It's been a mess. (New Zealand travel update)

[@nickandraychel]

Whew. Now that we have filled you in on our chaotic travel week up to the North Island, what happened with our vehicle, why we went abroad, and why we had to rush up in the end, I'm so happy to say that we are safe & sound at our lovely little housesit, and we can't wait to share our journey up here in the North! Because y'all - we're chasing a 'warmer' winter here in NZ, and the adventure is not over yet. See ya next week. x

[@GlenAndMado]

Love it guys ❤

[@HunterofInvisibleGame]

Enjoy your travels, and in whatever arises let go and gain laughter...

[@nickandraychel]

Exactly x

[@heathersmiliekiwi8528]

Oh WOW! We’ve had crazy detours before… but your one takes the cake!

[@lobdee]

Wow!! You guys are showing some really beautiful sites of New Zealand I didn’t even know existed in the country I live in!! Thank you for sharing your journey, it’s super interesting and awesome to watch :):):)

[@nickandraychel]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@MyLifeThai371]

This reminds me of "Hobo Ahle" youtube channel. She gets pretty stressed out when her van breaks down, because she lives in a van like you guys as well. When it rains it pours. Murphy's law. What can go wrong, will go wrong. The most a person can do is cover their butts for anything that could possibly go wrong. Prayers to you guys.

[@donaldbaillie5224]

Unfortunate choice of car, land rover's notoriously unreliable. Stick to Toyota's

[@optimumperformance]

Depends on the year and model but only go with diesel.

[@Jordan-du6fu]

There's still some inland north island places that get cold in the winter. Like Waiouru and Rangitaiki. Last month Waiouru got to -7.2 and Rangitaiki got to -8.7

[@nickandraychel]

That's chilly!!! We are loving Tauranga lol 19°C today in June

[@AndreDelanightmares]

Laugh or cry, glad you guys chose to laugh 😃

[@nickandraychel]

Hahaha so true

[@bnwdub9444]

Wish u guys safe travels

[@trudimclaren4301]

As soon as you said a 'knocking'... urgh, lots of $$$ but yeah, never buy a European car if you're in NZ - parts are insanely pricy (and they're never as reliable). Love watching Canadians in NZ - looking to see what you guys really enjoy because my fiance of 5 years will be coming out to NZ (hopefully) early half of next year, and I want to show him around before he takes me back home (planning to get married in Te Anau) ❤

[@amandapichon4023]

Yea flying into Queenstown in winter is dodgy at the best of times. After a 17 hour flight is not fun. We definitely need some more international airports down south so you don’t get redirected all they way to Christchurch. They used to bus you from Christchurch so it definitely could be worse.

[@richardcaldwell9160]

Well done guys

[@modfus]

Welcome back to 'Kiwiland" 😁 I loved your Abu Dhabi vlogs. North Island in winter will be wet - but no doubt there will be some nice days too. Looking forward to your future vlogs.

[@nickandraychel]

Thank you so much! Glad you liked them - it was a cool trip. Can’t wait for more NZ adventures 🌊 🌧️ ☀️

[@felinetherapy4782]

Always sucks when things are out of your control. Seemed to have managed things really well.

[@nickandraychel]

It's hard to relinquish control but now it's all behind us!

[@holdencommodorehsv]

When i lived in Queenstown i would go to the airport and hotwire the abandoned cars then go too the postshop and sign then into my name , i had 3 lol.

[@nickandraychel]

Maybe you shouldn’t tell people that haha

[@thekiwinomad]

Great video. Unfortunately air new Zealand is always cancelling flights. Where i live they often cancel them at last once every couple of days and when theres only one flight a day in or out that only goes to Wellington it really isn't good enough by the airline to be cancelling flights all the time. I hope you gave them some honest feedback about it

[@nickandraychel]

I'm sure that's really frustrating for people who rely on air travel for work, etc! We were really nervous about our flight from Wellington being cancelled, I could hardly sleep the night before!

[@RossNixon]

Airlines should offer parachutes to anyone desperate to get off at a destination that they won't be landing at. I'm semi-serious!

[@keithroberts4559]

​@@nickandraychelkm

[@rank1839]

Sorry to hear about that Range Rover. I do a lot of research on cars. They are a money pit. German cars suck too. Jeep suck too I’d get a 4 Runner

[@G7FX_REVIEWS]

Always better to get a rental car as no one knows when a second hand car is going to break down as it always will its just a matter of time when it will happen.

[@nickandraychel]

Right we’re here for an entire year so we had to buy a car!

[@BoeBarnes]

What skate park did you hit?

[@nickandraychel]

Sumner skatepark right away!

[@itscarolinemary]

Hopefully you can experience some of those things you missed out on eventually! Dealing with chaotic flights and things going wrong is the worst 😂 One of the few trips my mom (as a single mom) managed to save for was to South Carolina. We rented a place with some family friends for a week at Christmas, back when I was 15-16. It had snowed a ton and we travelled to Buffalo for our flights.. we were worried we wouldn't be able to fly due to the weather. Our flight got overbooked (we were put on standby 🙄) and we had to be put up in a hotel for a few nights. Then my mom literally forgot her purse at the hotel room and discovered this at the airport. The hotel offered to drive it to her, which was nice. Then our luggage was misplaced for our trip and we got it near the end of the trip.. and missed out on a few days of the trip due to all of this 😢 I think it was still a nice time but I don't remember much anymore! 😂😅

[@nickandraychel]

Omgg sounds like chaos!!!

