...I get up refreshed and prepare for the trip back
...I do my last shopping - you'd be surprised but what do I take back to Belgium on this last day? Beer and chocolate! :D
...I visit the moving Quake City - a multimedia museum devoted to earthquakes in the region and realize walking around that the devastating effects of the 2011 quake still very much in evidence in central Christchuch
...I'm concluding New Zealand is crazy about dairy: every other hotel I stayed at offered me free milk at checkin and they give you butter to spread on everything baked, including muffins, brownies and cinnamon rolls!
...I walk for the last time around Christchurch and what do I find? A Polish food truck in the center of the city. Grażyna has been living in New Zealand for 19 years now and only recently ventured into the catering business. She's serves some traditional Polish food plus more international choices like crepes or burgers. Check it out if you're ever on Cathedral Square. We have a loooong chat!
...I drop the car off at the airport and unfortunately am told that no second hand mirrors are available in Christchurch so I won't be refunded a dime of what they had charged me in Picton for a new one, On the plus side, they didn't check for any new scratches or marks and there must have been a few from all the gravel roads I drove on.
...I have my last NZ meal at Christchurch airport - nachos - which are neither typical nor very good.
...the flight to Auckland is brief and pleasant. I love how they pronounce "checkin" that it sounds like "chicken". And I am amused by cute security warning videos on board. They also put on a general knowledge quiz where answers are given in a English and Maori. That's how I find out that the band Queen in Maori spells "Kuini" :))
...after a few hours in Auckland departure hall I say bye to the beautiful New Zealand and I hop on the plane to China. Surprisingly, I discover New Zealand also requires the completion of a departure form, like China. That makes two in my experience!
...the plane to China is big and filled with Chinese. Entertainment system is in Chinese, flight attendants bark barely comprehensible English and the meal is poor but hey I'm going home!