Leaving New Zealand

Sebastien had been kind enough to offer me a lift back to Christchurch the following morning and even though it didn't make a difference to me (money wise), I thought, Why not? So I cancelled my place on the coach and waited for Sebastien to get his stuff together. We jumped into his car and we began our journey...............however, I was not in the car to start with - I was pushing it - his battery had gone flat! We got it going (just) and then it went flat again at the Maori village at the bottom of the hill. Upon investigation, he had no water in his battery! We got it all sorted in the end and the subsequent journey was pleasant enough (we talked about music mainly). I was dropped back at the Foley Towers in Christchurch and I was feeling relaxed and prepared for my flight the next morning.

I'd popped into Cathedral Square to get some dim sum and to check on my emails and on my return to the hostel, I was pleased to be looking at a familiar face - it was Seb (not the one with the car but the one I'd travelled round most of New Zealand with). We chatted for a while and caught up with each others travels (even though it had only been about 8 days since we saw each other!).

To mark the end of our adventures together, we decided to go out for some food and have a few beers. We ate souvlaki (which is like a posh kebab - i.e. no seagull meat!) and then we moved onto some of the local bars. First up was called the Zinc Bar was beautifully furnished but the clientelle were all arseholes.

We settled in a pub much closer to the hostel (called Pomeroys) which was friendly and there was a wide selection of locally made beers. Despite having to be up early the next morning, I sunk a few and got a little bit drunk. I even managed to beat Seb at table football by the end of the night (gasp!).

I still managed to get up very early the next morning in order to catch the shuttle to the airport. My first flight was from Christchurch to Auckland and I was fortunate to get a window seat - I had a birds eye view of both of the islands - it was worth the flight fare to see the mountains and lakes on such a clear day.

When I arrived in Auckland, it was a different story - it was always cloudy in Auckland, it seems. After I checked in, I had about 5 hours to wait for my flight to Fiji and boredom overcame me (for quite a lot of that time I devised a music challenge for my brother but it was so dull, I haven't even bothered to challenge him with it yet).Thankfully, the time went by quite quickly in the end and I was on my way to the pacific islands.

Looking back on my time in New Zealand, I can honestly say that it was probably the most beautiful place that I've ever been. I can't understand how people miss it out when they take the time to travel to Australia (or try try and see it in a few short weeks) - it just doesn't give it any justice. I am intensely jealous of Rich & El who are spending thier 1 year wedding anniversary there next year - I'll have to try and find a way to abduct them and go in their place.