[@marleymarl0]

Damn I never considered not being able to land in QT, that would really be annoying. It’s too bad about your land rover :(

[@nickandraychel]

It was a sad loss for sure! :(

[@Shar_Westwood]

Oh my, I absolutely love how you say that you try just laugh through it 💖 thats the best way to deal with stuff when the universe gives you shit on a fan 🤣 Also random question but how old are you guys? My husband and I are from NZ too and about to start Vanlife once we've finished building out our van

[@nickandraychel]

It's all you can do sometimes! We're 30, turning 31 this year.

[@janaferreira8882]

❤

[@callumdenton2974]

I would cry if it had to replace that panel. You backed into a tree 😭.. It’s an aluminium panel, how is that structural. I would try to laugh but I would cry haha fucking Land Rover!

[@nickandraychel]

We didn’t even do the dent! We bought it with that dent in it and it had passed its WOF back in October with the dent. We took it to 4 different places for the wof and they all failed it 😢

[@callumdenton2974]

@@nickandraychel 4 places failed it, that is wild! You’re not alone, the girl I was seeing had to junk her van on her first wof because of rust. Really feel for you, I just moved to Brisbane, and it’s a one and done roadworthy when you’re changing the registration. I really think it’s over kill there, and just a nightmare. You try and do the right thing and buy something that’s just passed, and you still get played because they know someone that will pass it or you can take it somewhere and they just want some extra work. Yet in Wellington a disqualified drunk driver can kill a pedestrian, 4 times over the limit, doing 115 in a 50k zone, flee. And only get 4 years in the jail, and can drive again in 8. It makes you feel it isn’t about safety, it’s trying to get older cars off the road, and ultimately separating you from your money.

[@RossNixon]

@@nickandraychel I think they fail it at subsequent places because it shows up on their computers.

[@marleymarl0]

@@nickandraychelpast owners mate must of issued the last WOF lol

[@anthony.3614]

Hi from Australia, I can actually tell you are Canadian by the way you speak, just a tiny bit is accent but it's more the way you speak, like the tone of voice lol sounds silly but I noticed it!

[@nickandraychel]

Haha I love that! I (Raychel) have heard a lot that I have a very Canadian accent but Nick doesn’t hear it very often.

[@anthony.3614]

@@nickandraychel Yes absolutely, you have a Canadian sound on your o/ou pronunciation, Nick doesn't really but both of you definitely sound Canadian just by the way you speak kind of like a softer tone lol

[@Mcfreddo]

Some of those warrant people are really picky. Seems like irrelevant rubbish pick on it.

[@just_that_average_joe]

Honestly though, did you not talk to anyone about buying that Land Rover? They are so well known for being complete problems vehicles. Yes there are people who love them and they know how to repair them and take care of them and God bless them. But one question to your viewers and within seconds you would have been dissuaded from buying that vehicle.

[@nickandraychel]

We loved it so much and met so many friends that also are Land Rover fanatics and it was such a great vehicle to tour the South Island with! We were so happy to sell it to another Land Rover lover ❤️

[@nickandraychel]

The problems we had with it in the end are the exact same problems we had with our Chevy Express honestly

[@moniquegin8444]

WOF = Warrant of Fitness

[@theslowroad]

Darn WOFS!

[@nickandraychel]

Darn WOF is right!

[@boomertuxx]

Haha yep! I can’t stand them

[@Masque54]

If you have time to spare, travel by air!!

[@nickandraychel]

Hahaha 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@boomertuxx]

So what was wrong with the landrover? Did it go? If so you could have used it. Id rather trust a politician than a mechanic in this country... and thats coming from someone who thinks the govt is corrupt.

[@nickandraychel]

We said in the video but there is zero compression in one of the cylinders and a massive leak in the oil pan gasket which would require the transmission to be removed - it’s a full rebuild. We could have done some of it ourselves or attempted to fix it but we were quoted $2k+ to remove the transmission alone and we had to leave that day. Actually we needed to leave 2 days ago. We were running through an entire bottle of oil once every 2 days, it was getting extremely expensive, it was hardly accelerating, and the knocking in the engine was getting louder and louder. There was no way we could drive that to Tauranga on a 3 day deadline.

[@smit5590]

What are your guys thoughts on the LGBTQ community? Do you support them? Happy Pride month 🏳️‍🌈♥️

[@nickandraychel]

Yes of course! I (Raychel) am queer / pansexual. Happy pride! x

[@smit5590]

@@nickandraychel Cool. All of you are unique human beings ♥️♥️🤗🤗

[@OliverMoore1973]

What do you call a lesbian on fire 🔥 🤔...An LGBBQ

[@Tempest4eva]

Queenstown is expensive and the people are greedy hence the ridiculous prices they charge for rentals, I don't know how people manage to afford rentals there