CHRISTCHURCH THE REDEEMER

DAY 42: Christchurch

At last we had some weather that would allow us to explore the town and see a little more than the tourist shops we'd seen so far. And it changed my opinion of Christchurch totally. Perhaps I'd been a little unfair to start with as this place is still recovering from an earthquake that happened just two months ago.

We headed out towards the Botanical Gardens taking in a few craft shops along the way. This was the beginning of an afternoon of tea and related crafts research for Jen's business.

We found a lovely spot by some little ducklings in the Gardens to have our leftover pizza lunch. Then the reality hit us - this was our last day in New Zealand. Gutted.

After we finished, and my nose stopped running from the spicy lamb, we headed into town to see some real shops. This turned into a great research mission for Jen with some really creative and funky shops selling lots of things we've never seen before. Cue lots of writing down of websites by me.

We were pretty beat after that, so it was only right that we had a beer by the river in one of the lovely bars before heading back to catch up on our journals at the hostel. Our last supper was nothing to write home about, probably our worst yet - Watties spaggetti on toast. Not funny! But it kept it cheap and used the last of our food before heading to Vietnam via Singapore.

FINAL WORD ON NEW ZEALAND

Of the countries we've been to so far, and not just on this trip, New Zealand is my favourite. It's got everything. It's stunningly beautiful, whether it's the huge snow-capped mountains, the deep valleys and gorges, the idyllic beaches or the vast wildernesses. It's all so pleasing to the eye.

There's such a wealth of things to do here too, and they're all really fun. Whatever you want to do, you can do it and in the best of surroundings.

And then there are the people. The friendliest, most genuine and chilled out I've ever met. And always up for a laugh. Their attitude is 'It'll be alright', basically meaning what's the point in worrying? Whatever happens, it'll be ok. I like that attitude.

We also met some great people on our Stray bus that we will certainly see again. Stray run a great service with awesome drivers, and I'd recommend their routes to anyone. It's a great way to travel around the country and meet new people.

I could really see myself living in New Zealand, particularly Queenstown or Wanaka - for a short to mid-term anyway. If only you could move your friends and family over?

Everyone should try to experience this fabulous country at some point in their life. We only had two weeks, which was nowhere near long enough. Jen has come back once already, and we'll both be back again one day, I'm sure of it. Maybe in a campervan next time?