Up very early this morning to get to the airport for my flight to New Zealand! Hollie drove me which was awesome but was so sad saying bye to her! Hoping she'll be back for a visit in January and I can see her again!

The airport was pretty uneventful except for another annoying explosives check on my bag...it was a wee bit worrying when it came back positive, but he tested me again twice and it was all good...I wasn't really up for a proper drama at 7am! Got a sandwich for breakfast and gave mum a call then I was on the plane! It was about an hour late but not too bad. Realised I'd seen all the decent looking films that were on so I watched a lot of Big Bang Theory and some of An Idiot Abroad - he was sent to do a bungee jump in NZ and I was just like yea that definitely isn't happening. I'm thinking I should probably learn to dive before I attempt that...can't see it happening on this trip!

Landed in NZ and it was really weird, felt a lot like home! Was very cold - pilot said 14 degrees! - but Almost instantly felt a lot more welcomed by the kiwis than I had by Aussies - they are a lot more friendly in general so far! Got the bus to my hostel and met a French guy called Alex who is going to be on my bus tomorrow. Left my stuff and went for a wander around town. It's quite weird, a bit if a ghost town, and most of the centre is still completely cordoned off because the buildings are all unsafe from the earthquakes. They have a shopping centre type thing built from shipping crates because obviously all the shops got destroyed...it's all a bit sad to be honest! I thought it would have recovered a lot more than it has! Had a walk around and bought some food, then went for a run in the Botanic Gardens which was lovely!

After that I just had a shower, had dinner, packed etc. Met a girl who actually lives in Edinburgh! Very random. She works with sheep breeding or something. Looking forward to seeing what my bus tour of NZ is like - I don't really know what I've signed up for!