The Final Leg

After Dunedin we only had a few days left in New Zealand so managed to pack in absolutely loads. We camped for the night in a cute little town called Geraldine, amid forest and a rose garden. En-route we visited the Moeraki Boulders, large, grey and almost spherical they are found on a pretty beach on the tide line. They formed while deep in mudstone cliffs behind the beach and “fell out” when the sea eroded the cliffs. They were bigger than I expected but Craig didn’t seem too impressed. We drove on the Inland Scenic Highway stopping at Peel Forest for a short walk to “The Big Tree” (not as big as the one in the North Island though), then stopped at Kiwi Country (not a kiwi reserve as I initially thought but a huge shop!) and got some presents for our Aussie cousins and Aunty. We also did a long walk through forest along the top of a gorge, following the path of the clear light blue water. A great walk with lots of snowy mountains on the horizon and very noisy crickets.

We decided to camp on the Banks Peninsula just south of Christchurch for our final night in the tent. We ate fush and chups overlooking Akaroa Harbour then set up camp near Barry’s Bay. Witnessed yet another spectacular sunset over the bay, it’s a hard life! We returned our once white rental car in a total mess (where did all the mud come from?) and caught a bus into Christchurch. I didn’t expect to like Christchurch very much (no idea why) but found it to be a great city, small but with plenty to do. We had a lovely couple of days exploring the city, visiting the cathedral and art gallery (it was free!) as well as relaxing by the river Avon, eating yummy food at the Asian food court and going to see the new Bond film. By the end of our stay we found that we really loved Christchurch and could have happily spent longer there.

Amazing!

We caught the shuttle bus to the airport at 4.30am for our flight to Sydney and found it was really busy. After feeding ourselves with chocolate brownies we boarded our Jetstar plane (pretty planes, really bad staff) and saw some of the most amazing views. We crossed the flat Canterbury Plains then flew over the snow-covered Southern Alps, it was completely spectacular, got some great photos.

We both totally loved our time in New Zealand and seemed to encounter every weather possible. Even though it rained a lot of the time we still came away with deep tans. It’s definitely somewhere we want to visit again, even if the kiwis don’t know how to pronounce their vowels properly!