Winding up for the next leg

Trip Start May 08, 2006
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Trip End May 06, 2007


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Flag of New Zealand  ,
Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Oh yeah baby! The flight is booked for next Monday, the backpack is dusted, the money is saved and the Lonely Planet is back in business. That's right ladies and gents, in just under one week, I am OUTTA HERE! After an extended bout of limbo - forever seeing the same walls, streets, people, and shops filled with noodles - I am ready to tackle the South Island with an expectation and eagerness close to what I felt the day I flew to New York nearly 5 months ago... Is it really that long!?

I will be travelling on Intercity rather than Stray this time, as the added independence this entitles me to will be welcome for a while. Stray is great fun if you have a lot of money, but when you need to be budgeting as hard as I will have to, you can't have people persuading you to go for a 'few beers' every second hour. It's too tempting. So I shall be travelling around on my own again, reading and admiring the scenery whilst looking forward to the isolation and beauty that awaits me in the many national parks covering the South Island. Not to mention the glacier walks, skydives and bungee jumps I have planned.

The remainder of this week then... Friday after work I'll be having a few goodbye drinks with my colleagues before bolting down to the Viaduct for an evening meal with the hostel crew and then going to a special night run by Ministry of Sound at the 'Met Bar'. Saturday will be spent recuperating, whilst the evening will be spent on the roof of the hostel with a BBQ and some great company. I will miss the hostel, and all the people who have made my stay so entertaining - Carsten, Christo, Emer, Fiona, Ian, and all the freaks and FODMs; you are the best, and I hope to see you all again sooner rather than later.



Until Kaikoura...
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chazzbo
chazzbo on Sep 27, 2006 at 09:56AM

Lucky...
Make sure you go to Abel Tasman national park. Emerald waters, pristine beaches, abnormally large seagulls, lush vegetation. Amazing. There's a campsite on the edge of it called Old Macdonald's Farm which has very loud peacocks. And the nights are v cold - don't think i've ever been colder in my life!

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