Tuesday 21st February

Our last full day in New Zealand. We drove across country to Christchuch. Our timing has not been great as we have arrived as the city is commemorating the first anniversary of the massive earthquake. What a shock when we drove in to our hotel, which is between wrecked buildings and empty spaces. We all saw the TV pictures of the centre of Christchurch but the devastation is sobering. What we had not heard in England was that they have aftershocks all the time which are continuing to cause damage.

Wednesday 22nd February

After 21 days, 12 hotels and 2000 miles its Au Revoir New Zealand and we are off to Sydney. Our drive to the airport was poignant as all of the many road cones had flowers in the top. Our driver said that the children of Christchurch had instigated the flowers.