Well here we are back in Christchurch after three weeks. Believe it or not, that is barely enough time to do this island justice. There are some places we didn't see and others we could have bided in longer. All in all we are satisfied with what we saw and are ready to move on. Anyone visiting the South Island with less time than this would want to concentrate on a few areas and get to know them well. We felt like we were on the move a little too much and had to drive more than our 4 hour per day goal a few days which was tiresome. The highlights include Lake Tekapu, Mount Cook, Milford Sound, Queensland, the climbing wall at Wanaka, mussel picking near Barrytown, spotting orcas in Abel Tasman Park, chilling out and renting bikes in Motueka (New Zealand's best little town), wine tasting in the vineyards of Blenheim and sheep shearing in Kaikoura. All points in between are jam packed with jaw dropping scenery. The kind of stuff that makes you lean forward over the steering wheel and say "Jaaaaaaysus" while looking up, down or across as the wife braces against the dashboard in anticipation of a tumble down the cliff or head on collision with a similarly gobsmacked tourist.
New Zealanders are some of the most genuinely lovely people I've met. They love their country and love to show it off. You think they'd become frustrated with the caravans of campervans that invade their roads year long, but nothing could be further from reality. Everywhere we went we met friendly people who bent over backwards to make you feel at home. It seemed to be contagious as the same could be said about most of the other visitors we encountered. Even the germans!!! The girls delighted in practicing their french with anyone who looked like they might be from Paris or Caens or Avignon.
What else to say? It's pouring down rain here tonight and we are quite cozy in our campervan for the last night before returning it tomorrow and hopping on a flight to Auckland. We are looking forward to seeing Rick and Donna who have rented a lovely "bach" for us on "Hot Beach," where you can dig a hole in the sand and have it fill in with thermal hot spring water. More than anything we are looking forward to seeing some good friends from home, sharing a few good bottles of wine, cooking some meals and relaxing.
We have had just about enough of moving around so plan to do as little as possible in the North Island. We need to make it into Auckland to see her highness, Taylor Swift, and must see some of those glowing cave worms. Other than that, we have rid ourselves of the feeling that we need to see everything. Better to see a few things well and stay rested and in some sort of a routine than be constantly looking at the map for what experience is near by.
Deb and the girls are watching Nanny McPhee in the campervan as I write. This is only the second time they've seen a tv in three weeks so it's a treat indeed. Im finishing off the bottle of Jim Beam I got on special here three weeks ago. I was checking the internet for the score of the Giants game as we were driving into ChCh today when our account finally ran out of bandwidth. I was amazed to find the game on the campground's big screen and settled in on one of the big couches with a bag of chips and a beer to watch the boys in blue lose to the Cowgirls by a field goal. Whoa is me. Even Peyton lost to Boy Brady. It feels like a regular old Sunday here (except that it's Monday). Miss everyone back home. One month to Christmas!!!!!!!!!! I'll touch base from the North Island before heading off to Bangkok (looks like things are heating up there) and then to Hanoi.
Ta ta