Finally wrapping up NZ...

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Apologies for being so slow in doing this, at this point I'm out of NZ 2 weeks (and 2 weeks therefore in Australia), and really need to blog as it's beginning to fade from my memory!

I think I was at Invercargill in my most recent post, so let's take it from there:

Invercargill was pretty bland, but it was near the Catlins. Not long after I arrived in NZ, a local told me I had to check out the Catlins, so 7 weeks later I was finally doing so. I was unlucky in that the weather was not my friend, and I can only imagine what the Catlins must be like on a fine day. That said, it's quite a bleak place anyway, so mist and cloud somehow added to the atmosphere. Gloomy weather was certainly appropriate for Waipapa Point, the site of NZ's worst maritime disaster in 1881. After that shipwreck, they built a lighthouse. It was another one of these great end-of-world feeling places I came across all over NZ, and being there by myself certainly added to the feeling.

I stayed overnight at a backpackers near Slope Point, the South Island's southernmost point. At this point then, I was probably as far away from home as I could possible while remaining on Earth, so you can imagine my disbelief at sharing at sharing my dorm room with a girl who grew up about 5 miles from me in Co. Cork (we didn't know each other beforehand). It just shows how small the world really is these days...

Next morning I visited Slope Point, and had the customary photo with the obligatory signpost. It was a bit sad realising that from here, I had to effectively turn back. Another gloomy day unfortunately. Anyway, headed east along the coastline. Stopepd at a great cafe in Niagara, pretty much the only place in town (or for coffee in a radius of 40 miles). Despite this, it was one of the nicest coffee places I visited, good coffee and nice surrounding. Makes me even more annoyed about that dreadful place at Milford Sound. I won't get into that again!! Got my tide times wrong so missed the Cathedral Caves but saw the Purakaunui Falls, which were pretty cool. Later on, another stop at another lighthouse, this time Nugget Point. Weather was worse by this time, but made the most of it. Got some food at Kaka Point, then headed for Dunedin.

I expected to like Dunedin, and despite more miserable weather I did. Had another very nice hostel, Hogwartz, which was in the former Catholic Bishop's residence. While there, I checked out the Dunedin Public Art Gallery (worth a visit), the train station and did a Ghost Walk! I always said I'd do one of those in London (they do Jack the Ripper ones in Whitechapel) so took the opportunity while in Dunedin. The guide was a local guy, Andrew Smith I think his name was. Slightly creepy in places (the tour, not Andrew) though it was ruined somewhat by the drunken students in our tour group. Also, the finale to the tour is a walk around this apparently haunted buidling in Dunedin. It was built over a Maori burial site, and had a secret passage under Dunedin from the basement. So we were taken down to the basement, and it was a little scary, but then ruined by the planting of a fake human foot in the passage. It made the whole thing a little tacky and was most definitely unnecessary. Anyway, all good apart from that.

I didn't get to see any wildlife on the Otage Peninsula sadly, it wasn't windy enough for albatross to fly and could nto afford (either time or money wise) a penguin tour.

I left Dunedin on Good Friday, which was actually a good Friday (weatherwise)! On my way out of town I checked out Baldwin Street, which is the world's steepest residential street. Quite a walk, but you get a good view of the town. Despite the fact I didn't find NZ hugely religious, Good Friday is taken seriously...everything shuts. Even museums, galleries etc. So a day then for driving really...had to be in Christchurch by Sat morning to hand over my rental car, so decided to drive up the east coast as far as possible. The whole country seemed to be on the move, but the traffic did flow with no tailbacks, so ended up making it all the way to Christchurch by about 6.30pm. I was pretty shattered! But the drive was pleasant, stopping at the Moeraki Boulders and Oamaru for lunch...there were actually a few places open!!

Christchurch was a nice city, nothing special but still much better than Auckland (it still shocks me to this day how such a wonderful country has such a rubbish biggest city). I did the usual tourist things...the cathedral, art gallery etc. A day trip to Akaroa was pretty good. It's like a little piece of France in NZ, though I do think the locals take is a bit far...It was also nice too to spend a few days in a hotel...ah, the joys of a double bed and my own bathroom! But on 7/April, after a stay lasting just 5 days short of 2 months, it was time to board a flight to Melbourne...

So to sum up NZ in one word: amazing. I know some people who refuse to come here (or to Australia) because it's the same language, same food, drive on the same side of the road etc, but it would be truly terrible if that stopped someone from coming here. Yes, I admit you don't get the culture shock you get in, let's say, Japan but to miss out on what the country has to offer would be a shame.

But I wouldn't live there...it is just a little too isolated for my liking. Will I come back? Of course, there were places that for various reasons I never got to this time, like the Coromandel, or the east coast of the North Island or Doubtful Sound or Raglan. So I will be back, though NZ now does drop back my list of 'to-do' countries as there are many places I want to see for the first time. But if you are comtemplating NZ and aren't sure....trust me, GO!!

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