my last day

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I'm not sure what happened to the last three days but here I am in the hotel waiting to go to the airport. I'm the only one from the group of 11 left as all the Australian couples have gone to the airport already.
On Sunday we visited the large home of a couple who preserved everything as it was when the house was built in Dunedin in 1907. It was very similar to Cragside hall in northumberland but on a smaller scale. I was amazed at how much they had in the house most of which is very valuable now.
Then we headed North up the East coast. We saw an amazing geological feature of limestone boulders whhich were perfectly round that had been revealed by the erosion of the cliffs. Later we stopped at Omaru which has beautiful examples of Victorian and Edwardian architecture in local white stone. There was a victorian Fayre on that day so we wished we could stay longer. We headed NE up the river valley passed man made lakes formed to produce Hydro Electric Power but never the less they were very beautiful. We also saw some examples of Maori wall painting.
Our hotel was in a very small settlement but we were ready to rest for the night.
Monday proved a disappointment to me thanks to the weather. I'd hoped to do a scenic flight over Mount Cook and the Glaciers. However thanks to low cloud no one was flying. We went close to Mount Cook but we couldn't even see it from the look out. Never mind its an excuse to have another holiday in NZ!
Later we drove to Lake Tikapo to see the Church of the Good Shepherd and the statute of the sheep dog. We later drove through the rest of Mckenzie country down to the Canterbury plains. On the way we went through a dreadful thunderstorm and there was heavy rain and hail stones. The Cantabury Plains are flat fertile agricultural land. We eventually arrived at our hotel in Christchurch. this was the official end to our tour though we had all booked at least one more night in the hotel. We were very sad to say goodbye to our excellent driver and tour guide. The rest of us arranged to have our last meal together in the hotel.
Yesterday I headed out with a guide book to see as much of Christchurch as possible. I visited all the usual places eg. the beautiful Cathedral and Victoria Square. I also spent a couple of hours in the Botanic Gardens as the flowers and plants were lovely and it was a fine sunny day. The remaining Aussie couples and I went out for a simple pub meal last night. We have all eaten so much this holiday that we really couldn't face another hotel meal. After that we all decided to finish packing the cases and have an early night as some had to be up at 4 am.
Today I have done some last minute shopping and visited the interesting museum of Canterbury. I was feeling lazy so I used the tram when possible.
So this is it! I've had a great holiday and love NZ. as a place to visit. However Scott I'd think very seriously before moving out here. Personally I wouldn't do it for reasons I'll explain when I'm back at work. I'd suggest you at least plan a holiday here or possibly arrange to swop jobs with a Kiwi for a year before you decide to emigrate! A great place for a holiday but I personally would not move here. Now all I've got to look forward to is 28 hours on a plane!

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