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Thank you :) It was so cold over winter that I haven't exercised as much over the past 2-3 months, but I've been eating sensibly to maintain the same weight. Looking forward to warmer weather 🥰

Tourists always tell me they can't believe a food producing nation like NZ has the most expensive food they've ever seen. I also believe our high cost of food contributes to our high rates of depression and loneliness. In all cultures around the world, family and friends relax and bond together over meals. When it's too expensive to eat out at restaurants and cafes, a nation ends up with high rates of depression and loneliness, which is a major issue in NZ. My long-term dream is to start an eco-community so people can grow food and eat it together.

The amount of solar you get is going to vary because some days there is more cloud or you've put the solar panel out at a different angle. The other problem I've found, that I mentioned in my video, is that the digital counter is not accurate when it's powered by solar. Your best bet is to test out another solar panel with it and see if that gives better results, so you can see if it's an issue with the panel or the power station.

@@caravanlifenz yes, i tried different angles and those values were with plenty sunlight but the performance decreased greatly.

So, I'd try out a different solar panel so you can ensure the power station is working fine. If your Ecoflow solar panel has a problem, it's still under warranty so you have plenty of time to return it if necessary, but they'll want to know you've tried out different scenarios first to isolate whether the issue is the power station or the panel.

@@caravanlifenz yes, i talked to them, they offer me to return my new panel and get a refurbished panel in exchange. I dont know if It wiill work fine or how long the process will take, It is quite frustrating.

Thank you 🥰 I tutor maths for a job, and I think having a calm, patient voice is important to avoid maths anxiety in students. I love that Whitecliffs location with its beautiful fields. The only downside is that it's an internet dead zone so I can't work there 😱

Good question. After finishing my statistics degree and postgraduate finance, I worked as a data analyst for the government. I always saved my money carefully and I don't drink alcohol or buy coffee, so I keep my expenses very low. These days I tutor maths, which is done online via video calls, so I can do the job remotely, but I must have a good internet signal. I've spent the past year parked up in one spot because I can't risk having bad internet or noisy environments while I'm teaching maths.

@caravanlifenz sounds nice I'm 34 but unfortunately didn't study only did some lousy jobs. Now I want to start with something I also can do remote and work from the laptop. Do you have any recommendations? Because I want to leave my country (german) asap because it's really bad there. Do you think there's work from the laptop where you don't need to study? Any suggestions?

Tut mir leid wegen Deutschland. Ich war vor 3 Jahren dort. Es ist jetzt eine Katastrophe. In NZ and Australia, we have so many Germans and French fleeing Europe to escape the migrant crisis, but unfortunately we don't have enough jobs for all the young people rushing to move here. You need a specific skill set to compete with all the other migrants here. In Deutschland, you're entitled to free tertiary education, and there are many great Ausbildung choices for you. You should complete something like an electrician's apprenticeship and then move to NZ or AU.

@caravanlifenz ok yes I really want to get out, it's hell here. What about IT or Artifical intelligence or editing is there also a market for that in nz or Australia? How can so many germans and French flee? Did they save the money and all of them have a very good education? I mean it's also not cheap to just leave right? Also do you think if I learned all by myself on the pc I could have a chance altough im 34? I mean there's so much possible today even without studying

NZ and AU give out 12-month working visas to Europeans under 30, so most of the French and Germans I've met here are on those visas. If they find a job and prove themselves, the employer might sponsor them so they can stay longer, and they eventually get residency. You've got the right positive attitude. But remember you're competing with a large number of people who have the same idea about IT self-study. NZ is getting hundreds of applications for every one IT job, so you need strong experience and qualifications. I saw a documentary about a German guy who was a self-taught cyber-security specialist in Germany, but you'd have a hard time finding that sort of opportunity in NZ. Australia used to have many opportunities like that, but they strongly prioritise Australian citizens for jobs like that. Both NZ and AU are short of skilled and qualified tradespeople, mainly electricians, gas-fitters, plumbers and so forth.

I'm going to plant out some courgettes and tomatoes this way soon 🥰 I'll make a video about the progress.

