Courtesy Court Motel Christchurch

... in row 27!! woo hoo...no chance of crashes today people ...not with my lucky number! It just wouldnt be right!
It was a very full plane, no free seats....unlike the next flight!
Pacific Blue is a.no frills airline so nothing is provided for free.We slept on and off, apart from Escher, who insisted he was not at all tired! LIAR!
Next port of call...Melbourne.Transit time 5 and a half hours! Time to meet Dad and Joanne!

... before arriving in Christchurch.

So, here we are at the end of our adventure. We have had a great time and I hope you have enjoyed reading about them. Thanks to all those who have commented, we have enjoyed hearing from you.

Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand kengandgill

... and dan!
Luckily the spa pool sorted that out! lovely and hot.

In the morning we continued our journey down south along the west coast towards fox glacier, where we walked to see the glacier face. You cant get too close because the ice randomly falls and kills people, but was a nice view anyway. We then headed to the next town and glacier in franz josef, and there i went on a 5 hour hike and climb up the glacier, which was the best thing iv done sofar here. It was ...

... window shopping and walked through the cathedral. We also walked up the 134 steep and narrow stairs to the top of the tower. The view from up there was fabulous and we had the top of the tower to ourselves. When we returned to the ground floor to exit we discovered they had forgotten about us and we had been locked in a small room at the bottom of the stairs. Luckily, one of the workers heard us quickly before we ...

... in New Zealand, Bay of Pigs for the US to name just a few. Apologies for the late posting of this last blog. I got home jetlagged all over the place, worked the next day and spent a couple of days getting to know my family, pets and generally getting my feet back on the ground. It's a truism but it was good to travel and it's also good to be back - not the weather though as winter nears. It's cold. Goodbye Au Revoir Adios Arrivederci

... a memorial to the pioneers of the Mackenzie country. It is a nice small church. Inside the church, behind the alter is a large window that gives a gorgeous panoramic view of the lake and mountains behind the church. So it's no wonder why it's usually booked up eight months in advance for weddings! There is a famous sheep dog statue on the lake's edge near the church. It is in memory of the dogs "without the help of which the grazing of this mountainous country would be impossible ...

... and for me it confirmed the reasons why I’ve never wanted to own my own vehicle before, they are damn expensive! We are over it now though, and still expect to recoup as good as all the cash we spent on it. We did have one gorgeous drive to the French town of Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula, made it worthwhile!

Heading back to the work debacle, after being laid off I managed to get another job straight away, the pleasure of cleaning a medical lab from 9.30pm-1.30am ...

... pools, each containing different minerals. The smelliest was the sulphur pools which smelt like rotten eggs. After spending over an hour and half in the different pools we then spent the remainder of our time sunbathing. At 4pm we were collected and driven back to Christchurch, arriving at 5.45pm back at the hostel. As it was St Patrick's day we felt it only right to join in the celebrations, therefore we cooked our tea and had a few drinks whilst getting ready ...

... are now dutifully stuffed and keep thinking how we still have two weeks of eating before coming home. I hope the walking counteracts the added food. We find New Zealand less expensive than Australia by about 20%. It is also weird about tipping. When you get your bill, you are supposed to add the amount for a tip if you are using Visa. Twice now, we have received the bill without a place for a tip. The one guy said it didn't matter that we didn't need to ...

... whelmed, mainly I think as it lacked atmosphere due to the lack of people, as much as the small population has its pros, it can also make a city feel a little dull. Also, we liked to try to do different activities rather than the same things just in a different city and Christchurch offered much of the same things we'd seen before. However, before we left we had a night out, watching some rugby on the telly in a bar, which had a good Friday night atmosphere. Part 3 coming soon...........