The end of NZ

IAIN - Phew! Well that's our time in New Zealand almost completed. We've been travelling for 18 days and covered over 3,000 kms (I think we had about one argument for every 58 kms!). We saw lots of road kill although I managed not to hit any kind of animal (presuming insects and children don't count). On the final night I even saved a hedgehog from certain death by moving him away from a road. Bizarrely it had moved back to the same spot in the morning and I had to repeat the exercise (maybe it was suicidal).

Oxford Terrace in NZ

Emma is currently updating the blog in more detail whereas I've just decided to do one entry for the whole of NZ. I've also been trying to upload the photos but it's been difficult (now that I'm an Apple owner I blame Microsoft!!). Here is the good, the bad and the unusual.

The Highlights - the most impressive thing about NZ is the scenery. It really is spectacular and you could point and shoot your camera almost anywhere. The wildlife has also been amazing. Watching tiny penguins coming ashore after a busy day feeding was quite an experience. We've also seen seals, sea lions (one of which chased Emma!), albatross (I think that's the right plural), NZ eagles and countless other birds, including Keas (a kind of parrot with lovely green and red wings). We also saw a lot of sheep but most people aren't that interested in them, including me so I didn't bother taking any photos. Another highlight was the Shotover Jet Boat. This involves travelling in a high speed boat down a canyon whilst the driver dodges in and out of the rocks. A twirl of his finger meant that he was about to do a 360 spin! The food has been nice although we couldn't afford to eat out so can't really comment much on that. I can recommend the Tim Tams though.

The Not so Great - whilst I liked travelling about in the van the lack of space was a bit of a pain. I seemed to spend an age looking for things in cupboards. It also took a while packing and unpacking. However, with Emma's endless patience this wasn't too bad (a spare room would have been nice, or maybe a tent to put Emma in). I deeply regret not buying an ipod before we left. Apart from the cool Apple/gadget factor, it would also have meant that we could have listened to more than just the three albums I bought in Thailand! I can now recite the entire Killers CD.

The Unusual - I was amazed by NZ's erratic weather; I thought the UK was bad. One day was rainy/windy whilst the next was blazing hot sunshine. I was constantly changing from t-shirt/shorts to trousers/fleece/hat. Kiwis also have a habit of being friendly which, having grew up in the UK, threw me a bit. In almost every place we were greeted with a big smile and asked "How's it going?" I wasn't sure how to respond at first but saying "Fine thanks, how are you?" seemed to work. I was worried that even buying petrol would involve having a conversation! There were a few unusual creatures running around, including one that seemed to be a cross between a sheep, a giraffe and teddy bear (see photos). My final observation relates to cars. NZ's towns and cities seem to have a rather high percentage of petrol-heads driving souped-up cars. A particular favourite is the Holden, which I had never heard of before. There seem to be thousands of them, especially pick-up trucks with spoiler kits. This would also suggest that there are thousands of tradesmen in NZ, which would be contrary to the Government's stance of encouraging the immigration of tradesmen into the country. Maybe I have too much time on my hands!

South America- well that's it for now. We're flying to South America tomorrow. This is a new country, a new continent and a completely different experience. Whilst we are both looking forward to it we also feel a bit apprehensive, especially as we haven't started learning Spanish yet (Val - I know we are really lazy but there hasn't been much time). However, I'm sure we will settle in and will be doing the Salsa in no time (or is that Samba?).

Cheers for now.