@@caravanlifenz that would be great to see. Glad to have found you as we are caravan people and plan to be full time soon! Lots to learn as it’s different to just being on holiday in a caravan. Thanks for all the helpful ideas 😊

That will be exciting. You certainly get to see amazing sights and live an exciting life. I spent 5 months travelling around, but at the moment I'm living in my caravan parked on my landlord's land because I need stable internet for work. Travelling around means I can't guarantee a strong internet connection.

Yes, good question. The modem comes with the standard AC plug, so you just plug it into the AC outlet. It hardly uses much power at all. You can pay extra and buy an adapter for the modem that plugs into a 12V cigarette lighter socket, but I've always just used the AC outlet. I recently switched from Wireless Nation to Spark because Wireless Nation's customer service has badly gone down hill over the past 2 years.

Thanks so much, Donna 🥰

Thank you 🥰 It's a beautiful pub with the wonderful old Oamaru stone on the outside. We studied Oamaru stone back when I was a school student, so I've always had an appreciation for the hard work involved quarrying it and chiselling it.

What a lovely, friendly area to live in. I went to Cashmere High School, and many of the students used to live around there. The neighbourhood used to be a nice, safe place for school kids.

It's pretty, isn't it? It's one of the nicer holiday parks I've stayed at.

It really is so much cheaper to mix it yourself, especially when you factor in that they bulk up the bought ones with coconut flakes (which are very cheap). Adding peanuts and coconut flakes is a cheap way to bulk up keto cereal. I add plenty of cinnamon to mine because it smells amazing 🥰

Thanks, Alan 😊 You're the best. It takes such a long time to put together a video and there's no earnings from it, so I tend to only make one a month. But it's good to have these memories. The NZMCA Tekapo park was building toilets, so it would be interesting to see the changes now.

I loved that location 🥰

Good advice. I never let any power station or lithium battery get below 40-50%. That's why I bought three of them so I can always recharge when it shows 50% remaining power. No, I haven't had any issues with any of the power stations I've bought, but I do know that electrical wiring is so delicate that anything made in China and shipped all the way out here is going to potentially have issues with lose connections (especially if the guys working at the shipping yards and warehouses drop the whole box of products and they don't own up to it).

@@caravanlifenz Thank you for that. Yes I suspect that's what's happened because everything else works.

The retailer will swap the faulty one for a functioning unit (consumer guarantees). But if you did happen to open it up, I'd suspect you'll see a loose wire in there somewhere. A common problem with electronics is when they're transported on rough, bumpy roads for a long distance and it causes the wiring to loosen or break from the solder. If I ever build a tiny house and live rurally off-grid, I'd do all the electrical wiring on site to avoid that problem.

That's right; we have a uniform rate of 15% GST, including on essential food items and healthcare.

Thank you :)

That's right; the minimum wage increase to $23.15 during the Labour government's time in power was dramatic. Growers were forced to increase their prices, which has meant $23.15 an hour after tax only buys us a cabbage, a broccoli, a dozen eggs and that's about it. NZ needs affordable accommodation to control this spiral.

We have been lucky enough to have traveled to Canada, the US and Australia in the last 6 months and we aren’t alone. We were shocked to see how high groceries were in Canada especially.

That's right. I was in Australia last year and their groceries have increased dramatically. Some items are almost as much as in NZ, even with their 0% GST on food. Australians believe Woolworths and Coles are taking excessive profits. Food in the UK and Germany is very reasonable. In both the UK and Germany, I could make £20 or 20 Euros go a long way at the supermarket.

Are you sure the solar panel you bought actually is an EcoFlow solar panel? I made sure I bought an EcoFlow solar panel from a reputable dealer that is approved to sell EcoFlow products, otherwise you may find you get scammed into buying a cheap knock-off product that isn't an official EcoFlow solar panel and doesn't have the right connectors. Because both my solar panel and River are EcoFlow products, each had a male and female connector that easily clipped together with the other male/female connectors without any issues.

It's great having such a nice hike right there in the city 🥰

It's a fantastic walk and it was great to see so many families getting out and enjoying it.

Thanks for the comment :) The best part is that this hike is right in Christchurch City, so people don't even have to leave the city to get exercise and see the views.

