Adios New Zealand...

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And on to the final stop in New Zealand before beginning the new section of my trip in Australia. Travelling is a funny old fare, before leaving London people questioned me about going half way around the world on my own. Won’t it be lonely? How will you spend so long alone? Won’t you miss all of your friends? Well of course I miss everyone back home, but as I suspected, I have been far from lonely. There are so many people out there doing similar travelling to me, and from day one of landing in New Zealand, I made friends who I am still in contact with, and expect to be for a long time to come.

Testament to this was the hospitality Judith and I received upon arrival in Wellington. Gogo and Barry had relocated there in October, and now with high flying jobs (Engineering and IT) respectively, they put us up for nigh on 5days, giving us time to have a bit of a rest and conserve some much needed cash. Leaving them, Judith and I got a “Reloc” from the good people at Thrifty Car Rental. They needed cars moved from wellingotn to Auckland, so for simply the cost of petrol, we took a brand new Toyota Corolla the 1000km or so to the City of Sails.

Once there, a lad we knew from Queenstown was also in town to fly home, so the three of us, complete strangers only months previously, took a car North of Auckland to the area known as the Coromandels, stopping at spots such as Cathedral Cove….A stunning beach with amazing rock formations as you can see in the photo. New Zealand is with out a doubt one of the most naturally beautiful countries I have ever had the privilege to visit. The scenery dramatic at every turn, Lord of the Rings style forests, rivers, and mountains revealing themselves around every new corner.

I think I can safely say that it is not a country where I can see myself settling. Too remote from the rest of the world, too small in population and there doesn’t seem to be the right balance between city and country. Pretty much you either live in one of the 3 or 4 major cities or you live in the sticks. But that is something that doesn’t quite suit me, not necessarily everyone else. An amazing time I did have, and to snowboard I did learn. Hopefully the next chapter will produce a surfer and more good times!

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