eat with a beachfront view; a classic Kiwi experience:
Shipwreck memorial:
Hokitika downtown:
Back at the campground, we walked along the path to the beach:
NZ: Franz Josef twin glacier helicopter flight
As one of our last big excursions on our NZ trip, we booked a helicopter flight from the town of Franz Josef over Franz Josef and Fox glaciers.
The flight route:
The Helicopter Line office:
Going to the helipads:
Our helicopter coming in for a landing:
Our helicopter awaits:
Taking off:
Selfie:
River:
Snowy mountains:
A peek of Mount Cook:
Glacier:
We landed on the snow:
Taking off again:
A parking lot and river; this is the closest one can drive to the glacier (which is getting further away every year as it shrinks):
Coming in for a landing:
Our helicopter taking off again:
A fascinating experience.
NZ video: Lake Hāwea to Franz Josef campervan travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our rental campervan from Lake Hāwea to Franz Josef in New Zealand.