Thank you so much ❤️ I live out rurally where there are no gyms, and gyms are very expensive in NZ anyway, so I hope people will see that you can get fit with push-ups, planks, walking, and using household items for weights.

@@caravanlifenz let me know if you’d ever consider coming on the channel for an interview. Thanks again!

Thank you :) I'd need to get a lot fitter before doing that. It's going into winter here in New Zealand, so it's getting pretty cold exercising in the garage now. Keep well and God bless.

Thank you. I bought my generic 180W solar panel for my caravan roof from GoodsDirect2U in Rangiora (I collected it when I stayed at the holiday park out there) and it performs well. I chose the EcoFlow solar panel for my EcoFlow power station purely because the warrant is void if you use unbranded solar panels with it, but since my warrant is about to expire anyway, next time I buy a cheap solar panel I'll try it out with the power station and see if gives me better cloudy day performance.

The Willows NZMCA park is so quiet compared to the busy NZMCA Weedons :)

The entrance gate to The Willows has an NZMCA padlock? That would make things much safer. I was worried that if someone needed to go to hospital during the night, they wouldn't be able to get out of the exterior gates after the park ranger locks them. Thanks for clarifying.

You'd love it, and it's easy to get to from Chch. Highway 73 from Chch leads to Old West Coast Road. West Melton has a few cafes for coffee and snacks, but I haven't tried the cafes yet.

You've got nice walkways on the other side anyway :)

Thank you. I love the Waimakariri River and the view of the alps.

Thanks so much 🥰 People in England always say the NZ and Australian accents are awful, but the rest of the world says the NZ accent is nicer and softer than the British accent, so I'll go with that.

Great question. I would expect it to be higher to begin with as it heats up and then it would maintain its warmth after that, but I only monitored it using my power station for the first 20 seconds when it was warming up and using consistent wattage. I should have monitored it over a few minutes. It's been warm all year so I haven't taken the blanket out of the cupboard yet this year, but it will turn cold in May, so I'll test it out then :)

Thanks so much :) Have a great week.

Keto already encourages high protein animal products like tuna, chicken and red meat. You're confusing it with something else.

Same, and it's more tasty and filling than regular cereal like cornflakes.

Thanks so much, Tim ❤️ I live out rurally where there are no gyms, and they're really expensive in NZ anyway, so it's a waste of money having membership.

It's only packed over summer and New Year's because that's when all the university students have their summer break. It's unlikely to be busy in April, as the South Island is already quite cold now, so that will put tent campers off staying. With the 3 night maximum stay I mentioned, people are forced to move on after their third night, so that prevents holidaymakers staying longer.

I really enjoy your videos.. I just wish I was as motivated as you. Keep up the awesome work! 😊👍😊

Thanks so much. If you want to get fitter, the easiest way is just to ensure you walk at least 5 km per day, but walking does get harder as winter arrives ❄️ My biggest mistake was eating too much cheese, but I think it's important to show my mistakes so others don't make that same mistake 🤡🥰

@@caravanlifenz slight change of subject.. Have you ever considered doing audio books? I rather enjoy listening to you.

That's a lovely idea. When I tutored adults, they sometimes said that because my accent is easier to understand than many other native English speakers. But I don't have a quiet place to record audio. You can hear occasional cracking noises in my videos from the caravan roof expanding and contracting from heat or rain on the roof. If I had a quiet place, I would 🥰

Yeah, it's great there.

I know, cheese is the best, but not for weight loss.

Yes, I loved this one.

Thanks, but I took these photos a year ago (last summer). This summer I had to work, but I'll aim to hit the road again after I finish uploading the last of my photos from a year ago ❤️ The cost of petrol is so crazy high, so I'll save up and go to the North Island in the future.

It was great staying there after New Year's Eve (which is summer here). I was jealous of your Spain holiday video; my British grandparents retired in Spain. It's a shame our UK passports only give us 90 days there now 😮

I love fried or grilled halloumi cheese. ❤️

No, I'm LGBT+ and I've never experienced any anti-gay comments or actions and neither have any of the other gay members I've met. There's plenty of us non-straights in the club and it's never been an issue.

Thanks, Seraphi. It doesn't leave you with that overstuffed feeling you get from fried potatoes :)